Fighting the world, the flesh and the devil

This article has been published as part of a collaboration between Keswick Ministries and en, which features contributions from the 2026 Convention speakers. Keswick Convention takes place annually each summer, its programme centring on Bible teaching, worship and Christian fellowship.

For more articles from this year's collaboration, visit the Keswick section of en's In Depth page.

Here, Graham Beynon, who oversees support and training to FIEC churches and their leaders, answers some questions for en about his book Standing Firm which tackles fighting sin, the world and the devil and is the theme book for this summer’s Convention, published by 10ofThose.

You write many books. Why this one?

GB: My books usually emerge out of life and ministry. This one came from conversations and reflections on the battle against sin and Satan. It occurred to me that we weren’t very thoughtful on this area and that there was more to learn – for me first. That led to some preaching on the area and then eventually to writing.

How have you approached the subject of spiritual warfare?

GB: I’ve mainly focused on how Satan works. We speak of “temptation”, but that’s a bigger category then we usually realise. There are lots of different types of temptation; Satan works in different ways. Understanding something of his tactics means we will be more aware and better placed to resist.

One aspect of the approach is to look at some writers of the past – theologians and pastors who have considered this topic deeply. The focus of the book is on standing firm against Satan, but I draw on some of these historic figures to learn from their insights on how sin and Satan work.

How do you hope your readers will be changed?

GB: I hope readers will be more alert to living in a spiritual battle. It is part of the storyline of the Bible and is going on in our lives all the time, even when they look mundane or ordinary. Then I hope they will be better prepared to fight this battle, knowing how Satan can deceive us, and how to stand firm. Finally, I hope we will be more motivated to engage in the fight – we see that Satan is our enemy who will harm us and that sin is always destructive, and so we long to stand firm.

With all the books and online resources at our fingertips in the UK, how do we compare with previous generations in understanding the devil’s schemes and the shape of our own hearts? And how are we the poorer for this?

GB: It’s hard to generalise but, overall, I’d say we are less aware of the Devil’s schemes and less reflective on our hearts. We tend to run with a secular worldview and so discount Satan as a real factor, so we live not actually believing in an enemy who is out to get us. We also tend to believe the message of our culture that we are basically good and only make mistakes or do wrong things in exceptional circumstances. Past generations were much more aware of Satan and much more realistic about themselves.

You’ll be teaching a seminar track this summer at the Keswick Convention in Week 2. What will people miss if they don’t come or choose not to watch the free YouTube livestream?

GB: All the above! We will be considering the Christian life as a battle and how we fight. That means understanding more of the nature of the battle and what armour we have. The apostle Paul is very sobering in saying we are opposed by the devil and his schemes, but he is very encouraging in saying we can stand firm (Eph.6v10-17). We will be exploring together how we do that better.