“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

(Ephesians 6:12 NASB)

(1) Do you know that wrestling is perhaps the most strenuous of all sports? Every muscle is strained, every nerve is taut, and the shoulders are never more than a few inches from the mat. There is nothing dainty about it. It is not a graceful exercise of give and take. Our Lord wrestled from the temptation to His arrest when He said, “…This is your hour and the power of darkness.” (Luke 22:53). Paul believed he contended with demonic hosts under the devil.

(2) We had better know what we are up against and not underestimate our adversary. Here are four facts about our satanic opponents: (FIRST) They are numerous. Note the various expressions in verse 12. They are principalities and powers. They are rulers. They are authorities. These different expressions describe the many different ranks and categories of evil spirit beings. (SECOND) They are powerful.

(3) Don’t think of Casper the Friendly Ghost or of some nice spirit beings who like to play tricks on you. The demons are real, and they aren’t on your side. Just in case you doubt this (Eternal Truth), it would be in our best interest to know that they are “spiritual agents from the house of evil—you know, the headquarters of evil.” (THIRD) They are wicked. They follow no moral code. They live only to do the devil’s bidding. They are opposed to all that is good and holy…

(4) …and right. Do you remember Moses wrote that the so-called “gods” Israel worshiped were not divine, but they were real? And that reality was demonic! He explained that idol worship is a form of demon worship because evil angelic spirits impersonate the idol and work their wicked strategies through the system of false beliefs associated with the idol. The psalmist, in fact, records that Israel—God’s chosen people—followed idolatrous pagan…

(5) …practices to such an extent that they even sacrificed those they loved most: “They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons.” (Psalm 106:37 NASB). (FOURTH) They are clever. Paul speaks of schemes and diabolical plans. Do not be deceived into thinking the demons are stupid. They are morally corrupt, but as spirit beings, they possess enormous intelligence. Like spies working for some lethal enemy, the demons know…

(6) …the weak spots in our armor. They lie in wait, looking for a chance to pounce. We do not struggle against flesh and blood. Sometimes we focus on abortionists, pornographers, godless politicians, corrupt business leaders, drug dealers, and purveyors of filth, as if they were the source of our problems. Yet those people are unwitting dupes of powerful spiritual forces that they know nothing about. They are morally culpable for their choices…

(7) …yet they are also in the service of evil beings that influence them in ways they do not realize. Or we could make it more personal. When someone has hurt us deeply, it’s easy to say, “That person is the source of all my problems.” But our struggle is not with flesh and blood—even though it seems that way most of the time. In a parallel passage in the NT, Paul elaborated on the…

(8) …inherent danger of idol worship, writing to saints in Corinth—a city well known for rampant idol worship, a practice out of which many in the church had been delivered by grace through faith. Paul asks: “What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.” (1 Corinthians 10:19–21 NASB)

(9) Food for thought: Demons are the spiritual force behind all idolatry. Those who sacrifice to idols sacrifice to demons. When worshipers believe an idol represents an actual god, Satan sends one of his demon emissaries to act out the part of that imaginary god.

(10) There is never a god behind an idol, but there is always a spiritual force; and that force is always evil, always demonic. Demons can exhibit considerable power. HOWEVER, many cultic and pagan religious claims are faked and exaggerated; but many are true. They are evil but true. Much that goes under the name of astrology, for instance, is simply exploitation of the gullible. But many predictions come true through the work of demonic forces.

(11) Demons are not unlimited in power, but they have power to perform enough wonders and to make enough predictions come true to keep superstitious worshipers deceived and loyal. Paul also explained that as believers in Christ, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love…” (Ephesians 1:3–4 NASB)

(12) Now in Ephesians 2 Paul also described a believer’s former position in Adam (before they believed) and their new position in Christ, explaining: “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air (one who was first in rank and power = Satan), the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.” (Ephesians 2:1–3 NASB)

(13) Let us close on our new position in Christ: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:4–7 NASB)