What is meant by spiritual warfare? Who is at war? We are at war. 2 Cor 10:3 makes that pretty clear. Who, then, are we at war with? Eph 6:12 makes that also clear that it is not against flesh and blood but spiritual hosts. There is definitely a war going on, and I believe that lives are being lost. Because of that I also believe that we should prepare ourselves for battle as Paul exhorts Timothy 2 Tim 2:3-4.

Gregory Boyd has a book called God At War in which, because of his misunderstanding of time (see Nothing But Net or Broccoli Is Good For You), he misunderstands God’s roll in spiritual warfare.

When I was in high school I ran on the cross-country team. Every day after school I would change into my running clothes and head out to a nearby park where we warmed up and stretched. For a whole season one year, I passed two ant hills. One was black ants, large ones, not the tiny ones you find in your house. The other was slightly smaller red ants.

As you may know, red and black ants do not mix well. It was an all out ant war. Everyday I would stop and inspect the area. There was an actual front, and it moved every day. Ant parts strewn everywhere. Neither side seemed to be gaining the upper hand. However, one pot of boiling water, or a bottle of ant spray and I could have ended it in a moment. I did not end it, I wanted to see what the outcome would be.

To claim that God is at war is something like that. Hopefully, we have all read the end of the book and know how it turns out when God “finally” decides to join the fight. Its no fight at all.
Rom 8:31

Life is not about trying to see if God can win. That is a given. There are no unknowns for Him. Life is about seeing what we can make of ourselves. God gives us the tools for battle then sends us off for warfare. God has nothing to lose, except us, and it is our job to make sure He does not.