Perhaps the last post might seem a little abstract. How do we grasp the grace of God in our daily living? Well, primarily by means of spiritual disciplines, which are (1) the receiving of God's Word and (2) prayer. In this post, I write about the former.
A lot of the time, a strong assurance of salvation is not felt even when a person is saved. A person is haunted by the apparent paradox in his life: he believes in Christ yet is failing morally on so many aspects in his life.
The question is begged: "Yes, I know the mercy of God is so great that He would pardon sinners; but how do I know whether that applies to me particularly? How do I know if I'm truly chosen, not just a fake Christian?" The answer is thus: "You know it by means of the Holy Spirit's internal witness in your heart, that you are a son (or a daughter) of God."
That might seem really subjective, but actually it is based on Scripture's objective truths and is also evidenced by the fruit of the Spirit in your life. In other words, a true internal witness of the Spirit would not be some mystic feeling that contradicts or neglects Scripture, and would not be void of a visible life of continual sanctification.
To clarify, though, sometimes a person knows deep inside that he is saved, but he doesn't feel it strongly. That's a possible condition. In such a case, assurance is present, but it's weak and is assaulted by doubts. So, not feeling assurance is not the same thing as not having the internal witness of the Spirit. We can feel the witness of the Spirit, to be sure, but it isn't always a consistently strong feeling.
But whether one is unsaved, or is merely feeling doubtful about his salvation, the only solution is to hear the Spirit speak to us. And the Spirit speaks to us through the Word of God, the Bible.
"[Take] the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God"
(Ephesians 6:17b)
So what does the Word of God mean for our spiritual fight? I will write about three aspects of how the Word of God is the foundation of our war: power, strategy, and nourishment.
Why do we say God is powerful? He has no body, no muscles. How then does He show His strength? Well, by the immense power of His word.
This is the power of God's word: He spoke, and light began to exist. He spoke, and there was a sky, and seas parted for land to emerge. By His words, He created innumerable suns, strong oaks, and the most fearsome of beasts. Everything He says must exist, exists.
And if all of creation, all of man's armies and the beasts of the earth and even the angels, decided to fight against God, God can make all of these disappear by a mere word.
Isn't it amazing that you can take the words of God, set it upon your lap, and read it and not die? It should be too much for a creature to bear if he came into contact with the Most Holy. But thankfully, God is merciful, and He makes a way for us to bear it.
Sin and death are powerful spiritual forces, yet God's word has power over them. Scripture provides you with the ability to kill your sin, day by day. Sin is a powerful force, but God is much more powerful. His word can overcome doubt, depression, fear, pride, hate, lust, greed, and much more.
A very striking image is found in Ezekiel 37, where God commands the prophet to speak to the bones of dead people in a valley. The narrative is quite breathtaking.
And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.”
Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them.
But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
(Ezekiel 37:3-10)
Here we see the connection between word and warfare. It's the authoritative word of God that raises "an exceedingly great army". It was not the power of man that did this; without the powerful word of God, the army would be nothing more than a pile of dry bones.
Similarly, God raises His church from spiritual death and breathes the Holy Spirit into every saint. It is because of this that we are able to wage spiritual warfare at all. We have the sin-slaying, death-defying words of the Almighty. We can live. That's power.
This power might not seem significant at all unless we understand our powerlessness. Remember that we are dead in sin apart from God's grace. Do not heed the moralistic temptation that is so prevalent in churches everywhere, that if we just do the right thing, if we just stop sinning, we might actually be able to attain salvation for ourselves. Certainly, "the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force." Striving is important in the Christian life, but it's a striving that is birthed by grace and seeks grace. It's not a striving to do, but to pray. I will discuss this further in the next post.
The Word also helps us to war by providing us with strategy.
It's kind of useful to have a commander who literally knows everything when it comes to fighting a war. What can the enemy do to catch him by surprise? He's completely in control; victory is sure.
Of course, having a commander who knows everything doesn't necessarily mean that you also have troops who know everything. And a commander obviously can't tell all the troops everything he knows. Thus, it's possible that the troops would be deceived and surprised by the enemy. Nevertheless, the commander gives to each company/platoon/etc. the sufficient information its needs to undertake its respective mission and respond to emergencies.
In real armies, soldiers almost never neglect carrying out their orders, even when those orders seem incredibly stupid. But we have a Commander who is the smartest person in the universe. The only consideration here, then, is trust and obedience. We have no excuse if we disobey Him; it would completely be out of our unbelief and foolishness.
The Hebrew Old Testament books were originally organized into three groups: the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. It's very significant that both the Prophets and the Writings start off by declaring that those who meditate on the Law of God are blessed.
The book of Joshua, the first book of the Prophets, states in chapter 1:
"Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."
(Joshua 1:7-8)
Some might think this is a very strange thing to say to someone ready to lead a group of untrained slaves to conquer several kingdoms. Is there nothing more practical that could actually give him a boost of courage? But we know better; this is the Word of God, and it is exactly this that grants them their victory when they do according to it.
Similarly, the first book of the Writings begins with this Psalm:
"Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish."
(Psalm 1)
Notice how both passages are applicable to our theme of spiritual warfare. In the struggle between the righteous and the wicked, the key ingredient to success is the "law of the Lord". Without it, the righteous stand no chance. They would have no strategy, no knowledge of how to beat the enemy.
Why the emphasis on meditation, though? Because in acquainting ourselves with heavenly wisdom, we become effective fighters. And one does not acquire such wisdom by glossing over Scripture; he must read the words into his soul, and come to a solid understanding of God's will. As a result of this, one will know what to do when hell breaks loose upon him. The disorienting tactics of the enemy will not confuse him.
"Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path."
(Psalm 119:105)
Finally, the Word of God nourishes us. Without spiritual nourishment, we are unable to fight spiritual battles. We wouldn't be able to grow stronger. The Word is like the heavenly manna that sustains us in the wilderness.
"And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord."
(Deuteronomy 8:3)
Soldiers must eat and drink well in order to have sufficient strength to fight battles. We must recognize that the Word is our spiritual food and drink. We would rarely consider going a day without eating; why, then, do we tend to ignore our spiritual hunger? Especially in a time of war! It's completely foolish.
Other than food and drink, soldiers need good rest. In God's Word, we find a refuge from the trials of life and from the inner turmoils of our hearts. The Spirit comforts us in our afflictions, giving us a taste of the eternal rest that we are destined to have, so that our hopes are reinvigorated, and we become ready to fight again.
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
(Matthew 11:28)
"Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint."
(Isaiah 40:30-31)
See what a great weapon we have in our arsenal, the sword of the Spirit. It provides us with all that we need to fight this spiritual war. And when we grasp it by the hilt, we truly grasp the grace of God. When we hear the Spirit speak to us through the Word, doubts are repelled, and we gain greater assurance of salvation. Stronger assurance means better spiritual fighting.
To put it more clearly, do not even think about overcoming your sins and the evil powers without the Word of God in your life. Some Christians are puzzled by why they are unable to live victoriously as Christians, why they have so many doubts, why they are so depressed, but they do not look to the Word as their sole source of power, strategy, and nourishment.
Thus, make a commitment to study the Bible both in private and with the body of Christ. Have a Bible reading plan. Attend solid Bible study groups. Listen to Bible-based sermons. Read theological articles and books. Do what you can to fill your life with the Word of God. You literally cannot live without it.
When you commit yourself to God's Word, you will eventually be astounded at the power that it brings to your life in the long run.
A final point I'd like to add here is that Jesus Himself used the sword of the Spirit to great effect. When He was tempted in the wilderness by the devil, His response to every single temptation was "it is written". Now, Jesus could've said anything; He was the wisest person on earth after all. But in His great wisdom, He knew that there's great power in the words "it is written". The Scriptures was what our Lord Himself used to repel the devil. We are not higher than He.
To sum up this post and the last post, we've discussed that we are able to wage spiritual warfare most effectively when we believe in God's grace, which we lay hold of by means of His Word.
But how do we lay hold of it? To say "just read it" would be to oversimplify the profound way that we are brought to the light of Scripture. As it is, not everyone who hears or reads Scripture understands it; only those who are given an attitude of faith can understand.
And the most prominent expression of faith is prayer.
