The Truth Encounter
If you hold to my [Jesus’] teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
John 8:31-32
Paul was an exemplary role model for the elders at Ephesus in Acts 20:13-38, where he called for repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. He warned them that spiritual wolves would arise from their own numbers and distort the truth. Without genuine repentance there will be spiritual problems within the church. Outside the church is much worse. “The whole world is under the control of the evil one” (1 John 5:19) because Satan “leads the whole world astray” (Revelation 12:9).
Repentance literally means a change of mind, and to have faith in Jesus means to believe the truth. Obviously, the battle is for the mind. Spiritual warfare is better understood as a truth encounter rather than a power encounter. We are not caught in a battle between two equal powers but opposite powers. Jesus clearly demonstrated His superiority over the forces of evil. It is a battle between the Spirit of Truth and the father of lies.
There are no biblical instructions to pursue power because we already have all the power we need to live a righteous life and minister to others (see Ephesians 1:18-19). Satan has been disarmed (see Colossians 2:15), and the only way he continues to rule is through deception. When his lies are exposed, his pretense of power is broken.
Before the cross, Satan had not been disarmed and God’s people had not been redeemed. So it took some specially endowed authority agent to expel demons, which is why Jesus gave His disciples “power and authority to drive out all demons” (Luke 9:1). Jesus also gave special authority and power to the 72 appointees in the next chapter (see Luke 10:17,18). After Pentecost, every believer has the same power and authority to do God’s will, which is why there are no instructions in the Epistles for casting out demons within the Church. It is no longer the outside agent’s responsibility. The deliverer is Christ, and He has already come.
We don’t get our information from deceiving spirits. The Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of Truth, leads us into all truth, and that truth will set us free. No outside agent can repent for us or believe for us. That is a choice we all have to make in order to experience our freedom in Christ. The only power that Satan has is the power we give him through fear and unbelief. He controls people through lies and intimidation.
A family was riding in their car when a bee flew through a window. The children in the back sit started to panic. “Daddy, there’s a bee in the car!” The father calmly reached back and grasped the bee in his hand. The children didn’t see the bee’s stinger pierce the Father’s hand and deposit its poison. Then the father released the bee, and the children started to panic again until the father showed them the stinger in his hand. The bee had been disarmed. Jesus said, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet” (Luke 24:38-39). Jesus was saying, I took the stinger. Then Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29).
questions to consider
What warning did Paul give the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:28-31?
What kinds of problems will likely plague the church if professing Christians haven’t repented and are still believing lies?
Why is spiritual warfare more a truth encounter than a power encounter?
Since beginning this study, how have you changed your mind about God, yourself and Satan?
Whom do you fear the most—God or Satan? Why?