Called to Combat

The Bible reveals to the believer that the Christian life is not necessarily one of constant ease and tranquility.  Rather, it teaches the opposite.  The Bible declares that the Christian life exists as one of conflict.  Christians term this “conflict” as “spiritual warfare.”  Is this fair?  Of course, if a person never worked for anything, they would never appreciate anything.  Besides, as the old saying goes, “Nothing is of any value unless it is worth fighting for.”  To the believer, fighting the enemy should be worth it knowing that the prize is eternity with God.  The Holy Ghost illustrated to the Christian through the children of Israel that the Christian life consists of many battles.

God illustrated the fact that conflict arises in the life of the believer through the Israelites.  God delivered the children of Israel from their enemies yet they continued to murmur and complain.[1]  This murmuring and complaining exemplified their unbelief in the reliability of God.  As a result, they wandered in the wilderness for forty years[2] until the unbelieving generation all died, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb.  Just as the unbelieving generation of Israel failed to receive the promises of God, before the acceptance of salvation, one’s life wreaked of unbelief.  The sinner leads a life where THEY decide what is best for them instead of God; they feel that placing their life in God’s hands places them into bondage.  The sinner illustrates a lack of belief in the fact that God is greater than any need that they could ever arise in their life.  Even greater, they declare through their unbelief the feeling of any necessity of God in their life.  However, the sinner finally realizes their need of God, he/she moves from the wilderness experience to the Jordan experience. 

Crossing Jordan symbolizes dying to old man and being raised in newness of life.[3] Just as Naaman baptized himself in the Jordan to cleanse himself of leprosy,[4] so must the sinner be symbolically baptized in the Jordan river.  Sin is much like leprosy.  It slowly eats away at the individual and leaves a sense of numbness.[5]  Once, the individual crosses Jordan, which is the salvation experience, then God brings the believer into the Land of Canaan, which symbolizes the Christian’s walk with God in this present life.  Just as the Israelites followed God’s command to conquer Canaan, God calls the believer to battle.

God commands the believer to fight.  The terminology of Paul is one of being a soldier.  Paul twice penned the word “soldier.”  In II Timothy 2:3 & 4, Paul wrote, “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.  No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.”  Notice the word “soldier,” the word “soldier” describes one who fights and not one who relaxes.  God calls Christians to combat, not relaxation.  Paul also emphasized through his terminology the fact that God calls Christians to fight.  He instructed the church at Ephesus to “put on the whole armor of God.”[6]  From there, Paul got specific by mentioning pieces of the armor: helmet of salvation, feet shod with the preparation of peace, shield of faith, sword of the spirit, breastplate of righteousness, and the belt of truth.[7]  And, as if fighting spiritually in this life was not enough, the saints will have to fight upon the second stage, which is the Second Coming of Christ.  Jude 14 & 15 reinforces this by declaring, “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints.  To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”  In conclusion, Scripture reveals that God calls Christians everywhere to battle.

---

[1]  Numbers 11:1 “And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.”

[2] Hebrews 3:17-19 “But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?  And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?  So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

[3] Romans 6:3-8 “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.  For he that is dead is freed from sin.  Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:”

[4] II Kings 5:10 “And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.”

[5] Noses, ears, fingers, and other parts of the body do not fall off because the disease of leprosy ate them away.  Rather, the parts of the body that are missing is because leprosy ate destroyed the nervous system and the individual no longer possesses any feelings of pain when harm is done to the body.  Thus, parts of the body are knocked off because of the body’s alert system for pain is down and the individual does not realize that they bumped into an object too hard or etc.

[6] Ephesians 6:13 “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

[7] Ephesians 6:14-17 “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:”