ENFORCE YOUR VICTORY
Ephesians 6:11: “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”
“That’s not what we’re supposed to do,” twelve year old Jeremy warned his classmate Scott.
“It’s the first day back to school and you’re already ordering me around!” Scott said, throwing his books inside his locker. “Give me a break, Jerm!”
“Why can’t you just follow school rules?” Jeremy asked. “We’re only supposed to go to our lockers before school, at lunch, and before going home!”
People tend to bend rules hard until they break. Scott can sneak to his locker as often as he wants until a teacher catches him. Then Scott will have to stay after school in detention.
Why are people like that? Why doesn’t following rules come naturally? We know that rules are made for our own good!
If you agree that the devil has turned this world away from Christ’s light and plunged us into darkness, you’re partially correct in blaming him for our rebellion. BUT. (There’s that word “but.”) When the word “but” is used, everything that follows that word cancels out everything that came before it.
2 Corinthians 5:17 cancels out blaming the devil for Believers’-in-Christ rebellion. Believers are new creations. We don’t fight the devil for victory. Jesus already defeated him! Believers fight from victory! Romans 8:37 declares that Believers are CONQUERERS!
We enforce that victory by standing our ground—like how Jeremy challenged Scott’s stopping at his locker to dump his books. Jeremy knows he is right. Jeremy knows that he fights from victory ground.
However, not all battles are fought against people.
Ephesians 6:10-18 discusses spiritual warfare. Believers may claim strength in the Lord and His mighty power fighting spiritual warfare. “Wrestle” appears only once. But “stand” appears four times. Like in the opening Scripture, “Stand your ground” is found in verse 13 twice. “Stand firm then,” begins verse 14.
So why are people focused on wrestling their way to victory? Check out the lesson linked below to understand why we struggle.
Take Home Nugget
Ephesians 1:3-5 says that God chose Believers to be holy and blameless, predestined to be adopted into His family. We fight from victory ground by standing as the righteousness of God in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:21 proves that is only made possible by Jesus’ shed blood.
Standing in Jesus’ righteousness enforces our victory by remaining steadfast in faith. The devil will try to challenge your victory with, “You’re not good enough.”
Try telling him, “You don’t scare me. My faith is founded in righteousness!” (Isaiah 54:14).
Jesus’ finished work on the cross enforces our “victorious stand” claim against the devil.
Every one of Jesus’ followers fights from victory ground. Hallelujah!
Adapted from “Fight From Victory, Not For Victory” and “Remain Steadfast in Faith” by Joseph Prince. August 15 and 17, 2016. www.JosephPrince.org
J.D. Griffith
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