THE WEAPONS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
One of the end-time sins is that the nations and
kingdoms will be at war. As we speak, several countries are waging conventional
war with conventional weapons. War is always destructive, resulting in injuries
and casualties, causing much distress to everyone involved.
Since the beginning, the Devil has fought another kind
of war against God, His creation, and His people. It is purely spiritual and
fought in the cosmic realm. It is over the souls of humans. Ultimately, God
comes out as the total victor, and the Devil will be thrown into hell along
with all his followers. Since the Devil knew he was defeated and could never
win over God, he turned his focus and fury on people who are made in God's
image.
How does the Devil wage this spiritual warfare? What
are his strategic battlegrounds? How can we, as Christians, withstand the
onslaught of our adversary? What weapons do we have to fight off the Devil? It
would take a series of sermons to address these questions adequately.
In II Corinthians 6:1-13 the Apostle Paul uses a
warfare analogy to introduce believers to spiritual warfare in their own lives,
families, churches, and communities. In Chapter five, Paul shared God's
salvation is a gift that makes us new people. We are Christ's ambassadors.
As a fellow worker with God, Paul urged the whole
Corinthian Church. II Cor 6:1, "As God's partners (or as we work
together), we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God's kindness and
then ignore it." In NIV, it reads, "not to receive God's grace in
vain."
Most Corinthians were saved by grace but hindered in
their spiritual growth by legalism. Some were not truly saved but deceived by
the false teachings of works. In either case, Paul's concern was that his
preaching of the Gospel of grace would not have the desired impact and that his
many months of ministry at Corinth were for nothing. Paul wanted the Corinthian
Church to become God's ambassadors and proclaim His message of grace and love.
But the enemies' tactics of legalism and false teachings hindered them from
being effective in their ministry.
What happened to Corinthian Christians could happen to
us as well. God may have heard our cries during our troubles and saved us by
grace. After receiving God's grace, we can undo its work by refusing to purify
ourselves from things that contaminate our bodies and souls. God's grace
becomes in vain when we do not live by faith and give ourselves to fear and
unbelief.
I.
Living like the ministers of God.
The apostle Paul modeled God's ministers should live
their life in a secular world. Vs. 3, "We live in such a way that no one
will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault with our ministry. In
everything we do, we show that we are ministers of God."
Paul not only preached the Gospel of love and grace
but demonstrated it through a lifestyle of integrity and humility. So he could
say follow my example as I follow Christ. Paul's faith was seen in His actions
and godly conduct. He made sure that his life was not a stumbling block for
others. Living that way gave no room for others to find fault in his ministry.
As the ambassadors of Christ, how do we live in this
world? Do our actions match what we believe and proclaim? When people see our
behavior, do they wonder who we are and what makes us different? Or despise us
by not finding a connection between our faith and actions?
The early apostles and Christians lived like faithful
ministers of God by patiently enduring troubles, hardships, and calamities of
every kind. Amidst challenging and hard times, how we respond can either bring
glory to God or shame and hinder the cause of Christ.
Certain Christians and ministries bring shame to the
name of Christ by how they live, react, and retaliate amidst opposition and
challenges. We adopt the Old Testament theology of "tooth for tooth, eye
for an eye, and vengeance when wronged.
But that was not how Jesus and the apostle Paul lived.
We, as faithful ministers of God, are to follow their examples. We love those
who hate us, pray for those who persecute us, and forgive our enemies.
On October 2, 2022, in South Tripura, India, Hindu
tribal miscreants entered and started demolishing a church during Sunday
worship. The believers were unfazed and did not retaliate. Instead, they kept
worshipping the Lord. I was upset by the disrespectful act of those
antagonists, simultaneously challenged by the sincere and innocent faith of the
believers.
This is one incident where Christians lived as faithful
ministers of God. Instead of fighting back, they entrusted themselves to God,
the righteous judge. India is number ten on the persecution list of Christians.
Yet the Gospel is advancing due to faithful ambassadors of Christ. The Apostle
Paul lists his share of difficulties and how he handled them so that we can
endure all kinds of problems with the help of the Holy Spirit and remain firm
in our faith.
II.
God uses hardships to purify us and strengthen our faith. (Vs. 5-6)
Vs-5-6, We have been beaten, been put in
prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and
gone without food. We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our
patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love."
Any believer in Christ might go through what Paul went through to a varying
degree.
Why do we go through hardships? Troubles are
consequences of our sins or the sins of others. At times we face troubles due
to our foolish choices. We experience natural disasters due to living in a
fallen world. On rare occasions, God may allow Satan to attack us as he did in
the case of Job, the righteous man. Whatever the source, this is how we respond
to our troubles.
James 1:2-4, "Dear brothers and sisters, when
troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For
you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So
let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect
and complete, needing nothing." Whatever the Devil and others may intend,
God uses it to purify us and strengthen our faith. What else God gave us to
fight spiritual warfare?
III.
The Weapons of Righteousness (Vs:7)
Vs. 7, "We faithfully preach the truth. God's
power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand
for attack and the left hand for defense. "Paul uses a warfare analogy of
weapons to explain how they fought in their war against Satan.
Calling them the weapons of righteousness, Paul
indicated that they are of God and are to be used against the enemy, primarily
in the heavenly realms. He later writes in II Cor 10:3-4, "We are human,
but we don't wage war as humans do. We use God's mighty weapons, not worldly
weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false
arguments. What are those weapons? Our text doesn't specifically list them.
Paul deals extensively with this spiritual weaponry in
Ephesians 6:10-18. From the Full Armor of God, Paul took two weapons and used
them in his right hand and left hand to attack the enemy and defend himself.
They are the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, and the shield of faith to
stop the fiery arrows of the Devil. We can use them successfully against the Devil.
For instance, if the Devil says, "you are
unloved, and no one cares for you. You attack it by quoting I John 3:1, "See
how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is
what we are!" When he throws the arrows of fears of inflation and doubts
about God's character, you lift the shield of faith in your left hand and rest
in the truth.
Phil 4:19. "And this same God who takes care of
me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given
to us in Christ Jesus." When the enemy makes you feel depressed and
anxious about life, again quote these scriptures Psalm 43:5, I Peter 5:7, etc.
Jesus, Paul, the disciples, and the believers who have
gone before used them well. They are available to all believers to aid them in
their war against Satan and his demonic forces. You need to know what they are
and use them effectively in your times of struggles and trials.
