SPIRITUAL WARFARE II

December 11, 2022

Encouragement

No Comments

SPIRITUAL WARFARE II

MEMORY VERSE: “But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.” (Romans 7:23).

TEXTS: 1 Timothy 1: 18 – 19; Romans 7: 14 – 23; 1 Peter 5:8-9; Galatians 5:16-17.

INTRODUCTION: As we already know from studies in the previous class, spiritual warfare is a struggle between entities – the kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Satan and also within man. Christians must understand and acknowledge that spiritual warfare is real and that every Christian is involved in it. In fact, it becomes really fierce as soon as they genuinely give their lives to Christ. Wherefore, the first aspect of a Christian’s warfare is the fight of “faith”, the fight for eternal salvation unto which we are called (1 Timothy 6:12). Philippians 2:12b equally said that we should work out our salvation with fear and trembling. ‘Working out’ involves some fighting; in this case, fighting the flesh (Galatians 5:17). It is a fight between the spirit of God in us and our flesh. This is the most important and difficult warfare a Christian must engage in on earth. It is a compulsory battle for all Christians who want to spend eternity with Christ. Without winning it, eternal life with Christ cannot be a reality, and it must be fought with all seriousness and arsenals at the Christian’s disposal. This fight starts with oneself, it starts within man, whereby the aim is to defeat the very human nature that man is made of – the flesh. It is an ongoing and constant war between the spirit of God that dwells in man and the law of sin which also dwells in man (Romans 7: 17, 22 – 23). The spirit of God bears witness to the truth and wants man to do good all the time, while the law of sin pushes man to do the evil he hates and makes him a prisoner to sin. So, a Christian must first of all fight through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 7:25) to defeat/conquer the flesh. That is, resisting the temptations to sin.

In addition to the above, this internal war extends to the mind as Paul the Apostle revealed in 2 Corinthians 10:5 “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ”. This scripture clearly explains that there are imaginations in the mind realm that needs to be abased through spiritual warfare. The truth of the matter is that the internal war is the beginning of all warfare, for if a man cannot win the war within, how can he win the external war? Thus, this war must be won by all believers – Revelation 3:21.

What exactly are we fighting? Here are some obvious forms:

The works of the flesh – Galatians 5:17, Romans 7:18: The main enemy of a believer’s warfare is the flesh. Every human is carnal and sold to sin before he gives his/her life to Christ – Romans 7:14, that is why it is difficult for a believer who does not live in the spirit to keep the laws of God – Romans 7:15. It is important to note that the Spirit-filled life is the only remedy of victory for every believer – Romans 8:6. The carnal life is an offspring of a depraved mind as affirmed in Proverbs 4:23, 1 peter 1:13 that the issues of life springs out of the heart. Victory in the mind propelled by the spirit of God through a spiritual walk, translates into good works as against the walk in the flesh that leads to death – Romans 8:9.

However, we need to know that these works of the flesh come in the following forms:

The pride of life: (1 John 2:16) this is the vain glory of life. Those things that make us to boost and exalt ourselves. A lot of the temptation and fight comes in this form and so many Christians have been lured by this and have fallen. God hates the proud. The pride of life motivates all the lusts (lust of the flesh and lust of the eyes), as it desires to elevate itself above all others and fulfill all personal desires. Fulfilling these desires, is fighting the spirit of God in man.
The lust of the flesh: We fight this daily and it comes in the form of moral temptation and giving into pleasures that are morally wrong. The devil tempts us with the lust of the flesh which is; sexual gratification, gluttony, and all deeds of the flesh (Galatians 5: 19-21) to see that we fall and miss heaven.

Lust of the eyes: This fight also comes in the form of those things that are pleasing or appealing to the eyes, but are worldly and evil. In Genesis 3:6, Eve fell for this and the whole human race was doomed.

Conformity with the world: This war also comes in the form of going after the way of the world. There is a lot of pressure to go by worldly standards. Compromising biblical values in favour of worldly values is very common nowadays. Christians are to watch it and remember that Romans 12:2 said we should not conform to this world.
Selfishness: Self-centeredness, greed, covetousness, envy, are all motivated by selfishness and these are works of the flesh.

Winning this aspect of spiritual warfare entails the following:

Guide your heart/mind: As noted above, this aspect of warfare starts from within us; that is, our heart and/or mind. It starts with our thoughts, where satan tries to sow his seeds, which are seeds of evil. Every sin, weakness, and defeat start from the mind. We need to guide our heart with all diligence for out of it comes the issues of life (Proverbs 4: 23). Corroborating, Romans 12:2 said we should be transformed by the renewing of our mind. While 2 Corinthians 4:4 said the gods of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving. This is where the devil defeats so many Christians. So, to win the warfare, we must guide our heart from evil and weakness and ultimately “bringing into captivity every thought into the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10: 5).
Be watchful/vigilant: 1 Peter 5: 8 said we should “be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion, walketh about, and seeking whom he may devour”. The devil is described as a lion seeking to destroy us, so he starts by tempting us to sin. Sin breaks man’s fellowship with God and gives the devil access to attack him. Therefore, to be victorious in this warfare, we should be sober and watchful to avoid falling into this trap of the devil. 1 Corinthians 10: 12 also cautioned us thus: “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall”.
Resist/refute the false teachings and lies of satan: The devil’s warfare against man is always rapped in a package of deception that is designed to distort the truth about God and manipulate man to sin against God. So, Christians must reject the deception (lies) and tricks of the devil. The word of God said we should resist the devil and he will flee from us – James 4:7.
Actively promote the truth (Gospel): Every true Christian must stand and fight for the gospel. The offensive part of this fight/battle requires evangelism and discipleship. Evangelism demands intentionally taking the light into darkness. While discipleship demands that we teach others to know who they are in Christ and to put on the full armour of God. Lack of evangelism keeps people in satan’s kingdom, while lack of discipleship sends the Christian to war unarmed. These two situations can result in defeat and tragedy. So, to win the war, the gospel must be promoted/preached.
Relay on God’s ability: 1 Samuel 2:9 2 said that by strength shall no man prevail. Man’s ability cannot win a spiritual warfare; for the battle is not for the strong – Ecclesiastes 9:11. It is God’s grace that works in us to will and do His pleasure – Philippians 2: 13. Revelation 12:11 said “we overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by words of our testimonies. Even physically, David depended on God in 1 Samuel 17: 47 and won the battle. When he tried to depend on his own strength and that of his army by counting the people, he was punished. It is by the power of God that we live, speak and fight for the kingdom of God (Acts 19: 11 -12). This way, our victory is guaranteed, and an already-defeated satan is conquered, and God is glorified. Victory belongs to God (Proverbs 21: 31) through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15: 57).
Pray always: Jesus commanded us in Matthew 26: 14 that we should pray because we are weak. Jesus equally told Peter that the devil desires to sift him (Peter), but He (Jesus) has prayed for him. It means we can win spiritual warfare by praying always. So therefore, lets pray to advance God’s kingdom on earth and stop the spread of evil.

Conclusion

Spiritual warfare is that war waged in the invisible or spiritual realm between God and the devil with his works. Everything we see in the world/physical realm is caused by the spiritual realm. In this study, we have seen that even our actions and habits can be caused and influenced by the spiritual realm. The good habits are influenced by the spirit of God, while the bad habits by the devil and his demons. Every Christian should therefore brace up and resist the influences of the devil, which can come in the form of our fleshly desires. These fleshy desires are arsenals or attempts by the devil to destroy/defeat us as Christians and stop us from spending eternity with God in heaven (Romans 8:6). So, our duty as Christians is to resist the devil and his influences, fight on, and hold unto eternal life by doing good and leaning to the influences of God.

Questions