Spiritual Warfare

A subject worthy of intensive study that tends to get overlooked by most is the very nature of spiritual warfare, namely the spiritual beings known as Angels and Demons. I would like to reference Elaine Pagels' work, "The Origin of Satan."

This is not an endorsement of Gnosticism, but instead I'd like to focus on some important facts and definitions gleaned from the text.

The first point to note is that the term "Satan," in the Old Testament is simply another term for "messenger," or "angel." The book defines a "satan" as "a supernatural character sent by God for the specific purpose of blocking or obstructing human activity." The root "'stn" refers to "one who opposes, obstructs, or acts as an adversary." In this light, the Book of Job takes on a different context than many today tend to understand. Why could bad, seemingly unexplainable things happen to good people? These forces of Good are sometimes used to test God's servants, or in some other fashion used to bring about God's will and to serve his greater purposes. (Proof that this was in fact an angel is chapter 1 verse 16, which states that "fire of God" fell from the sky). For further disambiguation, the term "devil" in the New Testament is simply a term for an "agent of evil." Using contextual clues, one can discern if this is in reference to a human being or an evil spirit. Now, let's segue into a related topic, and that is the relationship that my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ had with Heavenly angels. For the duration of his lifetime here, he was made a little lower than the angels. (Sin (adj.)- A principle source of action or an inward element producing acts) Like all humans, being in the flesh, he inherited a sin nature. How can one be tempted and still not sin? Absurd amounts of discipline and Angelic guidance and intervention. It's that simple.