The Battlefield of the Believer

We are living in a fallen world. Of necessity, that means we are in enemy territory. Although “[t]he earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein”, (Psalms 24:1, KJV). Not everything that happens in the world is God’s will. Oftentimes, things happen in this world that aren’t His will. The reason for that fact of life in this fallen world is simple: Our “enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8, NIV). Satan fights the will of God. Evil takes place in this world because men and women are influenced by the Devil, “taken captive by him to do his will.”  (2 Timothy 2:26, NKJV). How does he take men and women captive to do his will? How can an invisible spiritual being control what takes place on earth? That’s what I’d like to talk about in this post. 

One of the great advantages of the believer is we understand why the world works the way it does. The Bible clearly reveals the invisible, spiritual world that is around us. The things of the Spirit are not hidden from the believer. No, they have been revealed to us in the pages of scripture. One verse that stands out can be found in (2 Corinthians 4:4, NLT), “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe.” Right there, we gain insight into the stratagem of the enemy: he works in the mind to blind through unbelief. A corresponding scripture is found in (Roman 12:2, God’s Word Translation), “Don't become like the people of this world. Instead, change the way you think.” From these two scriptures, we learn where the battlefield of the believer is — the mind. 

Why is the mind so important? What is it about our minds that make us susceptible to the Devil? Why has Satan chosen to work in the minds of people in this world? To understand that, we must learn who our adversary is and how he works. Jesus plainly states who Satan is in (John 8:44, NASB): “He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.” How and when did Satan become a murderer? In the Garden of Eden, he deceived the woman into eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. What did he say? “You certainly will not die!” (Genesis 3:4, NASB). That was a lie, for God said, “on the day that you eat from it [the tree of the knowledge of good and evil] you will certainly die.” (Genesis 2:17, NASB).

 

                      “In this world, truth is our most valuable commodity.”—Scott Wallis

In the Garden, the battlefield was chosen — the sphere of the knowledge of good and evil became the battlefield chosen by our adversary to fight us. Why? Beyond the obvious fact that no other option was available to him, for God had only given mankind one “Thou shalt not”, the Devil chose to work in the realm of deception. He became a liar and the father of lies. In other words, he presented knowledge that is in opposition to God’s knowledge. Satan uses lies to control minds. Deception is his primary weapon. That’s what he uses to control what men and women do in this world. Ultimately, he mankind’s own bad decisions against him, which he influences men and women to make, through deception. 

Lies are Satan’s weapon of choice. He uses his lies with the goal in mind of deluding people into making wrong choices. That’s how he has operated from the beginning, according to Jesus. Now we know why the  very first weapon given to us as armor from God is “the belt of truth”. (Ephesians 6:14, NLT). In the King James Version, that same verse states, “having your loins girt about with truth”. The Apostle Peter, in line with the Apostle Paul, states in (1 Peter 1:13), “gird up the loins of your mind”. Both the Apostles Peter and Paul are in agreement with what believers must do in this life — believers must fortify their minds against the lies of the Devil.

How do we do that? Jesus gave us the answer in (John 8:31, 8:32, NASB), “If you continue in My word, then you are truly My disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” By continuing in Jesus’s words and teachings. Hence, the words and teachings of Christ are paramount in overcoming the Devil in the battlefield of the mind. Why is that? As it states in (John 1:17), “the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” Truth, pure truth, came by and through Jesus. The Pharisees understood that for they said, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and do not care what anyone thinks; for You are not partial to anyone.”(Matthew 22:16, NASB).

Even Jesus’s enemies recognized He was speaking the truth. Jesus didn’t lie. Ever! That point is very significant. Further, we know that, from an early age, Jesus studied the scriptures available to Him. He learned from the book of Moses, the prophets, psalms, proverbs, and historical books. Jesus was a student. At the age of twelve, He was “in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. (Luke 2:46, ESV). From that time, “Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” (Luke 2:52, NKJV). Jesus equipped Himself with the truth, as we are instructed to do by the Apostles Peter and Paul. 

In this world, truth is our most valuable commodity. King Solomon urged us to “[b]uy the truth and do not sell it— wisdom, instruction and insight as well.” (Proverbs 23:23, NIV). Yes, our battle, our fight, is over truth. Truth should be the singular quest of the believer. Thankfully, we are not in that quest alone, for Jesus sent us “the Spirit of truth…[to] guide you [us] into all truth.” (John 16:13, NLT). Further, Jesus prayed to His Father, “While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me.”(John 17:12, ESV). Further, He says, “I have given them Your word.” (John 17:14, NASB). Then, He says, “Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth.” (John 17:17, New American Standard Bible).

The battlefield of the believer is in the arena of the soul — the mind, will, and emotions. The only way we can overcome in the arena of the soul is through the steady diet of truth. The battle is over truth; it has been from the beginning. Satan uses lies to defeat mankind, causing men and women to make suicidal, self destructive choices. Yes, he’s out to get us to destroy ourselves by using his lies to deceive us into making wrong choices, as he did with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Jesus defeated Satan on the cross, but first, He had to bring Himself in subjection to the Father’s will in “Golgotha (which means ‘Place of the Skull’).” (Mark 15:22, NLT). Jesus won the battle over His own mind before He defeated Satan. And we, on the same battlefield, must do the same.

Let us pray!

—Scott Wallis