SWORDS Bible Study: Victorious Living in the Battle

By Mari

(All caps for emphasis only!)

Hi SWORDS!

Victorious Living in the Battle is a subject that has been growing in my mind and heart ever since we began the Armor of God study series.  You see, I have always thought that the battle was the Lord’s to fight for us, but while working on that series I began to see clearly that the battle is ours to fight!  Why else would the Lord equip us with such powerful armor?

To begin with, we have to remember that the Word of God says we are in a battle!  And, as in any battle it helps to know who the enemy is and what their goals are!  We are told that today we are not fighting against people in the flesh. As we have seen in our study of the whole armor of God, we are in a SPIRITUAL and DOCTRINAL battle, a battle in which we are fighting for the truth. Fighting for men’s minds and souls!

This battle is fought on many fronts, and one of the biggest battles we face is the conflict we fight on the home front, that of also guarding our own minds and hearts against wrong doctrine.  Keeping our own mind engaged and at the ready, focused on Christ, continually washed in the word of God.

Eph 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

Eph 5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

I am not speaking about dealing with our old man because THIS battle has indeed already been fought and won by Christ. It is up to us only to RECKON it so and LIVE ACCORDINGLY.  Read Romans 8!

We are NOT battling to save OUR souls of course, for our souls are already saved believing by grace through faith in Christ’s finished work alone on the cross.  If our souls were not saved, we would NOT be in the battle!

When we were dead in our sins there was no battle to be fought. Dead men cannot fight!  But once we believed the gospel, the Spirit of God brought us into eternal life as a new creature in Christ, making us spiritually alive in Him!

Eph 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

2Co_5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

1Co_15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

We know that we are eternally safe and secure, once we have believed on Jesus Christ and what He did for us at the cross.  WE are accepted in the Beloved (Eph 1:6), saved and sealed (2Co 1:22) until the day of redemption (Eph 4:30), where we will receive our new body that will no longer sin, and be forever with Christ in heaven! We have every spiritual blessing in heavenly places (Eph 1:3)! The Lord gave us the armor of God to help protect us SPIRITUALLY, which shows that He intends for us to be engaged in a battle while we are still here in the body!  He gives us this armor that we may take it up and be able to stand strong in the battle that we fight today in this dispensation of Grace.

In times past, the battle was the Lord’s where He actually did the fighting. The battle today is the Lord’s too, but WE are the soldiers doing the fighting. The truth of the matter is that the battle has already been won by Christ. We are merely trying to persuade people to be a part of the winning side. The fact that this is not easy, that there will be a fight back against us, and that the consequences of such resistance can be grave is why the warring analogy is used.

We read in the Old Testament how the Lord fought the battles for Israel.  Let’s take a look…

2Ch 20:15-17  And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.

Tomorrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.

Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.

We can go through the whole OT to see that God fought the physical battles for Israel.

Today we are no longer in a physical battle, but we are in a spiritual battle, and it is our battle to fight!  God gave us everything we need to fight this battle, but it is our battle to fight.

This is BIG.  If we do not understand this; that God may not step in and fight our physical battles for us, but that He has provided something even greater: a way to succeed in a meaningful and eternal way despite the circumstances around us. This is understanding rightly dividing the word of truth. We will not be looking for signs and wonders, or following mixed up directions and doctrines that render us useless to our Commanding Officer today!

Without this knowledge and understanding we can never live a victorious Christian life.

Not understanding this great truth is what hobbles many from living in Christ fully!

2Co 10:3-5 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

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;

Do you see this? God gave us armor for what?  OUR SPIRITUAL WARFARE!  Not for our physical WELFARE, but for our spiritual WARFARE!  This clearly states we are in a war…in a battle daily, a battle that is spiritual in nature, one for which we have been given spiritual weapons and protection to fight in OUR battle as good soldiers!

Today the battle is God’s and He has tasked us with fighting with Him. Today we see the false teachings of men everywhere.  Wrong doctrine that is not of God being taught in the religions of men. We battle them as we oppose the false teachings of men, by teaching the word of God rightly divided. (2 Timothy 2:15)

Here is a verse that describes the battle in time past:

Ps 34:7 The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.

Today in this dispensation of grace we do NOT have angels who deliver us.

There is no indication or even hint in Paul’s epistles that angels are battling for the Lord in the dispensation of grace!  Instead, WE have been issued weapons for this warfare (2Cor 10:4).  Not material weapons, but SPIRITUAL weapons that are MIGHTY through GOD. Remember we do not fight in our own strength, but in His strength.

Next week we’ll talk more about the battle.  In the meantime, “Who is on the Lord’s side?” (Exodus 32:26).  Let’s get in the fight, “that we may please Him who hath chosen us to be a soldier” (2 Timothy 2:4)!

The Gospel of the Grace of God: 1Co 15:1-4 I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you…By which also ye are saved…How that Christ died for our sins…And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: