Winning Spiritual Wars, Part 1

“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.” – Romans 16:20

When the topic of spiritual warfare comes up, this verse doesn’t get quoted too often, but that’s a mistake. Dealing with the devil is a big subject, so we should rely on the full range of Scriptures when we engage the enemy. Rather than skipping this verse, let’s include it in our arsenal.

To make the most of this spiritual weapon, we’ll look at it one phrase at a time.

The God of Peace

Paul likes this expression. He mentions it in the previous chapter (Romans 15:33), but it also shows up in 2 Corinthians 13:11, Philippians 4:9, 1 Thessalonians 5:23, and 2 Thessalonians 3:16. (Hebrews 13:20-21 has it, too.)

The verse draws immediate attention to God. Paul deals with spiritual warfare by focusing on God first. This is an important principle. If we are to enjoy any success in battling spiritual forces, it will be due to the Lord our God. Without Him, we’ll fail, but He intends for us to win.

In the context of warfare, peace is the conclusion of conflict. The fighting is finished and soldiers can lay down their arms and go home. 

That Paul characterizes the Lord as the God of peace tells us that the spiritual war we’re facing is going to end. Of course, this doesn’t guarantee our victory; we could suffer defeat and domination. No more war, but no freedom, either.

Yet God is on our side! We’re not alone; He is with us, and through Him, we will prevail. When the Lord fights, He aims to win, and He won’t exclude us. His triumph is ours.

Will Soon Crush

Spiritual warfare isn’t interminable. Striving with the enemy can feel endless, but God won’t let the turmoil drag on. The Greek word translated “soon” (tachos) is a noun that means quickness or speed. In other words, our battle is going to take a prompt and decisive turn. The struggle will come to an end with sudden swiftness. Breakthrough is coming!

When we reflect on military history, we can recall some campaigns in which one side obliterated the other. Conquest was thorough and total. That’s the picture Paul is painting here. God doesn’t want us to eke out a half-hearted truce; He is going to stamp out our enemy! The devil will suffer great damage. The Greek verb Paul uses here (suntribo) means to shatter, break in pieces, or tread down. God will wreck the demonic forces arrayed against us. 

Satan Under Your Feet

It wouldn’t be spiritual warfare if we didn’t have opposition. Well, we do! But our enemy won’t prevail over us. The apostle Paul insists that Satan will be under our feet. This is a biblical image of military triumph. Here are some verses from the Old Testament that employ it:

• “You know that because of the wars waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the LORD his God until the LORD put his enemies under his feet.” – 1 Kings 5:3
• “You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet” – Psalm 8:6
• “He subdued nations under us, peoples under our feet.” – Psalm 47:3
• “‘Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,’ says the LORD Almighty.” – Malachi 4:3

So far, this sounds excellent! God fights for us and gives us decisive victory over our spiritual adversary.

But wait, there’s more!

The Grace of Our Lord Jesus

If the gospel Paul preached teaches us anything, it’s that God loves us. He saves us because He cares about us. The Lord doesn’t owe us redemption; He rescues us because He wants to. There’s no greater demonstration of the love of God than the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. His grace is so great that He did this, not for friends, but for enemies.

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8

In addition, the gospel is a total package. God won’t go through the trouble of giving us His Son and then refuse to help us deal with the devil. Earlier in the letter, Paul brought up this logic in the form of a question.

“He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all–how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?” – Romans 8:32

God’s grace in Christ is total; it covers everything! So in terms of spiritual warfare, we have a solid reason for the hope of victory. We have something much greater than wishful thinking, we have Jesus!

Be With You

The verb “be” is not in the Greek text, which might look odd to English readers, but it was common for Greek writers to omit it in statements like greetings or wishes. And that’s what Paul is doing here. He’s blessing the Roman Christians. He wants to assure them that the grace of Jesus will enable them to defeat the devil. They won’t lose this battle; Jesus is with them.

Summary

Interpreting Romans 16:20 from the perspective of spiritual warfare leads us to the following points:

1. God is the priority. We are to keep our eyes on Him, even as we engage the enemy.
2. Breakthrough is coming. When God acts, it’s destructive–for the devil. We won’t have to wonder if we’ve won; it will be obvious!
3. God uses us. We’re involved in the process. That Satan gets squashed under our feet means that we’re there. We’re in the battle. We can’t avoid it, but we don’t need to. If we join the fight, we’ll win.
4. The gospel guarantees it. We have victory over the devil because of what Jesus has accomplished for us. His gracious death on our behalf atones for our sins which Satan has used against us. And Christ’s glorious resurrection gives us the possibility of a new life beyond the reach of evil forces. 

At the close of his letter to the Romans, Paul encourages Christians that they can and will vanquish the devil and his hordes. The battle is real, but he affirms the success of the church.

What sort of battle? What does spiritual warfare look like in relation to this verse? What was in Paul’s mind? That’s next week’s post!