Spiritual Warfare: Schemes of Satan

Dr Alfonse Javed
Jun 15
10 min read

Stop Satan from distracting by not fighting against what you can see because our problems are rooted in the unseen. Christ’s victory is our victory and Satan has no claim on it.

Ephesians 6:11-17 - 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not 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. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God…

Did you know every physical battle that you are fighting is designed by demonic forces to distract you from the spiritual warfare that is waging against you? Why? Because Satan knows that the day you discover the power of your identity in Christ is the day you will know that your physical struggles that you see are only the symptoms of the root cause of what you don’t see in the spiritual realm. This is something I have to remind myself and my children. Two of my children recently made a confession of faith, and one of them was baptized at our church. I understand they are young boys and they will act their age, yet whenever I see them doing things that belong to the flesh, I tell them, “Don’t let Satan gain control over you.”

The problem is that most people in our culture are tricked into believing that physical problems require physical solutions. They need to know that is exactly what Satan’s schemes are designed to do.

In the final verses of Ephesians, Paul focused on various aspects of spiritual warfare. Last week in Ephesians 6:10-13, we learned we need to be equipped with the armor of God because in our own strength we cannot stand against Satan’s schemes. Today, our text in Ephesians 6 will outline what Satan’s schemes and how they work against us, how the armor of God helps us.

The big idea is: all our physical problems are designed by demonic forces to distract us from the spiritual problem that manifests into physical problems. If we want victory against Satan’s schemes in the spiritual warfare, we need to fight from victory rather than for victory. How do we do that? We do that by recognizing Satan’s schemes, how they work against us, and how the armor of God helps us. Today in our text Eph. 6:11-17, we go back three verses that we have already covered to see three truths about these schemes: 1) Satan’s schemes are Spiritual and can only be confronted by the armor of God. 2). Satan’s schemes are Subtle and can only be countered by the armor of God. 3) Satan’s schemes are Strategic and can only be combated by the armor of God. Let’s study God’s Word to understand how to withstand the schemes of Satan.

Satan’s Schemes Are Spiritual and Can Only Be Confronted by the Armor of God (Ephesians 6:11-12)

Ephesians 6:11 reads, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” The Greek word for schemes, methodiea, means calculated deceptions. The threefold purpose for Satan’s schemes is to deceive, distract, and destroy us.

Schemes to Deceive Us

Ephesians 6:12 reads, “For we do not 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.” Six times, Paul uses the word, “against,” to create a sense of defense and offense on the battlefield.

The first time, he uses it to identify who is not our enemy. It’s not the people, no matter who they are or what they have done to us, they are not the real enemy; they are the vessels through whom Satan works his purposes. Satan and his demons are evil spirits, and they need physical vessels to accomplish their purposes.

Take the example of the Garden of Eden. When he deceived Eve in Genesis 3, he used the vessel of a serpent. This is also why demons possess people. However, if they truly are saved in Jesus and are the vessels of the Lord, meaning filled with the Holy Spirit, then they cannot be possessed. Nonetheless, demons can oppress God’s people, too.

The other five times, Paul uses the word, “against,” to identify positions, powers, and places working against us. The positions, powers, and places that we fight against are spiritual and yet, we fight in the physical realm with physical weapons, with physical people and powers.

The Bible tells us that we belong to Jesus, and what is His is ours, and where He is, we are, too. Listen to what we have already read in Ephesians 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” because that’s where Christ is.

Ephesians 1:20 says, “that he [God] worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.” In Ephesians 2:6, we are told that we, too, are positionally present with Jesus in the heavenly places, saying, “and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Interestingly, the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places know that and Ephesians 3:10 says this was made known “to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.”

Schemes to Distract Us

If our blessings are in heaven, Christ is in heaven, we are with Him in heaven, and our fighting is in the heavenly places, then Satan has no option other than distracting us from the truth with the symptoms so that we do not address the root cause of our problems.

In the illustration of the Garden of Eden, Satan distracted Eve from the blessings that God had already blessed her with, with something that she was not to have. He does the same to us— as a result, we focus on what we don’t have as opposed to what we do have.

Schemes to Destroy Us

Satan deceives and distracts us in order to destroy us. Satan deceived Eve by offering something physical that she could touch, smell, and taste. In Genesis 3:6 we read, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.” Satan kept her focused on the physical until she died spiritually. He does the same to us.

Application

Don’t fall for Satan’s schemes which deceive us into believing that our problems are physical and need physical solutions. Satan’s schemes are spiritual and can only be confronted by the armor of God.

Satan’s Schemes Are Subtle and Can Only Be Countered the Armor of God (Ephesians 6:13)

Ephesians 6:13 says, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” Some think that “the evil day” refers to the end times. I disagree because in Ephesians 5:15-16 says, “15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” So, the evil day refers to these evil times, when our adversary waits for a precise moment when we are most distracted, defenseless, and feel defeated. He is subtle and uses not-so-obvious things to take us down.

Going back to the illustration of the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3:1, we read, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” The Hebrew word for crafty, “`aruwm,” means shrewd, which is a synonym for subtle. My guess is that since Adam had named the snake according to its nature of craftiness, he would have been more cautious than Eve if the snake had come him instead. First Timothy 2:14 says, “Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived.” Satan needed a vessel, and he chose a vessel that was already crafty.

On that evil day when humanity fell to his subtle schemes, we were subjected to sin and death. Satan knew that God appointed man to be the head of his household and gave him the job of taking care of the Garden. So, Satan used a subtle way to get to him.

There is a life principle for men here. Men, on this Father’s Day, let me say this to you: the first man, Adam, failed, but not the second man, Christ.

In Christ, you have been empowered with the power that even Adam didn’t have. To him, God visited; in us, God lives through His Spirit. Therefore, men, you have a unique role to play in the context of God’s Kingdom. It begins at home, where you set the example for your children, wives, and neighbors. Your marriage, family, health, finances, and work, every aspect is always under attack by the schemes of Satan. When you don’t recognize Satan’s subtle schemes, you fail in your role and responsibilities as husbands and fathers. In our society today, most of the problems come from men not exercising their God given roles and responsibilities in loving their wives and children, serving them, ministering to and discipling them. Don’t forget the immediate context of Ephesians 6 is all about family and men’s responsibility as husbands and fathers to provide and protect.

Application

Align your priorities with God. When our priorities are not aligned with God’s priorities, by default, they align with the schemes of Satan. Don’t let the slithery, sneaking snake speak into your life.

Satan’s Schemes Are Strategic and Can Only Be Combatted by the Armor of God (Ephesians 6:14-17)

Satan’s attacks are never random. He creates doubts by attacking our hearts and minds to demoralize us so we lose hope in Jesus. Ephesians 6:14-17 says, “14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace, “16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Paul lists six items that make up the whole armor of God.

The six pieces of the armor of God are: truth, righteousness, readiness, faith, salvation, and Scripture. Next time, we will look at each piece of the armor more carefully but for today, they are the foundation of the Christian faith and its practice for daily life.

You need to have the first three— truth, righteousness, and readiness— all the time, and the other three— faith, salvation, and Scripture— you take up as you need them. All of them function in a specific way to combat Satan’s strategic attacks. Some are defensive weapons while others are offensive spiritual weapons.

Take the example of war. When you are attacked by the enemy, first you need to defend yourself, but that isn’t enough. To push back the enemy, you will need to go on the offensive.

When we get saved, we all start defensively. However, as we grow in faith and righteousness, we don’t fight defensively but offensively, which means we begin to reclaim what belongs to the people of God.

Application

Nothing belongs to Satan but hell, for it was created for him and his angels, the demons. They are real beings with real evil powers, but their power only works when we are unaware of Satan’s schemes, which are spiritual, subtle, and strategic.

As I close, imagine if scientists had spent all their time and resources on treating only symptoms. Would they have found the cure for many diseases? No, right? Satan distracts us with the physical symptoms— our problems to keep us from their cure in the spiritual realm.

I recently heard a story of a young man who shot a duck that fell into a field. When he went to pick it up, an old man confronted him and said the duck belongs to him because it fell in his field. The young man pleaded his case and said, “But I shot it down.” The old man said, “Tell you what, we can settle this with a slap.”

The confused young man couldn’t understand, but the old man continued, “We both slap each other, and whoever screams the most will forfeit his claim on the duck.”

The young man didn’t feel right, but thought to himself that clearly, he would win because he is young and strong. The old man said I will go first, and the young man said, “Why not?”

The old man slapped the young man so hard, it made him scream like a baby. Then the young man said, “Now, my turn,” but the old man said, “Nope, you can take your duck.”

You see, Satan is not interested in what is physical and seen; he is interested in distracting and slapping us.

Action Step

Stop Satan from distracting and slapping you by not fighting against what you can see because your problems are rooted in the unseen. You may operate in the physical world, but the solution to all your problems is in the spiritual world. So, fight from victory and not for victory. Christ’s victory is your victory and Satan has no claim on it.

Appeal

Don’t let Satan’s deceptive, distractive, and destructive spiritual, subtle, and strategic schemes win.

Study Questions

What does “schemes of the devil” mean in Ephesians 6:11? How are Satan’s schemes designed to deceive, distract, and destroy believers?
How should believers fight against the schemes of the devil? Consider what Paul taught us: our blessings are in the heavenly places (1:3), Christ is seated in the heavenly places (1:2), we have been raised in the heavenly places with Christ (2:6).
To what does “the evil day” in Ephesians 6:13 refer? Consider Ephesians 5:15-16.

Deeper Study Questions

How does knowing that Satan’s schemes are spiritual, subtle, and strategic help us to stand against them?
In what way are you fighting Satan’s schemes?
How do we recognize Satan’s subtle schemes?