Rage War

For a Christian, this world isn’t just a battle between spiritual powers; it is a war, with countless battles that we are called to fight until our dying breath. Though there is truth in our fight being against the devil, his children, and their advancements in unrighteousness & deceit, it could be argued that our greatest & most vital fight is that against our old self.

“put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life & is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness & holiness.” – Ephesians 4:22-24

Our old self is that of our sinful fleshly desires that remain. The desires of the flesh are that which is contrary to the desires of the spirit. Our spirit & our flesh rage war against each other as the carnal mind is hostile towards God. (Romans 8:5-39; 7:18-23; Galatians 5:17)

The war against our old self stands at a greater importance than any external spiritual battle we may be facing. Now, I am not saying that no other battle is of importance or that we should not stop fighting other battles such as abortion. What I am saying, is that our testimony is meaningless if we are just whitewashed tombs. What credibility or honor does a hypocrite have? How could we speak out against unrighteousness when we fail to rage war as we ought with our unrighteousness? Make note that the expectation is not that we are righteous, perfect in no longer sinning, but rather that we acknowledge our failures and then strive with all our might to kill off those sinful desires.

But why is this of great importance if we know that we cannot lose our salvation & therefore will surely to some extent reign over the flesh? Simply put, because you have been commanded to do so.

“Be holy, for I, your God am holy” – 1 Peter1:16, Lev 11:44

And if that simply isn’t enough, because your body & soul is no longer (& never was) your own. You have been bought with a price, redeemed with the blood of Christ. You belong to Christ & owe all allegiance. As He died for you, now you are called to be a living sacrifice for Him.

Not only in a war do you want to dominate the whole battleground, never giving afoot to the enemy, but as you currently stand as a living sacrifice to the Lord coming before His throne when you pray, worship, or communion, do you not desire to come to Him unblemished with little regrets as possible. Of course, we are only seen as perfect & righteous before the LORD’s eyes because of the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ; and yet still even until death we wrestle with sin in our lives, but this does not mean we shouldn’t strive towards greater holiness & perfection through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Keynote

We cannot sanctify ourselves outside of the power of the Holy Spirit; we must rely upon and look to Him!

Now for the final question, I will address, how is it that I am to rage war against my old self?

Spiritually speaking- as stated above we must rely on God if we are to be sanctified. We must earnestly & continuously pray for renewed desires, wisdom, & strength; read His word, fast, keep ourselves accountable through fellowship in a church, and submit to our ordained elders.

Speaking to personal application- in short, be cognizant & protective of your senses. It is through our senses, that we starve or feed our old self. From the music, we listen to, to what we allow our eyes to look upon.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be. The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. – Matthew6:21-23

In other words, allowing our eyes to wander where they shouldn’t from pornography, sexually provocative movies/shows, to even a seemingly “innocent” looks around the room at the opposite sex who is not your spouse. And if single, looks that are only to please the lustful desire of the eye with no actual intentionality to approach. A double look is a double feeding to your old self. Except our old self is never full nor satisfied; it only grows stronger in its cravings and strength over you. Therefore, starve him!

Let your eye only look upon what is good. Feed the Spirit rather than the flesh. Never forget that our old self is never truly dead until we are in our glorified bodies. Until then be aware for he is crouching at the door waiting to pounce. Rob him of his strength, take from him every possible means of nourishment. Rage War!

“And when sin lets us alone, we may let sin alone; but as sin is never less quiet than when it seems to be most quiet, and its waters are for the most part deep when they are still. . . Do you mortify; do you make it your daily work; be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from the work; be killing sin or it will be killing you”. – John Owen