By Manuel Mariano Jr. / Special to the BusinessMirror
THIS article is about another story of a journey on faith. Sometime in 57 A.D., the apostle Paul, in his epistle to the Ephesians, told them to put on the Armor of God so that they can take their stand against the schemes of the devil.
He explained to them that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12).
What is this struggle all about? To whom was Paul alluding to? How did he know about the evil spirits? He, being an anti-Christ initially, persecuted the followers of Jesus Christ immediately after the Messiah’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection. However, his unbelief in Jesus Christ took a toll on him and paid dearly for his indiscretion.
On the road to Damascus, a voice from above, believed to be Jesus, talked to Paul and commissioned the latter as his Apostle to the Gentiles to spread Christianity. He went to Asia Minor, now Turkey, and planted churches there which became the core of the first Christians.
His 13 epistles or letters to these churches formed 50 percent of the New Testament, detailing topics on how to live as Christians. For writing these books, which contained the teachings of Jesus Christ and about a theological doctrine of God in Three Divine persons, he was tagged as the inventor of the Christian religion.
It was in Ephesus where Paul spent three years of his ministry as this place—being the fourth greatest city in the world that time next to Rome, Alexandria in Egypt and Antioch in Syria—was the hub of world civilization in the first century.
As described, Ephesus was the gateway to Asia and a highway to Rome, and it was full of wizards, sorcerers, witches, astrologers, diviners and fortune tellers, and the home of the pagan God Artemis or Diana of the Greek Mythology. Just imagine the difficulty of putting up a Christian church in this city full of false teachers with false doctrines and beliefs. Satan really was in control. Thus, spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ and talking about spiritual warfare in this strategic city was an uphill battle.
Relatedly, when I retired in 2009 as a soldier, I asked myself what have I accomplished in 38 years of military service that have contributed to the improvement of peace-and-order situation in my country?
I would recall, as an infantry officer, I was trained to defeat the enemy by sound battle tactics, naval supremacy and air superiority. I was made to understand that security and development were all that is needed for the survival of this nation and the improvement of the quality of life of the people.
Comparing this situation in Paul’s time, this is also a battle of the flesh and blood for the survival of the Republic of the Philippines against the Marxist rule, and also against its dismemberment by the Moro terrorist groups in the South.
At present, our country is faced with the problem on the proliferation of syndicates peddling illegal drugs, and the issue on extrajudicial killings against the law enforcers. Allowing these groups to win over us would mean the rule of anti-Christ or Satanic forces.
It is sad to note that even after seven years in my retirement, I have noticed that nothing much changed in the life of the majority of the Filipinos. The politicians still prioritize debates on who is doing right or wrong, instead of addressing the widespread suffering of the majority.
In a natural warfare, the Bible says, the world is under the influence of Satan and this evil spirit is unleashing fiery darts to men and nations—in the form of greed, selfishness, adultery, fornication, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, sedition, envy, murders, drunkenness and reveling, etc. No wonder, you see all these fiery darts unleashed to us every day, as read in the social media, and the effects are criminality, terrorism and wars.
On the other hand, in waging spiritual warfare, our offensive and defensive weapons are the armor provided by God—which include the sword of the spirit which is the word of God, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, the feet shod with the gospel of peace. This is the reason God the Father sent His only begotten Son to this world to destroy the works of the devil.
Simply explained, in spiritual warfare, where the battlefield is in the inner being or souls of man, the struggle is from within man itself. Meaning, in defeating satan’s offensives, it has to begin in us individually. This is well articulated in the song, “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me,” and this is demonstrated by Jesus Christ himself in the temptation in the mount by rejecting satan outright.
Mariano is a retired Philippine Army brigadier general who served in the field as Infantry and Intelligence officer.