This is a vast topic but I'll keep this short for now.
In Ephesians 6, believers are told to take up armor and stand against the enemy (ie. territorial and angelic beings). One of the reasons we're told to do this is because we can't [and aren't allowed to] fight against the enemies that passage is talking about: the heavy-hitters who are too high-ranking to challenge (principalities, etc.). God usually engages those classes Himself via His own angels and other ways. So, if we aren't to fight against satan, then who are we supposed to be fighting?
Before we get bored, listless, and restless sitting in this locker room and waiting for the game to start, the Bible tells us that our real fight is with... ourselves.
The NT addresses the carnal man, carnal nature, sin nature, etc., often and is clear that that nature is our real biggest enemy. But is it just our sinful inclinations that are a big problem? It depends on which position you're looking at the problem from.
From our perspective, our carnal flesh is our biggest enemy. From God's perspective, our carnal mind is His biggest enemy-- enemy here as in obstacle or hindrance.
When God wants to work on earth and wants to do it through people, it is not satan or sin but our mindsets that are His biggest hindrance. This is because we justify (or excuse), ie. approve our way of life in our minds (not in our hearts or actions). When our way of life isn't aligned with God, our minds supply the second witness (a three-fold cord not quickly broken), justifying us naturally to not have to deal with cognitive dissonance.
So, while Eph. 6 says to take up armor against satan, 2Corinthians 10:3-5 says to take up weapons and to battle against our (and then others') mindsets that are contrary to God's truth. Mindsets are 'set', and they're subtle. Again, when God wants to work on earth-- whether through blessing people or sending revival, it is people's mindsets that are most able to successfully oppose Him. There are many Bible examples but here are two:
1.) When it was time for Jesus to be born, Gabriel told Zechariah that his wife Elizabeth would have a son and told Mary that she would have a son while still a virgin. Elizabeth was old, so Zechariah's mind got in the way; and Mary was young but a virgin, so her mind also got in the way. If Zechariah had stuck with his mind (ie. his understanding), John the Baptist wouldn't have been born; and if Mary had relied on her own understanding, Jesus would not have been born either. (But of course, God knows the heart and mind and knew that both Zechariah and Mary, though initially 'mind-blown' at what Gabriel told them, would immediately choose by faith to believe Him since both of them were faithful.)
2.) Before Jesus ascended, He told the apostles several times that they must go to the Jews and then the Gentiles, even spelling out for them to go from Jerusalem (religious center/heart of the Jews) to Judea (Jewish marketplace) and then to Samaria (made up of a mix of Jews and Gentiles) and then everywhere else (Gentiles). But after Jesus ascended, it took the apostles ten years before they began to slowly inch out and obey that command. Why? It wasn't because they didn't care for the Gentiles. It was because their minds (and those around them and their entire culture) still said that God was God of the Jews only and not of the Gentiles. In this case, we see that even the best of the best can have mindsets that "set themselves up against the knowledge of God" and that these mindsets in fact are able successfully oppose or stall God's plans indefinitely.
Because mindsets are so potentially toxic against God and the plans and movings and will and Kingdom of God, Paul revealed that 'renewing' these mindsets (from carnal and self-protective structures and strongholds to protect oneself to towers full of God's light/truth) actually transforms the believer (it does) and told the Church that this was part of their expected sacrifice and was a very important part of presenting one's whole self to God. (Romans 12:1-2.)
In Ephesians 6, believers are told to take up armor and stand against the enemy (ie. territorial and angelic beings). One of the reasons we're told to do this is because we can't [and aren't allowed to] fight against the enemies that passage is talking about: the heavy-hitters who are too high-ranking to challenge (principalities, etc.). God usually engages those classes Himself via His own angels and other ways. So, if we aren't to fight against satan, then who are we supposed to be fighting?
Before we get bored, listless, and restless sitting in this locker room and waiting for the game to start, the Bible tells us that our real fight is with... ourselves.
The NT addresses the carnal man, carnal nature, sin nature, etc., often and is clear that that nature is our real biggest enemy. But is it just our sinful inclinations that are a big problem? It depends on which position you're looking at the problem from.
From our perspective, our carnal flesh is our biggest enemy. From God's perspective, our carnal mind is His biggest enemy-- enemy here as in obstacle or hindrance.
When God wants to work on earth and wants to do it through people, it is not satan or sin but our mindsets that are His biggest hindrance. This is because we justify (or excuse), ie. approve our way of life in our minds (not in our hearts or actions). When our way of life isn't aligned with God, our minds supply the second witness (a three-fold cord not quickly broken), justifying us naturally to not have to deal with cognitive dissonance.
So, while Eph. 6 says to take up armor against satan, 2Corinthians 10:3-5 says to take up weapons and to battle against our (and then others') mindsets that are contrary to God's truth. Mindsets are 'set', and they're subtle. Again, when God wants to work on earth-- whether through blessing people or sending revival, it is people's mindsets that are most able to successfully oppose Him. There are many Bible examples but here are two:
1.) When it was time for Jesus to be born, Gabriel told Zechariah that his wife Elizabeth would have a son and told Mary that she would have a son while still a virgin. Elizabeth was old, so Zechariah's mind got in the way; and Mary was young but a virgin, so her mind also got in the way. If Zechariah had stuck with his mind (ie. his understanding), John the Baptist wouldn't have been born; and if Mary had relied on her own understanding, Jesus would not have been born either. (But of course, God knows the heart and mind and knew that both Zechariah and Mary, though initially 'mind-blown' at what Gabriel told them, would immediately choose by faith to believe Him since both of them were faithful.)
2.) Before Jesus ascended, He told the apostles several times that they must go to the Jews and then the Gentiles, even spelling out for them to go from Jerusalem (religious center/heart of the Jews) to Judea (Jewish marketplace) and then to Samaria (made up of a mix of Jews and Gentiles) and then everywhere else (Gentiles). But after Jesus ascended, it took the apostles ten years before they began to slowly inch out and obey that command. Why? It wasn't because they didn't care for the Gentiles. It was because their minds (and those around them and their entire culture) still said that God was God of the Jews only and not of the Gentiles. In this case, we see that even the best of the best can have mindsets that "set themselves up against the knowledge of God" and that these mindsets in fact are able successfully oppose or stall God's plans indefinitely.
Because mindsets are so potentially toxic against God and the plans and movings and will and Kingdom of God, Paul revealed that 'renewing' these mindsets (from carnal and self-protective structures and strongholds to protect oneself to towers full of God's light/truth) actually transforms the believer (it does) and told the Church that this was part of their expected sacrifice and was a very important part of presenting one's whole self to God. (Romans 12:1-2.)
-
1
- Show all
