Ephesians: Our Struggle Against the Forces of Darkness
Ephesians 6:12; Revelation 22:10-13 - Although the battle will end someday, we are fully engaged with deceptive and devious spiritual enemies right now.
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
Ephesians 6:12 NASB1995
The AI image from ChatGPT had this description to go along with it:
A group of believers in first-century Ephesus are helping one another—feeding the poor, teaching children, caring for an elderly widow. The scene is warm and hopeful. What they cannot see is a subtle layer of shadowy darkness in the background attempting to oppose their work. The believers are not fighting people; they are simply faithfully serving Christ while unseen spiritual opposition exists around them.
I emphasized two words in this passage in bold, because in the text in the Bible version I use had those two words in italics. Let’s study both words from the Blue Letter Bible lexicon:
World forces is from the Greek masculine noun κοσμοκράτωρ or kosmokrátōr (Strong’s G2888), with the following Biblical usages:
lord of the world, prince of this age
the devil and his demons
This is the only usage of this noun in the NT.
Heavenly places is from the Greek adjective ἐπουράνιος or epouránios (Strong’s G2032), with the following Biblical usages:
existing in heaven
things that take place in heaven
the heavenly regions
heaven itself, the abode of God and angels
the lower heavens, of the stars
the heavens, of the clouds
the heavenly temple or sanctuary
of heavenly origin or nature
There is a spiritual battle ongoing in our lives and in our universe and there are forces of wickedness aligned against God even in the heavenly places. Enduring Word has this commentary about this verse:
a. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers: Paul did not call the believer to enter into spiritual warfare. He simply announced it as a fact: we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but (we do wrestle) against principalities and so forth. You are in a spiritual battle. If you are ignorant or ignore that fact, you probably aren’t winning the battle.
b. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood: The fact that our real battle is not against flesh and blood is forgotten by many Christians, who put all their efforts in that direction. Paul’s idea here is much the same as in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4: For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.
i. Foulkes says a more literal translation is, Not for us is the wrestling against flesh and blood.
c. Principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places: Paul used a variety of terms to refer to our spiritual enemies. We should regard them as being on many different levels and of many different ranks, yet they all have one goal: to knock the Christian down from their place of standing.
i. Ephesians 6:11 tells us that all of our warfare is combating the wiles of the devil. At the end of the day it is completely irrelevant if the particular opponent we face is a principality, a power, or a ruler of the darkness of this age. Collectively, they are all members of spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. They are all part of a spiritual army that is organized and established into ranks and is under the headship of Satan who comes against us.
ii. We learn more about these principalities and powers from other passages in the New Testament.
· Romans 8:38 tells us that principalities cannot keep us from God’s love. Therefore, there is a limit to their power.
· Ephesians 1:20-21 tells us that Jesus is enthroned in heaven, far above all principalities and powers. Colossians 1:16 tells us that Jesus created principalities and powers. Colossians 2:10 tells us that Jesus is head over all principalities and power. Therefore, Jesus is not the opposite of Satan or principalities.
· Ephesians 3:10-11 tells us that the church makes known the wisdom of God to principalities and powers. 1 Corinthians 15:24 tells us that principalities and powers have an end; one day their purpose will be fulfilled and God will no longer let them work. Therefore, God has a purpose in allowing their work.
· Colossians 2:15 tells us that Jesus disarmed principalities and powers at the cross. Therefore, our victory is rooted in what Jesus did, not in what we do. It isn’t that there is no doing on our part – but our doing is the appropriation and application of what Jesus did.
iii. Some interpret the nature of principalities and powers in purely naturalistic terms. Markus Barth wrote, “We conclude that by principalities and powers Paul means the world of axioms and principles of politics and religion, of economics and society, of morals and biology, of history and culture.” Yet this contradicts what Paul says about our battle not being against flesh and blood.
Paul says our battle is not against other people (flesh and blood); they are often used in this behind-the-scenes spiritual battle that is going on and our battle as believers is more supernatural, but we know who wins in the end:
“And he *said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy.”
“Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.””
Revelation 22:10-13 NASB1995
I also wanted to share this commentary from Precept Austin, on the many ways the forces of darkness try to drive us off the narrow path:
His [Paul’s] point is that although interpersonal relationships often appear to be our major battleground (we say things like "I could live this Christian life if it weren't for the people I have to deal with!"), Paul explains that the real battle is against a hierarchy of evil invisible supernatural beings who are organized and determined to disrupt, discourage, disillusion, discomfort, disarm, disrupt, dissatisfy, dissuade, distract, disappoint, disgruntle, disequilibrate, disenthrall, dishearten, dishevel, distress, disqualify, disquiet, dispossess, disturb, disunite, destroy, deceive, etc, etc, all the while seeking to cause believers to doubt the Word of God and the faithfulness and goodness of God. So often we hear the phrase "the battle between good and evil" but this passage makes it abundantly clear that evil is not some imaginary, inanimate force but instead is an active, organized evil perpetrated by an invisible, albeit not invincible, foe. Too many Christians have failed to realize that they are engaged in this titanic spiritual struggle of the ages, and that they were "drafted" into God's army the moment they were saved by grace through faith. To be ignorant of our calling and the magnitude of this great struggle is a dangerous ignorance.
Way back at the beginning of my tenure as an amateur Bible enthusiast in this devotional series that we created, I wrote a series of posts about avoiding the “D” words (do a search on the HOW website for “Eliminate the D words”) in our lives and it was fun today to see this post from Precept Austin with a long laundry list of ways the Devil is determined to deceive us (distress us, disarm us, disrupt us, etc., etc.). Christians fail to realize that they are engaged in this struggle; we are “drafted” into God’s army the moment we have faith and repent. Spiritual battle sermons seem to be few and far between, in my experience; perhaps they should make a comeback!
I’ll end this with some selected quotes from Precept Austin about this spiritual warfare (there’s a long list of quotes, but I tried to find the best ones):
Temptation usually comes in through a door that has deliberately been left open. - Anon.
There are many sheep without, many wolves within. - Augustine, Tractates on the Gospel of John
The call to Christian commitment is not basically a call to enjoy happiness but to endure hardness. John Blanchard
For the Christian, this world is an arena, not an armchair. John Blanchard
The strategies and warfare of Satan against the children of God … are proof positive of the personality of Satan. There is no mention in the Scriptures of warfare by Satan against the unregenerate: they are his own, and therefore under his authority” (John 8:44; Eph. 2:2; 1 John 5:19 R.V.). - Lewis Sperry Chafer
A POW IS a prisoner of war. He or she is a person who has been captured by the enemy and is held hostage in the context of a conflict. The situation is where the opposition or the enemy now controls the movements, the actions, or the reactions of the person who has been captured.Many Christians are POWs, prisoners of spiritual warfare. The Enemy has captured them, and there appears to be no way of escape. They feel trapped by situations and circumstances that the world calls “addictions.” Whether it’s drugs, sex, pornography, alcohol, codependency, gambling, or food, they feel trapped, and there seems to be no way out. - Tony Evans
No matter where you are in your Christian walk right now, it is not too late to put on the armor of God, pick up your God-given weapons, and join the battle. It’s time that we learn to wage victorious spiritual warfare using divinely provided weapons. Only then will we experience the thrill of victory rather than the agony of defeat. - Tony Evans
Jesus invited us not to a picnic but to a pilgrimage; not to a frolic but to a fight. - Billy Graham
I am engaged in spiritual warfare every day. I must never let down my guard—I must keep armed. - Billy Graham
The devil works in many ways—sometimes openly, more often indirectly. But his goal is always the same: to turn us away from God. - Billy Graham
We have a cunning adversary, who watches to do mischief, and will promote errors, even by the words of Scripture. - Matthew Henry
No sooner is a temple built to God, but the Devil builds a chapel hard by. - George Herbert
No man should be alone when he opposes Satan. The church and the ministry of the Word were instituted for this purpose, that hands may be joined together and one may help another. If the prayer of one doesn’t help, the prayer of another will. - Martin Luther, The Table Talk of Martin Luther
Surrounded as we are today with so many hostile, as well as subtly deceptive, viewpoints, we must always be aware that one of Satan’s oldest and most diabolical strategies is to convince humans that God cannot be trusted. - Fritz Ridenour
The Devil will use our words and his dictionary. - Adrian Rogers
When you look for Satan, never fail to look in the pulpit. - Adrian Rogers
You must either be overcome of evil, or you must yourself overcome evil: one of the two. You cannot let evil alone and evil will not let you alone. You must fight, and in the battle you must either conquer or be conquered. The words before us remind me of the saying of the Scotch officer to the Highland regiment when he brought them up in front of the enemy and said, “Lads, there they are: if ye dinna kill them, they’ll kill you.” So does Paul marshal us in front of evil, and like a wise general he puts us on our mettle by saying, “Overcome, or be overcome.” - C. H. Spurgeon
The devil never points out the abundant blessings of God in your life. The devil always points out what is missing, lacking, or negative. - Charles Stanley
My next devotional examines Ephesians 6:13 - Take up the full armor of God.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Help me to move beyond the distractions and disruptions of this life and be fully engaged in knowing the enemies in our spiritual warfare. Amen.
Citations and Credits:
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.Lockman.org.
“G2888 - kosmokratōr - Strong’s Greek Lexicon (NASB95).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 24 Jun, 2026. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g2888/nasb95/mgnt/0-1/>.
“G2032 - epouranios - Strong’s Greek Lexicon (NASB95).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 24 Jun, 2026. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g2032/nasb95/mgnt/0-1/>.
Precept Austin was accessed on 06/24/2026 to review commentary for Ephesians 6:12.
Commentary from Enduring Word is used with written permission and without any alteration. ©1996-present The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik – enduringword.com. Within the Enduring Word commentary:
Foulkes, Francis The Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1988)