Does
Ephesians 6 really teach “spiritual warfare”
in the
heavenlies?
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42
New Churches & 11,098
Converts in Three Years
in North India
Proponents
of what is called “spiritual warfare” in the heavenlies
may be aware that it is not clearly supported by Scripture. Nowhere
in
Scripture
is found any instance where a disciple directly rebukes and attempts
to drive out principalities or “territorial spirits” from
geographical areas. (We are not referring to intercession or prayer to
God here, but offensive action directed specifically against powerful
demonic beings in the heavenlies.)
The prophet Daniel was not performing such warfare in Daniel 10 when
the archangel Michael engaged the prince of Persia in the heavenlies
over him. Rather he was praying and fasting when God sent Michael to
help the angel who had been sent to Daniel but had been detained by
the prince of Persia. It is not recorded that Daniel was in any way
aware of the warfare taking place in the heavenlies until the angel
was released and appeared before him. Clearly Daniel was not involved
in the struggle.
Neither
Jesus nor any of his disciples engaged in such a practice as recorded
in the New Testament. If "spiritual warfare" is such an important
and necessary factor in evangelism, why does New Testament Scripture
not record a single clear incidence of it? If the early disciples
did not need to conduct such "warfare" and were nevertheless very
fruitful preaching the gospel in their time, what makes us think
that we need to do it today? It is clear that if we are not fruitful
today in evangelism, it is not because we are lacking the
dimension of "spiritual warfare." We must be lacking some other dimension---a
dimension which must be clearly evident and staring at us from the
pages of New Testament Scripture.
Later
in
this article we shall discover what that missing dimension is.
The Scriptures
often cited from Ephesians
6:10-18 by spiritual warfare proponents actually refer to a defensive
posture in which the believer puts on the full armor of God in
order to take his stand against the devil’s schemes and
against the rulers and authorities. “Therefore put on the full armor of God,
so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground,
and after you have done everything, to stand.” These verses cannot
be used to support the practice of believers directly rebuking rulers
and authorities in an offensive way.
Does
Ephesians 6 really teach “spiritual warfare”
in the heavenlies?
Does
the end justify the means?
Finally,
nowhere does Scripture explicitly command disciples to drive out
territorial spirits in the name of Jesus. But since the practice
is not expressly forbidden in Scripture, its proponents support its
active use. Part of the reason the practice is justified by them
is because of apparent results achieved in evangelism where the practice
has been applied. There are some reports of areas where people had
been closed to the gospel. But after spiritual warfare was performed
with regional territorial spirits rebuked, people in the area were
suddenly open to the gospel and accepted Jesus Christ in response
to
the gospel.
All this
would appear well and good, especially when the salvation of souls
and the Great Commission is at stake. However,
we as servants
of God must consider an important question before taking a position
on this issue. Can the ends justify the means? The answer is no. Faithfulness
to Scripture must take precedence over “results.” For example,
we should not sweeten or water down the gospel---as is done so often
today---in an attempt to bring more souls into the kingdom of God.
The desire for “numbers” or "results" should
never tempt us to compromise the gospel.
Moreover, there can be danger for us when we engage in offensive action
which we have not been specifically authorized to perform. There is
risk involved when we take action presumptuously, especially in the
realm of the supernatural.
Numbers 14:44 Nevertheless, in
their presumption they
went up toward the high hill country, though neither Moses nor the
ark of the LORD’s
covenant moved from the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and Canaanites
who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat
them down all the way to Hormah.
Another compelling reason not to do spiritual warfare
But there
is now another and at least equally compelling reason why we should
not engage in spiritual warfare in conjunction with preaching the
gospel.
By simply obeying the clear and unambiguous commands Jesus gave his
disciples when he sent them out, we are now seeing unprecedented
results in
North
India
without the practice of direct "spiritual warfare" in the heavenlies.
Luke
9:1 When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power
and authority to drive out all demons and to cure
diseases, 2 and he
sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. …6
So they set out and went from village to village, preaching the gospel
and healing people everywhere.
Luke
10:9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The
kingdom of God is near you.’
Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in a the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
In 2007
The Elijah Challenge conducted the Basic Training in North India.
Servants of God were taught how to heal the sick and cast out
demons as Jesus taught and commanded his disciples when he sent them
out to preach the kingdom of God. After that Joshua Gowda and Simon
Haqq began to conduct monthly Evangelistic Feeding Events in which
the gospel was preached, the sick were healed, demons were cast out
of people, and the people were fed.
In such
a way, 42 churches have been planted and 11,098 people (predominantly
Hindus) have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ
in mostly unreached villages.
This took place between July 2007 and June 2010 when this article was
written. Other churches networked with The Elijah Challenge have
planted another
118 house
churches in
various parts of North India. By God’s grace there is a great
move of the Holy Spirit throughout North India. Feeding Events and
Elijah Challenge-trained churches are now being used by God in the
area of evangelism and church-planting. “Spiritual warfare” is
not a part of this.
Moreover, churches trained by The Elijah Challenge are now the fastest
growing churches in North India. This is based on progress reports
and testimonies Joshua has received from full-time pastors, workers,
and churches networked with The Elijah Challenge. In the days to come,
Joshua and Simon desire to bring millions of souls into the Kingdom
of God through the approach the Lord has entrusted to them.
Reports
from India
Results:
reaching the unreachable without spiritual warfare
The difference between the two approaches
There
is very significant difference between the current approach of spiritual
warfare against territorial spirits followed by or in conjunction
with preaching the gospel, and what is being done by Joshua and Simon
in North India.
The current
approach involves first spiritual warfare in an attempt to dislodge
territorial spirits. After that the sick are prayed for---not
necessarily healed as Jesus taught and commanded his disciples.
And the gospel is preached. Now there are two unscriptural components
in
this
approach.
The first is of course the spiritual warfare. The second, surprisingly,
is praying for the sick. Jesus never commanded his disciples to pray
for the sick when he sent them out. Rather he commanded them to
heal the sick---which is very different and involves
actually performing miraculous healings in real time to confirm the
truth of the gospel
to the listeners.
The scriptural
approach which Joshua and Simon are now using involves preaching
the gospel, actually healing the sick as Jesus commanded
his disciples in Luke 10:9 to confirm the message to the lost, and
then feeding the people. The meal is used to draw the people to the
event and for fellowship with the new believers afterwards.
Both approaches, it is claimed, result in people turning to Jesus
Christ. But one involves some unscriptural practices while the other
closely follows the commands given by Jesus to his disciples.
Choose one
Which
approach is preferable? Most obviously, the approach which follows
scripture closely is to be preferred. It results in
the advance of
the kingdom of heaven on earth, and there is no risk of counterattack
by vengeful rulers and authorities in the heavenlies which we may have
angered in our presumption when waging “spiritual warfare.” God
is not obligated to protect us from their attacks in such a case.
Luke 10:19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions
and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.
This verse
applies when we trample on earthbound “snakes and
scorpions” which likely refer to spirits and demons attacking
people on earth at ground level. It does not apply when we attempt
to trample on powerful beings in the second heavens which we have not
been commanded or authorized to do.
Let us
now return to the word of God to understand how to fulfill the Great
Commission. Let us be faithful to obey Scripture.
Let us remember the rallying cry of the Protestant Reformation: Sola
scriptura. This Latin phrase means that Scripture
alone is
authoritative for the faith and practice
of the
believer.
The
Bible
is complete,
authoritative,
and true. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for
teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2
Timothy 3:16).
The “spiritual
warfare” approach to evangelism adds a foreign dimension
which is not taught in Scripture. It is not necessary, and could in
fact be presumptuous and lead to unnecessary risks and suffering
for ourselves and our loved ones.
We have
ministered in some of the spiritually darkest places on the face
of the earth. In Africa, we boldly challenge witchdoctors to a contest
of power in the fashion of Elijah with the prophets of Baal at Mt.
Carmel. And we consistently witness miracles and victory after victory
over the enemy without having to resort to the practice of
"spiritual
warfare." And we are blessed with a side-benefit: we do
not suffer from trials due to enemy retaliation and counterattack.
We are convinced that we are shielded from them because we have not
gone "beyond
what is
written" but simply done what the word of God says we should
do. We are thankful also to our intercessors who blanket us with
prayers
to the Lord on our behalf.
Great victory in Benin---the birthplace of voodoo
Does
Ephesians 6 really teach “spiritual warfare”
in the
heavenlies?
Other
articles | Featured
essays