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. — Ephesians 6:12
The verse says, “For our wrestling” (‘the wrestling’ in which we are engaged) is “not against flesh and blood.” When you study the Greek you understand better what is being said in these verses in Ephesians. Of course we wrestle and fight with men, there are wars with men fighting someplace everyday!
This “Wrestling” implies that it is a hand-to-hand and foot-to-foot struggle for the mastery. The meaning is, not with men only and not just against physical, but spiritual forces.
Flesh and blood foes are the mere tools of spiritual evil with whom our conflict is, the spirit of antiChrist. To wrestle successfully with the spirit of antiChrist, we must wrestle with God in irresistible prayer like Jacob (see Genesis 32:24-29; Hosea 12:4). This is a Spiritual war we are in as well as a physical war.
This is the reason why saints must be strong in physical might and strong in the spiritual strength of the LORD. This is why we must put on the whole armour of God, and prepare for battle, since our enemies are as here described: not just “flesh and blood.”
There is a spiritual war taking place and much of it you will encounter with physical battles! Yes, the physical confrontations, conversations, looks, faces, gyrations, posturing, outbursts, physical fighting, etc are all part of that wrestling! And it is with the flesh as well as the spirit!
You can be certain that if a ruler or king of the darkness of this world sends out a warrior to subdue you, and you enter a gun or sword fight you better be prepared to wage a physical battle! There will be a spiritual as well as physical battle taking place in that fight at the same time! So, in that gun or sword fight you are wrestling NOT JUST with flesh and blood, but against the spirit of that warrior and the spirit he obeys! And if you choose not to defend yourself against that physical warrior you will answer to the LORD himself for not defending yourself with the tools he provided you.
“Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, The LORD your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this land. Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side Jordan; but ye shall pass before your brethren ARMED, all the mighty men of valour, and help them; Until the LORD have given your brethren rest, as he hath given you, and they also have possessed the land which the LORD your God giveth them: then ye shall return unto the land of your possession, and enjoy it, which Moses the LORD’S servant gave you on this side Jordan toward the sunrising.”
—- Joshua 1:13-15 (caps are mine for “armed”). That word “armed” means martialed or carrying arms.
Do not think that the LORD wants or expects you to stand and not take on or deal with the physical elements of this world! If men did not use physical abilities and weapons against the evil, then evil would certainly prevail! DO NOT DECEIVE YOURSELVES into thinking otherwise! Evil men will not simply bow down because you prayed about it! If they did, wars would not exist, but it is readily apparent that is not the case. That means you MUST also at times take physical action to stop evil! Otherwise the spirit of lust for power, money, control, people, etc will run roughshod over you and everyone else unless you make them physically stop.
Prepare yourself to wrestle NOT JUST against flesh and blood but “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Behind that physical fighting are Spiritual powers and they mean to fight you unto the death! Do not be overcome because you have not put on the armor of God!
Michael Reed is Publisher of The Standard newspaper, print and online, and TheStandardSC YouTube channel where many video reports may be found. Please “like”, comment, share with a friend, and donate to support The Standard on this page to assure the continued availability of news that is ignored too often by the dominant media.
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Your article is excellent! I went over & over that same passage for some 30 years before I finally figured out what it means: It means what it says, as you so eloquently explained. My stumbling block was that I didn’t understand that demons (evil forces) influenced people today. I knew that Jesus cast out demons; but that was then – this is now and demons aren’t around these days (or so I believed).
But when I came across “COS” (Mark Meckler’s so-called “Convention of States” organization) bots and saw their foaming-at-the-mouth rage & hatred against me, and saw how viciously they smeared me], I was bewildered and couldn’t understand how someone who didn’t know me could hate me so and wage such vicious attacks against me. A year or so ago, and in the Capitol Building of South Carolina, I was assailed by a younger woman who was berserk with rage & hatred & fury against me because I had testified at a House Committee hearing against the Article V convention. It was at that time that it finally hit me that these COS bots are controlled by demonic forces. And then, I began to understand that passage. Some of us must experience such bewildering attacks from strangers controlled by demonic forces before we catch on and recognize that this passage means what it says.
I know that it is vulgar to speak of oneself; but sometimes our personal experiences can help others. Here the lesson to be learned is this: Don’t approach the Bible with your own preconceptions [blinders] in the way. I believed that demons weren’t around any more – and so was blinded to the meaning of that extremely important passage.
In our Declaration of Independence, we recognized that the purpose of civil government is to secure the Rights GOD gave us. Civil government thus serves the hallowed purpose of carrying out God’s Will concerning the Rights God says humans have. Our Constitution of 1787 was ratified to carry out this hallowed purpose [If anyone wants an illustration of this, contact me.] THAT IS WHY THE DEMONIC FORCES WANT TO GET RID OF IT. So this War over getting an Article V convention is a spiritual war – the forces of evil want to get rid of our God-focused Constitution and replace it with another Constitution which was crafted in the pits of hell. One of the lawyers on Mark Meckler’s “COS” Legal Advisory Board has co-authored a replacement Constitution which would, among other horrors, impose gun controls and red flag confiscations.
So I suggest that this battle over the Article V Convention is between the Children of God and demonic forces and their human tools, dupes, and useful idiots.