Christians warfare is unlike the conventional warfare. It is not about Christians fighting against devils. That is settled by Jesus Christ long time ago. Christians (those that truly believe and have relationship with Jesus Christ, Son of the True Living God) won already through Jesus Christ. The warfare that we are engaged in is about saving the unbelievers through presenting the gospels to them, to save them from the blindness that the devil deceived them. (2 Cor 4:4). It is not about the destruction of Christians either because Christians are under the protection of God. 1Jn 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. Jesus assured us in John 10:28-29 no one can snatch them out of His hand. Also, in Rom 8:39 "nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. " , not even ourselves as part of the creation.
Devil's Power comes from Deception - Stealing Man's Power and Using it against Man!
Our emphasis is on rescuing the people and not about fighting the devil per se. We are to reach out to the people and not to attack the devil (there is no need to attack the defeated enemy and it is God's job and timing). As we reach out to the people and if we encounter devil's deceptions and resistance, then we must know how to defeat them. God has given every man a free-will such that not even the devil can overrule. Devil has control over people only through their consent even though consent could come indirectly through friends and ancestors and by falling into the devil's traps. Since devils do not have direct power over men, his power and strategy actually comes from one simple method "DECEPTION". Through deception of man, man gave power to the devil to create havoc on earth and fulfilling his objective of stealing, killing and destroying as told by Jesus John 10:10. Much killings were done in the name of God and for good purposes!
The Many Forms of Deception
The basic form of deception is lie - untruth. It could be out right untrue, distorted truth, or partial truth. It could come in the form of disguise, appearing as angel of light as if is for your good. It comes in the form of temptation. Telling lies create fear, worry, doubts and paralyzes your actions. An effective way is just to suggest -wait. Procrastination is an effective weapon against men - tomorrow then decide, wait till you are married, wait till you are promoted. Telling lies about people strife and breakup family and friends. More are shown in the mind-map at the end of this post.
The Solution - Truth
Against deception, the only weapon is the Truth of God. Paul gave us a good illustration in putting on the armor of God. The armor is about the various basic truth. See Christianity Rediscovered: Victorious Life - Armor of God. Then we can be Watchful and with the Truth we can resist the devil. The mind-map below gave the details of Devil Strategies and the Solutions to overcome them.
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