Due to the relentless warfare occurring in daily living, the purposes of God cannot be achieved without there being strife. The victories Christians achieve can only be attained through rigorous discipline and daily battling against the forces of evil. Even so, these victories can only happen if the believer puts on the full armor of God.
The secular world of today believes that unless something can be seen, felt and measured, then it does not exist. They do not believe God created the universe and propose that the world is a closed system. The world is totally materialistic in its outlook on reality. If this were the case, then all one would have to do to change an individual is to change his environment (since it would be a closed system). This does not always work, for even those of privileged backgrounds have been known to perform heinous acts of wickedness. If the problems of the world were only materialistic in nature, then the problem of evil would have been solved long ago. A reading of the news proves this idea to be false, as society has not gotten better; in some cases, there is more evil in the world than ever before.
A Christian, on the other hand, knows there are other factors at work in the world. There is a spiritual realm in which warfare is occurring. The Christian is involved daily in this war, as Satan seeks to thwart the plans of God.
John R.W. Stott explains that one of the reasons for spiritual warfare is the existence of the devil and his demons, who are diametrically opposed to the purposes of God. These hostile entities will do all they can to destroy God’s plan. The minions of hell are set to undo all that God has done. Where barriers are broken down, the devil wants to build back up. Where there is light, the devil wants there to be darkness. Where there is unity and harmony, the devil wants discord and strife. Where there is life, the devil wants there to be death. For these reasons, there will be spiritual warfare until Satan is finally defeated.
The believer must remember that God has provided us with his armor for our success. Jesus Christ is our truth and righteousness. The gospel is the gospel of Christ, and our faith is faith in him. Christ is our salvation, and he opens the channels of prayer for us. Therefore, let the believer put on the full armor of God.
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