The Fight Of Faith (Basic Training)

Length: 18 Minutes

Do you know the only two problems that came into this world through Adam? Sin and death. Of all the problems that you could possibly see in this world, they can all be categorized under either sin or death. There is no problem in this world that cannot be categorized under one of those two things (Romans 5:12). And what do you know? When Jesus came, He took our sin in His own body, and died for it. Do you know what that means? That means that Jesus fixed every single problem in this entire world.

This is a “Basic Training Article” which means that it takes many hours of teaching from Reform Church and summarizes it in just minutes.

Whether we believe it or not, Jesus overcame this world. He took sin in His own body. Sin causes evil actions, evil thoughts, and evil intentions toward one another. Jesus took that on Himself so that He could cleanse us of it — and cleansed we are! Jesus also took the penalty of sin, which is death. Death is not simply breathing your last breath. Death encompasses all hurt, suffering, sickness, aging, weakness, until the last breath. Paul called his sufferings “death working in him” (2 Corinthians 4:12). Paul referred to the inoperative womb of Sarah as “the deadness of Sarah’s womb” (Romans 4:19). There are many more examples, which would take longer to explain, in which the Bible describes suffering as manifestations of death.

Even if you are not seeing that yet, you must admit, the Bible says the only two problems that came into this world are sin and death. Every Christian knows quite well that Jesus died for sin. That means Jesus fixed everything. Jesus overcame all the problems (or should I say, both problems) in this world. That is what is meant by this verse:

John 16:33 (NKJV) These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Jesus overcame everything in this world, and we have received that victory when we first believed. We received the solution to everything in this world, to live inside of us (namely righteousness and life) when we first believed (2 Peter 1:3).

1 John 5:4 (NKJV) For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

Jesus has defeated everything — not just the devil and not just sin, but every single problem in this world! It’s all fixed! Jesus won! Now, as believers there is no more victory for us to receive! We don’t need to get victory and we don’t need to defend it, as if we could ever lose it. We are already more than conquerors through Him. We are already victorious over everything in this world. Jesus defeated it and we have the solution inside of us. Now we are simply being led in triumph going forward! We are NOT being led into triumph; we are already in a triumphant procession! We’re now in the victory parade!

2 Corinthians 2:14 (NKJV) Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ…

So, what now? If Jesus really won and we really received all the victory over everything, then why do we still see problems in this world? Why might we even see problems in our own life? Well, the victory is already won, but people need to know it to receive it! We receive from Jesus’s victory through knowledge (2 Peter 1:2). If people don’t know what Jesus did, then they stay separated from what He provided (Ephesians 4:18).

So, people don’t need Jesus to give them victory anymore. They need knowledge of the victory that’s already been won for them, so they can receive from it! Therefore, after Paul says that we are being led in a triumphant procession, he follows it up by saying that now, God “diffuses the knowledge” of this victory in every place, because Jesus already won, but people need to know it!

2 Corinthians 2:14 (NKJV) Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.

It’s not time to fight for victory. Now is simply the time to diffuse the knowledge of it everywhere!

The Fight Of Faith

Jesus already fought against everything in this world. Because people merely need knowledge of it to receive it, the Bible only speaks of one more fight that needs to be fought. Just one! It’s called the fight of faith! It’s not a fight to get victory, it’s a fight to get people to believe that victory!

1 Timothy 6:12 (NKJV) Fight the good fight of faith…

God already fought disease. God already fought lack. God already fought sin. God already fought all your fears. He isn’t fighting your problems anymore. He only wants to reveal what He has done for you. God wants to attack all the wrong thinking that hides or skews what He has accomplished through His Son. It’s a fight against wrong thinking. It’s a fight against people’s unbelief. It’s not a fight for victory over anything in this world! Jesus already fought everything in this world. Now He’s only fighting to get people to see it. That’s why it’s simply called “the good fight of faith.”

The only war left is a war against unbelief and wrong thinking! That’s why Paul says the weapons of his warfare were only being used against wrong thinking! 

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (MKJV) For the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, pulling down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought into the obedience of Christ…

Paul says that he is pulling down “strongholds.” That word doesn’t mean “bondages or addictions.” Not at all. That word is referring to “fortresses or fortifications.” A fortification is a symbol in the Bible for wrong thinking. You know that because he describes these fortresses in three ways:

• Imaginations
• Anything that exalt itself against the knowledge of God
• Every thought

Clearly, Paul says that he was fighting wrong thinking — specifically, thinking that was contrary to the knowledge of Jesus. The victory is already won and God wants to attack any thinking that convinces people otherwise! He wants people to see it! It’s not a fight for victory, it’s a fight to get people to see the victory!

The Weapons

We fight this fight of faith simply by preaching to people. We can also fight the fight of faith in our own minds by allowing God to speak to us. 

The good news about Jesus is referred to as weapons that can pull down wrong thinking. As we preach the gospel to people, or God speaks His gospel into our minds, that gospel is tearing down wrong thinking and establishing the truth of Jesus in our minds.

Previously, when Paul said, “The weapons of our warfare are not fleshly,” he was referring to the gospel! It’s the gospel, when it is preached, that pulls down unbelief! That’s why, if you read Ephesians 6, every single piece of the armor of God is an aspect of the gospel. Every single piece of the armor of God is a mentality that He wants to instill in our minds.

Ephesians 6:11-17 (NKJV) Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle 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. 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. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God…

Did you catch that? Every piece of armor is an aspect of the gospel. Every piece of armor is a mentality about Jesus! That’s why the shield is called “faith,” the waist girdle is “truth,” and the shoes represent “being prepared with the gospel of peace.”  Noticing a trend? That’s why the sword is called “the word of God.” Hebrews 4:12 says that the word of God is like a sword that divides our thoughts. The word of God divides the good thoughts from the bad thoughts in our mind, exposing every thought for what it is.

Even the helmet of salvation — you may not see how that is describing a mentality, but it is! 1 Thessalonians says that the helmet is more specifically called “the helmet of the HOPE of salvation.” There’s much to say about this, but hope is the expectation that we can have in our mind, that the salvation inside us will manifest in our lives! So yes, the helmet itself is also a mentality! The helmet represents the expectation we have that God’s salvation will manifest!

1 Thessalonians 5:8 (NKJV) But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on… as a helmet the hope of salvation.

Now let’s talk about the breastplate of righteousness. That may not sound like a mentality at first, but you need to know that the word “righteousness” basically means “right.” In the case of this verse, it is not referring to how we are righteous before God. In this verse, the word righteousness is being used as “right doing.” If you’ve heard our “obedience of faith” material, you know that our only right doing in this new covenant is to believe in God’s Son (John 6:29)! Even if you read 1 John 3:10, 23, God refers to “believing in Jesus” and loving your neighbor as “doing righteousness” and loving your neighbor. So, the breastplate of righteousness is actually the breastplate of belief!

This is proven in 1 Thessalonians 5:8. Instead of calling it the breastplate of righteousness, it refers to it as the breastplate of “faith and love,” because our only righteous deed in this new covenant is faith, which works by love (Galatians 5:6)! The breastplate of righteousness is the breastplate of “faith, which works love.” And guess what? That is a mentality.

1 Thessalonians 5:8 (NKJV) But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.

The Bible is so rich! You can see that every single piece of armor is for your mind! Why is that? Because the victory over all your problems is finished. That’s why Jesus said so at the cross! Now, God is only fighting in the minds of people to reveal what His Son has already done for them! 

Not The Power Of The Devil, But His Deception

We’re not fighting against the power of the devil. He’s already defeated (Colossians 2:15, 1 John 3:5, 8)! We already have full authority over him! We’re not fighting against sin. That’s already defeated too! The fight is against the deceptions of the devil! Jesus did something right and the devil wants to cover it up by any means necessary; with pursuing the things of this world, by making problems seem big and undefeated, or with false religion, which claims to be the truth. I think that’s one of his favorites.

The devil doesn’t care how the gospel is covered up. He just wants it covered because when people see the truth of Jesus, the devil loses his hold in their life. Then they see that nothing is a big deal anymore, because Jesus did it all!

2 Corinthians 4:4 (NKJV) whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.

God takes His gospel and uses it as weapons to tear down the wrong thinking that the devil is trying to establish in this world! The armor both tears down wrong imaginations (like we read from 2 Corinthians 10), but it also protects our mind from receiving that untruth to begin with! Ephesians 6 says that when we put on all His armor into our mind, it enables us to stand against the wiles of the devil! That means, his tricks and deceptions!

Ephesians 6:11, 18 (NKJV) Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. …above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

The devil’s fiery darts are his lies. Proverbs describes throwing firebrands as being symbolic of someone who is lying.

Proverbs 26:18-19 (NKJV) Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death, Is the man who deceives his neighbor, and says, “I was only joking!”

Although, the devil cannot speak directly into your mind (only God can), the devil is trying to keep everyone ignorant of this wonderful truth. It’s already been done. The world has been overcome. The devil himself has been defeated. Jesus has provided a way out for everyone. Jesus beat it all. The devil is just a sore loser who doesn’t want everyone to know.

Spiritual Warfare

In closing, with everything that we have already said, this should correct in our minds what the fight is and what the fight is not.

These days it is not unpopular to talk about “spiritual warfare” and fighting the power of the enemy. This concept could not be further from the truth. Spiritual warfare is not fighting the power of the devil. Sure, we can cast out demons, but that is not spiritual warfare. That is just telling your servants what to do. He’s already defeated. You don’t have to war with his power anymore. If there’s a demon inside of an unbeliever (because they could not be inside of a believer), then tell it to leave, but not because you’re trying to defeat him. You’re able to tell him what to do because he’s already defeated.

Spiritual warfare is just preaching. It’s true that we’re fighting spiritual princes in heavenly places as Ephesians 6 said, but we’re not fighting their power. Ephesians 6 also said, if you’ll notice, that we’re only fighting the wiles of the devil. He’s got nothing. He’s just trying to lie to people, so they don’t realize that he’s already defeated. 

We should also make perfectly clear: our fight is not against sin or any other problem. The devil’s end goal is not to go around and get Johnny to sin saying, “Hey Johnny, you should steal that lollipop from the shelf.” That’s how we perceive the devil’s motivation, but his motivation is in fact to cover up the knowledge of Jesus. He and his demon buddies are called “spirits of anti-Christ” (1 John 4:3). Can you guess what he’s trying to hide? That’s right. He’s just trying to hide Jesus! 

Now if he can do that by getting people pursuing sinful pleasures, then he will certainly do so, but the devil will just as willingly do so through the teaching of the Old Testament law, driving people to try and do something for God, forgetting the finished work of Jesus. In fact, the whole chapter of 2 Corinthians 3 is devoted to this very point (2 Corinthians 3:14, 2 Corinthians 4:3). The point is not “how.” The point is “Who” he is trying to cover up.

The devil is a shrewd angelic creature known as “serpent” (Genesis 3:1, Luke 10:19) He was the shrewdest creature of all the angelic beings that God created in the garden. The devil knows how people get free from him and enjoy the gift of God. That’s through knowing Jesus. So, why would his end goal be to get people to sin, if he knows that despite that sin, if they believe in Jesus, they are set free from him anyway? Therefore, 2 Corinthians 4 says that the devil is trying to blind people’s minds from seeing the good news of Jesus. He knows that the work of Jesus is the most valuable thing for people to see. It is what empowers them to be saved from him, so that is what he is trying to cover up (Romans 1:16)!

If even the devil knows that the truth of Jesus is most valuable to mankind, so much so, that he makes it his mission to cover it up, then we should recognize this is well, and make it our mission to uncover it – all of us receiving God’s word into our own minds and sharing that good news with other people! Unfortunately, most Christians are still fighting the wrong fight. The fight is not against all the problems in the world. Jesus already won that fight. It’s a fight against the unbelief that tries to cover that victory up. As we receive the truth of Jesus into our minds, and speak it forth as well, it’s like pulling out our weapons and preparing for an unbelief smackdown! It’s called the fight of faith.

Q&A:

You may ask, “How can we say that there’s only one fight, if there are sometimes wars to fight, moral and political virtues to fight for, etc.? Well, that’s because, when the fight of faith is fought in people’s minds, everything else is manifested effortlessly. Anything that needs to be done or fought on the outside, will automatically be performed through us by the Spirit, when the true fight is fought on the inside (Romans 12:2)! 

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