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• The battle is not against people; it’s against power (6:13).
• Spiritual warfare isn’t about having someone expelled or exorcised, it’s about putting something on and standing ground (6:11).

The strategy isn’t deliverance from the dominion of darkness (2:2; 5:8 - realm of unbelief), it is defense through discipleship (tools and resources already available).

So, be strong (present passive verb) in the Lord (1:19-21:3:7,20)

-Our address “In Christ” comes with power!

Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand…

Since Satan has lost ownership of our lives and can’t possess our bodies, his scheme is to lure us into acting like him instead of like our Saviour.

How you will stand…

1. The Belt of Truth so you no longer hawk the lies of Satan; rather fight lies with what is true (6:14)

2. Choose the Breast Plate of Righteousness - the right ways of God in the wrong ways world offered by Satan(6:14).

His great prize is not to steal our bodies but to take away our righteousness.

3. On your feet, The Gospel of Peace - steadfastness on the good news makes you ready to resist all alternatives (6:15).

If you waiver on the good news, your confidence to be courageous crumbles.

4. Cover yourself with a body-sized Shield of Faith so you can deflect all the proposed doubts the devil hurls your way - really believing that what is promised is so (6:16).

If you can entertain a wedge of doubt in the goodness of God, you will revert to relying on yourself (cf. Eve)

What you will use…

1. Cover your thinking with the Helmet of Salvation - the settled condition that salvation belongs to the Overcomers (6:17; 1 Jn 4:4; Rev 2:7).

Get it settled in your head that your salvation is not based upon your comfort or absence of struggles, so that you stay in the game even when the going gets tough (Job 13:15).

2. Take solid hold of the Sword of The Spirit - The Spirit of God pushes his word forth with power (6:17; 2 Cor 10:3-5)

Well armed with divine power to demolish strongholds

3. Pray so the armour is the power of God and not just personal equipment of the determined mind (6:18-20).

Satan’s scheme plays out best against someone who knows the truth and believes the truth but is not powered by God.

Drive-by deliverance events are no match for God’s battle strategy of grace-driven, Spirit-powered discipleship - You have the tools and the power to thwart every satanic scheme when your address is “In Christ”!