… so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well …
Summary: Paul’s admonition to “fight the battle well” makes us wonder what he means by “fight.”
It is worth taking a few minutes to pause and think about what Paul means by “fight the battle well.”
Normally, in human terms, the word “fight” involves a struggle for domination. Sometimes it is a matter of aggression. The other side of the coin is fighting to survive. Both types involve overcoming the opponent.
Our language embraces this kind of thinking. We talk about “survival of the fittest” and the “struggle to survive.” Even our pets know how hard it is to get along because it is a “dog eat dog world.”
Christians fight differently.
Believers don’t fight for domination. We don’t even fight to survive. Instead, our struggle is to obey God and honor our King.
Think about Jesus for a moment. How many times did he haul off and punch a Pharisee in the mouth? It is not that he wouldn’t have been justified in dispensing a little “justice.”
And what about Paul? Did he hurl insults at his opponents? Did he ever take out a sword and start lopping off limbs? Did he, after his encounter with Jesus, ever do anything that would have physically hurt anybody?*
No.
So what does Paul mean by “fight the battle well?”
Perhaps the best description of what it means to fight a Christian battle is found in Ephesians (Ephesians 6:10-20). In this chapter, Paul famously talks about a Christian’s battle gear — the armor of God.
To begin with, Paul points out that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood.” This is important. Jesus died because he wanted “all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 1:4). So if our King, Jesus, wants people to be saved, it doesn’t make sense for us to go around beating them up.
The second thing that stands out in the Ephesians passage is the constant refrain of standing your ground: … take your stand against the devil’s schemes. (v 11), and … “stand your ground,” …”to stand,” “Stand firm …” (vs 13-14)
Our God wants us to stand firm. Our only weapon is the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (vs 17).
The other instruction he gives us is to pray: pray, pray, pray (Eph 6:18-20).
If we can do these things, hang onto the Word of God, walk in the Spirit, and stand firm in the faith, we will fight the battle well.
Application: Stand firm!
Food for Thought: If we are in a battle, how do we know if we are winning?
*Yes, he did wish that certain people would emasculate themselves, but that was just talk (Galatians 5:12).
I think the way we know we are winning is because of the work of the cross. It isn’t what we do, it is what has been done. So entering the battle we should depend on the One who gave us the victory – Jesus. I like that you said we should pray, pray, pray. At the end of the Ephesians 6 spiritual armor passage, it mentions prayer of one kind or another six times. The battle belongs to the Lord and we need His power over our own.
2 Chronicles 20: 5 – 15: Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the Lord in the front of the new courtyard 6and said:
“Lord, the God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. 7Our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? 8They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying, 9‘If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’
10“But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them. 11See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance. 12Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
13All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the Lord.
14Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly.
15He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.
If we are in a battle, how do we know if we are winning?
We walk, stay in step with our Lord knowing HE will win the battle.
1 Corinthians 15:57, But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:4, For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
Our God is our strength, He will protect us from and destroy our enemies. David knew this as he faced Goliath.
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1 Samuel 17:32-47
V32 “Don’t worry about this Philistine,” David told Saul. “I’ll go fight him!”
V33 “Don’t be ridiculous!” Saul replied. “There’s no way you can fight this Philistine and possibly win! You’re only a boy, and he’s been a man of war since his youth.”
V37 The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!”
V45-46 David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel!
V47 And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!”
Within wars there are battles; there is a war being waged by evil against God, challenging His authority, His character, His truth, and His faithfulness. God has already won this war, but evil will not concede the victory.
The battle being waged is for our hearts and the hearts of all mankind. God created mankind with a free will to choose Him or sin, and even though we rebelled, He provided a way for us to be reconciled to Him through Christ. The enemy wants to create doubt, rendering believers ineffective in sharing the Gospel of Christ. The enemy wants to create doubt, rendering unbelievers unwilling to accept the Gospel of Christ.
If we are in a battle, how do we know if we are winning?
We have to look at the fruit of our walk with Christ within our own life. The evidence is in the transformation Christ enacts in each of us. We cannot judge this based on our works, but rather our motivations and recognition of the work being done through us.
Matthew 7:18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.
2 Corinthians 5:17
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
We have to look at the fruit of our walk with Christ outside our own life. Are people better after us than before us? Does the light of Christ shine outward from within us, and attract others, so that we are a conduit of truth and righteousness?
Colossians 1:10
10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
Philemon 1:6
6 and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.
Philippians 1:27
27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,