The story of the seven sons of Sceva (Acts 19: 13-16) is the best example of how not to engage in spiritual warfare. Sons of a Jewish priest, they attempted to drive out an evil spirit from a man. They began with, “In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” The spirit had the man jump on them. He beat them until they ran away.

Using Jesus’ name is not enough. The sons failed because they were not in a relationship with Jesus. They were merely relying on, in their thinking, a magic formula.

To be equipped for spiritual battle, one must put on and submit to the protection, power, and mind of Christ. All Christians need to daily do this, for every day brings a battle to be fought, and every Christian is a soldier. There is no such thing as a position of neutrality in the spiritual war that covers the earth. One is either on the side of God or Satan.

Christ’s protection, power, and mind are the armor and weaponry we’re to rely on for victory. The armor and weaponry consists of the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, and praying in the Spirit.

Armed in this way, defensively and for offense, we fight not just for ourselves, but are commissioned to fight on behalf of our fellow human beings. We do that by confronting the behind-the-scenes, movers and shakers who perpetuate and cultivate all that is against God. I’m not speaking of humans. I’m talking about Satan and his army of fallen angels (Ephesians 6: 10-12).

Now, there may be cases in which evil spirits take possession of people and need to be driven out, but for the most part, that kind of spiritual battle is rare. Every sin, struggle, and dilemma isn’t about demon possession. Overwhelmingly, the war between right and wrong has to do with conscious choices made in the mind.

That’s why we’re told by the apostle Paul to fight with spiritual rather than physical, worldly weapons. In our rescue mission, he says we’re to use those weapons to destroy the fortresses built by the satanic forces of evil. These are fortresses that surround and trap the minds of people. The fortresses are made up of convictions of ideas, concepts, and philosophies that are contrary to the ways of God (2 Corinthians 10: 3-5).