Christ's Power to Save to the Uttermost

"Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who    is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens;  who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. (Hebrews 7:25-27 NKJV)" 

I have often thanked God for saving me from the sin that separated me from Him. Sin that would have consumed my life if I had no Savior. Sin that results in death, eternal death. Yes, I and many who know our Lord Jesus cannot thank God enough for saving us from sin through His Son Jesus Christ.

As we reflect on salvation in Christ, let us take an even closer look at what it means to be saved out of our sin. We have come to understand what it means...at least in part...but have we come to understand what power has now been granted to those who have received His Spirit as a result of that salvation? For those who have received Christ's sure promise of the Spirit of Truth, our ever-present indwelling Helper...there is even more to understand about what it means to have been saved out of our sin.

Much of my life, I have thanked God for saving me from my PAST sin.  Many of God's children have come to that point of worthy gratitude, for we once stood in our past sin without the curse being removed...a place separated from God. We are right to thank and praise Him for saving us from those specific past sins. But as we grow in knowledge and depth of insight into God's Word, we learn that not only have we been saved from past, specific sins, but that we are saved from SIN, that is the sinful nature that once ruled our bodies. We come to understand that on our best day, where we did far more good than bad, that at the end of that day, we were still sinful because the sin nature of Adam had been transmitted to us upon birth, for we are descended from Adam. We come to realize that as a human born after the fall of man, a disease is now carried by the entire human species that takes life away from every one who was otherwise created in the image of a holy God...and Christ's finished work on the cross has now provided the one and only way to be cured from that disease we know as sin. We come to know that the specific sins that our consciences were so preoccupied with (a blessed conviction) are the symptoms of the much deeper disease. Treating the symptom may make the patient feel better for a time, but if the patient is to live...and not just live but have life to the full!...he must be completely healed of the disease. We come to realize that even when the sinful symptoms have been suppressed, that the disease of our sin nature remained. The proof of this is the very next day when we once again sinned in a specific manner...demonstrating the symptoms once again of this dreadful and cursed disease.

This is a turning point for any Christ follower--the recognition that Christ has not only come to take away our bad records and blemishes, our sins of the past, but He has won the victory of destroying our very sinful nature and the Evil behind it. For every 1 pharmaceutical medication that cures a disease, there are probably tens or hundreds that treat disease, proof that a disease is much harder to cure than to simply treat. Is the same not true of our sin?!  Oh how we strive to treat our sin! But our Father has administered the cure. How many times have we focused our finite human strength on conquering a specific sin or sinful habit? Only to find ourselves soon struggling with sin in another area, or even repeating sins that we thought we once conquered? Have you not experienced this yourself? I suspect that any measure of introspection will lead to this discovery for the regenerated in Christ. Why is it not enough? Why do we continue to fight sin? Because we have tried to conquer in our strength instead of the strength granted by our Lord through His ever-present Spirit. Because in those times when we have worked in our strength to conquer a specific sin, we have been lured into treating a symptom instead of curing the root of the disease. The Evil One is content to tempt and plague the child of God with the next available sin. He is not overwhelmed by us, walking in our strength alone, sending all of our troops and forces, so to speak, to fight one division of His army of temptation...for it gives Him an open attack on the unguarded areas. Hear this vital truth of the spiritual battle: The Holy Spirit has been sent to be enough. The Holy Spirit is not a scarce resource. The Holy Spirit never makes a decision to send some of His energy to fight one battle at the expense of another--our God is infinite! When we invite our Lord to be our everything, only then do we have the ability to conquer our enemy at the root, and to conquer the sin nature that so tenaciously tries to cling to our flesh. We require a Savior who can save to the uttermost, to the core. We require a Savior who does not simply clean us off every time we sin, His power limited to things we've done in the past...a perpetual eraser. Perhaps you and I have thought of our Lord Jesus as such. No, our Lord has the power to save us from the very disease of sin, and from the Evil One. 

Back to the question: Why do we continue to fight sin? If I sinned today, why have my efforts not yielded a total conquering of the sin nature such that the specific sins have ceased? One reason: I am not fully yielded to the Spirit of The Lord, I am not yet fully crucified and identified with Christ. Oh to be fully yielded to the Spirit of Truth, in whom there is only righteousness and no deceit! Oh to be walking in the Spirit, truly praying without ceasing! Oh to love our Lord such that we had only the desire to obey His commands and worship Him! Oh to be fully surrendered to the cross of Christ, such that our entire self identity has died a gruesome death, leaving behind only an identity in Christ! That day is coming for all who have received the Promised One, being sealed for the day of salvation. That day is coming. But if just now you have sinned, let that spur you onward to seek The Lord all the more. To proclaim once again that you are His and His alone. That you are chosen and accepted, cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, once a slave to sin, now a slave to righteousness (Rom 6:16-18)! And therefore you have only 1 master and no other master can claim you: you are Christ's. Though you and your Savior be besieged by Evil, though the battle grows fierce, though you suffer harm and feelings of shame--you cannot be separated from Christ! Our Kingdom stands! The battle is won! "Though the righteous falls seven times, they rise again" (Prov 24:16). This is the power of our Lord granted to those who have been saved by Christ. And not only that, we carry within us the Power not to sin, which is the only true measure of being saved from sin--that we would "go and sin no more" (John 8:11). If we do not hold that power to go and sin no more, than we have only partial salvation, only saved from sins past, but not from the nature of sin that would cause us to sin again. Oh, but we have Christ who does indeed save to the uttermost.

We have carried the Holy Spirit in us since we received Him willingly, yet we have sinned since then. Why? The self is not yet fully conquered, fully surrendered, fully crucified with Christ. And how gracious is our Lord to send us His Spirit to live in communion with us, though we are still not fully sanctified to Him?! If man had conceived of a plan of salvation, surely he would have determined that the Spirit of God could only be granted to those who were fully worthy of perfection. But who would ever qualify? Truthfully, we need God to meet that qualification. Perhaps man would have then decided that instead, upon receiving the Holy Spirit, that the temple must then never be defiled again. That either he no longer had the capacity to sin or if he did sin, he would lose the Spirit of God. We know by observation that the first assertion is not true, for we have retained the capacity to sin after receiving Christ! Even the Apostle Paul cries out in his distress over this truth (Rom 7:14-8:2). And the second assertion that the Spirit would remove Himself from any vessel not still perfect would leave us hopeless...and once again we see perhaps the best scriptural example in the Apostle Paul, for he surely retained the Spirit such that he was empowered to write scripture to tell on himself and his ongoing battle with the flesh.

No, man could not conceive of this plan of salvation on his own. This is a divine master plan. That our perfect God would willingly come to aid us, who are plagued with disease and not fully sanctified to Himself. That He would seal us with the promise of full sanctification and unity. And that He would provide us the power not to sin though granting us such an intimate union with the Spirit that He is said to live within us. Coming to a conclusion, regardless of specific theology regarding salvation and the Holy Spirit, for the sincere in repentance and crying out to God for salvation through Jesus Christ, there is an overwhelming and blessed implication: We have been saved from sin. Not just a sin or sins, but SIN. Not just our pasts, but our futures! Do not misunderstand this: This is not a license to willingly sin knowing that The Lord will, in the future, cleanse us of our future sins after they have been committed (he would still only be an eraser in that case)...this is the opposite...that He has empowered us not to sin, to go and sin no more. He has given us the assurance of being saved from ever sinning again...but He has done it in a way that allows us to reciprocate and be co-laborers with Him. He has not made us robots or forced us not to sin, but instead, through His Spirit, He has empowered us with the strength to defeat the full sinful nature that once reigned over our bodies and to defeat the Evil One altogether.

As Christ-followers, we have each received the full armor of God (Eph 6). We have received the power and divine tools to completely conquer the enemy. But too many of us have taken the armor God has given us and placed it neatly on display in our rooms. We admire it, we may kiss it goodnight and good morning, we may take pride in it and tell our friends so that they can admire it, but too many of us refuse to wield it. I encourage you as Paul did, to PUT ON your armor. It is yours, given to you by our Lord. This is what it means to have received the Power to never sin again AND to choose to use it.

He has empowered us, but we must embrace Him, taking up our cross daily. We must learn to fully surrender to Him. We must learn what it means to truly love Him. So as we give thanks to God for saving us out of sin, let us remember to thank Him for giving us access to the Power to go and sin no more and for saving us from the curse of sinful flesh to the very uttermost. And because of that blessed grace, nothing shall separate us from the love of Christ (Rom 8:35-38). Amen.

Flesh and Spirit: Evidence of a Raging War

This is meant to be a partial examination of the war between the flesh and the Spirit, and I hope that at a minimum it leads you to ask deep questions of yourself and of God, and to search the Word for those answers.

(Written Saturday)

Today was softball day with my Sunday School class.  We play in a league through our church and have a great time, win or lose.  After every game, we always go somewhere to eat lunch together.  At lunch today, a few of my friends and teammates engaged in a conversation that accidentally drove to the heart of the war between flesh and Spirit.

One of my teammates had gotten upset during the game and thrown the bat in frustration at the fence…a seemingly benign outlet of less-than-controlled anger; however, unfortunately, the bat came a little too close for comfort to an opposing player.  The throwing of the bat was quite intentional...it being anywhere near another human being, quite unintentional.  Nevertheless, he had to leave the game and was full of godly conviction immediately after the incident, seeking out the opposing players, officials, and all of our team to own up to his mistake and apologize.  It was great to see everyone forgive and restore him immediately, and I love my brother in Christ today more than ever.

Later at lunch, one of my friends mentioned the scriptural truth that “out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Matt 12:34, Luke 6:45), asserting that whatever things he or anyone utters is a direct reflection of what is inside of us.  We may not want the ugliness of sin to be inside of us, but our mouths give us away.  He therefore concluded that when people say, “I didn’t mean that,” when referring to an action or word spoken, they are incorrect…for in the moment, they did mean it, for their heart meant it, because out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.  Interesting train of thought that I could neither reject, nor wholly accept.  And my response erked me slightly and made me perk up and search deeper as to why.  Additionally, my teammate who had thrown the bat used his experience from a couple hours earlier to counter the argument, asserting that he by no means meant to hit the opposing player or to throw the bat whatsoever in any display of anger.  He found within himself, in that situation or any other, that the person he believes himself to be is not in tune with those actions and therefore, he could say accurately, “I didn’t mean that,” when referring to an action or word spoken…the opposite contention of my other friend.

As we debated and chimed in, never reaching a satisfying conclusion, it dawned on me that the Word of God speaks exactly to this point.  It is found in Rom 7 and 8, and it must be read slowly, hanging on every word and clause, in order to understand clearly (at least for me, reading it quickly easily leads to getting a little lost and running in a circle):

Rom 7:15-23 - “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 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.”

In this passage, Paul stunningly and transparently reveals his own personal struggle with sin, an ever present battle, a violently raging war within him.  If this is true of Paul, is it not also true of us and anyone who calls Christ Lord and Savior, being indwelled by the Holy Spirit?

In this passage, I do not want to miss many of the critical truths.  Firstly, Paul astutely recognizes something within him at his core that agrees with God in good (v. 16).  Secondly, he quickly claims this part of him to be his truest self, asserting that it is not him in his truest identity that carries out the sinful act, but instead the sin that dwells within him carries it out (v. 17).  Next, he mentions that the portion of him that is flesh contains nothing good, and that it is distinctively and utterly separate from the part of him that is good, which is the ability “to will” anything contrary to that corrupted flesh (v. 18).  Also, in v. 18, he concedes that within this conflict, he finds no solution on how to conquer the flesh with the will and do what he knows is good, of God, and his deepest desire. 

Going further, verse 21 is perhaps the most insightful because of its careful construction.  Mentioned first is a law…that evil is present within him—the one who wills to do good.  Notice that in this construction, the one who wills to do good is the self.  He has identified and separated his truest self as the part of him that wills to do good, and the evil portion (the flesh) as the imposter, residing simultaneously, but being the counterfeit “self,” and therefore not the self at all.  He reveals next that the “inward man” is his true identity (v. 22), the portion that delights in the law of God.  And finally, the “members”—that is, the flesh—is at war with the “mind”—that is, the inward man, the true identity—and that he is in a certain captivity to this struggle for the time being.

Within this complex communication of ideas is an overwhelming and unmistakable truth: we carry within us as humans on earth, this side of Heaven, warring identities—the flesh versus the Spirit.  Only in the assertion that I am a complex being—made up of multiple parts, distinctively and utterly separate from each other, yet intertwined…flesh and Spirit—only in this view of myself can I claim all that Paul has claimed here.  And once we have fully embraced this truth, we can easily see why both contentions of my friends are true in a sense: “out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks,” and when my mouth speaks sin it is because I myself have fallen to the evil that resides “in my members,” but also “I didn’t mean that” because the truest meaning of the word “I” is my real identity, which is in Christ and the Holy Spirit alone.

Please do not misunderstand me: this is not a cop-out.  “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” (Rom 6:1b-2)  The point of all of this is to come to realization of 1. Our true identity as Christ followers is Him alone, made possible by Him alone, and therefore “there is no condemnation” for those of us who are His, and 2. We are being attacked, invaded, and even overwhelmed on a daily basis and therefore, we must fight actively against this law of evil within our present bodies.

Finally, lest we become discouraged, we are affirmed again in chapter 8 of victory and our unassailable identities in the Spirit of Christ, our Lord.  And the power of the passage and exclamation point is what follows next:

Rom 7:24-8:2 – “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! 

8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”

We would be right to conclude that Paul has revealed that we can easily lose this war and that as long as we live, we will fight it.  Additionally, according to v. 18, we are powerless to be victorious at all in our own strength.  But as we read on in this passage as we have done and hold it up in the light of the Word in its entirety, we see much more clearly that we are “more than conquerors” in Christ (Rom 8:37). 

As long as you and I live on this earth and not in Heaven, we will never cease for evil to reside side-by-side with the Spirit within us, a conflict so violent that without the hand of God to hold us together, it would tear us into a million pieces.  Thus we feel the tension, the conflict, making us cry out in anguish as we sin yet again…and we even have a hard time knowing if we are truly evil or good.  Ah, but the Word is equally as clear about the final outcome, for we know that the law of the Spirit is stronger than the law of evil in the flesh. 

Rom 8:9-11 – “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”

Until our flesh has died and raised up again in Jesus Christ, that flesh will war against the Spirit.  But that’s just it: “Until!”  For the “Until” is not yet present, but is presently coming!  We are assured of victory!  Only because Christ has been raised after death, his flesh united with Spirit as the firstfruits of all to come who believe in Him (1 Cor 15:20,23)…only in that do we have hope of being raised to eternal life.  For in this living body, the war rages, the law of evil within me fights on…but in death of the body, yet alive in the Spirit, we have the assured hope of resurrection to eternal life, a plainly asserted claim of truth in v. 11 of chapter 8.

I hope that through this study, you are encouraged of your true identity if you call Jesus Lord and Savior.  Your identity is the Holy Spirit within you.  Your enemy is the evil that resides in your flesh.  And every day you live in the fiercest battle zone taking direct hits, for we have willingly accepted this battle by receiving a new identity in Christ.  Before knowing Christ and receiving the indwelling Spirit, we had a single, fleshly identity, being fully captive to evil.  But upon receiving Christ in the Spirit, we have immediately declared civil war on the flesh, to the death.  And in this, we have been assured victory at the completion of our lives, such that in final death, we are given full eternal life, according to the covenant promise of our Father God through Christ.  If you believe this, you have already won; though you must still fight the raging battle to the day of your death and wonderful entry into the eternal rest and peace of Heaven.  May we each embrace these truths and be transformed by the renewing of our minds this very day (Rom 12:1).  Amen.

The Power of Proper Identity: Disciples and Victors

Who are you? What is your title? How do others introduce you professionally? How do you introduce yourself? When someone asks what you do or what you love or who you are, what is your answer?

In reading the Feb 15 “My Utmost,” I realized that my initial thoughts to a question similar to these are, “I’m Will, Chemical Engineer.” Then I added to my thoughts, “Christ Follower and Disciple Maker.” Interesting…can you imagine your business card reading, “[Your Name], [Your job title], Christ Follower and Disciple Maker?” I chuckle as I realize that we’d get a lot of strange looks.

But within this, beyond societal norms and professionalism, I believe such thoughts and titles actually reveal very much about ourselves. The truth is that putting all professionalism and societal norms aside, we often define ourselves and find identity in every description and merit, or even shortcoming, apart from “Christ Follower and Disciple Maker.”

Having a solid identity and knowing it is a powerful thing. If you lack either, you stand in a position of weakness, whether knowingly or unknowingly. If your identity is not solid (not “Christ Follower and Disciple Maker”), then knowing your fragile identity contains no power and is in fact weakening. Additionally, if your identity is truly solid (“Christ Follower and Disciple Maker”) but you do not walk in the full knowledge of it, you will find yourself walking in weakness. We must stand on the solid Rock of Christ and let it rule our identity, heart, mind and soul.

Imagine standing on the battle field between your country and an invader. You have a one hundred-fold advantage in men, equipment, technology, weaponry, ammunition, training, skill, strategy, and experience. You are set to crush them. But you don’t know it. You’ve been deceived into thinking that the odds are flipped. You don’t know your own strength and out of it comes fear, cowardice, doubt, and hesitation that can lead to a shocking defeat. You might surrender before the battle begins. And if you fight, especially if you are a leader, and you allow that fear to dominate you, you will not fight with all your might and risk being defeated. But if you knew your strength and advantage fully, you would crush your enemy all the more swiftly, leading your men well, and following your commanders well.

This battle scene is a picture of the strength that we stand in as Christ Followers. We stand on the unshakable rock of Christ (1, 2), we fight with the piercing Word of God, more potent than any weapon known to man or any being for that matter (3), and we are guarded impenetrably by the shield of faith in our Father God (4). We stand in victory and are “more than conquerors" through Christ (5). Will we face the battle with that identity? If so, the victory is ours, and you can mark my words on that.

So today, on what are you basing your identity? Be honest before the Lord. He will show you, as He continues to show me daily, where our identity resides apart from Him. Let Him. Confess it back to Him in surrender and affirmation. Then let the Holy Spirit invade you and magnify your identity in Christ such that He permeates your every desire and perception of yourself and others.

We started not long ago as “[My Name], [My job title or favorite interest], Christ Follower and Disciple Maker.” But turn that around and consider its implication as your identity: “Christ Follower and Disciple Maker, [Job title or favorite interest], [My Name].” See that we have now placed ourselves last, and whatever other parts of our identity in Christ that the Lord interweaves between His name and ours, such as spiritual gifting, familial relationships, etc, we have found ourselves in the proper place in our identity, with Christ first, others second, and ourselves last. May each of us be so blessed by the Lord to have our identity strengthened in Christ alone, conquerors and co-heirs in God’s Kingdom together, forever. Amen.

1 - Matt 7:24-25 - "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock."

2 - Psalm 27:1-6 - "The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.
3 Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident.
4 One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.
5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock.
6 Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD."

3 - Heb 4:12 - "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

4 - Eph 6:10-17 - "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

5 - Rom 8:37-39 - "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

The War Over My Soul

Wars have been fought, lost, and won hundreds of times and with thousands upon thousands of individual battles since the beginning of time. We have the advantage of post-outcome perspectives to remove ourselves in a 3^rd-party, birdseye view of these wars with the ability to identify turning points. Points at which the wars changed and were virtually won. Yet, after each of these turning points, there was still war to wage…for the job had to be finished, even if “the war was over” from the historian’s perspective.

I believe that this is an applicable analogy to the war over your soul and mine, and the war over every soul from Adam to present day. It certainly is a war, and to call it anything less is to diminish the severity of the fight, the fierceness of the struggle, and the weight of the outcome.

Gal 6:10-18 – “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”

There is a macro and micro view of this war, or series of wars over our souls. The macro view, which is sound, is that humanity in its entirety since Creation and until the Apocalypse and end of time, is one major war, with many strategic battles throughout time, including the battle over our individual souls, yours and mine. There is much to this accurate view in my opinion, but tonight I will focus on the micro view that sees the battle over your single soul as a war of its own, and one that is lifelong.

Rom 8:35-39 – “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The thought of lifelong war may be discouraging, but realize that we were made for continuous battle and are fortified by God Himself to fight, and after having withstood all, to stand. To stand in victory as more than conquerors through Jesus Christ. Truthfully, as many souls have ever lived, there are as many wars for those souls, and just as truthfully, some of those wars have been lost, some won, and if you’re alive to read this post today, then yours is still ongoing.

I would like you to focus on yourself and the war over your very own soul, as I do the same. Where is the battle currently? Do you even recognize that you are in the middle of a war? The man worst off in the middle of a ferocious battle, is the one who walks out in the middle unknowingly, for he will surely be caught in the crossfire. Don’t be that man! Look up, open your eyes, open your ears, read the Word and have fellowship with your fellow believers—you will soon discover that you are standing in a war zone for your very own soul. When you have embraced this truth, you can then choose your side, pick up your weapons and defenses, and fight the good fight—the only way to victory, for there will be no peace treaty with Satan, I can assure you.

If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, then I have the greatest news and encouragement for you—the turning point has already been reached, and the rest of your life will prove that the war is already won. Much like the historian who can see that WWII was effectively won after D-Day--the largest turning point in the largest war with the greatest implications--if you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, D-Day has come and the day has been won for your soul. The stage is now set for the counter-attack on our Enemy until he is vanquished forever. Yet, there is still fighting to do and casualties will still be incurred.

This is the nature of war, even post-turning point war. There is still much fighting to do and a job to finish. Let me ask you, have you experienced spiritual “casualties” in your life so far? I know that I have. The enemy’s casualties have been idol worship in my heart, lust, selfishness, and non-righteous anger, just to name a few. The casualties on our side have included physical setbacks, mental anguish, and lost relationships. Yet, God even redeems these casualties. Afterall, He has raised men from the dead, the greatest of which His Son Jesus Christ, and conquered death of all sorts. He can resurrect your body, your mind, your circumstances, and your relationships. But only if they will serve Him in the battle and not the enemy. Remember, the enemy’s casualties were idol worship, lust, selfishness, anger, etc in my life, and likely similar sins in your life. There is no resurrection for those things. Sin is to die and stay dead, so any resurrection of circumstances, relationships, etc will only be possible through the power of Christ for His purpose.

And so after D-Day for our souls' salvation, the battle still rages and casualties are felt. Have you not experienced this, too? I’m sure that you have. Ask the men who fought across Europe on the march to Berlin after D-Day if the war felt easier. There were still smaller, yet important turning points ahead and to finish winning the war, they could at no point quit, and many more brave men and women gave their lives to win the war and fight that good fight. The same will be true in the spiritual war over our souls. We will still need to finish the post-turning point, post-Salvation march to victory. This is sanctification, when we continue to be purified to completion. The turning point has been reached and we have received the reinforcements and pivotal ”air support” provided by God and His Holy Spirit! The victory is ours and we are assured it! Is this cause to quit? No, it is cause to fight with all the more fervor!

So I encourage you if you feel that your battle has gotten too fierce and you cannot conquer it, continue to fight. D-day has already been won, if you are a believer. Recognize the battle…the battle with exterior circumstances will be fierce, but the hottest part of any battle is over that which is valued most, and that will be within you, for your soul. Begin to recognize the battle there. It is present with every sin and backslide, it is present with every temptation, it is present with every thought not taken captive on behalf of God and even in the taking captive of those thoughts.

2 Cor 10:3-5 – “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 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.”

The first shot rings out in traffic as you look with anger at the driver who has wronged you. The first shot rings out as you look at that person of the opposite gender in public for a half-second too long with only the slightest hint of lust in your heart. The first shot rings out when you delight in someone else’s possessions and begin comparing with yourself. The first shot rings out when you are confronted with a truth about yourself by another and first consider whether to be honest or not. You’ll notice that at the first shot, you may very well not have even sinned. But if someone is beginning to shoot bullets in your direction and you are on a battlefield, if you decide to ignore those bullets, they will begin to hit you. And if you ignore them further, they will begin to rip you apart and you will take on casualties. And if you continue to refuse to take up defense and fight back, you will eventually be killed and lose the war. Recognize the first shot and respond and crush your enemy, the Evil One. He is most easily crushed at the onset of the battle, for that is when He is most vulnerable. His bullets and flaming arrows cannot strike us, except for when we have put down our shield of faith, which "extinguishes all the fiery arrows of the Devil." Keep your shield up in faith in God.

If you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, I wish I could provide you comfort, but I cannot. If you are not a believer, then Satan is still on the march in your life, D-day has not come, and in fact you are losing the war, and without Jesus Christ, there is nothing you can do about it. I encourage you, seek Jesus, win D-day, and set out in a life of conquest with an all-powerful Savior. The greatest conquest experienced by any man is the war over his own soul, for it requires reaching out for a Savior God, followed by an entire lifetime of continuous battle. But a battle that we win.

To fight without Jesus as Savior is to lose and realize the terrors of eternal Hell fire. To not fight is to be occupied without any resistance and realize the terrors of eternal Hell fire. But to fight with Jesus is the only victory…sweeping, certain victory. Which of these three will you choose?

Lastly, we are not isolated as lone warriors. The Holy Spirit and armor of God is sufficient to win the battle decisively if we were lone warriors, which makes it an all the more decisive victory when we stand and fight together. Prayer is our weapon, and when we come beside each other in prayer, we fall into battle formation. One of the most powerful battle formations of its time, the time when Paul wrote of the armor of God, was the phalanx, perfected by the Romans. In the phalanx, soldiers would get close together, interlocking their shields, such that no weapon or enemy could penetrate. With their shields interlocked, their strength was multiplied, and they were protected from all sides and angles (even from above!). Here is the point: when we band together in sincere fellowship and prayer, we are interlocking our shields of faith and multiplying our strength supernaturally. When a single soldier might fall in a given battle, a phalanx prevails, and likewise it is true with prayer. Find the strength of community and praying for one another in all things, and you will find the ability to fight and win battles that you could not win alone.

Repent and cry out to your Savior. Win the turning point. Fight the good fight. Join the phalanx of fellow believers in prayer. Never stop. Always conquer. Through the power and grace of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, victory is ours. Amen and Oo-rah!

"Pray It Through" - Spiritual Warfare via Prayers of Agreement

Eph 6:12 – “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

The older I get, the more obvious it becomes to me that prayer is supernatural warfare. Think about it: when we pray, we are not changing God’s mind nor His timing. There is no argument of reason that could change His already perfectly reasoned plan. There is no heartfelt plea of good things that He has not already ordained in not only a good way, but the best way. He already knows and is guiding that perfect thing in the perfect timing. The question isn’t of changing Him or convincing Him, but rather, of our hearts being transformed for something more glorious through the offering of our desires as sacrifices to His will.

Going further, once we have been given such a glorious change of heart to match the will of God, such that all that we would ask would be given (Matt 7:7-11), we know we are still to pray. Why? After all, there is no more change to be had in that situation: the Lord has revealed His will and we have conformed our will and desired timing. Truthfully, even when we glimpse a specific future promise of His will, the timing often eludes our understanding, so we typically do need to continually pray for patience. But even if we have both a specific desire and the timing of our desire matching God’s, we are still to pray. This is for at least two reasons:

Firstly, it is pleasing to God to have this conversation of agreement between Father and adopted son or daughter (Psalm 141:2, Rev 5:8). Therefore, we should continue to pray in agreement simply for the enjoyment between us, especially our Master’s enjoyment. However, this is only part of the truth. What has finally become clear to me is that the act of sincere prayer in agreement with God’s will is supernatural warfare. That when we have prayed His will over ourselves or another person, whether near or far, the spiritual realm is pulsed with the power of God on earth. The power of God in the spiritual realm on earth is felt across the globe when even one righteous man prays for God’s justice for the oppressed in another part of the world. These prayers pierce the Evil One and suppress him, all the while reviving the Holy Spirit in our comrades. It is the source of why James 5:16 is true: “the prayers of a righteous man are powerful and effective.” Recognizing the supernatural battlefront helps us to embrace this truth with renewed understanding.

I say let’s hit the floor in prayer, the battlefield in our bedrooms, vehicles, churches, streets, and everywhere we go. First, we seek to be transformed and conformed to God’s will, such that our desires are His desires. But that is only the beginning. Next, we pray in agreement and fight the good fight. In the meantime, we share what God has revealed to us about His will to others so that more warriors can fight alongside us. Lastly, we “pray it through.” That means that if you have the faith to recognize a promise of God and a hope that you know 100% does not disappoint (Rom 5:1-5), you don’t stop praying. You could stop, for the promise was true and is not revoked, but you would be abandoning the battlefield where your comrades are under fire. Continue to pray, doing it for them if not for yourself. Every prayer is spiritual warfare. It is either the boot camp and training ground where we learn what is beneficial for our Kingdom (conforming our will to His), or it is deployment into the active battlefield that requires desiring, enacting, and praying for the things which God wills. Will you be content to graduate boot camp and never set foot on the battlefield for which you were trained, or can your comrades count on you to stand with them? I'm enlisting today. Will you join me?

Acknowledging the Inner Conflict – Time with God

I try in my best moments to read the Bible and pray every day as much as possible. The measure of how well I actually accomplish this is not the point of the discussion—if I never keep this commitment, it may seem as though what I’m about to write cannot come from such a person, but of course it can, for I have been that man…if I always keep this commitment, it may appear that what I’m about to describe is not as big of a deal for me as it sounds, but of course it is (though, I have yet live up to “always”). The point is that wherever I am on the spectrum of keeping this daily commitment, the inner conflict is true, and I think recognizing the conflict is a key and powerful step to overcoming it, fighting the Devil head on, and running to God.

My favorite time of any day when I have taken some time to spend with God in prayer and sincere consideration of His Word, whether briefly or for an extended period of time, is the time spent in the Word and prayer, without exception. I find this spectacular. And knowing this, you would think that I would look forward every day to engaging in this relationship time with God. Though at times it is my inspiration and number one priority throughout a day, more often I actually become hesitant to begin or “launch in,” even when I’ve been looking forward to it. And this is almost without fail, as well. At first I didn’t understand it. If I know what an amazing blessing this time of prayer and revelation through the Scripture is to me every single time, how could I start to debate with myself (or with God, perhaps) before starting most days? “Well, I’m tired,” or “I’m too busy,” or "I just want to relax.” But then I remembered Paul’s and Peter’s words about the flesh and the Spirit warring against each other and recognized the battlefield in my mind—yes, the war of Good and Evil in my very own mind and likely in yours, as well.

Gal 5:17 – “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.”

1 Pet 2:11 – “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul,”

Romans 7:21-25 - “So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (read v. 14-26 for even more depth in Paul’s communication)

At this point, we become better equipped to “fight the good fight” (1 Tim 1:18, 1 Tim 6:12, 2 Tim 4:7) that is ultimately spiritual in nature by gearing up with God:

Eph 6:11-13 – “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” (for more on the armor of God, read Eph 6:10-20)

I relate this fight to the following example:

There is an elementary concept in chemistry called “activation energy.” Simply put, it is the minimum energy input required to induce a given chemical reaction. It’s almost like an investment—you put money in a good investment, then you get even more back. Many chemical reactions take an initial “boost” of energy, then the kinetics and thermodynamics take over and the reaction goes without any more added energy. I have found this concept extremely relevant to everyday life since it was introduced to me in high school and more deeply examined in college. And my personal prayer and Bible study life is no exception. It’s like if I’ll just provide the initial spark, or activation energy, to get the Bible study or prayer time with God started, then He takes over with no more energy input from me…and this chemistry is very energetic! But the Devil would have me say, “I know how much time and energy and focus that would take tonight, and I don’t feel like it tonight.” Ah yes, from the outside looking in it always appears that way—always. Before you approach God in prayer it will feel like you have a great distance to go…for until you are willing to take the slightest of steps to inch towards God, you have no idea He is right there on your hip, at your side—and get this, even inside you right now.

1 Cor 3:16 – “Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?” (see also 1 Cor 6:19, Romans 8:9)

We only activate the spiritual reaction by turning our hearts and minds towards Him and suddenly we realize He was there all along. And guess what? Do you know that there is no greater peaceful and restful time of the day for me? Now, I may be absolutely mentally engaged (which I love when I have the energy) and praying with all my spiritual, emotional, and physical might…I may be expending tremendous energy and focus and even time…yet I am never more peaceful and actually restful than in this time near God. That is a paradox to the physical man (which includes you and me), for it is only realized through the Holy Spirit, whom we know is “with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt 28:20). Only with God could a time of intense energy and focus be restful and peaceful—this is an inkling of a supernatural movement in us, and it is available to each and every one who comes to God in sincere prayer or Bible study.

I encourage you, whatever you feel like to this point in the day or to the point where you are having that argument with yourself or even God on whether or not you will engage in prayer or Bible study—take a leap of faith and just “launch in.” Make yourself focus with all you have for just 5 minutes and just see what kind of a reaction the Holy Spirit will have within you. After all, we played the smaller part, only the activation energy—yet it was critical for the entire process to even take place. I think this applies to much of our relationships with God—He requires so little—mostly just acknowledgement of Him as God and Jesus His Son who by human death has pardoned our terrible sin in order to bring us to oneness with Him in Heaven and on earth in love—we just acknowledge Him and this as truth, and the rest is His work. Along the way, our gratitude makes us want to do more than just acknowledge Him—we begin to want to serve Him, to learn to love Him, whatever that means or looks like, and again we approach Him with the simple desire and He does the greater movement—He brings the Holy Spirit, God Himself, within us and renews a heart we could not renew and places such opportunities in front of us to love Him with growing love, as “He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

Embrace this passion and it will change you forever...for the good. I have 100% confidence in this, and you can, too. If you have not accepted Christ, I encourage you to sincerely consider Him today—seek Him out, find out more about Him, find someone who knows Him and cares about you, and give Jesus a shot with you. If you already know Christ, simply dedicate yourself entirely to Him for 5 minutes today…just 5 minutes…all of you, entirely His, and see if He does not come right to you and give you a “peace that surpasses all understanding” (Phil 4:6-7). In time, you’ll begin to notice that the new Resident within you has some glorious plans for His new home—You, God, and even those around you will be pleased with the renovation. We can simply break the ground with a shovel full of dirt, and God tears down the old house that was our sinful selves, building a new one of great splendor that is eternal. Amen.