Fight!

2 Corinthians 10:4-5. "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" (KJV).

We're in a war. It's a spiritual war, and the stakes are for eternity. Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, says that our weapons are not carnal.(carnal is something that's governed by human nature as opposed to the Holy Spirit) If we're fighting our spiritual battles with our own will power, we're not even using weapons. They're certainly not the weapons that can pull down strong holds, cast down imaginations, and things which exalt themselves against God. By ourselves and with our own will, we certainly can't bring every thought we have into captivity to obedience to Christ.

It is only through God. If we're going to fight a spiritual battle, we need spiritual weapons.Eph 6:14-18 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints--God has given us these seven (I'm sure you could think of more) weapons with which to fight our battles. If these are used as God intended, we should never lose a battle.1. Truth: I've heard a lot of people say this is the Word of God. While the Word of God is certainly truth, I don't think that's the meaning Paul had in mind when he wrote that. The word of God is refered to later in the passage as the sword of the Spirit. I think the truth Paul meant here is more akin to honesty. In order to be affective on the spiritual battlefield we must first and foremost be honest with ourselves. We must be willing to acknowledge our faults if we are to effectively overcome. Who among us has not, at some point, rationalized or justified, a sin we've committed? Who has not struggled, at some point, with being truly honest with themselves about why they are struggling with a particular sin? Let's set aside our pretenses and gird our waist in truth, for until you are willing to do that, you will never come openly to God and let him equip you fully for the battle.

2. Righteousness: According to Strongs Biblical Concordance--integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking feeling, and acting. This is the piece of armor which guards our hearts. While I believe our whole Christian life is a refining process to make us more righteous (Romans 8:28-29), it is only through Jesus Christ, and His imputed righteousness, that we can truly ever lay claim to the promises of God.

3. Gospel: The glad tidings of salvation through Jesus Christ. I think it's significant here that it says "...preparation of the gospel...". We are to prepare ourselves with the gospel of peace. We are to have our face in God's Word, reading about the life of Jesus. If our life is about the emulation of Jesus, don't you think we should know as much about Him and His teachings as we can?

4. Faith: the conviction that God exists and is the creator and ruler of all things, the provider and bestower of eternal salvation through Christ. Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

5. Salvation: I think it's interesting that this is equated to our helmet. I know one of the ways that satan tries to get at me is by whispering doubts in my ear. In other words, he tries to get in my head by saying things like, "God can't really love you. You didn't repent right. God can only forgive so much. God's mercy can't really endure forever." You can fill in your own I'm sure. The truth is, the believer has been promised salvation. We have God's promises in a faithfully preserved book called the Bible, and we need to rest in those promises.

6. Word of God: The Bible. Our only offensive weapon in this war for our souls. Jesus beautifully modeled how to use this weapon effectively against satan in Matthew 4.

7. Prayer and Supplication in the Spirit: It's significant that it says "in the Spirit". James 5:16 says this: "...The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." But wait, Isaiah 64:6 says, "...And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;" Romans 4:24-25 beautifully reconciles those two scriptures. "but also for us. [Righteousness] shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification." The person who prays "in the Spirit" is the one who has accepted Jesus' blood as an atonement for their sin. To them has been imputed the cloak of righteousness, so that when they come before God, God see's Jesus Christ and His righteousness and not our own filthy rags.Let's use these spiritual weapons effectively and strive to take captive every thought to the obedience of Christ! I pray that everyone of us may someday stand before the throne and say what Paul said in his second letter to Timothy. 2Ti 4:7 - I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.