The 3 Deadliest Enemies of Christians and How to Defeat Them

The life of Christians is not a life of conforming, but a life of overcoming. It is not a walk in the park. Anyone who follows the teachings of God must be prepared to live a life of a spiritual soldier (II Timothy 2:3-4). Part of our Christian calling is to face the three deadly enemies that can discourage and distract us from our spiritual goals. If we are to be active soldiers of God, then we must know our enemies and how to defeat them.

In this blog post, let me share with you the 3 deadly enemies that every Christian must overcome.

Enemy no. 1: Human Nature
Sometimes, our greatest enemy is not from without, but from within. We are our own greatest enemy that can lead us away from God. Galatians 5:19-21 describes what exactly our human nature is and its manifestations.

“What HUMAN NATURE does is quite plain. It shows itself in immoral, filthy, and indecent actions; in worship of idols and witchcraft. People become enemies and they fight; they become jealous, angry, and ambitious. They separate into parties and groups; they are envious, get drunk, have orgies, and do other things like these. I warn you now as I have before: those who do these things will not possess the Kingdom of God (GNB).”

Human nature is highly deceitful and clever. It sets off degrading and strong impulses to entice us to sin, break God’s laws, and separate us from Him.

So what is the best solution to overcome our human nature? Galatians 5:16-17 shows us the answer.

“What I say is this: let the Spirit direct your lives, and you will not satisfy the desires of the human nature. For what our human nature wants is opposed to what the Spirit wants, and what the Spirit wants is opposed to what our human nature wants. These two are enemies, and this means that you cannot do what you want to do (GNB).”

The best way to overcome our human nature is to be filled with the Holy Spirit which can only come from God. The more you stay close to God, the more Holy Spirit you will be filled with.

Enemy no. 2: The World
The world’s social order, with all its deceitful lusts and pleasures, is another great enemy that we should overcome. Let’s read I John 2:15-17.

“LOVE NOT THE WORLD, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that DOETH the will of God abideth for ever” (KJV).

The term world here comes from the Greek word, “cosmos.” It doesn’t talk about the literal earth, but the societies of this world, many of which are literally built on greed, lusts, and vanity. That’s why the Apostle John specifically listed what in the world that we should not love.

We read from Revelation 12:9 that the WHOLE WORLD is deceived. The majority of this world’s population are blinded from the truth, and they thought that what they do isn’t wrong. Therefore, if you try to love the world and partake of its sins, you will pass away with the world.

So what is the best way to overcome the world? There are plenty of ways. Here are some of them:

First, we need to DO the will of God (I John 2:17) and not just believe in God. By doing so, we can overcome the pulls of this world.
Second, we need to strive to be lights of the world (Matthew 5:14). Don’t let the world put out the flame of our light.

Third, be separate. II Corinthians 6:17-18 tells us, “WHEREFORE COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” Compare Revelation 18:4.
Fourth, be unspotted from the world (James 1:27). Make sure that your ways should always be pure and holy.
Enemy no. 3: Satan

This list won’t be complete without including Satan. He has been a “MURDERER from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the FATHER of it” (John 8:44). He is like a roaring lion who constantly seeks whom he may devour (I Peter 5:8).

Satan is ultimately responsible for all the sufferings, chaos, and mess that we witness in this vast universe. He is even called the current god of this world (II Corinthians 4:4), so you shouldn’t be surprised why this world is full of pain and death.

Satan is cunning, deceitful, and crafty. He is powerful than any of us, but he is powerless against God. So the best way to overcome Satan is to “SUBMIT TO GOD. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). Here’s the best strategy that we can do to fight Satan and his evil schemes.

Moreover, to further strengthen our spiritual body, we need “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might” and “put on the WHOLE armour of God, that [we] may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:10-11).

One way of defeating Satan is knowing more about him. Here are two blogs I wrote about him.

5 Dirty Secrets Satan Doesn’t Want You To Know
Top 20 Surprising Biblical Facts about Satan
Conclusion

The enemies of our Christian faith can easily overcome us if we let it. Actually, it is the default mode of our being. If we don’t do anything, we become easy prey. Thus, it is a must that we actively OVERCOME these three enemies that can distract us from our Christian calling. Remember the three ways on how to overcome them.

The Christian life is never that easy, but it does not come without any reward. Doing God’s will in our lives lead to a blessed and happy life. Yes, it’s hard, but the reward is GREAT and beyond our wildest imagination. So keep on fighting the good fight so we may please Him who enlisted us to be His spiritual soldiers for the Kingdom (II Timothy 2:4).

At the end, we will all see that the Christian fight is worth fighting for!