"The Holy Scriptures"

2 Timothy 3:15-17 ¹⁵ and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 
¹⁶ All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Here the Apostle Paul is writing to his pupil and son in the Lord Timothy. Paul is reminding Timothy that he has known the Holy Scriptures, those taught to him as a child. What Holy Scriptures was Paul referring to? We have to remember that in the days of Jesus, and then Paul, there was no New Testament. Jesus and Paul were Jews and the only Holy Scriptures they had were the Hebrew Scriptures, what we now call the Old Testament. 

The Baal of Peor Leading the Unsuspecting to Death through the Snare of Sexual Immorality

The Baal of Peor

Leading the Unsuspecting to Death through the Snare of Sexual Immorality

The Scriptures are our best source for learning the works of the enemy against our lives: how he would like to trap us and lead us away from the Living God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When we turn to the book of Numbers 25 we can learn of one such demonic force that would work to lead the people of God down a path of destruction through idolatry and adultery. This wicked demonic force is called the Baal of Peor, and it ensnared the Israelites and caused a great plague to break out among the people of God that caused the death of twenty-four thousand. This number would have been considerably higher had it not been for the passion for the Lord of one man.

Spiritual Warfare

Spiritual Warfare

1 Corinthians 10:3-4 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh          

Every day we wake up, get dressed, go to school, work, or to play, and all of it is in a physical world that we can see, feel, and touch. What we do not always remember, or understand, is that there is a very real spiritual realm all around us, all the time. This spiritual world is active at all times, either working against us, or, as children of covenant with the Living God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, working for us. Jesus has told us in His own words that there is another world beyond our natural, physical realm.

John 18:36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” 

It is so easy to get wrapped up in our physical surroundings and forget there is a very real enemy out there that is always trying to bring destruction and misery to our lives. The Apostle Peter warned us to be alert and vigilant in regards to the spiritual realm.

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

                To glean a little foundational understanding about spiritual warfare we have to understand what the birth of Jesus Christ has done for us. Jesus was born from of woman, Mary, who was from the physical world. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, who is from the spiritual realm. When Holy Spirit planted the seed of life in Mary’s womb, this tore down the wall of separation between the physical and spiritual realm. Then through His death on the cross, and by His spilled blood, we now have authority, in His Name, to wage warfare in the spiritual realm. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, the spiritual realm is opened up to us. As we study the Old Testament, or under the Old Covenant, we see warfare was all in the natural realm. In the book of Joshua and then throughout the books of 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, all the warfare that the people of God did was in the natural realm, against an enemy that they could see, touch, and strike down. However, in the New Testament, or under the New Covenant, the warfare moves from the natural realm to the spiritual realm. As we study the scriptures of the New Covenant we can see several examples of our fight moving to the spiritual realm.