Introduction
Our Foremost Enemy
As believers in Christ Jesus we have three main enemies in life. They are constantly present to harass us, create
conflict for us, and generate trouble for us. We cannot escape any of them completely as long as we are alive,
although we are assured of victory over them as long as we rely on the Lord Jesus for our wisdom, power, and ability
to endure.
Our three enemies are:
1. The world. The world includes anything of a physical nature that might hinder us in our walk with
Christ or might tempt us to sin. Contrary to what some people think, the world is not getting better. If anything,
it's getting worse because so many more possibilities related to evil exist today than existed hundreds or thousands
of years ago—the world has more people, greater opportunities for evil alliances and evil behavior, more technology
for delivering tempting messages, more access to weapons, more information about how to engage in evil, and more
varieties of false religions. The ways and means for committing evil have exploded, not diminished.
2. The flesh. The nature of the human heart has not changed since the creation of human beings. The human
heart still has a bent toward darkness, evil, and sin. We have desires, which God intends for us to meet in ways
that are in keeping with His commandments. The temptation always exists, however, for us to seek to meet those
desires in ways that are ungodly. Since we never lose our human, fleshly desires, we never lose our capacity to
yield to temptation. These desires are with us until we die because they reside within us.
3. The devil. Peter describes our enemy this way:
“Your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
Each of us faces a spiritual battle with the devil today whether we realize it or not. The very nature of the
enemy of our eternal spirit is to defeat us, destroy us, and to kill everything that is important to us. His pursuit
of us is persistent, unrelenting, and always aimed at the most vulnerable area of our lives.
A Need for Daily Victory
Because these three enemies are always with us, our best recourse is to learn how to deal with them and how
to have daily victory over them. It would be wonderful if we could go on a fasting-and-prayer retreat and defeat
the enemies once and for all in our lives, but that isn't a provision that God has made for us. Rather, He has
provided us with the Holy Spirit who resides within us to help us in our struggle. The Holy Spirit gives us the
ability to say no to the temptations of the world and to overcome and control our fleshly desires. The Holy Spirit
also enables us to withstand the assaults of the devil on a day-to-day basis and to experience peace and wholeness
even in the face of severe spiritual opposition.
We face a daily struggle. But we also can experience daily victories. Our Lord calls us to live one day at a
time. We will not have a single, definitive showdown with the devil in our lives—a time in which he is defeated
and will never come back to accuse or torment us again—but we can experience a daily victory over the devil.
We can say no to the temptations he presents today. We can use our faith to defeat his assault against our
minds, bodies, and spirits today. We can pray against his efforts to destroy us today. A string of
daily victories makes for a victorious life!
Focusing on Our Spiritual Battle
We battle against the world and the flesh by learning first how to discern God's will and wisdom in a given
situation or circumstance, and then how to have the courage and persevering power to say no to evil people, evil
situations, and evil behavior. These battles are won or lost primarily on the battleground of our physical, material,
relational, and emotional lives.
This study recognizes that we are engaged in an ongoing battle to overcome the world and the flesh, but it is
based on the premise that the devil is behind these battles. Ultimately, our battle in each of these areas is spiritual
in nature. It is waged “in the spirit,” and it has eternal and far-reaching spiritual consequences.
The devil's purpose is not simply to irritate us or make our lives difficult. His goal is to destroy us in the
spirit realm. The devil will use whatever is made available to him as a toehold on which to establish his evil
purposes. His ultimate goal is to totally annihilate us—physically, materially, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.
An Assurance of Victory
As we focus on spiritual warfare, we will do so from the perspective that the devil is a defeated foe. We cannot
defeat him by our own authority; rather, he has been defeated by Jesus Christ. Jesus referred to the devil as the
“ruler of this world” (John 12:31), and, Jesus said of him, “he has nothing in Me” (John 14:30). The devil has
never had and will never have any authority, power, or influence over Jesus. The book of Revelation graphically
details Jesus' definitive victory over the devil when He casts him “into the lake of fire and brimstone” where
the devil “will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Rev. 20:10).
You may ask, “If the devil is a defeated foe, why do we still have to fight?” The victory over the devil is
assured in reality, but it is not yet accomplished in time. The fate of the devil is sealed, but he will have access
to humankind until the day when God brings this age to an end. The existence of the devil is related to our having
free will as human beings. God has given human beings the ability to choose, and that ability includes our right
to choose evil if we so desire. The devil, as the supreme agent of evil, thus has the power to tempt us and to
oppress us.
What we do know with certainty is that at any time the devil is confronted with Jesus, Jesus wins. When
we place our faith and hope in Christ and resist the devil, the devil cannot score a definitive victory over our
lives. We may lose battles against the devil from time to time, but we will not lose the war because we
belong to Christ.
It is important to keep this assurance of victory at the forefront of our thinking as we study spiritual warfare.
If we look only at the devil and his tactics, it is easy to become discouraged or fearful. If we keep our focus
on Jesus Christ, however, we remain strong and alive in our spirits.
The Great Value of Christian Allies
Since everyone faces spiritual battles, every person knows what it means to come up against the devil's assaults.
This is an area in our Christian walk in which each of us should have great empathy toward our brothers and sisters
in Christ. One of our greatest privileges and responsibilities is to help our fellow believers fight and win spiritual
battles. No person is intended to confront the devil alone. Christ assures us that He is always present. Even so,
we are to function as the body of Christ, one to another. We are to join forces with those who are under
attack by the enemy—especially those who are discouraged, depressed, or under severe oppression by the devil—and
become fellow warriors, doing battle in the spirit realm through our prayers and loving support.
As you face spiritual battles, you are wise to turn to your brothers and sisters in Christ and ask for their
help. As you see others facing spiritual battles, you are admonished by the Scriptures to go to them and help them
win a victory through Christ Jesus. We are to fight together against our common enemy, Satan, and his demons. Imagine
how much would be accomplished in our churches today if believers would band together against their true enemy,
rather than waste their time and energy bickering with one another or fighting against matters of lesser importance.
Because this is a Bible study intended for group use, I encourage you to see yourselves as a band of God's warriors,
powerfully equipped for battle through your relationship with Christ Jesus and your empowerment by the Holy Spirit.
Expect your study of the Word to equip you to help one another as you continue to build your relationship with
other believers in your church or community after your study has ended.
From Overcoming the Enemy: Discover God's Plan for Winning Spiritual
Battles by Charles Stanley. Copyright 1997 by Charles Stanley.
