Let us not relent in fighting the good fight

1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

Many years ago I said to someone everything regarding ministry and our spiritual walk boils down to spiritual warfare. My statement was met with surprise, even a measure of mockery for surely everything is not about warfare? Guarding against not being critical, the church is in a mess because we have not realised we are involved in a war, each and every person who follows Christ. If we fail to realise such a daunting reality, means we will not act as warriors for Christ, adopting a mindset of resistance, defiance, and bold aggression to pull down the strongholds of darkness.

Indeed, we have failed to adopt a warlike mindset, and instead of being a church that is actively engaged in a spiritual war, we are more a church that is engaged in self-upliftment, self-empowerment, self-glorification, self-exaltation, and self-motivation. When you talk about war, many think of deliverance and directly confronting the devil. This is part of the war (and by the way, each disciple is called to be actively engaged as well in deliverance), but mostly it is about countering the deceptions, demonic strategies, vile intentions, the fleshly cravings and worldly carnality by standing in God’s truth, His will, light, love, and authority.

This same person asked me how I can say that everything is about war. If we fail to understand that EVERYTHING is about warfare, then we have already lost the fight. For we need to understand that while we are all leading our lives daily, undergoing our struggles and enjoying triumphs, a war over our soul's wage. To be more correct, you can say war wages for ownership of our spirit, for the soul which is our mind, heart and will also perish along the temporary body, leaving us to either in spirit be with God for all eternally or be separated from God for all time. Of such a reality we read in Revelation 21 and 22 (regarding those who are outside the New Jerusalem).

The Gospel primarily is about salvation. The church is called to first and foremost lead people to Christ. Jesus makes it very clear in Matthew 24 that we should be concerned about people’s physical welfare as well, but shall we rejoice if someone goes to hell as long as they can go on a full stomach? The Gospel is a warfare gospel, for the devil also does not want ONE person to know Christ as their personal Saviour, or follow the Lord. Jesus told the parable of the 99 sheep and left them all behind to find the lost. The devil has the same mindset, he wants to devour EVERYTHING in his path. There is a constant battle that rages between light and darkness. This is the only real and important war. Yes, the devil has already lost the war, but the battle still rages until his final demise. The devil seeks to drag as many people with him to hell, so it must be the believer’s primary and deepest concern to see as many people saved!

God or the devil never sleeps. Our lives on earth are but a twinkle in contrast to eternity. If you do not know and follow Christ as Lord and Saviour, you are damned. It is that simple. It means eternal desperation from God who is the source of all light, joy, and love. Without God, there is only darkness. Before we come to Christ, we are ALL damned to this fate. Yet by God’s incredible mercy and love, He extended an olive branch of peace and reconciliation when His Son died on the cross. For those who believe and know the truth, it should be a solemn and sacred duty to diligently, and with great persistence and dedication, tell others about Christ so that they may come into the light right now.

But do we truly think the devil will let people go without a fight? So many are embroiled in numerous struggles with their inner demons. Some are held captive by trauma, others by deceptive ideas, while some are slaves to soul-destroying systems, ideologies and religions that thrive on brainwashing, manipulation, exploitation, and propaganda. Every day the devil wages a psychological war, especially against believers so that they may reject Christ. People are constantly being demonically oppressed, and some are even possessed!

As I said, if we like it or not, all believers are part of this war. If we think we are not, then we surely do not understand the Gospel or the price Jesus paid. For the Lord did not die on the cross for us to have great jobs, or be famous, rich or have great ministries, but tie saved from damnation! That is the Gospel! For without Christ a great darkness awaits, and it should concern us deeply those who are still far from Jesus and those who are slipping away in the blackness of the devil’s madness.

Do we truly think the devil will let go so easily of those who are dwelling in darkness, held as slaves by his cold embrace and who are seduced by the whispers of his depravity? Of course not, it takes a fight most of the time. The church had sadly over time dismissed the reality of this war. In many churches, the existence of hell, demons and the devil is even denied! The enemy has managed to distract believers to remain relentless in their noble quest of fighting the war. Churches have become more like social clubs, enjoying the good mood, the good vibes and the goodness of heaven! Yet the reality is that the church has been called to wage war, meaning leading people out of slavery, setting the captives free, and piercing the darkness. Of this truth, we read in Isaiah 61. We fight the good fight by proclaiming the Good News of Christ, shining His light, fulfilling the Great Commission and proclaiming the Word. This is not an easy task, but as good soldiers, we will constantly be resisted by the devil, the flesh and the world.

Yes, we are all involved in a war if we like it or not! When you lead someone to Jesus, you lead such a person from captivity into liberty, from darkness into the light, and from damnation to salvation. That is warfare! You have encroached onto the enemy’s territory and by the might and power of Jesus have managed to release a captive from the clutches of despair.

Paul writes in “2 Timothy 2: 3 You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.” When we are saved by the blood of Christ, we are enlisted in His army! He is the great commander of the hosts of heaven. Our primary focus should be to obey the Lord, to seek His will, to overcome and to fight for others by telling them of Christ and making disciples. The affairs of this world should not be our primary focus, for we have a mighty task at hand to establish the Gospel in the hearts of man. Of this reality we read in the Book of Jude: “20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. 22 And on some have compassion, [j]making a distinction; 23 but others save [k]with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.”

When you pray for someone who is sick and is then healed, then this is warfare, because you have delivered that person from the slavery of sickness/infirmity. And at times the sickness is a result of demonic oppression. We read for example how Jesus cured the nobleman's son (John 4:46-47). In this story, there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. Yes, Jesu healed him and thus delivered him from the clutches of death. That is warfare! Jesus performed many such miracles, such as curing Peter's mother-in-law of a fever (Mark 1:30-31), healing of a leper (Mark 1:40-45), healing the centurion's servant (Matthew 8:5-13) and curing the paralytic (Matthew 9:1-8). Yes, Isaiah 61 states Jesus has come to set the captive free! This is waging warfare.

Consider how Jesus also opened the eyes of two blind men (Matthew 9:27-31), loosened the tongue of a man who could not speak (Matthew 9:32-33), restored a withered hand (Matthew 12:10-13) and cured a deaf and mute man (Mark 7:31-37). This is a demonstration of power and God’s authority to restore and heal! This is warfare against any work of the devil, of the world, of the unnatural or the unfortunate. When you set someone free from demonic possession, then this is surely spiritual warfare! After all, that person was in the clutches of Satan but is now set free. Praise God. Jesus for example cured two demoniacs (Matthew 8:28-34), a demon-possessed man (Matthew 12:22) and He cast out an unclean spirit (Mark 1:23-28). Jesus also cured a boy who was plagued by a demon (Matthew 17:14-21).

When you pray for someone who was dead and then becomes alive, you are waging warfare for you have brought someone from the grip of death into life. Jesus raised the ruler's daughter from the dead (Matthew 9:18-26), He raised the widow's son from the dead (Luke 7:11-18) and of course, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-46). When you evangelise, preach or teach the Word of God, you are engaged in spiritual warfare, for the Truth of God (John 8:32) sets the captive free. Jesus is the Truth and the Way and the Life. When we share the Gospel, we tell the world of the goodness and the greatness of God, of His love, and of His mercy. Yes in God there is liberty, there is hope and there is salvation. That is a defiant shout of victory in the face of the devil. The Great Commission is thus a triumphant call to arms, for indeed in God there is victory and hope!

The devil will always try and defy God. And he will always try to be the champion of the struggle, but as we see in Exodus 7, Aaron’s rod swallowed up the rods of the sorcerers. Yes, God is always more powerful, for He is God, and the one who battles him is but a fallen angel, nothing more. This we must always remember in this war. It says in “Colossians 1: 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” The spiritual war is thus defined as being a conflict between the Light of God and the darkness of the devil, described and defined as the thief who only comes to steal, to destroy and to kill (John 10:10). The devil seeks to counter God’s good works, thus he is the great counterfeiter and corrupter.

Once we come to the Lord and accept Him as our Saviour, we are delivered from the grip of darkness, therefore we are no longer slaves of fear. It says in “Romans 8:15: The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." In God, we are called to be sons and daughters of the Most High God, no longer subjected to slavery to darkness, but now co-heirs to the Kingdom of God. It says in “Romans 8: 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”

Jesus is the Light of the World (John 8:12). The devil doesn’t want people to walk in the light, or to receive their adoption as sons and daughters. He wants people to wallow in darkness – broken, miserable, enslaved and unsaved. It says in “Romans 13: 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” The war is firstly about oneself coming to God to put on the armour of light, thus clothed with Jesus, and to shed the darkness, but also secondly to lead others to the Light which encapsulates the Great Commission of Matthew 28.

It says in “2 Corinthians 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” This war is about the devil trying to keep people enslaved in spirit, soul and body, thus entombed in darkness, while God seeks to bring people out of the darkness into the liberating Truth of His Glory.

The first disciples had a heart of a warrior. They were constantly persecuted. Paul certainly knew about spiritual warfare (2 Corinthians 10, Ephesians 6). Victory for him was about walking in the Spirit of God (Romans 8). Paul evidently speaks of his anxiety for all the churches because he intensely desired them to remain faithful to Christ and he feared the consequences of their not being faithful. The consequence of the churches not remaining in the faith is that they would be "accursed and cut off from Christ." Paul waged war against deception, idolatry, apostasy and the works of the world and the devil because he knew damnation awaits those who are not found in Christ.

We must have a similar mindset and attitude, seeking to reach the lost, the forgotten, the weary, and the oppressed so that they may no longer be slaves but children of God. To wage such a war is not learned by reading books. Theology will only take us so far. It is about a life sold out for Christ, yielded and submitted to the Spirit of God. It is about walking the walk and talking the talk. Head knowledge will not count for much in this war. The devil cannot be fooled, and neither can God. It is about walking in authority, which flows from a true and genuine relationship with God.

Yes, our titles means NOTHING in this war. A demon is not impressed when you say you are a doctor of theology! Even our education means nothing, for when the fight wages, then six years of study without real power holds little weight. All that counts is that we know Christ, and that we are recognised as His servant and child. Of this truth we read in “Acts 19: 13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 14 Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” 16 Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.”

May we know Christ, and may we like good soldiers wage the good fight! The devil will not relent, so let us not relent in doing good, telling others of the Lord and setting the captives free in the name of Jesus!