Lesson 4 Warring Against the Flesh
Questions 6 and 7
The cross was a massive victory where Jesus disarmed Satan, stripped him bare, stomped on his head, and put him to death, all while completely forgiving your sins and making you alive when you believe. Through the cross, Jesus "broke the power of him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil" (Hebrews 2:14).
Following Christ into Battle
And now, my friend, you are called to follow in His steps. As we believe in Christ and His finished work, we are made alive and enabled to "run quickly toward the battle" (1 Samuel 17:48), facing our giants, confident that in Christ we are already victorious! The cross should convince you that God is for you and if God is for you who can stand against you? Nothing and No one! (Romans 8:31)
Do you know that if you are a believer, you have spiritual power over sin? Consider this: "I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you" (Luke 10:19). Here Jesus is telling us that He defeated the evil one for us and that we have authority over sin so that we can walk on it without harm.
Do you know what this means? It means you stop losing the battle to substances. You stop being pummeled and kicked, and instead, you stand up and fight. You begin living like a spiritually mature child of God who wins battles! You don't have to put up the white flag of surrender anymore! Why would you? As a believer in Jesus Christ, you have the power of God that raises the dead and the power of God's Spirit residing in you. Now you just need to learn how to fight!
When I was in bondage to substances, I tried to fight on my own and lost every time; so much so that I just gave up fighting. If I had a thought in my mind, I would follow it to the gratifying of my flesh. But no more! Now I am living in the victory that Christ secured for me on Calvary, and you can live this way too. Not that we've arrived, but "God gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:57).
I have one more question for you to consider as we close out this introductory teaching on the third foundational principle. How did Jesus win at the cross? I mean, we just read that He defeated Satan and destroyed His work, but how?
Question 6. How did Jesus win at the cross? Share your thoughts.
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If you know the answer to this question, then you know how you will win too. Jesus won through dying! He won at the cross! And you're going to win the same way!
"For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin."
Romans 6:6-7
I'm not talking about your physical death, but rather about joining Christ at His cross and dying with Him to sin. Now that's the kind of death that sets us free!
I understand that not everyone likes to think of themselves as a soldier at war; some of us are repelled at the thought of violence. However, if we would win the battle over substances, over our flesh, we must not lean to our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6).
The evil one would love for you to reject a war-like mentality against sin and your flesh. The world, your flesh, and the devil all want you to be "reasonable" about sin. They want you to make peace with sin and believe that you can manage it. But these are lies that will only keep you in bondage. So, even if being a soldier doesn't come naturally to us, we must embrace this biblical calling in our lives.
"Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand."
Ephesians 6:13 NIV
The third foundational principle of freedom is "Warring against the flesh." Throughout the course, you will see these three foundational principles repeated and reinforced in the lessons. Each time we revisit one of the three principles, we will build on what we have already learned, and we will expand them with different Scriptures and applications.
Question 7. Are you ready? What is your answer, soldier?
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In the next lesson, we will see how to lose the battle and how to win the battle.