Spiritual Armory
“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:3-4). From these Bible verses we see that in our fight against the kingdom of darkness (Satan & demons) we have weapons that are not of the flesh. What are they? How do we use them? The following sections will hopefully bring some clarity to these questions.
Spiritual Weapons
These weapons that are not of the flesh exist in the spiritual realm. One reason we know that there are weapons in the spiritual realm is because angels, who do not reside in the physical realm, have swords. Before any sword was created by man in the physical realm, an angel was sent to guard the Garden of Eden with a sword (Genesis 3:24). On other occasions in the Bible angels are also noted as to having swords (Numbers 22:23, 1 Chronicles 21:16). We also know that angels have fought against evil, particularly when there was war in heaven between the devil and rebel angels and the angels loyal to God (Revelations 12:7-9).
Paul talks about how we are to “put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:10-18). The armor of God is described in order for followers of Jesus to have a better understanding of warfare against the enemy. The armor is summarized in the image below. In Corinthians Paul talks about being “…in the power of God, with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand [to attack] and for the left hand [to defend]” (2 Corinthians 6:7). Every follower of Jesus can and should be equipped with these and use them (Ephesians 6:10-17, 1 Thessalonians 5:8)! The “Spiritual Warfare” page on this website further describes the symbolism of these weapons.
Armor of God
The concept of spiritual weapons provides a visual aid on how we operate in the spiritual realm.
I believe every follower of Jesus can visualize their spiritual weapons as unique tools (i.e. not necessarily a single sword) that especially fit how they battle against the enemy. I believe our unique spiritual weapons are developed by God and our personalities. (This is not to say that two different individuals can not have the same or similar weapons). Some examples of offensive spiritual weapons are: a forcefield wall, a bow & arrow, a bazooka, karate fighting style… and the examples are endless!
A weapon is used to cause damage or harm. A spiritual weapon causes harm or damage in the spiritual realm. So how do we cause harm to the kingdom of darkness? There are 3 main ways that we battle (James 4:7, Matthew 4:1-11, 1 Corinthians 12:4-8):
Spiritual gifts
Prayer
Verses from the Holy Bible (truth)
How To Use
To use a physical weapon you must first understand and know what the weapon is. In this case you don’t need to know if your spiritual weapon is visualized as a rocket launcher or a steam roller in order to use it. Rather knowing how to use your spiritual gifts, pray effectively and read the Holy Bible enables effective use of the weapon. I believe knowing your spiritual weapon’s specific form will be an additional help in understanding how to be most effective in God’s kingdom and will be encouraging to yourself. Ask the Holy Spirit how He would like to help you be more effective in using what He has given you for His kingdom.
