The Bible describes a real war going on behind the visible world. It does not describe it in horror-movie language, and it does not describe it as a metaphor. It describes a kingdom of darkness defeated at the cross, still resisting the advance of Christ, and an army of ordinary believers walking the earth in the armor of God. At Grace Fellowship Church in Sarasota, we take this teaching the way Scripture gives it — sober, clear, confident, and deeply Christ-centered.
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” — Ephesians 6:12
The New Testament treats the spiritual realm as real — not the subject of spooky speculation, but the background against which the whole Christian life is lived. There is a kingdom of God, and there is a kingdom of darkness. There is a Lord, and there is an enemy. There are angels on the Lord’s side, and there are demons on the other. This is not folklore. It is the worldview Jesus and the apostles preached.
Scripture is also clear that the decisive battle has already been fought. “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:15). The cross was not only the place where our sins were atoned for — it was the place where the kingdom of darkness was publicly stripped of its claim on God’s people. The enemy still fights, but he fights a war he has already lost.
This changes the mood of Christian warfare. We do not fight for victory — we fight from victory. We do not try to defeat a live rival of God. We stand in the finished work of a risen Christ who has already crushed the serpent’s head, and we hold the ground He purchased.
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). The devil is not a symbol of human bad choices. He is a created, fallen, personal being. Jesus spoke to him, rebuked him, and taught us to pray for protection from him.
“The Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). Every believer in Christ is on the winning side of a finished war. The enemy retains skirmish power, not ultimate authority. Hell has already heard its sentence read at the cross.
“Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19). The Christian’s authority is not in technique or volume — it is in the name and blood of Jesus Christ. The weakest saint standing in that name has more authority than the strongest demon in hell.
“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Ephesians 6:13). The war is won, but our walk still passes through contested territory. The believer who refuses to be armed will be worn down. The believer who stands in Christ will stand.
Paul’s most sustained teaching on spiritual warfare is Ephesians 6:10–18. The armor he describes is not exotic — it is the ordinary equipment of Christian discipleship, given to every believer without exception. Truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and the Word of God. Plus prayer, always prayer. These are not special weapons for spiritual elites. They are the everyday gear of anyone united to Christ.
The belt of truth — living in honest conformity to God’s Word. The breastplate of righteousness — both Christ’s imputed righteousness guarding the heart and the saint’s practical righteousness shielding the life. The shoes of the gospel of peace — feet ready to carry the good news into any ground. The shield of faith that quenches the fiery darts of the devil. The helmet of salvation that guards the mind in the settled assurance of what Christ has done. The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God — the one offensive weapon in the list, and the one Jesus Himself used against the devil.
And holding it all together, prayer. “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18). A Christian who prays — really prays — is a Christian who is fighting.
“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.” — 2 Corinthians 10:4
A doctrine of spiritual warfare can be abused, and Christians are right to be wary of the abuse. The Bible’s teaching is not a license for spiritual-hysteria — seeing a demon behind every flat tire, every headache, every hard marriage. Most of our troubles are not demonic in origin. Many are the ordinary fruit of our own sin, others’ sin, weakness, or life in a fallen world. To spiritualize them is to miss the real issue and to burn the Christian out chasing shadows.
Spiritual warfare is also not a technique. There is no magic word, no special name, no secret formula. The power is not in ours words — it is in the name of Jesus and the blood He shed. A Christian whispering “in the name of Jesus” in simple faith has more authority than a Christian shouting for an hour in his own strength.
And it is not an excuse for escaping responsibility. “The devil made me do it” is not a biblical category. James says plainly, “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed” (James 1:14). The believer who walks close to Christ, kills sin, honors the Word, loves the church, and prays often is not fighting the enemy in the abstract — he is winning, every day, in the ordinary battles.
At Grace Fellowship Church in Sarasota, we take the spiritual realm seriously because the Bible does — and we refuse to make it the center of the Christian life, because the Bible does not. The center is Christ. The authority is His name. The foundation is His cross. The power is His Spirit. The enemy exists, but the enemy is defeated.
If you are walking through a season that feels heavier than your circumstances warrant, or if you believe you are facing real spiritual opposition, do not isolate. Talk to an elder. We pray. We open Scripture. We stand together. See our page on deliverance from demons for the pastoral ministry the apostolic churches have always carried when it is needed.
This is also why growing up in Christ is a battle. The enemy opposes every inch of a believer’s maturing, and the Christian’s deepest warfare is often the quiet, daily putting off of the old self and putting on the new (Ephesians 4:22–24). The cross wins the war; the Spirit forms us through the fighting.
— Sundays at 10:00 AM · 4350 17th Street, Sarasota, FL.