CHAPTER OUTLINE:
A. Feel Different About Sin and Begin a Process of Change.
B. You Can Expect Conflict.
1. War with Ourselves.
2. War with the World.
3. War with Satan.
C. You Can Expect Victory, Joy, and a Peaceful Spirit.
SO WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT?
The answer to this question is going to be limited to what we can expect in this life as God-fearing, obedient Christians. This is written, assuming that you have now accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, and have truly decided to live your life for Him. We will also assume for this discussion that this life is going to continue–that we will not be “raptured out” (when God removes all His children from the earth) or be called home for some other reason.
Now, having limited our discussion to this particular period of time, there is actually no one other than God who can even begin to answer this question with any certainty. Things are changing so fast, and there are so many major variables shaking this country (and this world) right now, that none of us knows what’s about to happen. Between our societal and governmental plunge into godlessness, personal and government debt, riots and the growing anarchy in our cities, increasing numbers of ecological problems, the threat of nuclear, chemical, and/or biological warfare, our country’s future doesn’t look very promising. Acknowledging that some major life changing event could occur, we will assume for this discussion that it will not. This question, therefore, will be answered based upon our society’s current condition and trends, and what the Bible tells us to expect.
A. YOU CAN EXPECT TO FEEL DIFFERENT ABOUT SIN, AND TO BEGIN A LIFE-LONG PROCESS OF CHANGE.
Initially, at the point of salvation–at the moment you ask Jesus to become your Lord and Savior–you may or may not feel a thing. Most people don’t. What you should feel is a difference toward sin. You will never again be able to knowingly sin against God and feel good about it afterward. (If you can, you had better go back to the beginning of this book and start over.) You can also expect God to begin changing you–to begin a life-long process of character development. His plan is for us to become humble, loving, righteous, trustworthy, generous, patient, kind, gentle, temperate, and self-controlled people. This development is referred to in the Bible as the process of sanctification. Please understand that God wanting to change us does not mean that He doesn’t love us or accept us. He does — just the way we are. He simply loves us too much to leave us this way. He knows that sin–even confessed and forgiven–can still destroy our earthly lives, as well as the lives of the people around us.
God also has a plan for this world which requires our loving and righteous involvement; thus, in order for either one of His plans to succeed, we must become the people He wants us to be. What many Christians fail to realize is the fascinating and frightening way God has chosen to rule the human race. He has chosen to intervene in the affairs of man, often at the request of and in cooperation with man. Remember, He will not disregard man’s free-will. He has, therefore, made this life a team effort. He is going to accomplish many of His goals only when His children ask, help, and agree, and are living in obedience. (This is why it is frightening.) God uses our prayers, to get involved; our hands and feet, to love, serve, and help one another; and our voices, to tell the world about salvation.
So, here’s the program: It is the love and power of God, in cooperation with the will and service of man, bringing about the things that God wants to happen. Notice that it is the things that “God wants to happen.” It is never the “will of man” exclusively. God is not going to do anything or grant any requests which are against His will. If He did, if He moved according to the uninformed, irrational, and near-sighted requests which we so often make, this world would be in far worse trouble than it already is.
Understanding that this world is a joint effort, we can see the importance of thinking and speaking and being like Jesus (not in deity but in all the characteristics listed above). As it is with any team, nothing gets accomplished until we are all striving to accomplish the same goals. Therefore, upon accepting salvation, we can expect (1) to feel negative about sin, (2) for God to begin the loving and patient (though not always painless) process of making us more like Himself, and (3) after we have experienced some growth, to begin being used in the lives of other people.
B. YOU CAN EXPECT CONFLICT.
I would love to tell you that God’s seeking to change us, combined with our natural resistance to being changed, is the only conflict we will experience as Christians. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The Christian life is a life of conflict. Being a Christian is being at war! It is war with ourselves, war with the world, and war with Satan.
1. WAR WITH OURSELVES
In the war with ourselves, it is our new God-given born again spirit, which wants to cooperate with the Holy Spirit, versus our flesh (our sinful human nature), which is attracted to the evil which this world has to offer. This means we will be torn at times between wanting to obey God (which may require waiting for a reward and may not be the easiest path to take at the time) and the desire for quicker gratification and a less troublesome walk through this life. God is going to ask each of us to make some choices that we might otherwise never make. What we must always remember, though, is that God’s ways are always the best and His rewards last forever. Remember also, once we have accepted Jesus, we will never again face a temptation which we are unable to resist or that He does not give us a way of escape when facing it.
2. WAR WITH THE WORLD
In our “war with the world,” we can basically just expect to be hated by much of the world’s population. We can also expect persecution. This hatred is really beginning to grow in the United States, and it will continue to grow, the farther this country moves away from God. You see, the world hates God. It hates His pronouncement that He is Lord, and we are to obey His commands. It hates the fact that He is Creator and Provider, and we owe all that we have and are to Him. It hates His proclamation that we are sinful and in need of His forgiveness. And it hates His promised judgment upon all who reject Him. Our conflict comes in that we remind the world of God. Our seeking to live obediently before God serves as a ceaseless reminder to the rest of the world that He is watching. The situation is naturally made worse as we seek to carry out our God-given command to tell the world about the good news of salvation. We must, however, regardless of the consequences, keep telling them. You or I may be the very ones through whom God can reach certain people, especially friends and members of our own families.
Before leaving this subject, it is important that we understand what our reaction to all this hatred and persecution is to be. Put very simply: We are to love our enemies. We are to love the people who hate us, pray for the people who persecute us, and forgive the people who hurt us. Jesus even prayed for the Roman soldiers who had just nailed Him to the cross. You see, God wants us to have His perspective on this war: to see Satan as our enemy and people as our mission. A Christian’s mission in life is to grow closer to God, and to lead other people down the same path. (F.Y.I. God does not intend for us to sit idly by, allowing ourselves to be victimized by random acts of evil. There is certainly nothing wrong with locking our doors, legally carrying a weapon, or learning to defend ourselves.)
3. WAR WITH SATAN
This brings us to our final area of conflict, “war with Satan.” No, our struggles with the enemy are definitely not over once we are saved – once we are released from their power and authority. Actually, they will grow stronger the more we choose to serve and live for God. You see, we have not been rescued from the enemy to run and hide from the battle; we have been rescued to fight the enemy. Once we have accepted Jesus and have gained a thorough understanding of His Word, we have everything that we need for engaging in spiritual warfare–for fighting against Satan and his forces. Now, we not only have the ability to withstand their attacks against us, we are expected to go back in and rescue more captives – by leading them to salvation. Ephesians chapter 6 gives a list of the spiritual weapons and armor God has made available, and it is extremely important that we learn how to possess and apply them. One of these spiritual weapons is the ability to use God’s name (His authority) over Satan and his demonic forces, to either stop an attack against us, or to force them away from other people and places. This authority is similar to the authority that a police officer has when he commands, “Stop in the name of the law!” When he speaks, he is speaking not with his own authority, but rather, with the authority of the government. If someone resists, he will have the government to contend with. This works, however, only if the people who are involved are willing to repent and turn to God. If not, then the only truly effective weapon we have is prayer.
Before jumping recklessly into the battle, though, we must (1) develop a strong prayer life, (2) gain an understanding of spiritual warfare, (3) learn how to apply our weapons and armor, and (4) be extremely sure that we are walking in obedience to God. (I would suggest, in preparation for this, that you pray for guidance, then acquire some of the information which is available from Bob Larson Ministries, mentioned in the preceding chapter.) Once we do all this, we become the aggressors in this war. We are the ones attacking Satan’s strongholds—over over individuals, families, cities, etc.—and and foiling his attempts to lead people toward destruction.
Satan, of course, understands all of this, and it is extremely important that we do too. If we do not, he may increase his attack, seeking to keep us in the ‘victim role.’ He would love to keep us in the same defeated condition that we have been in the past – subject to his temptations, accusations, and lies. (Our relationship to Satan after salvation is like having outgrown a bully who’s been pushing us around for years. We now have the ability to stop him, but unless we realize it, it may not do us any good.)
C. YOU CAN EXPECT VICTORY, JOY, AND A PEACEFUL SPIRIT!
So we can expect conflict (with Satan, the world, and the flesh) and we can expect often difficult, but always glorious change (as God seeks to make us more and more like Himself) and we can expect them throughout our lives. Change and conflict are part of the Christian experience. On top of it all, though, we can expect victory. If throughout our lives, we are truly seeking to trust and obey the Lord–continuously striving to find and fulfill His will–we will find ourselves winning the battles, accomplishing everything He has called us to do, and becoming all He has created us to be. We will also find ourselves walking through this life with joy in our hearts and having an inner peace which is beyond the world’s understanding; a peace that comes from knowing God, knowing truth, and understanding the realities of life from the eternal perspective. Some of these truths are:
We are God’s children and God’s friends!
He will never leave us nor forsake us!
He will never quit loving us!
He will meet all of our needs!
He will give us the (beneficial) desires of our hearts!
He has promised to make everything work for our good!
We are totally forgiven and made righteous (when we confess and repent)!
We have eternal life and will live forever with God in heaven!
Our treasures are eternal and can never be lost, stolen, or destroyed!
Our lives have a great and eternal purpose!
We have God’s wisdom, while all the world has is foolishness!