Ephesians 6:10-12 ESV
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
When we believe in Jesus Christ with God-given faith in him,
we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and we are raised with Christ to
walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness
and holiness. Our old self is crucified with Christ in order that the body of
sin might be brought to nothing, so that we will no longer be enslaved to sin,
but to God and to his righteousness. And now we walk (in conduct, in practice)
no longer according to the flesh, but now according to the Spirit, by the grace
of God.
But when this takes place in our lives, if it ever does,
Satan then comes against us because he no longer has control over our lives,
because sin no longer has dominion over our lives, because Jesus Christ
delivered us from our slavery (addiction) to sin so that we might now live holy
and godly lives, pleasing to him, in his power and strength. And so Satan (the
devil) is on a rampage seeking whom he may devour, and he wants to devour those
of us who are committed to walks of purity and holiness in our Lord Jesus.
[Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Lu 9:23-26; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Jn 1:5-9;
1 Pet 5:8]
So, we need to be aware of the devil’s (Satan’s) evil
schemes against us so that we might fight against them with the armor of God
supplied to us by God. And many people who profess faith in Jesus Christ are
not aware of the devil’s schemes, and they are being “taken for a ride,” and
they are being deceived into believing his lies and following after his
servants, thinking that they are following servants of the Lord. But remember
that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light and his servants masquerade as
instruments of righteousness.
So, we need to test everything that we hear against the
Scriptures (in context) and not just put a cursory “like” on everything that
sounds good on a surface level. Remember that Satan is not going to outright
lie to you because he knows you won’t receive his lies. So, he is going to disguise
his lies as truth, and he is going to use people who have good reputations
among the people to spread his lies disguised as truth. And he is very clever
in how he blends his lies in with the truth to make the lies appear as truth.
One of the tricks he uses is to insert Scripture passages
into his servant’s writings, thus suggesting that what the author is talking
about is indeed Scriptural, or that it applies to the Scripture quoted, when
neither may be the case. Another is to pull Scriptures out of their context and
to twist them to say what the author who serves the devil wants to covey to the
people. And another is to cleverly blend truth and lies together to where it
may be difficult, but not impossible, to discern truth the from lies. And much
more.
Ephesians 6:13-17 ESV
“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
So, if we do not want to be taken in by Satan’s lies and
become participants with him in spreading his deceptions, then we must be
students of the Scriptures, and those who are walking in the truth and in righteousness
and holiness, and who are not walking in habitual and deliberate sin against
God. For if we are giving the devil a foothold in our lives by the things that
we do or by the things that we take into our minds and eyes and ears on a daily
basis, we are not going to be able to discern his lies and deceptions.
For putting on the armor of God is not just words we say or
some religious ritual we go through or some one-time experience in our lives
and then we feel it is a done deal. Putting on the armor of God is something we
do all the time and it is us applying the truths of God’s word to our daily
lives in how we live, in what we do, in the things that we say, and in how we
treat other people. And how we treat other people must be in line with the
teachings of Scripture, not in line with our culture or with the opinions of
our peers.
And we must be testing everything we read and see and hear
against the Scriptures (in context), and in prayer, and against what we know
biblically of the divine character and will of God for our lives. For I assure
you that there are many men and some women who are out there teaching in the
name of Jesus, and who are writing books, who are teaching the Scriptures out
of context and/or who are cleverly blending the truth in with lies and who are
willfully and cleverly working to deceive you with their lies so that you will
follow them and their lies and so you will reject the truth of the Scriptures.
Ephesians 6:18-20 ESV
“Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.”
So, we need to be people of prayer. We need to be in a
prayerful frame of mind at all times so that at any moment of the day we are in
direct communion with our Lord and we can hear when he speaks truth to our hearts
and when he reveals to us deceptions. And this is so we can talk with him at
any time to share with him what is on our hearts and minds, and to seek his
counsel, and his wisdom, and to put into practice the things we are learning in
his Word, by his grace, and in his power and strength.
We also need to be praying for one another, first of all, I
believe, that we would have our eyes opened to Satan’s tactics against us, and
that we would be the people of God armored up daily to fight off Satan’s evil
schemes, and that we would be willing to have our eyes opened to things we are
believing that are not the truth, or to see people who we may admire as they
really are, and that we would not give them an easy pass just because of who
they are, but that we would test everything they write and speak, too.
And then we need to be praying for one another to remain
strong in the Lord and in his strength, and that we will not give up when we
are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, but that we will persevere in being who
God called us to be despite all opposition against us, and despite all
mistreatment and rejection that we will face for being people of truth and
integrity who stand on the word of truth and who are walking according to the
Spirit and no longer according to the flesh. For, if we are walking in truth
and in righteousness, we will be opposed and attacked by Satan and by his hordes.
Praise
the “I AM!”
An
Original Work / February 24, 2012
Jesus, my Savior, full of compassion,
Glorious in power, mighty in strength;
Gracious Redeemer, mighty deliv’rer,
My heart adores Him. Praise to His name!
Perfect salvation my Lord provided
When He died for my sins on a tree;
Crucified my sins; conquered in vict’ry,
When He arose, so I could be free!
I am so thankful for His forgiveness;
Grateful that He chose to pardon me,
Giving me new life full in His Spirit,
So I can serve Him; His servant be!
Walking in daily fellowship with Him,
Obeying Him whate’er He commands;
Forsaking my sins, living in freedom,
I will endure with Him to the end!
He gives me peace and calm reassurance
In times of sorrow, or in distress.
His grace is sure, and oh, how sufficient
To meet me in my need for sweet rest.
Oh, how I love You, Jesus, my Savior.
My heart longs for You where’er I am.
Your word is precious; speaks to my spirit;
Brings comfort, healing. Praise the “I AM!”
No comments:
Post a Comment