We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but we do wrestle: Conspiracy theory?

I jokingly say Philip's translation of Ephesians 6:12 is “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but we do wrestle!” Ephesians 6:12 reads “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of this present darkness, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” This is not conspiracy theory, it’s the plain teaching of Scripture. But that's not to say the hosts of spiritual wickedness do not use humanity. Indeed the devil “has taken them captive to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:26). So what does this look like? The Scripture speaks of Satan coming with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception. And in the end, God sends strong delusion to those who are perishing, so that they believe the lie (2 Thessalonians 2:9- 11). Since “Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14), is it any wonder that those who are deceived “call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness” (Isaiah 5:20)?

The promise that the truth will set us free if we immerse ourselves in the Word of God, and obey its teachings (John 8:31, 32) has the added advantage, that we will not be ignorant of the devil's wiles (6:11). They say if you don't believe the truth, you'll believe anything, and the way that reality works, is that truth is suppressed by unrighteousness (Romans 1:18). But we must not be ignorant of his devices (2 Corinthians 2:11), even if we are accused of being conspiracy theorists. In particular, it's well documented that since the early sixties, there has been multi billion dollar funded Maddison avenue strategies designed to change the West’s mind about traditional values. In his book “The marketing of evil, ” David Kupelian outlines this well documented strategy. It consisted of three stages desensitization, jamming and conversion. Hitler knew well that if you kept telling even the biggest lie over and over and over, people will sooner or later start to believe it. Desensitization, is about flooding the “market” with the lie, until people are sick of hearing about it. Jamming, has to do with disallowing or shouting down any view that is contrary to the one you wish to espouse. Conversion has to do exactly with what Isaiah was talking about above reversing good and bad, truth and error. Check it all out for yourself.

But how are we to respond? We need to realize people are deceived, and they believe what they believe. I'm not saying that those all who are deceived have pure motives, clearly not but some are simply deceived. But in any case, since flesh and blood is not the enemy, and Satan has taken them captive, we are to “conduct ourselves with gentleness and humility, correcting those in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so they may know the truth, come to their senses, and escape the devil’s snare” (2 Timothy 2:24-26). Jesus puts it this way “Love your (flesh and blood) enemies, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who mistreat you” (Matthew 5:44- words in brackets mine).

Father, this is so hard Lord, especially when we see our loved ones being sucked into it all. We need a double portion of Your Grace (Hebrews 12:15), so we don't respond with the enemy's weapons, becoming like them in the process. And so I am asking for this Grace, this morning Lord, in Jesus Name Amen