“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power…” 2 Corinthians 10:3-4
The Bible makes it clear that as Christians we are in a war. Not a war like the world knows war, but rather a spiritual battle. A battle against the rulers, the authorities, the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12).
When I first started reading the Old Testament I wondered why there was so many battles and so much fighting. Later I came to realize that much of the Old Testament is a shadow of what was to come in the New Testament. Today there are also many battles but they are spiritual and not physical, because we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood.
Neil Anderson makes the comment that the church is not a hospital but rather a military outpost that has an infirmary. Meaning that while it is the role of the church to care for the sick and wounded, that is not our primary function. Our primary function is to be the salt and light of the earth (Matthew 5:13-16).
In being salt and light we will find ourselves in many spiritual battles. But we fight from a place of victory because Jesus has already disarmed the powers and authorities and made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them by the cross (Colossians 2:15).
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