Sin, Death and the Devil are the enemies of life. World, Demons and Flesh are the temptations that the enemies use to steal, kill and destroy.
The World: temptations that come at us from the outside. Distinguish the Biblical uses of the word world: on the one hand Jesus says, “God so loved the world;” that means the people in it. On the other hand 1 John says “Love not the world;” that means the world system. The world’s way of thinking is outside of God and hostile to God; it is not inherently evil, but it is thoroughly corrupted by the Enemy that we must be redeemed from it.
The Flesh: temptations that come at us from the inside. The Biblical definition of the word flesh is very slippery: simplistically it means the soul (the mind, will and emotions that make up the self), which is at enmity with God; it fights with God at every turn. The soul is not created evil (God loves it and so must we), but it is so thoroughly corrupted by the Enemy in the Fall that it must be crucified.
The Demons: temptations that come at us from inside and out; they mix with the world and the flesh to tempt, scare and afflict. They are sent and empowered by the Evil One, the Enemy of Souls; they are inherently evil and unredeemable.
This unholy triad of temptation must be overcome, yes, but it is better to overcome the Source, the trifold Enemy (sin, death, devil). Conquer by focusing on My Overcomer, Jesus.
It is refreshing to read good theology!
Lutherans, for all their faults, do have good theology.
I once read a comparison of the Lutheran Church with Volkswagen in the 1980’s. VW had the best designed and best engineered automobiles of all in the 1980’s, but they had poor marketing. As a result, their sales dropped and their income declined drastically. And all that time, their cars were among the best in the automobile market. Finally, they saw the problem and replaced the CEO ( who came from the engineering department) with a new CEO from marketing. And their sales increased.
Lutheran theology is among the best engineered theology in all Christendom. But we often don’t do a very good job “marketing” that good, solid, biblical theology.
So what do we need? Better preachers that market the Gospel in a way that touches people with the truth?