Spiritual warfare and God's grace
Martin Luther, author of the text of Christ lag in Todes Banden, and who, with Johann Walter, also wrote the melody (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Be strong in the Lord , and in the strength of His might . … For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” ( Eph. 6:10, 12). Spiritual warfare can be intense, but God’s grace enables you to prevail against Satan ’s attacks. Through the ages, Satan has accused, besieged, and battered believers in an effort to prevent them from living to the glory of God. He attempts to snatch the gospel message from a person’s heart even before salvation occurs ( Matt. 13:19). He bombards believers with false doctrine, trying to confuse and distract them from sound Biblical truth (Eph. 4:14). Martin Luther reported that his conflict with Satan became so intense that at one point it was as if he cou