What is spiritual warfare? How do I fight spiritual battles?
Spiritual warfare is the believer's real conflict against "principalities... powers... spiritual wickedness in high places" (Eph 6:12), fought not with human weapons but with the armor of God, "put on the whole armour of God" (Eph 6:11), and won by Christ, who already triumphed over them (Col 2:15).
What the text states
The enemy is real, "your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Pet 5:8), but defeated: Christ "spoiled principalities and powers... triumphing over them" at the cross (Col 2:15). The believer's stance is to stand in armor already provided: truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation, and the word of God, "the sword of the Spirit" (Eph 6:13-17), with prayer (6:18). We do not defeat the enemy; we stand in the victory Christ won. "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (Jas 4:7); "greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4).
Go deeper
Checked 2026-09-29 by Darren. 62 Scripture citations verified against the KJV rows. Wave 5. 62 quoted fragments table-passed against the verses table, splitting at every ellipsis. FOUR CORRECTIONS, each to the KJV row: Acts 4:12 "in none other" is not contiguous, replaced with "none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved"; Deut 1:39 "have no knowledge" corrected to "had no knowledge"; Eph 3:2 "dispensation of grace" corrected to "dispensation of the grace of God"; Rom 11:23 "shall be graffed in again" corrected to "shall be graffed in" (the KJV runs "shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again").
wsb.bible/answers/what-is-spiritual-warfare