J.D. Greear When it comes to the demonic, people fall into two errors—not wanting to talk about it at all, or not wanting to talk about anything else. As C. S. Lewis said, “Humanity falls into two equal and opposite errors concerning the Devil. Either they take him altogether too seriously or they do not take him seriously enough.” So we can’t just pretend that demons aren’t real. But we also shouldn’t attribute every inconvenient circumstance—a dead car battery, a traffic jam, a price increase at KFC—to spiritual warfare.
The questions is: how should we combat the demonic? If Satan is real—prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour—what can Christians do about it? Listen to what Jesus says in Luke 10:19-20: “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” In one breath, Jesus avoids both modern errors: he acknowledges the reality of spiritual enemies, but reminds us not to be obsessed with them. Jesus consistently directs people away from preoccupation with the demonic. He took on his fair share of demons, but he never tells us to go out demon hunting. Instead, he says to “rejoice that our names are written in heaven.”
Your Primary Weapon
The way to engage the demonic is by focusing on the gospel, the good news that our names are written in heaven. Paul says this in another way in Ephesians 6, talking about the “armor of God” that protects us from demonic forces. The gospel should shield our thinking (helmet of salvation), the gospel enables us to believe God’s promises (shield of faith and belt of truth), and the gospel should cause us to preach the good news to others (feet covered). Summed up? Have faith in the gospel; be covered by the gospel; saturate yourself in the gospel. Because when you are covered by the gospel, Satan can’t touch you...