Why Most Christians Are Ineffective Against the Attacks of Satan
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· 9 viewsThe failure of Christians to see themselves having died on the cross with Christ,Hinders them from recognizing the victory that they have over the flesh granted to them by the power of Christ.
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This is a message I pray that will be a revelation to you as to who you are in Christ and what it means to be a new creation in his kingdom.
I will try to be as transparent as I can be. Then, I desire that the Holy Spirit give you great revelation today so that you will press on to be all God created you to be.
I pray that you will walk the Narrow Road exemplifying the type of life worthy of a child of God.
This is not an exhaustive study, but it is merely an introduction for you to begin to realize what the possibilities are for you.
I ask you to consider as we go along
20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
There is no way I can even come close to expressing what it is God has for all of us when we come to a true revelation of who we are. Then as we get close to seeking what we can begin to see, we have to recognize that there is a far greater reality than what we can think.
If I can get you to see yourself as God sees you, then perhaps your eyes will be open, and your faith will be increased for you to make an effort to attain your full divine potential.
We are now going to read a few verses that many theologians believe sums up the entire message of Paul's preaching. We are just going to read the first few verses. Very briefly, he tells us everything we need to know about our life in Christ.
14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died;
15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
16 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.
Here now, we see the ministry of Paul expressing the death of Christ in three areas because of his love for us. Lock in these three points I'm going to share with you.
Christ died so that
1) we might die in him.
2) we might now live by His power for him
3) we might become a new creation that no longer regards things according to the flesh.
14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died;
15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
The foundation of our life and our ministry in Christ, is love! It is the love of God that gives us life. Our God is a God of love. Thus, we live our lives loving one another in spite of the faults of one another. Paul then gives us the reason. because we judge thus: 1) that if One died for all, then all died; 15 and He died for all,
Please get the meaning of this. Jesus Christ died for all men; this means he died in place of all who would believe in him. If he died in our place, then we died with him!
Again, the scripture. that if One died for all, then all died; 15 and He died for all,
Think about it: he died for all, then all men who believe in him died at the same time he died! He died for all of us who believe in him. He died in our place, which means when he died, we died with him. I'm saying this in various ways so that you can get the point that we died in Christ years ago with him on the cross.
We must learn to see ourselves as dead men and women. If we believe Christ died for us then, the Scripture says we died with him.
Let me read this now from the passion Bible:
14 For it is Christ’s love that fuels our passion and motivates us, because we are absolutely convinced that he has given his life for all of us. This means all died with him,
This means all died with him,
We should learn to see ourselves as having died on the cross with Christ.
This is confirmed in other Scriptures.
6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.
As preachers, we have done a great job at getting you to see the sacrifice that Christ made. We have created the image of Jesus on the cross. This is good. However, we must begin to realize, according to Scripture, it was not only Christ who was on the cross alone. It was you and me also. We must begin to see ourselves as being crucified with him in our old man. When he died on the cross, we ourselves should see ourselves as having died.
This is how God sees it for all of us who believe in Christ. When Jesus died on the cross, God sees us as having died in Christ. Then, God, the Father, accepts the death of Christ as our death. He sees us as having died along with Christ. Thus we can repeat again
14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died;
To what other conclusion can we come?
We must learn to see ourselves as God sees us. Then, and only then, can we begin to walk in the power and anointing that God desires to work in us and through us.
Another way to phrase that final clause is to say, "if Christ died for all, then all died in Christ.
This is the foundation of our faith. No one has to die if they believe in Christ. That is because we believe Christ died for him at the cross and God will judge our faith in Christ as righteousness.
Now, having discussed the first point that Christ died for all and the Scripture saying we died with him on the cross. Let us conclude we must get the revelation that we are no longer alive for ourselves. We must see what the Scripture says and speak what the Scripture says. We may not clearly understand it but we are to trust in the Lord and lean not to our own understanding. We must get the word of God in us so that he may be able to transform us to what he wants us to become. If we cannot begin to see ourselves as dead to our flesh and our sin we have the power of God to work within us.
Now, let us look at the second point.
14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died;
15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
2) Christ died so that we might now live by His power for him.
We died in Christ so that he may now live in us, and because he lives in us, we should live for him!
Because we died with Christ, we are to be dead to the flesh. Therefore, we died in Christ so that the life we live now is not a life we live for ourselves, but we live for Christ who is now in us.
I want to say that again. We died in Christ so that he may now live in us, and because he lives in us, we should live for him!
Paul repeats this in
21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
He was saying that as he lives, he lives for Christ, not for Paul. How different that is from us. We live our lives for what we want. Not to the glory of God. But the word of God says we should no longer live for ourselves. Considering the context, we are to see ourselves as dead to living for ourselves. Christ even tells us not to be concerned about ourselves.
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
We are not to be concerned about ourselves. How radically different than the reality. Many of us worried to death about what’s going on around us. If we live in Christ and he is in then greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. What did James say?
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
We are not to live our lives for ourselves, focusing upon our desires, our thoughts, our pleasure, our needs, our fame, our power, our family, our nation offer anything else personal. Christ died so that we do not have to live for ourselves anymore. What did Jesus say?
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
The very first thing if we desire to come after him, we have to deny ourselves! My brothers and sisters, there is no way around this. You must be willing to die to self and live for Christ. If you’re going to live for Christ, you have to keep his commandments; and what is the greatest of these? To love one another as he has loved us.
This, is our first step to experiencing the power of God working in and through us. God does not share his glory with us. We must acknowledge death to self before the fullness of the power of God begins to manifest in us.
Look at what Peter said in regards to the miraculous in our lives.
24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.
The healing power, as well as any other miraculous power from God, is contingent upon us being willing to die to the flesh to live for righteousness! Jesus said;
24 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.
25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
I am trying to get you to come to the awareness of the necessity of you denying yourself even to the point of seeing yourself as already dead so that Christ and his power may richly dwell in you. This very same power that raised Christ from the grave is the power that will work in you when you learn to die to you. You must embrace the mindset of considering yourself as having died with Christ.
Is this not what Scripture is saying?
See if you can understand that if you died with Christ, you are also raised with Christ, which means the power that raised him from the grave is the same power in you. This power will not be completely manifest in you if you continue to see yourself as living in the flesh.
The first step in conquering your flesh is to recognize your death on the cross with Christ. Then as your mind becomes renewed to this concept as God's will, the power of the flesh will be broken. It must be broken!
17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
See yourself as having died with Christ and not desiring the things of this world. The more you can do this, the more you will be led by the Spirit
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
And if you are sons of God, the power of God is your inheritance.
The Word of God has said:
29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.
We all must come to realize that as we continue to see to promote the flesh; to promote the things of this world rather than the things of the kingdom of God, we are hindering the power of God from working in us. It is the weakness of this power that allows Satan to continue to wreck havoc in our lives.
Now to the third point:
14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died;
15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
16 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,
3) Christ died so that we might become a new creation that no longer regards things according to the flesh.
As a new creation, we are not to think like we used to think before we died on the cross. We no longer look at people the same way. We are now spiritual creatures that do not hold on to the ways of the world. We are dead to the world system and its way of things, its politics, its doctrines, its way of characterizing people. This world is not our home!
20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
We are a new creation!
We are a new creation. When God created the heavens and the earth, the universe had never seen the likes of what he was about to do. It was unheard of.
Now you are a new creation! What God has done to do for you is unheard of.
9 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
You are a new thing! A new creation in Christ. You have the ability to do astounding things and they are based upon your willingness to die to your flesh.
It is truly unimaginable who we really are. We can only see now as through a glass darkly. We have no idea, absolutely no idea, of who we truly are.
It is absolutely certain as long as we continue to look at things with the flesh taking priority in our lives, we will never be all God created us to be.
We will never achieve our divine potential as flesh walkers. But if we learn to walk in the Spirit as Christ has said,
17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;
18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Thus, as we believe and fully submit to our death on the cross and see ourselves as having died with Christ so that we may now live for Christ as a new creation. Then we will experience the miraculous power that gives us the ability to overcome the powers of Satan.
Why Most Christians Are Ineffective Against the Attacks of Satan?
Because, we use the weapons of the world and the flesh to fight a spiritual enemy! We think like the world. We talk like the world. We condemn like the world. We see things like the world. We cannot fight Satan with worldly weapons!
The Scripture has clearly told us
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,
5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
We have been given the power to die to our flesh by recognizing our death to the flesh on the cross with Christ. Wake up to this reality!
Finally, here's what the Scripture has said
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Submit to God realizing that;
1) We died with Christ on the cross
2) so that we might live now by His power for him
3) and now we are a new creation that no longer regards things according to the flesh.
As soon as we see ourselves as children of God, more than children of the flesh, the more powerful we will become against the works of Satan.
Let us die to the appeal of our flesh over the revelation of the new creation in Christ.
Now as the Scripture says to us
9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,
10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,
11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.
There is so much more to be said regarding this. Therefore, let him who has ears to hear realize the power that is available when we overcome the old man by the power of Christ!!