The weapons of our warfare

Believers, do you tend to think of the plane you're scheduled to be on spiralling down to earth with you in it? Do you seem to always have thoughts of bad things happening to you or your family members? Do you feel like something bad will happen to you because of a particular sin that you committed (and sometimes your worst fears even come to pass!)? Do you have 'un-Christian' thoughts and can't seem to find a way out? Do you sometimes think that you are not really saved? Have you tried to stop thinking these thoughts but they just don’t go away? There's good news for you! 

First, we need to understand that the battleground where we wrestle against “spiritual wickedness in high places” is not on some mountain top, coven or in the work place. The battleground is the mind. This is reflected in Paul’s statement in 2 Corinthians 10 - 

“(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;”

Notice "Casting down imaginations..."and "bringing into captivity every thought..." We battle imaginations and thoughts in the mind; these are the weapons of the Accuser: accusations. 

Satan goes about putting self-accusing thoughts in people's minds, even using seemingly innocent conversations and words of people who seem to mean well. The aim is to make a believer feel less than who and what Christ has made he and all who believe to become by His obedience: Righteous. And then he tries to get you to do "good" things that he and his agents say will make you godly (be like God.) Same strategy Satan used with Eve. 

Glory be to our Lord God for grace to overcome these crazy thoughts and accusations by “bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” This is the weapon of our warfare. But what is this "obedience of Christ"? We find the meaning in one of my favourite passages of the bible - Romans 5:19 - 

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

You see, Satan is an accuser, literally “the prosecutor” or “the accuser” (Ha Satan) in Hebrew. In Israel today, all prosecuting lawyers have the same title – Ha Satan. Satan has no power to just go and be "dashing" anybody curses or sickness anyhow. What a prosecutor does is present charges against the accused in court, with the aim of getting a guilty verdict so that the harshest judgment can follow. Now, the court of law is the mind. What the devil and his agents behind corrupted pulpits do is accuse people (including believers) of the bad things that they have done and remind them of their shortcomings and the coming judgment if they don't do something to restore themselves, like Judas who died. These are the ‘fiery darts of the wicked one’ that Paul spoke of in Ephesians 6. They try to make you think things like “your plane can crash because God might not keep you safe unless you get right with Him” or “God will punish you for such and such unless you do this and that.” 

But no one can ever get right with God by their own efforts at law-keeping according to Romans 3:20. No one has it all together. If you break one law, you are guilty of all (James 2:10). You see how some pastors can be agents of the devil without even knowing it. The letter (law) kills. It EQUALLY condemns EVERYBODY under it. Only the blood of Jesus can cut it with the Righteous Judge (God) and His gift of righteousness is free for all in Christ! It cannot be earned or deserved.

God Himself made the way for us to be righteous in His sight and it has got nothing to do with human effort at keeping the law or doing good things: Romans 5:9-

"And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

Only through the righteousness of faith, not works, can the devil’s fiery darts of thoughts and imaginations be quenched. Ephesians 6:16 says "above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one." The law is not of faith.

When a person is accused by Satan and his response is to start doing things to “be righteous again” or “get right with God,” he condemns himself by rejecting the price that Jesus paid for all of our sins. He rejects Jesus as his Righteousness and Advocate as he has chosen to be his own advocate with his works. He gets cut off from Christ; he falls from grace. See Galatians 5:4-

"For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace."

When a person is in dire straits and someone tells him that God will not help him unless he does some particular thing when Romans 8:32 tells us that with Christ, ALL things are freely given to us by our Abba Father, that counselor is doing the work of the devil. If anyone believes these lies, what comes next is condemnation followed by a fearful expectation of judgment…then judgment itself- fear, stress, stupid mistakes, sickness, poverty, lack, broken relationships, etc….death. All of the curses in Deut. 28. Only the condemned get punished. Only when the battle for the mind is lost can one fall under the curse.

Believers, our right-standing with God isn't based on what we do or don't do. It is a gift- Romans 5:17 calls it a gift. God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us so we can become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor.5:21).

Remember "For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous." We cast down imaginations and bring these thoughts into captivity by believing and confessing what our Lord Jesus Christ's obedience has achieved for us; by believing and confessing that "I am the righteousness of God in Christ." 

So how can a thing as simple as believing and confessing our righteousness in Christ bring salvation? The bible has the answer for this too in Romans 10:10 – “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." 

When you believe and speak out your righteousness in Christ, salvation follows. Salvation here is not just being saved to go to heaven; it is also deliverance from the molestation of enemies and redemption from all earthly ills- fear, stress, lack, distress, debt, discontentment, disease, whatever we need saving from. It is being saved from the penalty, power and pleasure of sin! The word used in the original Greek translation of the New Testament is Swthria (pronounced soteria) and it encompasses all these meanings. That is our Jesus (Yeshua is Salvation in Hebrew)! When you believe and confess your righteousness in Christ, every single blessing that is for the righteous in the bible becomes yours! The fiery darts (evil thoughts and accusations) which are the weapons of the enemy will fail in your life because – 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."

Notice that this blessing is not earned by keeping the Ten Commandments or by fasting and prayer or any work. It is an inheritance (heritage) for those whose righteousness is from the Lord, not their efforts at keeping the law or pleasing Him with puny works. Believe Him. Confess it and see it!

Paul described righteousness as a weapon in 2 Corinthians 6:7 -  “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],”. 

Truly, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God! Believers, our warfare is fought with the weapon of righteousness which we have as a gift from our Heavenly Father through the obedience of Christ. This is our shield (the righteousness of faith) to quench the fiery darts of the wicked one! 

Christ paid in full for all of our sins – past, present and future.  But many of us often forget that in Christ, nobody can bring a charge against us, according to Romans 8:33 – “Who will bring any charge against God’s elect (His chosen ones)? It is God who justifies us [declaring us blameless and putting us in a right relationship with Himself].” 

And He justifies the ungodly - those who see that have no good in them and by His grace, see their need for a Saviour. Any other means justification is according to the order of Adam and Eve who were deceived into trying to be godly (be like God) by human effort.

When those bad thoughts and accusations come knocking, remember Whose you are and who you are in Christ – the righteousness of God. Confess your righteousness - even in the midst of your sin - and feel His peace that surpasses all understanding guard your heart and your mind in Christ. You will not continue in sin because the path of the righteous (by faith) does not grow darker and more sinful; it is like the morning sun that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day! Proverbs 4:18

See yourself mounting up with wings like eagles because the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Ephesisans 1:3)! 

In Christ, you can expect good things to happen to you always. 

Believe Right and you will Live Right.