© 2015 by Lawrence O. Richards

Published by Chosen Books

11400 Hampshire Avenue South

Bloomington, Minnesota 55438

www.chosenbooks.com

Chosen Books is a division of

Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan

www.bakerpublishinggroup.com

Ebook edition created 2015

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

ISBN 978-1-4412-2899-4

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations identified TLB are from The Living Bible, copyright © 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Cover design by Kirk DouPonce, DogEared Design

Contents

Cover    1

Title Page    3

Copyright Page    4

Foreword by Craig Keener    7

Introduction    9

Part 1: Understanding the Invisible War    11

1. The Hidden Background    13

2. Good vs. Evil    21

3. The Eternal Community of Love    29

Part 2: Warfare in the Here and Now    33

4. The Gift of Core Community    35

5. The Gift of Choice    47

6. The Gift of Family    58

7. The Gift of the Law    70

8. The Gift of a Community of Faith    82

9. The Gift of Restoration    93

10. The Gift of God’s Discipline    105

11. The Gift of Uniqueness    116

12. The Gift of Provision    127

13. The Gift of Truth    138

14. The Gift of Peace    150

15. The Gift of Eternal Life, Now!    161

16. The Gift of Unconditional Acceptance    172

Epilogue    183

Index    186

About the Author    191

Books by Lary Richards    192

Back Ad    194

Back Cover    195

Foreword

The Bible portrays the powers of darkness as seeking to bring harm to humanity and to blind people—even people in the Church—to God’s way of restoration and wholeness (see 2 Corinthians 4:4; 11:3). For those with eyes to see the spiritual battle, like Elisha’s unnamed servant in 2 Kings 6, we can witness its effects on the evening news and in the hurting lives of people we care about.

In this book, Larry Richards helpfully applies the principles of spiritual warfare to the practical nitty-gritty of our lives. In the Bible, spiritual warfare applies, for example, to marriage. Division in our marriages can hinder our prayers (see 1 Peter 3:7), and other problems in marriage allow Satan’s temptations (see 1 Corinthians 7:5). Spiritual warfare also applies to other relationships in the Body of Christ. One of Satan’s strategies is to keep us from forgiving one another (see 2 Corinthians 2:10–11), and we should bless even those who curse us (see Luke 6:28).

Dr. Richards speaks of how Satan distorts God’s good ...