The biblical story, from Old Testament to New Testament, presents an unbroken narrative about spiritual warfare.

Namely, warfare between human beings (“man/woman”) and celestial beings (“angels”).

When the garden scene closes, we have a man obeying an angel. When the wilderness scene closes, we have a Man ordering an angel.

I grew up in a movement that was obsessed with spiritual warfare.

That movement still exists, and various elements of it have descended into wacky practices and warped theology, even glorifying the devil without realizing it.

(Satan and demons love attention, so when Christians talk about these malevolent spirits constantly, they are in effect giving them honor they don’t deserve.)

In this article — which is a brief introduction to the topic — I want to identify three different kinds of wicked spirits.

To go deeper into this subject, you can listen to Michael Heiser and I discuss the topic in three different episodes of the Insurgence podcast, episodes 30-32.

Three Kinds of Malevolent Spirits

1. Satan (a.k.a., the devil). He is a fallen celestial being known as Lucifer. [1]

2. Demons (a.k.a., evil spirits). These are NOT fallen angels as tradition holds. They are disembodied spirits, the offspring of angelic beings who mated with the daughters of men before the Great Flood. [2]

3. Spiritual principalities and powers. These are celestial beings who outrank angels. They fell from God during the tower of Babel and joined the dark side. They are territorial spirits over nations. [3]

While each of these evil spirits are different in kind and authority, they all belong to the same kingdom which is governed by Satan.

This is demonstrated by the fact that Satan is called “the prince of demons” in the Gospels. It also appears that Satan is bound in some measure when demons are cast out of people (Matthew 12:25-29; Luke 10:17-19).

Engaging in Spiritual Warfare

What does Scripture teach us about how we are to engage with these three kinds of malevolent spirits?

Let’s answer that briefly.

SATAN (a.k.a, THE DEVIL) – WHAT HE DOES

incites – 1 Chron. 21:1

blinds people’s minds to the truth – 2 Cor. 4:4

accuses – Zech. 3:1

tempts – Matt. 4:1; Mark 1:13; Luke 4:2; 1 Cor. 7:5

takes away God’s word from the heart – Mark 4:15; Luke 8:12

bounds people with sickness – Luke 13:16

enters people – John 13:27; Luke 22:3

fills people’s hearts to lie or do evil – Acts 5:3; John 13:2

destroys the physical body – 1 Cor. 5:5

outwits – 2 Cor. 2:11; Eph. 6:11

harasses – 2 Cor. 12:7

hinders (through human governments) – 1 Thess. 2:18 with Acts 17

performs false signs – 2 Thess. 2:9

disguises himself as an angel of light – 2 Cor. 11:14

deceives – Rev. 12:9; 20:10; 2 Cor. 11:1

condemns – 1 Tim. 3:6

snares people – 1 Tim. 3:7; 2 Tim. 2:26

has the power of death – Heb. 2:14

devours people – 1 Pet. 5:8

throws people in prison – Rev. 2:10

lies – John 8:44

OUR RESPONSE TO SATAN

resist him: Jam. 4:7; Matt. 4:10

refuse to give him any ground: John 14:30; Eph. 4:27

DEMONS (a.k.a, EVIL SPIRITS) – WHAT THEY DO

oppress people – Matt. 4:24; 8:16; 9:32; 12:12; Mark 1:32; John 10:21

possess people – Matt. 8:28; 15:22; Mark 5:15; Luke 8:36

make people mute – Matt. 9:33

make people unclean – Luke 4:33

throw the possessed to the ground – Luke 4:35

make people paranoid – John 7:20

make people insane – John 10:20

deliver false teachings – 1 Tim. 4:1

perform signs – Rev. 16:4

deceive people – 1 Tim. 4:1

overpower people – Acts 19:16

forecast the future – Acts 16:16

OUR RESPONSE TO DEMONS

demons are to be resisted (for they seek to enslave, possess, deceive, and harass humans).

Jesus followers who are walking in the Spirit can cast demons out of those they possess and/or oppress (Mark 16:17-18; Acts 16:16-18).

PRINCIPALITIES AND POWERS – WHAT THEY DO

Principalities and powers (also translated rulers and authorities) are higher level spirits that rule over nations. As I explained in Insurgence, they were the heavenly host that were once on God’s side, but they rebelled and became corrupt. They:

lead nations and wage spiritual warfare in the heavenlies – Dan. 10:13-20

war against God’s people – Eph. 6:12

crucified Jesus by influencing wicked men – 1 Cor. 2:8

OUR RESPONSE TO PRINCIPALITIES AND POWERS

We aren’t to confront principalities and powers directly. Jude and 2 Peter warn us against speaking to “the glorious ones” (that is, the fallen principalities and powers). But we “wrestle” with them through the following:

· Living according to the gospel of the kingdom and sharing it. As this gospel takes root in people’s hearts, it counts toward the fullness of the Gentiles and the reclaiming of the nations under Christ. This is one of the reasons why reclaiming the gospel of the kingdom is so important.

· Opting out of the world system, which is the domain of Satan. If you are still part of that system, you are under His domain and he, along with the principalities and powers, have a measure of control over you.

· The living witness of the ekklesia when she is operating as a functioning priesthood under the headship of Jesus Christ. Here is a quote in Reimagining Church about this:

“Consider the analogy of a puzzle. When each puzzle piece is properly positioned in relation to the other pieces, the puzzle is assembled. The net effect? We see the entire picture. It’s the same way with Christ and His church.

The highest purpose of the church meeting, then, is to make the invisible Christ visible through His body. Put another way, we gather together to reassemble the Lord Jesus Christ on the earth. When this happens, not only is Christ glorified in His saints, and not only is each member edified, but something is also registered in unseen realms: Principalities and powers in heavenly places are shamed!

Paul tells us that the manifold wisdom of God is made known through the church to the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places. Through open-participatory meetings, the church demonstrates to other realms that Jesus Christ—the embodiment of God’s wisdom—is alive enough to lead a fallen race who once belonged to God’s enemy. This brings great glory to God. And it’s a central aspect of His eternal purpose.

Here’s how Paul put it:

Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Cor. 1:24)

His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished [fashioned] in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Eph. 3:10–11)

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Eph. 6:12)

The open-participatory gathering has a powerful effect on the celestial realm, and it’s one of the main reasons why the enemy is invested in restricting “church” to a gathering of individuals who sit passively every week to hear someone preach a sermon.

That, in itself, doesn’t pose much of a threat to the kingdom of darkness.”

—

NOTES

[1] See http://insurgencebook.com/Origins.pdf

[2] See https://blog.logos.com/2015/10/where-do-demons-come-from

[3] See http://insurgencebook.com/Origins.pdf