Bible Connections 12: Ordinary Warfare

Paul writes more about spiritual conflict than anyone else in the New Testament, and his account of how he fights includes neither exorcism nor any attempt to evict territorial spirits.
That is worth sitting with. Believers are never commanded to rebuke spirits and demand their flight. The authority of the hostile powers was withdrawn at the cross, and the church's task is not to re-fight a settled battle.
What Paul actually prescribes is truth, prayer, holiness, endurance, Scripture and loyalty to Christ. The sources sum it up as living a holy, prayerful life as a follower of Jesus, and describe the church's warfare as proclamatory rather than confrontational.
Scripture links:
- Ephesians 6:10-18 - the armour, almost all of it defensive and moral.
- 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 - strongholds pulled down by argument and obedience.
- Colossians 2:15 - the rulers and authorities already disarmed at the cross.
Most spiritual warfare looks like getting up and being faithful again. That is not a lesser version. It is the one Paul describes.