Treasures New and Old

Spiritual Warfare: Offensive and Defensive Thought Warfare

This article will look at the Seventh Mind Warfare Principle, that of our armor (designed primarily for defense) and taking offensive stands (primarily in prayer) in the battleground of the mind. Here are our reference verses for this article:

Romans 7:22-25: “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”

Paul reminds us that although he had readiness of mind to serve God and keep His Word, his flesh is ever against him and desires the pleasures of sin for their various reasons. What Paul wishes to do to serve God and have his mind stayed upon God and things of God is in a constant battle with his sinful old man, the flesh.

1 Corinthians 9:27 (bold added): “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”

Philippians 1:20: “According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.”

Paul reminds me in these two verses that there can, indeed, be victory over the flesh and fleshly desires, and we will be conformed into the image of Christ. One day we will present ourselves to Christ with Him magnified within our bodies. Not this old man, but Christ magnified within this old man!

Also remember that God knows all of our thoughts and intents . . .

Ezekiel 11:5 (bold added): “And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the LORD; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them.”

Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

A quick summary review of the first six principles:

First: A key component or weapon, if you please, is to not love the world, but to love the Lord Jesus Christ!
Second: A key component or weapon is to take on the humble mind of Christ! You can’t do it by yourself, you must do so with His help.
Third: A single focus on the Master is required.
Fourth: Where are our minds drawn, and on what do we think about? How do we renew our mind?
Fifth: Think on these things: thought management
Sixth: Praise and prayer

Seventh Principle: The Armor and Resistance

Our seventh principle has to do with the armor God has given us, as well as, learning how to take an offensive stand when needed.

Ephesians 6:10-18:

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Dissecting Warfare Armor as it Relates to Mind Warfare

First note that most of the armor described by Paul is defensive and only the sword and all prayer (like a dagger) are offensive. Later we will discuss how to use these.

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” We simply cannot do spiritual battle alone. We do not have within ourselves the power, the dynamite, to do so alone. So, mind warfare starts with being strong in the Lord. That is, we are empowered by Him to increase in strength as we walk with Him – He is the vine, and we are the branches, and we get our spiritual vitality from Him.

“Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” In the case of mind warfare, we are talking about wiles that are lies, deceptions, accusations, temptations, insults, and other mind related “fiery darts” that Satan or his minions will throw at you. They may come in the form of sincere stories in the media, on the Internet, in books you read, movies you watch, and even through misguided friends. Wiles are any attempt to corrupt your mind. That is why we need the whole armor of God to protect from these often very subtle attacks – “Hath God Said . . .”

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” This verse reminds me that lies and deceptions come from all sorts of sources, and that our battle in the mind is not fleshly (that is, surgery will not help!). Our battle is for truth, specifically God’s truth, and we must guard against all outside sources and those subtle whispers and innuendos that come flying our way. They may often appear as our own ideas (and might be as we still walk about in our old man flesh), but if they do not conform to God’s standards – God’s words – then learn to reject them quickly and replace them with God’s truth.

“Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” This verse reminds me of two things: (1) that there will be “evil days”, and (2) that we need to be able to stand (be established, be set in your resolve, covenant to abide in Christ and to not falter). Like most military campaigns, there will be ninety-five percent boredom and waiting and five percent all mayhem has let loose. It is during the ninety-five percent boredom days that you clean your weapons, that you drill and practice your skills, that you prepare your strategies, that you get that spiritual memory muscle that allows you to react rightly without hardly having to think about it.

“Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth,” The best way to stand in battle is while under cover (not just concealment) or so armored that the darts of the enemy can’t break through. Notice a policeman out in public lately? How most of them are wearing their armor, their Kevlar covering over (or under) their uniform? Pretty much all of them. Our covering of our loins is God’s Word, His truth. For example, when tempted to lust, remember that you are dead to sin and live no longer therein (Romans 6). In areas where you are most vulnerable, that is where you need to find verses to counter the lies and attacks of the enemy and call up the truth in your mind just as the attack forms. You can’t do this unless you have the truth already memorized and internalized by meditation.

Put “on the breastplate of righteousness;” The breastplate covers the front of your body. Spiritually, it represents covering as you face the enemy, not while running from or denying that there is a mental attack. Righteousness here refers to the justification that we have received in Christ. We don’t face these mental attacks alone. We do so as believers with Christ’s righteousness with which we say, “I don’t have to do that anymore! I no longer live in the miry clay – I have been pulled out of the pit and now stand on the rock!”

Shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; This refers to what was worn by the ancient soldier to guard his feet. The Greek is, literally, having underbound the feet (Strong’s G5265); that is, having bound on the shoes, or sandals, or whatever was worn by the ancient soldier. This included two parts: (1) the sandals or shoes which covered the feet and were fitted with nails or spikes to make their hold firm in the ground; and (2) greaves that were fitted to the legs and designed to defend them from any danger. These greaves, or boots, (1 Samuel 17:6) were made of bronze, brass, or other material and were in almost universal use among the Greeks and Romans.

- With the preparation: prepared with the gospel of peace. The sense is that the Christian soldier is to be prepared with the gospel of peace to meet attacks similarly to the ancient soldier who guarded himself by the sandals or greaves which he wore. The word preparation means: properly, readiness, fitness for, and the idea that they were to be ever ready to go forth to preach the gospel. Related to the mind warfare we are discussing. It reminds me of the importance of remembering who we are and what we have gained. We are not eternal beings, alive unto Christ, with an eternal perspective that the world does not offer. Good News, believer! We are bought with a price, our sins are forgiven, we have a Heavenly Father, and we don’t need to wallow in sin or evil thoughts anymore.

“Taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” Faith is the victory that overcomes the world – and the battles of our minds. As we live from faith to faith and increase in our faith, we find that these mind battles are easier to win and may even come less often as we learn to walk by faith and not by sight. The just shall live by faith. Faith in God’s Word lets us quench the lies and temptations thrust at us by all evil sources.

“Take the helmet of salvation,” 1 Thessalonians 5:8-10: “But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.”

“The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:” Pretty much self-explanatory. The offensive weapons we have at our disposal is simply God’s Word. As we memorize and meditate on God’s Word, it becomes the best weapon we have to both reject wrong thinking and replace it with right thinking. Start to lust? Quote Job – I made a covenant with my eyes . . . Start to get angry – forgive those who offend you from Matthew 6. Have you been wronged and you are insulted or slandered – turn the other cheek. Learn the Beatitudes. Memorize Psalm 1.

Galatians 5:22-25: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit,” All prayer is a state of mind that we need to be in constantly. “Pray without ceasing.” Talk often to the Father. As you pray for others, you are also turning your mind from self to others which is a good way to learn to deny the flesh.

Ephesians 2:1-3 (bold added): “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”

“Watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;” We are to be watchman and that is especially true regarding what we allow to pass through our minds. We are to remain vigilant and even when things seem desperate, when we slip and fail, we don’t give up; we ask God to forgive and strengthen, and we go on.

Final Reminder:

2 Peter 3:1-2 (bold added): “This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior:”

We still have a lot to learn and, as we close this portion of this series of articles, we need to be reminded of several things:

We must ever be in a state of readiness to manage our minds. The moment we become casual about mind management, we are likely to become a spiritual casualty.
The goal is a pure mind that is pleasing to Christ which includes rejection of those errant thoughts that wander into our minds.
We can’t leave an empty battlefield (so to speak). We need to replace rejected thoughts with spiritually accepted thoughts, and the best way to do that is to memorize and meditate on God’s Word.

Maranatha!

Bro. Joe

References

Strong, J. Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries. Meyers, R. (2005). e-Sword. [computer software] . Franklin, TN: Equipping Ministries Foundation. (Original work published 1539)

Article Archives

Privacy Policy