Put Handles on Your Faith

 

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)

The Apostle Paul urges Christians to put on spiritual armor and to take up the sword of the Spirit. The armor passage from Ephesians 6 is familiar to most Christians. Pastor Ed Lundwall wonders if some people are carrying swords without handles?

Image trying to use an ax or a sword without a handle. Handles make those "handy" and effective implements. 

God has provided the Christian with several handles that help us grow in the faith, stand firm against opposition, and defend ourselves against attacks by the evil one.

The first handle is faith that justifies. This sort of faith brings the mind, body, and spirit into harmony through submission to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the faith that regards God's promises as certain. 1 John 5:4b reminds us that “this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith.”

The second handle is the Holy Spirit that directs, encourages, and preserves the follower of Jesus Christ. Ephesians 4:30 states that we have been sealed for the day of redemption in the Holy Spirit.

The third handle is the Holy Scriptures which instruct, exhort, and correct the person of faith. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

Related reading: God's Provisions for Victory; A Disciple's Guide to Bible Study; Formed and Informed by the Bible; Expect Opposition: Stand Firm!; The Faith that Overcomes

His Power Within You

The Apostle Paul was starkly truthful about the human condition. He described the unregenerate as "dead" in their trespasses and sins, and he said that this condition is "according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.” (Ephesians 2:1, 2)

Disobedience and spiritual rebellion are the way of the world. They express themselves in violence, hatred, racism, sexual perversion, arrogance, and the lust for money and power. Paul was truthful as to the source of this darkness: Satan or the Devil, described as "the prince of the power of the air." To their own detriment, many dismiss his existence.

Fortunately, there is a more powerful force at work in the world, the Holy Spirit. A. W. Tozer wrote, "When we have the Holy Spirit we have all that is needed to be all that God desires us to be."

The Holy Spirit brings spiritual regeneration. By the Spirit we are "born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.” (1 Peter 1:23) 

The Spirit makes us to be "partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.” (2 Peter 1:4)

The Spirit convicts the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment" and according to Jesus Messiah the root of the sin is "because they do not believe in me.” (John 16:8-10)

Scripture says that "every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God" and that spirit is of the antichrist. John explains why worldly voices gain a greater audience. "They are of the world and they speak from the world’s perspective, and the world listens to them." (1 John 4:3-5)

The Spirit of truth guides us into all truth and discloses the things of God the Father and God the Son to us. (John 16:13-16)

The Holy Spirit teaches us "all things" and brings to our remembrance all that Jesus said. (John 14:26)

The Apostle Paul prayed that "the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints." (Ephesians 1:18)

The works of darkness are exposed by the light of Christ and the matchless inward and outward working of the Holy Spirit. Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. Thanks be to God!

Related reading: You Must Be Born Again; Formed and Informed by the Bible; By Grace, Through Faith

But God!

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-7)


Consider the significance of these two words: “But God!”

Recognition of God makes the person. The Atheist and the Christian are different. They do not stand at the same starting line in the race of life. They do not run in the same direction.

Ephesians 2 makes it clear that they do not come to the same end. The Christian's destiny is to be seated with Christ in the heavenly places. Until that day, the Christian walks in the richness of God's mercy and great love, being saved by grace.

Regardless of life's hardships, toils and troubles, the Christian is always able to say, "But God!" It is amazing how those two small words change everything. 

Related reading: Becoming a Fruitful Disciple; Confirm His Calling