Fighting The Fight Of Faith

[Scroll Image] The Scriptures:

"Fight the good fight of faith. . ." (I Timothy 6:12a)

"Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

"Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm, therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one.

"And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this is view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints." (Ephesians 6:10-18, NASV)

The text from Ephesians above is a familiar one that I'm sure most have heard hundreds of times, and yet it is one that few people really comprehend. We know, from much of Paul's writings, that the Christian life is a struggle. In fact, it is a battle! In the first part of I Timothy 6:12, Paul says, "Fight the good fight of faith." Paul is not talking about any physical battle here. It is a spiritual battle, and therefore, it is a fight of faith.

In II Corinthians 10:3-5, he writes, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses (strongholds). We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." Our warfare, he says, is not one of human weapons nor human standards. Our warfare deals with divine power to destroy strongholds, arguments, and obstacles against the knowledge of God.

In the text in Ephesians, Paul focuses on WHO it is our battle is against. It is not against flesh and blood, he says in vs 12. So, it's not man! It's certain that in our Christians lives, we often have to debate and confront man in spiritual matters and doctrinal truth, but this is not our primary struggle in daily life. If not men, then, who is it we battle?

In verse 12, he makes it clear that we battle against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness. In short, it is the organized forces of evil, the spirit beings under satan's influence and control. In Romans 8:38-39, Paul says that "neither death, nor life, nor angels, not rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus." Here he includes, not only spiritual realities, but the physical realities in the world around us. In the verses immediately preceding this, he identifies the reason these things cannot succeed in separating us from God's love. In verse 37, he says, "WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS THROUGH HIM WHO LOVED US." HALLELUJAH!!!

But, since we war against such forces, aren't we out-powered? Can we possibly wage spiritual warfare on our own? Well, no we can't do it on our own. But we are not out-powered! We have Christ in us. But we have to be prepared for this daily battle as well. Paul tells us precisely how to be prepared for such battle. We must put on the full armor of God. He didn't say "part," but "the whole armor of God." Part of our victory lies in the fact that it is God's armor we put on -- not our own! Using God's armor, when satan comes against us, he should see God's armor, not the world's. The world's armor is full of holes of humanism and disbelief. It's not the [armor] armor of the Baptist Church or the Presbyterian Church, or the Assemblies of God, the United Pentecostal Church, the Church of Christ..... or ANY denominational group! Our armor must be God's armor. satan is not afraid of denominations. These are of man. But satan is terrified of God!

Verse 13 tells us that by taking up (putting on) the whole armor of God, we are enabled and empowered to stand firm against the devil at the very least. We will be able to withstand on that evil day. We'll be able to persevere in those days of struggle. We can, at the very least, stand firm and not retreat or withdraw. But, we already know that God wants us to FIGHT the fight of faith. It's not enough to just stand firm. We must advance and make victories for God's cause. Paul, in II Corinthians 10:4 tells us that by the preaching of the Word of God, we tear down strongholds!

Paul next tells us, beginning with verse 14, what it is that makes up the armor of God. First of all, we are to have our loins girt with the truth. Truth is to be our loin cloth...but the KJV says, "belt of truth." The belt is that part of the armor to which everything else is secured. We must be secure in the Truth. In John 14:6, Jesus says, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man comes to the Father, except by me." We must have Jesus as our foundation and security.

Next we must put on the breastplate of righteousness. Again, this is God's armor, so it is God's righteousness we must put on, not our own. We don't have any righteousness apart from God, imputed to us through Jesus Christ. Romans 3:10 says, "there is no one who is righteous, no not one!" In Isaiah 59:15b-17, we're told that God looked on man's sin and was displeased. He also saw that among men, there was no one to intervene, so He brought victory through His own strength and His own righteousness. Verse 17 says that God put on His righteousness like a breastplate, a helmet of salvation, garments of vengeance, and a mantle of wrath. The breastplate of righteousnes that we need to put on is that very same breastplate that God put on. A breastplate, of course, is designed to protect our heart. God's righteousness in Christ Jesus keeps our hearts pure and protects us.

Ephesians 6:15 tells us "as shoes for our feet, put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace" (NRSV) or "feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace" (KJV). In ancient days of armor, such as the Roman soldiers wore, there were special footwear which also covered the lower legs to protect the feet and shins when soldiers marched. They were often made of brass and therefore slowed down the march a bit, but they prevented injury due to sharp sticks or traps often used to impede a marching infantryman's progress. As we conduct our daily walk and our march on towards victory, the gospel of peace protects us.

This certainly seems paradoxical, when we think that, as we advance in our warfare, it is through a gospel of peace! How does peace and warfare work together? The warfare is conducted, in large part, through the spread of the gospel. It's an assault against satans' strongholds. The peace of the gospel is the peace it brings mankind. The gospel certainly gives satan no peace at all!

In verse 16 he tells us that, with all these things, we must take the shield of faith, with which we will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the devil. The KJV says "above all...." Faith is so vitally important, that it is, above all, the most important piece of this armor. After all, it is by faith that we appropriate all the rest of the armor.

In studying the book of Job, it becomes clear to me and some others (although this flies in the face if traditional church teaching) that Job was a man who lacked faith. God had placed a hedge around Job and all he had. When God removed the hedge, satan launched an all-out attack on Job. One characteristic that is clear about Job is that he was a man who trusted in his own righteousness and goodness, not God's. This is the lesson that Job had to learn. Job lacked faith, and in his life he had fears and worries and had no peace. He daily offered sacrifices for each one of his children because he lacked faith and apparently had not taught them godly living on their own. Of course, as head of the family, it was his responsibility to offer sacrifices for his family. But the story seems to indicate that his children had their own houses and families. Each one of the sons should have been performing their own religious duties for themselves. But Job was doing this for them.

Job made a confession that is oft quoted, as if it is Truth. It is truthfully recorded in the Scripture, but it is not Truth. God's Word is Truth and records things truthfully, even if it isn't the Truth. For example, when satan tempted Eve, he said, "you shall not surely die." That was not the Truth! However, it is the truth that he said it, and the Bible truthfully records this. [We have to be very careful when we say that every word in the Bible is Truth and is inspired! satan's words were neither Truth, nor were they inspired. However, the Spirit inspired the Scripture writer to record the truth that satan said this, even though it is not God's Truth.] This same principle holds true for Job's confession, "the Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away...." It is not the Truth that the Lord takes away. He certainly didn't in Job's case. We know who did take it away from Job -- it was satan! So Job made a negative and erroneous confession of his beliefs. Job, furthermore, attributed both evil and good to the same source, namely God. He asked his nagging wife, "Should we receive good at the hands of God and not receive evil from His hand also?" That's a strange belief!

Job 3:25-26 reveals Job was a man of fear. He feared he would lose everything. He says he had no peace or comfort. He was not operating in any kind of faith, but in fear. Where there is fear; faith is absent; where there is faith, fear is absent. Job did not have a shield of faith, so satan was able to attack him once God removed His hedge from around him. It is our faith that shields us from satan's fiery attacks, the Ephesians text tells us. Once Job stopped trusting in his own perceived righteousness and developed faith, then he was restored and blessed even more than he was before satan's attack.

Verse 17 tells us to take the "helmet of salvation." We already saw that in Isaiah 59:17, God Himself put on the helmet of salvation. Just as we are to put on His breastplate of righteousness, so too are we to put on His helmet of salvation. A helmet, of course, is to protect our heads, because that is where are brains are, which is the source of our thinking, emotions, and will -- in short, much of our soul. It is also the control center for our senses of sight, sound, smell, and taste, as well as the area in which we speak and hear. Our minds must be protected and developed, and what we speak and hear must be protected. Romans 12:2 tells us to be transformed by the renewing of the mind, and Ephesians 4:23 tells us to be renewed in the "spirit of our minds."

Man is a sort of triune creature, with body, soul, and spirit. Many think soul and spirit are one and the same. The word translated "soul" in our English Bibles, is from the Greek word pseuche or psyche, from which we have developed the words "psychology," "psychiatry," etc. It means the mind in the narrow sense. In the broad sense, it also means the will, the emotions, the temperament, the personality, and the ego. That is why our minds need to be transformed and renewed. Our will, our emotions, our temperament, our personality, and our ego must be changed to be in agreement with God's Word.

Hebrews 4:12 says the Word of God is living and active and sharper then any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit and body (joints and marrow). It also tells us it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. We know thoughts do not come from our heart. The heart pumps blood. Thoughts come from our mind.

Our mind and its thoughts must be transformed as well. God takes care of saving our spirits and renews our spirit when He puts His Spirit into us. But we must take care of the salvation of our minds. We must renew out minds by what we think about, learn, and study. II Timothy 3:16 says. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness." It is by the preaching and hearing of the Word of God that our minds are renewed and our faith is increased. "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God," Romans 10:17 tells us.

Thus far, all these elements of our armor are defensive in nature. They protect us, strengthen us, and make us able to stand. But we're told to FIGHT, and to do that we need a weapon. The remainder of verse 17 says, "and the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God." When we're told to fight the good fight of faith, we must wonder, what makes it a "good" fight? Well, a fight we lose is hardly a good fight! A fight we win is a very good fight. It's a good fight, not just because it's a worthwhile fight, but because it's a fight in which we are expected to win and are guaranteed a victory -- if we fight it God's way,.using His armor! But we're also to use His weapon.

In our English Bibles, the phrase reads, "the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." The "S" is capitalized, which indicates the Holy Spirit. This set strangely with me for quite some time until I heard a respected Bible teacher speak on this subject. (This part calls for an open mind.) After I heard his teaching, I prayerfully considered it and researched the subject through Scriptures, theological books, and computer Bible programs. They verified the main points I'm about to present. Furthermore, and above all, the Holy Spirt has confirmed this to my spirit.

I should preface this by stating that many may interpret this as almost heretical, as it flies in the face of traditional teaching. The problem, however, comes from the translation of Scripture from the original languages into the common language. I would suggest two things:

Pray about this and consider whether or not this teaching is more consistent with the totality of Scripture than what has been traditionally taught.
Study this for yourself and see if it isn't logical and consistent with Scripture's teaching.

Our text refers to the "sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God." We know that our weapon, therefore, is described as a sword and is identified with the Word of God. Hebrews 4:12 says that "the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul and spirit. . .able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart." In II Timothy 3:16, furthermore, as we've seen, we read, "All scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness..." So the Word of God deals with all aspects of our bodies, souls (minds) and spirits. It [bible]

teaches us what and how to think and do,
reproves us on what and how not to think or do,
corrects us in false thinking and actions,
trains us in righteousness.

Note the next verse (17) says, "that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." So, the question is: the Word of God is profitable and useful to whom? The man of God! The Word of God is for us. Certainly His Word is not for Him! He doesn't need to reveal His will and His plan to Himself. But He does need to reveal this to man. So the Word of God is for us.

II Timothy 2:15 tells us to "Study to show yourself approved of God, a workman that needs not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth." The Word of Truth and the Word of God are one and the same (John 17:17). Notice it is the workman that uses the Word. God has given us His Word to use. It is our weapon. I don't believe anyone would question this. We have the Word of God to use in our spiritual warfare. It is our only weapon we have -- the only one that we need.

But in every translation of the Bible I look at, the "s" in the word "spirit" is capitalized, and for that reason, the Holy Spirit is implied. Most reading this understand this to mean the Sword of the Holy Spirit. Certainly the Holy Spirit inspired its writing and its words. There is no doubt about that because Scripture itself makes such a claim, as we've seen. I fully believe Scripture is 100% inspired by God in the original languages, and I firmly believe that Scripture was not of man, but was written by man as the Holy Spirit directed them. However, it is clear that many early English translations were sometimes inaccurate, even with the best scholars working on them.

The original Scriptures were written in basically two languages: the Old Testament in Hebrew, and the New Testament in Greek. In our text, written in the Greek language in the original form, the word translated "spirit" is pneuma. The Greeks did not use a system of capitalization or even punctuations. So "spirit" in Greek is not capitalized. A study of the word "spirit" in Greek texts shows the exact same word used in all cases, even when speaking of man's spirit or an evil spirit. When Scripture did not specify Holy Spirit or Spirit of God, but just used the word "spirit," often the translators had to decide which spirit was the correct one. Their traditional doctrinal teachings may have come into play here. Sometimes, perhaps, they erred. Sometimes these errors in decisions cause one to understand Scripture erroneously. But I believe in these last days, God is revealing the Truth to His people.

Now, keeping all this in mind, I ask you: why does the Holy Spirit need a weapon? Why does He need the Word of God? He doesn't! We've already seen that He inspired Scripture so that it could be given to man, for us to use in our spiritual warfare. Let's consider the possibility that this should be the sword of the spirit -- our spirit. This makes sense!!! We are engaged in a spiritual warfare. Our bodies are not fighting this battle, but our spirits are! And our spirits need a weapon for this battle. We have it: the Word of God. I ask you, if the Word of God is the Holy Spirit's sword, then where is our sword?

You certainly don't have to agree with me. It won't affect your salvation or your standing with God if you don't. I just ask you to prayerfully consider and study this for yourselves!

Now, if we turn to I Thessalonians 5:23, we see another Scripture that presents the three-fold or triune nature of man. "May your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete...." The word for spirit here is the very same word for spirit in our Ephesians text, where it is capitalized. The REAL person is the spirit. The spirit lives inside a body. It is the real person, or the spirit, that is engaged in this spiritual warfare, not our bodily person.

Turning to Galatians chapter 5, we can see this problem again. This is a chapter where Paul teaches us to walk in the spirit. Beginning with verse 16 he tells us to walk in the "Spirit" and not fulfill or carry out the lusts of the flesh.. In verse 17 he begins describing a struggle between our flesh and the "Spirit." Our flesh is battling the Holy Spirit?!?!?! Ridiculous! There is no battle against the Holy Spirit to the person of God. (We'd lose every time, if there was!) Our flesh does not do battle against the Holy Spirit; it does battle against our spirit!

When God, in Christ, redeems us, He sanctifies and saves our spirits. Then our spirits battle the flesh to bring it into submission to our regenerated spirits. When we are in Christ, we are new creatures. Our flesh does not change. Our spirit changes. This is precisely what Nicodemus could not understand when Jesus told him "You must be born again." Jesus had to explain, saying, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." Jesus clearly showed that it is our spirit that is reborn, not our flesh. There is a natural emnity between the spirit and the flesh. Galatians 5:15 ff also clearly teaches this, if people weren't "blinded" by the capital "s"! He compares the deeds of the flesh, beginning with verse 18, to the fruit of the spirit.

Everyone has heard countless sermons on the fruit of the "Spirit" being the fruit that are in our lives because of the Holy Spirit. Certainly we cannot deny that the Holy Spirit teaches and influences our spirit. But He does not take over, except as we yield and submit in obedience, thereby bearing these fruit in our spirit. WE need to grow these fruit in us, not the Holy Spirit. He is God, and as such, is perfect, needing no growth!

Turning to John 15:1-5, we find it is up to us to bear fruit. There is no reason to suppose this means soul-winning, as traditional teaching would have us believe. That simply cannot be substantiated from Scripture. But Jesus teaches us that we are branches of Jesus, the true vine. If we do not bear fruit, we are thrown off. But God prunes us so that we can bear more fruit. We are the branches, and we must bear fruit. We must bear the fruit of Galatians 5, the fruit that our spirit must bear.

Want more?

Matthew 26:41 and Mark 14:30 say, "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." The battle is in our spirit (lower case "s") and our flesh. I Corinthians 2:9ff clinched this for me, as it is one area where the translators seem to have understood the difference. In this passage, it makes it clear that the Spirit of God teaches our spirit. The struggle, it points out, is between the natural man and the spiritual man. The spiritual man bears fruit because he is taught by the Spirit. But it is the person himself that bears the fruit, not the Holy Spirit!

The Word of God is our weapon for our spirits to use in fighting the good fight of faith. We are not defenseless, to be sure. But we are also not unarmed. We are armed with the Word of God.

I would encourage you to be like the Berean Christians in Acts 17:11 and receive, examine, and search the Scriptures daily to see if it be true. Remember, just because you may not have heard something before, does not mean it isn't true! Everything we hear must be tested and verified by God's Word.

{Consider joining Faith Word Ministries' Sword of the Spirit Webring}
[sword]

So, how do we use our weapon?

We must first hear the Word, and by doing so, have our faith increased and bear fruit (Joshua 3:9, Matthew 13:18-23, Romans 10:17, Hebrews 2:1-4)
We must receive the Word (Job 22:22, James 1:21)
We must believe the Word (Isaiah 55:10-11, Hebrews 4:2-3)
We must become familiar with and fond of the Word (Deuteronomy 17:18-19, Psalm 1:1-3, Psalm 19, Psalm 119)
We must be transformed by the Word (Romans 12:1-2, Ephesians 4:23)
We must study it and meditate upon it (John 5:39, II Timothy 2:15, Deuteronomy 6:6-9, Joshua 1:7-8),
We must do (perform) the Word (Exodus 24:3, James 1:22-25),
We must publicly read and proclaim the Word. We must preach and teach it. (Deuteronomy 31:11-13, I Timothy 4:13, Matthew 28:19-20, Romans 10:13-17),
We must use it to resist satan and any form of temptation (Matthew 4:1-11, Luke 4:1-13).

We can wage war directly against satan and win -- just like Jesus did in the wilderness! But we can't win the war if we don't use our weapon. satan has no defense against the Word of God! Let us take up our sword and go out into the fray!

TO SERMONS INDEX