I remember the Billy Graham movies of my youth. They were the best Christian movies around in those days and they tended to follow a pattern. The characters were involved in struggles and trials, their lives in uproar, until in the climax of the movie they would attend a Billy Graham crusade and go forward at the end. The impression you were left with was that the battles of life would be resolved when you gave your life to Christ.
The opposite is actually true. Repenting of your sin and trusting Christ for salvation is not the end of spiritual warfare but the beginning of it. God has provided salvation for us through Christ. He seals us with the Spirit and sets in motion the process of our redemption that is culminated in eternity.
But that does not mean the battle is over. Far from it. Salvation is not when the battle is over; it is when the battle begins.
God gave the Promised Land to Israel as their possession, their inheritance, a gift of grace. But in Numbers 33:50-56, he told them that when they entered the land and received his gift they would find enemies there. The land God gave them was inhabited with powerful, hostile and determined enemies who had no plans to leave Canaan. Israel was going to have to go to war to free the land from the enemies inside.
God has given me a promise as well. This sinful body, this deceptive heart, this depraved mind - they are all destined for glory. One day my mind will be entirely renewed, my heart will be rooted in truth and my body will be glorified and perfected. That is the gift of God given to me through the work of Christ and accomplished in me by the Holy Spirit. God promised all of this to me at the moment I believed.
But the moment of belief is the beginning of the battle, not the end. My mind is inhabited by lies and these lies will resist God's truth with all their might. The renewal of my mind, replacing Satan's lies with God's truth, is a daily battle, one that will continue until the day I see Jesus face to face. My heart deceives me and tells me that I cannot follow God, that I must give in to temptation. My emotions and my will are under the influence of those lies and they will not give up that influence easily. My body is drawn daily to the sins of the flesh and it will be no easy battle to gain the Spirit's fruit of self-control and walk in obedience.
Yes, I have the promise of Christ's redemption, but the battle to live out that redemption day by day will be intense. My duty, today and every day, is clear.
In Numbers 33:51-52, God gave instructions to the Israelites as they prepared to enter the land.
Tell the Israelites: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, you must drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you, destroy all their stone images and cast images, and demolish all their high places.Go to war. Drive out the inhabitants. Get rid of them from the land.
Those are our orders as well. We have been redeemed by Christ and destined for glory, but today we are at war. We battle against our own minds, our hearts, our wills, and our bodies and the deceit, the sin, the lust, the greed, the pride and every evil inhabitant within. We must come against them in the power of the Holy Spirit, taking the two-edged Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, to destroy those vile things that dwell within us.
Praise God, in Christ, not only do we have a glorious future, but we can also have a victorious presence.
And so can you!
Father, thank you for the glorious future you have prepared for me in Christ. But today I am at war, a war I often lose. But I seek your power and strength to battle the sinful inhabitants of my heart and vanquish them by your Spirit. Thank you for giving me a glorious future, but also for providing a victorious present.
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