Audio Transcript

When it comes to the devil, there are a lot of questions to work through. And there are a lot of questions that we have worked through over the years on the podcast. Is Satan real? Is he powerful? Where did he come from? How did he first sin? Is he limited? Can he devour true Christians? Can he make us physically sick? How do we fight him? Just paging through the APJ book, that section on pages 331–353, makes you realize how much there is to ask and answer about the demonic realm.

And we’re not done because today we have a question about a text in our Bible reading tomorrow, Ephesians 6:12, which tells us that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood” (NIV). So, how does this apply when it seems like our enemies are only flesh and blood, people who are causing our relational, emotional, physical, or mental pain? Here’s the listener email.

“Pastor John, hello and thank you for taking my question on Ephesians 6:12. It reminds us that ‘our struggle is not against flesh and blood’ (NIV) but against spiritual forces in the heavenly realms. In real life, how do we apply this when we’re facing tangible, everyday struggles — whether relational, emotional, or mental — where the people involved seem like the problem? When we feel attacked by others’ words or actions, how do we discern the spiritual roots behind the conflict, especially when it feels personal? How do we respond in a way that reflects Christ’s love and truth, without treating others as the enemy? How can we fight invisible battles while dealing with visible consequences in our relationships, work, and personal lives? And how do we balance all of this, without seeing demons lurking around every corner or reducing every tension to just interpersonal struggles? How do we maintain that balance?”

This question is not artificial in any way. It’s right there in Ephesians 6. It demands our attention. It’s a good question. I like it — I like this kind of question. The question is this: Do we not actually wrestle against human adversaries as well as supernatural, demonic adversaries? So, here’s the text that raises the problem:

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not [and here’s the problem] wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:11–12)

The question is, when Paul says, “We don’t wrestle against flesh and blood but against demonic powers,” does he mean there’s no struggle with human sin — sin in our family, sin in our associates, sin in our religious adversaries? No people give us any problems at all — we’ve just got demons that give us problems?

Human vs. Demonic

“Flesh and blood” ordinarily means human beings considered apart from divine or demonic reality. That’s what flesh and blood is. For example, when Peter identifies Jesus as the Messiah, Jesus responds, “Well, blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you. My Father did, who is in heaven” (see Matthew 16:17). In other words, mere human thinking or human feeling doesn’t penetrate to that reality without divine assistance. God gave you this wisdom, not flesh and blood — that is, not your humanity.

“‘Flesh and blood’ here refers to human beings over against supernatural demonic reality.”

So, when Paul says we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood, “flesh and blood” here refers to human beings over against supernatural demonic reality.

But what about the fact that Paul did have real human adversaries that threatened his faith and the faith of his churches and his own life? For example, he says in 1 Corinthians 16:9, “A wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries” — many adversaries. Now, here’s an example of who they are. He describes them in 2 Corinthians 11:13–15:

Such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also [now, we’re talking about human servants here], disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.

So, it’s patently obvious, and everybody knows it, that Paul had real human adversaries to wrestle with. And so do we. Paul is reviled; he’s persecuted; he’s slandered; he’s beaten; he’s whipped; he’s imprisoned; he’s deserted; he’s betrayed. And all of those are humans doing the mess, right? And not only does he experience that himself; he tells Timothy and Titus to rebuke those who persist in sin or undermine the faith and unity of the church (1 Timothy 5:20; Titus 1:13; 2:15). So, they’ve got real adversaries as well.

And right here in Ephesians (let’s just bring it home to the very book in which he says he doesn’t wrestle with flesh and blood), in Ephesians 4:13–14, we’re supposed to pursue maturity so that we may no longer be “carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” Now, that phrase is the same phrase he used for the demonic schemes of the devil — only here it’s human cunning. So, he explicitly says one of the things we must wrestle with and deal with and guard against are schemes and cunning, which are not only demonic but human. He calls them human.

Human Adversity, Satanic Design

In fact, I would go so far as to say that I don’t think Paul believes there is any human sinning that is not also influenced by Satan and his forces. In other words, I don’t think it’s ever helpful to try to think of human evil as one thing and demonic evil as another thing. They’re always interwoven.

Listen to Ephesians 2. So, this is the same book now, Ephesians 2:1–3: “You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the [age] of this world . . .” I’ll stop there. “Following the [age] of this world” — so, before conversion to Christ, we are in lockstep with the spirit of the age. Now, watch how Paul describes that condition:

. . . following the prince of the power of the air [that’s Satan], the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience [all of them] — among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind.

So, there are three ways to describe ordinary human beings outside Christ: (1) in lockstep with the spirit of the age; (2) following the prince of the power of the air, the devil; (3) carrying out the desires of the body and the mind. Now, that sounds a lot like flesh and blood. And it is. Flesh and blood apart from Christ is always under the sway of the spirit of the age, and it’s always under the sway of the prince of the power of the air, and it’s always acting out of its own bodily, mental desires. Therefore, in one sense, there is no separation in our warfare with human sinfulness and demonic schemes. They overlap; they’re intertwined.

And here’s an example from 2 Corinthians 2:10–11: “Anyone whom you forgive,” Paul says, “I also forgive . . . so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs,” his schemes. What satanic design are they not ignorant of? They’re not ignorant of Satan’s design to destroy a community when we fail to forgive each other.

In other words, a person who sins against us, a real flesh-and-blood human being, is in a place where we have to do some kind of spiritual warfare against the satanic, community-destroying work of Satan. Because we’re tempted not to forgive them — we want to hold a grudge. That’s real flesh-and-blood, human opposition and adversity, and it is a satanic design to destroy the church. So, even though the presenting adversary is the person who sinned against us, whom we need to forgive, nevertheless, the design in it all is satanic.

The Real Fight

So, in view of all of that, here’s my effort to understand Ephesians 6:12. When it says, “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the [demonic forces],” I think Paul means this: We do not wrestle against mere flesh and blood, mere humans. The opposition against us in this world is always bigger than that.

When we stand before a flesh-and-blood unbeliever, according to 2 Corinthians 4:4, we are standing before somebody who is not only darkened by virtue of their own depravity but also blinded by “the god of this world.” Not sometimes — all the time. It’s always both-and. Which is why, when Jesus commissioned Paul for his evangelistic ministry, he said in Acts 26:17–18, “I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”

We’re always dealing with two issues: the darkness of sin and the bondage of Satan. The good news is that, in the death of Christ, the price has been paid for the forgiveness of those sins, and the damning power of the devil has been broken since he has no charge that can stick against us in the courtroom of heaven. We are justified by God through Christ. So, we put our whole armor on. That’s what we should do: Put on the whole armor of God and go triumphantly in the gospel and the power of the Spirit.