Ephesians

Rulers, Authorities, Powers, and Forces

Our real battle is “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12). The world, Paul tells us, is in the grip of invisible world rulers! The world rulers of this present darkness are headed by the devil, whom Scripture says is a fallen angel of malevolent power and cunning. That is not the claim of an isolated passage of the Bible. That is the consistent teaching of the Bible from beginning to end, from Genesis to Revelation—especially in Genesis and Revelation, in fact!

Jesus Himself put His finger on the whole problem when He said to certain men of His day, “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). In that analysis, the Lord stripped the devil of his disguises and revealed his true character—a liar and a murderer. What the devil does is because of who he is, just as what we do is due to what we are. Because he is a liar and a murderer, the devil’s work is to deceive and to destroy. Scripture calls him “the god of this age” who “has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4). The world listens to everything he says, and he spins a beautiful, attractive lie that makes the world drool with desire. But the end of his lie is destruction, murder, and death—death in all its forms, not only the cessation of life, but also in the form of defeat, despair, meaninglessness, and emptiness. Whom the devil cannot deceive he tries to destroy, and whom he cannot destroy he attempts to deceive.

We must learn how to overcome the rulers, authorities, powers, and forces arrayed against us. They cannot be fought by weapons of the body. The weapons of our warfare are not of the body, but of God. Our weapons are mighty, capable of pulling down satanic strongholds and bringing into captivity every thought. (See 2 Corinthians 10:4-5.) That is our arena—the realm of thought, of ideas, of soul, of spirit, of will, of obedience. That is our challenge—to submit ourselves to the military leadership of our Lord and Commander, Jesus Christ. That is our battle cry— “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power!”