One day, God willing, I am going to finish writing a book that I have been working on regarding the vast layers of Christianity, from the roots and foundation of it in Genesis, all the way to the present day model that we have today. There are so many layers and complex physical and spiritual situations surrounding the Holy scripture and its relationship with mankind’s practice of it, that even in such a more concise attempt to shed light on Christianity, I will come up far short in describing such complexities. My only goal in writing such a book is to put into layman’s terms our journey as a religion and a people of God.
No man should or could ever take away or add to the Holy writings, but as we mature as Christians, the words of the Bible have new and deeper meanings attached. That's okay, because it gives both myself and other people more substance to work with in the future as we exhaust ourselves in our attempt to draw closer to God. What is milk to some has become meat to others.
You see, the Bible is a living book and the only one of its kind and no human could ever dream of fully mastering its content or even scratching the surface of its depth. Inside its pages, what we see are countless examples and instructions urging us to study, meditate, and to practice what we glean from its directions. A life dedicated to such knowledge and edification is our only hope in understanding our existence.
But today, I am going to do a 180 degree turn from the usual exegetical study of the Word. Instead, I want us to see how amazing the Bible truly is from a different angle by once again seeing it as milk and seeing how God can use a single verse to completely cover the entire walk of a Christian. He does this with such accuracy that even a new convert could easily comprehend the words and meaning that God wants them to follow as they read it for their first time. Is this possible? Well, of course... With God, all things are possible!
Now, there are many verses that God uses as milk to some and meat to others, but I want to show how only thirteen words can become the sum of our religion once saved. "Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) How many times have we heard that verse? How many times have we said a quick “amen” and kept moving along? We need to stop right here for a moment and dig in. This is a very vital piece of doctrine to understand. Every aspect of Christianity can be found here in this one verse. Submitting to God requires us to give ourselves over to Him fully from salvation forward. It also sets aside our own selfish agenda and replaces it with His will. His will is holy, so we must resist sin and satan to truly be submitted to it, for those things can not work simultaneously. In return, our reward is the promise of this scripture that the devil will flee from us.
Most times when that verse is quoted, it is quoted just as “resist the devil and he will flee”. While that is true, we must understand that scripture is written a certain way and that precision is a must in understanding any scripture. Yes, resisting the devil will cause him to flee, BUT we must be submitted to God to attain such a victory. It would be hard to imagine a rebellious Christian having any success in fighting off the devil's attempts to bring them down. We must be obedient to God. Period.
Once we understand where we must be spiritually, we can move on to how this victory can be obtained. We have been given a spiritual set of battle gear that includes everything we need to defeat our adversary. But, we have to know how to use each piece in order to be victorious. We won’t get into Ephesians 6 right now because we are only going to talk about our offense. Our only offensive weapon is the Sword of the Spirit aka the Word of God. And while resisting sounds like a defensive posture, I believe that when it's coupled with the Word of God, it is our only offensive move. We need to use the Word of God to expose the devil's lies and temptations. That's the form of resistance we need, like in the movies when a rogue government is being met with resistance. That will cause the devil to flee.
But, understanding the process is only half the battle. The other half is understanding the enemy and what he is able to fight and attack you with. In an attempt to keep it "milk", we must understand that Satan is going to attack us with temptation and sinful desire. Those things, when acted upon, become sin and sin becomes death for us as humans. These are the things we need to resist, our lusts and desires of the flesh. We do so by bringing them in to the “light”, which is the Word of God. Anything born in darkness has no place in the light, so therefore it must flee.
Finally, we can begin to see that all of the Bible is an instruction manual for humans to live by. A great majority of it is explaining to us what exactly sin is so that we can resist. For example, all of the complicated scripture in the Levitical laws simply stem from man's desire to sin, whether sexually or in other ways. In the New Testament, many more examples of the types of actions considered to be unholy are given to us for our knowledge and for us to be vigilantly guarding against. Even small sins such as lying are equally important as they lead to bigger sins and so on. When we submit to the doctrine that we learn in God’s Holy Word, it will be much easier for us to resist the devil. As well, we must read our Bibles daily so that we keep our swords sharp. Don’t forget that even Paul described sin as “the sin that does so easily beset us”. So, we need to remain sober and alert while keeping our training up to date. Then, we will be seen by Satan as a strong foe, a warrior for God, and someone not to be messed with. The bottom line is that, even if we don’t understand anything else or we have no extensive knowledge of the Bible, when we submit to God, we are in a solid position to resist the devil, therefore causing him to flee. James 4:7 is only thirteen words. Grasp them, live by them, and use them to fight with, so that you can live victorious in Jesus Christ. lefthook.info
Examine yourself. Test yourself. Get equipped. Fight the good fight. It’s happening now.
No man should or could ever take away or add to the Holy writings, but as we mature as Christians, the words of the Bible have new and deeper meanings attached. That's okay, because it gives both myself and other people more substance to work with in the future as we exhaust ourselves in our attempt to draw closer to God. What is milk to some has become meat to others.
You see, the Bible is a living book and the only one of its kind and no human could ever dream of fully mastering its content or even scratching the surface of its depth. Inside its pages, what we see are countless examples and instructions urging us to study, meditate, and to practice what we glean from its directions. A life dedicated to such knowledge and edification is our only hope in understanding our existence.
But today, I am going to do a 180 degree turn from the usual exegetical study of the Word. Instead, I want us to see how amazing the Bible truly is from a different angle by once again seeing it as milk and seeing how God can use a single verse to completely cover the entire walk of a Christian. He does this with such accuracy that even a new convert could easily comprehend the words and meaning that God wants them to follow as they read it for their first time. Is this possible? Well, of course... With God, all things are possible!
Now, there are many verses that God uses as milk to some and meat to others, but I want to show how only thirteen words can become the sum of our religion once saved. "Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) How many times have we heard that verse? How many times have we said a quick “amen” and kept moving along? We need to stop right here for a moment and dig in. This is a very vital piece of doctrine to understand. Every aspect of Christianity can be found here in this one verse. Submitting to God requires us to give ourselves over to Him fully from salvation forward. It also sets aside our own selfish agenda and replaces it with His will. His will is holy, so we must resist sin and satan to truly be submitted to it, for those things can not work simultaneously. In return, our reward is the promise of this scripture that the devil will flee from us.
Most times when that verse is quoted, it is quoted just as “resist the devil and he will flee”. While that is true, we must understand that scripture is written a certain way and that precision is a must in understanding any scripture. Yes, resisting the devil will cause him to flee, BUT we must be submitted to God to attain such a victory. It would be hard to imagine a rebellious Christian having any success in fighting off the devil's attempts to bring them down. We must be obedient to God. Period.
Once we understand where we must be spiritually, we can move on to how this victory can be obtained. We have been given a spiritual set of battle gear that includes everything we need to defeat our adversary. But, we have to know how to use each piece in order to be victorious. We won’t get into Ephesians 6 right now because we are only going to talk about our offense. Our only offensive weapon is the Sword of the Spirit aka the Word of God. And while resisting sounds like a defensive posture, I believe that when it's coupled with the Word of God, it is our only offensive move. We need to use the Word of God to expose the devil's lies and temptations. That's the form of resistance we need, like in the movies when a rogue government is being met with resistance. That will cause the devil to flee.
But, understanding the process is only half the battle. The other half is understanding the enemy and what he is able to fight and attack you with. In an attempt to keep it "milk", we must understand that Satan is going to attack us with temptation and sinful desire. Those things, when acted upon, become sin and sin becomes death for us as humans. These are the things we need to resist, our lusts and desires of the flesh. We do so by bringing them in to the “light”, which is the Word of God. Anything born in darkness has no place in the light, so therefore it must flee.
Finally, we can begin to see that all of the Bible is an instruction manual for humans to live by. A great majority of it is explaining to us what exactly sin is so that we can resist. For example, all of the complicated scripture in the Levitical laws simply stem from man's desire to sin, whether sexually or in other ways. In the New Testament, many more examples of the types of actions considered to be unholy are given to us for our knowledge and for us to be vigilantly guarding against. Even small sins such as lying are equally important as they lead to bigger sins and so on. When we submit to the doctrine that we learn in God’s Holy Word, it will be much easier for us to resist the devil. As well, we must read our Bibles daily so that we keep our swords sharp. Don’t forget that even Paul described sin as “the sin that does so easily beset us”. So, we need to remain sober and alert while keeping our training up to date. Then, we will be seen by Satan as a strong foe, a warrior for God, and someone not to be messed with. The bottom line is that, even if we don’t understand anything else or we have no extensive knowledge of the Bible, when we submit to God, we are in a solid position to resist the devil, therefore causing him to flee. James 4:7 is only thirteen words. Grasp them, live by them, and use them to fight with, so that you can live victorious in Jesus Christ. lefthook.info
Examine yourself. Test yourself. Get equipped. Fight the good fight. It’s happening now.
