Spiritual warfare is a corporate activity

 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. ¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that all y’all may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. ¹² For we all do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that all y’all may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. ¹⁴ Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and, as shoes for all y’all’s feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which all y’all can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; ¹⁷ and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, ¹⁸ praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, ¹⁹ and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

Ephesians 6:10-20

Spiritual warfare isn’t something entered into by only a few elite spiritual special forces who can defeat the enemy in prayer. Spiritual warfare is a corporate activity that includes every believer, whether conscious of it or not. If you didn’t read the above text from Ephesians 6 with some care, notice that I “southernized” the passage so we can see that it is speaking to the corporate body and not just individuals within the body. “AllY’all” is the Southern version of the plural “you.” “All Y’alls” is the Southern version of the plural possessive of “your.” The point is that every reference in this passage to “you” or “your” is plural, which isn’t clear in English.

Context is one of the key rules for the proper interpretation of Scripture. This section of Ephesian chapter 6 follows a more extended section of thought that begins at chapter 5, verse 1. This section leading to our section on spiritual warfare speaks to proper relationships that are lived out in love.

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. ² And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Ephesians 5:1-2

Paul then addresses the counterfeits of love, sexual immorality, impurity, and covetousness. These are sins that destroy relationships.

For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. ⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

Ephesians 5:5-6

Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸ And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, ²⁰ giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Ephesians 5:17-21

Paul brings it back to relationships. We have to relate to one another to obey the exhortation and address one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. We can’t do that in isolation. Then Paul sets the tone for the rest of this relational portion of Scripture with the admonition, “submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” All of the body of Christ is called to mutual submission out of reverence for Christ. No one is the “king of the hill” in the body of Christ.

This is immediately followed by three practical applications of mutual submission, wives and husbands, children and parents, and slaves and masters. Paul instructs on the proper functioning of these relationships and what love looks like in these various sets of relationships. Again, I want to emphasize that these are relationships between humans that are not lived out in isolation.

In this relational context, Paul introduces the specifics of spiritual warfare. We don’t often think that spiritual warfare occurs in relationships as wives and husbands, children and parents, or employers and employees (the modern equivalent to slaves and masters). If there are difficulties in these relationships, we will generally go to counselors or HR professionals to resolve the problems. We don’t think about demons being involved in the issues. But we should. I’m not advocating for the “demon behind every rock” approach, but neither do I advocate for a purely humanistic attempt to resolve the conflicts. There is a reason why Paul places this teaching on spiritual warfare immediately on the tale of this section dealing with these relationships; demonic influences are often behind human conflicts. It’s not so hard to see when we talk about international war conflicts where thousands of people are being killed, etc. I think most believers don’t have too much difficulty acknowledging that historical actors like Hitler, Mussolini, Mao, and others like them through time have had demonic motivators behind them and their evil actions.

Our family “wars” are the same, only on a much smaller scale. Of course, not every marital spat has demonic origins. We are quite capable of doing evil on our own by allowing our fleshly being to dominate at any given time. James says,

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? ² You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. ³ You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. ⁴ You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? ⁶ But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” ⁷ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

James 4:1-10

Quarrels and fights are caused by our passions that war within us, whether this war is within an international leader, a spouse, or a teenage child. The solution, according to James, is rather simple, submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. We are right back to what Paul instructs in Ephesians, where he calls for mutual submission to Christ, and one another then resist the devil. James states it with greater simplicity where Paul details the armor of God that tells us more about how to resist the devil.

I hope to communicate the idea that we are all in this together. We are not fighting alone, or at least we shouldn’t be. Suppose we try to defeat the enemy on our own. In that case, we will probably fail, even though, in theory, any single believer in Jesus who is exalted in Christ to be seated in the heavenly places far above all demonic powers should be able to defeat the enemy in any battle due to the power of the name of the ascended Jesus. The practical reality is that we have to fight this fight together, and it is an all-hands-on-deck situation. If you are planning to sit this one out and let others do the fighting, I call on you to repent and be obedient and join the fight for the kingdom of God. When you have the opportunity to participate in a prayer meeting, do it. We fight together. We support one another. We equip one another. Do not do as some do and view prayer as an optional practice for the super-spiritual. You will find that attitude nowhere in the Bible. Prayer is one of our great ways to “abide in Christ.” Jesus told us in John 15 that if we do not abide in him, we can do nothing, and we will be branches in the vine that will be cut off and burned in the fire. The last thing I want to do is become legalistic about what should be joyful obedience to Jesus, but at the same time, I cannot fail to speak as the Scripture speaks about prayer, abiding in Christ, and spiritual warfare. Join your brothers and sisters in spiritual warfare and win victories for the kingdom of God.