Spiritual Warfare, Part 1

Real Christianity

Hold to His Teaching

Walk in His Protection

Live in His Blessing

Leadership in the Real World With Real Love

Evaluate leadership, your own or that of others, by actions, not words! Actions tell you who someone really is and if they really care about you (love you).

This is true of leadership at the family level, the organization level, the national level, the state level, the county level, and the city level. Evaluate leadership by their actions, not by what they say. It’s important to listen to what they say, but we cannot evaluate them only by what they say. Are they loving you and your loved ones! Do their actions indicate they love you. “Love always protects.”

Jesus Christ is the leader (King) of God’s Kingdom, and he has total authority and power from God in heaven and over ALL of creation, including Satan and his forces of evil. Jesus and God the Father love mankind and have given us “everything we need for life…,” including protection from Satan and his forces of evil. The Apostle Paul calls it “the full armor of God!”

The armor of God protects you from Satan, his forces of evil, and their “schemes.”

However, you have to put the armor on!!

“Life to the full” means life as God intended before Adam and Eve disobeyed God (see Genesis 1-3). It includes: 1) forgiveness of your sins, 2) adoption into God’s family, 3) a new sinless nature, 4) a deeper life-giving connection to God, 5) a renewing of the mind with truth (reality), 6) God’s assistance with your success on earth, and 7) eternal life in paradise. That’s real Christianity

Real Christianity also includes Protection from Satan and his forces of evil. Love Always Protects!

Understanding the spiritual war with the forces of darkness begins with a clear understanding of real Christianity. Real Christianity is about establishing a relationship with God as His child, not joining a religion. If you are interested in growing spiritually, experiencing “life to the full” on earth, and successfully defeating Satan’s schemes, then understanding real Christianity is imperative!!

Many “intellectuals” in educational institutions and others across the world today would have you believe there is no God or that He is not personally involved in your daily life. However, one of the most brilliant intellectuals of all time, Albert Einstein, clearly believed in God. Any intellectually honest person, who examines the facts surrounding the function of the universe, has to come to “a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law in it” (to quote Einstein).

Let’s examine the truth about man’s dilemma, why God’s solution is essential for man’s situation, how to spend eternity with Him in Paradise, and how to defeat Satan.

What Happened?

How did humans get into this dilemma? Let’s look at a summary of events from the Bible:

First, God created humans without any flaws. God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; “male and female He created them… God saw all that He had made, and it was very good” (Genesis 1:27 & 31).

Second, God gave Adam and Eve a command to protect their eternal life and preserve their perfect nature. “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die (physically and spiritually)'” (Genesis 2:15-17).

Third, the devil, God’s enemy, tempted man to disobey God. “He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, “You must not eat from any tree in the garden?”‘ The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, “You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.”‘ ‘You will not certainly die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil’” (Genesis 3:1-5).

Fourth, man disobeyed God. “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it…” (Genesis 3:6).

Fifth, because of their disobedience, sin (a noun) entered into Adam and Eve. “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves around them and made coverings for themselves”(Genesis 3:7). Remember this, the theme of obeying God and the impact obedience has on your blessings from Him is found throughout the entire Bible!!

Sixth, because sin was now living in Adam and Eve, they were no longer allowed to live in God’s Kingdom, so they were banished from it: “And the LORD God said, The man has now become like one of Us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.’ So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After He drove the man out, He placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life” (Genesis 3:22-24).

Seventh, sin, an evil nature living in you, is passed from generation to generation in all humans. “Sin entered the world through one man (Adam), and death through sin, and in this way, death came to all people, because all sinned…” (Romans 5:12).

Love Always Protects

THE RESULTING CONDITION OF OUR HUMAN BODIES

All humans have this fatal condition. This condition is called “the sin nature.” You may think sin is only a verb, something a person does. The word is often used that way, but in the Bible, the Apostle Paul frequently uses the word sin as a noun – something living inside us. As it is, the sin living inside us is passed from generation to generation, all the way from Generation One – Adam and Eve!

Sin creates weaknesses in every person’s human nature – referred to by Paul as the sinful nature (meaning a nature that can’t help but sin). The Greek philosopher, Plato, said, “If you would converse with me, please, first, define your terms.” So first, let’s define the verb sin. Dummies.com defines it thusly: “Sinning is any action, attitude, or thought that goes against God and His commands or teachings.

You may think of sinning as an obvious act, such as murder, marital unfaithfulness, or theft. Although that’s true, sinning is also a wrongdoing that’s far subtler and even unnoticeable at times, such as telling lies, pride, envy, or even worry. Sinning includes not only things you shouldn’t have done (sins of commission), but also things you should’ve done.

As you can see, the most important question in your short lifetime on this earth is: “What are you going to believe about sin, God the Father, Jesus Christ, a full life here on earth, and eternal life?” The Bible says receiving eternal life from God grants you the right to be a member of His family, starting here on earth, with all the benefits of being a citizen of His Kingdom.

Real Christianity offers you the free gift of eternal life through an act of God’s grace and freedom from the tyranny of your sinful nature. In all other religions, you must earn and work your way to Heaven – a mission impossible! For those who want to be a real Christian, though, the Bible says all you have to do is “believe in the One He has sent,” Jesus Christ (John 6:29).

Love Always Protects

GOD’S SOLUTION FOR OUR CONDITION

The Bible says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23). As most estate planners point out, the mortality rate in this life is 100%. So how does one plan for eternal life?

There is only one solution for this sin condition in our fallen human nature. The Bible says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) and that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). And that life, eternal life, life to the full, begins as soon as you receive Christ into your life!

God is a God of justice, mercy, love, and grace. He has always had a plan in place for humans that allows us to be set free from the sinful nature. God sent His Son Jesus Christ to come to earth and to die in your place to pay the penalty of death for your sins and to provide a solution of rendering your sinful nature powerless through daily faith in Christ!

Paul teaches us that through daily faith in Jesus Christ, the sin living in us is rendered powerless. “Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25a)

Which death and life is the Apostle Paul talking about? He is talking of spiritual death (separation from God and His life-giving power for eternity) and spiritual life (unity and fellowship with God and connection to His life-giving power for eternity).

Connection to God is what gives us the feeling of life: love, joy, peace, goodness, etc. – a feeling of well-being and safety, including the absence of fear, violence, and hatred. Disconnection from God produces an environment of the opposite characteristics because all love and goodness flow only from God. There is no other source to obtain them!

Love Always Protects

Rather than working and earning our way to Heaven, as other religions require, Apostle Peter tells us to apply the promises and let God grow us into spiritual maturity. Apostle Paul tells us in his writings that only God creates this spiritual growth in us. Therefore, you are dependent on daily faith in Jesus to grow spiritually, a process referred to as sanctification.

The Bible also has much to say about how to sustain such a relationship with God, including the benefits of the relationship. When a person puts their faith in Jesus Christ, that person is born into God’s family. It is at that time your relationship with God’s family begins. “Yet to all who did receive Him (Christ), to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:12-13).

What is our responsibility in this covenant? Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves Me will obey My teaching. My Father will love them, and We will come to them and make Our home with them.” (John 14:23). The key that my earthly father taught me was simple, “keep your eyes on Jesus, not man.”

God is a personal being and wants to be personally involved in your life. Real Christianity, as explained in the Bible, is not a religion; it is a reality. It’s a personal relationship with God. It begins by being born again, that is, being born into God’s family and becoming His child. As such, he helps you succeed and protects you.

“Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (2 Corinthians 1:21-22).

Love Always Protects

ANOTHER KEY BENEFIT OF REAL CHRISTIANITY

“When God made His promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for Him to swear by, He swore by himself, saying, ‘I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.’ And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

“People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, He confirmed it with an oath.

“God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” Hebrews 6:12-19a

CHOOSE LIFE

Hopefully, I have given you a clear and practical understanding of Christianity – real Christianity. We all know that some decisions in life are significantly more important than others. So ask yourself these questions: “Can I honestly stand before God someday and claim I have never broken His law, The Ten Commandments?”

Love Always Protects

How do I know I will go to Heaven and get an imperishable body after I die? On what basis do I know for sure? If your answers are not consistent with the path to eternal life the Son of God has outlined above, you can make the following three choices:

1. Choose not to believe what you learned in this article.
2. Choose to begin a personal relationship with God by becoming His child by faith – admitting to Jesus Christ that you have sinned against God, thanking Jesus for dying on the cross as payment for your sins, inviting Him into your life as your Savior and Lord by following His teachings.
3. Choose to check out real Christianity further by attending a church that teaches and preaches from the Bible on a weekly basis.

“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” 1 John 5:11-12