Introduction
In
the first pages of studies on Spiritual Warfare we saw who Satan is
and the main way he works.
On
this page we consider the various other things we have to contend with:
the world, our ‘flesh' and sin.
1.
The “World”
1.
The meaning of "the world"
The
Scripture used the phrase “the world” a number of times in the New Testament
so we will examine what that means and how it is something we have to
contend with.
In
the Bible it has several meanings as follows:
1.1.1
The Physical World - the earth
e.g.
Psa 77:18 your lightning lit up the world; the earth trembled and quaked
Look
up some of the following: 1 Chron 16:30 / Psa 89:11 / Psa
93:1 / Psa 97:4 / Psa 98:7 / Jer 10:12 / Jer 51:15 / Mat 13:35 / Rom
1:20 / 2 Pet 3:6
1.1.2
The peoples on the earth - the society of mankind
e.g.
1 Kings 4:34
Look
up some of the following: Gen 11:1 / 1 Sam 17:46 / Psa 90:2 / Lk 2:1
/ Lk 12:30 / Jn 1:29 / Jn 3:16.17 / Jn 12:19 / Acts 11:28 / Rom 5:12
1.1.3
The unrighteous outlook of godless mankind
In
the New Testament, this society of mankind is often displayed as godless
and unrighteous, and “world” comes to be used to refer to the combined
godless attitudes of mankind without Christ.
e.g.
1 Jn 2:15-17 1
Look
up some of the following: Jn 7:7 / Jn 12:31 / Jn 14:22 / Jn 15:18 /
Rom 12:2 / 1 Cor 1:20,21 / 1 Cor 2:12 / 1 Cor 3:19 / 2 Cor 10:3,4 /
Gal 4:3 / Eph 2:2 / Eph 6:12 / Col 2:8 / Col 2:20 / Jas 4:4 / 1 Pet
2:11 / 2 Pet 1:4 /1 Jn 3:1 / 1 Jn 3:13 / 1 Jn 4:5 / 1 Jn 5:4,5
Now
reread the 1 John 2:15-17 verses above and substitute for the word “world”
the words “system of godless, self-centred thinking”
What
3 words in v.16 describe the activity of the person of the “world”?
These
three words can be combined to show the two main characteristics of
this “world”:
a)
Covetousness
- constantly
wanting more, greed
- this
is a form of idolatry, putting things before God (see Col 3:5)
- this
drives men to earn more, to buy more
- in
the belief that this is success
b)
Pride (lifting up of self)
- concern
about how good we appear
- concern
about how we appear to others
- desire
to rise up above others
1.2
The Non-Christian & Satan
- Both
pride and covetousness enthrone something other than God as the supreme
object of man's life
- Because
of this it is easy to see how Satan can so easily make suggestions
to the non-Christian which
- go
along with their self-centredness and desires to get, and are
therefore readily acceptable to them
- exclude
God and place reliance on self endeavour
- are
lies that lead them into deception, bondage and destruction
- What
has happened - 2 Cor 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds
of unbelievers
1.3
The Christian's Position
1 Jn 2:15-17 (Look it up in the Message Version)
- We
are not to agree with this foolish, godless, self-orientated way of
thinking shown in 1 Jn 2:15-17, we are to resist:
- wanting
our own way all the time
- wanting
more and more things all the time
- wanting
to make ourselves more important all the time.
Instead
- Rom
12:2
- We
are to have our minds transformed by conforming to the truth of
God's word
- Jas
4:7
- We
are to submit our thinking to God
- We
are to acknowledge the truth
- We
are to resist the lies that come from the enemy
- 1 Pet
5:9
- i.e.
we are to hold steady to the facts of the Gospel, the truth
We are to pay particular attention to :
a)
What we hear
- We
are therefore to examine everything that comes to us from the mouths
of non-Christians
- in
papers and magazines
- on
TV, films and videos
and assess the truthfulness of it in the light of Scripture
b)
What we think
- We
are also to look at our ways of thinking and see if they are
- godless
- self
centred
- contrary
to Scripture
and bring changes where necessary.
“The world” is all about the way
we THINK.
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2.
The “Flesh”
2.1
The meaning of "flesh" or "sinful nature"
The
Bible uses this word in two different ways, and in fact modern versions
tend to change the word “flesh” for “sinful nature”. The two meanings
are therefore:
2.1.1
The physical body of a human being
e.g.
Jn 3:6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit
Look
up some of the following:
Jn
1:14 / 1 Cor 15:39 / Heb 2:14 / 1 John 4:2 / 2 John 1:7
2.1.2
Human personality without God that seeks constant self-gratification
e.g.
Rom 8:5
The
words used are “flesh”, “sinful nature”, “earthly nature” or “self”
Look
up some of the following verses:
Rom
7:5,18 / Rom 13:14 / Gal 5:13,16,17 19-21 / Phil 3:3
flesh
= unrestrained giving way to desires of self (sinful nature) for :
a)
personal esteem (self glory) or
b)
personal pleasure (self gratification)
(see the closeness with “world”!)
2.2
The Non-Christian & the Flesh
Rom
8:13a / Gal 6:8 / Rom 8:5
- There
are thus two ways of living
- one
sets its mind on natural self desires, the other on what God desires
- one
produces death, the other life
Col
3:5 & 8
- These
expressions of the “earthly nature” found in non-Christians are to
be rejected by Christians.
2.3
The Christian & the Flesh
Gal
5:24
- Christians
are to consider that this side of them was put to death when they
were born again.
Col
3:5-9 / Eph 4:22
- In
our daily walk with God we are to purposefully put to death any of
these things that the Bible calls your old earthly self-centred nature
- What
is more we are to purposefully put on the nature of Christ and try
to be like him
Rom
8:1,4
- We
are to see ourselves “in Christ” and led by the Spirit
Gal
5:22,23
- As
a result this fruit is produced in our lives
2.4
Conclusions
- The
“old us”, or our old “sinful nature” is still there; that side of
us that prefers to be self-centred, that prefers not to turn to God,
but is in opposition to the Spirit who God has put within us.
- We
are therefore to learn to let the Holy Spirit inspire and lead us,
and to put to death any self-centredness and godlessness within us.
This means cultivating our concern to put God and others first and
resisting the desire to put self first.
- As
this happens we will become more and more Christ-like.
- Satan's
work in spiritual warfare will be to make us focus on our selves,
our needs, our desires, our wishes, and stir within us again the wrong
thoughts and attitudes we had before we came to Christ.
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3.
Sin
3.1
What is Sin?
- SIN
is a compulsive force of lawlessness in us, that tendency to reject
God and live for self. (NB. Sin with a capital S)
- The
individual acts of Sin are sins
- Every
person is infected by Sin, and we have been born with it.
- Sin
is any failure to conform to the moral law of God, in nature, attitude
or act
NB.
That “sinful nature” referred to in the last section refers to our human
nature that is tainted by Sin. When we give way to it and do wrong that
is a sin (small ‘s'), an individual act brought about by succumbing
to the force.
3.1.1
The Bible and Our Sinfulness
To
confirm some of these things, consider the following verses and note
what they say about man's state:
- Following
the Fall this was the state of every human being Gen 8:21
- Sin
is in every person, from the time of conception
Psa 51:5
- This
is the life of the non-Christian Eph 2:3
- Sin
is being less than perfection, which is only seen in God Himself
Rom 3:23
3.1.2
The Bible and Definitions of Wrong
Now consider some of the definitions of wrong doing:
- Sin
is rejecting God's Law, God's decree of what is right. 1 John 3:4
- Sin
is wrong or evil practices, habits, attitudes, continual unrighteous
ways Ezek 33:11
- Sin
starts in the mind, in unbelief Titus 1:15
3.2
The Non-Christian & Sin
- The
Non-Christian is dominated by “Sin”
- Satan
encourages Non-Christians to sin more and more
- This
is seen in expressions of
- unbelief
(rejecting God and the truth)
- self-centred
thoughts, words and deeds that are wrong
3.3
God's Work in the Christian
When we become a Christian:
- We
are now a different person, a child of God Jn 1:12 / 1
Jn 2:1,2
- Our
sin and its effect have been taken away on the Cross by Christ.
Heb 9:26-28
- His
work has resulted in us being washed free from our sins, set apart
to God and made right in His sight.1 Cor 6:11
- Christ
has given us his righteousness which we simply have to believe and
live in it. Phil 3:9
- Because
of what Christ has done on the Cross, we are now to consider ourselves
dead to the sin tendency, i.e. it no longer has power in us. Rom 6:2,6,11
- God
has a plan for our lives now that we are to live in. Eph 2:10
- He
has also given us a new power source, His Holy Spirit to live within
us, to guide us, teach us and empower us in service as He guides and
leads. 1 Cor 3:16
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4.
Summary of Christian's Position & Activity
4.1
Prior to becoming a Christian
The Bible shows that the unbeliever
a)
Is in “the world”
- having
a godless, unrighteous, self-centred, self-seeking outlook
- constantly
wants to look good
b)
Follows their “sinful nature”
- which
panders to self gratification and self-glorification
c)
Is in “Sin”
- which
is a godless, self-centred existence that thinks, says and does wrong
4.2
On Becoming a Christian
The Bible shows that the new believer:
- gains
a new position
- becoming
a child of God
- forgiven
and cleansed and set apart to God
- gains
a new purpose
- to
please God and do His will
- to
live out the purpose and calling of God
- gains
a new power
- the
Holy Spirit who lives within
- who
enables and helps change you and enables us to resist temptation
to sin
4.3
A Final Warning
Eph 6:11,13, 14
- We
have been given a position, purpose and power and we have to take
hold of them and live them, and then hold onto them
- Satan
will seek to get us to THINK in the old way
- being
godless, self-centred, purely pleasure seeking
- to
be unbelieving, rejecting the truths above
- We
are to receive the truth and believe it
- We
are to receive the truth and live it.