"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with
are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension
that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it
obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
This devotion stirred up in me some questions about what exactly
the Ephesians 6:10-18 scripture means?? It is often taught that we need to
fight the enemy, to battle against the spiritual realm, and in a way we do but
NOT in the way we think. And this scripture is often used to back that up but,
it doesn't actually say that...! Ray says in the devotional that "Through
Him deliverance is obtained. Through the amazing mystery of the cross and the
resurrection, Jesus has broken the power and bondage of Satan
over human lives. Those who individually receive and acknowledge this are
set free to live in the freedom and liberty of the children of God."
So, what are we "fighting" against if Jesus has
broken the power and bondage of Satan? He then says:
"They are not set
free to live unto themselves. They are set free in order to battle. That
is the call that comes to all Christians. We are not set free in order to enjoy
ourselves. We are set free to do battle, to
engage in the fight, to overcome in our own lives, and to become the
channels by which others are set free."
Again, what are we fighting and overcoming in our lives? It is
sometimes taught, and sometimes we assume, that we are to engage in a war or
battle that Jesus already won... If HE is the victor, what are we fighting and
battling against and for?? Ray is not real clear on this.
In talking with Tom about this he brought up the Revelation
12:10 scripture "Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the
salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his
Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them
before our God day and night, has been hurled down." Satan
is called “the accuser” in this scripture and Jesus calls him the "father
of lies" in John 8:44 and in the Garden of Eden he LIED to Eve... He is a
deceiver first and foremost trying to derail us from the truth, so we HAVE to
know the TRUTH (who is a Person, btw). And the only way we can do that is to
SPEND TIME WITH HIM.
Let's read the Ephesians scripture again, without the doctrinal
filters:
He tells us that our struggle isn’t against flesh and blood but
against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. But his
instructions are for us to STAND and to STAND
FIRM. He doesn't tell us to fight... He says to STAND against
the "devil's schemes" which are LIES and deception. We are standing
and believing in the TRUTH of what Jesus did for us, which is that He has won our
salvation and the victory over the evil one and not to believe the lies, which
are the enemy’s greatest weapons. The armor is a protection and a
"defensive" tool with the pieces protecting us with the REMINDERS of
who we are and what Jesus did for us! The belt of the TRUTH of what Jesus did
for us, the breastplate of God's righteousness which we have been given, our
feet shod with the readiness to proclaim the gospel of PEACE (not war or
fighting), the shield of FAITH extinguishing the flaming arrows of LIES from
the evil one, and the helmet of Salvation, protecting our minds from doubt and
fear that come from the lies. And the Sword which is the word of God, which
reminds us of God’s truth and keeps us from believing the lies that are spoken
all around us. Which is what Jesus did when Satan tried to tempt Him in the
desert in Luke 4:3-13.
Again, one of our favorite Oswald-ism says "The enemy
of our faith is not sin, but the good that is not the BEST". I
think one of the many things we can get distracted with, and the enemy is
probably behind this lie, is the idea that we need to fight Satan! And that it
is our job to "save" people... instead of doing what is BEST and
focusing on our relationship with the Lord and allowing Him to transform us!
And praying for each other. And when we are praying, we are with HIM, allowing
Him to speak to our hearts, for ourselves and for others.
Another great Oswald-ism is "When we have the right
relationship with God, our ministry to Him comes as naturally as breathing"!!
HIM first at all times and THEN He can work through us without us even having
to think about it!!
"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all
these things will be given to you as well" Matthew 6:33
With all of this churning in my mind, I decided to do a search
for the word "fight" in the New Testament and these were the ones I
found... This was really enlightening to me!!
"Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do
not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and
make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be
disqualified for the prize." 1 Corinthians
9:26-27
Paul is talking about fighting his own body to make it obey!
Which reminds me of the scripture in Romans 7; "I do not
understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I
do..." Romans 7:15. So, we are fighting against our own sin
nature forcing it to conform to the "Kingdom" ways and not the worlds
ways. It also reminds me of the “plank” in my eye verses the “splinter” in my brother’s
eye (Matthew 7:3-5)... I need to work on ME first, to remove the plank in my
own eye, and trust God with everyone else’s splinter. So, since I am the only
one I can change, I fight to focus on ME and not trying to fix everyone else
around me (Sheesh… SO hard to do that!).
"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as
the world does. The weapons we
fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they
have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments
and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God,
and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
In this scripture Paul is making a clear point that we aren't
waging war as the world does! How does the world wage war?? With aggression,
hate, bombs, guns, knives, domination... But instead he says, we
demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the
knowledge of God!! I believe this scripture is talking about our MINDS,
and fighting against anything that would set itself against the
knowledge of God... demolishing strongholds which I believe are the
LIES we have believed about who God is and who we are in Him! Rooting out the
lies and taking captive every THOUGHT making it
obedient to Christ and His TRUTH! He is saying the battle is in our MINDS here.
This is a "mind game" not a war with guns and bombs...
"Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the
prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight
the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have
rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith."
1 Timothy 1:18-19
In this scripture he is talking about fighting to hold onto the
FAITH! Again, not believing lies that would derail you from the Truth of who
God is, shaking your faith and trust in Him. And when we hold on to our faith
we can hold onto our good conscience as well.
"Fight the good fight of the faith. Take
hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made
your good confession in the presence of many witnesses." 1
Timothy 6:12
And what does Jesus say eternal life is? “Now this is eternal
life: that they may know you,
the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” John 17:3. With that knowledge of God,
and having faith and trust in Him we are holding onto the "eternal life"
for which we were called.
"I have fought the good fight, I have
finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in
store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge,
will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have
longed for his appearing." 2 Timothy 4:7-8
So basically, the battle is in our hearts and minds, and the sin
nature, fighting against the lies that set themselves against the knowledge of
God, the Truth, our faith, and trust which leads to eternal life.
These scriptures ring true with what Jesus did and taught as
well. The disciples were convinced that Jesus was going to "do
battle" and "fight a war" to take over the throne and become a
King on earth. They didn't understand Him or His purpose in that He came to DIE,
and not to make war and do battle... He came to "seek and save what was
lost" (Luke 19:10) but not to defeat the Romans. He came to LOVE them and
die for them so that He could be their “eternal” King. He never planned to "fight"
the way the world fights, or the way the disciples thought, but to fight with
the heart and mind, in Love, grace, kindness, compassion... and THAT is how He
won the battle against the enemy!
The second part of the Revelation 12 scripture after it says; “For the
accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down” is:
"...they overcame him by the blood of the
Lamb and by the word of their testimony..." Revelation
12:11
This scriptures says another way we battle and defeat the enemy is
with our testimony. There is power in the truth of what God
has done in our hearts, our life, our marriages, and whatever and wherever
there are miracles of transformation. The TRUTH, God's Truth, is more powerful
than anything the world can come up with and that is what we do battle with!
Replacing lies with the Truth in our hearts and minds and then when God
transforms us, we share our testimony with others, love them and then people
are inspired and motivated to know this God who loves them enough to die for
them.
I am discovering more and more that most of what God does is so counter
intuitive so you HAVE to work and fight for it, moving past our own
understanding and common sense to understand His “eternal purpose” and His
ways, or it just won't happen. So, we don’t fight the enemy in the world’s way,
but in GOD’S way, which is very different! We keep trying to fit Him in the
temporal world’s box and ways and He just doesn't fit!
"Trust in the LORD with all your
heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways
acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs
3:5-6
