Part 3

What Is Spiritual Warfare?

Three competing visions vie for our allegiance:

1. Capitulation to the spirit of the age by radically reinterpreting the Bible’s “spirit” realities as mythical projections of psychological, sociological, political, and medical phenomena. (Inadequate for all serious followers of Christ.)
2. The demon deliverance ministries
3. The “classic” Christian mode of spiritual warfare

The “Ekballistic Mode” [EMM] of Spiritual Warfare

An invented term to describe the demon-deliverance movement that might seem awkward at first. It is a grassroots practical theology that finds varied expression both in pastoral ministry and in methods of personal growth. It envisions the warfare of Christians as a battle against invading demons, either to repel them at the gates or eject them after they have taken up residence. Obviously based on the key assumption that demons of sin reside within the human heart.

The “Classic Mode” of Spiritual Warfare

Evangelism, discipleship, and personal growth. Follows the pattern of Jesus facing Satan in the desert. The textbooks are the Psalms and Proverbs, the ways that Jesus addressed moral evil, and the teachings of the NT epistles.

EMM’s Strengths

1. They recognize and challenge the spiritual barrenness—the practical atheism—of the secular modern age.
2. They encourage conservative Christians to reenvision the world as a spiritual place so that the fight for Christ’s kingdom and glory might be more effective.
3. They challenge the notion that people’s personal problems can be reduced to purely psychological, social, physiological, or circumstantial factors.
4. Many “spiritual warriors” demonstrate admirable love and self-sacrifice.
5. They show that prayer matters.
6. They usually believe and practice classic-mode spiritual warfare much of the time.

Reblog from Between two worlds