Gavin Ortlund on Spiritual warfare
Through those means, and also by commanding evil spirits to leave, or exorcising them, in Christ's name
"We'll pray with authority in the name of Jesus. And one of the things I've been praying lately is this prayer. If there is anything here that is not in submission to Jesus, we command that it leaves."
THE POSITION
Satan is a real person, not a metaphor, and he has been disarmed and disgraced at the cross, so no one trusting Jesus needs to fear him. Most of the fight is ordinary: Ephesians 6, reading Scripture aloud, preaching the gospel to yourself, confession. But when he and his wife feel oppressed, he prays with authority in Jesus' name and commands whatever is not in submission to Jesus to leave, and he insists it is not a matter of technique or ritual.
15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
6 OTHERS HOLD THIS
ABOUT THIS FIGURE
Pastor and author behind Truth Unites. Works on retrieving the church fathers for Protestants and on charitable engagement with Catholic and Orthodox claims.
Cite this page
"Gavin Ortlund on Spiritual warfare", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/ortlund/spiritual-warfare (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/ortlund/spiritual-warfare).