Three Enemies of the Soul

For centuries, teachers of the Way of Jesus used a paradigm that’s been lost in the modern era, that of “the three enemies of the soul.”

The world.

The flesh.

And the devil.

They saw the three enemies of the soul as a kind of counter-trinity to God himself.

Though this language is never precisely used in the New Testament, we can see

the meaning in our spiritual battles.

“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭10:4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Think about the current battles in your life, division in the world, the temptation of sin and being pressed by the world to be more assimilated, and the enemy whispering in your ear that you aren’t strong enough. These enemies try to be strong, but our God is STRONGER!

We Christians are in a battle for our souls on two battle fronts, we must realize that while it is a spiritual fight, it is fought by both body and soul. To that end, we need to be focused and train our entire person. There is the attack of the world on our flesh and the demonic attack on our spirit, they happen simultaneously. So, when battling we must remember to train our bodies to resist natural temptations and train our spirit in prayer. Just as a boxer would train for a fight - we too must train our mind and bodies in the Word. That is our weapon!

“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.”

‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:23-24‬ ‭NIV‬‬