The only fight the Christian is called upon to fight is the faith fight. If we are in any other kind of fight, we are in the wrong fight. We need to get out of the wrong fight and get into the right one. Some Christians say, “I’m going to fight the devil.” There’s no need to do that. Jesus already defeated him.
You wouldn’t be any match for him anyway. Because Jesus has already defeated Satan for you, there is no use for you to fight the devil. Some say, “I’m going to fight sin.” There is no need to do that either, because Jesus has the cure for sin. The cure for sin is Jesus, praise God. Jesus put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself according to Hebrews 9:26.
So there really isn’t a sin problem. There is just a sinner problem, and when you get the sinner to Jesus, Jesus cures that. There are enemies in this fight of faith which we are instructed to fight. If there were no enemies or hindrances to faith, there would be no fight to it.
Hindrances to faith exist because of a lack of knowledge of God’s Word. Romans 10:17 states, “... faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
This is a great doctrine (and in some circles that’s about all it is — a doctrine or a dogma), but it will not mean a thing to you until you can believe in your heart and say with your mouth, “Jesus died for me. Jesus was raised from the dead for me! Jesus arose victorious over death, hell, and the grave — and He did it all for me. Praise God forevermore. Jesus arose victorious over Satan.
He conquered Satan for me, and therefore Satan has no dominion over me. I am free. Satan has no dominion over me. It is when you believe it in your heart and confess it with your mouth — that is when the resurrection truth in the Word of God becomes something more than just a doctrine, more than just a dogma, more than just a creed, more than just a theory, it becomes a reality to you.
The Word of God will not mean a thing to you until you can say these Biblical truths with your mouth, and believe them in your heart. Remember, the people who get answers from God, are those who act on His Word.
Faith is simply acting on God’s Word. Many times we unknowingly make a substitution for faith. We substitute “mental assent” or “mental agreement” for faith. For instance, we mentally agree that God’s Word is true, and we think we are believing and that we are in faith, but we are not. You can mentally assent or mentally agree all day long that the Bible is true, but the Word does not become real to you until you act on it. It is only when you act on God’s Word for yourself that it becomes a reality to you. It is only when you act on God’s Word that you are exercising faith.
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“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling” (Psalm 46:1-3).
What a reassuring portion of scripture! In times like these, where is your refuge and strength? If it is not in God, then you are standing on sinking sand. Christ is the only solid rock upon, which one should stand. Never put your trust in your horses and chariots.
Some of us depend on God in small things but are overwhelmed by the great tragedies of life. This Psalm 46:1-3, is saying we can hide from life’s trials and draw strength from the Lord for anything life throws at us. He is always present to help. The next few verses amplify on how strong our faith in the Lord should be.
Notice that the Lord isn’t only our refuge, but He’s also our strength. That means He not only shelters us from and in times of trouble, but He provides us with strength to overcome. His help is not only defensive but offensive too. On our own we can never be strong. I have often heard people trying to console a bereaved person asking them “to be strong”. How can you expect someone who has lost their loved one to be strong? It shows misapplication of the Word of God. Paul says “be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” (Ephesians 6:10). Our strength can only come from God if we are to overcome. This is the time we have to make sure that we remain “under His feathers” as the bible say in Psalm 91.
Grasp what is being said about the mountains being carried into the sea! If the earth was to be removed and all the mountains to be cast in the sea, still we will have no fear, because God is such a present help in trouble. What a statement! If that be true, which it is, then certainly we can still walk in faith even if we are faced with numerous challenges knowing very well that He will deliver us from all our challenges. His word tells us that “many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord will deliver him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19).
We have to trust God and believe in His faithfulness. God is not man that He should lie nor son of man that He should repent. His promises are true. When He says He will deliver us or fear not, He means what He says, and says what He means. Our problem is that we allow our five senses to dominate our life and so we leave no room for faith. He is a good God and He is not the source of all these challenges we are facing. You have to know what His Word says. You can’t know God without knowing His Word. His Word tells us that it is the thief who comes to steal, kill and destroy but He came that we may have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10).
Sometimes people have said after having a little battle in the area of faith or a little fight in obtaining healing, “If I had just been there when Jesus was on the earth, getting healed would have been easy.” However, if you go back and read the four Gospels, you will find that it was not so easy. Take for instance, the woman with the issue of blood.
Jesus said to her, “. . . Daughter, your faith has made you whole...” (Mark 5:34). It was not Jesus’ faith, or someone else’s faith, but it was her own faith that made her whole. To receive her healing, this woman had a number of obstacles to overcome. You know yourself, it’s not always the easiest thing in the world to overcome obstacles. First, according to the Book of Leviticus, a woman with an issue of blood was in the same category that a leper was in. She was not supposed to be in public, mixing and mingling with other people. If anyone came close to her she was to cry out, “Unclean! Unclean!” That was her religious teaching. But this woman got right into that crowd, mixed and mingled with them, and reached right through all those people and touched Jesus’ clothes. So she had this obstacle of “church” teaching to overcome in order to receive healing. But she overcame it.
Second, women in that country, especially in that day, did not have the rights and privileges of mixing freely in public which they have in most parts of the world today.
It takes a fight to maintain one’s faith. Paul says at the end of his life “I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race and I have kept the faith”(2 Tim 4:7-8). May God help you and I to be able to say the same at the end of our lives.
