The World, the Flesh, and the Devil

The World, the Flesh, and the Devil

By Jason Hutchcraft

Facing opposition is a normal and necessary part of living by faith while in this present, evil world. The child of God should always expect struggle, opposition, and conflict as long as his or her life in the body endures. Only when we are forever with the Lord will the end of our warfare be a reality. Until that time we must fight the good fight of faith. To fail to fight and to struggle against our opposition is to be defeated already and disqualified from the prize that is eternal glory with Christ. Coming into the Kingdom of God is the beginning and not the end of struggle. Those who preach that God’s children can expect nothing but health and wealth while in the world are liars and false teachers who try to disarm the people of God. Those who look for a religious faith that will solve all their earthly troubles and give them some kind of carnal advantage in this life need to understand that faith will actually create new problems! God’s plan of salvation is much bigger than just making us successful in a worldly sense because all of the things associated with life in this world are passing away.

The believer becomes aware of a great, cosmic struggle that everyone is actually a part of, even though often unaware of the truth. Contrary to some human philosophies, the outcome of this cosmic conflict has never really been in doubt. It is not possible to overcome God. If it were possible to overcome God, then God would not be God at all! So the question of God’s sovereignty is not the real issue of life. The real issue for human beings in the world is: which side of this conflict we are going to join? Now is the time to choose sides. Everyone must choose between good and evil, between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Darkness. The choice not to choose but to attempt to remain neutral is itself a choice! All those who are outside of Christ are subject to the Powers of Darkness that rule this world.

The believer in Christ faces three great sources of opposition while still in this world: 1. The World, 2. The Flesh, and 3. The Devil. The Word of God speaks explicitly and plainly about all of these forces that come against the child of God. There is no way to escape a confrontation with these enemies and God’s people must be strong and courageous and not shrink back in fear and intimidation.

First, there is opposition from the World. The World is a Biblical term that refers to a certain system or realm. This system or realm is an organized force and source of opposition. The World is not the visible, natural world of creation but is an invisible, spiritual system that has a certain quality, purpose, and spirit. The World is in opposition to God and in a state of rebellion against Him. This enemy will mostly appeal to our senses and seeks to awaken our sensual desires, or lusts of the flesh, that will lead us away from our love and devotion to God. The World operates according to the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2.15-17). We are not to love the things of the World because it is impossible to love God while being entangled in the pursuits of the World. These things are opposed to God and His will and we must choose which Master we will serve.

Secondly, we face opposition from the Flesh. This is the enemy within! The World is the enemy that besieges us from outside the gates, seeking to gain entry to our lives through the senses. But we also have an enemy that is inside us. The Flesh is actually our fallen, human nature that we inherited from our father Adam. This nature is sinful even from birth and has rebellious, selfish propensities that begin to surface even when we are still very young. Even as children we wanted things our own way, and while this seems innocent and even sometimes endearing in little children, this selfishness is the seed of a larger and more wicked harvest. The Flesh also includes those perverted desires that arise from our earthly bodies as we crave our own comfort and satisfaction. The body cries out for certain things that it wants, some of these for its own survival, but often in excess of what it actually needs. These carnal desires lead us away from God when they are pursued for their own sake. The Flesh cannot be reformed but must be denied and kept in subjection. We are tempted to sin through the desires of the Flesh. The believer will always have to fight the Flesh until we receive our new bodies. The only path to victory over the Flesh is through following the holy desires of the Spirit who indwells all true believers.

Finally, there is opposition from the Devil. The Devil, or Satan, is an evil, spiritual personality in rebellion against God. He opposes the Saints of God because he is ultimately in opposition to God. Satan cannot directly oppose God or Christ, so he pursues those who belong to God and are still in the world. Satan rules over a dark kingdom and is called the god of this world and the Prince of the Power of the Air. Satan also controls other spiritual personalities that we call demons, principalities, and powers, which are all opposed to God and His people. Ultimately we struggle against these dark, spiritual powers and not against other men in the flesh. For combating this high, spiritual enemy we require special weaponry, which are supplied to those in Christ. While Christ has defeated Satan and spoiled his kingdom, we are still vulnerable to Satan and his temptations while in this world and in these fleshly bodies and must therefore resist the Devil or be overcome by him.

The World, the Flesh, and the Devil are enemies too great and powerful for us to defeat on our own. We need help or we will fail. We greatly error when we think we are stronger than we really are, thinking more highly of our ability than we ought to think. Christ had to come into the world in order to defeat Satan and the Holy Spirit must indwell and empower us in order to give us the victory. But we must fight! This fight calls for readiness and alertness. We cannot fall asleep or be lazy because our Enemy is on the prowl like a roaring lion seeking those whom he can devour! We should never think that we are immune to his attacks and schemes. Instead we are to put on the full Armor of God, which is a deliberate process of spiritual readiness. Failure to do this will inevitably result in our defeat and downfall. But we do not have to be weak and defenseless. The best defense is simply learning to say “No!” This is how Jesus resisted the Devil, along with the affirmation of the Word of God. We do not have to fall into temptation, but if we do, we must get up immediately and go to our Father confessing our sins. Having obtained mercy and grace to help in our time of need, we go back out into the fight refusing to surrender even an inch of ground to the Enemy!