The
By
Shelby G. Floyd
We are in a war that is being fought around the world and here at home. It is a battle against evil, terror and fear. It is basically a battle for the mind of man. Paul describes this battle in his second letter to the Corinthians: “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 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” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5, NIV). These words indicate that our warfare is not with conventional worldly weapons, but with the powerful arguments of truth that can demolish all false pretensions that array against the knowledge of God revealed in the Bible.
Satan is a Usurper
There are two opposing armies in this battle for the minds
of men. Satan is the leader of all those
who oppose the God of heaven. He is a
usurper and he inspires those who join him as a rebel, to oppose everything
that is good and decent. He is a
murderer, and he is a liar and the father of all lies. Because this is how Jesus described him and
those who are allied with him, "You
belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's
desire. He was a murderer from the
beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language,
for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John
Satan is always on the offensive. Therefore the people of God must recognize
that we are always under attack. But we
must not cower in fear and give in to these assaults on the church and the
truth of the gospel. The apostle Peter said
we must be watchful and vigilant, "Be
sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring
lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8). Therefore, we must
speak and act with courage and without fear.
Those who love the Lord can be as bold as a lion, "for God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but his spirit of
power, of love and of self-discipline" (2 Timothy 1:7).
The devil is often referred to as the dragon that makes war
against the church. John while on the
Isle of Patmos described this war against the people of God: "and the dragon was enraged with the
woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the
commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" (Revelation
The Weapons of our Warfare
The church is in a spiritual battle that is to be fought
with spiritual weapons. Paul declares to
the Ephesians, "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" (Ephesians
The
Our mind can either be our best friend or our worst enemy. We can either set our minds on the things of the flesh or the things of the Spirit. If we live according to the flesh, then we will set our minds on the things of the flesh. But if we desire to live according to the spirit, then we will set our minds on the things of the Spirit. "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be" (Romans 8:5-7). In this great tug-of-war, we are going to either give our minds to God or over to the arch enemy of all mankind—the devil. It is therefore very important that we bring every thought and idea into captivity and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).
We Are What We Think
In this great spiritual battle, our mind is our first line
of defense. Our thinking defines who we
are. "As a man thinks in his heart,
so is he." Solomon also said, "Keep your heart with all diligence,
for out of it spring the issues of life" (Proverbs
We Must Renew Our Mind
All of us can win the battle for the mind by giving our body as a living sacrifice and by renewing our mind according to the good, acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12: 1-2). The way that we do this is to set our minds and our thinking upon the things that are good: “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:8-9, NKJV). We can only be victorious in the battle for the mind when we baptized into Christ where all spiritual blessings are to be found (Ephesians 1:3, 7).
We Are Raised In Christ by Baptism
Water baptism for the
forgiveness of sin is the culminating act of faith that puts us into Christ
where salvation is found (2 Timothy