Spiritual Warfare in the New Testament
- Scriptural accuracy is the primary concern of this and any critique of a work on spiritual warfare.
- We must evaluate writings to determine if they consistently present the whole scriptural message on spiritual warfare, or if they omit, overemphasize, or present any areas in an imbalanced manner.
- Furthermore, we must examine their usage of particular biblical passages to understand if the author accurately communicates the biblical meaning.
Matthew 4:1-11—Satan’s Temptation of Jesus
Matthew 10:1 – Disciples’ Authority to Drive Out Demons, Heal
Matthew 12:28-30 – Driving Out Demons & “Strong Man”
Matthew 12:43-45 (also Luke 11:24-26) – Must be filled with God
Matthew 16:23 – Jesus’ Rebuke of Peter
Matthew 17:14-20 – Jesus’ Healing of a Boy with a Demon
Matthew 24:35 – Eternal Nature of God’s Words
Matthew 26:53 – Jesus’ Access to Angels
Mark 1:23-28 – Casting Out of a Demon in a Galilean Synagogue
Mark 1:32-34 – Many Demons Cast Out
Mark 5:19-20 – God’s Mercy Seen in Casting Out Demons
Mark 9:28-29 – Demon driven out by Jesus through prayer
Luke 8:1-2 – Mary Magdalene had seven demons, women with Jesus healed of evil spirits and physically as well
Luke 10:17-20 – 72 return
Luke 11:24-26 (also Matthew 12:43-45) – Empty House
Luke 22:31-32 – Jesus’ Prayer for Peter
John 13:2 – Devil and Judas
Acts 5:3-5 – Satan and Ananias
Acts 5:12-16 – Healed of unclean spirits
Acts 8:4-8 – Unclean spirits coming out
Acts 8:9-13 – Simon the magician
Acts 10:38 - Jesus “healing all who were under the power of the devil” (part of comprehensive gospel presentation by Peter in Acts 10:34-43)
Acts 13:8-11 - Elymas the magician
Acts 16:16-18 – Girl harassing Paul and others
Acts 19:11-12 – God’s power through Paul and handkerchiefs and aprons
Acts 19:14-16 – Seven sons of Sceva
Acts 19:18-20 – Repentance, Confession, Burning of Magic Books
Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:1-2 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”
Romans 8:15 “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’”
Romans 8:26-27 “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.”
Romans 8:31-39 – Security of the Believer
Romans 10:9-10 “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”
Romans 12:1-2 – Bodies offered as living sacrifices
Romans 12:9, 11-12 “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good . . . Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
Romans 12:19-21 – Do not be overcome by evil
Romans 13:1-2 – submission to government
Romans 13:11-14 – put on the armor of light
1 Corinthians 5:4-5 – “deliver this man to Satan”
1 Corinthians 7:5 – sexual intimacy in marriage and Satan’s temptation
1 Corinthians 10:20-22 – pagan sacrifices to demons
1 Corinthians 12:7-11 – manifestation of the Holy Spirit
1 Corinthians 12:27-31 – roles and gifts within the church
1 Corinthians 14:20 – infants in evil, mature in thinking
1 Corinthians 15:24-26 “Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”
2 Corinthians 2:10-11 – forgiveness and Satan’s designs
2 Corinthians 4:3-6 – god of this world
2 Corinthians 11:14-15 “And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.”
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” NOTE: Paul’s use of “messenger” is the Greek word angelos, which in his 33 other uses of it in the Scriptures it is translated “angel.”
Galatians 4:3 “enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.”
Galatians 5:1 “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”
Galatians 6:1-2 – restore and keep watch
Galatians 6:7-8 – sowing and reaping
Ephesians 2:1-7 - former followers of Satan
Ephesians 2:12-13 – once without God
Ephesians 4:26-27 – anger and Satan’s foothold
Ephesians 6:10-20 - the armor of God
Colossians 2:6-8 – captive to philosophy, deceit, tradition, elemental spirits
Colossians 2:15 – disarmed and shamed
1 Thessalonians 2:17-18 – Satan’s hindering
1 Thessalonians 3:5 - tempter
2 Thessalonians 2:9-11 – the lawless one and Satan’s activity
1 Timothy 1:18-20 – wage the good warfare, handed over to Satan
1 Timothy 3:6-7 – conceit and the condemnation of the devil
1 Timothy 4:1-2 – deceitful spirits and teaching of demons
1 Timothy 5:11-15 – young widows and Satan’s tactic
2 Timothy 2:24-26 – escaping the snare of the devil
2 Timothy 3:16-17 – Scripture’s profitability
Hebrews 2:14-15 –destroying the devil and delivering the slaves
Hebrews 13:5-6 – God’s protective presence
James 1:12-15 – source of temptation
James 1:22-25 – hearing and doing the Word of God
James 2:10 – guilt under the law
James 2:18-19 – demonic belief in God
James 3:15-16 – earthly, unspiritual, demonic wisdom
James 4:1 – passions at war
James 4:3-9 – resist the devil
James 5:13-16 – confession, prayer, and healing
James 5:19-20 – turning a sinner
1 Peter 5:8-9 – devil is prowling like a lion
2 Peter 2:10-13 – blaspheming the glorious ones
1 John 1:9 – confession and forgiveness
1 John 3:8-10 – children of the devil
1 John 4:1-6 – test the spirits
1 John 4:10-15 – love and acknowledgment of Jesus as the Son of God
1 John 4:18-19 – no fear in love
1 John 5:14-15 – ask according to His will
1 John 5:18 – born of God, evil one does not touch
2 John 9 and 10 – abide in the teaching of Christ
Jude 1:8-10 – Michael, the devil, blaspheming the glorious ones, and rebuking language
Revelation 2:9-10 – Smyrna, synagogue of Satan
Revelation 2:13 – Pergamum, Satan’s throne
Revelation 2:24 – Thyatira, deep things of Satan
Revelation 3:9 – Philadelphia, synagogue of Satan
Revelation 9:20-21 – worship of demons and idols
Revelation 12:7-12 – war in Heaven
Revelation 16:13-14 – demonic spirits
Revelation 18:2 – fallen is Babylon
Revelation 20:1-10 “And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time. I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”
"Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it." Blaise Pascal