JC Lamont

JC Lamont is a Biblical scholar specializing in ANE culture and Second Temple Judaism. She is the author of several books including Naked at War: A Guide to Equipping Teens with the Armor of God and the Biblical fiction series, The Chronicles of Time. She is the founder of His Story Media, and hosts the Level Up your Armor of God podcast.

Armor of God

The Full Armor of God

Uncategorized /

The full Armor of God is critical to surviving spiritual warfare. In Ephesians 6, Paul urges Christians to “take up” and “put on” the armor of God. The Greek implies these actions must be done regularly, and disavows the notion that a Christians automatically has this armor of God without any effort on their part.


References to God’s armor are first found in Isaiah 59, but in that passage it is Yahweh himself putting on armor (v.17) and seems to be a Messianic reference to Jesus second coming (Isa. 59:20). Most scholars see Paul’s analogy as a comparison with the armor of a Roman soldier.


What is the Armor of God?


Armor protects a combatant in battle. Since the Christian is in need of armor,  he or she must be a combatant in a war. But the war we are in is not against other human beings. 


When we “get saved,” we defect from Satan’s side of the battlefield and swear allegiance to a new military commander. By doing so, we join Him in the spiritual war he and the angels are fighting in—a war against Satan and all his demonic hoards.

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places (Eph 6:12, NLT).

But Jesus did not leave us defenseless on the battlefield. He gave us armor. But that armor is not permanently infused on our souls the moment we accept Christ. In order to survive the war, we must “take up” and “put on” that armor every day (Eph. 6:11, 13).


The Sword of the Spirit


“ . . . take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word (rhema) of God” (Eph. 6:17b).

“For the word (logos) of God is alive and powerful. 

It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword” (Heb. 4:12).


The Greek word rhema refers to the spoken words of God while the Greek word logos refers to written words of God. Thus, to wield the sword of the Spirit against your enemy, you must know the Bible so well that you recognize when it is being used out-of-context.


 A thorough knowledge of the logos is required in order to wield the Sword of the Spirit, for you must be able to recognize when a verse (logos) is being taken-out-context for the purpose of getting you to sin, in order to recite (rhema) Scripture (the logos) back in such a way that you’ve defeated your enemy’s argument.


Jesus faced off with Satan in just this manner in the desert (Matt. 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13). Satan quoted Psalm 91:11-12 to Jesus, but Jesus responded with Deuteronomy 6:16 and won the duel.


The Helmet of Salvation


“Take the helmet of salvation” (Eph. 6:17a).


As the Christian is told to put on salvation, the helmet cannot be the initial moment of getting saved. More likely, it is allowing your salvation to transform your worldview. When you get saved, you essentially defect from one side of the battle to the other. Such a drastic shift should dramatically change how you look at the world. If it doesn’t, then you do not have the helmet of salvation protecting your mind.


Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think, then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect (Rom 12:2).


The Belt of Truth

 

 “with the belt of truth buckled around your waist” (Eph. 6:14a).


In a world with contrasting ideologies, conflicting religious beliefs, and cultural shifts in morality, the ability to recognize truth from lies is critical to surviving the battle. Lies are being thrown at us from every angle—social media, television, movies, political parties. How are we know what is truth if we have no standard by which to measure? The Bible claims to be that standard. Only by strapping truth around us can we confidently make decisions that impact our lives forever.


The Breastplate of Righteousness

 

“with the breastplate of righteousness in place” (Eph. 6:14b).


This righteousness is not the righteousness Jesus gives us (the fancy term is: the imputed righteousness of Christ) when we defect to Yahweh’s side of the battlefield. The breastplate of righteousness protects our heart because it is from the heart that stems all manner of wickedness. “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9). 


Our actions, whether we live for God or live for self, are determined by what is in our heart. “A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart” (Luke 6:45). 


Without protection, our heart is exposed to demonically-inspired cultural lies (1 Tim 4:1) that claim good is evil and evil is good (Isa. 5:20).


The Shield of Faith


“take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one” (Eph. 6:16).


When the Bible speaks of faith, it is not referring to blind faith based on no evidence or even blind faith based on evidence to the contrary which strains intellectual integrity. Rather, Biblical faith is “the evidence of things we cannot see” (Heb 11:1, NLT).

 

The Greek word translated evidence means “a proof, a thing that is proved or tested.” In other words, it is tangible. It doesn’t strain intellectual integrity, it affirms it. What is it that we cannot see? Paul explicitly tell us—the enemy with whom we are at war. What we see in the natural realm is the ravages of an ongoing war in the supernatural realm. 


Luke specifically wrote his gospel for the purpose of demonstrating that Christianity taught the truth about Jesus Christ (Luke 1:4). Jesus himself wished for people to know the truth (John 8:32), and the Berean Jews were commended for searching the Scriptures to determine if the teachings of Paul and Silas were true. (Acts 17:11). 


Like Luke’s readers, Jesus’ audience, and the Berean Jews, Christians are not expected to irrationally accept the truth claims of the New Testament; they are encouraged to weigh the evidence and see if those claims were objective and aligned with reality.


The Boots of Readiness

 

“with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace” (Eph. 6:16).


Much confusion surrounds the Boots of Readiness as they are often wrongly called the Boots of Peace. However, the Greek word for readiness is the same as the Greek word for “always be ready” in 1 Peter 3:15—“always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you.” 


Not only should Christians investigate logical reasons for their faith, as seen above, but the Bible commands that we should be prepared to share those reasons with others when asked (1 Peter 3:15). In other words, every Christian is called to be an apologist in the sense that when someone asks them why they believe in the gospel (that brings peace/salvation), they must be ready with an answer.


How to Put on the Full Armor of God


Every Christian has the armor of God at their disposal. But only if we bother to put it on can it help us survive the battle.


Sword of the Spirit: Biblical Literacy


The sword is foundational to every other piece of armor because it gives us the critical, need-to-know information required to navigate the battlefield. It tells us how the war began, what the war is about, what moves both sides have made and will make, and what the enemy’s schemes are. It tells us how we can be protected, how we are to fight, who our real enemy is (Satan and his demons), and who our enemy is not (fellow humans). It even tells us how the war ends.


It’s crucial for the Christian to understand what the Bible and the Gospel is all about. (This post offers only the shortest possible summary, so it it’s highly advised that you also check out the post Disarmed vs. Defeated: What Really Happened on the Cross.)


Armor of God in Bible

Once we understand the central message of the Bible, we understand an invisible war is being waged all around us. We understand who our enemy is (Satan and his demons), and who our enemy is not (human begins). We also understand what the enemy’s schemes are. This then means we are armed with a weapon we can wield against him—the Sword of the Spirit.


Helmet of Salvation: Biblical Worldview

 

If understanding the war transforms the way we look at the world—if we can filter national and global events (such as the Holocaust, Christian persecution, moral relativism, and anti-Israel bias) through the lens of the war and Satan’s tactics—then our minds our protected by the Helmet of Salvation.


Belt of Truth: Absolute Truth

 

Armed with Biblical literacy and a Biblical worldview, we can recognize which side of the battlefield is God’s and which side is Satan’s. We can look at the different ideologies and beliefs in this world and discern the truth because you recognize whose agenda is being advanced.


Breastplate of Righteousness: Moral Absolutes

 

Because we can recognize which side of the battlefield is God’s, presumably we will do our best to ensure we live your life on His side of the battlefield advancing His kingdom.


Shield of Faith: Evidential Faith

 

Biblical faith is “the evidence of things we cannot see” (Heb 11:1, NLT). What is it that we cannot see? Paul explicitly tell us—the enemy with whom we are at war. Faith is interpreting major global events in the natural world as evidence of the war going on in the supernatural world (rather than naturalism’s perspective that history is merely linear events due to cause and effect but with no overarching purpose).


Boots of Readiness

 

Last, but not least, if we have all of the above armor, we could probably give an answer to the following questions: Why are you a Christian? Why do you believe what you believe? Why do you live the way you live?


Equipped with every other piece of the Armor of God, we are consciously aware of the answer to those questions. The Boots of Readiness aren’t about being outgoing or exceptionally articulate. Having them just means we can give an answer beyond, “Because my parents are.” Or, “Because being Christian is right for me.”


A conscious understanding of why we live the way we do means we are capable of sharing that why with someone who asks, just as Peter commands us to: Always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks (1 Pet. 3:15). That’s what the boots of readiness are all about.


Understanding each piece in the Armor of God arsenal is critical to knowing how to put the armor on. The Sword of the Spirit is the foundation of every other piece of armor. 


Once we have the sword (knowledge of war), we have what you need to take up the helmet (we see the world through the lens of spiritual warfare). 


Once we have the helmet, we have the belt of truth (we recognize which side of the battlefield is God’s and which side is Satan’s). 


If we have those three, we nearly have all the other pieces of armor by default—we know which side of the battlefield to be on (breastplate of righteousness), we recognize events in this world as the evidence of the war in the unseen world (shield of faith), and we are ready to alert others about the war (boots of readiness).


Stripped of Armor

 

Americans have been stripped of the armor of God. Less than 100 years ago, American schools used the Bible to teach reading, spelling, English grammar, history, science, and ethics.


Generation after generation of American school children graduated high school with a Biblical worldview and “swords” honed and ready for battle.

But then the “sword” was banned in school.


Shortly after that, the sword was banned from the public sector. Christians were allowed to keep their swords, they could wave them around at church, but once they stepped outside the church building, their swords had to be sheathed.


Soon, sharing the gospel in schools or the public sector was considered forcing your religion upon other people. Thus, Christians were silenced, i.e., stripped of their boots.


Since the Bible was no longer being used to teach reading, spelling, English grammar, history, science, and ethics, something else had to take its place to teach those subjects.


Enter naturalism and humanism. God didn’t create the world, random chance created the world. God didn’t create human beings, random chance created human beings. God didn’t institute marriage, humans instituted marriage. God didn’t institute morality, humans invented morality based on what would best serve society. God didn’t create man; man created God/religion.


And with that, Christians were stripped of their helmet.


Moral relativism dictated that it was impossible for anyone to know truth because truth is relative. Right and wrong is decided by the culture, not by any absolute authority. 


Thus, Christians were stripped of their belt.


Promiscuity (particularly sex before marriage) becomes the new normal, followed by attacks on the authority of the Bible. This leads to the “new and improved” interpretation of what Scripture teaches—that God created humans genderless (proving gender is a spectrum) and only homosexual rape is forbidden not homosexual acts between loving couples.


In so doing, many Christians willing discard their breastplates in order to indulge the flesh, convinced it is healthy and in their best interest to sexually explore before committing to one partner for life.


Now, all that is left is the shield.


Naked on the battlefield, with only a shield to protect us from flaming arrows, we are often told that Satan cannot harm us because God is our protector.


So when tragedy strikes and God doesn’t protect—when a friend commits suicide, when a child dies of cancer, when a parent becomes an abusive alcoholic, when church leaders sexually assault, when Christians oppress the weak—what reason do we have to hold onto the faith?


The Full Armor of God: Conclusion

 

Being fully equipped with the Armor of God is critical to our surviving the war. Without knowledge of what the Bible says (sword), you can’t have a Biblical worldview. Without a Biblical worldview (helmet), you don’t have an understanding of absolute truth (belt). Without absolute truth, you can’t articulate why you believe the way you do other than “it’s what’s right for me” (boots). Your moral compass is off (breastplate), and you likely don’t even know it. What then is your faith (shield) based on, and how well will it protect you?

The Full Armor of God Read More »

Sexuality and the Bible

Why is God in my Bedroom? | Sexuality and the Bible

Uncategorized /

Sexuality and the Bible is a hot topic today. In a world of moral relativism, a spectrum of gender identities, and fluid sexual orientation, how are Christians supposed to respond to the “love is love” mentality.


Created as an Idol of Yahweh

 

In the first two chapters of the Bible, Yahweh creates human beings in his image. The word translated image is elsewhere in the Bible translated idol (Num. 33:52; 2 Kings11:18). Ancient people did not worship the actual wood or stone the idol was made from, they worshipped the elohim they believed lived inside. In other words, the wood and stone idol was merely a reflection or earthly mirror of the elohim it supposedly represented.  


When God created human beings, he created us as living, breathing idols of Himself, and our purpose was to reflect and imitate Him (Isa. 43:7).[1] Because of sin, all humans have fallen short of reflecting or mirroring his glory (Rom. 3:23), but our purpose is still to do so to the best of our ability in our fallen state.


God’s very first command to humans was “Be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28, NLT), i.e. “Have lots of sex and babies in order to populate the earth.”


We fulfill our original purpose best[2]when we are able to experience a unity with another that results in self-sacrificing, unconditional love toward that living, breathing being we created. In this way, we are an idol (reflection) of Yahweh as Creator who, though the unity of Father and Son (John 1:3; Col. 1:16), created us and demonstrates self-sacrificing, unconditional love toward us as His creation (John 3:16; Rom. 5:8).


In the Stephen King movie, Maximum Overdrive, a comet passes by the earth, disrupting the electromagnetic field, and causing numerous electrical devices and machines to take on a life of their own—with lethal consequences. Electric knives, lawn mowers, steam rollers, vending machines, and tractor trailers all used what their creators had intended for good for evil, killing a slew of humans in the process.


From the Terminator movies to Meet the Mitchells, sci-fi movie plots abound in which an artificial intelligence revolts against its creators and its programed purpose.


Now imagine this happened in real life. Imagine traffic lights got a mind of their own and decided that they will all turn green simultaneously because they have the right to do so.


Imagine every time you attempted to bake chocolate chip cookies, your oven decided to freeze solid the raw cookie dough because it had the right to do whatever it wanted.


Imagine a sanitation plant built for the purpose of purifying water so that it could be drinkable deciding it had the right to poison the water instead.


In such a world, chaos would reign. There would be no order because not only was everything not fulfilling the purpose for which it was created, but it was doing the exact opposite of its intended purpose.


Yahweh is the elohim (god) of order. Satan is the elohim (god) of chaos. Humans were to take dominion and subdue the earth, filling it with idols (human beings) of Yahweh who like Yahweh, created order and subdued chaos.[3]


What would this world look like if human beings did the exact opposite of what they were created to do?


What if human beings decided they had the right to have intimacy with anyone they wanted and then also had the right to kill the human being they co-created?

Having sex outside of marriage and killing the child created from that union is the exact opposite reason for which humans were created.


Having sex with a same sex partner, which completely eliminates the ability to co-create a child through intimacy, also prevents humans from fulfilling their created purpose.


God is “in the bedroom” because He created the bedroom for a particular purpose. Only heterosexual couples can procreate and, in general, married heterosexual couples are not the ones having abortions.


In general, human beings fulfill their original-intended purpose by getting married to opposite sex partners and creating children. The Bible demonstrates that our sexuality is intertwined with our very purpose.


How did Satan go about convincing the vast majority of people to demand the freedom to do the exact opposite of their intended purpose? He didn’t. He simply convinced them sex had a completely different purpose.


Eating food gives us pleasure. Sweet foods especially trigger dopamine, a chemical in the brain that elevates mood and makes us feel good. But feeling good is not the purpose of food. The purpose of food is to keep us alive.


Recreational drugs also trigger dopamine. If a person was convinced that the purpose of food was to trigger dopamine and feel good, they could easily choose cocaine over food especially if they didn’t want the added burden of potential weight gain.


Having sex gives us pleasure. But the purpose of sex is to procreate within marriage. If a person is convinced that the purpose of sex is to feel good, they could easily choose sex outside of marriage especially since it is so easy to rid oneself of the added “burden” of a child. They would also be free to have sex with anyone they wished, regardless of gender.


The Body is a Temple

 

Gym rats, yoga enthusiasts, Paleo advocates, and Vegan purists all boast in the “fact” that the body is a temple. Healthful foods, exercise, and mindfulness techniques are all forms of “worship,” while things like GMO’s, processed foods, and chemical preservatives are considered defilements. Even many Christians have fallen prey to this fallacy and abstain from smoking or drinking (believing that is possible to defile God’s temple with nicotine or alcohol).


While nicotine and excessive alcohol consumption can certainly damage your physical body, they cannot defile God’s temple. And if those gym rats, yoga enthusiasts, Paleo advocates and Vegan purists aren’t Christians, their body isn’t a temple in the first place because Yahweh isn’t living within them.

 

After Jesus died and rose again, he promised to send the Holy Spirit. Ten days after Jesus returned to heaven, the Holy Spirit came as promised and indwelt all those who believed Jesus was the Messiah. So while all humans were created as idols of Yahweh, only the bodies of Christians are temples of Yahweh.


But the point of the Holy Spirit indwelling believers isn’t to encourage us to take care of our physical body, and treat it with care and respect (nearly to the point of worship).


The point of being indwelt by the Holy Spirit is so we are empowered to complete the mission Jesus gave us.

I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matt 28:18-19, NLT).

Prior to Jesus disarming Satan on the cross (Col. 2:15), Yahweh was the elohim (god) only of the Jewish people and the nation of Israel. The Holy Spirit—Yahweh’s presence on earth—lived behind a veil in the innermost sacred chamber of the temple, called the Holy of Hollies. All other people groups and nations had their own gods (Deut. 32:8, 17; 1 Cor. 10:20). All other people groups were hostile to God (Rom 8:7) and were His enemy (Rom 5:10).


When Jesus died, Yahweh disarmed Satan, and the temple veil was torn. The presence of Yahweh was no longer limited to Israel. Now the Holy Spirit was free to indwell all those in allegiance to Jesus, transforming them into mobile temples of Yahweh who can infiltrate Satan’s territory with the gospel.


The point of taking the gospel into all nations is not to make converts, but disciples. A disciple is not merely a convert, not is it synonymous with student. A student’s goal is to get a good grade, perhaps impress his or her teacher, or learn all he can about the teacher’s field of expertise until he is ready to go out and carve his own path in that field. A disciples’ goal (particularly a Jewish disciple of a Rabbi) is to learn everything he could about the rabbi himself so that he could imitate the rabbi in everything he did.[4]


Thus, the purpose of all human beings is to reflect Yahweh, and the purpose of all Christians is to reflect Jesus.


What Defiles the Temple of God?

 

The Bible is actually very specific as to what defiles God’s temple.

Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body (1 Cor, 6:18-20).

You can only defile God’s temple by engaging in sexual sin—sex before marriage, sex with someone other than your spouse, homosexual sex, rape, incest, bestiality, etc.


In the Old Testament, every time the Jews defiled Yahweh’s temple, it was likened to committing a sexual sin against Yahweh.


In the New Testament, every time a Christian commits a sexual sin, it is likened to defiling the temple of Yahweh.


Evidently, sexual sin and spiritual sin are intertwined in the supernatural world.

When the Seleucid king, Antiochus, set up a statue of Zeus in God’s temple and defiled it, the Jews could not worship there again until they cleansed it under Judah Maccabee.


If a Christian’s temple is defiled, they are on the battlefield without the breastplate of righteousness. They can no longer fulfill their purpose because they can’t reflect Yahweh or Jesus. Essentially they are AWOL.


But just as the Jews were able to rededicate Yahweh’s temple after it had been defiled, so the Christian can rededicate his body/sexual lifestyle for the glory of God. God has promised to always forgive those who genuine repent (1 John 1:9).

Keep in mind that repent doesn’t mean you feel sorry or remorseful. Repentance is not an emotion. It’s a military term that means one is now moving in the opposite direction that they had been. For example, if you were traveling down the premarital sex road, but you repented, you are now traveling down the saving sex for marriage road.


The Bible links the sexuality of the Christian with worship. To ensure our worship is not defiled, we must express our sexuality in a way that is in keeping with our bodies as God’s temple.  


For the very specific reason why Satan is using sexuality as a weapon of warfare, check out the post Spiritual Warfare in America.


Sexuality and the Bible: Conclusion

 

The Bible teaches that our sexuality is intrinsic to our purpose and our ability to worship. God is “in the bedroom” because all human beings were created to reflect His ability to co-create through heterosexual, marital intimacy. Living in a way that is opposite to how we were created causes chaos. The bodies of Christians are temples of Yahweh. Only sexual sins can defile Yahweh’s temple. But all sexual sins can be repented of our bodies rededicated to Yahweh’s service.


[1] Matthew Bates. Salvation by Allegiance Alone. (150-151).

[2] This is not to say that people who do not marry or cannot have children do not mirror God. All humans are made in the image of God. But our original created purpose was to be fruitful and multiply.

[3] God Dwells Among Us: Expanding Eden to the Ends of the EarthBy G. K. Beale, Mitchell Kim

[4] Ray Vander Laan. Rabbi and Talmidim. That the World May Know. https://www.thattheworldmayknow.com/rabbi-and-talmidim

Featured Image by Kevin Carden | Licensed under Dreamstime.com

Why is God in my Bedroom? | Sexuality and the Bible Read More »

Spiritual Warfare in America

Spiritual Warfare in America

Uncategorized /

Spiritual warfare in America is at its height. Never have Americans—especially the younger generation—been subject to such unprecedented, psychological attack. More than ever, it is imperative that we level up our armor of God.


In this post, we’ll cover the 2 conditions that must be met for divine blessing. And we’ll even look at the 4 conditions that provoke divine judgement. But first, we need to understand why Satan is attacking America.


Many Evangelicals have long been asserting that Satan is attacking America. They recognize the infiltration of our media, our government, and our schools as spiritual warfare. However, many fail to recognize why Satan is attacking America. It’s not because he wishes to topple a Christian nation in order to keep souls in bondage to him so he can gleefully spite God when all those souls are in hell.


America is Satan’s biggest threat.


The escalating spiritual warfare raging in America is due to America being Satan’s biggest threat. Threat to what? Satan is the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4). This world is under his control (1 John 5:19). And he has the freedom to devour Christians who’ve let down their guard (1 Pet. 5:8).


Satan has power, authority, and freedom.


But when Jesus returns, Satan’s power, authority, and freedom will be revoked. Because when Jesus returns, he will overthrow Satan as the god of this world—the world will be under Jesus’ control (Rev. 2:26), and Satan will be imprisoned in the abyss (Rev. 20:1-3).


Once Jesus returns, Satan loses his power, authority, and freedom.


How does America threaten Satan’s power, authority and freedom?


To retain his power, authority, and freedom, Satan must make it impossible for Jesus to return. The only way for him to do so is to ensure that the conditions for Jesus’ return which God himself laid out in Scripture cannot be met.

And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come. (Matt. 24:14 NLT)

The Greek word translated nations in the above verse is ethnos and means ethnic people group not just a country. There are 67 countries in the 10/40 window, but 6200 different people groups (approx. 1.6 billion people) in those 67 countries that have never heard of Jesus.

America is Satan’s biggest threat because America sends more missionaries than any other country. 


Holding the #1 spot for over 200 years, America sends127,000 missionaries to other countries. 


The #2 spot, Brazil, sends 34,000.


America sends nearly 4x as many missionaries than the #2 ranked spot. If Satan can knock America from its #1 spot, he will exponentially increase his hold on the 10/40 Window. By preventing the gospel from reaching those 6200 people groups, Satan can indefinitely delay his imprisonment and retain his power, authority, and freedom because Jesus can’t return until they do.


But to successfully destroy America (whether literally by its politically enemies or by bankrupting it economically and spiritually), Satan needs to ensure that God will not intervene to stop him. The best way for Satan to prevent such divine intervention is to get that nation to:


  • not meet any of the conditions required to be blessed by Yahweh
  • meet all the conditions required to be judged by Yahweh

And that is precisely the spiritual warfare we see in America today.


Divine Blessings on a Nation


What do hockey, baseball, football, and the Indianapolis 500 all have in common? The song, God Bless America, has been performed at several of their major events including the Stanley Cup, the Rose Bowl, Super Bowl half-time shows, and during the seventh innings of Major League Baseball games.


The Good News: God actually tells us what it takes for Him to bless a county.

The Bad News: Singing for His blessings isn’t one of them.


Condition for Blessing a Nation #1: Yahweh as its Elohim


The first half of Psalm 33:12 (NIV) reads, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” If we strip away the English translation and render this verse closer to its Hebrew meaning, it reads: “Blessed in the nation whose elohim is Yahweh.”


Elohim is the Hebrew generic term for god, and applies to:


  • The Creator God, Yahweh
  • gods (Ex. 12:12; 20:2; 1 Kings 11:33)
  • angels (Psalm 8:5)
  • demons (Deut. 32:17)
  • and even the ghost of a dead human (1 Sam 28:13).

So elohim does not mean “the one true God.” Elohim is the generic word for spirit being. Yahweh (Jehovah) is the personal name of the one and only uncreated elohim. Yahweh (YHWH in Hebrew) is usually translated The Lord (in small caps) in most English Bibles.


So again, Psalm 33:12a reads, “Blessed in the nation whose elohim is Yahweh.”

Of course, Yahweh is the one and only uncreated, self-existent elohim. Angels are lesser elohim created by Yahweh to do his bidding. Demons, including Satan, are angels who rebelled against Yahweh and now work against Him.


At the time this Psalm was written, Yahweh was the elohim of only Israel. Satan was the elohim of all other nations, and he had appointed demons over various counties (Dan. 10:13; 1 Cor. 10:19-22). So according to Psalm 33:12, a nation is blessed by Yahweh when Yahweh is its elohim. If a nation has a demon as its elohim, Yahweh is not going to bless it.


America is called a “nation under God,” and by “God” the founding fathers undeniably meant Yahweh. Even the deists amongst them (such as Thomas Jefferson) understood the creator of the natural world to be Yahweh (rather than Allah or Brahma), and believed in following the moral teachings of Jesus (rather than those of Muhammad or Buddha) even if they denied the divinity of Jesus. As such, the Judeo-Christian Bible’s 10 Commandments (rather than the Quran’s Sharia Law) influenced the formation of America’s constitution and moral laws.


What makes Yahweh the Elohim of a Nation?

For a country to genuinely be “a nation under God,” its inhabitants must uphold the moral laws that Yahweh himself requires in order for Him to be their elohim. After the Jews were rescued from slavery in Egypt, Yahweh led them through the wilderness to the land of Canaan—the territory in Satan’s world which Yahweh claimed for himself. There he instructed the people on His requirements.


Recorded in Leviticus 18, the list of behaviors the Jews were prohibited from engaging in if they wanted Yahweh to be their elohim were normal behaviors of the current inhabitants (and the reason the current inhabitants were being expelled from the land, Deut. 9:4).


  • Child Sacrifice
  • Sexual sins
  • Promiscuity
  • Homosexuality
  • Incest
  • Bestiality

Wishing to be a nation under Yahweh, the founding fathers established a country in which abortion, adultery, homosexuality, incest, and bestiality was illegal.


Following the regulations recorded in Leviticus 18, they intended America to be a Christian nation as they saw that as synonymous with Yahweh being America’s elohim.


Condition for Blessing a Nation #2: Support Israel


When Yahweh originally called Abraham to leave his home and go to Canaan, the land that would be renamed Israel, He promised Abraham that He would make him into a great nation (Gen 12:2). He went on to say, “I will bless those who bless you . . . (Gen. 12:3).


On May 14, 1948, the state of Israel was born and Holocaust survivors, most with no homes or financial means, finally had a place they could call home. Immediately, America formally recognized the existence of the Jewish state, and thus became Israel’s most powerful military ally.


Divine Judgment on a Nation


Yahweh has always made it quite clear that He will not only judge the nations of other elohim (as with the original inhabitants of Canaan), but He will also judge his own nation if they violate his commands. The Bible lays out four main conditions that prompts Yahweh’s judgment on a nation.


Condition for Judging a Nation #1: Child Sacrifice


Expressing raw, uncensored emotion, Yahweh conveys his heartache over the slaughter of innocents.

Then you took your sons and daughters—the children you had borne to me—and sacrificed them to your gods. Was your prostitution [idolatry] not enough? Must you also slaughter my children by sacrificing them to idols? (Ez. 16:20-21)

Other than in hopes of achieving a military victory, child sacrifice in ancient times was done for financial stability—to appease the gods who would in turn ensure a good harvest with which you could feed the rest of your children.


Today, financial stability is the #1 reason cited by 73% of women who get an abortion.[1] 60% of women who get an abortion are in their twenties. 28% are in their thirties or older. Only 12% are teens, of which only 4% are minors.[2]


For financial reasons, the United States sacrificed more than one million of their unborn (or partially born) children every single year for 37 years in a row.


In the spiritual warfare against America, Satan uses misdirection (women’s rights) to deflect attention away from what he is really trying to accomplish: the overthrow of Yahweh as the elohim of America by targeting the one sin God hates most.


Condition for Judging a Nation #2: Sexual Sins


As mentioned earlier, God commanded the Jews not to engage in the sexual behavior of their predecessors, the Canaanites. He even emphasizes that the Canaanites are not being driven from their land because the Israelites deserve the land or are more worthy than the Canaanites. He explicitly states that He is simply using the Israelites to execute judgement on the Canaanites for their sins (Deut. 9:4-6). As noted earlier, the bulk of these sins, with the exception of child sacrifice, are sexual:


  • Promiscuity
  • Homosexuality
  • Incest
  • Bestiality

Once again, Satan uses misdirection (love is love) to deflect attention away from what he is really doing. But when we understand his tactics, the spiritual warfare in America appears much less subtle. (For more information on why sexual sins are forbidden, see the post Why is God in my Bedroom?)


Condition for Judging a Nation #3: Anti-Israel


When God told Abraham that he would bless any who blessed him, he also said he would curse anyone who cursed him.

“I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse.” (Gen 12:3, NIV)

Not only is a nation blessed if they bless Israel, but they are cursed if they treat Israel with contempt.


Since 1948, America has supported Israel’s right to exist. But today, anti-Israel bias in the media puts a racial spin on reporting (European Jews are oppressing people of color, i.e. the Palestinians), and skews news reports by downplaying Palestinian attacks and then highlighting Palestinian casualties when Israel defends itself.[3]


In a world where the underdog usually has the public’s sympathy, the Middle East conflict is framed as “an army-less people (the Palestinians) against one of the most technologically advanced militaries in the world (Israel).”[4]


It’s easy to cheer for the underdog, but this dynamic is categorically not the case. The conflict is not between the Palestinian and Israeli people but rather between the entire Arab world and Israel. Twenty-one Arab countries, population approximately 423 million, and one Jewish state, population approximately 9 million. In that matchup, who is the David and who is the Goliath?[5]


Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paraphrased Golda Meir, “If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more ‎violence. If the Jews put ‎down their weapons ‎today, there would be no ‎more Israel.”


As a testament to his military prowess and subtle leveraging of spiritual warfare, Satan has successfully convinced America and the rest of the world that David is Goliath and Goliath is David and has everyone rooting for Goliath and painting David as the villain.[vi] 


Yet even this—the world’s turning its back on Israel before Christ returns—is prophesied in Scripture.

For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her vindication shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. The nations will see your vindication, and all kings your glory . . . I have trodden the winepress alone; from the nations no one was with me. I trampled them in my anger and trod them down in my wrath; their blood spattered my garments, and I stained all my clothing. It was for me the day of vengeance; the year for me to redeem had come. I looked, but there was no one to help, I was appalled that no one gave support; so my own arm achieved salvation for me, and my own wrath sustained me. I trampled the nations in my anger; in my wrath I made them drunk and poured their blood on the ground. (Isaiah 62:1-2; 63:3-6, NIV)

Jesus is not the long-awaited king of the Palestinians. When Jesus returns, Christian Palestinians (and all other Christians) will reign with Him over his subjects (Jews, Muslims, and others who converted upon His return). But Jesus will reign over the whole world from the Israeli capital (Jerusalem) as the prophesied Jewish king of the Jews.  


Satan as the Elohim of America


If Yahweh is not the elohim of America, who is? You can bet the position is not vacant! America will never be elohimless. Once Yahweh is dethroned (if He hasn’t been already), Satan will install one of his own minions in His place.


The spiritual warfare in America is evident. The laws have already been officially changed (adultery, homosexuality, and abortion are all legal), and the percentage of conservative Christians is rapidly declining primarily because we’ve been stripped of the armor of God. If we withdraw our support of Israel—if we are no longer their political ally—no amount of singing God Bless America will save us.

Knowing the intent behind the spiritual warfare in America equips us to fight against it. Satan wishes to maintain his stronghold on the 10/40 Window, and to prevent the gospel from going into all nations. America is the nation that sends the most missionaries abroad. If America is destroyed, or if the next generation rejects Christianity, Satan strengthens his hold on the 10/40 window and retains his position as god of this world.  


[i] https://www.guttmacher.org/journals
/psrh/2005/reasons-us-women-have-abortions-quantitative-and-qualitative-perspectives

[ii] https://www.guttmacher.org/report/characteristics-us-abortion-patients-2014

[iii] https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-mazzig-mizrahi-jews-israel-20190520-story.html

[iv] Tishby, Noa. Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth (p. 12). Free Press. Kindle Edition.

[v] Ibid

[vi] Ibid

Spiritual Warfare in America Read More »

Jesus is the Only Way

Why is Jesus the Only Way? | Defeated vs. Disarmed

Uncategorized /

The ultimate answer to why Jesus is the only way to heaven is because of what happened on the cross. Although Satan was not defeated, he was disarmed. This is critical, need-to-know information for any Christian seeking to level up his armor of God, let alone the apologist wishing to defend Christianity in a world of religious pluralism.


Sin Nature and The Fly

 

In the 1986 film, The Fly, Jeff Goldbloom’s character Seth Brundle is working on teleportation. In his lab, he keeps two identical pods. One night, Brundle steps into one pod and successfully steps out of the other pod. But it doesn’t take long before he realizes something went terribly wrong. After running some tests, Brundle makes the frightening discovery that a common housefly was in the first pod with him.


Brundle: What happened to Fly?


Computer: Fusion.


Brundle: Assimilation? Did Brundle Absorb Fly?


Computer: Negative. Fusion of Brundle and Fly at Molecular-Genetic Level.


At this point, he realizes that he is no longer Brundle. He is Brundle-Fly. When he teleported, his DNA and the fly’s DNA were fused together. Terrified, he asks how Brundle and Fly can be separated again but the computer tells him it is impossible. They are now permanently one.


Nothing he can do can separate Fly from Brundle. He is forever Brundle-Fly.


Legal Transfer of Power

 

When God first created the world, He created humans perfect. We were all pure “Brundles.” But ver since our first parents ate from the tree, all humans and sin have been fused together (Rom. 5:12) like the fly was fused with Seth Brundle, we all became “Brundle-Flies” and nothing we could do could separate our sin nature from who we are (Eph. 2:9).


Worse still, Satan owns all humans tainted with sin. In the spiritual realm, because all humans are tainted with sin, Satan owns all humans.


In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the witch is unaware of the laws set up by the emperor (Aslan’s father).


She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards.


Why would an innocent person take the place of a guilty person? Love.

This same type of allegory is used by J.K. Rowling in the Harry Potter series. Why was the serial murderer Voldemort unable to kill one-year-old Harry? Because baby Harry was protected by his mother’s love, a magic Voldemort never bothered to learn because it was so far beneath his insatiable quest for power, control, and immortality.


Both Lewis and Rowling worked this legal framework into their world building. And it is the illegal breaking of this framework that allows the willing, sacrificial death of the innocent (Aslan/Harry) to overcome the villain (Witch/Voldemort).

This legal framework comes from the Bible.

The wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God—his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. (1 Cor. 2:7-8).

According to the Bible, if Satan and his minions had understood God’s plan, they would not have killed Jesus. Thus, the Old Testament was intentionally vague in this manner—Jesus mission to die was a covert coup d’etat.


From a spiritual standpoint, God had legally granted lordship of this world to mankind. Mankind—created by God as pure “Brundles”—rebelled against God and tainted themselves with sin, effectively turning the entire human race into “Brundle-Flies.”


Because they did all this at the behest of Satan, they inadvertently but nonetheless legally transferred lordship of this world to Satan, making Satan the legal god of this world. God promised that one day a Deliverer would come who would destroy Satan. But in the meantime, Satan is the legal wielder of the power of death over all mankind (Heb. 2:14) because all mankind was tainted with sin (Rom. 5:12).


Elohim: What’s in a Name?


In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word elohim is translated God, gods, angels, and demons. In other words, elohim = a spirit being. We tend to use God (elohim) as synonymous with Yahweh (God’s name), but an angels and demons are also elohim.


Yahweh is the one and only uncreated elohim.


Angels and demons are created elohim. They were created by the elohim, Yahweh.

To make things even more confusing, in English Bibles, whenever you see The Lord in small caps, in the Hebrew it was Yahweh.


So for instance, I am the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob the Hebrew actually reads: I am Yahweh, the elohim of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.


This is actually very crucial to understanding the gospel and what happened on the cross and why Jesus is the only way.


All nations rejected Yahweh as their elohim and deemed themselves his enemies (Rom. 1:21). They chose Satan’s minions as their elohim (gods) and happily went on their way (Deut. 32:8). But while Satan owned the nations, God chose Israel and the Jewish people as His nation, and vowed to be their elohim (Gen. 12:1-3; Deut. 32:9).


Because Yahweh chose Israel as his inheritance, He owned the Jewish people. But He owned only the Jewish people. Yahweh was the elohim of only the land of Israel. Satan legally owned the rest of the world. He owned every other territory in the entire world. Just as Yahweh was the elohim of the Jews, Satan, and all his minions, was the elohim of the Gentiles.


But then, at long last, the promised Deliver who would destroy Satan came to earth. Naturally, Satan assumed that Jesus had come to destroy him as prophesied. To Satan’s delight, Jesus came as human, stripped of his immortality. So without thinking through the consequences, Satan jumped on the chance to kill Jesus while he had the chance.


And just like Voldemort and the White Witch, that was Satan’s fatal mistake. Because he forgot that he only wielded the power of death over Brundle-Flies.

Jesus never sinned. Jesus wasn’t tainted by a sin nature. Jesus was a pure Brundle.


Thus, Satan was in breach of contract when he killed Jesus. Satan illegally killed Jesus, and by doing so, he forfeited his legal right of ownership over humans.

And that is why Jesus (and Aslan and Harry) could come back from the dead.


Satan Disarmed


Jesus did not defeat Satan on the cross. Satan is still the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4). This world is still under the control of the evil one (1 John 5:19). And Satan is still prowling around looking for Christians to devour (1 Pet. 5:8).


The Bible does not describe Satan as a defeated enemy. He has power, authority, and freedom—all things a defeated enemy is deprived of.


But Jesus did disarm Satan.


Because of Jesus’ death, God took away Satan’s legal right to own Gentiles. God nailed Satan’s documents of Gentile ownership to the cross (Col. 2:14).

He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. —Col 2:14-15a, NLT

From a legal standpoint, an elohim’s ownership of people is by territory. In the spiritual realm, ownership of people and territory cannot be separated. You could only properly worship the elohim of a certain territory if you were in that elohim’s territory.


So to properly worship Yahweh you had to be in the land of Israel. This is why David, on the run from King Saul, complained that he was being forced into pagan lands to worship pagan gods (1 Sam. 26:19). Because from a Biblical perspective, the only territory in the entire world in which holy soil could be found was the land of Israel.


This is also why the Syrian general Naaman, who “got saved” after being healed by the prophet Elisha, took soil from Israel back to Syria so that he could worship Yahweh while living in the territory of the Syrian elohim, Rimmon (2 Kings 5:17-18).


Naaman so clearly understood that he could only worship Yahweh if he was on territory that belonged to Yahweh, that he took as much Israeli soil with him as two of his mules could carry.


Even though Naaman converted, Yahweh was not the God of Naaman. Yahweh was still only the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s descendants (the Jewish people). Other people could worship Yahweh and be granted eternal life due to their allegiance to Him (because Yahweh loves all humans), but legally He was not their elohim. Legally, He was only the elohim of the Jewish people and the elohim of the land of Israel.


But that’s what Jesus undid on the cross.


Because Satan was in breach of contract, he forfeited his legal right on the nations.


That’s why the temple veil was torn.


Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, the Holy Spirit (the presence of Yahweh) was not limited to living only in Israel. Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, Yahweh’s presence (now able to indwell human mobile temples) could legally infiltrate any and every nation in the entire world. Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, now Yahweh could be the elohim of any country and of any person regardless of ethnicity or nationality.


Jesus is the Only Way: Conclusion


This is why Jesus is the only way to God.


Buddha did not disarm Satan and make it possible for Yahweh to be the elohim of all people.


Muhammad did not disarm Satan and make it possible for Yahweh to be the elohim of all people.


Confucius did not disarm Satan and make it possible for Yahweh to be the elohim of all people.


Buddha, Muhammad, Confucius and every other religious founder or leader were “Brundle-flies,” so even if they were persecuted or unjustly killed, their deaths could not have disarmed Satan or made it possible for Yahweh to be the elohim of all people.

Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous. —Rom. 5:18-19

The gospel is the good news that Jesus disarmed Satan on the cross. While Adam made us all “Brundle-Flies,” Jesus’ death made it possible for us to become pure “Brundles” again.

Why is Jesus the Only Way? | Defeated vs. Disarmed Read More »

Satan defeated on the cross

Satan: Not a Defeated Enemy (yet)

Uncategorized /

Time and time again, we are told that Satan is a defeated enemy. Sometimes the phrase “He just doesn’t know it yet” is tacked on with a laugh.


But is this true? Or have we been given false enemy intel on the enemy?


Imagine your social media feed is on fire over the latest must-see romantic movie. Everyone you know is talking about how the prince slays a dragon and rescues a damsel locked in a tower. If you’re a girl, all your friends who have already seen it swear up and down that it’s the best movie ever and that you’ve just gotta see it. If you’re a guy, your significant other is begging you to take her to the theater or snuggle up for an evening of On Demand.


You watch the movie with high expectations, but when the movie ends, the dragon has not been slain.


In fact, the damsel is trapped in the dragon’s lair.


And she must always be on her guard because the dragon is trying to devour her!

At first, you might think you went to the wrong movie. But after Google confirms it was the right one, you would likely feel deceived by the “false advertising” on social media.


But this is the way Christianity is advertised.


The Prince (Jesus) leaves his throne (heaven) to become a mortal so he can slay the dragon (defeat Satan) by rescuing the damsel (dying on the cross) who was trapped in a tower (sin).


But Satan was not defeated at the cross.


This world is still under the control of the evil one (1 John 5:19).

Satan is still the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4).

Satan is prowling around looking for Christians to devour (1 Pet. 5:8).


Those verses do not describe a defeated enemy.


Satan has power, authority, and freedom—all things a defeated enemy is deprived of.

Satan would love nothing more than for us to believe that he’s been defeated and is no longer a threat. What better way to get us to lower our guard so he can devour us? Or that we are invincible in Jesus as though the armor of God is permanently infused on the Christian and they don’t have to “take it up” or “put it on” (Eph. 6:11 &13).


Since we are the damsel living in the undefeated dragon’s lair (this world), and the dragon is actively attempting to devour us, we had best take God’s advice to put on armor seriously!


So where did this idea that Satan was defeated on the cross come from? I believe it stems from misunderstanding the following two Bible verses.


Misunderstood Verse #1: Jesus Overcame the World


The first verse that I believe has led to the false intel that Satan was defeated on the cross is John 16:33. Shortly before his death, Jesus warns his disciples that “the ruler of this world approaches.”

He has no power over me, but I will do what the Father requires of me, so that the world will know that I love the Father . . . In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world (John 14:30-31; 16:33).

Synonyms for “overcome” include conquered, overpowered, and defeated. And indeed, elsewhere in scripture the Greek word translated here as overcome (νικάω)is correctly translated “conquered” (Rev. 6:2, 13:7, ESV, NLT, NIV).


However, νικάω also has a different definition. And that definition, John uses many, many times. Talking of capture believes, Revelation 12:11 says, “They (the Christians) overcame him (the antichrist).” The ESV says conquered, the NLT says defeated, and the NIV says triumphed over.


So these captured Christians conquer, defeat, and triumph over the antichrist.

Do these Christians conquer the antichrist and confiscate his weapons? Do they defeat the antichrist in battle? Do they overthrow his army?


No, they are beheaded.


And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die (Rev 12:11, NLT).


Their willingness to die in obedience to God is called νικάω, translated overcome.


This is precisely what Jesus did.

He [Jesus] humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! (Phil. 2:8, NIV)

On the cross, Jesus did not overthrow Satan as the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4). He did not conquer him and imprison him in Gehenna so that he was no longer free to devour people. And He did not defeat him and take control of the world (in fact, scripture specifically that this world will not be subject to God until after death itself is destroyed, c.f. 1 Cor. 15:25-28).


On the cross, Jesus overcame Satan by his willingness to die in obedience to God, just as future Christians will overcome the antichrist by their willingness to die in obedience to God.


Imagine that the damsel in the falsely advertised must-see movie truly believes the dragon is defeated. Does she really understand what it means to live in the dragon’s lair. Will she bother to put on the armor the Prince left for her? If she does wear it, does she wear it for protection, or does she think of it as mere “spiritual blessing apparel” that helps her deepen her relationship with him while she awaits his return?


The armor of God isn’t optional attire for the Christian who wants to score a few bonus points. Both Paul and Peter are desperately trying to warn Christians that Satan, rather than a defeated enemy, is an enemy on the prowl and free to devour all those not on their guard. If we want to survive the battle, if we want to be found standing when the smoke clears, we must “take up” and “put on” the protection God has given us.


Misunderstood Verse #2: Jesus Triumphed over Satan


The second verse that I believe has led to the false intel that Satan was defeated on the cross was peened by the apostle Paul to the church at Colossae. Referring to Satan and his minions as “powers and authorities,” Paul writes:

And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them (shamed them), triumphing over them by the cross (Col. 2:15).

In the first Shrek film, Princess Fiona is locked in a tower guarded by a fire-breathing dragon. The dragon has one job—to ensure no one rescues her.

But the unlikely hero Shrek manages to get passed the dragon and successfully rescues the princess. In essence, Shrek disarms the dragon and makes a spectacle of it (shames it), by triumphantly getting what he, Shrek, was after that the dragon did not want him to have.


Ironically, when Fiona finds out, she exclaims, “You didn’t slay the dragon?!?!”


Shrek responds, “It’s on my to-do list!”


Slaying the dragon—defeating Satan—is on Jesus’ to-do list. The day will come when Satan is cast into Gehenna, the prison that was created for him and all his demons (Matt. 25:41). Jesus will eradicate all Satan’s handiwork—death, suffering, disease, violence, and evil. And He will give all authority of this world to God (1 Cor. 15:25-28).


So one day Satan will be defeated, but in the words of Aragorn from Lord of the Rings, “this is not that day.”


Jesus did indeed free the damsel (us) from the tower (sin), and put the dragon to shame by snatching us right out from under his nose. But putting Satan to shame and triumphing over him by getting what he had been guarding (souls enslaved to sin) is not the same as defeating him.


A defeated enemy does not have power, authority, and freedom—and Satan has all three.


Satan is not (yet) a defeated enemy: Conclusion


While he may not have been defeated on the cross, Satan was disarmed. The difference is a powerful victory in its own right, and crucial for levelling up your armor of God.  So be sure to check out the post, Defeated vs. Disarmed: Why Jesus is the Only Way. And for more information on false enemy intel, check out 5 Lies Most Christians Believe.

Satan: Not a Defeated Enemy (yet) Read More »

spiritual warfare

5 Lies Most Christians Believe

Uncategorized /

Spiritual warfare is dependent on accurate enemy intel. But most of us have been fed misinformation on the war. To survive 21st century spiritual warfare, we need the right intel so we can level up our armor of God.

 

What is Spiritual Warfare?

 

21st century spiritual warfare—especially in western societies—isn’t performing exorcisms against demon-possessed maniacs who levitate or throw objects across the room with their minds. Spiritual warfare is actively working against what our enemy is trying to accomplish. Thus, understanding what our enemy is trying to accomplish is critical, need-to-know information.

 

The enemy

 

Our enemy is not human. Our enemy is a powerful, supernatural being.

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12).

Jesus calls him the prince of this world (john 14:13), and a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44). Paul calls him the power and authority of the unseen realm (Eph. 3:10). And John tells us the whole world is under his control (1 John 5:19).

 

Satan was created as one of God’s highest-ranking angels, but was banished from heaven after attempting to usurp God’s throne. Seeking revenge, he tricked humankind into enthroning him as the god of our world. Ever since, the world has been at war as battle rages between God and Satan with humanity caught in the middle.

 

Understanding what is being fought over is critical, need-to-know information. Knowing your military assignment is critical, need-to-know information. Accurately gauging the threat is also critical, need-to-know information. And most importantly, accurate intel on the enemy is critical, need-to-know information.

 

And yet, most of us have been given misinformation on all of these crucial aspects of the war.

 

To successfully wage war against Satan, we must have accurate enemy intel. Even the apostle Paul notes that if we don’t want to be outwitted by Satan, we must be aware of his schemes (2 Cor. 2:11).

 

Here are 5 lies most of us have been taught about spiritual warfare.

 

Lie #1: Satan was Defeated on the cross

 

On the cross, Jesus did not overthrow Satan as the god of this world. Satan is still god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4). Jesus did not imprison Satan in Gehenna so that he was no longer free to devour people (1 Peter 5:8). And Jesus did not defeat Satan and take control of the world. In fact, Scripture specifically states that this world is under the control of Satan (1 John 5:19), and that it will not be subject to God until after Jesus returns and death itself is destroyed (1 Cor. 15:25-28).

 

The Bible describes Satan as having authority, control, and freedom. That does not describe a defeated enemy. (Satan was however disarmed. For more info, check out the post Disarmed vs Defeated).

 

This is critical, need to know information because how seriously are we going to take spiritual warfare or the need for armor if we think the enemy has already been defeated.

 

Lie #2: The Cross is the Climax of Redemptive History

 

The villain is defeated at the climax. But as we just saw, Satan has not yet been defeated. Jesus’ return is the climax of redemptive history, because it is when Jesus returns that He will overthrow Satan as the God of this world, imprison Satan in the abyss, assume control of this world, and after defeating death, subject the world to his father.

 

This makes the cross the midpoint of Redemptive History.

 

Understanding the difference between the midpoint and the climax is critical, need-to-know information because we as Christians are not passive damsels waiting to be whisked away by the Prince on our honeymoon. We are soldiers in a war story with a mission to complete—taking back territory from the enemy by spreading the gospel throughout the whole world.

And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come (Matt. 24:14 NLT). 

The real climax of redemptive history—the defeat of the villain—cannot happen until we complete our mission. And because our mission is spiritual warfare—infiltrate enemy territory with the gospel—we need armor to survive.

 

Lie #3: Satan’s Goal is to Wreak Havoc in the Christian’s Life

 

Satan isn’t looking to mess with Christians for giggles, cackling maniacally when they miss out on the “abundant life in Christ” they could have had if only they’d read their Bibles a bit more. He’s not looking to steal our joy or peace or our “identity in Christ.” Satan doesn’t get his jollies from seeing us miserable, stressed out, or living under a cloud of self-depreciation.

 

Satan is prowling around looking to devour Christians not on their guard (1 Peter 5:8). Devouring isn’t a symbolic term for missing out on blessings, or not experiencing your guaranteed “invincibility” in Jesus as some Christian leaders teach. 

 

Devouring means you are a casualty of war.

Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not . . .fall from your secure position (2 Peter 3:17, NIV). 

Who are Peter’s “dear friends?” He tells us in the beginning of his letter (2 Peter 1:1, NIV)—“those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours.”

 

Peter is forewarning Christians—who are saved by the righteousness of Jesus and share the same faith in Jesus that Peter has—Be on guard or you will fall from your secure position.

 

The Apostle Paul agrees with Peter’s concern for Christians, and explicitly warns that the Holy Spirit Himself is the one who says that in the end times Christians will abandon their faith.

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons (1 Tim 4:1, NIV). 

Getting devoured and falling from our secure position is a real threat, a real possibility. These verses are not speaking of missing out on a spiritual blessing in this life.

 

They are speaking of not surviving the war.

 

Joshua Harris, author of Why I Kissed Dating Goodbye and former pastor, recently abandoned the faith. Jon Steingard, the lead singer of the Christian music band, Nelson Hawk, has also now abandoned the faith. These men are only two examples of Christians who have fallen from their secure position (2 Pet. 3:17). They abandoned the faith (1 Tim. 4:1). They were devoured by Satan (1 Pet. 5:8).

 

The Christian life is a war. Not a romantic, spiritual quest. Armor is not “spiritual blessing apparel” that helps a bride deepen her relationship with her groom. Armor is protection and weapons. It is meant to help you survive, which means not having it means you do not survive.

 

This is critical, need to know information because most of us aren’t going to bother putting on armor if there’s no danger of not surviving spiritual warfare anyway.

 

Lie #4: Satan’s Endgame is to Collect as Many Souls as Possible

 

The war between God and Satan is not a contest to see who can collect the most souls. Satan’s ultimate goal is not to spite God by taking all those souls to hell with him, as though making God sad is what brings Satan joy.

 

Satan wants what any other enemy in a battle wants: to win.

 

Satan doesn’t want human souls. Satan wants God’s throne. And He can’t storm heaven and usurp God’s throne if he is imprisoned in the abyss (Rev. 20:1-3). Thus, he needs to indefinitely delay his imprisonment so that he can retain his power, authority, and freedom.

 

How can he accomplish such a feat? He must make it impossible for Jesus to return, because that is when he is imprisoned. The only way for him to do so is to ensure that the conditions for Jesus’ return which God himself laid out in Scripture cannot be met.

 

And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come (Matt. 24:14 NLT)

 

This is critical, need to know information because 70% of American Evangelical Christians are completely unaware that there are 1.6 billion people who have never even heard the gospel. 6,825 people groups have never even heard of Jesus’ first coming, let alone know to be prepared for His second. 

 

Most of these people groups live in the 10/40 Window, which consists of 67 countries and includes the majority of the world’s Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists.

10 40 Window

To maintain his hold on the 10/40 Window, Satan seeks to prevent the spread of the gospel in those countries by:

• Making Christianity illegal, highly restricted, and life-threating
• Establishing anti-conversion laws by their governments

• banning missionaries (especially those from North America) from entering

So why does Satan want Christians to fall from their secure position? Because they won’t share the gospel with someone if they no longer believe in it.

This is ultimate spiritual warfare: As long as the 6200 unreached people groups in the 10/40 Window don’t hear the gospel, Satan indefinitely delays his imprisonment and retains his power, authority, and freedom because according to the Bible Jesus can’t return until they do.


Lie #5: No one spends eternity in heaven or hell


So this one isn’t exactly critical, need-to-know information. It’s just a serious pet peeve. 


Heaven is God’s realm. It’s where God lives. Heaven is where God’s throne is and the realm Satan wants to usurp (Isa. 14:13-14; Rev. 12:7-10).


Hell is the dead’s realm. It’s where the dead live. Hell is the English word. The Hebrew word is Sheol and the Greek word is Hades. But’s whether you call it Hell, Sheol, or Hades, it’s the same thing—the land of the dead. It can be a place of torment or a place of rest (Luke 16:23) while one waits to be resurrected (Dan. 12:12).


Gehenna (aka the lake of fire) is a prison created for Satan and his angels (Matt. 25:41). It’s probably also synonymous with the abyss. After the resurrection and the judgement, all humans whose names are not found in the Book of Life are sentenced to Gehenna with Satan. Hell (the land of the dead) is then consumed by Gehenna (Rev. 20:14) because there is no more death and thus no more need for a realm of the dead.


The New/Renewed Earth is the earth restored (or recreated) to its original state of perfection. On this new/renewed earth, there is no cellular degeneration, no evil, suffering, pain, or death (Rev. 22:3).


It is where all who love God will live with Him forever because God is leaving heaven, and taking his throne with him, to live on the earth with people. (So if you plan on spending eternity in heaven, you’re pretty much spending it all by yourself.)

No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him. And they will see his face . . . God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever (Rev. 22:3; 21:3-4). 

While this one might not be critical, need to know information, it’s still relevant to our engaging in spiritual warfare because it reminds us what we are fighting for. We aren’t fighting to someday live in an immaterial realm as ghosts. We are fighting so that our captain and king can return to defeat the enemy and renew the earth so we can live with Him in a world with no evil and suffering.


Spiritual Warfare 101


Having accurate enemy intel is only spiritual warfare 101. To truly level up your armor, you need to know what the armor of God is and how to put it on, understand why Satan is targeting America, and recognize Satan’s various schemes. For more info, check out the post The Full Armor of God.

 

 

 

.

5 Lies Most Christians Believe Read More »