Spiritual Warfare Movement

This movement focuses on the struggle of the Christian against sin, demons, and Satan. Although this concept can be seen throughout the Bible, and there are various high points in Scripture which embrace almost wholly the concept (like the Temptation of Christ in Mat 4), this movement or focus has been kidnapped by some Pentecostal-Charismatic people to twist it into an ugly, unbiblical teaching.

Biblically Defined:

Biblically we can say that it is true that sin and evil are factors in the real world which push and pull against the Christian to place him into a sinful disposition and relationship with God. This power cannot be underestimated. The Bible principally places man’s will at the center of this dynamic, placing the greatest responsible agent of sin as man’s own will. God admits that good influence from God, His word, His Holy Spirit, other Christians living holy lives all influence a person toward good (complying with God’s will). Also that person’s own inclination towards sin, Satan and demons tempting us into anything that is not God’s will, as well as other forces and people which provoke us to sin, or provide sinful examples all influence us likewise.

But the Bible places the responsibility on each individual for the sins that he or she commits. There is nobody in the universe that will force you to sin against your own will, even though there can be pressure applied to the degree of dying in trying to force you to sin. None-the-less, nobody BUT YOU are ultimately responsible for your sins.

Current Corruptions:

Pentecostal “Proctor and Gamble Tokenism”

I take the name of this error from a story I was told by a person who fell under a Pentecostal’s group influence. This person (Mexican) was told that they would come to her house and have a “cleansing” of her house, and various articles such are products with Proctor and Gamble’s image (stars and moon) were causing her spiritual difficulties and sin. There is probably no image that would do that, and certainly not against the person’s knowledge. Pictures of undressed women might immediately cause a man to sin, but no moon and stars. These images are everywhere, and most people never even notice them. What the Bible condemns is worship of false gods through images or idolatry, and if there is no heart disposition or worship or reverence (there wasn’t even knowledge on the part of this lady), then there is not a tripping up into sin.

General Mysticism

Most spiritual warfare literature quickly degenerates into just simply insane mysticism. What is mysticism? It is the belief that things cause sin instead of your own will. It removes the emphasis on sin is caused by your willful disobedience of God’s commands, will, and obligatory examples, and places it on elements and people that really are not the cause of sin. A false victory is claimed by removing a can of Chicken and Stars soup from your kitchen, as if all a person’s spiritual struggles, conflicts, and fallings into sin was conditioned on a token (something insignificant that supposedly represents something greater and more important).

Additional Literature:

Passantinos – Spiritual Warfare: Designer Weapons for Contemporary Christians