Separated from our senses
and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. – 2 Timothy 2:26
If you, like me, have been screaming at screens because of the utter insanity of our current culture, take heed to the verse above. What we are experiencing has all the markings of spiritual enslavement. Satan has been extremely active lately, and supremely successful in capturing unsuspecting, unsaved minds.
How else to explain the blatantly satanic displays in popular music? The madness that is transgender activism? The aggressive push to introduce very young children to sex? Drag queen story hour? The devil has taken a slew of captives.
And there’s no denying that lying has become a language in itself for many in the media and particularly the government. The lies take shape in their corrupt hearts and roll off their forked tongues like juicy morsels and are swallowed whole by other captive, unsaved minds. Satan, as Jesus said, “is a liar and the father of lies.” And the father of those for whom lying is as natural as breathing.
We don’t like to talk about the devil but that gives him the advantage. How much easier for him to capture victims and separate them from their senses if he’s off our radar. We’ve made him into a fictitious character for horror films but the Bible clearly teaches that he is a real character who is active in the real world, waging war as God’s enemy and ours.
This is war
So we need to defend ourselves and others from Satan’s clutches and help those escape who have fallen into his trap. We’re talking spiritual warfare here and spiritual warfare needs to be fought with spiritual weapons. Like invisible ones? you might ask. Yes. The most powerful entities in the universe are ones we cannot see. God himself primarily, of course. We need to fight the battle by his power in virtue of being united with him by faith. And our weapon is the intangible but oh so real and extremely powerful Truth.
Satan’s arsenal is loaded with lies, and lies are combatted and defeated only with truth. But whereas physical warfare is violent and bloody, spiritual warfare is best waged with gentleness and kindness. Here’s what the apostle Paul says to Timothy preceding the verse above:
And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth,
Oh, snap. That’s often my reaction when I’m reminded of these verses. Because I get so angry about the lies that I feel like taking that sword of truth and laying some real hurt on the liars. Help me, Jesus.
The weapon of our warfare
Someday the devil will be soundly defeated and he and all his children will be banished forever from the presence of God. In the meantime, those of us who know and love Truth need to engage him in battle wielding that “weapon of our warfare.” And rescue as many senseless, captured minds as possible from his dastardly dungeon of deception.
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, – 2 Corinthians 10:4-5
