The weapons of our warfare. See the simplicity that is in Christ!

Believers, remember 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,"

From what we are up against in the verses above, we see that this warfare that Paul spoke of here isn't fought in some coven, church building or some mountaintop; what we are up against is "arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God" and "thoughts." The battleground is our minds where we ingest and analyse thoughts and arguments, and we overcome not through carnal means (human effort such as attempting to break generational curses or curses of lack, sickness, stress, depression, etc, by 40 days' dry fast when Christ already hung on the tree to redeem us from the curse of the Law.) We overcome by bringing the weapons of the enemy (accusations of the Accuser) into captivity to the obedience of Christ, according to the same passage.

But what is the obedience of Christ? Who better to interpret the Word than the Word Himself! Romans 5:19 tells us all about the obedience of Christ and who we are because of His obedience-

"For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous."

Believers, because of the obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are made righteous; justified from all things from which we could not be justified by the Law of Moses (Acts 13:39.) Because Christ has fulfilled the righteous requirements of the Law on our behalf, BECAUSE WE HAVE BEEN MADE RIGHTEOUS BY HIS OBEDIENCE, every blessing of the righteous, including protection, deliverance, provision and ALL of the blessings of Deuteronomy 28 are ours in Him!

The Accuser has just one weapon in his arsenal- the same one he used on Eve to make her believe that she was not godly - his fiery darts of accusations, even dished out from pulpits where legalism and law-keeping are being preached. His aim is to make one fall under condemnation so that the judgment (curse of the law) can come into effect in the life of that one. Without condemnation, there can be no judgment. In Christ, there is no condemnation for the believer! See Romans 8:1. Only under law is condemnation and therefore, judgment.

Whenever you get those niggling thoughts (the fiery darts of the wicked one) that remind you of your sins/shortcomings and tell you that you can be godly (be like God) only if, like Adam and Eve, you eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, a picture of the law, bring these thoughts into captivity to the obedience of Christ - present our Lord Jesus as your righteousness and the reason why God blesses you and answers your prayers.

Unfortunately many in the church still follow after the example of Eve- trying to be godly through human effort at keeping the law. But the result is forever the same- death in the same manner that Adam died: sin-consciousness followed by guilt then by condemnation and then judgment- the curse of the law, including all of the curses in Deut. 28! Believers, by God's grace, let's not be found here.

You eat the fruit of the tree whenever you do anything by your own effort in order to be godly, aka be like God. It is only by the obedience of Christ- our being the righteousness of God in Christ - that we can quench the fiery darts of the enemy- those thoughts or words that remind us of our sins and tell us that we are not godly/righteous. When the thoughts and words come, confess “I am the righteousness of God in Christ.” In the middle of that sin that you are trying so hard to shake off, confess “I am the righteousness of God in Christ.” When you have a dream that’s so terrible and hard to understand, confess your righteousness in Christ and leave the rest to Jesus.

Believers, in Christ, every blessing attached to the righteous in the bible applies to you; we reign in life not because of what we do or don’t do but because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us. See Romans 5:17 -

"For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ."

Remember Proverbs 12:21 – “no harm befalls the righteous.” That’s you and I in Christ. Say it when you are worried or afraid. Keep confessing “I am the righteousness of God in Christ.” Say it out loud. Mutter it under your breath. Everywhere you go, “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” – Romans 10:10.

Remember Isaiah 54:17-

No weapon formed against you shall prosper,

And every tongue which rises against you in judgment

You shall condemn.

This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,

And their righteousness is from Me,”

Says the Lord.

This promise is not just for anyone that can attach the name of Jesus to each prayer point. It is an inheritance (heritage) and cannot be obtained by fasting for 100 days. It is for those who call Him "THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS" and are not trying to be saved by their puny attempts at keeping the Ten Commandments or doing anything else. Only believe, and even this is by grace.

Confess that you are righteous by His grace and see your life set right and transformed to peace and rest that only Jesus can give! You will also not continue in sin because it is Grace that teaches us to reject ungodliness (Titus 2:12), not you, not your pastor, not finger-wagging condemnation and law-keeping, which kill.

What’s more? Remember that Paul said “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal…”? This part is so exciting! – Paul described righteousness as weapons in 2 Corinthians 6:7 Amplified Bible (AMP)

“in [speaking] the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand [like holding the sword to attack] and for the left [like holding the shield to defend],”

As the righteousness of God in Christ, standing in His Righteousness and not ours, we are able to pull down strongholds, cast down imaginations and everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bring every thought to captivity by the obedience of Christ – our Righteousness in Him! Yet not us but Christ that lives in us. Praise the Lord that the battle is the Lord’s! For all those who believe, this warfare was won when our Lord Jesus cried “Finished!” when He took our place on the cross so that we can be the righteousness of God in Christ.

Believers, let’s not just have zeal for God. I pray that He reveals Himself to us in Christ more and more as our Abba, Father. Our Daddy who loves us soooooooooooooo much that He gave His Son to die for us so that we might have everlasting life - starting here on earth! We love because He first loved us:)

It took God’s grace for you to read this far:)

Believers, we are not saved by doing the law. John 3:16 says we are saved by believing Jesus! This is Grace - undeserved, unmerited, unearned favour.

Jesus said the Holy Spirit will teach you all things so don’t worry about how to get ahead in Christ or how many bible verses you know right now. Just follow! If you try to open a flower that is still in its budding stage, you will ruin the flower. Trust in Him to transform you by His Spirit.

Believe Right and you will Live Right.