Into the question of demon possession and Satanic control we do not enter. These

things belong to other dispensations. We leave them where Scripture places them. We

are concerned for the truth of the mystery. It is laid upon us to make it known, and

subversive doctrine must be withstood. Anything less than this would be unfaithfulness

to our stewardship. We shall maintain, as long as God grants us grace to be faithful, that

positionally, dispensationally, and doctrinally the church which is His body is "delivered"

and "translated" from the authority of darkness, and that only in the realm of the flesh

and the old man can Satan find any ground for attack. The armour of God is not for

captives but for soldiers, and has nothing to do with those who are already bound. We

still believe that the truth makes free, and that we best demonstrate our victory over the

Devil by believing and teaching that we are "delivered" and "translated" "far above all".

When dealing with this subject in our September issue, we did not give much space to

the question of the conflict which is the theme of Eph. 6:, and lest our scanty reference

should be mistaken, we propose an examination of it here.

There are a series of questions which we feel demand an answer from Scripture. For

instance, is it not too readily assumed that all believers are "soldiers" of Christ? This

assumption we seriously question as being at the root of many failures in Christian

practice, and we hope to show that no babe in Christ or novice in doctrine is in view in

Eph. 6: There is not the slightest indication therein that the apostle refers either to the

enslaved dupe of Satan, or to the believer frantically struggling to throw off his yoke. We

do not find there one paralyzed with fear, devil-dogged at every turn, crying out for

"victory" that does not come, nor do we find any instructions to practice a species of

auto-hypnotism by "repeating aloud" any phrase even though it be a quotation of

Scripture. We once more ask this question, and seek an answer to it from the Word:

The first answer that Scripture yields is a correction of our phraseology, for the word

"fight" is not used. To use it begs the whole question, for it assumes what is to be

proved, viz., that fighting and warfare are actually in view. But one may legitimately

interpose, "Armour and weapons indicate warfare". They do, but we will consider this in

its place. Before we go so far, we must determine, if we can, who are the contestants,

and then the nature of their contest.

An unskillful handler of the sword of the Spirit would be hopelessly outclassed in the

conflict of Eph. 6: