The Bible talks about being in the middle of a war between God and Satan.
According to the Book of Revelation, the war started in heaven (Rev 12:7). Saint Michael the Archangel cast “the primeval spirit, the devil” out of heaven.
He “hurled him down to earth, and his angels were hurled down with him.” Enraged, Satan now “wages war... on all who obey God’s commandments and bear witness for Jesus.”
The Old Testament is, in some ways, a violent book. We read many inspiring texts about God’s love and mercy. But most of the stories focus on the Chosen People either winning battles like the one at Jericho, or being conquered by their enemies as happened when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem.
All of that violence—as repugnant as it may be to our modern sensibilities—has one purpose. The spiritual battles we must fight in these present times are also violent. They are violent in the sense that we are fighting for our lives. Some will win and go to heaven.
Some will lose and go to hell. Again, it is the Book of Revelation that uses this language (3:21 & 20:15): “Anyone who proves victorious I will allow to share my throne ... Anyone whose name could be found written in the book of life will be thrown into the lake of fire.”
As one of the saints said: “The war of the children of God is a war against our own selfishness. It demands that every one of us engages in a relentless fight against pride, against our tendency to do evil, against our exaltation of self.”
