The Battle is Real, But the Outcome Depends on Your Position

Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;  Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. (Colossians 2:12-15)

There is a real battle going on. The enemy is real, his activity is real, and the pressure he brings against Christians is also real. But here is what you cannot afford to forget in the middle of that battle. Satan is a defeated enemy. He is not weakened, on his way to being defeated someday but rather He is already defeated!

Colossians 2:15 says Jesus spoiled principalities and powers. The word spoiled means He stripped them. He disarmed them of every weapon they ever had access to. Everything they were using against you, He took away at the cross. And then it says He made a show of them openly. That means this act was on public display in the spirit realm. Jesus didn’t have a close victory. He had a decisive, public, and total victory. The enemy knows it. The angels know it. Hell knows it. The question is whether you know it and live like it.

Before that verse, Paul wrote about what happened at salvation. You were dead in your sins. Then God made you alive together with Christ. He forgave every trespass and blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that were against you. That handwriting was the legal record of everything you owed that you could not pay. Every sin you ever committed was wiped away.

Practical Application

Here is what you need to understand about spiritual warfare: you are not fighting for victory. You are fighting from victory. There is a significant difference. A soldier fighting for victory does not know how it ends. A soldier fighting from victory is enforcing a result that has already been secured. You are in the second category. The cross already settled it. The resurrection confirmed it. Your job is not to defeat Satan. Jesus already did that. Your job is to stand on the ground Jesus won and refuse to give it back.

Romans 8:37; Hebrews 2:14