Born Into Battle

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Understanding the War Around Us, What We Are Fighting For, and the Savior Who Leads Us

“You were born into a world at war, and you will live all your days in the midst of a great battle, involving all the forces of heaven and hell played out here on earth…. Until we come to terms with war as the context of our days we will not understand life. We will misinterpret 90 percent of what is happening around us and to us. It will be hard to believe that God’s intentions toward us are life abundant.”

— John Eldredge, Waking the Dead (selected passages)¹

What if one of the reasons we struggle so much with life is that we do not fully understand the world in which we are living?

We expect life to make sense. We expect goodness to be rewarded, faithfulness to produce favorable outcomes, relationships to bring joy, and our efforts to accomplish something worthwhile. And sometimes they do. But sometimes they don’t. We pray, and the answer seems painfully delayed. We love someone, and they reject us. We try to do what is right, and things get worse. We work to build something good, only to watch it damaged by selfishness, dishonesty, or division.

Somewhere in the middle of those experiences, a question begins to form: God, where are You in all of this? Perhaps an even more troubling question follows: If You love me, why is this happening?

John Eldredge challenges us to consider whether we have misunderstood the context in which our lives are unfolding. We were created for a world without evil, but we were born into a world already at war. Whether we recognize it or not, we are living in the midst of that conflict.

For those of us who belong to Jesus Christ, Scripture describes us as soldiers. Paul tells Timothy to share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 2:3). He tells the Ephesians to put on the whole armor of God so they can stand against the schemes of the devil (Ephesians 6:11). These are not casual illustrations. They tell us something important about the nature of the Christian life.

We have an enemy, a Commander, a mission, and the equipment necessary to stand faithfully in a conflict much larger than ourselves. But before we can fight well, we must understand what we are fighting, what we are fighting for, and—perhaps most importantly—our relationship with the One who has already secured the victory.

The Battle Began Before We Arrived

None of us volunteered to be born into a fallen world. We arrived here to discover that beauty and brokenness exist side by side. We see extraordinary kindness and unimaginable cruelty. We experience the joy of love and the anguish of loss. We watch people sacrifice themselves for others while others destroy lives in pursuit of their own desires.

Scripture takes us back to the beginning. In Genesis, God creates a world He declares good. Humanity is made in His image, created for fellowship with Him, entrusted with meaningful responsibility, and given the extraordinary privilege of participating in His work.

But Genesis 3 introduces rebellion, deception, and disobedience. The serpent questions God’s Word, contradicts His warning, and suggests that God is withholding something desirable from the people He created. The first temptation was about more than eating forbidden fruit. It was about trust.

Would Adam and Eve believe that God was truthful? Would they trust His goodness? Would they accept His authority to determine what was right and wrong? Or would they choose to become their own authority?

We know their answer, and we are still living with the consequences. Sin entered human experience, bringing alienation, suffering, death, and the corruption of what God had made good. Romans 8 describes creation itself as groaning under the effects of the fall.

Yet even in Genesis 3, God reveals that evil will not have the final word. The promise concerning the woman’s offspring points forward to the ultimate defeat of the serpent through Jesus Christ.²

The battle is real, but God has never surrendered His creation to evil.

Understanding the Enemy and What Is at Stake

If we are going to understand spiritual warfare, we need to understand what Satan is trying to accomplish. Jesus calls him a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). Scripture describes him as a tempter, an accuser, a deceiver, and an adversary. One of his most effective strategies is to undermine our confidence in the God who loves us.

Look again at Genesis 3. The serpent questioned what God said, denied the truth of His warning, and suggested that God was withholding something good. His deception attacked confidence in God’s Word, His truthfulness, and His character.

That strategy remains painfully relevant. When life becomes difficult, we may wonder whether God really cares. When prayers seem unanswered, we may question whether He is listening. When someone wounds us, we may be tempted to exchange forgiveness for bitterness. When we fall into sin, we may begin to believe that God’s mercy could never reach us.

The enemy does not necessarily need to persuade us that God does not exist. Sometimes it is enough to persuade us that God cannot be trusted.

If Satan can distort our understanding of God’s character, he can profoundly influence the way we respond to almost everything else in life.

Consider what is at stake. Our trust in God, willingness to obey Him, joy in knowing Him, relationships with others, usefulness in His service, and testimony before a watching world can all be damaged when we begin living according to lies rather than truth.

The enemy cannot separate those who belong to Christ from the love of God in Him (Romans 8:38–39), but he can tempt us to live as though that love were uncertain. He cannot overturn Christ’s resurrection or invalidate God’s promises, but he can tempt us to live as though suffering and disappointment have the final word.

A Christian may continue to affirm the doctrines of the faith while gradually allowing fear, bitterness, discouragement, or compromise to govern daily decisions. We can believe the right things about God without allowing those truths to govern the way we live.

The enemy does not have to convince us to renounce Christ if he can persuade us to live as though Christ makes little difference in our daily lives.

Three Dimensions of the Battle

Scripture identifies three related sources of opposition to the Christian life: the world, the flesh, and the devil.³

The world refers to the fallen patterns of thinking and living that oppose God’s purposes. We encounter those patterns in cultures, institutions, relationships, and values that encourage us to pursue life apart from Him. The flesh refers to our own sinful inclinations—our pride, selfishness, envy, lust, anger, and desire to rule our own lives. The devil is a real spiritual adversary who seeks to deceive, tempt, accuse, and oppose God’s work.

These sources of opposition frequently reinforce one another. The world may tell us that success means having power over others. Our flesh may find that idea attractive. Spiritual deception may encourage us to believe that pursuing power is justified, even when it requires compromising what God has commanded.

Yet not every struggle is caused by direct spiritual attack. Sometimes we face the consequences of our own decisions, the sinful actions of others, or the ordinary suffering of life in a fallen creation. Faith does not require us to invent spiritual explanations for things God has not explained.

We must also remember that Satan is not God’s equal. He is a created being whose power is limited. God is the sovereign Creator. We should neither underestimate our adversary nor become so fascinated with him that we begin seeing demonic activity behind every disappointment or disagreement.

Sometimes we need to resist temptation. Sometimes we need to repent, forgive, seek wise counsel, receive medical care, rest, or take responsibility for a poor decision. Spiritual maturity includes discerning what is actually happening and responding with biblical wisdom.

We do not stand faithfully by becoming experts in darkness. We stand faithfully by walking in the light.

The Battlefield Is Often Closer Than We Think

When we hear the words spiritual warfare, we may imagine dramatic confrontations or extraordinary manifestations of evil. But many of the battles we face are far more ordinary. They happen in our homes, churches, workplaces, and private thoughts. They happen when we are treated unfairly, when our pride is wounded, when we are tempted to compromise, or when we are tired, discouraged, lonely, or afraid.

Consider someone who speaks unkindly to you. The remark hurts, and perhaps the person truly has sinned against you. But then you begin rehearsing the offense. You remember previous disappointments, imagine what you should have said, and begin assigning motives to the person’s behavior. Before long, the original offense has grown into resentment.

The other person’s words may have been wrong, but your response has become a spiritual decision of its own. Will you allow bitterness to take root, or will you respond according to the character of Christ?

Consider someone who has served faithfully in ministry for years. They have given their time, energy, resources, and love to something they believe God called them to do. Yet the results are disappointing, appreciation is scarce, and criticism seems plentiful. Eventually, discouragement begins to grow, and the temptation comes to withdraw, become bitter, or abandon the work.

The enemy does not have to destroy the ministry to damage the minister. Sometimes discouraging the heart of the servant is enough.

We may be fighting for something far more important than the immediate outcome of our circumstances. We may be fighting to remain faithful to Christ in the midst of them.

Remember Whose Army We Serve

The language of soldiers, armor, enemies, and warfare is biblical, and we should not apologize for using it. Paul tells Timothy to endure hardship as a good soldier of Christ Jesus, reminding him that a soldier seeks to please the one who enlisted him (2 Timothy 2:3–4). The illustration speaks of discipline, commitment, sacrifice, and a willingness to endure hardship for a purpose greater than personal comfort.

But soldier imagery becomes dangerous when separated from the character of Jesus.

Our Commander is the One who washed His disciples’ feet, welcomed children, touched lepers, restored the broken, and wept with those who grieved. He commanded us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. He willingly gave His life for people who had rebelled against Him.

His army does not advance through hatred, intimidation, cruelty, or the pursuit of earthly domination. We do not fight people to establish the kingdom of God. We proclaim the gospel, speak truth, practice righteousness, love our neighbors, resist evil, and make disciples.

A soldier of Jesus Christ must never become so determined to defeat evil that he begins acting unlike Jesus in the process.

The way we fight matters because it reveals whom we follow.

What Are We Fighting For?

We are not fighting to make God victorious. Christ has already accomplished His decisive victory through His death and resurrection. We are not fighting to earn God’s love, establish our own kingdom, protect our pride, or force other people to submit to our preferences.

We are fighting to remain faithful to the One who has redeemed us. We are standing for truth, resisting sin, guarding the integrity of our witness, seeking the good of people made in God’s image, proclaiming the gospel, and participating in God’s work of making disciples and building His Church.

We are learning to love when hatred would be easier, forgive when resentment feels justified, and remain obedient when compromise promises relief.

Paul reminds us that our struggle is not against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12). People are not our ultimate enemy. The person who opposes us is not someone we are called to destroy. The person who has fallen into sin is not someone we are called to abandon. The person who rejects Christ is not someone we are called to hate.

Jesus confronted sin without ceasing to love sinners. He spoke truth without surrendering compassion and resisted evil without becoming evil. That is the character He is forming in His people.

And our responsibility extends beyond our own faithfulness.

We Do Not Fight Alone—or Merely for Ourselves

When we think about spiritual warfare, it is easy to focus almost exclusively on our own struggles. We want to resist temptation, protect our faith, overcome discouragement, and remain obedient to Christ. Those are important responsibilities, but they are not the whole of our calling.

God has placed us in a family, and in that family our faithfulness affects others.

Galatians 6 gives us a remarkable picture of how Christians are to live together in a world where sin, weakness, suffering, and weariness are realities. Paul begins by telling believers that when someone is caught in a transgression, those who are spiritual should restore that person in a spirit of gentleness (Galatians 6:1). Then he instructs them to bear one another’s burdens, fulfilling the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2).

Yet only a few verses later, he writes, “For each will have to bear his own load” (Galatians 6:5).

At first, those instructions may seem contradictory. But they are not. Paul uses different words for the burdens we help one another bear and the individual load each person must carry. His teaching preserves both personal accountability and mutual care.⁴

There are responsibilities each of us must personally carry. No one else can repent for us, obey God for us, or assume responsibility for our decisions. Yet there are also burdens that become too heavy to carry alone. Grief, suffering, temptation, discouragement, and the consequences of human weakness can overwhelm us. God calls His people to come alongside one another with compassion, patience, and love.

We are each responsible for our own faithfulness, AND we are responsible to help one another remain faithful.

Think about what that means in the context of spiritual warfare. When a brother is growing discouraged, we do not simply tell him to be stronger. We help him remember the faithfulness of God. When a sister falls into sin, we do not stand at a distance congratulating ourselves for avoiding her failure. We seek to restore her gently, remembering that we too are vulnerable to temptation.

When someone is grieving, we do not demand that they immediately demonstrate spiritual victory by appearing cheerful. We sit with them, weep with them, pray with them, and help carry what has become too heavy. When someone is exhausted from years of faithful service, we help them rest, recover, and remember why the work matters.

Sometimes the most important battle we fight is the one in which we help another believer keep standing.

Paul continues: “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).

Paul does not pretend that doing good is always easy. He acknowledges that faithful people can become weary. But he encourages them not to give up. Weariness may tell us that we need rest, encouragement, help, or a renewed understanding of our calling. It does not necessarily mean we should abandon what God has entrusted to us.

The promised harvest does not guarantee that every ministry will succeed as we envision it or that every sacrifice will receive recognition in this life. It reminds us that faithful obedience is not wasted in God’s hands, even when the results remain unseen.

Then Paul broadens our responsibility: “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10).

Our participation in the battle is not merely defensive. We are not simply protecting ourselves from evil. We are actively seeking opportunities to encourage, restore, comfort, teach, serve, strengthen, and love.

We do not advance the purposes of Christ merely by resisting what is evil. We also advance them by faithfully doing what is good.

We are not isolated soldiers trying to survive until Jesus returns. We are members of His body, called to strengthen one another and carry His love into a world that desperately needs Him.

Our Strength Comes From Knowing the One We Follow

It is possible to know a great deal about spiritual warfare and still live a spiritually defeated life. We can study the descriptions of Satan, memorize the armor of God, identify the world’s corruption, and recognize the dangers of temptation. Yet none of that substitutes for a living relationship with Jesus Christ.

The strength of the Christian soldier is not found primarily in understanding the enemy. It is found in knowing, trusting, and following the Savior.

Jesus said, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me” (John 15:4).

A branch does not produce fruit by struggling harder to become a tree. It bears fruit because it remains connected to the source of its life. Jesus did not tell His disciples to become spiritually independent, capable of defeating evil through their own strength. He told them to abide in Him. Then He made the dependence unmistakable: “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

We cannot defeat the flesh through mere determination, overcome deception by relying exclusively on our intelligence, or consistently love our enemies through the strength of our natural personalities. We cannot remain faithful in every circumstance by simply trying harder.

We need Jesus—not merely as the One who saved us in the past, but as the One in whom we live today.

We need His Word to shape our thinking, His Spirit to strengthen our obedience, His grace to sustain us in weakness, His forgiveness when we fall, His wisdom when we are confused, and His love to keep our hearts from growing cold.

Abiding in Christ is not passivity. It means remaining in living dependence upon Him while actively walking in obedience. We listen to His Word, submit our thinking to His truth, bring our fears and burdens to Him in prayer, confess our sins, obey His commands, and remain connected to His people.

Jesus connects abiding with obedience and love in John 15:9–10. He calls us not merely to admire His teachings but to remain in His love and keep His commandments.

When we are tempted to retaliate, abiding means remembering His command to forgive. When we are afraid, it means trusting His promises rather than allowing fear to govern our decisions. When we are tempted to compromise, it means valuing His approval more than the approval of others. When we fail, it means returning to Him in repentance rather than withdrawing in shame.

Abiding in Christ is not retreating from the battle. It is the way we receive the strength to stand faithfully in it.

Equipping Ourselves for the Battle

Paul’s instructions in Ephesians 6 begin with a command: “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” (Ephesians 6:10).

The source of our strength is unmistakable. We are not being told to manufacture spiritual power through determination. We are being told to depend upon the Lord.

Paul then describes the armor God provides. Each piece helps us understand how to stand faithfully in daily life.⁵

The belt of truth reminds us that deception is one of the enemy’s principal weapons. We must know God’s Word, recognize what is true, and refuse to build our lives upon assumptions that contradict His character. When suffering tempts us to believe that God has abandoned us, truth directs us back to His promises.

The breastplate of righteousness calls us to live in a manner consistent with the One to whom we belong. Our standing before God rests on Christ, and His righteousness must also bear fruit in our conduct. When we choose obedience over compromise, we are standing in the battle.

The readiness given by the gospel of peace reminds us that we have been reconciled to God through Jesus Christ and are called to carry that good news to others. We should be prepared to speak of the hope we have in Christ and to pursue peace rather than unnecessary conflict.

The shield of faith enables us to trust God when circumstances seem to contradict His promises. Faith does not require us to deny suffering or pretend that difficult questions do not exist. It calls us to trust the character of God even when we do not understand His ways.

The helmet of salvation reminds us that our hope rests in what Christ has accomplished, not in our own spiritual performance. When condemnation, fear, or discouragement threatens to overwhelm us, we remember that our redemption is grounded in His grace.

The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, equips us to recognize deception, resist temptation, and respond according to divine truth. Jesus Himself answered Satan’s temptations in the wilderness with Scripture (Matthew 4:1–11). We must do more than possess a Bible; we must know it, believe it, and obey it.

Paul concludes by calling believers to pray at all times in the Spirit, with perseverance and supplication for all the saints (Ephesians 6:18). Prayer is not an optional addition to the Christian life. It is an ongoing expression of dependence upon God, and it reminds us that our concern extends beyond ourselves to the spiritual welfare of others.

Notice how practical this equipment is. Truth shapes what we believe. Righteousness shapes how we behave. The gospel shapes our mission. Faith shapes our response to uncertainty. Salvation anchors our hope. Scripture directs our decisions. Prayer sustains our dependence upon God.

The armor of God is not something we merely recite. It describes the spiritual realities we must learn to live in every day.

How Do We Fight Tomorrow Morning?

This is where the battle must become more than an interesting theological discussion. What does it mean to wake up tomorrow and live as a faithful soldier of Jesus Christ?

It begins by remembering whose we are. Before the demands of the day compete for our attention, we can consciously acknowledge that we belong to Christ. Our lives are not our own; we have been bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:19–20). That is not a burden intended to crush us. It is a glorious reminder that we belong to the One who loved us enough to give Himself for us.

We begin the day in dependence. We open God’s Word, not merely to collect information, but to learn His heart and bring our thinking into alignment with His truth. We pray, not simply presenting requests, but submitting ourselves to His will. We ask Him to expose our pride, correct our assumptions, strengthen our faith, and help us recognize opportunities to love and serve others.

As the day unfolds, we remain attentive. When we are tempted to retaliate, we remember Christ’s call to forgive. When we are afraid, we remember His faithfulness. When we are tempted to compromise, we remember His holiness. When we are discouraged, we remember His promises. And when we fail, we confess our sin and return to Him rather than hiding in shame.

We also look for opportunities to strengthen others. A phone call to someone who has become isolated, a quiet word of encouragement to a weary servant, a gentle conversation with someone drifting away from fellowship, or a prayer offered with someone who no longer knows what to pray may seem like small acts. But small acts of faithfulness can have consequences far beyond what we see.

We should also remember that not every day will feel victorious. Some days faithfulness will look like courageous action; other days it will look like quiet endurance. Sometimes it will mean confronting sin, asking forgiveness, accepting help, or taking the next small step of obedience when we are too weary to see much farther.

Spiritual strength is not demonstrated by pretending we have no weaknesses. It is demonstrated by depending upon Christ in the midst of them.

We Fight From Victory, Not for Victory

There is a profound difference between fighting a battle whose outcome is uncertain and standing faithfully in a victory that has already been secured.

Christians are not trying to defeat Satan through their own spiritual accomplishments. Jesus has already accomplished the decisive victory through His death and resurrection. At the cross, He bore our sin and secured the redemption of all who belong to Him. Through His resurrection, He conquered death.

Colossians 2:15 describes His triumph over the spiritual powers. Hebrews 2:14 tells us that through death He defeated the one who has the power of death.⁶

The enemy remains active, but his ultimate defeat is certain. We live in the time between Christ’s accomplished victory and the final restoration of all things.

Jesus told His disciples, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

There is the beautiful both/and of the Christian life. We will experience tribulation, AND we can have peace. We will face temptation, AND God provides grace to resist it. We will experience weakness, AND His power is made perfect in weakness. We will grieve, AND we do not grieve as those without hope.

We are soldiers in a very real battle, AND we belong to a victorious King.

The victory of Christ does not mean that every earthly circumstance will turn out as we desire. Faithful Christians still experience loss, illness, suffering, and disappointment. But none of those things can overturn what Christ has accomplished or separate His people from His love.

We can remain faithful because our hope rests in Jesus Christ, not in our ability to control the outcome of every battle.

Never Forget the Heart of Your Commander

Perhaps the most dangerous misunderstanding we can develop in the midst of the battle is to begin questioning the heart of the One who leads us.

We encounter suffering and wonder whether God has forgotten us. We experience disappointment and question whether He is good. We face circumstances we cannot understand and begin to interpret His character through what is happening around us.

But Scripture directs our attention somewhere else: to the cross.

Romans 5:8 tells us that God demonstrated His love for us while we were still sinners. Before we had anything to offer Him, before we had demonstrated faithfulness, before we had earned anything, Christ died for us.

The King gave His life for His enemies. The Judge bore the judgment of the guilty. The Master died for the slave.

That is the heart of our Commander.

The One who calls us to stand faithfully in the battle is the very One who entered the battle Himself, suffered for us, and secured our redemption at the cost of His own blood. He has promised never to leave or forsake His people.

We must not allow the circumstances of our lives to become the measure of God’s love for us. The cross has already established that love beyond dispute.

John Eldredge is right to remind us that we must understand the war if we are going to understand much of what happens around us. But the war is not the whole story. Before sin entered the world, there was God’s good creation. In the midst of the world’s rebellion, there is His redeeming grace. And when Christ returns, there will be the final restoration of all things.⁷

Until that day, we have been called to stand—not in our own strength, not in fear of the enemy, and not in desperate uncertainty about the outcome, but in faithful dependence upon Jesus Christ.

We cannot rightly understand the battle until we understand the heart of the One who leads us through it.

And when we know His heart, we discover that the purpose of our lives is not simply to survive the battle. It is to know Christ, become more like Him, strengthen one another, and faithfully serve His purposes in the very world He came to redeem.

Until the day when faith becomes sight, when the battle is finished, and when the King makes all things new.

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Summary

Christians live in a real spiritual battle, but our greatest responsibility is not to become preoccupied with Satan. It is to know Jesus Christ, trust His character, obey His Word, and stand in the strength He provides. We face opposition from the world, our own sinful inclinations, and the devil, yet Christ has already secured the decisive victory. We are called to put on the armor of God, remain in living fellowship with our Savior, and help one another persevere. We do not merely resist evil; we actively do good, strengthen the weary, restore the fallen, and bear witness to the love of Christ. The battle is real, but the heart of our Commander—and the certainty of His victory—gives us courage to stand.

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Five Coaching Questions

1. When life becomes difficult or disappointing, what conclusions am I most tempted to draw about God’s character? How do those conclusions compare with what Scripture reveals about Him?
2. Which part of my present struggle involves the world’s influence, my own sinful inclinations, or spiritual temptation? What would a faithful, biblically grounded response look like?
3. Am I approaching the Christian life primarily through personal determination, or am I cultivating a living, obedient dependence upon Jesus Christ? What would abiding in Him change about my ordinary day?
4. Who around me is growing weary, struggling under a heavy burden, or drifting away from faithful fellowship? How could I help that person stand without neglecting my own responsibilities?
5. If I truly believed that Christ has already secured the decisive victory, how would that change the way I face my present circumstances, treat other people, and carry out the work God has entrusted to me?

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Endnotes

1. John Eldredge, Waking the Dead: The Glory of a Heart Fully Alive (Thomas Nelson, 2003), chapter 1, “Arm Yourselves.” The opening epigraph combines selected passages from the chapter rather than reproducing one continuous paragraph. Eldredge’s “90 percent” is rhetorical emphasis, not a measured statistical finding. See the published book excerpt at https://www.abebooks.com/9780785265535/Waking-Dead-Glory-Heart-Fully-0785265538/plp.
2. Genesis 3:14–15; Romans 8:18–25; Hebrews 2:14; Revelation 12:9; 20:10. Genesis 3:15 has long been understood in Christian interpretation as anticipating Christ’s victory over Satan. The article treats this as a canonical, Christ-centered reading rather than claiming that every detail of the later fulfillment is explicitly developed in Genesis itself.
3. The threefold description of the world, flesh, and devil summarizes related biblical teachings rather than reproducing one verse’s exact wording. See 1 John 2:15–17; Romans 12:2; Galatians 5:16–17; James 1:13–15; Ephesians 6:10–18; and 1 Peter 5:8–9. These passages also caution against assigning every human temptation or difficulty to direct demonic activity.
4. Galatians 6:1–10. In verse 2 Paul uses the Greek barē, meaning burdens or weights; in verse 5 he uses phortion, meaning a load or burden assigned to someone. The terms have overlapping ranges of meaning, so the distinction should not be pressed as an absolute lexical rule. Paul’s larger argument clearly joins mutual burden-bearing with personal responsibility. See also Galatians 5:13–14.
5. Ephesians 6:10–20. Paul’s armor imagery draws on Old Testament descriptions of God’s own righteousness and salvation, particularly Isaiah 11:5; 52:7; and 59:17. The armor should be understood in the context of God’s provision, Christian perseverance, and the corporate life of the Church. The practical descriptions in this article are applications of Paul’s imagery, not claims that every item has only one possible meaning.
6. Colossians 2:13–15; Hebrews 2:14–15; 1 Corinthians 15:20–28, 54–57; Revelation 20:10–14. The New Testament presents Christ’s decisive victory as accomplished while also anticipating the final removal of evil and death. This is the basis for the article’s distinction between standing in Christ’s accomplished victory and awaiting its final consummation.
7. Genesis 1–2; Romans 8:18–25; Revelation 21:1–5; 22:1–5. Scripture’s larger story encompasses creation, human rebellion, God’s redeeming work in Christ, and the final restoration of all things. Spiritual warfare belongs within that story; it is not the whole story.

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