Though
Satan is in principle defeated, we still need to be rescued “from the present
evil age” (Gal 1:4) and to “struggle … against the rulers, against the
authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the
spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12).
Just as in the days of Jesus, the kingdom
of Satan focuses most of its activity on hindering the advancement of the
kingdom of God. When the church is spreading the kingdom, the kingdom of
darkness will be most at work. Here are some ways the that Satan hinders the
church in the New Testament:
1. Satan opposed ministry through
circumstances. Paul told the church in Thessalonica that he wanted to come to
them “again and again—but Satan blocked our way (Thess 2:18).
2. Satan is portrayed as continually at
work to bring trials to Christians in order to discourage them (1 Thess 3:5).
3. Satan works to entrap church leaders,
apparently by slandering their reputations, according to Paul (1 Tim 3:7). For this
reason Paul, following the advice of Jesus, prays that leaders would be
protected “from the evil one” (2 Thess 3:2-3).
4. Satan incites divisions among churches.
Hence as he encourages them to preserve the unity in the body (Rom 16:17-19),
Paul reassures that the “God of peace will shortly crush Satan under your feet
(Rom 16:20).
5. The Satanic kingdom is at work in trying
to deceive believers (1 Tim 4:1-7) and to pollute their minds with falsehood.
The Christian’s mind is a battlefield between the evil one who blinds and the
Savior who brings light (2 Cor 4:4-6).
6. One of Satan’s designs is to cause
believers to harbor unforgiveness. This gives the devil room in the believer’s
heart; it can drive a person in need of forgiveness into despair (2 Cor 2:7),
and it can bring about division within the body of Christ.
The kingdom of darkness wars against the
kingdom of light where churches manifest God’s character. To be a people who
live out the distinctness of God’s kingdom, we must, like Paul, see that we are
warring against an enemy. Christians are to “be strong in the Lord and the
strength of his power,” which means putting on “the whole armor of God, so that
you might be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Eph 6:10-11).
—Adapted from God at War, pages 278-281 Greg
Boyd
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