DRAWING NEAR
September 4
The Balanced Approach to Spiritual Victory
"Be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. Put on
the full armor of God" (Eph. 6:10-11).
Spiritual victory is not passive; it involves the discipline of daily
obedience to Christ and His Word.
When I was a child, my father and I watched a boxing match on
television. After going through the ritual of punching the air,
kicking his feet, and putting rosin on his shoes, one of the fighters
knelt in the corner and crossed himself. I asked my dad if that
helped. He said, "It does if he can punch. If he can't punch, it
doesn't help at all."
That illustrates a point we touched on yesterday and will explore
further today: God's part and our part in spiritual warfare. Many
Christians believe that spiritual victory comes simply by
surrendering more completely to God. They quote verses like 2
Chronicles 20:15 to support their view: "The battle is not yours but
God's." "Stop struggling and striving," they say. "Instead, yield and
completely surrender yourself to God. He alone does the fighting and
gives the victory."
Such people are often called "Quietists" because they view the
Christian's role in spiritual warfare as passive or quiet. Their
anthem is "Let go and let God."
But Scripture gives a very different view of the believer's role. It
pictures the Christian life as a war, a race, and a fight. We depend
on God's energy, power, and strength, but are by no means passive.
We're commanded to apply ourselves to good deeds, resist the devil,
bring our bodies under subjection, walk in wisdom, press toward the
prize, cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit,
work out our salvation with fear and trembling, and perfect holiness
in the fear of God. Those are calls to fervent action.
In Ephesians 6:10-11 Paul says, "Be strong in the . . . strength of
His might. Put on the full armor of God." That's the balance. God
supplies the resources; we supply the effort.
Suggestions for Prayer:
Thank God for the strength He gives for spiritual victory. Ask
for His wisdom in living a balanced Christian life.
For Further Study:
Read 2 Peter 1:3-7.
What does God supply for Christian living? What must you as a
believer supply?
Drawing Near, Copyright 1993 John F. MacArthur, Jr.
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
http://www.gty.org
~~~
2 Peter 1:3-7
3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to
life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by
glory and virtue,
4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious
promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine
nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through
lust.
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your
faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,
6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to
perseverance godliness,
7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.
These devotions are posted with permission from John MacArthur's
first (1993) devotional work, _Drawing Near_, and they are also sent
out daily for free to several folks via e-mail.
In addition, John's second (1997) devotional, _Strength for Today_,
is also available free via e-mail only. _Strength for Today_ follows
the same format as what you have seen here from _Drawing Near_, but
with different monthly themes.
If you would like to receive daily devotions via e-mail from either
of these series, just let me know (via e-mail), and I will gladly add
you to the list(s) of your choice.
You can hear John MacArthur daily via the Internet by visiting:
http://www2.oneplace.com/Ministries/Grace_to_You/
and
http://www.gty.org.uk/
You may email John MacArthur in care of Grace to You at:
letters@gty.org
NOTE for those of you reading via newsgroups: If you wish to reach
me, please contact me via e-mail for quickest results.
In Christ,
Peter
Peter G. Chase :: Columbus, Ohio, USA
pchase1@wideopenwest.com
STOP! Who do you think Jesus is?
http://www.gty.org/Gospel
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To forgive is to set a prisoner free, and to discover that the prisoner was you. -Alistair Begg
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