In Frank Peretti’s book, Piercing the Darkness, [1] he emphasizes with his literary style the importance of prayer in our Christian lives. Peretti graphically depicts prayer as a powerful tool that impacts the outcome of spiritual battles between God’s holy angels who minister to God’s people and carry out the plan of God, and the fallen angels who want to do the will and plan of Satan. As Christians pray, God’s angels are strengthened and demons are hindered,resulting in victory over the rulers of the kingdom of darkness. Conversely, when there is a lack of prayer among God’s people, demonic forces expand their influence and achieve victory over the angels of God.
This brings to mind the Old Testament picture of prayer in Exodus 17:8-16 when Moses was leading the children of Israel through the wilderness, and they were camped at Rephidim. After the Lord solved a water crisis by having Moses strike a rock so that water came out of it for the thirsty Israelites to drink (Exod. 17:1-7), another crisis arose involving the Amalekites.
The people of Amalek came out to attack Israel (Exod. 17:8). Moses instructed Joshua to choose some men for battle (Exod. 17:9a). While Joshua led the troops, Moses stood on the top of a hill with his shepherd’s staff (“rod”) overlooking the battlefield with Aaron and Hur next to him (Exod. 17:10). When Moses held up his hand high holding his staff, Israel prevailed against the Amalekites. But whenever Moses let down his tired hands for a rest, Amalek prevailed (Exod. 17:11). What happened on the battlefield was inseparably connected to what Moses did up on the hill. Moses was making spiritual intercession while Israel’s soldiers were fighting. To prevail against enemy attack, Moses had to make contact with heaven (through prayer) and Joshua and his men had to take responsibility for their actions by fighting against the Amalekites. [2]
Eventually Moses’ hands and arms became tired, so they gave him a stone to sit on while Aaron and Hur stood on either side of Moses and supported his hands (Exod. 17:12). By doing this, they helped Moses keep God’s staff held high all day long, and Joshua and his men defeated Amalek (Exod. 17:13).
What a wonderful picture this is of intercessory prayer. Just as Joshua couldn’t defeat the Amalekites by himself, nor could Moses engage in spiritual warfare by himself. Israel was victorious because of intercessory prayer. God told Moses to write this victory down so he and the people of Israel (and us) would not forget that the Lord is the One Who can defeat their enemies and give them victory (Exod. 17:14-16).
This is what we have been learning in this series on spiritual warfare. We have focused on the victory that God has provided for Christians over the powers of darkness (Eph. 1:7-14, 19-23; 2:4-7; et al.). This is victory that we are to appropriate and use in our daily battle with the Devil and his kingdom of darkness.
Our union with Christ gives us the strength we need in this spiritual battle. [3] Repeatedly in the book of Ephesians, the apostle Paul refers to our union with Jesus by using the phrases “in Him” (Eph. 1:4, 7, 10-11, 13), “in whom” (Eph. 1:13; 2:21-22; 3:12, 15; 4:16), or “in Christ” (1:3, 10, 20; 2:6-7, 10, 13; 3:6, 11; 4:32). The apostle Paul writes, “be strong in the Lord…” (Eph. 6:10a). Jesus has already won the battle over the kingdom of darkness. We are to daily appropriate this victory in our Christian lives.
The Person, power, and ministry of the Holy Spirit also gives us the enablement we need in spiritual warfare (Eph. 1:13-14; 2:18, 22; 3:5, 16; 4:3-4, 23-32; 5:8-9, 18-19; 6:17-18). Paul writes, “be strong… in the power of His might” (Eph. 6:10b). Christians cannot experience the victory Jesus has already won for us apart from yielding to the control of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18).
The Whole Armor of God
For the past year, we have looked at “the whole armor of God” (Eph. 6:10-17). God wants every Christian to wear “the whole armor of God” so we may stand against the “wiles” or trickery of the Devil (Eph. 6:11). The first three pieces of armor we have with us all of the time [4] (“having girded… put on… shod…” – Eph. 6:14-15). [5]This is the state we are always in. But the last three pieces of armor we are called to take and use as needed [6](“taking … take…” Eph. 6:16-17), [7] especially “in the evil day” (Eph. 6:13b) when all hell breaks loose and seeks to steal, kill, and destroy us (John 10:10a).
Paul describes the armor that Roman infantrymen wore in the order they would put it on. The soldier first puts on his belt which represents the Christian’s belt of truth (Eph. 6:14a). Since Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44), this first piece of armor is essential to protecting us from Satan’s deceptions and lies. We learned that truth is God’s viewpoint on a subject. It is the absolute standard by which reality is measured in its original form. [8]Truth points us in the direction that God wants to lead us.
After putting on his belt, the soldier then puts on his breastplate which protects his vital organs in his chest region. “The breastplate” (Eph. 6:14b) we are to put on is “righteousness” (dikaiosunē) which refers to the quality of “being right.” [9]God’s truth is the informational base that tells us the right thing to do. The truth points our heart in the direction of God’s righteousness. The breastplate of righteousness is our response to God’s truth or viewpoint on a matter.
When God’s truth and righteousness are operative in our lives, it will lead to the next piece of armor which is feet shod with the gospel of peace (Eph. 6:15). We are often faced with a myriad of choices and decisions in life, but how do we know we have made the right choices or decisions? How do we know we are moving in the right direction? How do we know we have the right perspective on a matter? God’s peace will confirm it. The Lord will give us a deep-seated calm to move forward (“feet” suggest movement) with a decision even though hell may be breaking loose in our lives.
As we experience God’s peace as a result of His truth and righteousness being operative in our lives, we can then see our faith in God renewed and strengthened. This leads to the fourth piece of armor which is “the shield of faith” which can protect us from “all” the flaming arrows of the evil one that he uses to cause us to doubt our Christian faith (Eph. 6:16). The shield is the object of our faith. And God is our shield (cf. Gen. 15:1b; Psa. 5:12; 18:30). As we rely on God’s presence, the substitutionary death and life of Jesus (Rom. 5:9-10; Gal. 2:20), and God’s holy angels to protect us, we can stand our ground when all hell breaks loose against us. As we worship the Lord by faith individually and corporately (as pictured by Roman soldiers interlocking their shields before and above them in warfare), our faith is renewed and strengthened so that the flaming arrows of the powers of darkness are extinguished.
The next piece of armor we are to take up is the “helmet of salvation” (Eph. 6:17a). This powerful piece of spiritual armor protects and directs our thoughts, so our lives are filled with hope. Satan wants us to lose hope about our past salvation from the penalty of sin (Acts 16:31; Eph. 2:8-9), our present salvation from the power of sin (Phil. 2:12; Jas. 1:21-22), and our future salvation from the presence of sin (I Thess. 1:10; 4:13-5:11; I John 3:2-3). But when we put on the helmet of salvation, our hope is renewed and we can stand in the victory God has already given us with regard to our past, present, and future.
The sixth and final piece of armor we are to put on or take up is “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Eph. 6:17b). This is the only offensive piece of spiritual armor God has given us and it is sufficient to overcome all the powers of darkness. This piece of armor is used by the Holy “Spirit” to cut and slice up the enemy (Heb. 4:12). It refers to the spoken “word [rhēma] of God” which has the power in Itself to do what it declares (cf. Gen. 1:2b-3). It is not enough to know the Word. We must declare it to the enemy. This is what Jesus did when He defeated the Devil who tempted Christ in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1-11).
This is also what God instructed Joshua to do before he led the Israelites to conquer the inhabitants of the land of Canaan: “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but youshall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe 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.” (Josh. 1:8). The way for God’s word not “to depart from your mouth” is to “meditate in it day and night.”“To meditate on something is to roll it over and over in your mind in much the same way that a cow chews its cud. When you do, the Word of God is driven deeply into your soul so that your actions [and words] can be driven by God’s perspective rather than your feelings or cultural opinion.” [10][brackets added]
When Jesus prepared His disciples for coming persecution (Matt. 10:16-42), He encouraged them by saying, “19 But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; 20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.” (Matt. 10:19-20). Christ predicted that His followers would be brought before governing authorities (Matt. 10:17). And when they were, they were not to fret about what to say, because the Holy Spirit would speak in and through them about King Jesus. And the same Spirit will enable us to speak Christ’s message to those who oppose Him and His kingdom.
The “Allness” of Prayer
The apostle Paul concludes his teaching on spiritual warfare by emphasizing the “allness” of prayer (Eph. 6:10-18). [11]After addressing each piece of spiritual armor, the apostle writes, “…praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.” (Eph. 6:18). The implication is that we put on each piece of armor through prayer. When?
“Always.” We are to pray the armor of God when we feel like it and when we don’t; when life is smooth and when it is stormy. Pray the armor of God “always” on every occasion. If we are going to produce much fruit for the Lord, we must make prayer a top priority (John 15:7-8).
Notice the passion of prayer when Paul writes, “with all prayer and supplication.” There are many different kinds of prayer – praise, worship, doctrinal, resisting the enemy, supplication (bind oneself to the Lord for an answer), and intercessory prayers, etc.
We are to pray “in the Spirit” which refers to praying in the strength of the One Who comes alongside us to help us (cf. “Helper” [Paraklētos] in John 14:16, 25). This means we pray in harmony with the Spirit of God which is according to the will of God revealed in Scripture. The Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of truth” (John 14:17) and He never contradicts the teaching of Jesus Who is “the truth” (John 14:6) nor the truth of God’s Word (John 17:17). It also means we are under the control of the Holy Spirit Who prays according to the will of God on our behalf (Rom. 8:26-27).
Prayer is to be “watchful” (agrupneō). This is a military term in the context of spiritual warfare. It means “to be vigilant in awareness of threatening peril… be on the alert … be on guard.” [12] It is like a soldier on duty to protect the encampment of his fellow soldiers. He gives an advanced warning that the enemy is coming. His duty is always to be alert, never to go to sleep. He is to use his watchfulness to protect his fellow soldiers as they sleep.
Likewise, Christians are to use their watchfulness in prayer to protect one another. When we see the enemy attacking another brother or sister in Christ, we are to pray the armor of God over that person. There is really not much we can say to that believer when they are in the heat of battle. But we can bring him or her before the throne of grace (Heb. 4:15-16) and ask the Lord to intervene in his or her life to deliver them from the powers of darkness.
Paul then speaks of the perseverance of prayer when he says to pray “with all perseverance and supplication.” What does that mean? It means you don’t give up. You keep praying until God answers your prayers.
Remember when Daniel had been praying and fasting for three weeks and then he received an incredible vision of a glorious man (Dan. 10:1-9)? The angel of God that had been sent to Daniel when he first began praying and fasting three weeks earlier finally arrived (Dan. 10:10-12). The reason it took the angel three weeks to come to Daniel was because “the [demonic] prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood” him for three weeks – the entire time Daniel had been praying and fasting (Dan. 10:13a). This demonic prince of Persia was so powerful it took “Michael, one of the chief princes” [of the angels of God] to help this angel who had been battling the demonic “kings of Persia” (Dan. 10:13b). By virtue of his strength, the angel battling the kingdom of darkness prevailed and came to Daniel to strengthen him so he could receive the revelation that follows in chapters 11 and 12 of Daniel (cf. Dan 10:15-19).
What if Daniel had not persevered in prayer during those three weeks? He would not have received the incredible prophecy regarding the future. Brothers and sisters, we must not give up in praying for one another.
Next the apostle speaks of the panorama of prayer when he says, “for all the saints.” This phrase includes us, our spouses, our children, our grandchildren, our parents, our siblings, our Christians brothers and sisters in our local churches and around the world, our governmental leaders and world leaders across the globe. We begin to pray for fellow believers in Ukraine and Russia, in China and Iran, and wherever the Lord leads us to pray. Spiritual warfare praying has a very broad application.
Finally, Paul speaks of the projection of prayer when he writes, [praying] “for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel.” (Eph. 6:19). Observe that spiritual warfare prayer impacts the words (“utterance”) of a powerful “gospel” message which conveys the manifold grace of God (cf. Eph. 1:6-14; 2:4-9). He asks them to pray, “that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel.” The powers of darkness want to silence the mouth of the apostle Paul (and all believers), but he asks his readers to pray for him to speak “boldly” so he can “make known the mystery of the gospel” to those he has contact with during his first imprisonment in Rome [13] while under house arrest chained to a Roman soldier (Eph. 3:1; 4:1; 6:20; cf. Acts 28:30). [14] This request from Paul suggests he may have been afraid to share the gospel at this time. Having boldness does not mean the absence of fear. It is overcoming fear by relying on the Holy Spirit to speak through us (cf. Matt. 10:18-20).
We can enter into the ministry of the Holy Spirit through spiritual warfare prayer. We are to pray this way for each other and for those who preach the gospel to the unsaved. We must pray this way for our spiritual leaders in our local churches and around the world, so the gospel is proclaimed clearly and boldly around the world.
Conclusion
Please join me now in putting on the whole armor of God through prayer. [15]
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I put on the whole armor of God with praise and thanksgiving. You have provided all I need to stand in victory against Satan and his kingdom of darkness.
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I take the belt of truth and its stabilizing power and protection. Thank You that Satan cannot stand against the bold use of the truth. I cling to Jesus Who is the truth and is full of truth, as my strength and protection from all of Satan’s deceptions. Thank You Father God for the Holy Spirit Who is the Spirit of truth. I look to You, Holy Spirit, to lead me in accord with the truth of what Jesus taught and what the Bible teaches. I ask You, Spirit of truth, to warn me before I deceive anyone and to protect me always from believing Satan’s lies. Please show me any way in which I am being deceived. I ask that the Bible, the Word of truth, shall constantly gain a deeper place in my life. Thank You, Lord God, for making the local church a pillar and foundation for Your truth in my life. Help me relate to my church and give protection to others as well as receive it myself.
Thank You Father God for providing the breastplate of righteousness to guard my spiritual heart so it can pump Your life throughout my spirit, soul, and body. I praise You for declaring me to be totally righteous in Your sight apart from any good works I do when I believed in Jesus Christ. I praise You for freely crediting Jesus’ perfect righteousness to my account in heaven so Satan cannot successfully accuse me or condemn me of wrongdoing in Your courtroom. Thank You that my salvation does not rely on my good works, nor my ability to keep rules and regulations, but on Jesus alone Who died in my place on the cross and rose from the dead. I praise You for depositing deep down in my spirit all the righteousness that belongs to Jesus Christ. Help me to appropriate that righteousness by faith as I dig deep with Your Word of truth so my spirit can release Your righteousness to my soul, and my soul can release that righteousness to my body, transforming my spirit, soul and body into Jesus’ likeness. I know that Satan must retreat before the righteousness of God.
I joyfully put on the sandals of the gospel of peace. Jesus, I praise You because You not only brought me peace, but You are also my peace. Protect me from anything that would rob me of Your peace. Please help me to wear my sandals of peace every day so I may stand victoriously against the trickery of the Devil. I claim the peace with God that is mine through justification by faith alone in Jesus alone (Rom. 5:1). I desire the peace of God that touches my emotions and feelings through prayer (Phil. 4:6-7). Through my obedience, I seek the God of peace (Phil 4:9) Who makes even my enemies to live at peace with me. And I want to grow closer to You Jesus, because You are my peace.
Eagerly, I take up the shield of faith against all the blazing arrows that Satan fires at me. I know that You are my shield, O Lord. As I rely on Your presence, the substitutionary death and life of Jesus, and Your holy angels to protect me, I can stand my ground when all hell breaks loose against me. Help me to keep my shield of faith renewed and strengthened by worshipping You individually and corporately with other believers. Please grant me the grace to keep looking to Jesus no matter what I face or what I feel on my journey of faith.
Father God, I recognize that my mind is a particular target of Satan’s deceiving ways. Thus, I cover my mind with the powerful helmet of salvation which protects and directs my thoughts, so my life is filled with hope. Thank You for the assurance that my spirit is saved from the penalty of sin forever when I put my faith in the Lord Jesus alone for His gift of salvation. By Your grace I pray for my soul to be saved from the power of sin as I yield to the Holy Spirit’s power to obey what Your Word says. And thank You Lord for the hope that my physical body will be saved from the presence of sin when Jesus gives me a new glorified resurrection body when He comes back for His church.
Gracious Father, thank You so much for the sword of the Spirit, the spoken word of God which has the power in Itself to do what it declares. It is with great joy that I lift the sword of Spirit and choose to abide in its truth and power. Holy Spirit, please open my eyes to see wonderful things in Your Word! Please enable me to use Your Word to defend myself from Satan, and also to wield the sword well on the battlefield when the Devil attacks me, so his lies and deceptions are exposed, and he is pushed back and defeated.
Thank You, precious Lord, for the privilege of prayer. Help me to keep this armor well-oiled with prayer and to cover my brothers and sisters around the world with prayer. All these requests I offer to You through the mighty name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Frank E. Peretti, Piercing the Darkness: A Novel (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1989, 2003).
[2] Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary, 2019 Kindle Edition, pp. 273-274.
[3] The following two paragraphs are adapted from Mark Bubeck’s video message entitled “The Allness of prayer” in the Ephesian 6 series on the BRMinistry app.
[4] Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary, 2019 Kindle Edition, pg. 2665.
[5] The first three verbs in Greek (perizōsamenoi… endysamenoi… hypodēsamenoi… ) are aorist middle participles which means they have already been put on by the soldier or Christian.
[6] Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary, 2019 Kindle Edition, pg. 2665.
[7] The Greek verb translated “taking…” (analabontes) is an aorist active participle, meaning the Christian is taking the shield of faith as needed and the last Greek verb translated “take…” (dexasthe) is an aorist middle imperative which is used of the last two pieces of armor and means for oneself to take them up as needed.
[8] Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary, 2019 Kindle Edition, pp. 1820-1821.
[9] Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 2000 Kindle Edition, pp. 247-248.
[10] Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary, 2019 Kindle Edition, pg. 538.
[11] Much of this section is adapted from Mark Bubeck’s video message entitled “The Allness of prayer” in the Ephesian 6 series on the BRMinistry app, unless otherwise noted.
[12] Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 2000 Kindle Edition, pg. 16.
[13] J. B. Bond, “Ephesians,” The Grace New Testament Commentary: Revised Edition, 2019 Kindle Edition, pg. 1352.
[14] Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary, 2019 Kindle Edition, pg. 2629.[15] Adapted from Mark Bubeck’s prayers entitled, “Prayer for Christian Unity” and “Prayer to Wear the Armor of God,” from Spiritual Warfare Prayers pamphlet (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 1997).
The last few weeks have been filled with disturbing reports about the dismantling of the United States so that our country is no longer a superpower. These reports are not addressing an enemy that is outside of the U.S. They are speaking of an enemy that is here on U.S. soil. Reports indicate that thousands of Chinese military-aged males, Iranians, and Iranian-backed terrorists such as Hezbollah, have entered our country through its porous borders during the previous presidential administration. [1]
Following the bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities by the U.S. military on June 22, 2025, there is a growing concern that terrorist sleeper cells here in the U.S. will seek revenge against Americans.[2]Now with 4th of July celebrations coming up this week across the country, U.S. law enforcement is on high alert for Iranian retaliation. [3]
There are some analysts who believe that Islam is also seeking to cause America to collapse from within. We have over 2,700 mosques throughout the U.S.[4] What are these mosques teaching? Their sacred writing is called the Qur’an which they understand to be divine and unchanging. These mosques teach Jihad[5] and want there to be a movement towards Sharia Law[6] which is contrary to American Law.
It is naïve for Americans to believe that Islam is a peaceful religion. It is not. The ultimate goal of Islam is to convert the world to its religion (Qur’an 8:39). Allah (the god of Islam) [7] instructs his followers to kill the infidels – those who refuse to convert to Islam (Qur’an 5:72-76; 9:5; 47:4). However, Allah instructs his followers to treat infidels peacefully and not involve them in war only when the infidels have more might and larger numbers (Qur’an 47:35), much like their prophet Mohammed said as when he was weak in Mecca. Then when Mohammed became strong, he went to war with them and took over the city of Mecca by the edge of the sword. [8]
When Muslims are outnumbered by non-Muslims (infidels), instead of overtaking them with violence, they seek to overtake them through non-violent means. Some examples written by a Christian Arab American years ago, include: [9] [brackets added]
1. Terminate America’s freedom of speech by replacing it with statewide and nationwide hate-crime bills.
2. Wage a war of words using black leaders like Louis Farrakhan, Rev. Jesse Jackson and other visible religious personalities who promote Islam as the religion of African Americans while insisting Christianity is for whites only. What they fail to tell African Americans is that it was Arab Muslims who captured them and sold them as slaves. In fact, the Arabic word for black and slave is the same, “Abed.”
3. Engage the American public in dialogues, discussions, debates in colleges, universities, public libraries, radio, TV, churches and mosques on the virtues of Islam. Proclaim how it is historically another religion like Judaism and Christianity with the same monotheistic faith.
4. Nominate Muslim sympathizers to political office to bring about favorable legislation toward Islam and support potential sympathizers by block voting.
5. Take control of as much of Hollywood, the press, TV, radio and the Internet as possible by buying the related corporations or a controlling stock.
6. Yield to the fear of the imminent shut-off of the lifeblood of America – black gold. America’s economy depends on oil and 41 percent of it comes from the Middle East.
7. Yell “foul, out-of-context, personal interpretation, hate crime, Zionist, un- American, inaccurate interpretation of the Qur’an”anytime Islam is criticized, or the Qur’an is analyzed in the public arena.
8. Encourage Muslims to penetrate the White House, specifically with Islamists who can articulate a marvelous and peaceful picture of Islam [President Obama welcomed the Muslim Brotherhood to the White House during his administration. [10]]…
9. Accelerate Islamic demographic growth via:
• Massive immigration (100,000 annually since 1961).
• Use no birth control whatsoever – every baby of Muslim parents is automatically a Muslim and cannot choose another religion later.
• Muslim men must marry American women and Islamize them (10,000 annually). Then divorce them and remarry every five years – since one can’t legally marry four at one time. This is a legal solution in America.
• Convert angry, alienated black inmates and turn them into militants (so far 2,000 released inmates have joined al-Qaida worldwide). Only a few ”sleeper cells” have been captured in Afghanistan and on American soil.
10. Reading, writing, arithmetic and research through the American educational system, mosques and student centers (now 1,500) should be sprinkled with dislike of Jews, evangelical Christians and democracy…
When you read through this plan, every point has been unfolding since the time of its writing years ago. Its author wrote, “Will Americans continue to sleep through this invasion as they did when we were attacked on 9/11?“
Here in the U.S., our largest city has a Muslim democratic mayoral candidate who recently defeated the former Democratic governor of New York in the primary elections. [11] This mayoral candidate states that Israel has no right to exist as a Jewish state. [12] I wonder how this will play out if Mamdani is elected mayor of New York City, especially among its Jewish and Christian residents there?
What I am describing in this introduction is warfare that is up close, not “out there”somewhere in another country. We are facing a complex battle on our own soil.
The apostle Paul reminds us that our battle is not against “flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Eph. 6:12). Paul discusses four groupings of demonic spirits in this verse. You can read more details about these groupings in the third of these articles in this Spiritual Warfare series. But the main thing to understand is that our primary battle is not with people – not with Iranians, the Chinese, or Islamists. Our primary battle is with the Devil and his entire kingdom of darkness consisting of various demonic spirits under different levels of authority, all of which are under Satan, who is “the prince” (Eph. 2:2) of this kingdom, “the god of this age” (2 Cor. 4:4), and “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; cf. Matt. 4:8-9).
The Whole Armor of God
God wants every Christian to wear “the whole armor of God” so we may stand against the “wiles” or trickery of the Devil (Eph. 6:11). The first three pieces of armor we have with us all of the time [13] (“having girded… put on… shod…” – Eph. 6:14-15). [14] This is the state we are always in. But the last three pieces of armor we are called to take and use as needed [15] (“taking … take…” Eph. 6:16-17), [16] especially “in the evil day” (Eph. 6:13b) when all hell breaks loose and seeks to steal, kill, and destroy us (John 10:10a).
Paul describes the armor that Roman infantrymen wore in the order they would put it on. The soldier first puts on his belt which represents the Christian’s belt of truth (Eph. 6:14a). Since Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44), this first piece of armor is essential to protecting us from Satan’s deceptions and lies. We learned that truth is God’s viewpoint on a subject. It is the absolute standard by which reality is measured in its original form. [17]Truth points us in the direction that God wants to lead us.
After putting on his belt, the soldier then puts on his breastplate which protects his vital organs in his chest region. “The breastplate” (Eph. 6:14b) we are to put on is “righteousness” (dikaiosunē) which refers to the quality of “being right.” [18]God’s truth is the informational base that tells us the right thing to do. The truth points our heart in the direction of God’s righteousness. The breastplate of righteousness is our response to God’s truth or viewpoint on a matter.
When God’s truth and righteousness are operative in our lives, it will lead to the next piece of armor which is feet shod with the gospel of peace (Eph. 6:15). We are often faced with a myriad of choices and decisions in life, but how do we know we have made the right choices or decisions? How do we know we are moving in the right direction? How do we know we have the right perspective on a matter? God’s peace will confirm it. The Lord will give us a deep-seated calm to move forward (“feet” suggest movement) with a decision even though hell may be breaking loose in our lives.
As we experience God’s peace as a result of His truth and righteousness being operative in our lives, we can then see our faith in God renewed and strengthened. This leads to the fourth piece of armor which is “the shield of faith” (Eph. 6:16) which can protect us from the flaming arrows of the evil one that he uses to cause us to doubt our Christian faith.
The next piece of armor we are to take up is the “helmet of salvation” (Eph. 6:17a). This powerful piece of spiritual armor protects and directs our thoughts, so our lives are filled with hope. Satan wants us to lose hope about our past salvation from the penalty of sin (Acts 16:31), our present salvation from the power of sin (Jas. 1:21-22), and our future salvation from the presence of sin (I Thess. 1:10; 4:13-5:11; I John 3:2-3).
Up to this point Paul has been focusing on our defensive armor. But the sixth piece of armor is “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Eph. 6:17b). This is the only offensive piece of spiritual armor God has given us. Why would God give us only one offensive piece of armor to use against the kingdom of darkness? Because this one piece of armor is sufficient to overcome our enemy. Notice that it is a “sword” that belongs to “the Spirit.” This is the tool the Spirit of God uses to address the spiritual attacks we are facing.
Two Types of Swords
The New Testament uses two different Greek words for “sword.” One of those words (rhomphaia) refers to “a large and broad sword”[19] that was used for defending oneself from somewhat of a distance (cf. Luke 2:35; 21:24; Rev. 2:12, 16; 6:8). This word is used figuratively to describe the powerful word that proceeds from the mouth of King Jesus to decimate His enemies when He returns to earth at the end of the seven-year Tribulation (Rev. 19:15, 21). But this is not the word Paul uses in Ephesians 6:17b.
The other Greek word used for “sword” (machaira) was used of a shorter and very sharp sword like a dagger. [20]It was approximately eighteen inches long. This is what Peter used to cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant in his attempt to protect Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (cf. Matt. 26:51; Mark 14:47; Luke 22:49-50; John 18:10-11). This sword was used in hand-to-hand combat when the enemy was up close and in your face. This is the word Paul uses in Ephesians 6:17b
“The sword of the Spirit” is the tool that the Holy Spirit uses in the spiritual realm. [21] The Spirit uses this sword when the enemy confronts you up close in “the evil day.” When Satan or his demonic spirits are attacking you up close and there is no escape because they have encompassed you, you must get to the enemy quickly, definitively, and decisively. This is the sword the Holy Spirit (not us) uses to stab the enemy and give him a death blow to his attempts to defeat us.
This is the only offensive weapon the Spirit uses in the spiritual realm. He uses the sword of the Spirit to address the spiritual conflict in the invisible world which is being manifested up close in our visible world. This is the piece of armor that the Spirit uses to deal with what is causing us distress in the world in which we live. If we don’t believe the source of our battle stems from the spiritual world, we won’t use this piece of armor.
If we don’t use this spiritual weapon God has given us, we will be like Moses and Peter. When Moses tried to deliver Israel, he killed the Egyptian who was mistreating a Hebrew slave (Exod. 2:11-15). When Peter wanted to deliver Jesus in Gethsemane, he took out his sword and cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant (Matt. 26:51; John 18:10). Jesus, the God of the Old and New Testaments, told both of these men that He did not need their human methodologies or perspectives to fight a spiritual battle (Exod. 3:2-10; Matt. 26:52-54; John 18:11).
Many of us may be losing our spiritual battle because our default response to spiritual attack is to turn to human approaches or perspectives instead of God’s approach and perspective. We may be quick to seek human wisdom instead of God’s wisdom. When we choose to use a man-made method for a spiritual battle, we will have no assistance from God in our war against the kingdom of darkness.
For example, this is why God’s Word says, “For the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” (Jas. 1:20b). My human anger will not produce the righteousness of God. When I get cut off in traffic during rush hour, it is easy for me to be quick to anger toward that inconsiderate driver. My thoughts and words at that time do not express the righteousness of God. But God says, “Let Me handle this, Jeff.” (Rom. 12:17-19).
What is the Sword?
Paul informs us that “the sword of the Spirit” is “the word of God.” (Eph. 6:17b). There are three Greek words that are translated “word” in the New Testament. The first is graphē and it refers to the “writings or a piece of writing.”[22] Scripture is called the graphē (2 Tim. 3:16). The Bible you hold in your hand is the graphē. Those sixty-six books in written form are the graphē. But Paul is not talking about carrying your Bible around to defeat the devil on the evil day. Some people treat the Bible as a lucky charm and take it with them everywhere they go. That is not what Paul is talking about here.
The second Greek word is logos.The apostle John referred to Jesus as the Logos (John 1:1). Logos refers to a “message.”[23] Jesus was God’s messenger to the world. He presented God to humanity (John 1:18). Logos is also the content of the Bible (graphē). For example, when you hear a sermon at church, you are hearing the logos or message of the Bible which brings clarity to your understanding so you can apply it more effectively to your Christian life. Logos is very powerful. But this is not the word Paul uses for the sword of the Spirit.
The Greek word that Paul uses for “word” is the Greek word rhēma. This word means “utterance” or “words spoken and declared.” [24]Paul did not say, “the sword of the Spirit, which is the graphē of God.” Nor did he say, “the sword of the Spirit, which is the logos of God.” No, Paul says, “the sword of the Spirit, which is the rhēma of God.”
Evans explains it like this: “The rhēma is the declaration of the logos that you got from the graphē… The sword that the Spirit uses is the rhēma of God. The graphē, the book, gives you the logos, the message. But it is the rhēma that plunges in and draws blood. It is the rhēma that the Spirit uses. So many of us are not seeing the power of the Spirit because we have not graduated to the rhēma. We are either stuck at graphē… Others of us… come to understand the logos, the message. We want to understand the sermon… the truth… We may be inspired by it or educated by it… But when it comes to spiritual warfare… you need more than graphē and logos. You need rhēma – the logos from the graphē uttered.” [25]
Two swords clash together and the Word of God is victorious.
We want to utter or declare (rhēma) the logos (message) because of its intrinsic nature. Regarding the logos, the Bible says, “For the word (logos) of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Heb. 4:12). When we get the message (logos) it is “living and powerful.” It has supernatural energy behind it. It is “sharper than any two-edged sword.” It can cut either way you swing it because on both sides of its blade it is razor sharp.
How sharp is the logos of God? It is so sharp, it can pierce “to the division of soul and spirit.” The “word”(logos) that God uses is able to penetrate the invisible world (“soul and spirit”). The spiritual world consists of our “soul” (psyches) which is being saved from the power of sin (sanctification) as we hear and do what God says (Phil. 2:12; Jas. 1:21-22) and our “spirit” (pneumatos) which was saved forever from the penalty of sin (justification) when we believed in Jesus for His gift of salvation (cf. Ezek. 36:26; Acts 16:21; Eph. 4:23-24; Heb. 10:14).
The author of Hebrews is telling us that “the word” (logos) is so sharp it can slice into the spiritual realm and separate what is “spirit” and what is “soul” (Heb. 4:12). Why does God want to use the message or logos to separate our “soul and spirit”? Because our “soul” can get in the way of our “spirit.” Our “soul” has been distorted by sin and it can hinder us from expressing our “spirit” which is who we truly are in Christ. Our personality, how we were raised, educated, and the perspective we have can all get in the way of our “spirit” which is our true identity in Christ.
Our “spirit” and “soul” can be so intertwined that we need the logos to separate the two so He can remove our soul-driven life and enable the “spirit” to express God’s presence in our lives. Remember, our “spirit” was created “according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:23-24) and was “perfected forever” (Heb. 10:14) when we were born again through faith in Jesus. Our spirit “cannot sin because” it “has been born of God” (I John 3:9). When the soul is removed from our decision making, then our “spirit” can express the character of Jesus in our lives. But the only thing that can get our “soul” out of the way is the logos of God.
For example, when you hear a sermon online or in person, the message (logos) of the Bible (graphē) is used by God to reveal that what you thought (“soul”) about a matter and what God thought (“spirit”) about it are not the same. The logos is revealing that the perspective your parents or peers or a politician or a professor or a post on social media taught you is not the same as what God is teaching you. You are realizing that what God thinks about that particular matter is not the same as what you thought. When that happens, you are getting sliced and diced by the word (logos).
But the “word” (logos) not only exposes what we do, but it also reveals what we think. It “is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Heb. 4:12b). The logos not only discerns our thoughts but the intentions behind them. The goal of logos is to expose. The logos is God’s MRI or Xray machine.
When we come to church and read our Bibles, all we have done is open up graphē, the written word.But when the truth pierces our heart, we have encountered logos because the message is given. When we receive the message (logos) and accept it, we now have understanding and clarity about what God is saying. But in an up-close spiritual battle, the Spirit of God wants to use not just the graphē and the logos when you listen to Bible teaching on radio broadcasts or podcasts, He wants to use the rhēma of God, i.e., the spoken or declared word of God (Eph. 6:17b).
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, “God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.” (Gen. 1:3). God spoke, and it was so. The spoken word had the power within it to do what the spoken word declared would be done. God spoke it, and it happened exactly like He said it. Notice that there was no light until God spoke it into existence. God did not just think it into existence. He declared it and then there was light. There was power in the word spoken, not just in the word that is known. God used what He knew. The spoken word had the power within it to produce what the spoken word called for.
This is what the Spirit of God used to create light. How do we know this is what the Spirit used? The Bible tells us that when God was ready to create, “the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Gen. 1:2b). The Spirit of God was ready to move when He heard the spoken word of Jesus. But the word of God had to be spoken before the Spirit could use it.
The same is true for us when we are in a spiritual battle. God’s Spirit wants to use the spoken word of God to defeat our enemy. It is not enough to know the Word. We must declare it to the enemy. This is what Jesus did when He was tempted in the wilderness by the devil. More on that after this next section.
Satan’s strategy is to knock the Sword of the Spirit out of our hands. Imagine you are a Roman soldier in a battle and an enemy soldier is coming at you. He is fully armed. He has his big rectangular shield that protects his entire body. All you can see is that big shield coming at you along with the top of his helmet … and … a … sword. If you are going to overcome this soldier, what is the first thing you will have to do? That’s right. You will have to knock the sword out of his hand. That is the only offensive weapon he has. If you go for his shield or even his helmet, he may stab you through with his sword. You have to get the sword out of his hand.
The “wiles” of the devil seek to knock the sword of the Spirit out of our hands. The best way for Satan to overcome the Christian is to knock the sword out of his hand. And, according to Ephesians 6:17b, the sword is the spoken (rhēma) word of God. If the devil can knock the spoken word of God out of the hand of the Christian, he can easily defeat the unarmed soldier for Christ. So, let’s look more closely at the wiles or methods of deception that Satan uses.
When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, the devil cast doubt on the spoken word of God. He said, “Had God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Gen. 3:1b). The enemy got Eve to begin to doubt God’s spoken word. [29] Here the serpent turns Eve’s eye away from the freedom she has (“of every tree of the garden you may freely eat” – Gen. 2:16) and onto the single prohibition (“but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat” – Gen. 2:17). Eve said to the serpent, “2 We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” (Gen. 3:2-3). This turns her into a legalist in that she forgot the word “every” (she limited her freedom) and added the words “nor shall you touch it” (she increased her limitation). She begins to doubt the love and goodness of God.
Next Satan denies God’s spoken word. “Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die.’” (Gen. 3:4). This is an outright claim that God’s Word is not true; it cannot be trusted.
Finally, Satan distorts God’s spoken word when he says to Eve, “For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Gen. 3:5). The serpent distorts the truth by claiming God limited Adam and Eve because He (God) did not want them to be like He was, knowing good from evil. Of course, when Eve and Adam ate of the fruit, they did learn the difference between good and evil, but not the way God knows the difference.
God’s knowledge was intuitive; Eve’s knowledge was experiential. Adam and Eve tasted sin for the first time and felt its effects, the effects of the fall. They experienced sin. Up until this point, God has known about sin intuitively. Not until the cross will He know it experientially. He knows about sin the way a heart doctor knows about heart attacks. The man with the heart attack knows about heart attacks in a way the surgeon does not. This new knowledge doesn’t get Eve to first base in the realm of knowledge when compared to an omniscient Being. She got duped. Nevertheless, the serpent has done his work: three blows to the mid-section of Eve. Now he hops out of the ring and tags his partner, the world.
The world leaps into the ring in round two in order to knock Eve out. “So, when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” (Gen. 3:6). The world is made up of “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (I John 2:16). The fruit “was good for food” (lust of the flesh), “pleasant to the eyes” (lust of the eyes), “desirable to make one wise” (pride of life). The world scores an uppercut, a chop to the chin, and a haymaker to the temple. Down goes Eve, down goes Eve, down goes Eve. Her husband wasn’t far behind.
Satan has been using these same simple boxing moves ever since. But notice, in round one the serpent is knocking the sword out of Eve’s hand (Gen. 3:1-5). The entire round is an attack on the spoken Word of God. Once the Word of God is no longer in the hand of the believer, he or she has lost the only offensive weapon they have. In leading Adam and Eve to sin, the serpent enjoys a two-round knockout. He is present only in round one. He uses the three punches mentioned above to undermine Eve’s faith in God’s Word. He tried to do the same thing with Jesus.
Remember when the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil (Matt. 4:1-11)? Satan tried to use the same three punches on Jesus that he used on Eve in the Garden of Eden. First, the devil uses the lust of the flesh when he says to Jesus, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” (Matt. 4:3). The phrase, “If You are the Son of God” is a first-class condition in the Greek language which assumes the condition is true, [31] and would therefore be translated, “Since You are the Son of God…” Satan is so crafty. He had been watching Jesus go without food for ”forty days and forty nights,” and of course “afterward He was hungry” (Matt. 4:2). So, the devil attacks Jesus at the point of His vulnerability.
And you know what? Satan and his demons are watching us and taking notes. They keep a scouting report on each of us. They know when we are vulnerable to temptation, and they act accordingly. [32]
So, Satan shows up at a specific time to address a legitimate need that Jesus has. He is telling Jesus, “Look, You are the Son of God. You can do whatever You want to do. So, You might as well command these stones to become bread.”“In this situation, Satan questioned the provision of God: Jesus was hungry. God hadn’t fed him. Why shouldn’t Jesus just make what was needed?” [33]
How does Jesus respond? He says, “It is written…” (Matt. 4:4a). Then Jesus quotes a verse from a chapter in the Old Testament, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Deut. 8:3). If the living Word (Jesus) needed to use the written Word to deal with the enemy of the Word, how much more must you and I who have written no word, need to use that same Word against the enemy of the Word?! Christ did not respond to the devil based on what He thought, and He had perfect thinking.
Jesus says, “Let Me tell you what the graphē says.” Christ tells Satan what the graphē says based on the logos. Christ doesn’t quote just any verse. He goes back to the Old Testament to a passage that deals with what He is facing in the New Testament. Christ was hungry. So, what does He do? He goes to Deuteronomy 8 where Moses explained to Israel how they survived through the wilderness when they were hungry. They survived by God’s provision. They didn’t survive merely because of the manna, but because of the One Who provided it through supernatural means. Was Jesus hungry? Yes. But He was willing to trust His Father to provide for Him supernaturally instead of acting independently of Him.[34]
Jesus had a legitimate need (hunger), and Satan was offering to meet that need in an illegitimate way – by having Jesus act independently of God. But God was offering to meet Christ’s legitimate need His way. The issue is not whether your need is legitimate; the issue is who is giving you the advice to address it? God or Satan?
Christ runs to Deuteronomy 8 and says to the devil, “Let Me tell You what God said about this situation.” “It is written: ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” (Deut. 8:3). Man doesn’t live by bread alone, but by where it came from, “by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” When Satan heard what was written, he couldn’t handle that anymore, so he went to another subject.
Satan’s next temptation uses the pride of life. “ 5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” (Matt. 4:5-6). Challenging Jesus to jump to His death doesn’t sound like much of a temptation. But notice that the devil supported his appeal by quoting God’s promise of angelic protection in Psalm 91:11-12. Jesus, then, had an opportunity to demonstrate that He was the promised Messiah for all of Jerusalem to see. The problem with Satan’s plan was it ignored God’s plan. If Jesus did what Satan advised Him to do, it would bypass the cross which was contrary to God’s will. [35]
Notice that Satan knows the Bible and he uses it. If the devil can’t convince you to act independently of God, he’ll work through your religion. But God doesn’t need Satan’s help to get you where He wants you to go.
Christ responds to Satan, by quoting Deuteronomy 6:16, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’” (Matt. 4:7). We are never to use disobedience to back God into a corner to force Him to fulfill His plan. [36]Satan was telling Jesus to test God. And Christ says to the devil, “God told Me in His Word not to test Him.” Notice that Satan does not argue with Jesus when He responds with the rhēma of God.
Instead, the devil uses the lust of the eyes to tempt Jesus. “8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, ‘All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.’” (Matt. 4:8-9). Did you catch that? “The devil took Him…” Sometimes God lets the devil take us to tempt us. Ultimately Satan wanted Christ to worship him. So, he offers Jesus the entire kingdoms of the world and their glory if Jesus would take a knee before him. Satan wants our worship too. He will make incredible offers to us to get us to bow down to him.
How does Jesus respond? “Then Jesus said to him, ‘Get behind Me, Satan!” (Matt. 4:10a). This command displays Jesus’ absolute authority over the devil. Then Christ quotes, Deuteronomy 6:13, “For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” (Matt. 4:10b). Worship is reserved for the one true God and Him only. Too often we may come to worship God on Sunday and then serve lesser agendas and gods the rest of the week. But if Jesus is the ultimate authority in the universe, He deserves our exclusive worship and service. [37]
In responding to each of Satan’s temptations, Jesus did not just study the Bible and know what it said. He opened His mouth and uttered what it said. He said to the devil, “Let Me tell You what God just said about what you are telling Me.” And when Jesus told Satan what God said, “Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.” (Matt. 4:11). The devil failed to knock the sword of the Spirit out of Jesus’ hands. He could not handle hearing the rhēma of God three times, so he left Jesus alone. When the fallen angel left, the faithful angels came and ministered to Jesus.
We may ask, “Why doesn’t the devil leave me alone?” Could it be because he knows we will never say, “It is written…”? He knows we will never bring that up. Instead, he knows we will talk about our families, our jobs, our education, our reading, our favorite sports, TV programs, and politicians, etc. He knows that we will never say, “It is written…” and if we do study the Word, he knows we are never going to use it and speak it to him. Thus, the devil does not fear us because we are not wielding “the sword of the Spirit, the word (rhēma) of God.” (Eph. 6:17b).
A Personal Example of the Rhēma of God
During a short-term mission trip in the Philippines with an evangelistic association in the summer of 2013, I was scheduled to go with three other American men to a predominantly Muslim area in the southern Philippines to preach the gospel in public schools. Two nights before we were to go there, the Filipino director and other Filipino staff who lived in or near that province began to brief me about the mission there and the high risk of going. Two countries recently issued an alert not to go into this area due to militant Muslim activity. I was told we would have to keep a low profile and have military escorts at all times. We would stay in our hotel when we were not preaching in schools.
The Filipinos then asked me a series of questions. They asked me, “What will you do if you are kidnapped?” “I would preach Jesus to them.” They asked, “But they will move you from militant camp to militant camp to make it difficult to find you. Then what?” “Then more Muslims will hear the gospel,” I said. They asked, “What about Pat and the girls if you are killed?” “God is their Father and He will take much better care of them than I ever could.” The staff then asked me, “What about how it would affect our evangelistic association if you were kidnapped or killed?” To which I said, “Good question. I will consider the implications.” But I thought to myself, Christ will be magnified in life or death. I knew I was called to go.
The pastors and I prayed and then I went to talk to the American founder and director of the association. He said no one should go if they are afraid because Muslims sense fear and try to bully those who are afraid. He said they don’t know how to handle fearless Christians. They can’t bully them. I told him I believed the Lord wanted me to go. I then went to tell the three other Americans of this new information to see if they were still led to go to the area. We talked and prayed a lot and the short of it is only two of us went.
I talked and prayed with Pat and the girls as well. They had obvious concerns, but I could not deny that the Lord Jesus wanted me to go. I shared with them verses God was bringing to my attention. “And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.” (Deut. 31:8). I asked, “Is there anywhere we can go where God has not already gone before us?” “No.” “Is there anywhere we can go where God will not be with us?” “No.” “Is there any place we can go where God will abandon us?” “No.” “Then what is there to fear?” “Nothing.” “Why be discouraged or dismayed?” “No reason.” We claimed Psalm 31:14-15, “But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God. My times are in Your hand.’” My family was very concerned, but they knew the Lord was calling me to go.
I also shared with Pat and the girls how God had been speaking to me all week long leading up to this trip. I was having my devotions in the Book of Acts, and I would fall asleep thinking about what I had read and then dream about it at night and how God delivered the apostles from opposition and plots to kill them. When Stephen was being stoned, he saw Jesus standing in heaven as if to applaud his sacrifice for the gospel.
Satan’s attacks during the two nights before the trip were very intense. I felt an intense evil presence and intense fear gripped me. I had intrusive thoughts of being kidnapped, tortured, and dying a slow death. God led me to pull out the sword of the Spirit to confront the enemy. Two verses that especially ministered to me said, “9 Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, ‘Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.’” (Acts 18:9-10). It wasn’t enough to read these verses (graphē) or understand their significance (logos). I needed to declare their message to the powers of darkness, “It is written: ‘9 Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, ‘Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.’” (Acts 18:9-10). The Holy Spirit calmed my heart and encouraged me, assuring me of His presence, His protection, and His people to watch out for us. By God’s grace, I was prepared to die but planning to return to my family.
When our team of Filipino pastors/translators and myself and another American arrived in the province we were to evangelize, we went to the Filipino military battalion to meet with them and share our intentions to preach the Gospel of peace in that area. Their commander was a very gracious and kind man who informed our Filipino staff that it was too dangerous for Americans to go alone, and they would provide 24/7 military escorts for us. Honestly, with Jesus with us I did not believe it was necessary to have military escorts, but God had a higher purpose than our own safety.
We learned additional information about the criticalness of the area a day or two later. A month before our arrival, the Filipino military had captured the Militant Muslims’ commander and now the Militants were threatening to kill our military escorts (3 of the 4 were already believers and the 4th became a believer during the week with us) and kidnap a teacher since we were preaching in elementary and high schools. We had a choice to make at this point: Do we pull out or press on and preach the Gospel to these needy souls?
We pressed on because God is much greater than the lies of Militant Muslims and their threats. The Lord went before us and we preached the gospel of grace in eighty-five schools, two-thirds of which were 90% Muslim. Our military escorts had agents in the jungle giving them updates on the position of the Militants. I learned from our Filipino team leader that the militants had 60-70 men who could have overpowered our military escorts at any time, but God protected us from them. We also would be an easy target for a sniper as we preached outdoors at school assemblies, but the Lord was our rock and refuge.
The most memorable experience for me was when we went to an elementary school composed of mostly Muslim students. When we arrived, we saw a crowd of adults meeting around a stage. Classes were cancelled due to a PTA meeting. The president of the PTA permitted us to interrupt their meeting so we could share the gospel with over 220 adults, most of whom were devoted Muslims as shown by the head garments they were wearing and their veils over the faces of the women.
I began by saying, “The God who made this universe, the God of Abraham loves you very much.” My translator boldly and clearly translated for me which emboldened me even more. I then proceeded to talk about sin, death, and deserving to die forever in hell where the fire never stops burning to which all the Muslims and a few Catholics nodded in agreement when they heard these truths. I then asked, “How many of you want to live forever in hell?”, raise your hands. None of them did.
Then God led me to say, “How many of you believe Jesus Christ was a prophet from God?” They all shook their heads “Yes.” Then I asked, “How many of you believe a prophet of God can lie?” They all shook their heads “No.” Then the Lord led me to say, “Jesus Christ said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me. The only way to heaven, the only way to the God of Abraham is through Jesus Christ.”
As I said this, the devoted Muslims began to form a circle with each other in front of the stage, looking at me with eyes of anger and/or curiosity. I silently asked God to increase my love for them and my boldness. God enabled me to look each one in the eye through the remainder of the presentation as I shared about Jesus, Who was fully God and fully man. He loved them so much that He took their punishment for all of their sins and rose from the dead so that He is not alive to offer everlasting life as a free gift and peace with God to all who believe or trust in Him alone for His gift of everlasting life. After explaining the gospel, I invited them to take Jesus at His Word when He said, “Whoever believes in Him should not perish [in hell], but have everlasting life [in heaven]” (John 3:16b).
After leading them in a prayer to tell God they were now trusting in His Son, Jesus, for a home in heaven, I asked them, “How many of you just trusted in Jesus to give you a home in heaven? Raise your hands.” My heart leaped for joy as all of the people raised their hands, including the devoted Muslims whose faces turned from hate and confusion to hope and peace. We had to leave quickly for security reasons, but I praise the Lord Jesus for His faithfulness to seek and to save the lost.
God truly went before us on this trip as nearly twenty-seven thousand people heard the gospel in five days, and over twenty-four thousand said they trusted in Jesus for His gift of salvation. According to my figures, 96% of the people I shared with all publicly indicated they trusted in Jesus for a home in heaven. For the Muslims, this was more of an act of discipleship to publicly identify with Jesus Christ.
God also had believers in almost every school and/or village to fellowship with and feed us. In fact, every evening we met in the home of our team leader’s mother-in-law to feast and fellowship. Our last night in this province, we had a celebration dinner there. Afterward, we spent time in worship of our Savior Who is mighty to save.
Then each person shared a highlight from the trip, including the four soldiers who were with us 24/7. One of them said this, “Until the very last drop of our blood, we will protect you.”This was so humbling to hear. These soldiers were willing to take a bullet for us as were our translators. Their courage rubbed off on us. I experienced more peace in the militant area than I have experienced anywhere else. When I returned to the States, I learned that two Australian missionaries were shot and killed in the areas where we were either the week before we arrived or the week after.
As with all the pieces of armor, we take up the sword of the Spirit through prayer (Eph. 6:18-19).
Prayer:Gracious heavenly Father, thank You so much for the sword of the Spirit, the spoken word of God which has the power in Itself to do what it declares. It is with great joy that I lift the sword of Spirit and choose to abide in its truth and power. Holy Spirit, please open my eyes to see wonderful things in Your Word! Please enable me to use Your Word to defend myself from Satan, and also to wield the sword well on the battlefield when the Devil attacks me, so his lies and deceptions are exposed, and he is pushed back and defeated. I pray the power of the Holy Spirit is ignited in my life, so that Jesus may live His victorious life through me today and every day. In the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Colonel Rob Maness Live with David Pyne, President of the Task Force on National & Homeland Security on June 23, 2025, “The U.S. Enters War with Iran – More War Monday,” at www.worldviewtube.com; Brannon Howse Live with Shahram Hadian on June 20, 2025 – “Iran-Backed Terror Threats Inside the U.S. as FBI Increases Efforts to Monitor Them” at www.worldviewtube.com; Sophia Compton’s June 19, 2025, Fox News article entitled, “Border Patrol agents shut down massive drug smuggling tunnel between Tijuana and San Diego,” at www.foxnews.com.
[2] Madison Colombo’s June 25, 2025, article entitled, “Obama’s former DHS secretary sounds alarm on Iranian sleeper cells, calls it concern of ‘highest magnitude’” at www.foxnews.com. Brannon Howse, June 24, 2025, “Rising Threat of Terror Cells in US,” at www.worldviewtube.com; Adam Goldman and Devlin Barrett’s June 23, 2025, article entitled, “F.B.I. Warns of Possible Retaliation by Iran After Bombing of Nuclear Sites,” atwww.nytimes.com; Tara Suter’s June 22, 2025, article entitled, “Threat of sleeper cells in US has ‘never been higher’: CBP,” at www.thehill.com.
[3] Bill Hutchinson’s June 25, 2025, article entitled, “With July 4 just days away, US law enforcement on high alert for Iran retaliation,” at www.abcnews.go.com; Brooke Shafer’s article, entitled, “US cities ramp up security ahead of Fourth of July celebrations,” at www.newsnationnow.com.
[4] See March 12, 2024, article entitled, “Mosques: A fixture of America’s cultural landscape,”
[5] Jihad refers to a holy war. In the Bible, people were killed because of their sin in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ was killed for the sin of the world. But in Islam, Mohammed was commanded by Allah to kill the Christians and the Jews for not accepting Islam (Qur’an 9:29). According to the Qur’an, anyone who believes in Jesus is an infidel (Qur’an 5:72-76). Mohammed was killing Christians not because of their sins but because they believed in Christ. See Usama Dakdok’s article entitled, “Jihad,” at www.thestraightway.org.
[6] Shariah Law is Islamic Law and encompasses the words of Allah in the Qur’an and the words of Mohammed in the Hadith. For example, the Qur’an commands that Jews and Christians be decapitated (Qur’an 47:4). It also commands Muslims to kill the idolater which is anyone who worships any god but Allah (Qur’an 9:5). Men can beat their wives if they merely suspect rebellion (Qur’an 4:34). The Hadith (Abu Dawud 38:4447) teaches that the punishment for homosexuality is execution. This is what is practiced in Islamic countries. Muslims who come to America do not want to acclimate to our Constitution and laws. They want to establish Shariah Law which cannot coexist with American Law. See Anita Kuta’s article entitled “Sharia (Islamic Law),” at www.thestraightway.org.
[7] The god of Islam (Allah), is Satan for he is said to be the lord of the world in Qur’an 1:1-2, which when compared to the Bible, Satan is the ruler of the world, John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; 2 Cor. 4:4. Allah is also known as the best deceiver as we read in Qur’an 3:54 and 8:30, when compared to the Bible, Satan is the deceiver, Gen. 3:1-6; 2 Cor. 11:3; Rev. 12:9. Allah also leads people astray as we read in Qur’an 35:8 which is a description of Satan in the Bible, Gen. 3:1-6; Rev. 12:9. He also desires to fill hell with people as we read in Qur’an 38:85, 11:119, and 32:13, but the Bible teaches that God desires all people to be saved (I Tim. 2:3-4) and that not one person should perish in hell (2 Pet. 3:9). Adapted from Asuma Dakdok’s article, “Are Allah and God the same?” at www.thestraightway.org.
[9] To see all 20 points go to the article posted by Pam Geller on July 1, 2009, entitled, “ISLAMIC INVASION OF AMERICA: THE 20 POINT PLAN,” at www.thestraightway.org. This 20-point plan originated from a refugee from the Muslim Middle East named Anis Shorrosh, author of ”Islam Revealed” and ”The True Furqan.” Anis is a Christian Arab American who emigrated from Arab-controlled Jerusalem in January 1967. Shorrosh says, “The following [20-point plan] is my analysis of Islamic invasion of America, the agenda of Islamists and visible methods to take over America by the year 2020.”
[10] See Frank Gaffney’s pamphlet, The Muslim Brotherhood in the Obama Administration (David Horowitz Freedom Center, 2012 Kindle Edition).
[11] Ryan King and Carl Campanile’s June 29, 2025, article entitled, “Zohran Mamdani doubles down on plan to target ‘whiter neighborhoods’ with higher taxes — and says billionaires shouldn’t exist,” at www.nypost.com; Joseph Ax’s June 29, 2025, article entitled, “New York mayoral candidate Mamdani defends campaign despite Democratic unease,” at www.reuters.com.
[12] Jill Colvin’s June 29, 2025, article entitled, “How Democrats in America’s most Jewish city embraced a critic of Israel for New York mayor,” at www.apnews.com.
[13] Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary, 2019 Kindle Edition, pg. 2665.
[14] The first three verbs in Greek (perizōsamenoi… endysamenoi… hypodēsamenoi… ) are aorist middle participles which means they have already been put on by the soldier or Christian.
[15] Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary, 2019 Kindle Edition, pg. 2665.
[16] The Greek verb translated “taking…” (analabontes) is an aorist active participle, meaning the Christian is taking the shield of faith as needed and the last Greek verb translated “take…” (dexasthe) is an aorist middle imperative which is used of the last two pieces of armor and means for oneself to take them up as needed.
[17] Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary, 2019 Kindle Edition, pp. 1820-1821.
[18] Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 2000 Kindle Edition, pp. 247-248.
[21] These next five paragraphs are adapted from Tony Evan’s sermon video entitled, “The Sword of the Spirit” posted on July 17, 2021, at www.youtube.com.
[22] Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 2000 Kindle Edition, pg. 206.
[25] Evan’s sermon video entitled, “The Sword of the Spirit” posted on July 17, 2021, at www.youtube.com.
[26] Much of this section is adapted from Ibid unless otherwise noted.
[27] Much of this section is adapted from Ibid., unless otherwise noted.
[28] Much of this section is adapted from David R. Anderson, Position and Condition: An Exposition of the Book of Ephesians (Grace Theological Press, 2017 Kindle Edition), pp. 376-378, unless otherwise noted.
[29] Evan’s sermon video entitled, “The Sword of the Spirit” posted on July 17, 2021, at www.youtube.com.
[30] Much of this section is adapted from Evan’s sermon video entitled, “The Sword of the Spirit” posted on July 17, 2021, at www.youtube.com, unless otherwise noted.
[31] A. T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in Light of Historical Research (Originally published in 1914), 2014 Kindle Edition locations 1413-1414.
[32] Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary, 2019 Kindle Edition, pg. 1867.
We are living in a day when much hatred and division centers around the color of one’s skin or the political party with which one associates. The truth of the matter is that one’s skin color or political party is not what drives these conflicts. I believe the apostle Paul would want us to understand that behind these divisions and hate there is an unseen enemy who knows our histories and our weaknesses, and he is bent on getting us to fight one another instead of taking a stand against his kingdom of darkness. This foe would like nothing more than for people to think he does not exist.
But the apostle Paul would have us believe otherwise. In his letter to the Christians in the city of Ephesus he concludes with ways to protect themselves from spiritual attacks. He instructs his Christian readers (including you and me), to wear the whole armor of God so we may stand against the “wiles” or deceitful methods of the devil (Eph. 6:11). He wants us to understand that our battle is not with “flesh and blood” (i.e., human beings regardless of their skin color or political differences, etc.), but with the kingdom of darkness (Eph. 6:12). Therefore, we are to take up the whole armor of God so we may stand against the enemy “in the evil day” when all of hell attacks us (Eph. 6:13).
Just as a soldier needs to know the strategies of his enemy, so Christians need to understand the schemes or “wiles” of the devil (Eph. 6:11). Some of the “wiles” of Satan may include the following: [1]
Deception: Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44) and he deceived Eve with bad doctrine (1 Tim. 2:14). Hence, Christians are to wear the belt of truth to expose Satan’s lies and replace them with God’s life-giving truth (Eph. 6:14a).
Deviation: The devil wants to conform us to his world system and cause us to deviate from God’s will (Eph. 2:1-3; I John 2:16; 5:19b). He wants us to lower our standards of righteousness by tempting us to open our lives to a little sinfulness or worldliness. He may whisper in our ears, “It won’t hurt you to try that. Everyone else is doing it. Go ahead and do it. It’s fun.” This is why we need the protection of the breastplate of righteousness (Eph. 6:14b).
Division: The book of James informs us that the kind of wisdom that causes strife, envy, and self-seeking (power struggles) in our homes, churches, and workplaces originates from hell, and it is earthly, sensual, and demonic (Jas. 3:14-16). Therefore, we need to wear the sandals of the gospel of peace (Eph. 6:15).
Doubt: Satan caused Eve to doubt God’s Word (Gen. 3:1). This is one of his primary attacks against Christianity as a whole and the individual Christian in particular. Anderson writes, “When the Age of Reason rose up, European scholars discounted anything supernatural, which included a written revelation (the Bible) from a supernatural being (God). Thomas Jefferson swallowed the poison of doubt and decided to create his own New Testament by pulling the miracles of Christ out of the Gospels. If we doubt whether the Bible is God’s Word, why should we live by it or obey it?”[2] Hence, we need to take up the shield of faith to renew and strengthen our faith in the Lord and His Word (Eph. 6:16).
Disillusionment: Satan tries to put thoughts in our minds to make us think that his thoughts are our thoughts. When Job encountered severe trials, Satan used Job’s wife and friends to encourage Job to give up on God. They reasoned that any God-fearing believer assumes God will bless him for his obedience, not realizing that is the essence of legalism. We can never put God in our debt (cf. Rom. 4:4; 11:6). The other misunderstanding is to look at our trials as curses instead of blessings. God’s plan for our Christian growth is to mold us and sculpt us into the likeness of His Son. Often trials are the best ways to get us there. But the devil will try to give us thoughts that are contrary to God’s thoughts. And so, we are to wear the helmet of salvation (Eph. 6:17a).
Discouragement: One of the “devices” (noēmata) of Satan is extreme sorrow or discouragement over our failures (cf. 2 Cor. 7:7-11). When the Christian community treats a repentant Christians like a leper, his discouragement may cause him to give up completely. Satan will use discouragement to keep a believer from reading or memorizing the Bible. Hence, we are to take up the sword of the Spirit, the word of God (Eph. 6:17b).
Paul addresses six pieces of armor in the order that a Roman soldier would put them on (Eph. 6:14-17). The first three pieces of armor are introduced with the verb “to be.” The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and the shoes of peace we have with us all of the time [3] (“having girded… put on… shod…” – Eph. 6:14-15). [4] This is the state we are always to be in. But the last three pieces of armor – the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit – we are called to take and use as needed [5] (“taking … take…” Eph. 6:16-17). [6] Today, we will look at the second of these last three pieces of armor, “the helmet of salvation” (Eph. 6:17a).
The Location of the Helmet
The placement of the fifth piece of armor is very significant. After putting on his belt, breastplate, sandals, and taking up his shield, the Roman soldier would put on his helmet to protect his head, especially his brain, because injury to one’s head can be lethal.
And the world recognizes this. Whenever we are in a situation that could be dangerous to our heads and brains, we are often required to wear a protective helmet. For example, construction workers wear a hard hat to protect their heads from falling debris in a construction area. Motorcyclists wear a helmet to shield their brains from serious injury in case they are in an accident. Those who refuse to wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle are flirting with tragedy because the likelihood of being killed in an accident increases significantly when a motorcyclist does not wear a helmet. [7]
In American football,[8] a player wears a helmet to absorb the impact of colliding with another player so that the brain is not injured. Because the understanding is, if the brain is injured, bodily function is impeded. When you have players, whose heads are constantly absorbing violent collisions on the playing field, experiencing concussion after concussion, the brain can be severely damaged. And if the brain gets damaged, bodily function is impaired.
The apostle Paul is saying in Ephesians 6:17a that the mind must be protected to absorb the shocks of being hit in the spiritual realm by the enemy. If our minds are not protected from these blows, our spiritual lives can be greatly impaired.
Some of us know people who have contracted a debilitating disease known as Alzheimer’s whereby the brain is not able to function as it once did. And it progressively deteriorates over time so that the person is not able to care for themselves. The worse the brain problem gets, the less the person with Alzheimer’s can control.
The less control you and I have in our Christian lives is because spiritual Alzheimer’s has set in. The mind is no longer functioning as God wants it to, impeding the soul from doing what it should, which results in the physical body being out of control.
The apostle Paul is saying that Christians are to have a helmet on in this spiritual battle which takes place in the invisible realm if we are to have victory. Paul is dealing with a context of us being under attack.
In an American football game, the quarterback is the leader on the football field. He is calling the play and setting the agenda, and he is always under attack. The defense is always trying to get to him, sack him, knock him down, move him out of the pocket, confuse him, and intimidate him so they can make him ineffective and inefficient.
Sitting high above the quarterback in a booth is an offensive coordinator(OC). The OC’s job is to assess the schemes of the opposing team and speak to the quarterback about what he ought to be doing in light of those defensive schemes. In view of the attacks of the opposing team, the OC gives plays to the quarterback through a technological wonder called a one-way radio system in the quarterback’s helmet. So, with his helmet on, the quarterback receives instruction about how he is to function in light of the attack he is facing.
The reason why the OC is the one who gives instructions to the quarterback is because he is sitting high and looking low. He has a bird’s eye view up there in the booth of how the enemy is attacking down there on the football field. He can analyze the enemy’s movements so he can inform the quarterback through his helmet, what the deliverance ought to be for the pressure he is now under.
The apostle Paul says we are to put on the helmet which means our minds are to be properly programmed. If the mind is improperly programmed, then it will function improperly. That is, if we are thinking wrong, then we will act wrong, and experience spiritual defeat amid the spiritual battle (cf. Prov. 23:7).
Our spiritual enemy is attacking us on the field of life. God wants us to put on the helmet of salvation so He can speak to us in our minds because He is seated high above everyone and everything else (cf. Eph. 1:20-21). God can see the field of life better than we can see it. He can examine it better than we can. God knows the enemy’s schemes and He knows how to overcome them.
But we must wear this helmet of salvation so God can protect and direct our thoughts.[9] Our thoughts are a very important part of our whole person and being. Satan wants to control our minds. He wants to put his thoughts into our minds and deceive us into thinking that his thoughts are really ours so we will live life his way, rather than in the way God has prescribed in His Word. The Devil engages in mind control. Once he is successful in doing this, he wants to torment us with these thoughts, causing us to experience defeat instead of victory.
This part of a Christian’s person comes under severe attack in spiritual warfare. Satan wants to control our thoughts. He wants to put his thoughts within our minds as he did with Peter (cf. Matt. 16:21-23). [10] Many times, these can be hideous thoughts. Thoughts that are totally foreign to what we would normally think.
For example, a Christian may have intrusive thoughts about murder. He or she may suddenly think about murdering their own family, their loved ones, members of God’s family, or even themselves. Should this surprise us that he who “was a murderer from the beginning” would give us these kinds of thoughts (John 8:44)?
One Christian man shared with a Christian counselor that he suddenly had thoughts crowding into his mind that he was going to molest a little child. Thoughts that were totally foreign to this man. These thoughts caused the man to initially think he was going crazy until he understood that Satan is eager to put his thoughts into this man’s mind.
The Devil delights in giving us thoughts to curse God, to tear up our Bibles, to engage in uninhibited sexual activities that are repugnant to God. He may introduce nagging thoughts to us that tell us what a terrible person we must be. Thoughts that say, “I’m dumb, I’m ugly, nobody loves me,or I can’t do anything right.” There is no limit to the kinds of wicked thoughts that our enemy will introduce to us.
What do we do with thoughts like this? First, we need to understand that these thoughts may come from the kingdom of darkness. Secondly, we need to take up our helmet of salvation to resist these thoughts. All of us need a resistance prayer to respond to Satanic, intrusive thoughts. A prayer that goes something like this: “In the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the power of His blood, I come against the power of darkness that just put that wicked thought in my mind. And I command you to leave me and go where the Lord Jesus Christ sends you.”
We are not to accept these intrusive thoughts as our own. Especially if they are foreign to our common way of thinking. Some power of darkness is trying to convince us that we are a terrible person. If Satan tells us we are a terrible person, we must confront such an accusation with the truth. For if we are a child of God through faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ alone (John 1:12), we are not in any sense a terrible person. We are a “saint” in Christ (I Cor. 1:2; 2 Cor. 1:1b; Eph. 1:1b), forever “sanctified” or set apart positionally from our sin and shame through the “once for all” sacrifice of Jesus Christ (cf. I Cor. 6:11b; Heb. 10:10, 14), so there are no grounds for accusation or condemnation (Rom. 8:31-34). Hence, those wicked thoughts do not belong to us. And we are privileged to wear our helmet of salvation.
We must be tenacious in resisting these thoughts from the kingdom of darkness. Satan will not give up easily. So, we must persist in resisting these wicked thoughts. Don’t stop with one resistance. Each time a wicked thought comes into your mind, continue to pray, “In the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the power of His blood, I come against the power of darkness that just put that wicked thought in my mind. And I command you to leave me and go where the Lord Jesus Christ sends you.”
The first way Satan tries to control our minds is through what James calls being double-minded: “6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” (Jas. 1:6-8). Satan will do his best to make a Christian a spiritual schizophrenic with two minds. With our mind we want to love and serve the Lord, but also with our mind many times we want to toy with the things that are not of God. Instead of relying solely on God’s wisdom (Jas. 1:5), the double-minded believer wants to rely on human wisdom. He wants to act independently of God. James warns us that this is an “unstable” existence.
A divided mind is a very serious emotional state; but it is even more serious spiritually. We need to pray like King David prayed, “Unite my heart to fear Your name.” (Psa. 86:11b). David wanted God to bring a unity or single-mindedness to his heart, so the Lord was the center of everything in his life.
A second way the Devil attempts to control our minds is through a carnal mind. A carnal mind is an enemy of God. The apostle Paul tells us this in Romans 8. “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.” (Rom. 8:5). When Paul speaks of the carnally minded here (“set their minds on the things of the flesh”), he is referring to a believer who places himself under the law to try to become holy as Paul had tried to do only to experience spiritual defeat (cf. Rom. 7:4-25).
“While striving for holiness under the law, Paul had focused on the commands (e.g., ‘lust’) so that his mind-set was fleshly: ‘I must steer clear of all lust.’ This fleshly orientation doomed him to commit the very sin he sought to avoid.
“Simply put, if one lives with a fleshly orientation—even if it is the result of a vigorous effort to keep the law—he is going to fail because he has the wrong mind-set.” [12] [emphasis added]
“6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.” (Rom. 8:6-7). These two mind-sets, “to be carnally minded,” or “to be spiritually minded,” are polar opposites. The first mind-set is in the sphere of “death” and results in “death.” But the “spiritually minded” believer experiences “life and peace.”
“The trap into which a Christian falls when he is principally concerned with the law itself is that he cannot escape a preoccupation with the spiritual deadness within and around him. The mind-set of the Spirit, however, lifts his preoccupations to the level of supernatural life and peace.” [13][emphasis added]
Carnal mindedness is described in Galatians by Paul when he writes, “19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like…” (Gal. 5:19-21). Carnal mindedness focuses on the fleshly desires of our sinful nature. The longer a Christian sets his mind on his sinful flesh, the more likely his fleshly mind becomes a demonically dictated thought process. Satan uses this carnal mindedness to control a believer’s thoughts.
The third way Satan will attempt to control our thoughts is through his version of “God-is-our-enemy–thoughts.” The Devil enjoys putting thoughts in our mind that say, “God is your enemy.” “God is not playing fair with you.” “He could make it different, but He is not.” “You ought to get angry with God.“ “If God truly loved you, He wouldn’t let you go through so much pain and suffering.” When we have thoughts like that, do we know where they are coming from?
God cannot be anything but good (Psa. 106:1), gracious (Psa. 111:4), holy (Isa. 6:3), just (Isa. 45:21), kind (Joel 2:13), loving (I John 4:8b), merciful (Ps. 103:8), and righteous (Psa. 11:7). Regardless of what we are experiencing, God is Who He is because He cannot be anything but that.
But Satan will come along when life is not what we hoped it would be, and he tries to rule our mind with wicked thoughts about God being our enemy. And these thoughts can easily make us angry toward the Lord.
Fourth, the Devil can also try to rule our minds through deceiving, lying thoughts. Such was the case with Ananias and Sapphira. Satan filled their hearts to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land they sold for themselves (Acts 5:4, 8-9). It cost both of them their lives.
Whenever we are tempted to lie, we can be assured that Satan is involved in that temptation. Jesus said the devil “is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44).
Fifth, Satan will also try to control our minds through fearful thoughts. The Bible tells us the that our “adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (I Pet. 5:8b).
“Do you know how a lion uses his fearsome roar to frighten his prey? I’m told that the old male in a lion pride goes upwind of a herd of gazelles or whatever and lets out a roar. The terrified animals take off in the opposite direction, where the rest of the pride is waiting to gobble them up.
“If we were to hear a lion roar, most of us would run. If he roared again, we would run again. Pretty soon we’re being directed by fear.” [14] [emphasis added]
In the verse prior to I Peter 5:8, Peter writes, “…casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” (I Pet. 5:7). We can cast all our cares or concerns upon God because “He cares for you.” This phrase can be translated, “You are a matter of concern to God.” [15]
Christians who are engaged in intense spiritual warfare, especially those who facing Satanic frontal attacks, may conclude, “God doesn’t really care about me. If He did, He wouldn’t let me languish in this terrible bondage.”[16] [emphasis added]
If we believe God doesn’t care about us, we will be plagued by all kinds of fear. Satan loves to put us in bondage to fear. He will even use violent fear and panic to immobilize us.
But at the moment we feel that panic and fear, is the moment to use our helmet of salvation and pray, “In the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the power of His blood, I command the wicked power of fear to leave my presence and go where the Lord Jesus Christ sends you.” God does not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind (2 Tim. 1:7). The helmet of salvation enables our thoughts to be our own and to be like those of Christ.
Thoughts that are projected into our minds by the enemy need to be recognized quickly and decisively! We need to understand this. We don’t have to accept those thoughts from Satan as our own.
For example, one Christian young man was deeply troubled. Every time he began to pray to God, thoughts would enter his mind that said, “Pray to Satan…Pray to Satan… Pray to Satan.” He was tormented by these thoughts so much so that he became convinced he was going crazy. But once he understood where these thoughts were coming from, and resisted them, he was totally set free from those intruding thoughts. [17]
The Person of Salvation
This fifth piece of armor is called “the helmet of salvation.” What is salvation? The Bible informs us that salvation is a Person. David wrote, “The Lord is my light and my salvation.” (Psa. 27:1). The Hebrew word translated “salvation” is yeshu’ah. Yeshu’ah is the Old Testament word for “salvation,” and its basic meaning is “deliverance.” The English word Jesus, which means “God is salvation,” is also derived from this Hebrew word. Hence, David is saying, “The Lord [Yahweh] is my light and my Jesus [Yeshu’ah].” (Psa. 27:1). Salvation is a Person.
This is why Simeon prayed in the temple as he held the Baby Jesus in his hands, “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation…” (Luke 2:29-30). Christ is our salvation. He is a Person.
Thus, when we put on our helmet of salvation, we are putting on the Lord Jesus Christ to protect our mindsfrom the intruding thoughts of Satan and also to fill our minds with His thoughts. [18]
The Lord Jesus is much greater than the Devil. Christ is seated at the right hand of God the Father in the heavenly places, “far above all principality and power and might and dominion,” including Satan and his demonic armies (Eph. 1:20-21). Jesus sits in a position of authority and power that is far greater than the kingdom of darkness and we are seated next to Him (Eph. 2:5-6).
The apostle John tells us that this same Jesus indwells us: “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you [Jesus through the indwelling Holy Spirit] is greater than he who is in the world [Satan].” (I John 4:4; cf. Gal. 2:20). Hence, we do not need to fear nor succumb to Satan’s attacks because Jesus in us is far greater than the Devil and his demonic armies who are in the world.
The Greek word translated “salvation” (sōtēria) in the New Testament basically means “deliverance.”[19] The apostle Paul refers to this helmet as “the hope of salvation,” that is, the hope of deliverance (I Thess. 5:8b). Why? Because Satan wants to convince us that our situation is hopeless. If we conclude that our situation is hopeless, that we are trapped in our bondage and there is nothing we can do, then we only have two choices: We can either abandon ourselves to the sin or get ready to check out of this life. [20]
The type of deliverance Jesus provides is determined by the context. As our “Salvation” (Psa. 27:1), the Lord Jesus provides three types of deliverances as they relate to our spirit, soul, and body (I Thess. 5:23).
Our Past Salvation
The first type of salvation is our past salvation (a.k.a. justification) whereby our spirit is delivered from the penalty of sin forever when we believed in Jesus for His gift of salvation (Acts 16:31; Eph. 2:8-9). When we were born again by believing in Jesus (John 3:3-18), we received “a new spirit” (Ezek. 36:26) that “was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:23-24) and was “perfected forever” (Heb. 10:14). Our spirit “cannot sin because” it “has been born of God” (I John 3:9).
Satan wants to steal the assurance of our past salvation. Since he knows we cannot lose eternal life (John 3:16; 5:24; 6:35-40; 10:28-29; 11:25-26; et al.), he tries to rob us of our assurance that we are God’s child. He may put hideous thoughts in our minds and then accuse us, saying, “No true Christian would never entertain such wicked thoughts.”
Satan will use false teachers to try to steal our assurance of eternal life. The apostle John addresses this in his first epistle. John’s readers were being told by the antichrists (false teachers) that Jesus was not the Christ Who guarantees a future resurrection and never-ending life to all who believe in Him. But John refutes this by saying, “And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.” (I John 2:25). Instead of listening to the falsehoods of the antichrists, John redirects his readers to the unchanging “promise” of God which guarantees “eternal life” to all who believe in Jesus (cf. I John 5:1, 13; John 3:15-16, 36; 5:24; 6:35-40, 47; 11:25-27; 20:31). This is the message they heard from the beginning of their Christian experience. This is how they began a personal relationship with God. Assurance of eternal life is found in God’s promises, not in the lies of false teachers which denied that eternal life is through simple faith in Jesus.
There is much confusion today about assurance of salvation. Some insist that assurance of going to heaven is based on our performance and whether we measure up to certain tests concerning the quality of our Christian experience. [21] But if we look to our performance or experience, we will never be certain we have eternal life because we always fall short of God’s glory (Rom. 3:23; I John 1:8, 10). Whenever we take our focus off Christ and His finished work on the cross (John 19:30), we are more likely to doubt our salvation. Even on our best day, we still fall short of God’s glory.
John wants his readers to look to the unchanging promises of God for the assurance of their salvation.“God’s promises don’t change. That’s why the promises of God are the foundation for our assurance of salvation. People who want to teach that 1 John is a book of tests to determine whether you are a Christian or not have gone completely against what John himself uses as his source of assurance: the promises of God.”[22]
Why does John remind his readers of their secure relationship with Jesus? “These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you.” (I John 2:26). John did not want his readers to be deceived by the false teachers who tried to undermine their assurance of salvation. Knowing they have eternal life simply be believing in Jesus for it would enable them to effectively resist these antichrists who taught John’s readers they were not genuinely saved because they lacked a secret knowledge which only the false teachers could give them to have eternal life. John understood if a Christian doubts his or her salvation they are more vulnerable to losing their fellowship with God and the apostles. Hence, I believe John would agree with the apostle Paul, that Christians must take up the helmet of salvation, so they do not lose the hope of their past salvation.
Our Present Salvation
The second type of salvation is our present salvation (a.k.a. sanctification) whereby our soul is being delivered from the power of sin as we hear the word and do what it says (Phil. 2:12; Jas. 1:21-22). Just as we were justified and reconciled to God through faith in Jesus’ death, so now we are to be saved from the power of sin (God’s present-day wrath – Rom. 1:18-32) through faith in Jesus’ resurrection life (Rom. 5:9-10). This is a lifelong process called discipleship which begins at conversion and ends when we go to be with Jesus in His heaven (John 8:31-32; 13:34-35; 14:1-3; 15:1-8).
Reimer writes, “To really understand your identity, you have to properly divide soul and spirit. Your spirit has been made new. You are a new creation in Christ. You have received a new spirit and a new heart (Ezek. 36:26). Your spirit has been perfected in Christ. You have received every spiritual blessing you need in the heavenly realms (Eph. 1:3). You are adopted into the family of God (Eph. 1:5; Rom. 8:15). You are heirs of God…
“These are all the claims of Scripture for who you are in Christ. Your spirit has been purified, purged, renewed, born again, and transformed. But your soul… well, that can still be a bit of a mess.
“Your soul can have hurts and bitterness. Your soul can still have sin and demonic strongholds. Your soul can have fears and faulty beliefs about who you are. Your soul can still feel condemnation and shame.
”Sanctification, or the process of becoming like Jesus is simply becoming who you already are. You have to work out in the realm of the soul what has already taken place in the heavenly realms through the work of Christ in your spirit.
“Your soul is where your mind, your will, and your emotions still hold sway over the reality of your daily existence. For example, you may know cognitively that you are loved, but because you grew up in an abusive home, or because of your own sinful behaviors, you don’t feel loved. You don’t act as if you are deeply loved. Your soul still feels shame, you may even feel unlovable, and you feel distant from God. Until you deal with the issues of your soul, you will not experience the fullness of God nor the intimacy with Him for which your heart longs.
“Working out your identity is learning to become who you already are. This battle for your identity is a critical part to your spiritual maturity.”[23] [emphasis added]
Satan wants to deceive us into thinking that the power of sin has not been broken in our lives. That we are still slaves to sin. He loves to whisper lies that say, “You can never change.” “This isn’t that bad.” “God gave you this desire, so use it.” “Everyone else is doing it.” “You deserve to feel pleasure.” “You cannot cope with your pain without doing this.” “God doesn’t want you to experience this because He knows you will become more like Him knowing good and evil, etc.”
The Bible describes the victory Jesus has already won for us, “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” (Col. 2:15).
“It is more natural to view the principalities and powers here as the defeated foes, driven in front of the triumphal chariot as involuntary and impotent witnesses to their conqueror’s superior might.” [24][emphasis added]
“The picture, quite familiar in the Roman world, is that of a triumphant general leading a parade of victory…. To the casual observer the cross appears to be only an instrument of death, the symbol of Christ’s defeat; Paul represents it as Christ’s chariot of victory.” [25] [emphasis added]
The death of Jesus did three things to the spiritual rulers of darkness. It disarmed them, displayed them, and dethroned them.
How did Jesus do this? [26] Jesus “wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” (Col. 2:14). When a person was executed under Roman law, the sentence was attached to the accused’s cross (see John 19:19). But Jesus took our sentence away, effectively nailing our certificates of debt to His cross. He paid our penalty in full (John 19:30); He died for our guilt and shame. God “made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Cor. 5:21).
Satan now has no legitimate grounds to accuse us of wrongdoing before God because Jesus already paid our sin debt to God in full. That is why Paul writes, “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” (Col. 2:15). A fallen angel is no match for the Son of God, Who took away Satan’s power. Satan is the accuser of Christian brothers and sisters (Rev. 12:10). He accused Job (cf. Job 1:9-11; 2:4-5) and Joshua the high priest (Zech. 3:1). But in light of the all-sufficient sacrifice of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice, Satan’s accusations are empty now.
If somebody has a gun pointed at you, whether or not it’s loaded is a huge deal. The devil doesn’t want us to know that his gun has been emptied by the cross of Christ. Now, if we don’t know that, we are still going to cower and run, living in fear and shame. But we don’t have to listen to the devil any longer. Though he is right about our sin, our sin debt has been paid by Christ in full. We are free to live for God now. Satan still has power, but he no longer possesses final authority in our Christian lives.
Thus, when the devil tempts us to sin, we can respond by saying,“Jesus has already broken the power of that sin through His death and resurrection (Rom. 6:10-11). Therefore, it has no power over me.”
Our Future Salvation
Our third type of salvation is our future salvation (a.k.a. glorification) whereby our physical body is delivered from the presence of sin when Jesus comes back for His church (I Thess. 1:10; 4:13-18; 5:8b-10; I John 3:2-3). The apostle Paul writes, “And to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” (I Thess. 1:10). The Greek verb translated “delivers” [ruomenon] means to “rescue from danger.”[27] This deliverance or rescue is from the Tribulation “wrath to come” on earth (cf. Rev. 6:1-18:24) which is the theme of this epistle [28] (cf. I Thess. 2:19; 3:13; 4:13-5:11, 23). How does Jesus deliver Christians from this coming Tribulation wrath on earth?
Paul explains in First Thessalonians 4:13-18. The apostle does not want his readers, including us, to be ignorant concerning believers who have died lest we “sorrow as others who have no hope.” (I Thess. 4:13). Paul understands that an ignorant believer can easily become a hopeless believer. [29] He then provides the order of events in the Rapture or sudden removal of the church from the earth.
First, we see the return of Christ in the air with Christians who have died. “For if [or since] we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.” (I Thess. 4:14). The rapture of the church is just as certain as the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. At one point in time the death and resurrection of Christ were prophecy. But now they are history. We can believe the Rapture with equal certainty.
When Paul refers to “those who sleep in Jesus,” he is talking about Christians who have died (cf. John 11:11-12). What happens when a Christian dies (see pic)? His spirit goes immediately to heaven, but his body “sleeps” in the grave. “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” (2 Cor. 5:8). To be absent from the body in death is to be present with the Lord Jesus in heaven.
The second event is the resurrection of the bodies of Christians who have died. “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.” (I Thess. 4:15). The bodies of Christians who have died will be resurrected first by Jesus, so that their spirits, which are now with Christ, can re-enter their bodies permanently in resurrection. Notice that Paul included himself in these verses – “we who are alive and remain…” He expected to be “alive” when Jesus returned. He believed the Rapture could take place at any time and so should we.
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.” (I Thess. 4:16). In the Rapture, it is the Lord Jesus Himself that is coming, not the Holy Spirit or God’s angels. There will be a magnificent sound much like a shout, like the voice of an archangel and like the sound of a trumpet all in one, and only those who have placed their trust in Christ as their Savior will hear it. For the Bible says, “The dead in Christ will rise first.” Only those who are “in Christ” through believing in Jesus, will respond to this sound. Those who have not believed in Jesus Christ will be left behind.
Notice that Christians who have died will return with Jesus (I Thess. 4:14b) and receive a glorified resurrection body (“the dead in Christ will rise first” – I Thess. 4:16b) that is incorruptible (sinless) and imperishable (eternal), like the resurrection body of the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. I Cor. 15:35-51; Phil 3:20).
Next is the removal of living Christians. “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus, we shall always be with the Lord.” (I Thess. 4:17a). The words “caught up” are from the Greek word haparzō which means “to snatch up or take away suddenly.” [30] Paul describes it like this: “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet… the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (I Cor. 15:52). In the time it takes you to blink your eye, the Lord will snatch all believers in Jesus off the earth to meet Him in the air – not one will remain behind.
Finally, we see the reunion of both living and dead believers with the Lord in the air. “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus, we shall always be with the Lord.” (I Thess. 4:17). This sudden removal of all Christians from the earth is intended to comfort believers in Jesus. That’s why Paul writes, “Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (I Thess. 4:18.) If the rapture is at the middle or end of the seven-year Tribulation period of intense and unusual suffering on earth, there would be little comfort and encouragement in this. But the prospect of Christ coming at any moment is a much greater comfort.
Paul alludes to putting on “as a helmet the hope of salvation” (I Thess. 5:8c). The Greek word translated “salvation” (sōtērias) in First Thessalonians is not deliverance from everlasting punishment in hell, but deliverance from the Tribulation wrath on earth. “9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.” (I Thess. 5:9-10). Christians will not go through the Tribulation because “God did not appoint us to wrath.” Thus, this “salvation” is deliverance from God’s Tribulation wrath on the earth via the Rapture of the church “through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Our precious Lord’s death (“Christ, who died for us”) guarantees that all Christians will be caught up to be with Jesus, “whether we wake or sleep,” spiritually (I Thess. 5:10; cf. I Thess. 5:4-7). Knowing and believing this truth acts as a protective helmet against Satan’s attacks. The Devil wants us to doubt that we will be delivered from God’s coming wrath through the Rapture of the Church. He has convinced many Christians that they will go through the Tribulation period. Some believers think we are now in the Tribulation.
Satan wants us to conclude that Jesus is not coming back in our lifetime because he understands that we will then be more likely to live his way instead of God’s way. Jesus warned of this faulty conclusion when He told the parable of the faithful servant who became an evil servant (Matt. 24:45-51). Christ spoke of “a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household” (Matt. 24:45). If that servant remains faithful in light of his master’s soon return, his master “will make him ruler over all his goods” when he comes back (Matt. 24:46-47).
But Jesus warns, “If that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’” he will be in danger of mistreating “his fellow servants” and living a self-indulgent life (“eat and drink with the drunkards”), resulting in a severe rebuke (“the master of that servant… will cut him in two,” cf. Heb. 4:12-13) and intense grief (“weeping and gnashing of teeth”) over the loss of eternal rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ (Matt. 24:48-51; cf. Matt. 25:30; I Cor. 3:15; I John 2:28). [31]
Even though it has been nearly twenty centuries since Jesus ascended to heaven, no Christian should dare to conclude that Jesus “is delaying His coming” for His church. That is what Satan wants us to do. He knows that if we lose sight of the nearness of Christ’s return, we will also lose hope.
The helmet of salvation provides hope for the believer. The hope that one day all the projected thoughts from the powers of darkness will be removed forever when the Christian is given a new resurrection body which will no longer be subject to sin and death.
The promise that Jesus Christ could return for His church at any moment is one of the greatest reasons for us to live for Jesus now. Focusing on Christ’s any-time-return “purifies” us inwardly so we can have confidence and not be ashamed before Him when He appears (I John 2:28; 3:2-3).
Conclusion
Satan does not want us to put on the helmet of salvation because…
He wants us to live in the past filled with our sin and shame. But when we put on the helmet of salvation, the Lord Jesus instructs us to learn from the past, not live in the past because He has delivered our spirit from the penalty of sin forever the moment we believed in Him for His gift of salvation (Acts 16:31; Eph. 2:8-9; 4:23-24; cf. Ezek. 36:26).
He wants us to believe that we are still slaves to sin who can never change. But when we put on the helmet of salvation, Christ tells us that we can change because our soul is being saved from the power of sin which was broken through Jesus’ death and resurrection (Rom. 6:10-11). We must simply hear and do what Christ tells us (Jas. 1:21-22).
He wants us to doubt Jesus will return for His church in our lifetime so we will lose hope and live under his control instead of God’s. However, when the helmet of salvation is put on, we become watchful for Jesus’ soon return for His church when our physical bodies will be saved from the presence of sin forever (I Thess. 1:10; 4:13-5:11; I John 3:2-3). Focusing on Christ’s any-time-return “purifies” us inwardly so we can have confidence and not be ashamed before Him when He appears (I John 2:28; 3:2-3).
As with the other pieces of armor, we put on the helmet of salvation through prayer (Eph. 6:18).
Prayer: Father God, I recognize that my mind is a particular target of Satan’s deceiving ways. Thus, I cover my mind with the powerful helmet of salvation which protects and directs my thoughts, so my life is filled with hope. Thank You for the assurance that my spirit is saved from the penalty of sin forever when I put my faith in the Lord Jesus alone for His gift of salvation. I praise you for Jesus’ death and resurrection which broke the power of sin. By Your grace I pray for my soul to be saved from the power of sin as I yield to the Holy Spirit’s power to obey what Your Word says. And thank You Lord for the hope that my physical body will be saved from the presence of sin when Jesus gives me a new glorified resurrection body when He comes back for His church. Please show me any thoughts I am entertaining right now that are from the enemy. In the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the power of His blood, I come against the power of darkness that just put that wicked thought in my mind. And I command you to leave me and go where the Lord Jesus Christ sends you.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Adapted from David R. Anderson, Position and Condition: An Exposition of the Book of Ephesians (Grace Theological Press, 2017 Kindle Edition), pp. 369-370.
[3] Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary, 2019 Kindle Edition, pg. 2665.
[4] The first three verbs in Greek (perizōsamenoi… endysamenoi… hypodēsamenoi… ) are aorist middle participles which means they have already been put on by the soldier or Christian.
[5] Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary, 2019 Kindle Edition, pg. 2665.
[6] The Greek verb translated “taking…” (analabontes) is an aorist active participle, meaning the Christian is taking the shield of faith as needed and the last Greek verb translated “take…” (dexasthe) is an aorist middle imperative which is used of the last two pieces of armor and means for oneself to take them up as needed.
[7] Retrieved on March 5, 2025, from an article entitled, “Motorcycle Helmet Laws and Safety Statistics 2024,” at lawtigers.com. The article states that “in states with universal helmet laws, 55 percent of motorcyclists killed in 2021 were not wearing helmets, compared to 9 percent in states with universal helmet laws.”
[8] The following lengthy discussion about the use of a helmet in American football is adapted from Tony Evan’s video message entitled, “The Helmet of Salvation,” on youtube.com.
[9] Many of the following paragraphs are adapted from Mark Bubeck’s video message entitled “9. Head First Into Battle… Ephesians 6 Series,” on BRMinistry app, unless otherwise noted.
[10] For a more detailed treatment of Matthew 16:21-23, see “Spiritual Warfare – Part 2” in Ropp Update & Reflections (July 2024).
[11] Much of this section is adapted from Mark Bubeck’s video message entitled “9. Head First Into Battle… Ephesians 6 Series,” on BRMinistry app, unless otherwise noted.
[12] Zane C. Hodges, “Romans,” The Grace New Testament Commentary: Revised Edition, 2019 Kindle Edition, pg. 1045.
[17] Adapted from Mark Bubeck’s video message entitled “9. Head First Into Battle… Ephesians 6 Series,” on BRMinistry app.
[18] The first three paragraphs of this section are adapted from Mark Bubeck’s video message entitled “9. Head First Into Battle… Ephesians 6 Series,” on the BRMinistry app.
[19] Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature: Third Edition, 2000 Kindle Edition, pp. 985-986.
[21] Anderson, Maximum Joy: I John – Relationship or Fellowship? 2013 Kindle Edition, pg. 15 cites John MacArthur, Jr., Saved without a Doubt (Colorado Springs: Cook Communications, 1992), pp. 67-91; Tom Constable, Notes on I John, 2022 Edition, pg. 46 cites James Montgomery Boice, The Epistles of John (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1979); John F. MacArthur Jr., The Gospel according to Jesus (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1988); John R. W. Stott, Basic Introduction to the New Testament, 1st American ed. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1964); and Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, 2 vols. (Wheaton: Scripture Press Publications, Victor Books, 1989).
[22] Anderson, Maximum Joy: I John – Relationship or Fellowship? 2013 Kindle Edition, pg. 128.
[23] Dr. Rob Reimer, Soul Care: Seven Transformational Principles For A Healthy Soul (Carpenter’s Son Publishing, 2016), pp. 37-38.
[24] Tom Constable, Dr. Constable’s Notes on Colossians, 2023 Edition, pg. 61 cites F. F. Bruce, “Colossians Problems,” Bibliotheca Sacra 563 (July- September 1984):198-199.
[25] Ibid., cites Curtis Vaughan, In Ephesians-Philemon. Vol. 11 of The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, 12 vols. Edited by Frank E. Gaebelein and J. D. Douglas (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1978), pg. 202.
[26] The following three paragraphs are adapted from Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary, 2019 Kindle Edition, pp. 2701-2702.
[27] Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature: Third Edition, 2000 Kindle Edition, pg. 907.
[28] Robert Wilkin, “I Thessalonians,” The Grace New Testament Commentary: Revised Edition, 2019 Kindle Edition, pg. 1463.
[29] Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary, 2019 Kindle Edition, pg. 2727.
[30] Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature: Third Edition, 2000 Kindle Edition, pg. 134.
[31] Hal Haller Jr., “Matthew,” The Grace New Testament Commentary: Revised Edition, 2019 Kindle Edition, pp. 179-182.
We have been looking at the whole armor of God in Ephesians 6 that protects us from the attacks of the kingdom of darkness. The apostle Paul instructs his Christian readers (including you and me) to “put on the whole armor of God” so we may stand against the “wiles” or trickery of the Devil (Eph. 6:11).
The apostle Paul presents six pieces of armor that are divided into two categories of three. He introduces each of these two categories with different verbs. The first three are introduced with the verb “to be.” The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and the shoes of peace we have with us all of the time [1] (“having girded… put on… shod…” – Eph. 6:14-15). [2] This is the state we are always to be in. But the last three pieces of armor we are called to take and use as needed [3] (“taking … take…” Eph. 6:16-17).[4] Today, we will begin to look at the first of these last three pieces of armor.
Paul describes the armor that Roman infantrymen wore in the order they would put it on. The soldier first puts on his belt which represents the Christian’s belt of truth (Eph. 6:14a). Since Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44), this first piece of armor is essential to protecting us from Satan’s deceptions and lies. We learned that truth is God’s viewpoint on a subject. It is the absolute standard by which reality is measured in its original form.Truth points us in the direction that God wants to lead us.
After putting on his belt, the soldier then puts on his breastplate which protects his vital organs in his chest region. “The breastplate” we are to put on is “righteousness” (dikaiosunē) which refers to the quality of “being right.” [5] Satan wants us to compromise God’s righteousness. He will use deception to accomplish this. Hence, we must begin with God’s truth which is the informational base that tells us the right thing to do. When God’s truth is operative in our lives, it points our heart in the direction of God’s righteousness. The breastplate of righteousness is our response to God’s truth or viewpoint on a matter. We are often faced with a myriad of choices and decisions in life, but how do we know we have made the right choices or decisions? How do we know we are moving in the right direction? How do we know we have the right perspective on a matter? This leads to the third piece of armor.
After putting on his belt and breastplate, the soldier then puts on his sandals which has spikes on the bottom of them to give him sure footing and mobility in the heat of battle. The sandals we are to put on are “the gospel of peace.” God’s peace is found in the “gospel” or good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection (I Cor. 15:1-8). This peace is not found in a pill, in entertainment, in the accumulation of wealth, in a favorite television program, in a movie, in a better job, in a vacation or in an image on the computer screen. That’s the world’s kind of peace which is momentary. God’s peace is found in the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
God’s peace will confirm that we are making the right decisions, moving in the right direction, and having the right perspective in our Christian lives. The Devil wants to rob us of God’s peace so we will live a life driven by fear and anxiety. He knows that whatever we fear, we give control to. Satan does not want us to let God control our lives, so he seeks to rob us of God’s peace. But the Lord wants to give us a deep-seeded calmness to move forward (“feet” suggest movement) with a decision even though hell may be breaking loose in our lives.
What is “the evil day”?
A man walks with his Bible for a spiritual battle, represented by the verse Ephesians 6:12
Paul writes, “Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” (Eph. 6:13). Notice that Paul uses the same Greek word “take up” (analambanō) that he uses to address the fourth piece of armor: “Above all, taking (analambanō) the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” (Eph. 6:16). It is extremely important that we take up “the whole armor of God” to withstand intense spiritual attacks, especially “in the evil day” (Eph. 6:13).
To what does “the evil day” refer? It is not referring to a twenty-four-hour period. [6] It refers to a full-frontal Satanic attack [7] from the pit of hell (Eph. 6:12) that seeks to steal, kill, and destroy us or our faith (John 10:10a). In Luke 4 after Satan finished tempting Jesus in the wilderness, Luke tells us the Devil “departed from Him until an opportune time” when he would unleash his worst attacks (Luke 4:13). So, “the evil day” refers to the time when great spiritual attacks take place in a Christian’s life, when all hell breaks loose. [8]
For example, Logan illustrates what this may look like when he talks about a client named Bill who found freedom from terrible sexual bondage during his counseling with Biblical Restoration Ministries. Logan told the client that an evil day would come for him.
Logan writes, “Nothing particular happened for about three months. Then one day Bill called me and said he had been asked to go to the local high school to take measurements for some architectural renovations the school wanted to make. For some reason, he told me, he had a bad feeling about the assignment, although there was nothing especially significant about it.
“When Bill went to the school to do the measurements, the students were putting on a play in the school theater, which meant he was not able to measure that part of the school. He would have to go back a second time to measure the theater. He called me again and asked me to pray for him.
“Bill arrived at the school theater and began his work. As he made his way along, he noticed some rooms off to the side of the theater, which also needed measuring. He turned the external light switch to one room, stepped inside, and quickly discovered a room filled with the very items he used when he practiced his sexual bondage. The items themselves were harmless, and I don’t want to leave the wrong impression about the school. But seeing all the clothing and miscellaneous items before him, Bill was suddenly confronted with his ‘evil day.’
“He told me later that the temptation was so strong he could almost hear a voice saying, ‘Go ahead, just this one time. It won’t hurt you just to touch them.’ But praise the Lord, Bill resisted the tempter in the name of Christ and walked out.
“Everything was fine until the next Valentine’s Day, which was near Bill’s one-year anniversary of freedom. He came under sustained attacks at home, at work, at church, and everywhere else he went that day.
“He called me and said, ‘Jim, it’s bad. I don’t know if I can make it.’ But the Lord gave him more grace, and Bill stood firm… Bill’s experience reinforces the nature of the evil day, which Bible scholar Clinton Arnold describes as specific times when the enemy’s attack comes with extraordinary power and the temptation to yield is exceptionally strong.” [9]
The “evil day” doesn’t come just once and then never reoccur. It can happen repeatedly in a Christian’s life. Satan and his demonic armies do not take vacations. They are constantly seeking to steal, kill, and destroy. Thus, we must constantly wear the whole armor of God.
The Importance of the Shield
Paul introduces the fourth piece of armor with the words, “Above all” (Epi pasin), [10] to draw our attention to the criticalness of this piece of armor. The “shield of faith” is “above all” the other pieces of armor in its importance. It is as though the Holy Spirit, through the apostle Paul, wants us to know how vitally important the shield of faith is in our battle with the kingdom of darkness.
Many of us may take for grantedthe important shields that are in our lives. We can easily forget how much a shield means to us. For example, when we are in our homes enjoying an evening meal with family, we don’t notice what is happening outside until all of a sudden there is a violent thunderstorm. Suddenly, we find ourselves in the midst of dark clouds swirling above us that are filled with rain. Out of nowhere, we feel our house shudder as the thunder crashes and the lightning flashes all around us. We see the wind blowing intensely, causing the trees in our yard to bend over and then huge raindrops begin to pound against the siding and windows of our home. But none of these elements touch us. The shield of our homes protects us. Our clothes remained dry, and we remain safe from the raging storm outside.
During the summer months, when we drive at night in the Midwest, we can get annoyed by all the bugs that make a mess on our windshields. But do we ever stop to think what would happen if that windshield was not there? Were it not for our windshields, we would have those messy bugs all over our clothing and even on our glasses. Some of us may need to dig those bugs out of our mouths or extract them from a delicate eye. Do we ever stop to appreciate how our windshields protect us from those missiles of flying bugs that assault us at whatever speed we are driving. Instead of smashing against our faces, they smash against our windshields. They don’t touch us because the shield is in front of us.
This is the imagery that we have in Ephesians 6:16. Satan’s flaming missiles are coming at us all of the time, but they don’t touch us because the shield is in front of us. Were it not for the shield of faith, those flaming missiles would hurt us or worse, they would destroy us.
Why is the Shield of Faith of Such Great Importance?[11]
The fourth piece of armor addresses unbelief. Hence, we are to take up the shield of faith (Eph. 6:16) which extinguishes all the fiery darts or arrows of the enemy. What is that talking about? It involves Satan’s temptation to get you to question God or to act independently of God. That is the way he approached Eve in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:1-5). Satan got Eve to question God and what He had said and what would happen if she were to partake of the forbidden fruit. Why is the shield of faith of such great importance?
First, the shield of faith is critical to our protection because of its extensiveness. Paul says, “Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” (Eph. 6:16). The “shield of faith” is able to “quench” (sbennumi) or “extinguish / put out”[12]“all” the fiery “darts” (belē – pl. / belos – singular) or “arrows”[13] of the Devil. The Greek word belos is often used to describe something that is swift, piercing, or potentially harmful. It conveys the idea of a projectile that is launched with intent and precision. These “darts” or arrows were “fiery” or “ablaze in order to set fire to the enemies’ clothing or camp or homes.” [14]
Roman soldiers used two kinds of shields – a round one used in marching (aspis) and a larger rectangular one used in battle (thureos). The term Paul uses here refers to the larger battle shield [15] which was made of wood and was 2 ½ feet wide by 4 feet long. It was overlaid with leather. [16]“Before a battle in which flaming arrows might be shot at them, the soldiers wet the leather covering with water to extinguish the arrows.”[17]
Such a large shield could protect a soldier’s entire body when he was positioned properly behind it. A soldier that was advancing against a fierce enemy would want the large shield because it was capable of deflecting the most incoming arrows that were intended to pierce the armor and body of the soldier.
God has provided a shield of faith for the Christian which protects us from “all,” not just some, but from “all” of Satan’s flaming arrows that he shoots at us. God provides protection for us in every direction – in front of us, behind us, above us, beside us, and beneath us. His protection is comprehensive and complete so we can approach the battlefield with confidence in our God to protect us.
Second, the shield of faith is critical in its objectiveness. The shield is the object of our faith. The shield is not our faith. We can put our faith in the wrong thing which will not protect us at all. For example, we have heard reports of soldiers wearing good luck charms such as a rabbit’s foot to protect them from the bullets of the enemy. Those soldiers’ bodies, however, were riddled with bullet holes because their faith was in the wrong object. Putting our faith in the wrong object will not protect us at all. I will talk more about the object of our faith in the next section.
Third, the shield of faith is critical in its subjectiveness. As we wear the shield of faith, there is a confidence in our hearts that we will be protected. This does not mean that the enemy will not come close to destroying God’s people. Such was the case of Job when God told Satan that he could touch Job’s children, his livestock and servants, and even Job’s own health, but God would not let the Devil take Job’s life (Job 1:12- 2:8). I am convinced that Satan would destroy all of us were it not for God’s protection.
When any of Satan’s fiery arrows pass through the shield of faith, no longer are they the destroying missiles that the Devil intended. Instead, when those arrows pass through the shield of faith they become a refining, purifying influence in our Christian lives that God uses for our good and our spiritual growth (cf. I Pet. 1:6-8; 4:12-16). This is why it is so important to have the shield of faith in its proper place. God can bring good out of what Satan intends for evil (cf. Luke 22:31-32; I Tim. 19-20).
Fourth, the shield of faith is critical in its intensiveness. The imagery in Ephesians 6:16 is one of “fiery darts” or blazing missiles coming toward us. This emphasizes the intense, deadly nature of this spiritual battle. This is a strategic method that Satan utilizes to attack God’s people.
One of the ways that armies in ancient warfare would successfully advance against an enemy city with fortified walls protecting them, was to have a row of soldiers with flaming arrows in the front. They would shoot their flaming pitch pointed arrows over the walls onto the roofs of structures inside the walls of the city. As these structures would begin to burn, the soldiers standing guard on the walls and the gates to the city, ready to protect the city, would be drawn away from their positions to fight the fires that were spreading all over the city. These fires would distract them and take them away from their guarding position so that invading soldiers could climb the city walls or break through the city gates with their battering rams to conquer the city.
These flaming arrows that Satan sends our way are intended to distract us and lead us away from our position in Christ so our families will be destroyed as well as our Christian testimony and lives. The adversary wants to get us so busy putting out the fires in our lives that we forget the victory that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ.
A man is chained to computer late at night.
Two of the most destructive fiery darts that Satan uses today to get a Christian to doubt his or her faith is pornography and the written word. Pornography is just as common among Christians as it is non-Christians.[18]Research has shown that the longer a Christian views porn, the less will be their spiritual disciplines and the more doubts they will have about their faith. They are less likely to read their Bibles, attend church, pray, and participate in Christian service. [19]
While the written word can be used to build up and encourage, Satan uses it to destroy a Christian’s faith. For example, Samuel Clemens (i.e., Mark Twain) grew up in a religious home and deeply studied the Bible at a young age. After his marriage he and his wife read the Bible and prayed together daily. But just eight years later he told a minister, “I don’t believe a word of your Bible was inspired by God any more than any other book?”[20]
What changed Mark Twain from a devoted believer to a cynic?“Part of it was his revulsion over the God of strict Calvinism who would select some for heaven and others for hell before they were born. But another book on origins was published in 1859 – Charles Darwin’s Origin of the Species. After reading this work Twain’s faith fell victim to the destructive power of the written word.” [21]
Anderson also cites Dan Brown’s book, The Da Vinci Code, which looks at the world of religious history with a goal of trying to show that Christianity diminished the rights of women. Anderson demonstrates how Brown twisted the truth in his attempt to discredit Christianity.[22] I wonder how many of the millions of Brown’s readers have become skeptical, or worse, opposed to the Christian faith because of his written word.
As mentioned above, the shield is not our faith. The phrase, “of faith” (tēs pisteōs), is a subjective genitive in the original language, meaning our faith is directed toward the shield. The shield is the object of our faith. Since the shield is the object of our faith, then what is the shield? When we take up the shield of faith to protect us, what is it we are taking up?
First, we are taking up the omnipresence of God. Throughout the Old Testament, the word “shield” is often used of God. About ten years after Abram had moved his family out of his homeland toward Canaan, the Lord said to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield…” (Gen. 15:1b). God reassured Abram that He would be his shield of protection so no one could thwart God’s promises to Abram of great blessing, his own land, and many descendants (Gen. 12:1-4; cf. 15:5-21).
King David wrote, “For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; with favor You will surround him as with a shield.” (Psa. 5:12). God protected David from every direction with His favor. Again, David writes, “As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.” (Psa. 18:30; cf. 2 Sam. 22:31; Psa. 144:2). Notice how “trust” (faith) is directed toward God Who acts as “a shield” of protection.
In the New Testament during Paul’s second missionary journey, he came to the city of Corinth where he encountered resistance from the Jews when he preached to them that Jesus is the Christ (Acts 18:5-6). No doubt Paul was discouraged and fearful of what might happen to him at Corinth. “9 Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, ‘Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.’” (Acts 18:9-10). The Lord assured Paul that His presence would protect Paul from being hurt. Strengthened by God’s protective presence, Paul ministered in Corinth for another 18 months (Acts 18:11).
Second, we are taking up the substitutionary death and life of the Lord Jesus Christ. The blood of Jesus Christ acts as a shield to us the moment we believe in Christ to save us from the penalty of all our sins. The apostle Paul writes, “9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” (Rom. 5:9-10). Just as we have “been justified” (past tense) “by His blood” and “reconciled” (past tense) “to God through the death of His Son” so “we shall be saved” (future tense) “from wrath through Him… by His life.” We were saved (past tense) from the penalty of sin forever the moment we believed in Jesus’ substitutionary “death” on the cross for our sins (Rom. 5:9a, 10a; cf. Acts 16:31), so Satan cannot successfully oppose us (Rom. 8:31-32), accuse us (Rom. 8:33), or condemn us (Rom. 8:34) in God’s courtroom. But what many Christians do not understand is that we shall be saved (future tense) from the power of sin as we believe in Jesus’ substitutionary “life” (Rom. 5:9b, 10b; cf. Jas. 1:21-22; Gal. 2:20).
Anderson writes, “We gained eternal life as He became our substitute in death, but we shall enjoy an abundant life as He becomes our substitute in life… The hardest thing for a non-Christian to believe in is the substitutionary death of Christ, but the hardest thing for a Christian to believe in is the substitutionary life of Christ. Romans 5:10 is about His substitutionary life. In this ‘swing section’ of Romans the author is turning away from his focus on justification from the penalty of sin to salvation from the power of sin. And being saved in this section is to be delivered from the tyranny of the sin nature in one’s life (the wrath of Rom. 1:18).” [24] [emphasis added]
The apostle Paul also writes, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20). When we come to faith in Christ, we are united with Him spiritually in His death (“I have been crucified with Christ”) and resurrection (cf. Rom. 6:1-11). Therefore, “it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” This is the substitutionary life of Christ which is absolutely necessary for us to live the victorious Christian life (cf. Rom. 5:10). Our identity in Christ is the most important thing about us. [25]“Everything else is secondary. We must die to any identity we have that is independent of Christ.” [26]
But there is a sense in which the believer lives: “… And the life which I now live in the flesh (sarx),” does not refer to the Christian’s sinful “flesh,” but to his physical body. [27] Living a substitutionary life requires “faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20b). In essence Paul affirmed, “If He loved me enough to give Himself for me, then He loves me enough to live out His life in me.”[28]
Hence, just as we put our faith alone in Jesus’ substitutionary death to be justified (declared totally righteous) before God (Rom. 5:8-9a, 10a), so we must now put our faith alone in Christ’s substitutionary life to deliver us from the power of sin in our Christian lives (Rom. 5:9b, 10b; cf. Rom. 6:1-8:39). We can no more save ourselves from the power of sin in our Christian lives than we could save ourselves from the penalty of sin when we were non-Christians.
“Christ died a substitutionary death for us. We all believe that, if we are born again. But what we fail to realize is that Christ wants to live a substitutionary life in us as well. The victorious Christ life is a substitutionary life. We must substitute the Christ-life for the self-life. ’When sin knocks on your door, send Christ to answer.’ When I am obedient to an evil lust, it is usually because I choose to be so. It is because I chose to do it eagerly because I love it so much, or it is because I am trying to battle it with the self-life rather than the Christ-life.” [29][emphasis added]
So, taking up the shield of faith means that when an evil lust comes knocking on our door to tempt us to sin or doubt our Christian faith, we can choose to send Jesus to answer it and send that evil lust or temptation where He wants it to go. We don’t have to try harder or punish ourselves. We simply transfer our trust onto Christ living in us to say “No” to our fleshly lusts.
Third, we are taking up the protective presence of God’s holy angels. Our shield of protection includes the ministry of God’s holy angels to Christians on their journey of faith. “Are they [God’s angels – cf. Heb. 1:13] not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation.” (Heb. 1:14). God sends His holy angels “to minister” to Christians “who will inherit salvation.”
To “inherit salvation” refers to sharing in Christ’s future victory over His enemies as the previous Old Testament quotes established (Heb. 1:5a; Psa. 2:7). The context of Psalm 2:7 contains the idea of Christ’s enemies being defeated (Psa. 2:1-3, 10-12). “Salvation” in Psalms was often used to refer to the deliverance of God’s people from the oppression of their enemies and the resulting enjoyment of God’s blessings (Psa. 3:2, 8; 18:2; 35:3; 37:39; 71:15; 118:14-15, 21; 132:16; et al.). [30] The quote in Hebrews 1:9 from Psalm 45:6-7 refers to Christ’s reign during the Millennial Kingdom with His “companions,” who like King Jesus, “loved righteousness and hated lawlessness” and “endured” affliction until the end of their lives on earth (Heb. 1:9; cf. Heb. 3:1, 14; 12:1-2). [31]
Hebrews 1:13a quotes from Psalm 110:1 which also alludes to the defeat of Christ’s enemies “after the millennium, with all physical and spiritual foes defeated (1 Cor. 15:24-26; Rev. 20:14), the Son will sit beside the Father and rule the new universe forever (Rev. 22:1-5).”[32] For believers to share in Jesus’ victory over His enemies and reign with Him over all the earth in the future, they must persevere by faith in their faithfulness to Christ to the end of their Christians lives on earth (cf. Matt. 25:21b, 23b; Luke 22:28-30; 2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 2:26-27; 3:21). They will need the assistance and protection of God’s holy angels ministering to them on this journey of faith (Heb. 1:14).
“We can draw comfort and confidence that our walk to the kingdom has unseen aides. The visible world is a beautiful but fearful, fallen place while the invisible realm is occupied with those hostile to Christ and His own. Thankfully, God wants to give us to His Son as companions, so He assigns angels to assist us.
“They protect us physically, wrestle enemy spirits who attack us, and it is possible angels may visit and encourage us from time to time. They are our unknown assistants who labor at the King’s word to see that we have needed help to faithfully persevere. We are not alone in our struggles at any time or in any circumstance.” [33] [emphasis added]
An example of God’s angels protecting God’s people is recorded in 2 Kings 6. When surrounded by the great Syrian army, Elisha encouraged his servant not to be afraid because “those who are with” Elisha and his servant “are more than those who are with” the Syrian army (2 Kings 6:16). Then Elisha prayed for the Lord to “open” the eyes of his servant so he could “see” what Elisha knew to be there by faith – the angelic armies of God surrounding and protecting them (2 Kings 6:17a). Then the servant saw that “the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” (2 Kings 6:17b).
John Paton was a missionary in the New Hebrides Islands. One night, hostile natives surrounded the mission station, intent on burning out the Patons and killing them. Paton and his wife prayed during that terror-filled night that God would deliver them. When daylight came, they were amazed to see their attackers leave. A year later, the chief of the tribe was converted to Christ. Remembering what had happened, Paton asked the chief what had kept him from burning down the house and killing them. The chief replied in surprise, ‘Who were all those men with you there?’ Paton knew no men were present – but the chief said he was afraid to attack because he had seen hundreds of big men in shining garments with drawn swords circling the mission station. It was then that Paton realized God sent His angels to protect them. [34]
When we are under intense Satanic attack, it is important to see with the eyes of faith that God is always with us and His angels outnumber our enemies (Psa. 91:11). God has a security system that is far greater than any military or technology today. Let’s look to the Lord to deliver us from all our fears, whether real or imagined (cf. Psalm 34:4, 6-7).
What is faith?
Evans writes with regard to Ephesians 6:16, “What is faith? It’s acting like God’s telling the truth – being obedient to God’s view on a matter. Whatever temptations the devil fires at you, you can overcome him by believing God’s Word and acting on it. Acting in faith is like activating a divine fire extinguisher.”[35]
To understand what faith is, let’s look at a chapter in the book of Hebrews. The book of Hebrews was written to encourage believers to persevere in a life of faith. The readers of Hebrews were tempted to defect from Christianity in the midst of suffering. To counter this discouragement, the writer gives many examples in the Old Testament of people who persevered by faith in the face of great difficulties in Hebrews 11.
To begin this chapter, the author of Hebrews gives us a definition of faith: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1). The word translated “substance” (hupostasis) in this context means “the confidence or assurance that one has in something,” especially in what God has said, and then act accordingly. [36]
The word translated “evidence” (elegchos) refers to a “a conviction about” something.[37]“In light of the examples cited, the author has in mind an assurance about things God has revealed or called a person to do (not things one wishes to happen).”[38]
When we combine these two words, we see that faith is the assurance and conviction of unseen things. Faith brings unseen future things into the present. However, faith can differ in its objects and outcomes. [39]
For example, saving faith is when a non-Christian believes or is persuaded that Jesus gives everlasting life to those who believe in Him (John 3:15-16; 11:25-26; I Tim. 1:16). So, the object of saving faith is Christ and His promise of eternal life, and the outcome is he receives everlasting life in the present and a kingdom entrance in the future (John 3:3-16). So, saving faith determines our entrance into Christ’s future kingdom on earth (John 3:5-18; cf. Matt. 18:3; 21:31-32; Mark 10:15; Luke 18:17; Rev. 20:4-6; et al.).
The first hero of the faith mentioned in Hebrews 11 illustrates saving faith. “Abel” was acknowledged by God to be “righteous” through his faith which offered “a more excellent sacrifice than Cain” (Heb. 11:4). Like Abel, the readers of Hebrews found acceptance before God through the “more excellent sacrifice” of the Lord Jesus Christ (Heb. 9:11-10:18).
Enduring faith is described in Hebrews 11:5ff and it is when believers are persuaded that God “is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6). Therefore, they endure in pursuing God and His future rewards. Such faith pleases God and makes one a companion (“partaker”) of Christ so they will rule with Him in His future kingdom on earth (Heb. 1:8-9; 2:5-8; 3:1, 14; cf. Matt. 25:21b, 23b; Luke 22:28-30; 2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 2:26-27; 3:21). Thus, our enduring faith determines our kingdom experience. [40]
Many examples of enduring faith are given by the author, beginning with “Enoch” who walked with God three hundred years, and thus “pleased” Him, so he was taken to be with God and “did not see death.” (Heb. 11:5; cf. Gen. 5:21-24). By faith, “Noah” saved his “household” from God’s world judgment by building the ark and inherited the cleansed earth after the Flood (“became heir of the righteousness”) which parallels the readers potential inheritance of the “world to come” (Heb. 11:7; cf. Heb. 2:5; Gen. 6:13-9:19). “Abraham,” also became an heir by faith when he ”obeyed” the Lord and went to live like a foreigner “in the land of promise” that would later become his inheritance because he looked forward to the heavenly “city” of the New Jerusalem (Heb. 11:8-10; cf. Gen. 12:1ff; Rev. 21:2, 9-27).
“Sarah” trusted in God’s promise to overcome her barrenness and provide “a child” (Heb. 11:11-12). These Old Testament believers saw the promised rewards from a distance and persevered in life looking for “a heavenly country” of their own, refusing to return to the previous one (Heb. 11:13-15).
The author of Hebrews also alludes to Abraham’s faith which endured the trial of offering up “Isaac,” as he believed God “was able to raise him up … from the dead” (Heb. 11:17-19). By faith, “Isaac” and “Jacob” looked to God to fulfill His promises to Abraham in the future by pronouncing blessings on their descendants (Heb. 11:20-21). By faith, “Joseph” was confident God would deliver “the children of Israel” in the future from Egypt so “his bones” could be buried in the land of promise (Heb. 11:22).
By faith baby “Moses” was “hidden… by his parents” and his life was preserved (Heb. 11:23). By faith “Moses” overcame the enticements of the world looking to his and Israel’s future “reward” (Heb. 11:24-26). He also triumphed over Pharoah’s “wrath” by faith and avoided God’s judgment by faith as he kept “the Passover” (Heb. 11:27-28).
By faith Israel “passed through the Red Sea” on dry land but their enemies drowned trying to do so (Heb. 11:29). By faith “the walls of Jericho fell down” after the Israelites encircled them seven days (Heb. 11:30). By faith “Rahab” the prostitute escaped physical destruction “when she received the spies with peace” (Heb. 11:31).
The writer of Hebrews refers to Old Testament believers during the times of the judges (“Gideon… Barak … Samson… Jephthah”) and kings (“Samuel… David”) whose faith was triumphant during difficult and dark times (Heb. 11:32-35a). Others endured extreme suffering (“tortured… mockings… scourgings… chains… imprisonments… stoned… sawn in two… slain with the sword… destitute… tormented… wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves…” because they were convinced they would “obtain a better resurrection” with special reward (Heb. 11:35b-38).
The writer of Hebrews concludes this chapter by noting that these Old Testament heroes of faith had not yet received the “promise” of their inheritance which was “something better for us” because only then could Christians in this current church age endure their current experiences of becoming “partners” (metachoi) of Christ Who will share those hopes with all of us (Old and New Testament believers) in the future (Heb. 11:39-40).
In relation to Hebrews 11, Evans writes, “To exercise faith is to have confidence about an expectation without visible proof that it will happen. What makes this confidence possible? The trustworthiness of the object of faith. The question we must answer is this: Is God trustworthy? And as I like to say, faith is acting like God is telling the truth. If you want to increase your faith, grow in your understanding of God. Believers of the past trusted Him by faith and won God’s approval (Heb. 11:2). Notice that each of the heroes of the faith mentioned in this chapter acted on what they believed.” [41]
It is important to understand thatthese heroes of the faith in Hebrews 11 were not perfect, but they were persevering. The examples of these Old Testament believers testify (“witnesses” – Heb. 12:1) to us about God’s faithfulness and care as they lived a life of faith. These believers had weaknesses just like you and me, but they kept going in faith.
Remember Noah (Heb. 11:7)? He got drunk and his son saw his nakedness. Noah says to us: “I know how it feels to fail as a parent but keep on going.” What about Abraham? He didn’t know where he was going (Heb. 11:8-10), and his life tells us: “I know what it’s like to be uncertain about where God is taking you but keep going.” And Sarah (Heb. 11:11-12)? She had a physical handicap, and her life says to us: “I know what it feels like to be disadvantaged but keep on going.”Jacob was a liar (Heb. 11:21), and his life says to us: “I know how guilty you sometimes feel after lying to yourself and others but keep on going.” Moses kept making up excuses to avoid going back to Pharaoh (Heb. 11:23-29) and his life says: “I know what’ it’s like to feel inadequate for what God asks you to do – you don’t have the words or the energy but keep going.”Rahab had a problem with her past (Heb. 11:30-31), and her life testifies: “I know what it’s like to have regrets about your past but keep on going.”Samson and David had a problem with lust (Heb. 11:32), and yet their lives tell us to keep going by faith.
How can we prepare our shield of faith for battle?
As mentioned above, before a battle involving flaming arrows being shot at them by their enemies, soldiers poured water on the leather covering of their shields to extinguish flaming arrows.[42] One of the ways we can anoint our faith and keep it from becoming rigid and brittle, is to worship God individually and corporately. Focusing on God’s greatness can renew and strengthen our faith. So, when we are alone, sing (or shout if you can’t sing) out loud to Jesus. As we adore and praise the Lord, the water of the Holy Spirit can pour over us and “quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.”
It is also worth noting that Roman soldiers “could close ranks with these shields, the first row holding theirs edge to edge in front, and the rows behind holding the shields above their heads. In this formation they were practically invulnerable to arrows, rocks, and even spears.”[43] This is a beautiful picture of corporate worship whereby Christians are interlocking their shields of faith to worship God. Through corporate adoration and praise toward our Great God and Savior, the water of the Holy Spirit can pour over us and renew and strengthen our faith in God as our shield.
King David wrote, “He has put a new song in my mouth – praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord.” (Psa. 40:3). New songs to God that reflect the new manifestations of His grace toward us, will increase our “praise” and “many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord.” Being sensitive to the new manifestations of God’s grace to us in our songs to Him as a corporate body (“many”) will increase our “fear” or admiration of Him and lead us to “trust in the Lord” more in our daily lives.
Satan wants to keep us from worshiping the Lord and gathering with other brothers and sisters in Christ because he knows that an isolated believer is much more vulnerable to his attacks. But believers who are vitally connected to the Lord and fellow Christians through worship, will enjoy a renewed and strengthened faith that is eager to trust God for protection, especially when the battle gets intense.
Conclusion
Satan would like nothing more than to “steal… kill… and destroy” (John 10:10a) our faith in God. But God has given us “the shield of faith” (Eph. 6:16) to take up “in the evil day” (Eph. 6:13) to overcome the flaming arrows of the powers of darkness.
I remember the 1996 Olympic games well in Atlanta because of a little American gymnast named Kerri Strug.[44] In the team competition, the United States women’s gymnastics team was in the lead over the Russian team going into the final rotation, with the Russians on the floor exercise and the USA on the vault. Kerri had to get a high enough score to defeat the Russian gymnasts’ scores on the floor exercise. So, all the pressure is on little Kerri to sprint down the runway, push off the springboard, propel herself over the vaulting horse, flip, and land standing up on the mat so she could get a high enough score to win.
So, Kerri takes off running, she hits the springboard and flips over the vaulting horse and comes down wrong, severely injuring her ankle. She falls down in pain and gets a low score. You could hear the hush over the crowd, particularly among the Americans, as it seemed as though all hope of winning a gold medal was now in jeopardy. Kerri began to weep because this whole thing is riding on her.
But she gets one more attempt on the vault. Kerri can hardly walk, let alone run down the runway, push off the springboard, flip over the vaulting horse, and land standing up to get a high enough score to win. She is weeping as she tries to stand up on one leg.
But over in the corner was her famous gymnastic coach, Béla Károly. He looks over at Kerri crying and he shouts at her, “Kerri, look at me! Don’t take your eyes off me. I know you are hurting. I know you are in pain. I know you can’t walk, but you keep your focus on me because I want to tell you that you can do this! I know you don’t think you can do it. I know you are hurting. You can barely walk. But don’t look at your foot, you look at me! Don’t look at your circumstances because if you look down there all you will see is more defeat. Kerri, I want you to keep your eyes on me. Now you go back there, Girl, and do this thing one more time. But when you go back there, your full attention is to be on me!”
Little Kerri limps around to the starting place, casting her eyes over to her coach. She keeps looking at him because she must piggyback on his faith because her circumstances don’t give her the power to piggyback off of her own faith. But in her anguish and pain, she looks down, half running and half limping down the runway to the springboard, where she pushes off and flips over the vaulting horse, and comes down on both feet, and immediately she lifts up her injured ankle so she can stand in place on one leg. The crowd goes crazy, because she landed on two legs even though she could only stand on one.
And the USA’s gymnastic team won the gold medal because little Kerri looked at someone in her corner who said, “Don’t look at your situation. Don’t look at your circumstance. I know you feel it. I know it’s real but keep your eyes on me!”
I believe the author of Hebrews would say to us to keep our eyes on “Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb. 12:2). Christ would say to us, “Don’t look at your situation. You can’t ignore it because it hurts. But if you keep your eyes on Me, even if you have to limp, you are going to land right, and you will be able to stand your ground in the evil day.”
As with the other pieces of armor, we put on the shield of faith through prayer (Eph. 6:18).
Prayer: Father God, what a wonderful joy it is for us to know that You have provided for Your people to overcome the flaming arrows of the powers of darkness by giving us the shield of faith. Eagerly, we take up the shield of faith against all the blazing arrows that Satan fires at us. We know that You are our shield, O Lord. As we rely on Your presence, the substitutionary death and life of Jesus, and Your holy angels to protect us, we can stand our ground when all hell breaks loose against us. Help us to keep our shield of faith renewed and strengthened by worshipping You individually and corporately with other believers. Please grant us the grace to keep looking to Jesus no matter what we face or what we feel on our journey of faith. In the matchless name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary, 2019 Kindle Edition, pg. 2665.
[2] The first three verbs in Greek (perizōsamenoi… endysamenoi… hypodēsamenoi…) are aorist middle participles which means they have already been put on by the soldier or Christian.
[3] Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary, 2019 Kindle Edition, pg. 2665.
[4] The Greek verb translated “taking…” (analabontes) is an aorist active participle, meaning the Christian is taking the shield of faith as needed and the last Greek verb translated “take…” (dexasthe) is an aorist middle imperative which is used of the last two pieces of armor and means for oneself to take them up as needed.
[5] Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 2000 Kindle Edition, pp. 247-248.
[10] The Greek Majority Text has the preposition epi (above) instead of en (in addition, besides)found in the older Greek manuscripts.
[11] Much of this section is adapted from Mark Bubeck’s video message entitled “8. The Shield of Faith: Ephesians 6 Series,” on BRMinistry app, unless otherwise noted.
[12] Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 2000 Kindle Edition, pg. 917.
[14] Archibald Thomas Robertson, A. T. Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament, 2014 Kindle Locations 155026 to 155047.
[15] J. B. Bond, “Ephesians,” The Grace New Testament Commentary: Revised Edition, 2019 Kindle Edition, pg. 1399.
[16] Harold Hoehner, “Ephesians,” The Bible Knowledge Commentary Acts and Epistles, 2018 Kindle Edition, pg. 436.
[17] Tom Constable, Dr. Constable’s Notes on Ephesians, 2024 Edition, pg. 148 cites The NET2 Bible note on 6:18.
[18] Shimer writes, “There is virtually no difference in monthly porn use among non-Christian men (65%) versus Christian men (64%).”See Ted Shimer, The Freedom Fight: The New Drug and the Truths that Set Us Free (Houston: High Bridge Books, 2020), pg. 20 cites Proven Men Porn Survey (conducted by Barna Group), located at https://provenmen.org/2014PornSurvey/
[23] Much of this section is adapted from Mark Bubeck’s video message entitled “8. The Shield of Faith: Ephesians 6 Series,” on the BRMinistry app, unless otherwise noted.
[24] David R. Anderson, Free Grace Soteriology: Third Edition (Grace Theology Press, 2018 Kindle Edition), pg. 358.
[25] Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary, 2019 Kindle Edition, pg. 2602.
[27] Tom Constable, Dr. Constable’s Notes on Galatians, 2024 Edition, pg. 48; cf. Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 2000 Kindle Edition, pg. 915.
[28] Donald Campbell, The Bible Knowledge Commentary Acts and Epistles, 2018 Kindle Edition, pg. 436.
[29] Anderson, Free Grace Soteriology: Third Edition, 2018 Kindle Edition, pp. 279-280.
[30] Zane C. Hodges, The Bible Knowledge Commentary Epistles and Prophecy, 2018 Kindle Locations 220 to 225.
[31] Rick Oglesby, Among the King’s Companions: Position Yourself Today to Be Among Those Who Rule With Christ (Rick Oglesby, 2018 Kindle Edition), pg. 29.
“Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19
This is one of my favorite verses in the book of Isaiah. The promise of 43:19 must have reminded Isaiah’s Jewish readers who were captives in Babylon of the exodus from Egypt, when God saved their forefathers from bondage and led them through the Red Sea and the “wilderness.” But this exodus from Babylon would be even better because it would restore the Jews to their homeland from which they had been expelled because of their sins. “Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” implies that even though the trip from Babylon back to Israel would lead through treacherous territory, God would go ahead of His people and make a way.
The Lord is reassuring us that He will do a “new thing” which shall “spring forth” unexpectedly like a sprout in dry soil. He wants to make a road in “the wilderness” of our wanderings and turn the “desert” of our spiritual dryness into “rivers” of life.
Are we convinced that our past sins are preventing us from moving forward into the new year? Do we feel dried up spiritually and that God has given up on us? Are there obstacles in our lives that seem impossible to overcome? Do not give up. God promises to do something new in our lives! God can make a way where there seems to be no way.
As we begin this new year, let’s remember that “the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.” (Deut. 31:8). None of us will truly be alone in 2024. There is no place we can go in this new year where God is not already there. He “goes before” us. And not only that, “He will be with” us. While that may sound too good to be true, He also promises He will never abandon (“leave”) us nor reject (“forsake”) us. So, we do not need to live in “fear” or discouragement (“dismayed”) because our great and gracious God goes before us, is with us, and guarantees never to abandon or reject us. No matter how inadequate we may feel, God is always more than adequate for anything we may face.
I wonder what may be in our lives that simply cannot co-exist with the new thing that God wants to do? Are we willing to approach God in faith and pray to Him, “Lord, I don’t know what’s going to happen in this new year – but I want to join You in the new thing You are doing!”?
Prayer: Father God, thank You for a new year that is set before us. Please help us open our hearts in faith to the new thing You are wanting to do in our lives. Show us if there is anything in our lives that cannot co-exist with the new thing You are wanting to do in and through us so we can release it to You. Some of us may feel stuck in our Christian lives. We may feel lost wandering through life without any purpose or direction. Others of us may be spiritually dried up and in need of refreshment from Your rivers of life. Please make a way where there seems to be no way. Lord, we are encouraged by Your promise to go before us. There is no place we can go this new year where You are not already there preparing the way for us to go. Thank You for guaranteeing that we will never be alone in this new year because You are with us, and You promise never to abandon us or reject us. Thank You Father for this reassurance which bolsters our faith and diminishes our fears. In the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
The world often evaluates people by their outward appearance. When we become Christians, God wants us to start to look more at the spiritual part of people rather than how they look on the outside. After all, that is how God looks at us. The Bible says, “The Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature…for the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart’”(1 Sam. 16:7).
We are to be more concerned about where people are going to spend eternity. As we grow in the Lord, we start thinking, “I wonder where this person is at spiritually? I wonder if he or she knows Jesus?” Let me ask you, “Do you see yourself as an ambassador for Christ or a customer for Christ? Do your see yourself as a giver or a taker?” God wants every one of us who are believers to give others the best news on planet earth regarding His Son, Jesus Christ.
We meet different kinds of people every day, don’t we? There are boxing, basketball, and volleyball fans. There are little, big, older, younger, middle-aged, married, single, and divorced people. There are educated, illiterate, working, and unemployed people. There are farmers, businessmen, housewives, or househusbands. There are black, brown, and white people – all these many kinds of people in the world.
Some of you can talk computers, internet, Facebook, blogs, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Tik Tok, Skype, Google Chat, etc. Others of you can talk guns, hunting, and fishing. Some of you can talk cars and mechanics. Some can talk agriculture or administration, schools and education, healthcare and insurance, music and sound equipment, fashion or health foods, basketball. You can talk to your friends and peers. Some of you like to talk about the good ole days when you grew up. And on and on and on. I cannot talk intelligently about all those subjects. A couple of them, yes. But not all of them. But many of you can and do. This is why it is so important that you realize that God wants to use you in those people’s lives to help populate heaven.
Every Christ-centered church supports missions. When I speak of missions I am referring to “the sending of authorized believers to people of non-faith or other faiths for the purpose of making disciples of Jesus Christ.”Why does a local church have missions? Let’s look at John 3:16. This is one of the most familiar verses in all the Bible. It has been used by God to lead millions of people to Christ. It has sparked revivals around the world.
This verse falls in the middle of a conversation between Jesus and a religious ruler named Nicodemus (John 3:1-21). Nicodemus thinks the way to heaven is by living a good life. But Jesus confronts him with the truth that he must be born again by believing in Christ alone for eternal life. It is not what you do or don’t do that gets you to heaven, it is what Christ has already done for you on the cross and simply believing or trusting Him alone to get you to heaven. Jesus explains further.
3:16: We are going to break this verse down to look at the individual parts to show WHY EVERYONE NEEDS JOHN 3:16. Jesus tells Nicodemus (and us) that the first reason we need John 3:16 is because GOD LOVED EVERYONE. “For God so loved the world…” The first two words, “For God,” refer to the Creator of the heavens and earth (Gen. 1:1), the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End (Rev. 1:8, 17; 22:13), the Great I Am (Exod. 3:14), the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Exod. 3:6) – “so loved the world.”
No one has ever loved to the degree that God has loved. Look at the extent of His love. He loved “the world.” God did not limit His love to one country, culture or color. His love extends beyond Filipinos to Americans, Africans, Australians, Chinese, Russians, Europeans, and Brazilians.
God loved everyone. Red and yellow, black and white, we are all precious in His sight! No one can love like God loves. His love is unlimited. His love is no respecter or rejecter of persons. He loves black skin as much as white skin, tattooed skin as much as freckled skin, shaven as much as bearded, long hair as much as no hair, poor as much as rich, boxing fans as much as basketball fans, rap music fans as much as ballroom dancing fans.
This first phrase, “For God so loved the world…” has motivated people to leave their families and their homes to share God’s love on the other side of the world. Why? Because God loves everyone. His love cannot be earned. God loves us now, not when we get better. He loves us regardless of what we have done or not done. Do you realize that nothing you do can make God love you any less? He loves us even when we offend Him. God has designed us to be loved by Him. Only His love can meet our deepest needs. Unfortunately, we often look in the wrong places for this love, don’t we? We look for it in our occupation, a paycheck, in athletics, a bottle of booze or a dose of drugs, on a computer or phone, or in a brief romantic relationship. God’s love isn’t found in these things. His love is found in the Person of Jesus Christ.
The second reason why everyone needs John 3:16 is because GOD GAVE HIS ONLY PERFECT SON FOR EVERYONE – “that He gave His only begotten Son.” God’s love gives. It doesn’t take. It gives sacrificially. What did He give? He gave what was most precious to Him – His only begotten Son to die in our place on the cross.
The phrase “only begotten Son” does not mean Jesus had a beginning like a baby that is birthed by his parents, as many false religions teach today. The compound Greek word translated “only begotten” is monogenē, which literally means “one (monos) of a kind (genos).” [1] Jesus Christ is the only One of His kind. He is fully God (John 1:1-3) and fully Man (John 1:14). There has never been anyone like Him nor will there be. This is the message of the gospel of John.
Could you kill your only child to save others? Our love is pale compared to God’s love for us. Somebody might say to you, “I love you. Here’s my house. I’ll give it to you.” But how do you know that person doesn’t own ten homes so that giving up one is no sacrifice? Another person could say to you, “I love you. Here’s a million dollars.” But how do you know he does not have a billion dollars? When God says, “I love you. Here’s My perfect and only Son,” that is love. The greatest proof of His love is that He would allow His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place for our sins (Rom. 5:8; I John 4:9-10).
Did Jesus die for one country, culture or color? No! Did He die only for the elect? No! His death was for “all” nations of the world and “all” people (Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:15; John 1:29; 4:42; I Tim. 2:3-6; I John 2:2). Jesus died for all people groups everywhere. Does that include drug addicts and prostitutes? Yes. Does that include Atheists, Hindus, Muslims, Catholics, and Protestants? Yes.He died for the worst of people and the best of people, and everyone in between. Jesus died for all of them, including you and me!
The third reason everyone needs John 3:16 is because HIS INVITATION IS FOR EVERYONE – “that whoever…” When we hear that God loves the world we may think, “Wow, that’s over 8 billion people according to the United Nations.[2] God may lose sight of me among that many people in the world today.” “Sure,” we say, “God loves the world in general, but what about me? What’s to keep Him from forgetting about me?” This is why God has placed the word “whoever” in this verse. When God looks at the world, He sees individuals, including you and me. Thank God for that word “whoever.” If this verse read, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that when Jeff Ropp believes in Him, he should not perish, but have everlasting life,” I might be inclined to think He was talking about some other Jeff Ropp, because this Jeff Ropp is such a filthy sinner; but “whoever” means this Jeff Ropp and that Jeff Ropp, and all the other Jeff Ropps in the world, and everyone else, whatever his or her name may be. This invitation is for everyone.
When Jesus says “whoever,” does that include Manny Pacquiao, and other professional athletes? What about billionaire Henry Sy and everyone like him? ISIS and all other terrorists? Does Jesus’ invitation include evangelist Billy Graham and other dedicated servants of God? President Marcos or President Biden? Pope Francis? Actress Kris Aquino? Or rock star Marilyn Manson and everyone like him? When Jesus says, “whoever,” does He include Ellen DeGeneres and others like her? What about Adolf Hitler and other leaders who have tortured and killed millions of people? Yes. His invitation is for everyone, including you and me. What is Jesus inviting everyone to do?
This leads to the fourth reason why everyone needs John 3:16: Because EVERYONE NEEDS SUCH SIMPLICITY. Jesus said, “believes in Him.” He is inviting us to believe in Him for everlasting life. Yet, we are notorious for taking something simple and making it confusing. For example, if you ask someone from China for some tea, within five minutes, he will bring you a simple cup of hot tea. But if you ask an American for some tea, he will ask you several questions. Do you want hot tea or cold tea? Sweetened or unsweetened tea? Do you want sugar or Sweet and Low? Do you want one teaspoon or two? Do you want it with lemon or without lemon? A person from China said, “Those Americans are so confusing. They first boil their tea to make it hot, and then they put ice in it to make it cold. Then they put sugar in it to make it sweet, and then they put lemon in it to make it sour.” We take simple things and make them complicated.
But God is an Expert when it comes to keeping things simple. He simply says, “Whoever believes in Him…” This is so simple even children can understand this and believe it.
What does it mean to believe? The word “believe” (pisteuō) means to be “persuaded something is true and therefore worthy of one’s trust.” [3]The moment you are persuaded Jesus was speaking the truth in John 3:16 and is therefore worthy of your trust to give you eternal life – you have eternal life. It is so simple a child can do it, yet, as adults, we have made it difficult.
Jesus says the person “believes” and “have.” You have what you take, correct? Jesus asks us to take the eternal life that He is freely offering to us.
For example, if I were to say to you, “This $100 bill is yours ifyou will take it.” You cannot enjoy that $100 until you take it from my hand. If you take it, you have believed my promise to give it to you. Jesus asks us to take by faith the eternal life that He is freely offering to us. The moment you believe His promise to give everlasting live to all who believe in Him, you “have” everlasting life. Jesus guarantees that you will “not perish” in hell, but “have” everlasting life both now and forever. This is so simple that children often believe it much sooner than adults.
Jesus is saying, “I love you. I died for you and rose from the dead. Will you trust Me to give you the never-ending life I bought for you with My own blood?” This is an invitation to believe in Jesus Christ and Him alone – not ourselves, our good works, or some mystical new age Christ. But to believe in the Jesus of the Bible.
Jesus did not say, “Whoever is a committed Catholic” or a “behaving Baptist.” No, He says, “Whoever believes in Him.” That means, whoever believes or trusts in Christ alone to get them to heaven, “shall not perish” in hell “but have everlasting life” both now and forever!
Jesus is not asking you, “Have you lived a good life?” because the text does not say, “Whoever lives a good life should not perish.” He is not asking, “Have you been baptized with water?” because the text does not say, “Whoever is baptized with water should not perish.” Nor is Christ asking, “Have you turned from your sins?” because He does not say, “Whoever turns from his sins should not perish.” Jesus is not asking, “Have you asked me to be the Leader of your life?” because He does not say, “Whoever asks Me to be the Leader of his life should not perish.” Christ is not asking, “Have you taken the sacraments offered by your church?” because the text does not say, “Whoever takes the sacraments should not perish.” He is not asking, “Have you prayed five times a day facing the east?” because the text does not say, “Whoever prays five times a day facing the east should not perish.” Nor is Jesus asking, “Do believe there is a God?” because the text does not say, “Whoever believes there is a God should not perish.”
Instead, all Jesus is asking is, “DO YOU BELIEVE IN ME?” Because the text says, “Whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” God cannot make it any simpler than that! Every person in the world needs such simplicity!
But someone may say, “But Pastor Jeff, believing in Christ is not enough because even the demons believe in God, and they will not be in heaven because they have not submitted to God or obeyed Him (James 2:19).”It is important to understand the following simple observations about James 2:19:[4]
1. THIS VERSE IS NOT ABOUT SALVATION FROM HELL BECAUSE JESUS DID NOT DIE FOR DEMONS, HE DIED FOR PEOPLE (Rom. 5:8; Heb. 2:16). Therefore, demons are not savable. Demons are unsaved because they willfully rebelled with Lucifer against God (Isa. 14:13-15; Ezek. 28:11-19) and are condemned to everlasting fire in hell prepared for the devil and his demons (Matt. 25:41; cf. Matt. 8:29; Jude 1:6). This is why demons “tremble” when they think about God. Their trembling has nothing to do with lacking insufficient faith. Jesus’ work on the cross did not save demons. His work on the cross destroyed the devil and his power (Heb. 2:14-15). Nowhere in the Bible does God offer demons eternal life because demons are not savable.
2. BELIEF THAT GOD IS ONE IS NOT SAVING. What makes faith saving is the object of faith, not the amount or duration of faith. Demons really do believe there is only one God which is monotheism. But believing that God is one does not get anyone to heaven. Therefore, this verse is not to be used evangelistically. There are many world religions (Islam and Judaism, etc.) that believe God is one, but you will not see them in heaven because they have missed the object of saving faith – believing in Jesus Christ alone, Who died for their sins and rose from the dead, to give them everlasting life (I Cor. 15:1-6; John 3:14-18; 6:47; 14:6 20:31; Acts 4:10-12). What makes saving faith saving, is the object, not some special kind of faith. Not all facts about God are saving. Believing in Christ for eternal life is a saving fact. Believing that God is one is not a saving fact.
3. SINCE THE WORDS OF JAMES 2:19 BELONG TO A SKEPTIC, THEY SHOULD NOT BE USED TO PROVE SUCH AN IMPORTANT THEOLOGICAL POINT. Bing writes, “a quick survey of commentaries shows the difficulty of properly interpreting this verse in the context of James 2:16-20. At question is when James’ words end, and the objector’s words begin and end. If, as some argue, verse 19 is spoken by an objector to James, should it be used to prove a crucial theological point? Also, if it is from such a difficult passage to interpret, should it be used as a primary text to prove or disprove anyone’s salvation? Much clearer passages dismiss works as necessary for obtaining eternal salvation (e.g., Rom. 4:4-5; Eph. 2:8-10; Titus 3:4-5).”[5] Using this verse to redefine the meaning of the word “believe” or to dismiss the use of the word “believe” in gospel presentations misunderstands the author’s intended meaning and leads to misapplication.
The fifth reason everyone needs John 3:16 is because EVERYONE NEEDS TO BE RESCUED. Jesus says that the person who believes in Him, “should not perish.” When we believe in Jesus, He guarantees the greatest rescue. The word “perish,”[6] refers to eternal destruction, ruin, or condemnation in hell or the lake of fire (cf. John 3:18, 36). [7] When Jesus speaks of perishing, He is not talking about physical death or temporary suffering. He is talking about eternal suffering because he is talking about eternal consequences (“perish” vs. “everlasting life”), not temporal ones. All of us are sinners who deserve eternal punishment. When a person refuses to believe in Jesus, he not only misses the joy of being with God forever, but he will be tormented forever along with the devil and his companions: “The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Rev. 20:10).
The Bible is clear, “And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:15). Eternal condemnation in the lake of fire is not based on a person’s behavior, but on whether his or her name is written in “the bookof life.” Those who believe in Jesus Christ alone for His gift of eternal life will be found to have their names written in the book of life permanently (cf. John 3:16, 36; 5:24; et al.). [8] They have been credited with God’s imputed righteousness because of their faith in Jesus, not because of their good works (Rom. 4:5). No one will receive eternal life based on what is written in a book of deeds because everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s perfect standard of righteousness (Rom. 3:23; 6:23). [9] Hence, all nonbelievers, will not have their names written in the book of life because they were never saved by grace through faith alone in Christ alone for His gift of salvation (Ephes. 2:8-9).
Many people don’t believe in hell today, but they need to realize that Jesus spoke about hell more than anyone else in the Bible (cf. Matt. 5:22, 29-30; 10:28; 13:40, 42, 50; 18:8-9; 23:14-15, 33; 25:41, 46; Mark 3:29; 9:43-48; 12:40; Luke 12:5; 16:19-31; 20:47; John 3:15-18; 5:29; 10:28; et al.). For example, Jesus said, “47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire— 48 where ‘Their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’” (Mark 9:47-48). In these two verses, we learn the following from God the Son: [10]
1. JESUS CONSIDERED HELL TO BE A REAL PLACE, NOT A FIGMENT OF ONE’S IMAGINATION. He spoke of the reality of being “cast into hell fire.” Many people today deny the existence of hell, but their claims are contrary to the authoritative teaching of Jesus Christ.
2. HELL IS A PLACE OF AGONIZING SUFFERING, BOTH INWARDLY AND OUTWARDLY. We must remember when nonbelievers are resurrected prior to standing before the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev. 20:5, 11-15), their resurrection bodies will be indestructible which means their agony and suffering will never cease. Just as our earthly bodies are suitable for our current temporal existence on earth, so our resurrection bodies will be suitable for our eternal existence whether it be in heaven (cf. John 5:28-29a; I Cor. 15:35-58; Phil. 3:20-21; I John 3:2-3) or in hell (cf. John 5:28, 29b; Matt. 10:28; Mark 9:43-48; Rev. 20:5, 11-15).
The “worm” signifies the source of the internal pain – like the gnawing of a parasite within one’s body. Imagine being eaten from the inside out forever! The “fire” symbolizes the source of the external suffering, whereby one’s flesh burns forever without any decrease in the excruciating pain. A person’s bodily tissue in hell would be perpetually burning and regenerating to be burned again without any loss of sensitivity to pain (cf. Luke 16:23-25). The agony and torment of such an eternal existence is unimaginable to our finite minds.
3. CHRIST ALSO TEACHES THAT HELL IS ETERNAL. Some teach that nonbelievers are “annihilated” after death, but Jesus says their “worm does not die” and “the fire is not quenched.” The torment of hell, therefore, is never-ending. What makes the good news of Jesus Christ so good is that the bad news of hell is so bad!
The reality of hell is not only based on what Jesus said, but also on what the apostles said about it (James 3:6; 2 Pet. 2:17; Jude 1:13; Rev. 14:9-11; 19:20; 20:10, 14-15; 21:8). In addition, the reality of hell is also based on the reality of sin and death (Rom. 5:12; 6:23). Death is the consequence of humanity’s sin. Physical death is the temporal consequence of sin and eternal death in hell is the eternal consequence of sin.
Those who say that eternal punishment in hell is contrary to the love of God, are defining the love of God on their terms, instead of God’s terms. The fact that God is love is why you and I have the freedom to choose heaven or hell. God has warned us about how He has provided an escape from hell through the death and resurrection of His Son, so you do have a choice. You can choose to believe in Jesus Christ and escape hell (John 3:36a), or you can choose not to believe in Jesus Christ, and go to hell (John 3:36b). The existence of hell does not violate the love of God. It is actually the logical reality based on God’s love. We must also understand that God‘s love is not His only attribute. He is also a God of holiness and justice which demands that sin be punished. But out of love God sent His Son to take our punishment, so that those who believe in Christ will not face that eternal punishment.
Those who deny hell’s existence better be sure they are right because no one can afford to be wrong on this issue. When you believe in Christ, you are rescued from eternal punishment. Everyone needs to be rescued because “all have sinned…” (Rom. 3:23).
A famous story is told of an old man who was walking along the beach at dawn and noticed a young man ahead of him picking up starfish and flinging them into the sea. Catching up with the youth, he asked him what he was doing. The youth replied, “I’m throwing these starfish back into the ocean. They will die from the heat of the morning sun if left up here.”“I understand,” the old man replied, “but there must be thousands of starfish on this beach. You can’t possibly get to all of them. There are simply too many. And don’t you realize this is probably happening on hundreds of beaches all up and down this coast? Can’t you see that you can’t possibly make a difference?” The young man smiled, bent down and picked up yet another starfish, and as he threw it back into the sea, he replied. “Made a difference to that one!”
Some people may say I can’t possibly make much difference in a world of over 8 billion people, since I am only one person. But as long as there is at least one person without Jesus in the world, I must do whatever it takes to reach them with the gospel.
The sixth reason why everyone needs John 3:16 is because EVERYONE NEEDS TO HEAR THIS ETERNAL CONTRAST – “but…” This is the greatest difference. This little word “but” contrasts eternal death and torment with eternal life and enjoyment. Jesus is acknowledging that there is a place of eternal ruin where people will be in agony forever. “But,” He says, “You can have the opposite of death, agony and torment – you can have eternal life.” All people exist forever, the question is where will you live when you die – heaven or hell?
The seventh reason everyone needs Joh 3:16 is because EVERYONE NEEDS THE GREATEST CERTAINTY. Jesus says, “have…” Jesus did not say, “might have” or “may have” or “hope tohave.” He simply says, “have,” which expresses absolute certainty. You can be absolutely sure about possessing what Jesus offers. And in a postmodern world which denies absolute truth, that is refreshing. Let’s realize that the denial of absolute truth has infiltrated churches around the world. There are many people in churches today who are not 100% sure they are going to heaven. Many people in churches today doubt their salvation.
1. THEY’RE DOUBTERS AT HEART. In other words, some people doubt everything. They doubt whether their mates love them or whether their children respect them. They doubt they’ll reach the age of retirement, or that their plane will reach its destination. Such people have issues they must deal with that are far different than eternal salvation.
2. THEY CAN’T POINT TO A SPECIFIC TIME AND PLACE WHEN THEY TRUSTED CHRIST.They know that Christ alone is their only way to heaven, but they don’t remember the exact moment they met their Savior. They wonder, “Could that mean I’m not saved?” They may have been told, “If you don’t know the date you were saved, you’re not saved.” Let me ask you, did Jesus say, “Whoever believes in Him and knows the date they were saved has everlasting life?” No. The real question is, “Whom am I trusting right now to give me eternal life?” Our salvation is established by WHOM we place our trust in, not WHEN we trusted Him.
3. THEY ARE VICTIMS OF TEACHING THAT CONFUSES ENTERING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE WITH LIVING IT. For example, a few years ago I listened to a preacher on the radio say that the book of I John was written to provide tests to see if you are saved. He said to ask yourself, “do I have fellowship with the Father… am I abiding in Him… do I practice sin habitually … do I love other Christians… am I overcoming sin?” If you couldn’t answer “yes” to these questions, then he said you cannot be certain you are saved.
The purpose of I John is NOT to tell you how to become a Christian. Rather, it tells us how to have fellowship or closeness with Christ (I John 1:3-4). The gospel of John tells you how to receive the gift of eternal life, mentioning the word “believe” ninety-nine times (see comments on 1:7b). The book of I John tells us how to get close to the One you have believed in, using the word “abide” (menō) – which means “to remain, stay, dwell, continue”[12] in fellowship with God – twenty-four times in I John (2:6, 10, 14, 17, 19, 24 [3], 27 [2], 28; 3:6, 9, 14, 15, 17 24 [2]; 4:12, 13, 15, 16 [3]. Therefore, closeness to Christ is discussed in I John, not salvation. People who don’t act like a Christian or a disciple may not be a believer. But to use characteristics of a disciple to determine if you’re a Christian isn’t helpful. Some people might live a good moral life without being a Christian. It could be that those people are trusting in their works instead of Christ’s finished work on the cross to get them to heaven.
What, then, should a doubter do? [13]IF YOU DOUBT YOUR SALVATION…
1. ASK YOURSELF, “DO I UNDERSTAND THE SIMPLICITY OF THE GOSPEL? Since Christ made the full payment for my sins when He died on the cross and rose from the dead (John 19:30), God can now forgive me based on what He has done for me, not what I do for Him. His forgiveness isn’t based on anything we have done for Him. As sinners, we must recognize that He alone is the only basis upon which God can receive us.
2. ASK YOURSELF, “HAVE I BELIEVED OR TRUSTED CHRIST ALONE FOR MY SALVATION?” We appropriate Christ’s death on the cross by coming to Him as sinners, recognizing that He made the full payment for sin on our behalf, and “believing.” Jesus promised, “Whoever believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). The word “believe” means to be persuaded that Jesus is speaking the truth and is therefore worthy of our trust (see comments on 1:5). If you are persuaded Jesus is speaking the truth in John 3:16, and are trusting Him alone to give you everlasting life, you are forever God’s child regardless of when or where that occurred.
3. ASK YOURSELF, “AM I TAKING GOD AT HIS WORD?” Once we trust Christ, we must trust His Word. That means accepting God’s promise that, having believed in Christ, we are forever His. If you were to ask me whose son I am, I would say, “I am the son of Allen and Shirley Ropp.” I have proof that would stand up in a court of law – a birth certificate. A piece of paper assures me that I am their son. God has given us a piece of paper – the inspired Word of God, the Bible. It assures us that once we have believed in Christ, we have everlasting life. We are His forever. If you could lose your salvation, then Jesus just lied to us in John 3:16. Our salvation is based upon a promise that cannot be broken. It comes from a God Who cannot lie.
The eighth reason everyone needs John 3:16 is because EVERYONE NEEDS THE GREATEST POSSESSION – “everlasting life.” Eternal life is defined by Jesus, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”(John 17:3). Eternal life is knowing God the Father and Jesus Christ forever. It is not knowing about them; it is knowing them personally. Eternal life begins when you believe in Him… not when you die or after you die. We can enjoy eternal life three hundred sixty-five days a year, seven days per week, and twenty-four hours per day! What could possibly be greater than that?
Some Bible interpreters insist that the present tense of “believes” (pisteuōn) means a person must continue to believe in Christ until the end of life to go to heaven. If at some point in time they stop believing in Christ, they lose eternal life. But this is not supported by the Greek grammar. [14]
For example, Moulton and Turner state, “Thus in Greek, one seldom knows apart from the context whether the present indicativemeans, I walk or I am walking.”[15] Often the present tense has a punctiliar meaning. “For example, Matthew 5:22, 28; 9:2 (‘Your sins are forgiven’); 14:8; 26:63; Mark 2:5; Luke 7:8; 12:44; John 5:24; 9:25; Acts 8:23; 9:34 (‘He heals you,’ not ‘is continually healing you’); 16:18; 26:1).”[16]
“Moulton and Turner call attention to the fact that the personal present articular participle ‘the one who believes’ is often used ‘where we would expect aorist.’”[17]“When used that way, they say ‘Action (time or variety) is irrelevant, and the participle has become a proper name.’” [18]“Wallace illustrates from Matthew, ‘Thus, for example, in Matthew 5:28, ‘everyone who looks at a woman’ with lust in his heart does not mean ‘continually looking’ or ‘habitually looking,’ any more than four verses later ‘everyone who divorces his wife’ means ‘repeatedly divorces!’” [19]
Dillow continues by saying, “Perhaps 1 Thessalonians 1:10, ‘Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come,’ is relevant here. The intent is to describe deliverance from the tribulation wrath. He is not saying that Jesus is the One who continually delivers us from the tribulation wrath. A deliverance once accomplished does not need to be habitually repeated.” [20]
Even if you stop believing in Christ, it does not result in the loss of salvation because that would be contrary to the nature of God’s gift. If everlasting life could be lost, it would no longer be everlasting. The results of believing in Christ are permanent. This is why Jesus said the one who comes to Him or believes in Him “shall never” hunger or thirst for everlasting life (John 6:35). The one who comes to Him in faith “shall be no means be cast out” by Him (John 6:37). Jesus came down to earth to do “the will of Him who sent” Christ (John 6:38). The will of God the Father is “that of all” the believers “He has given” to Jesus, Jesus “should lose nothing” (John 6:39). If any Christian lost his or her salvation, then Jesus would have failed to do His Father’s will. Staying saved is a matter of Jesus doing the Father’s will, not a Christian doing God’s will. The one who believes in Him “shall never perish” nor shall “anyone snatch themout of” His or the Father’s hands (John 10:28-29). Christ guarantees that those who believe in Him “shall never die” (John 11:26). How long is “never”? It is forever. Jesus makes it very clear that the result of believing in Him is permanent. It cannot be undone. If any believer in Jesus Christ ever lost eternal life then Jesus would be a liar.
Dillow illustrates what Jesus is saying in John 3:16: “We might say, ‘Whoever believes that Rockefeller is a philanthropist will receive a million dollars.’ At the point in time a person believes this, he is a millionaire. However, if ten years later, he ceases to believe, he is still in possession of the million dollars. Similarly, if a man has believed in Christ, he is regenerate and in possession of eternal life, even if he ceasesto believe in God in the future.” [21]
The Bible assures us, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.” (2 Tim. 2:13). God remains faithful to His promise of eternal life to all who believe in Jesus, even if they stop believing or become “faithless.” Why? Because God “cannot deny Himself.” Christ is “full of truth” (John 1:14) and is “the truth” (John 14:6) and cannot deny what He has already promised. To do so would make Him a liar. “His promise is independent of our continued faith or of anything we may do or not do.”[22]
When a person believes in Christ for eternal life, God the Holy Spirit places him or her into the body of Christ the Church, via Spirit baptism (Acts 10:43-48; I Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:26-27; Ephes. 1:13-14). Hence, Jesus will never deny or reject His own body (cf. John 6:37). Our placement in the body of Christ is permanent.
Charles Stanley writes: “Faith is simply the way we say yes to God’s free gift of eternal life. Faith and salvation are not one and the same any more than a gift and the hand that receives it are the same. Salvation or justification or adoption- whatever you wish to call it – stands independently of faith. Consequently, God does not require a constant attitude of faith in order to be saved-only an act of faith… You and I are not saved because we have an enduring faith. We are saved because at a moment in time we expressed faith in our enduring Lord.“[23]
Charles Peace was sentenced to die for being a career criminal. On the morning of his execution, a group of prison officials met at Charles’ cell to take him on his final walk to the gallows. Among them was a sleepy prison chaplain whose job it was to prepare the condemned man’s soul for the hereafter. But the chaplain didn’t say a word to Charles. He just yawned and mumbled as he read a religious book.
Charles then tapped him on the shoulder and asked him, “What are you reading?” “The Consolations of Religion” he replied. Charles: “Do you believe what you are reading?” Chaplain: “Well, yes, I guess I do.” Charles stared at the chaplain stunned. Here Charles was going to his death, knowing that his earthly deeds utterly condemned him before the Ultimate Judge, and this chaplain was mouthing words about heaven and hell as if they were a boring chore. Charles said to the chaplain, “Sir, I do not share your faith. But if I did – if I believed what you say you believe – then although England were covered with broken glass from coast to coast, I would crawl the length and breadth of it on hand and knee and think the pain worthwhile just to save a single soul from this eternal hell of which youspeak.” [24]
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begottenSon, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” If we believe this verse is true, what are we willing to do to place it in the hands of those who are perishing without Jesus Christ? Are we willing to do whatever it takes for others to trust in Jesus for eternal life?
Prayer: Father God, thank You for John 3:16. Truly everyone needs this one verse because with great simplicity and power it addresses humanity’s greatest needs. Make me willing to do whatever it takes to get this one verse to those who don’t know You so they can enjoy eternity in Your presence forever. In Jesus’ mighty name, I pray. Amen.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, pg. 658.
[7] Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, pg. 116.
[8] Some interpreters believe Revelation 3:5 teaches that unfaithful believers will have their names erased from the book of life. Since Jesus taught that eternal life can never be lost when we believe in Him (cf. John 5:24; 6:35-40, 47; 10:28-29; 11:25-27; et al.), it best to understand the phrase “I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life” to be a figure of speech called a litotes which is an understatement in which a positive affirmation is expressed by negating the opposite. A litotes cannot be read in reverse. That is, if a Christian does not remain faithful to Christ, this statement by Jesus does not mean they would lose their salvation. Christ is speaking about eternal rewards for the faithful Christian. In essence, Jesus is saying, “If you remain faithful to Me to the end of your life, I will reward you with the opposite of having your name blotted out of the Book of Life. You will be given an honored name that is supremely secure and confessed or honored before God the Father and His angels throughout eternity. See “What does Revelation 3:5 Means?” or “Revelation 3 – Part 1” at www.seeyouinheaven.life for more detailed explanations.
[10] Adapted from Evans, The Tony Evans Study Bible, pp. 1611-1612.
[11] Adapted from R. Larry Moyer, 21 Things God Never Said: Correcting Our Misconceptions About Evangelism (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2004), pp. 79-81.
[12] Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, pp. 630-631.
[14] Dillow, Final Destiny, pg. 390 cites Fred Chay and John P. Correia, The FaithThat Saves: The Nature of Faith in the New Testament (Haysville, NC: Schoettle Publishing Co.), 2008, pp. 45-53.
[15] Ibid., cites James H. Moulton and Nigel Turner, A Grammar of New Testament Greek, Volume 3: Syntax, reprint ed. (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1963), Vol. 3, pg. 60.
[17] Ibid., cites Moulton, A Grammar of New Testament Greek, pg. 150. See especially Mark 5:15-16, ho daimonizomenos, even after his healing.
[18] Ibid., cites Moulton, A Grammar of New Testament Greek, pg. 150 and states in footnote 1332: “See also Philippians 3:6 and Hebrews 7:9. Moulton and Turner cite several examples of this aoristic punctiliar used of the articular present participle: Matthew 26:46; 27:40; Mark 1:4; 6:14, 24; John 1:29 (the sin bearer); 6:63; 8:18; Acts 17:17; Romans 8:34; Ephesians 4:28; Galatians 1:23).”
[19] Ibid., cites Daniel Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996), pg. 616. In footnote 1333, Dillow states, “In spite of Wallace’s recognition that with gnomic present articular participles ‘we would be hard-pressed to make something more out of them – such as a progressive idea,’ he allows his theology to intervene in the case of ho pisteuōn in John (see Wallace, pp. 616, 620-621).”
“41 He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.” John 1:41-42a
God’s plan for reaching the world for Christ is to use each believer in some way to introduce another person to Jesus Christ and then train them to do the same. Jesus cast a huge vision for His followers to pursue, before He ascended to heaven. Look in Mark 16:15: “Go throughout the whole world and preach the gospel to all people.” (GNT)
Can you envision each of us having a part in introducing someone to Jesus? You may not actually share the gospel with them, but you may plant a seed in their lives. You may pray for them, show them kindness, and invite them to church or a small group. Wouldn’t it be exciting to see new faces in your Sunday Schools, small groups, and worship services, because each one of you played a part in inviting someone to come see Jesus? In other words, each one is to reach one. This is how Jesus’ first disciples got started, as we shall see in this chapter.
We are going to discover how each of us can reach another person or persons for Christ. Turn to John 1:35-51. If each one of us is going to reach another person for Christ, we must understand and apply some important principles.
First, we must GROW CLOSER TO CHRIST (1:35-39). There is a transfer of focus in the text from John the Baptist to Jesus. In the verses preceding today’s passage, the apostle John began to present “four consecutive days in simple, chronological order based on his personal observation of the events.”[1] (1:19-51). On the first day John the Baptist stated who he was not and who he was (1:19-23) before identifying Jesus as the One Who possesses superior authority by saying that he himself was unworthy to do even the most menial service for Christ (1:24-28). On the second day, John pointed others to Jesus as the Lamb of God, the Preexistent One, the One Who baptizes with the Holy Spirit, and as the Son of God (1:29-34).
We see the humility of John the Baptist as he directs his own followers to Jesus on the third day. 1:35-36: This is what we call “intimate evangelism”—pointing those closest to you to Jesus. “Again, the next day” (the third of four days), John the Baptist focuses the attention of “two of his disciples” on “Jesus as He walked” by, saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The apostle John informs us that one of these two disciples is “Andrew” (1:40). The other disciple is most likely the apostle John himself whose pattern is to refer to himself indirectly throughout his gospel [2] (cf. 13:23; 18:15-16; 19:26; 20:2-4, 8; 21:20, 23-24).
When the Baptist says, “Behold”[3] he is telling his two disciples to “stop whatever they are paying attention to” [4] and“look with wonder at the amazing Lamb of God!” John is encouraging his followers to transfer their focus onto Jesus now instead of him.
This is reinforced further by the apostle John’s use of Greek verbs and their tenses in 1:35-36. John the Baptist “stood” whereas Jesus “walked.” The verb translated “stood”[5] is in the pluperfect tense which means John was still standing at some point in the past after having previously stood. [6] Whereas the verb translated “walked”[7] is in the present tense and conveys that Jesus “was walking.“
“The action in God’s economy was shifting from John’s baptism to the ministry of Jesus.” [8]
As “the Lamb of God,” Jesus is the only One who can provide free, unlimited forgiveness of sin. Christ is like a calculator. A calculator is not only good for what it can do; but also, for what it can undo. Christ can hit the clear button of redemption and remove all our guilt and stain the moment we believe in Him for complete forgiveness (Acts 10:43; Col. 2:13-14).
My wife shared something with me a while back at lunch that really touched me. You can see her insights in the picture above. The horizontal cross beam reminds us of what Psalm 103:12 says,“As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” The cross of Jesus provides the basis for removing our sins as far as the east is from the west (which is an infinite line), far out of our reach so we cannot retrieve them. The vertical post of the cross points to Micah 7:19 which says, “You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” The cross provides the basis of casting our sins out of our sight into the depths of the sea.To the human mind it is unclear how the Lord clears – but let me tell you – clearly – He can do it! Like John the Baptist, we must point those closest to us to the unlimited forgiveness of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.
1:37: John’s disciples now “follow” or go along with Jesus. Christ does not invite them to follow Him as His disciples here. They “heard” Christ speak and want to learn more from Him so “they followed Jesus.” This means nothing more than they are accompanying the Lord. Christ does not call them to follow Him as His disciples until about a year later (Mark 1:16-18). How do I know this?
When we examine all four gospels, it becomes clear that the disciples whom Jesus called to follow Him in Mark 1:16-18 were already believers. In the Spring of A.D. 26 Peter, John, Philip, and Andrew met Jesus for the first time (John 1:35-51) and believed in Him. When Jesus invited Philip to follow Him (John 1:43), He was asking him to accompany Him to Galilee, not make a discipleship commitment. Philip believed in Christ because of spending time with Him (1:45). Four days after that first encounter, Jesus’ other disciples believed in Him after He turns water into wine (2:1-11). Several days later during the Passover Feast in Jerusalem, Jesus cleanses the temple (2:13-22). During the next several months, Christ instructs these new believers in the fundamental truths of salvation and assurance as He evangelizes Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, and the city of Sychar (John 3-4).
John 4:35 mentions four months until harvest. The harvest takes place in the months of April or May. Four months prior would be January or February. Thus, between the mention of the first Passover (John 2:13) which is in April, and the time mentioned in John 4:35, almost one year has passed. During these months, John the Baptist is evangelizing Judea (John 3:22-36) and baptizing. So, several things have already taken place before we come to Mark 1. Mark 1:14 informs us that John the Baptist is now in prison. In John 1-3, John the Baptist is still ministering publicly. But in Mark 1, he is in prison. So, these disciples have known Jesus for at least a year when Christ approaches them in Mark 1:16. Peter is a believer. He has evangelized the city of Sychar with Christ. But in Mark 1, he is fishing for fish.
1:38a: When Jesus looks over His shoulder and sees these two disciples of John “following” Him, He asks them “What do you seek?”
“These are the first recorded words of Jesus in John’s Gospel. The question is actually profound. The word seek (zeteō) occurs thirty-five times in John’s gospel, referring often to the Judeans who were seeking to arrest and to kill Jesus. With this question Jesus was focusing their attention on their ultimate concern: What is it that you want out of life?”[9]
Christ may be asking us right now, “What do you seek” in life? Love… security… fulfillment… relationships… money… a job… fame… or healing? What is it you are seeking currently? Are you seeking Jesus? Only Jesus can meet our deepest needs. Only Christ can give us the love… acceptance… security and forgiveness that we crave.
1:38b-39: Jesus was Who John’s disciples were seeking. They refer to Christ as “Rabbi,” which John translated as “Teacher.” These two men wanted to know where Jesus was “staying” so they could remain with Him and learn more from Him as they had done with John the Baptist. Christ invites them to “Come and see.” They first had to “come” with Jesus before they could “see” or comprehend where He was staying.This has spiritual significance as well.
“Only by coming to Jesus could they really comprehend what they were seeking spiritually. The same thing holds true today.” [10]
These men were eager to spend time with Christ. John tells us “They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).” (1:39). This is the first of several time notices in John’s gospel (cf. 4:6, 52; 19:14).
“The tenth hour” could refer either to 4 P.M., if John uses the Jewish timekeeping system from sunset to sunset, or to 10 A.M., if he uses the Roman’s reckoning of time from midnight to midnight. [11] Whether the apostle John meant 10 A.M. or 4 P.M., the main thing is he never forgot the hour when he first met Jesus. [12] The time that John and Andrew spent with Christ the rest of that day was very significant. It had eternal implications for them.
How about you? Have you met Jesus? Do you remember the first time you encountered Him? I remember the evening, not the exact hour, that I first met Jesus. It was on Monday, March 12, 1979, when Archie Griffin, a two-time Heisman Trophy winner and professional footbal player, came to our college to speak on the evening of Christian Emphasis Day. After Archie talked about his personal relationship with Christ, God showed me my need for the Savior so I could believe in Jesus for everlasting life.
After the assembly, I drove my parents’ car out into the country and pulled into a cornfield driveway to talk with God. Under the light of a beautiful full moon, while I was listening to a Christian song by Chuck Girard entitled “Lay Your Burden Down,” I received Jesus’ gift of forgiveness and eternal life by believing in Him. I will never forget that first meeting with Jesus that evening. It changed my eternal destiny and for that I am eternally grateful.
The words “staying” and “remained” in John 1:38b-39 come from the Greek word menō which the apostle John uses forty times in his gospel [13] to describe close fellowship with Christ, not one’s conversion. [14]Menō means “to stay, remain, abide, live, dwell.”[15] It literally refers to where one makes his or her home. We need to constantly make our home in Jesus’ presence. Where we make our home is where we spend our time. We must make the effort to reside in the truth of the Bible about Jesus and His love for us.
How at home with Jesus are you? Are you cultivating a closer relationship with Him through prayer, the study of His Word, and hanging out with other Christians? When we spend time with Jesus, as Andrew and John did, our lives will never be the same. When we grow closer to Jesus, His heart for the lost will become ours. We will begin to see those who need to hear the gospel the same way that Jesus does – as someone Jesus loves and longs to save.
GO TO THOSE CLOSEST TO YOU AND TELL THEM ABOUT JESUS (1:40-46). The key to having boldness is spending time with Jesus Christ. As a result of spending part of a day with Christ, Andrew realizes that he must share his good news with his brother, Simon Peter. 1:40: John identifies “Andrew,”[16] the brother of “Simon Peter,” as one of the two disciples of John the Baptist who accompanied Jesus that day. The name “Andrew” means “manly” [17] or “courageous.” [18]It takes courage to bring others to Christ, especially family.
1:41: Can you picture Andrew? “I have to tell Peter my news right now.” What is his news? “We have found the Messiah.” Andrew is the first in John’s gospel to identify Jesus as the promised “Messiah” or “Christ.” Evangelism is not complicated. It is very clear and simple. Andrew already has eternal life because he believed Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah-God. According to I John 5:1, that is all anyone one must do to be saved: “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.”
“To obtain eternal life one must believe that Jesus is the Messiah in the sense that He gives eternal life to those who believe in Him (see the discussion of 11:25-27 and 20:30-31).
“When Jesus came, some, like John the Baptist (cf. 1:31, 33), already were born again since they believed in the Messiah for eternal life, though they did not yet know who He was. This is likely the case with Andrew and the other disciples of John the Baptist as well since John gives no report of Jesus speaking of eternal life to them. Evidently, they believed John’s preaching about the Coming One and believed in Him for eternal life. Whenthey found out that Jesus is that Coming One, they sought to become His disciples.”[19]
The word “believe” in the New Testament means “to consider or be persuaded something is true and therefore worthy of one’s trust.” [20] Because all of us are born as sinners who deserve to die forever separated from God in the lake of fire (Ps. 51:5; Rom. 3:23; 6:23a; Rev. 20:15), we need a Savior to save us. The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead and is alive today to give eternal life to everyone who believes in Him (John 3:16; I Cor. 15:1-6).
The following 3-circle tool was developed by EvanTell, Inc., and is used with their permission. Ask yourself, what am I believing or trusting to get me to God’s heaven?
Starting from the left, some people believe their works will get them to heaven (1st Circle). Some people believe Christ plus their works will get them to heaven (2nd Circle). Others believe Christ alone will get them to heaven (3rd Circle).
Those who believe their works will get them to heaven are saying to God, “Your Son’s death was unnecessary.”For if you can get to heaven trusting your works, Jesus did not need to die on the Cross. Those who believe Christ plus their works will get them to heaven, are saying to God, “Your Son’s death was disappointing,”that is, Jesus paid for some of my sins, but I must pay for the rest. But Jesus did not make a down payment for your sins. He made the full payment for your sins (John 19:30). Those who believe Christ alone will get them to God’s heaven, are saying to God, “Your Son’s death was sufficient.”Jesus paid it all and so all we must do is believe in Him alone to take us to His heaven. It is that simple.
Then what does Andrew do? 1:42a: That says it all. He simply brought his brother Simon to Jesus. That is all Andrew knew to do. Just get him to Jesus. Come and see. He pointed his brother to the One who could change him and satisfy all his needs. The more time we spend with Jesus, the more His heart will become ours. So, the closer we get to the heart of Christ, the closer we get to the people for whom He died.
Jesus’ heart bleeds for the lost. Luke 19:10 explains: “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” The heart of our Lord is a seeking heart. Aren’t you thankful for that? We would still be lost in our sins if Jesus did not seek us out. Look at God’s heart. First Timothy 2:3-4 say, “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Is there any human being God does not want to be saved? No. God created hell for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41), not for people. God desires that all people go to heaven, and He wants to use you and me to introduce people to the Savior Who can get them there. He may use you at work, school, the marketplace, the Mall, or He may use you in your back yard talking across the fence with your neighbor. The key is to open your heart to Him, so He can use you.
Those who live close to Christ capture His heart for the lost. For example, during my engagement to Pat before our wedding, I had no difficulty introducing her to my family, friends, and co-workers. Why? Because I had a personal relationship with her, and I was thrilled to be with her! And I wanted others to meet her because she was so awesome! How much more should this be true of our relationship with Jesus Christ? The church needs some Andrews who will be committed to bringing others to Jesus. We need older and younger Andrews.
Being an Andrew does not involve fancy evangelism methods and memorizing lots of Scripture, so you never make a mistake. Being an Andrew means getting them to Jesus. “Come and see.” Allow Jesus to make the transformation. You just be faithful to bring them to Jesus. We cannot change people, but Jesus can. We cannot make unfaithful spouses quit cheating, but Jesus can. We cannot make alcoholics quit drinking, but Jesus can. We cannot make drug addicts quit using, but Jesus can. We cannot make worriers stop worrying, but Jesus can. We cannot make abusive parents quit violating their children, but Jesus can. Our job is to get them to Jesus. Come and See! Don’t tell them to clean up their lives. Just ask them to come as they are and see Jesus for Who He really is. Then Christ will do the rest. Invite them to church… to Starbucks for coffee or to your own home for a meal where they can hear the clear and simple gospel.
In bringing his brother to meet Jesus, no man did the church a greater service than Andrew! Andrew appears two more times in John’s gospel (6:4-9; 12:20-22); both times he was bringing someone to Jesus. [21]
“A Christian’s testimony ought to accomplish what John the Baptist’s testimony did: pointing people to Jesus so that they want to follow Him. Notice the domino effect in this passage. Having encountered Jesus, Andrew wanted his brother to experience Him too. When you understand Who Jesus is, you’ll want others to know Him.” [22]
1:42b: And indeed, Jesus takes one look at Simon and sees more than a rugged fisherman. He identifies him as “Cephas,”[23] which means “a rock or stone.” “You are now Simon, but you will become Peter.” Jesus saw beyond the impulsive, head-strong, unreliable fisherman. He saw a solid rock. Jesus saw him for what he would become by His grace (even when it takes a while). Eventually God would use Peter to lead three thousand people to Christ through the preaching of one sermon on the day of Pentecost (Ac. 2:14-47).
Jesus’ interaction with Peter teaches us the importance of a new believer receiving a vision of what he or she can become in Christ. During this first stage of discipleship, the Lord gives us a vision of what we can become by His grace working in and through us. We need someone who can look beyond our faults and weaknesses and not only love us but also expect the best from us; someone who will believe in us; someone who will give us another chance; someone who will call us by another name. That Someone is Jesus Christ. Only He has the power to forgive all our sins and turn our weaknesses into strengths. That is what Jesus did with Peter and that is what He wants to do with you and me. Jesus sees the potential in each of us. You may think God cannot use you because of your weaknesses. Look to Christ to do through you what you could never do on your own!
But there is more. 1:43-44: On “the following day” (the fourth of four days beginning in 1:19) after Jesus renamed Peter, Christ “found Philip”[24] on the way “to Galilee” (1:43).The word “found” suggests Jesus was looking for Philip, He did not just happen to cross paths with him. Christ said to Philip, “Follow Me,” which could be translated, “keep on following Me” if Philip already was following Christ or “start following Me” if he was not yet following Christ.[25] When Jesus invited Philip to follow Him (1:43), He was asking him to accompany Him to Galilee, not make a discipleship commitment. Philip believed in Christ either through John the Baptist’s ministry before he met Jesus (cf. Acts 19:4), or as a result of spending time with Christ (1:45).
Some interpeters insist that following Christ is necessary to receive eternal life. I hear many pastors and churches preach this often. But this is contrary to the gospel of John which emphasizes believing in Christ alone as the only condition for eternal life (John 3:15-18, 36; 4:10-14; 5:24; 6:40, 47; 7:37-39; 11:25-27; 20:31; et al.).
Thus, what does Jesus mean when He says, “27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life” (John 10:27-28a)? Does this mean a person who truly believes must follow Christ as an obedient disciple to have eternal life which can never be lost as many preachers teach today?
The context of John 10:27-29 does not support this understanding. Jesus is using the word “follow” as a figure of speech referring to belief. Just as Jesus’ reference to sheep, is a figure of speech, so His reference to following Him is the same. Christ was not talking about literal sheep which physically follow a literal shepherd in this verse. Instead, He was illustrating salvation by picturing Himself as the Good Shepherd and believers as His sheep (cf. John 10:1-27).
In the context, Jesus addresses the unbelief of His Jewish audience, who questioned if He was the promised Messiah (John 10:24). Jesus replied to them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.”(John 10:25-26). People who are not of His sheep do not believe. What then do His sheep do? They believe He is the Christ – the One Who gives eternal life to those who believe in Him. They hear His voice and respond in faith like sheep follow a shepherd (cf. John 10:4-5). They trust Him. So, in this context the unbelief of His Jewish audience (John 10:25-26) is set in contrast to His sheep following or believing in Him (John 10:27).
Bob Wilkins writes that “the picture of sheep hearing their shepherd’s voice and following him is a picture of childlike faith. In his book, The Gospel Under Siege, Zane Hodges says concerning that illustration, ‘That is to say, they [the sheep] commit their safety and well-being to the Shepherd who has summoned them to do so‘ (pg. 44). He goes on to say that this is clearly an act of faith, not discipleship.
“Hodges points out two other points which further prove that the figure refers to faith in Christ: the sequence of the coordinate clauses and the analogy of John 5:24.
“The verses in question have five clauses joined by the word ‘and.’ Adefinite progression is evident. The sequence of the clauses shows that ‘following Him’ is the condition—not the consequence—of eternal life. Jesus did not say, ‘I give them eternal life and they follow Me.’ Instead, He said, ‘They follow Me and I give them eternal life.’ Since faith in Christ is the sole condition of salvation in Scripture and in John’s Gospel, ‘following Him’ must be a figure for faith in Christ.
“In addition, John 5:24 is parallel to John 10:27-28. Both refer to hearing, believing, the giving of eternal life, the guarantee against eternal judgment, and the promise of the permanence of the relationship. The only difference between the two verses is that in John 10:27 believing is expressed by means of the figure of sheep following a shepherd.”[26]
Throughout the gospel of John, figures of speech are used to illustrate saving faith such as receiving (1:12; 5:43; 13:20), looking (3:14-15), asking (4:10), drinking (4:14; 7:37), hearing (5:24; 10:16, 27), coming (5:40; 6:35, 37, 44, 65; 7:37), eating bread (6:50, 51, 53, 54, 56, 58), entering (10:9), and following (10:27).
Christian author Charlie Bing writes: “These pictures of faith all denote receptivity, agreement, or trust. All are essentially simple activities and essentially passive. None communicates the idea of merit, work, effort, or achievement. Neither do they communicate an exchange of one’s life or the ongoing submission of one’s life to Jesus as Master in order to obtain eternal life.”[27]
The gospel of John distinguishes the freeness of salvation (John 4:10-14; 8:30-31a) from the costliness of discipleship (John 8:31-32). The only condition for everlasting life is belief in Jesus Christ alone for His free gift (John 3:14-18, 36; 4:10-14; 5:24; 6:40, 47; 7:37-39; 11:25-27; 20:31), but there are many conditions for discipleship including following Christ (John 8:12; 12:24-26; 21:19-22), abiding in Jesus’ word (John 8:31-32), loving one another (John 13:34-35), and bearing fruit (John 15:1-8). Those who insist that following Christ is a condition for receiving eternal life, fail to make this important distinction between conditions for salvation and conditions for discipleship. This has caused much harm to the unsaved because it distorts the gospel message making it more difficult for them to believe in Christ alone, and it also has caused the church to be less effective in evangelism.
The apostle John informs us that Philip was from the same city of “Bethsaida” as “Andrew and Peter” (1:44). This may explain why Jesus was looking for Philip. Andrew and Peter may have been acquaintances, if not friends, with Philip, and had something to do with Christ calling Philip. [28]
“Philip’s hometown of Bethsaida was on the northeast side of the Sea of Galilee (called ‘Bethsaida in Galilee’ in 12:21). Also, Andrew and Peter were born there. Politically, Bethsaida was in lower Gaulonitis in the territory of Herod Philip (Josephus The Antiquities of the Jews 18.2.1). Philip’s name is Greek, but his nationality cannot be inferred from that fact.”[29]
What Jesus did with Philip, Philip now does with Nathanael. 1:45a: As Jesus “found” Philip,so Philip “found” Nathanael. “Nathanael” means “God has Given” or “Given of God.”[30]
“The disciple learns from his Teacher, and spiritual multiplication occurs.”[31]
1:45b: Philip informs Nathanael, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote.” This was an indirect way of telling Nathanael they had found the promised Messiah; the One Moses wrote about “in the law” (Gen. 3:15; 22:8; 28:12; 49:10; Num. 21:9; 24:17; Deut. 18:15-19; et al.) and “the prophets” also “wrote” “about (Isa. 7:14; 9:6-7; 52:13-53:12; Dan. 7:13; Mic. 5:2; Zech. 9:9; et al.). [32]
Philip identifies Christ as “Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”“This is one of only three references to Joseph other than the birth and infancy accounts (see John 6:42 and Luke 4:22). By saying this it appears that Philip was unaware that Jesus was born of a virgin or that He was born in Bethlehem.” [33]
Christ had such an impact on Philip, that Philip wasted no time in telling Nathanael about Him. When we spend time with Jesus, it does not take long for us to start witnessing to others.
Nathanael is a little more skeptical than the other men who came to Jesus (cf. 1:37-44). He does not respond in immediate faith. 1:46a: Nathanael was somewhat shocked by Philip’s mention of “Nazareth.” He had difficulty believing that the Messiah would come from such an insignificant and relatively unknown place as Nazareth. But Nathanael’s question, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” suggests that insignificance was not the only problem.
“There was something unclean about the place. That was due to its geographical proximity to Sepphoris, the Roman capital of Galilee. Sepphoris was located just four miles north of Nazareth. When the Roman rulers of this region needed workmen, they drew from the laborers of Nazareth. Some of the citizens of Nazareth exploited this opportunity for personal gain. And so the people of Nazareth were disdained by my many Jews. It was an insignificant place with a quesitonable reputation.” [34]
“Recent archaeological discoveries suggest the town housed a garrison of Roman soldiers, and where you find a town full of bored soldiers, you find a nesting ground for vice and immorality. In addition, many Jews believed that contact with Gentiles rendered them ritually unclean.” [35]
The truth is the best thing in all the world came out of Nazareth[36] and Nathanael was about to discover this firsthand.
So, what does Philip do? Does he give up or start to argue with Nathanael? No. 1:46b: He does the only thing he knows to do. He says, “Come and see” for yourself. I don’t have all the answers but come and meet Jesus. Then you’ll see what I’m talking about.
GIVE THEM JESUS SO HE CAN BRING THEM TO HIMSELF (1:47-51).1:47: As Nathanael approaches, Jesus makes a statement that reflects His supernatural insight into the character of the man: “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!”
“Nathanael was the opposite of the original Israel, namely, Jacob, who was very deceitful (Gen. 27:35-36; 28:12; cf. John 1:51). Therefore, Jesus virtually said that Nathanael was an Israelite in whom there was no Jacob.“[37]
Jesus is saying, “I know you Nathanael for who you are, and you are a man of integrity.” 1:48a: Nathanael is surprised that Jesus would say this, so he says to Him, “How do You know me?”Nathanael is stunned because he has never met Jesus before so how could Christ know anything about him?
Christ shows in His response to Nathanael that His knowledge of his character was of supernatural origin. [38]1:48b: I have never really made a connection until today between Philip’s invitation to Nathanael, “Come and see” (1:46b), and Jesus’ words to Nathanael, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Before Nathanael sees Jesus, Jesus “saw” him.
Christ sees us even when we cannot see Him. We may feel or think that Jesus does not see us. You may say to yourself, “There are billions of people in the world today, how could Jesus possibly see me among all these people?” The Bible assures us that God does see us.
Christ “saw” Nathanael’s heart as well as his presence under the fig tree. Perhaps Nathanael was praying or reading the Bible under that fig tree. Jesus is saying, “Nathanael, I know who you are. I know everything there is to know about you. I know what you think and where you go and what you do. And Iwant to havea relationship with you.”
If you can identify with Nathanael’s skepticism, please know that Jesus loves you and He sees where you are. He will also meet you where you are at. He will provide answers to your questions if you are willing to listen. He may come to you in unexpected ways such as through a dream or a vision. He knows everything about you – your likes and dislikes, your sorrows and your joys, your thoughts, actions, and words. He knows the hidden wounds of your heart. He knows the dark secrets in the depths of your soul and He still loves you and He longs to be in a personal relationship with you.
How does Nathanael respond to the fact that Jesus saw him before they even met? 1:49: Christ’s supernatural knowledge of Nathanael moves the former skeptic to confess to Jesus, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You arethe King of Israel!” Nathanael concludes, “Only the Son of God could know this about me. You must be Him!” For Nathanael to believe that Jesus is the Son of God resulted in him having eternal life. John 20:31 says, “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” When as an Israelite, Nathanael says Christ is “the King of Israel!” he is acknowledging Jesus to be his own King. This former skeptic is celebrating the discovery of the long-awaited Messianic King.
All of us have a fundamental need to be seen, especially when we are hurting or lonely. Jesus not only tells us that He sees us. He wants to show us that He sees us. He sees our fears, our pain, and our stress. He also sees this world that is perishing without Him. When you experience that Jesus sees you, like Nathanael did, many of you will respond in faith to Jesus because you realize He is much more than a mere man. He is the God Who sees us.
This is the conclusion of a pregnant woman named Hagar after God met her in a place of despair and told her that the child in her womb would be a son called Ishmael because God heard her affliction (Gen. 16:11). So, Hagar called the name of the Lord, “You-Are-The-God-Who-Sees,” for she said, “Have I also hereseen Him Who sees me?” (Gen. 16:13). God sees you and He wants to show you that He sees you.
1:50: Christ makes an important promise to Nathanael and the other disciples (the “you” in this verse is plural) that is set off by the phrase (“Most assuredly, I say to you…”)that is used nowhere else in the New Testament. But John uses this phrase twenty-five times in his gospel [39] to call attention to important affirmations. [40]
Jesus says to Nathanael, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” “Nathanael is the first person in John’s Gospel who is specifically said to believe in Jesus, although John indirectly shows that John the Baptist, Andrew, Peter, Philip, and the unnamed disciple believed too.” [41]Jesus is affirming that when we believe what God reveals to us, He will give us an even “greater” experience of Himself. [42] In other words, Nathanael had not seen anything yet. Christ’s demonstration of His supernatural knowledge was small compared to what Nathanael would see in the future. [43]
Not only did Jesus know about Nathanael’s character (1:47) and where he was when Philip found him (1:48), but He also knew what Nathanael had been thinking about under the fig tree.
1:51: Jesus uses the imagery of Jacob’s dream at Bethel when he saw “the angels of God ascending and descending” on a ladder (Gen. 28:12) to describe the “greater” (1:50) revelation that Nathanael and his fellow disciples [44] (and John’s readers) would receive concerning Christ.
“This Old Testament account is what Nathanael had been thinking about under the fig tree. How do I know? Because not only did Jesus make explicit reference to this story, but He also told Nathanael that he was ‘an Israelite in whom there is no deceit’ (1:47). Being a deceiver was exactly what Jacob was known for (see Gen 27:1-36). So, by these two comments, Jesus was making Nathanael aware that He knew what he was thinking.” [45]
“From 1:47-48, 51 it can be inferred that Nathanael was meditating on Jacob’s life, particularly on the incident recorded in Genesis 28:12. Jacob saw the angels going up and down a ladder. But Nathanael would see . . . the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. Just as Jacob saw angels from heaven communicating with earth, so Nathanael (and the others; though you is singular in John 1:50, the you in v. 51 is plural) would see Jesus as the divine Communication from heaven to earth. The Son of Man, replacing the ladder, is God’s link with earth (cf. Dan. 7:13; Matt. 26:64). Perhaps Jesus was also indicating that He is the new ‘Bethel,’ God’s dwelling place (Gen. 28:17; John 1:14).
“As the Son of Man, Jesus left heaven to come to the earth. Jesusused the term ‘Son of Man’ of Himself more than 80 times. It speaks of His humanity and suffering and His work as ‘the ideal Man.’” [46]
Christ replaces the imagery of a ladder in Jacob’s dream with “the Son of Man,” a reference to Himself (1:51; cf. John 3:13-14; 5:27; 6:27, 53, 62; 8:28; 12:23, 34; 13:31). Instead of the angels of God ascending and descending on a ladder, Jesus says they are “ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” Jesus Christ is the Ladder or Mediator between heaven and earth, between God and man (John 3:13; I Tim. 2:5). Christ grants access to eternity. As He would tell His disciples later in John’s gospel, “Noone comes to the Father except through Me” (14:6). [47]
Throughout the remainder of John’s gospel, Nathanael, and the other disciples along with John’s readers, would receive evidence that Jesus was the sole Mediator between God and humanity.[48] Because Christ is fully God and fully man (John 1:1, 14), He is the only One Who could provide a bridge between heaven and earth.
“God had revealed Himself to Israel—the man and the nation—in a dream at Bethel previously (Gen. 28:10-22). Now God would reveal Himself to a true Israelite, Nathanael, to all Israel, and to the whole world, directly through Jesus.” [49]
Daniel’s “Son of Man” is the prophesied King of Israel Who will rule over the whole world in the earth’s final kingdom (Dan. 7:13-14). Hence, Nathanael’s reference to Jesus as “the King of Israel” (1:49) is also part of the imagery in 1:51. [50]
In addition, the “greater things” Jesus would reveal to Nathanael and the other disciples (1:50) would also involve Jesus’ Second Coming to earth as “the King of Israel” (1:49). Christ had already shown His supernatural knowledge to Nathanael (1:48b), but when He comes the second time, He will show His supernatural power (1:51). When Christ comes back as King, the Bible says, “6 Let all the angels of God worship Him. 7 And of the angels He says: ‘Who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire.’ “ (Hebrews 1:6-7). When Christ returns to earth at the end of the Tribulation (Rev. 19:11-21), He will establish His Millennial Kingdom on earth (Rev. 21:1-6) where angels will worship and assist Him as the universal King.
No matter how skeptical a person may be about Christianity, just introduce them to Jesus and let Him do the rest. You and I cannot change people, but we can introduce them to the One who can. Jesus takes Simon and makes him Peter. He takes the condemned and makes her forgiven. Jesus takes the skeptic and makes him a believer. He takes the sinner and makes her a saint. Jesus takes the drunkard and makes him sober. Christ takes the prostitute and makes her pure. Jesus takes the worrier and gives him peace. He takes the spiritually blind and makes her see. Jesus takes the dirty and makes him clean. Jesus changes lives.
In April of 2014, our entire family moved from Iowa in the USA to the Philippines where God called us to multiply disciples until all hear His gospel of grace! I believed the Philippines was and still is a strategic nation for reaching other nations with the gospel. Why? Because each year nearly one million Filipinos go overseas (OFWs – Overseas Filipino Workers) to get temporary or permanent jobs to send money back home to their families. Our strategy was to reach these Filipinos with the gospel and disciple them before they left to work overseas! Then they could make disciples in other nations! We cast this vision among Filipino pastors and churches and equipped them to reach Filipinos in their area whom God could use mightily in another nation for Christ!? God wants to use ordinary people like you and me all around the world to introduce people to Jesus.
Each one reach one evangelism. It is very simple. Let me summarize:
Recognize a person God wants you to reach and then pray for them (Who should come?) Pray for God to soften their heart and give you opportunities to share with them (think about them right now).
Refer a person (Who should they come and see? It’s all about Jesus). Point them to Him.
Remember our purpose (why should they come and see?) Because only Jesus can get them to heaven and only Jesus changes lives.
We need some Andrews and Philips who will determine by God’s grace, to bring one person or more to Jesus. Can you imagine how Andrew felt seeing his brother, Simon Peter, come to Christ? Can you imagine how he felt when Peter preached at Pentecost and three thousand people were saved (Ac. 2:14-47)? Andrew compels us to remember that God uses ordinary people to bring others to Christ. God may use you to introduce the next Simon Peter to Christ who will have a huge impact for the cause of Christ. The gospel is usually advanced one person at a time reaching one person at a time.
I think back about my mission trip to the southern Philippines on Sarangani Island in October 2015 with my friend, Pastor Boy. On one morning after preaching the gospel at an elementary school, I asked one of the teachers if there were any other schools nearby. He hesitated and then said, “Yes there is another school about a 40-minute hike from here, but you don’t want to go there.” “Really?” I said, “Why is that?” He said, “Because it is all Muslim, and it is not safe for Christians to go there.” For the next two hours, several Christians tried to persuade us not to go to this school, but I kept asking them if they had gone there and they had not. So, I said, “Who will go if we don’t go to them?”They had no answer. At this juncture, we had a choice to make – do we seek to please these well-intentioned believers who do not want us to go, or do we seek to please our Father in heaven who desires that all people be saved?
Eventually my translator and a local Christian tribal leader made the 40-minute hike with me through the mountainous jungle towards the Muslim village. With each step I anticipated what the Lord would do when we got there. What are You going to do when we arrive at this village, Lord? How are You going to protect us? How will these people respond?
When we arrived at the Muslim village we were warmly welcomed by the teachers and Muslim principal (see photo). One of the teachers said they expected us. “Why?” I asked. She explained that she saw our pictures on Facebook when we were on Balut Island across from Sarangani Island at a school. God used Facebook to prepare this village for our arrival. As we shared the gospel with the students and teachers, they were very attentive to the message. All one-hundred twenty students and teachers indicated they trusted in Jesus alone for His gift of salvation at the end of the gospel presentation.
Afterward we had a concert, with individual students praising our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. I got goose bumps listening to these newly saved children fill the jungle with songs of praise to their Savior!
Before we came to this village, the teachers and students may have felt that God does not see them. But when God brought us to them and enabled us to share the good news of Jesus Christ with them, they felt seen by God just as Nathanael did. And the most natural response for them was to receive Jesus by believing He is the Son of God (John 20:31), which is something that Islam vehemently denies. [51] But when people in darkness experience the God Who see them, religious barriers suddenly fade away so they can believe in Christ for everlasting life.
As these children in the jungle sang praises to the Lord Jesus, I thought to myself, this is why we are in the Philippines. If we don’t go to these unreached villagers, who will go? Had we sought to please people we would not have gone to that village. But because our aim was to seek the approval of our Father in heaven, we went to the village that God had already prepared to hear and believe the gospel.
What about you? Are you willing to go to people with the gospel that no one else wants to go to? Are you willing to go to lost individuals regardless of the costs because each person is precious and valuable to the Lord Jesus Christ? If not, ask the Lord to make you willing. Then ask Him to show you whom He wants you to share the gospel with this week. Write down their names and begin asking the Lord to prepare their hearts to hear and believe the gospel (John 16:7-11). Pray also for God to give you opportunities to share Jesus with them (Col. 4:3) this week before it is too late for them. And as you go to share with them, ask God to give you protection (2 Thess. 3:2-3), boldness (Acts. 4:29, 31), and clarity as you declare His gospel message (Col. 4:4) so His Word will spread swiftly throughout the area (2 Thess. 3:1).
Remember: The gospel is usually advanced one person at a time, reaching one person at a time.
Swindoll presents the four following different approaches to evangelism based on the different ways the first five disciples were “found” (John 1:41, 43, 45) and came to faith in Christ. [52]
1. MASS EVANGELISM (1:35-39). This approach involves one gifted person, in this case, John the Baptist, who proclaims the gospel message to audiences who have not received the gift of eternal life. The Baptist pointed people to Jesus as the Lamb of God (1:36) and invited them to believe in Him (John 1:7; 3:36; cf. Acts 19:4).
2. PERSONAL EVANGELISM (John 1:40-42). Personal evangelism takes place when a person shares the good news of Jesus Christ with a friend or loved one. This is exemplied by Andrew sharing with his brother Simon Peter. It is perhaps the most common and effective means by which people come to know the Lord, because they hear the gospel from someone they already know and trust.
3. CONTACT EVANGELISM (John 1:43-44). Contact evangelism, like personal evangelism, takes place when one individual shares the gospel with another, only in this case, the two may not have established a rapport. We have no record of contact between the two men before Jesus “found” Philip (John 1:43). It is likely that Andrew and Peter could have been acquaintances with Philip and spoke about him to Jesus. Upon Philip’s believing, Jesus called him to follow as a disciple. I wholeheartedly believe in “divine appointments” in which a person’s heart is prepared and the Lord places a willing messenger in his or her path. Contact evangelism doesn’t seek to convince another to believe; contact evangelism merely assists a willing heart to receive the gift of eternal life. However, belief may not occur right away. Many people who became Christians later in life admit to hearing the gospel several times before believing.
4. WORD EVANGELISM (John 1:45-51). The power of God’s Word dare not be underestimated. Nathanael’s conversion was preceded by his reading of Scripture about Jacob’s dream at Bethel involving angels of God ascending and descending upon a ladder (Gen. 28:10-22). Many people have come to know the Lord merely from reading Scripture, recognizing their need, and believing in Christ to give them eternal life while they were all alone, even before setting foot in a church. In 1898, two traveling businessmen recognized the power of the Bible to penetrate the hearts of nonbelievers and then founded an organization that is best known for its effective use of Word evangelism. We know them as The Gideons International. Their ministry of placing Bibles in hotels, hospitals, and schools has been the means of many people trusting Jesus Christ and becoming His disciples.
Prayer: Precious heavenly Father, thank You for entrusting us with Your gospel message to take to the entire world. Help us to grow closer to the Lord Jesus so His heart for the lost will capture ours in such a way that we will go to those closest to us and share Christ’s gospel message with them. Even though we may think we do not have what it takes to share Christ with others, especially our families, all You ask is that we tell them the truth about Jesus and He will do the rest. Some of us may identify with Nathanael’s skepticism, and we need to know that You see us and will meet us where we are at. Even though You know everything about us – the good and the bad – You still love us and want to be in a forever relationship with us. Show us our next step in knowing You better. In Jesus matchless name, we pray. Amen.
[6] Retrieved on June 14, 2023, from article entitled “Lesson 3 Overview of the Tenses, Perfect Active, Pluperfect Active, οἶδα & ᾔδειν, Condition Contrary to Fact” at https://ntgreek.net/lesson23.htm
[14] Some interpreters equate believing in Christ with remaining or abiding in Him. The apostle John equates abiding in Christ to keeping His commandments (I John 3:24a). If abiding is the same as believing, then believing is keeping God’s commandments. This would result in a works-salvation that is contrary to the purpose of John’s gospel which is to persuade his non-Christian readers to “believe [not abide] that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing [not abiding] you may have life in His name.” (John 20:31). For a more in-depth discussion on this topic see Joseph Dillow, Final Destiny, pp. 616- 619.
[15] Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, pp. 630-631.
[51] See Sura 4:171 (pg. 96); Sura 5:19, 75-76 (pp. 100-101, 109); Sura 9:30-31 (pg. 183); Sura 17:111 (pg. 295); Sura 23:91 (pg. 364); Sura 25:2 (pg. 378) in The Qur’an, English Translation by Abdullah Yusuf Ali (Goodword Books, Kindle
Edition).
[52] Adapted from Swindoll, Insights on John, pp. 51-53.
“27 Make me understand the way of Your precepts; so shall I meditate on Your wonderful works. 28 My soul melts from heaviness; strengthen me according to Your word. 29 Remove from me the way of lying, and grant me Your law graciously.” Psalm 119:27-29
The Lord has been teaching me a lot about shame the past few years. Having grown up with shame-based lies in America and having served as a missionary in a shame-based country for several years, this issue of shame has weighed heavily on my soul. In this devotion I will address shame in a Christian’s life.
It is important to understand that shame is not from God. When God made the first man and woman, they were naked and unashamed before the Lord and one another (Gen. 2:25). Even after Adam and Eve sinned, God did not come to condemn them with shame, He came to cover their sin and shame (Gen. 3:9-21). For example, when Adam told God, “I was afraid because I was naked” (3:10). God replied, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat” (3:11)? God never told Adam and Eve they were naked. This was the natural consequence of their sin. Satan also reveals our shame to us when we sin (true shame) or don’t sin (false shame). His accusations against believers produce shame in their lives. The Devil uses shame to isolate Christians from God and one another. Like a roaring lion who focuses on those who are isolated and weak, Satan focuses on believers who are alone and weak (cf. I Peter 5:8).
Guilt says, “You did something wrong.”Shame says, “You are wrong.” Satan uses shame to condemn us and keep us from drawing near to God and one another.
In my devotions this morning, the Lord led me to revisit some verses I wrote about 3.5 years ago to help me overcome my battle with shame. The Psalmist writes, “Make me understand the way of Your precepts; so shall I meditate on Your wonderful works” (119:27). We need God to help us “understand” or discern the pattern (“way”) of His commands (“precepts”). Take time to invite God to help you understand how to apply His Word to your deep struggle with shame. The Lord wants us to focus (“meditate”) on the “wonderful works” He is doing deep inside of us rather than on our sin and shame. Shame tends to focus on behavior and external reformation. God’s grace and truth focus on the heart and inward transformation. Before God can change our behavior, He must change our hearts (cf. Mark 7:14-23).
As God leads me to deal more deeply with my shame, I discover that my “soul melts from heaviness” (119:28a). The word “melts” (dalaph) means “to drip or leak because cracks are not mended.” The idea is that our soul is broken and unable to retain what God gives us. Shame keeps us from believing the truth about God’s love and acceptance of us. As a result, our soul is broken and weighed down with the “heaviness” of sadness and shame. And a cycle of shame develops whereby we mess up, confess our sins, and then try harder, only to repeat the same sin because we continue to believe the shame-based lies that fuel our shame. And we stay bound to this cycle of shame. We cannot break this shame cycle until we deal with the wounds that the shame-based lies are attached to. It takes God’s Spirit to heal these wounds to our souls.
Few things are more unbearable than the heaviness of shame. It is a burden that God never intended for people to bear. Yet Satan will use shame to keep us from becoming the people God intended us to be. What is God’s remedy for this weight of shame in a Christian’s life?
“Strengthen me according to Your word” (119:28b). We do not have the strength to overcome this weight of shame on our own. Only God has the power necessary to win this battle. The word “strengthen” (qum) means “to arise or stand up.” In the context, this refers to God giving us the ability to arise from the depths of our sadness and shame by means of His “word.” The strength we need to overcome shame comes from the truth of God’s Word. If we do not make our home in God’s Word (cf. John 8:31-32), we will not win this battle with shame. No amount of determination, willpower, or “trying harder” will overcome the weight of shame. We must invite God’s Word to do that for us. How?
“Remove from me the way of lying, and grant me Your law graciously” (119:29). Shame is based on lies the enemy has attached to past wounds in our lives. Lies that say:
• “I am bad or unworthy.”
• “No one could love me as I am.”
• “I cannot depend on others to help me.”
• “I am defined by my sin and shame.”
We must ask the Lord to expose and remove the pattern (“way”) of lies that keep us enslaved to the weight of shame. And then ask Him to “grant me Your law graciously,” not harshly. The only verse of the Bible where Jesus specifically describes His heart reads, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matt. 11:29). Jesus says His heart is “gentle and lowly” (humble), not harsh and proud. Our pride can lead us to deal harshly with ourselves and others. But Christ invites us to “learn from”Him how to deal gently and humbly with ourselves and others so we “will find rest for” our “souls” in our discipleship relationship with Him. So, ask the Lord Jesus to gently replace the shame-based lies in your soul with His liberating truth. Truths that say:
• “I am loved and cherished by God.” Psalm 27:10
• “I am totally loved by Jesus just as I am.” Romans 5:6, 8
• “I can depend on others to help me through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13
• “I am defined by the Light and Love of Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:2, 8
I want to share a “Lies versus Truth” exercise that is adapted from Michael’s Dye, The Genesis Process: For Change Groups Books 1 and 2 Individual Workbook (Michael Dye/Double Eagle Industries, 2012), pp. 222 -228.
With your mentor or with a group of accountability partners, review some of the most common false beliefs or lies listed below and their corresponding truths. There are blank spaces at the end where you can write in the lies you believe and their corresponding truths that are not on the list. Say each lie to yourself and only focus on the ones that FEEL true. You will know if your heart believes it is true because it will feel true. Even if it doesn’t make sense, go with the feeling. Replacing the lies with the truth is how real healing takes place. The truth is a Person, Jesus Christ (John 1:14; 14:6), not a concept or a Book. Jesus can supernaturally speak truth into our limbic system (right brain where lies are inserted) in a way that no one else can because He is full of truth and is the truth (John 1:14; 14:6; Heb. 4:12-13). Faith in Jesus’ truth produces healing, and faith comes from hearing a personal word from God (Rom. 10:17).
For each lie your heart believes, say the lie to Jesus. Ask Jesus to tell you what is true. He may bring to your mind a Scripture with which to replace the lie. Meditate on that truth until the lie does not feel true anymore. Ask Jesus if there is anything else He wants to share with you. Say the lie again and see how true it feels. If it still feels true, you may need to meditate on the truth some more or even ask for help. Pray and ask the Lord to heal and seal off any wounds, demonic influences, and behaviors that the lie created. God may show you that you need to forgive the person who caused this lie to be attached to the wound he or she gave you.
Lie
Truth
1. God cannot be trusted
God cannot lie and is always faithful (2 Tim. 2:13; Tit. 1:2; Heb. 6:18)
2. God is out of control with His anger
God is slow to anger and gracious (Ps. 145:8)
3. I am alone and unloved
I am cherished and loved by God the Father (Ps. 27:10)
4. God could never love me
God has always loved me (Jer. 31:3)
5. Nobody would love me as I am
God loves me just as I am (Rom. 5:6, 8)
6. I am bad because of what was done to me
I am precious to Jesus because of what was done to Him (Matt. 13:44-45; I Cor. 6:19-20)
7. I am unwanted
I am chosen by God (Ephes. 1:4)
8. God is against me
God is for me, not against me (Rom. 8:31-32)
9. Someone has or will condemn me
In Christ I am free from condemnation (Rom. 8:1, 34)
10. I am going to be separated from the love of Christ because I’m so unworthy
No one and nothing can separate me from God’s love in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:35, 37-39)
11. I do not have what it takes
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13)
12. I am defined by my sin and brokenness
I am defined by the light of Jesus Christ (Ephes. 5:8)
13. My past is a hitching post
My past is a guidepost (Ezek. 18:14, 17)
14. I am what I do or what others say about me
I am what God says about me (I John 3:1-2; 5:1)
15. I am a sinner because I sin
I am a saint (one declared righteous by God) who sins (Ephes. 1:1; I John 1:8, 10)
16. My behavior tells me what to believe about myself
My belief about myself determines my behavior (Prov. 23:7)
17. Whatever I do, it will never be good enough
In Christ, I am good enough (2 Cor. 5:21; Ephes. 1:6)
18. I must be perfect to be safe
I am hidden with Christ in God, forever safe and secure (Col. 3:3)
19. I am a disappointment
I am a delight to God (Ps. 17:8; Zeph. 3:17)
20. God won’t be there when I need Him
God is always available to help me (Ps. 121:1-4; Isa. 41:10, 13)
21. I should never be angry, anxious, depressed, or lonely
Anger, anxiety, depression, and loneliness are signals to draw close to God. (Ps. 4:4-5; 42:5; 72:21- 26; 2 Tim. 4:16-17)
22. Failure is the end of the world
Failure is an opportunity to learn (Ps. 37:23-24; Luke 22:31-34; Heb. 12:11)
23. No one understands me
Jesus understands me because He made me (Ps. 139) and walked in my shoes (Heb. 4:15)
24. I could never be forgiven
I am totally forgiven in Christ (Ephes. 1:7; Col. 2:13-14)
25. I am a loser
I am a winner seated next to Christ (Ephes. 1:20-21; 2:5-6)
26. I am a mistake
I am God’s masterpiece (Ephes. 2:10)
26. I cannot change
All things are possible with God (Matt. 19:26)
27. If I am not in control, something bad will happen
When I yield to Christ’s control, I can have peace (John 16:33; Phil. 4:6-7; cf. Isa. 26:3)
28. I cannot cope without alcohol/anxiety/chemicals/food/sex/ shopping
I can cope through Christ who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13)
29. I need people’s affection and approval to be complete
I am complete in Christ, lacking nothing (Col. 2:10)
30. Christians cannot be trusted
I can learn to trust Christians who are safe (John 13:34-35; Gal 6:1-2)
31. I must be liked and loved by everyone
I am likeable and loveable, but not to everyone (Isa. 53:3; John 15:18-19)
32. Sex with a beautiful woman is the greatest sign I am loved
Christ’s dying in my place for all my sin is the greatest sign I am loved (Rom. 5:8; I John 4:9-10)
33. I am worthless
I am worth fighting for (Exod. 14:13-14; 2 Chron. 20:15, 17)
Prayer: Precious Father God, please give me the understanding and discernment to permit Your Word to speak to my deep struggle with shame. Help me focus on the wonderful work You are doing inside of me rather than on my failings and shortcomings. I confess that my soul melts from the heaviness of my sadness and shame. Please strengthen me as only You can with Your Word so I may arise out of this pit of shame. I pray Your Holy Spirit will expose and remove the shame-based lies that keep me bound to this cycle of shame and replace them graciously with Your liberating truths from Your Word so I may become the person You created me to be. Replace my false identity that is based upon shame-based lies with my new identity in Christ that is based upon Your Word. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
“We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.” I John 5:18
As the apostle John concludes his letter, he reviews and reinforces truths he has shared throughout his epistle. John just focused on praying for Christian brothers and sisters who had wandered far away from God and His people on the path of sin (5:16-17). Some of these sinning believers may be close to departing from this world through a premature death (cf. Acts 5:5-10; I Cor. 3:16-17; 5:5; 11:30). 1
John’s readers (including you and me) may have wondered, “Is there any hope that these sinning believers can be restored to fellowship with God and us? Is it still possible for them to resume walking in the light of fellowship with the Lord and His people after wandering so far into darkness?”
Or maybe some of his readers were asking, “Is there any hope that I can be restored to fellowship with God after wandering aimlessly for so long in the depths of darkness? Does God still love me and want to be close to me?”
I believe the apostle John would say, “Yes, a thousand times, Yes!!!” In the next three verses John will focus on three certainties. Each of the verses in 5:18-20 begins with “We know that …” (oidamen hoti). In the New Testament the Greek word oida almost always refers to “direct insight into spiritual or divine truth” although it may not be truth that has been experienced yet. 2 “This truth is the result of the teaching and convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit.”3 It is also important to observe that this Greek verb is in the perfect tense (oidamen) which means John and his readers knew these truths in the past and they continue to know them to the present. These are not guesses or mere human opinions, they are absolute unchanging truths from God that the apostle and his readers can be sure of no matter what they or other believers are facing or feeling.
“We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.” (I John 5:18). We have already learned that the phrase “whoever is born of God” refers to the divine or born-again nature we receive from God when we believe in Jesus as the Christ for everlasting life (cf. 3:9; 5:1, 13). The Greek participle translated “is born” (ho gegennēmenos) is in the perfect tense which means the new birth took place in the past and continues to the present. Since God cannot sin, the divine nature He places inside His child “does not sin” either (5:18b). A sinless Parent cannot beget a sinful child. So, sin is never an act of the born-again nature inside the believer because it is incapable of sinning (cf. 3:9).
“This divine nature is portrayed as a person (a figure of speech known as personification, that is, to treat something which is not a person as though it were, like calling a ship ‘she’). That’s why this nature is called ‘whoever,’ ‘he,’ ‘himself,’ and ‘him.’”4
The apostle Paul spoke of this new nature as the “new man” when he writes, “And that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephes. 4:24; cf. Col. 3:10). This new nature or “inner man” is strengthened by the Spirit of God (Ephes. 3:16) and has the capacity to resist the corruption and sinful lusts of this passing world which is under the control of Satan (I John 2:16-17; 5:18-19; cf. John 12:31; 16:11; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2; Col. 1:13a). 5
Hence, John says, “he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.” The word “keeps” (tēreō) means to “watch over, guard, protect, or keep unharmed.” 6 The recipient of this protection is the born-again person (“himself”).
“In saying that the regenerate inward person (cf. Rom 7:22) ‘keeps himself,’ John is not saying that one’s inner self can somehow prevent all sin in the Christian life (cf. 1:5-10). What John means is that God’s ‘seed remains in’ the regenerate inner self (cf. 3:9) as the controlling element of his born-again nature and is impervious to even the slightest contamination from the wicked one. Believers’ failures are due to the sinful ‘programming’ of their earthly bodies, as Paul himself taught in Rom 7:7-25.” 7
Even though Satan uses the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life to sway believers away from God (2:16; 5:19), John assures us “the wicked one does not touch him,” that is, the born-again self (5:18c). The word “touch” (haptetai) means “to touch with the purpose of harming, to injure.” 8 Satan and the world he controls, cannot harm the born-again self.
This is important for all of us to remember about ourselves or other believers when humbled by sinful failures. The evil one would like to trick us into thinking that a Christian who continually walks in the darkness or repeatedly struggles with the same sin is not really God’s child which can lead them to more sinful failures. The Bible tells us we act in the way we perceive ourselves to be. “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” (Prov. 23:7). If I am convinced I am not really saved because of my repeated failures, then I will be more inclined to live like a nonbeliever.
But if we know and embrace the truth found in I John 5:18, we can avoid the devil’s deception, and rise from our confession of sin to the Lord (I John 1:9), knowing we are the same inwardly holy children of God we were before we sinned. So, whatever we or another Christian have succumbed to in the world, John wants us to know that who we are at the core of our being has not changed. We are still a holy child of God because God’s sinless seed remains in us (3:9).
Zane Hodges says it like this: “At the very moment we are most humbled by our sinful failures, and when we confess them, it is helpful to be confident that those failures have not really changed what we are as children of God. The enemy, try as he might, cannot really touch us. He can only attempt to persuade us that he can or has. But if we know the truth stated in this verse, he will not be able to deceive us. For if we let him, Satan will use our failures to lead us to further failure. So, after every sin, deeply though we may and should regret it, we ought to rise from our confession to God knowing that we are the same inwardly holy persons we were before we failed!” 9
Some of you reading this may have a Christian spouse or child who has pursued the lusts of this passing world (2:16-17). They have been so twisted by the godless values of this world system that they are doing things that violate their Christian beliefs and values. Perhaps they have succumbed to the allurement of alcohol, drugs, gambling, materialism, pornography, or sex. Or maybe they have developed an acute mental condition such as severe depression or a phobia. They are in bondage to such things. Please do not give up or lose hope.
If your spouse or child is a believer in Jesus Christ, he or she is still a child of God at the core of his or her being and cannot be touched or harmed by evil or the evil one (I John 5:18; cf. 3:6-9). The “seed” or divine nature of God within him or her remains unchanged. It cannot be altered or even tempted. It remains a base from which the Holy Spirit can work within this loved one to bring healing to him or her, and to bring them back to fellowship with God and His people. 10 As long as that seed remains (and it will), “it can be watered by your prayers. As long as that seed remains, it can still grow. As long as that seed remains, it can blossom, and eternal fruit can be born. Do not give up.” 11
The restoration of fellowship for wayward Christians is based on walking in the Spirit, relying on Him to express God’s sinless born-again nature in them (I John 3:6-9; 5:18; cf. Gal. 5:16-25). It is not based on willful determination, on keeping New Year’s resolutions, or the power of positive thinking. 12
But it doesn’t stop there. Not only does a child of God have God’s sinless seed that remains in him or her, but he or she is also on God’s side and God is on their side. 13 He has not given up on them. “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” (I John 5:19). Again, John begins with “we know that…” (oidamen hoti) to convey the absolute certainty of what he is about to say. This is not mere speculation; it is absolute truth.
The phrase “of God” (ek tou Theou) refers to being on God’s side in I John. 14
“To be ‘of’ something in 1 John is to be on the side of the something. We saw this in 1 John 3:10b, 19 and 4:4. In reference to believers it means to have a dynamic, spiritual link to God, Who is obviously capable of giving us victory over the world. To be ‘of God’ means we are on His side, and He is on our side. The world lies like a limp puppet in the lap of the evil one, ready to be filled with his power. On the other side, we lie in the lap of the Lord, ready to be filled with His power.” 15
The phrase “the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one” (ho kosmos holosen tō ponerō keitai) “suggests that the world passively rests within Satan’s operative sphere. By contrast, the phrase ek Theou (‘of God’) means being ‘from’ God. The Christian should be aware of his own sinless inward man (5:18), and he should also be aware of his utter separateness from the whole world that lives under Satan’s sway. Believers, whom the enemy cannot ‘touch’ (5:18), are not a part of the world, which lies passively in the wicked one. Thus, believers must not ‘love the world or the things in the world’ (2:15-17) and they must resist the ideas that the world promotes (cf. 2:18-19).”16
John wants to “reinforce the readers’ consciousness that they are distinct from the satanically controlled world system and basically free from its power. They need not listen to the worldly ideas advanced by the antichrists (3:7-8). Nor need they succumb to worldly desires (cf. 2:15-17).”17
Since a believer’s regenerate self (3:9; 5:18) and conduct is sourced in God and is free from the power of Satan and his world system (5:19), there is still hope for a Christian who has been in bondage to sin for a prolonged time. Hence, if your Christian spouse or child has been living like the devil, please know that they do not belong to the evil one nor his world system.
What this means is your sinning Christian spouse or child does not belong to Satan’s world, and he or she will always to some degree feel like a foreigner in this world system. Your loved one will never feel completely comfortable in this sin-sick world. This world is not a Christian’s home, we are just passing through; our home is way out there, somewhere beyond the blue. The child of God who wanders about aimlessly in darkness will always have a degree of discomfort. They will always know something is wrong, something just isn’t right. This is not who I am in Christ.
The good news is God can turn discomfort into disgust. When your loved one’s discomfort turns to disgust, he or she will turn towards home (God). Regardless of what this person tells you, if he or she gets sucked into the sewer of this world system, they are acting out of character, and they will never be completely comfortable. Don’t listen to their lies. Keep praying that their discomfort will turn to disgust, and God will restore them back to fellowship with Him. When they finally realize that they are wasting their life eating slop with the pigs in the pig sty, they will turn their eyes toward home (cf. Luke 15:13-17).
Because of God’s seed within your believing spouse or child, he or she is on God’s side whether they consciously sense that or not, and they will feel like a foreigner in this world. God can turn this discomfort into disgust so that they will want to come home to fellowship with Him and His family. Next time, Lord willing, we will discover how to get there. 18
Prayer: Gracious Father in heaven, oh how we needed to hear these encouraging words about Christians who are living in the depths of darkness and appear to have no hope of returning to fellowship with You and Your people. Thank You for reminding us that no matter how much we or our loved ones have embraced the lusts of this passing world, if we or they are a believer in Jesus, Your sinless nature remains inside us and is not touched by evil or the evil one. We are still children of God at the core of our being, and to some degree there will be discomfort with our sinful lifestyle and choices. Please oh Lord, turn this discomfort to disgust so all of us living in the darkness will return home to fellowship with You and Your people. Help us to rely on Your Holy Spirit for the power to live out these unchanging truths in our daily Christian lives. In the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
ENDNOTES:
1. David R. Anderson, Maximum Joy: I John – Relationship or Fellowship? (Grace Theology Press, 2013 Kindle Edition), pp. 261-262.
2. Ibid., pg. 124.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid., pg. 263.
5. Ibid.
6. Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature: Third Edition (BDAG) revised and edited by Frederick William Danker (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000 Kindle Edition), pg. 1002.
7. Zane C. Hodges; Robert Wilkin; J. Bond; Gary Derickson; Brad Doskocil; Dwight Hunt; Shawn Leach; The Grace New Testament Commentary: Revised Edition (Grace Evangelical Society, Kindle Edition, 2019), pg. 604.
8. Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon, pg. 126.
9. Anderson, Maximum Joy, pp. 263-264 cites Zane C. Hodges, The Epistles of John: Walking in the Light of God’s Love (Irving, TX: Grace Evangelical Society, 1999), pp. 242-243.
10. Anderson, Maximum Joy, pg. 264.
11. Ibid.
12. Tony Evans, CSB Bibles by Holman, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (B & H Publishing Group, Kindle Edition, 2019), pg. 2953.
13. Anderson, Maximum Joy, pg. 264.
14. Hodges, The Grace New Testament Commentary, pg. 604.
15. Anderson, Maximum Joy, pp. 264-265.
16. Hodges, The Grace New Testament Commentary, pg. 604.
17. Zane C. Hodges, The Bible Knowledge Commentary Epistles and Prophecy, Editors John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck (David C. Cook, 2018 Kindle Edition), Kindle Location 4126.
18. The last three paragraphs are adapted from Anderson, Maximum Joy, pg. 265.
“No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.” I John 4:12
When people go through severe trials, they may ask themselves, “How can a God of love permit me to go through such a horrible experience? I feel abandoned by God, not loved by Him.” Even Christians who have spent their lives loving and serving the Lord have felt this way when they are blindsided by a debilitating disease, a financial collapse, children who have rebelled against God and have no contact with them… you name it. 1
Several years ago, my wife and I felt called by God to start a new church on the south side of Des Moines, Iowa. We resigned from our current church outside of Des Moines to live in an apartment with our three daughters in a nearby town for fifteen months while we received training from the mother church of the church start. Near the end of the training, we bought a new home on the south side of Des Moines with the intent of living there the remainder of our lives if God permitted. At our grand opening in an elementary school, we had over 160 people attend, and several people professed faith in Christ. We were off and running! It was a dream come true.
Fast forward three years. The church had shrunk to about thirty people. We announced to our church family that we were going to resign from the ministry. My wife and I were burned out emotionally and spiritually. For the past year I had been crying out to God for additional Christian leaders to help us in the work of the ministry. When nothing happened, I felt abandoned by God. “Lord,“ I cried out to Him, “We left everything to serve You, and now we are having to step away from the ministry. Where are You in all of this? Don’t You love us anymore?” I knew intellectually that God loved us, but I didn’t feel it. I didn’t experience it.
I share this with you because the apostle John is going to share some important truths that relate to that situation and any situation for that matter where Christians are prone to doubt God’s love for them. John emphasizes seeing God’s love through our relationships with His people (4:12-16). You may recall that in 4:7-11 John exhorted his readers to love one another the way Christ had sacrificially and selflessly loved them. Now he is going to talk about perfecting that love in our relationships with one another.
John writes, “No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.” (I John 4:12). You may wonder, “How can John say no one has seen God when the Bible speaks of people seeing God?”(e.g., Exod. 33:21-23; Isaiah 6:1-5; Rev. 1:10-18). Those encounters with God did not reveal the fullness of His glory or His unveiled divine essence. If people saw God’s unveiled glory or divine essence, they would not live (cf. Exod. 33:20).
This invisible God, Whom no one has seen, “abides” (menei) in believers who “love oneanother” (4:12b). 2 Loving one another is a condition for fellowship or closeness with God, not salvation. Jesus never said, “Whoever loves one another should not perish but have everlasting life.” He said, “Whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16b). Belief in Christ alone results in eternal life. Loving one another results in God abiding in fellowship with Christians and being Christ’s disciple (cf. John 13:34-35). The Lord is at home in the believer who shares God’s love with other brothers and sisters in Christ.
Furthermore, when we “love one another,” God’s “love has been perfected in us” (4:12c). The Greek words translated “has been perfected” (teteleiōmenē estin)“are in a form (perfect tense) that suggests His love resulting in Christian love. God’s love achieves its goal and reaches its full measure in believers when that love is reproduced in them and reflected through them by loving one another.” 3
God’s (agapē) love is produced by God the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5). It is not something we can create on our own. It is a fruit of God’s Spirit (Gal. 5:21). The moment a person believes in Christ for His gift of eternal life, He receives the Holy Spirit (John 7:37-39; Gal. 3:2; Ephes. 1:13-14) and can begin to enjoy and share this agapē love.
John reminds us, however, that God’s agapē love is not static. It can be “perfected” or reach completeness 4 in a believer which suggests a deeper and fuller experience of that love (4:12; cf. 4:17). 5 God’s love can mature or grow up. For this to happen, we must be in community with other Christians. 6
“We might parallel this to what James tells us about sin in James 1:14-15. He says sin begins as a temptation in the mind. Then when our own lust of our heart merges with the temptation in our mind, Sin is conceived in the womb of our soul. After a gestation period, baby Sin is born into the world of our actions. With exercise and food, baby Sin grows up. When Sin becomes a full-grown adult (mature), she produces death. The point is that for Sin to mature, it must be born into the world of action. With repetition it grows up to maturity.
“Divine love is the same way. It may begin with a good intention in the womb of our spirit, but at this point it is only an embryo of love. For this love to be fully developed, it must be born into the world of our deeds, our actions. Properly nurtured and exercised, love becomes a full-grown, mature, and attractive young woman. And the world takes a look.
“So, this kind of love needs external expression to become mature. That’s why Jesus said He gives His disciples a new commandment to ‘love one another as I have loved you.’ That commandment is like a golden parrot hopping from branch to branch in this book, repeating itself over and over. Jesus says when we learn to love each other this way, then the whole world will know that we are His disciples (His fully-devoted followers). This is mature, perfect love.” 7
Even though a devastating trial can overwhelm a Christian and cause them to doubt God’s love for them, it is in the context of a community of believers who sacrificially and selflessly love one another that their confidence in God’s love for them can be restored (4:13-16). John writes, “By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.” (I John 4:13). The words “By this” refer to the previous verse and means we can “know that we abide in Him, and He in us” when we love one another in Christian community. That is, we can know we are having close, intimate fellowship with God when we are loving one another.
When John states “because He has given us of His Spirit” (4:13b), this reminds us of his words in 3:24, “And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.” The Greek construction translated “of His Spirit” (ek tou Pneumatos) in 4:13 is the same for the words translated “by the Spirit” (ek tou Pneumatos) in 3:24. This “suggests participation in the Spirit of God, literally, ‘He has given us out of His Spirit…’ When a believer loves, he is drawing that love from God’s Spirit (cf. Rom. 5:5), Who is also the Source of his confession of Christ (1 John 4:2). Thus, both the faith and the love enjoined in the dual ‘command’ of 3:23 are products of the Spirit’s operation in a believer. A believer’s Spirit-led obedience becomes the evidence that he is enjoying the mutual abiding relationship with God that John wrote about.” 8
John has just told us “if we love one another,” then the God Whom “no one has seen… abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us” through “His Spirit” (4:12-13). As a result of this experience, John writes, “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.” (I John 4:14). This is considered by some to be the most important verse in all of I John to understand. 9
The “we” in 4:14 does not refer only to the apostles as it did earlier in the epistle (1:1-5; 2:19; 3:14; 4:6). In all those places there was a contrasting “you” (1:2-4; 2:20; 3:13; 4:4; et al.). But in 4:7-14, there is no contrasting “you,” so the first-person plural (“we” or “us”) includes the apostles and the readers. 10
This is significant because in the first verses of the epistle, John said that he and the other apostles (“we”) have “seen” (heōrakamen), “looked upon” (etheasametha), and “handled” the “Word of Life” physically (1:1). They have “seen” (heōrakamen) and “bear witness” (martyroumen) to his readers about that “eternal life,” Jesus Christ (5:20), Who “was with the Father and was manifested to” them physically (1:2). John wrote of what they have “seen” (heōrakamen) so his readers “also may have fellowship with” the apostles and “with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1:3).
While John’s readers could not see and touch the physical Jesus as the apostles had, when they love one another, John could say have they “seen” (tetheametha)and “testify” (martyroumen) “that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world” (4:14). When we observe sacrificial and selfless love in the community of Christians, John seems to be saying that we can see the Father’s love which was a perfect love, a love that sent His only begotten Son into the world to save the world through His own sacrificial and selfless love on the cross. 11
“The Church has no more effective way to testify to the world about the Saviorhood of Jesus than by the re-display of the Savior’s love in the fellowship of His disciples.”12
Let’s summarize what John is saying: Although no one “has seen” (tetheatai) God (4:12), Christians who “abide” in Him (4:13) “have seen”(tetheametha)the Son spiritually as His life is manifested among loving Christians.Believers who observe this manifestation have in fact “seen” and can “testify” to the Saviorhood of Jesus (4:14). 13
By loving one another, John’s readers could enjoy fellowship with the apostles in what the apostles “have seen” (heōrakamen) which is exactly why John wrote his epistle (1:1-3a). This is equivalent to having fellowship “with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1:3b). 14
But John also desired that his readers not only have fellowship with him and the other apostles in what the apostles had “seen,” but also in what they had “heard” (akēkoamen) about Jesus Christ (1:1-3a). 15 John writes, “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.” (I John 4:15). Once again John uses the word “confesses” (homologēsē) which means to “to speak the same,” “to agree, confess, acknowledge… in public.” 16 Confessing “that Jesus is the Son of God,” is also another condition for fellowship or intimacy with God (“God abides in him, and he in God”). When Jesus is confessed as “the Son of God,” He is also confessed as “Christ come in the flesh” (4:2) and as the One Who guarantees a future resurrection and never-ending life to all who believe in Him (cf. John 11:25-27). 17
The wording of 4:14 (“we have seen and testify”) reflects the words of John the Baptist when he said of Jesus, “I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God” (John 1:34). So, in the context of the Christian community, John is speaking of the visible manifestation of Christian love accompanied by the verbal confession of Jesus as the Son of God (4:12-15). Both these fundamental expressions among God’s people reproduce what the apostles themselves had “seen” in Jesus and what they had “heard” about Him from His forerunner, John the Baptist (cf. John 1:32-34). 18
Regarding John the Baptist’s testimony in John 1:32-34, Yarbrough states: “God’s Spirit descended and ‘remained’ on Jesus, according to John the Baptist (1:32, 33). The Spirit was Jesus’s constant companion. To ‘remain’ or ‘abide’ in Jesus’s teaching is to be His true disciple (8:31). A disciple will be informed and steered by all that Jesus commanded and taught. God the Father ‘remained’ or ‘abode’ with Jesus during His earthly days (14:10). The Father was the source of the very words He spoke, and Jesus ‘remained’ continually in the Father’s love (15:10b. ‘Abiding’ describes a reality involving Father, Son, and Spirit.”19
When believers live in an atmosphere of mutual Christian love (4:12-15), they can say along with the apostle John, “And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” (I John 4:16). The Greek words translated “have known” (egnōkamen) and “believed” (pepisteukamen) are in the perfect tense. Since these are stative verbs in the perfect tense, they refer to a state of intimate knowledge and total trust that God loves us (see comments on 2:3). 20 Since “God is love,” the Christian “who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.”
When Christians face painful circumstances, it can be easy for us to doubt God’s love for us. The apostle John says the best way to restore our confidence in God’s love for us is to see and hear His love expressed in a Christian community.
Let me return to my opening testimony. After the closure of the new church in south Des Moines, I was devastated. I doubted that God truly loved me. I felt like a total failure and that God would never use me again to advance His gospel. I had given up on God’s love for me and I assumed He had given up on me as well.
A few months after the church closed, God led my family and I to a church where we encountered His amazing love. The people welcomed us with open arms and came alongside us to help us see ourselves as God’s beloved children. The pastor there had been through a similar church planting experience, and he understood how we felt. He knew how to minister God’s love to us in practical ways that were meaningful to us. Instead of exhorting us with Scriptures, he listened to us and spent time with us. We also got plugged into a small group of believers who loved on us and accepted us as we were.
As we saw and heard the amazing love of Jesus Christ in this Christian community, gradually our confidence in God’s love for us was not only restored, but it was deepened and intensified. We were able to experience the kind of intimate fellowship with God that the apostles experienced.
I don’t know what you are facing right now, but I would guess that some of you are where I was at a few years ago. Perhaps you doubt God’s love for you because you or someone close to you has a debilitating disease or the loss of a job. Maybe after serving God sacrificially and selflessly for years, you were deeply hurt by an unloving Christian. As a result, God’s love seems very distant and invisible to you.
Whatever pain you are carrying, please know that God wants to reveal His love to you through His people. Just as we cannot see the wind, we can see its effects. We cannot see God, but we can see His love operating through Christians when they love one another. 21 His children are not perfect. But if they are enjoying intimate fellowship with the God of love, they will be able to share that love with you. And if you will let them do that, your knowledge and faith in God’s love for you will be restored and deepened.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for making Your sacrificial and selfless love visible to us through Your only begotten Son Whom You sent to die on a cross for all our sins. Such love may be difficult for us to believe when we encounter severe trials and disappointments in life. We may doubt Your love for us when we experience suffering and pain. But You never intended for us to face that pain and suffering alone. Thank You for providing an atmosphere of mutual Christian love in churches that abide in You and Your Holy Spirit. Use us to be a channel of Your love to those who doubt Your love for them. May each of our churches reflect the love of the Savior as we love one another. In the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
ENDNOTES:
1. Adapted from David R. Anderson, Maximum Joy: I John – Relationship or Fellowship? (Grace Theology Press, 2013 Kindle Edition), pg. 212.
2. The phrase, “If we love one another” (ean agapōmen allēlous) is a third-class condition and refers to a general truth at the present time. SeeArchibald Thomas Robertson, A. T. Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament [with Bible and Strong’s Numbers Added!], 6 Volumes (E4 Group, 2014 Kindle Edition), Kindle Location 207051.
3. Zane C. Hodges; Robert Wilkin; J. Bond; Gary Derickson; Brad Doskocil; Dwight Hunt; Shawn Leach; The Grace New Testament Commentary: Revised Edition (Grace Evangelical Society, Kindle Edition, 2019), pg. 600.
4. Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature: Third Edition (BDAG) revised and edited by Frederick William Danker (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000 Kindle Edition), pg. 996.
5. Zane C. Hodges, The Bible Knowledge Commentary Epistles and Prophecy, Editors John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck (David C. Cook, 2018 Kindle Edition), Kindle Location 3973.
6. Anderson, Maximum Joy, pg. 212.
7. Ibid.
8. Hodges, The Bible Knowledge Commentary Epistles and Prophecy, Kindle Location 3974 to 3979.
9. Tom Constable, Dr. Constable’s Notes on 1 John, 2022 Edition, pg. 99 cites Zane C. Hodges, The Epistles of John: Walking in the Light of God’s Love (Irving, Tex.: Grace Evangelical Society, 1999), pg. 192; Hodges, The Grace New Testament Commentary, pg. 600.
10. Hodges, The Grace New Testament Commentary, pg. 600.
11.Anderson, Maximum Joy, pg. 214.
12. Constable, Dr. Constable’s Notes on 1 John, pg. 99 cites Hodges, The Epistles of John, pg. 192.
13. Hodges, The Bible Knowledge Commentary Epistles and Prophecy, Kindle Location 3985 to 3990.
14. Hodges, The Grace New Testament Commentary, pg. 600.
15. Ibid.
16. Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, pg. 708.
17. Hodges, The Grace New Testament Commentary, pg. 600.
18. Ibid.
19. Constable, Dr. Constable’s Notes on 1 John, pg. 100 cites Robert W. Yarbrough, 1—3 John, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament series(Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008), pg. 252.
20. Anderson, Maximum Joy, pg. 216.
21. Tony Evans, CSB Bibles by Holman, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (B & H Publishing Group, Kindle Edition, 2019), pg. 2948.
