The Savior delivers
us from the evil one.[5] He
set us free from “the
prince of the power of the air”,[6] and “made us alive together
with Christ”.[7]God “seated us with him in the
heavenly places in Christ Jesus”.[8]He made us a “new creation”,[9]and gave us a “new self, created
after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”[10]
When
Paul described the frustrations of those who live in the sark, he concluded by
raising this piercing question: “Wretched
man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”[11] That is exactly what a sarky life, “following the course of this world, following the prince of the
power of the air,”[12] is like. It feels wretched, and it feels like death.
Paul
answers this question with a declaration of victory: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”[13]The cure to our wretched condition, and the cure to the feeling of
death that permeates our lives, is what God does for us through Jesus Christ
our Lord. If Jesus is “our Lord”, we
have the opportunity to live a life characterized by victory. As Paul wrote at
the end of the next chapter: “we are more
than conquerors through him who loved us.”[14] That is what Jesus will do with both the serpent and our sarks. He
will defeat them, and lead us to conquer in his name.
We
not only have the Savior who has delivered us from the evil one and made us new
creatures with a new nature in a new family. We also have the Holy Spirit of
the Living God who “helps us in our
weakness”.[15] If we have received Jesus Christ, then we have “received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba!
Father!’”[16] If we have the Holy Spirit, he “bears
witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”[17]
No matter how
much this day is characterized by attacks from the “red dragon”,[18] “that ancient serpent, who
is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world”,[19] and no matter how much our sarks (flesh) are lying to us about what
we should think and feel about anything we are going through, Jesus Christ our
Savior, and the Holy Spirit of the Living God, are working to give us the
victory.
“4 For everyone who has been
born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the
world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the
world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”[20]
Jesus has
given his brothers a new heart,[21]
and called us to be filled with his Spirit.[22] Put
your faith in your Savior working through his Spirit, and you will overcome the
world, the sark, and the devil.[23]
From my heart,
Monte
© 2013 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517,
Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted,
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good
News Publishers.)
[1]
“You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your
father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in
the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his
own character, for he is a liar
and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)
[2]
“And the great dragon was thrown down,
that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was
thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”
(Revelation 12:9)
[3]
“6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death,
but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on
the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it
cannot. 8 Those
who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8); “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds
of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the
glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (II Corinthians 4:4)
[4]
A summary of what Paul teaches in Romans 7.
[5]
“And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (Matthew 6:13); “15 I do not
ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil
one.” (John 17); Ephesians 6:10-20 – the full
armor of God enables us to “stand against the schemes of
the devil” (vs 11)
[6]
Ephesians 2:2
[7]
Ephesians 2:5
[8]
Ephesians 2:6
[9]
II Corinthians 5:17
[10]
Ephesians 4:24
[11]
Romans 7:24
[12]
Ephesians 2:2
[13]
Romans 7:25
[14]
Romans 8:37
[15]
Romans 8:26
[16]
Romans 8:15
[17]
Romans 8:16
[18]
Revelation 12:3
[19]
Revelation 12:9
[20]
I John 5
[21]
“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I
will remove the heart of stone
from your flesh and give you a heart
of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26); “29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to
be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn
among many brothers.” (Romans 8)
[22]
Ephesians 5:18
[23]
“And they have conquered him (the red
dragon) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony,
for they loved not their lives even unto death.” (Revelation 12:11)
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