Welcome back to the fourth part of our study on obtaining spiritual victory. Over the last few weeks, we’ve explored the intricacies of the spiritual battleground as explained in the scriptures.
Last week we saw how God has given us His armor, for our protection and safety, and we also saw how much piece of that armor points to an aspect of Jesus and His complete sacrifice for us.
Today we will be taking a look at the weapon given to us in our spiritual struggle. A supernatural sword, to be used against a spiritual foe; and it might be different than you think.
Welcome back to part three of our series on how to fight and win your spiritual battles, in Christ. Being “in Christ” is more than just a high-minded, ethereal idea, it is a reality of your present position and standing because of His finished work, and your reception of His payment for you.
Last week we began looking at the armor of God with an overview of why the armor was given and where it comes from. Now today, we will continue by examining the pieces of God’s armor to understand their individual benefits, and how each pieces combines to be a fully effective whole unit.
On several occasions, I have been in conversations where I have bluntly asked someone, “are you righteous in the sight of God?”, and then the person in question would hesitate, they would pause, and consider their life and their behaviors, and then with shakiness in their voice answer “I think so...”. This reveals the fact that when it comes to righteousness, such people as the ones I have spoken with, really have no confidence at all in their righteous standing before God; and it’s precisely for this reason that they aren’t standing on the proper foundation… they aren’t standing in Christ, but instead are looking at their own behaviors and performance and judging their righteousness and their standing before God based on that, instead of on the finished work of Christ.
This has a more damaging effect than you may imagine at first, because righteousness by faith in Christ is at the very core of our new identity, and it is very important to successful spiritual warfare; to the utilization of our power in Christ. As we studied last week, God has given us power; He wants us to have it and make use of it… but we will never have success, unless we stand on the proper foundation, and approach from the correct perspective.
So today in this study, we look at the importance of knowing, truly knowing beyond doubt that you are righteous.
It’s no secret that the body of Christ is divided today. There are all manner of sects, churches and ministries to fit any particular tribe, taste or temperament that exists. There are even entire ministries dedicated to specific topics and categories. Personally I think that there should only be one category: Christ and His Finished Work – and from that, everything else will flow and every problem solved. Now, not surprisingly, when I mention this, some people get put-off and offended… they think that it is narrow-minded to say that the finished work of Christ can solve every problem, and when they tell me that, I typically respond by telling them that they have a very limited view of what He accomplished.
Sometimes that statement makes them curious and they want to know more; and sometimes it offends them even deeper – especially if they have been a believer for many years. Yet regardless of how long someone has been a believer, that doesn’t change the fact that there are countless people who have not been properly shown what the finished work of Christ actually accomplished, and so they have a dim view of what Jesus has really done for them.