THE ARMOR OF LIGHT
The final spiritual conflict of this age is coming soon, and it's time for every believer to put on the armor of light
Romans 13:12
The night is nearly over, and the day is near; so let us discard the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Do not live for your desires of the flesh.
No matter how many times the Christians who are caught up in the easy believeism delusions say to you that you are not responsible for accepting Christ's redemption, remember time after time the scriptures say otherwise.
"Discard the deeds of darkness"
In order for God’s armor of light to effectively protect us in battle, two actions are necessary. The first action required of us is repentance. Every soldier of Christ must repent from any deeds of darkness. Our sins give the Devil a foothold into our faithfulness. Unrepentant sin is a chink in the armor of light. If you continue in your sins you leave holes in your armor for doubt, anxiety, and untruth to infect you. And it's not the kind of thing you can do when you're already in the junk. You practice righteousness so that you're ready when the junk happens. You need to practice being in the light and keep your lamp fueled up at all times.
“God is light… if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light… the blood of Jesus His Son purifies us from all sin. (1 John 1:5-7).”
These are actions to be taken by us that we're learning about from the Holy Spirit inspired scriptures. This faith thing isn't passive. Every soldier of Christ must have faith in His Commander Jesus Christ. This is the second action. It is critical for us to believe that God, in Jesus Christ, has already completely disarmed the powers of darkness with His light. The Bible says that Christ has already disarmed Satan’s forces of darkness, triumphing over them through the cross. So we fix our eyes on Jesus. We were saved by faith in Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, and the resurrection in Him. We believe this and stand firm in Jesus' authority over death.
And now we are involved in a spiritual battle with the forces of darkness as we walk in the righteousness of Christ. We don't crucify him over and over again everytime sins overcomes our will. We instead take action, we repent, and we believe. These works are inspired in us by the work of the Holy Spirit. And if you think confession and resisting the devil isn't work? You're not doing it right. The god of this world temps and blinds the hearts and minds of unbelieving people so that they can't see the light. Blinded and deluded they are taken captive and enslaved in a prison of darkness.
This is an invasion by demonic forces. Invading our hearts and minds. Building traps and snares. Sometimes whole fortresses of deception. Soldiers don't drop their weapons and say, "I've got no role in this fight, my general does all that is needed to overcome the many skirmishes and battles I'll face daily". We're warriors clad in Christ's armor of light. We do battle. Thats our role, our action is being ready and forming a resistance of light.
“The weapons of our warfare are not worldly but divinely powerful to demolish strongholds… we take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).
We take every thought captive. We do that. We put on the breastplate of Christ's righteousness. We walk in the readiness of the gospel of peace. We hold tight to the shield of faith to deflect the accusations of the devil. We stand our ground firmly with the belt of truth girding us and strengthening our resolve. And we, thats right we, put on the helmet of salvation and pick up, thats right we pick up, the sword of the spirit which is the word of God. We do these things. And we can do these things because...
We can do everything through Christ, who gives us strength. (Philippians 4:13) He gives it to us so that WE WILL DO IT!
We pray in the Spirit always in every situation. We do that.
Why else would Jesus give us anything if he didn't intend for us to do something with it? If you still can't see it through the fog of universal salvation, see Matthew 25:14-30.
Jesus said:
"For to everyone who has (those who have put what was given to them to work for the kingdom) will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not (those who did nothing with what was given to them), even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant (those slothful wicked servants) into the outer darkness."
Looks like a not so universal salvation there if you ask me. I mean, I could be misinterpreting it but tell me? What sort of salvation is found in the outer darkness? I mean, from what I hear, "In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Sounds like a place you don't want to aspire for. Sounds like a separation based upon not working out one's salvation with fear and trembling. It sounds like there aint no light in that place. Must be if you end up in that place, it's because you didn't put on the armor of light.
Better gear up. Fill up. Charge up. And giddy up.