sanctification is war

By Solomon White

Colossians 3:5

“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”

Warriors

Most of us spend our whole lives doing everything we can to avoid a physical fight. That’s probably a good idea. Few people can wisely navigate their way through a violent encounter and make it out safely. But there’s another sort of fight that we tend to avoid as well, that is the fight against sin. In fact, for many people, it’s easier to get kicked in the teeth rather than face the enemy that hurls sinful temptation our way, less painful too.

The enemy is within and the warrior is without. Jeremiah 17:9 says “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” In Romans 7:18 Paul says “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.” The godless culture of today will say that the answers are inside us, that we need to look within ourselves to unlock the power and manifest it. They’re saying this because everyone is naturally looking outside themselves for the answers because that’s where the answers actually are.

We know that we are sinners and therefore cannot be our own savior. The warrior and his sword is Christ and his Word. Scripture is what Jesus used to resist the temptation of Satan in Matthew 4. Three times Jesus says “it is written” and then quotes scripture to answer the enemy’s attacks. That’s the weapon we have to combat our own sinful hearts. But it’s worth noting that Satan quotes Scripture too in Matthew 4, but he is deceitful with it. The weapon of Scripture is outside of ourselves, not within. But hiding God’s Word in our hearts (Ps 119:11) through Scripture memorization and study is picking up our sword and shield against the enemy (Eph 6:10-20).

Our Weapon

The Bible is a powerfully sharp weapon and you can cut yourself or others with it if not wielded properly. So how do we use God’s Word faithfully and effectively? By the power of the Holy Spirit within us. The third person of the Holy Trinity does not come from within us but rather is sent into us by Christ (John 16:7). It’s by his power that we wisely discern Scripture to fight against sin. John 16:8 says “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth,”

Additionally, we share in the sin-killing victory of Jesus with the empty cross and the empty tomb. 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 says, “ When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Because Jesus took on our sin on the cross and was victorious over death in the grave, we no longer have to be slaves to sin but are free to take on Christ instead.

So what does it mean to be a warrior in a war that’s already won? It means that the enemy’s home has been redeemed back to God. The art, the language, the science, the culture, all of it belongs to God again. People, of course, don’t know this so it’s our job as Christ-followers to share this good news with them, that they’re standing in the king’s kingdom. Christ himself is our model for being a warrior. Though some people in his day expected him to overthrow Caesar with a military victory, instead, the King of all kings came as a humble servant, transforming sinners’ lives through the forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with the Father.

Fighting For Others

Yet, Jesus also says, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword” and that members of the same household will be enemies (Matt 10:34-39). The gospel, though good news, is warfare against Satan and our flesh. Darkness does not want to be in the light, and there will be resistance. Though some will believe, others in the same family will not. Jesus didn’t come so that we would all get along, but that Satan, sin, and death would be destroyed with their captives liberated.

We can fight for our families by saying yes to God and no to the culture. We can fight by putting our sin to death through confession and accountability. We can fight for our church by being for it and active within it. And we can fight for our neighbors by caring about what they care about and share with them the good news. These are all battles along the way, but one day all enemy territory will be reacquired to Christ by the power of the gospel.

Sanctification

Trying to fight our sin alone is not only impossible but is actually worthless. If we are not at every moment aware of our need for our Savior and are filling the voids that sin used to fill in our hearts with a deeper abiding relationship with Christ, then sin will simply rear its head in a new direction. Jesus taught that if we cast out a demon without replacing it with the Holy Spirit, more and more demons will come. Most often, this new demon, spiritual pride, takes hold of our hearts, and if we cannot see it, it is worse than the sins that made us recognize daily that we are sinners. We think we killed sin when only we multiplied it. The only thing that ever fought and killed sin was Christ on the cross, and only by us picking up our own crosses and following Jesus will we ever find the freedom and victory we seek.

It’s a hard fight, but it’s a good and glorious fight. And the fight matters. John Owen said, “always be killing sin, or sin will be killing you.” This isn’t a fight we can walk away from. There isn’t a No Man’s Land in this war, with only trenches and battlefields. There is no neutral position. We’re either with Christ or against him (Matt 12:30). We all have a relationship with God; it’s either one of wrath or one of peace. So let’s fight the good fight and build the kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven.

How can we know if we’re being sanctified? The apostle Peter wrote these words of how we may know we are growing in godliness, “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:5-11)