Spiritual Warfare » Battlefield » The devil's strongholds - the spiritual results of his works
Satan's strongholds are in spiritual in nature. These are overcome only by grace of God granting new life through faith in Jesus Christ by the preaching of the word of God. Even with the Holy Spirit living within a Christian, the enemy attempts to influence the spirit of man by acting upon his physical enviroment and through his mortal body.
Scripture References
- ...the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Cor 2:14 NKJV)
- ...through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned... (Rom 5:12 NKJV)
- ...it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment... (Heb 9:27 NKJV)
- "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God." (John 3:16-21 NKJV)
- "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth--those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation." (John 5:24-29 NKJV)
- "He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels...'" (Mat 25:41 NKJV)
- The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. (Rev 20:10-15 NKJV)
- These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power... (2 Thes 1:9 NKJV)
Commentary: The devil's strongholds.
- Satan does not fully achieve victory in any battle, until a mortal body lays decaying in a grave, and the soul that animated that body is eternally separated from Father God in the lake of unquenchable fire.
- Man's fallen nature, separated from his Creator by the sin of Adam, is fashioned in the image of Satan. That is why Jesus taught that all must be "born again"... made a new creature by a work from God.
- Like skilled counterfeiters of money, the devil and his children have coined many persuasive substitutions for a real life. To our shame, they can outwardly appear more credible than many who claim to be "born again". But like money with no value, the devil's substitutions are eternally bankrupt.
- Christians still must face the remnants of the fallen nature, that is the "flesh", even after being spiritually reborn.
- Because of this, the spiritual war is not just between opposing forces in the heavens, or just between "us" vs. "them" upon the earth, but also within ourselves... the Holy Spirit versus our carnal flesh. If we let the flesh win on any given day, our "spirit" looks and feels more like the devil than like our Lord Jesus.
- Despite his protests to the contrary, and favorable reflection in comparison to fellow humans, man is accountable to God for his deeds and his choices. The most important choice is this: "What shall I believe about Jesus Christ?". The choice has eternal consequence.
