War Against the Soul
A non-stop, real war exists through the history of the world between light and darkness. As a part of that war, Peter expresses an unstoppable advantage for guaranteed longstanding victory. He says in 1 Peter 2:11:
Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.
The appropriate part of the verse to declare an aspect of war and victory is at the end: “which war against the soul.” What wars against the soul? “Fleshly lusts” do. Abstinence from fleshly lusts eliminates a crucial component for losing this war with darkness. .
A question might and should arise, “How do fleshly lusts war against the soul of a person?” Fleshly lusts cause spiritual and psychological disadvantages in the war against the soul. You need your soul and spirit operating in an optimal way and fleshly lusts wound them.
Confidence in Christ
Confidence in Christ functions within the soul and spirit, not the flesh. Six different thoughts come to my mind on this, not necessarily in this order.
Persuasion
First, confidence is persuasion (peitho). You can behave with strength, because you have confidence, confidence in the Lord (2 Thess 3:4) and not in the flesh (Philip 3:3-4). Jesus said, “Lo, I am with you alway” (Matt 28:20). Jesus is sanctified in your heart, so you’re ready to give an answer of the hope within you (1 Pet 3:15). Readiness comes by fortifying the soul.
Uppermost Affections
Second, you can please God by faith because God abides in the uppermost of your affections (Heb 11:6). You live like He’s your Judge and He does not lie. This rest in Him provides a settled peace that isn’t moved.
Thinking on These Things
Third, anxiety comes not from victimhood, but from not thinking on what is true, honest, just, etc. (Philip 4:8). You’ll remain anxious if you adopt victim status. You’re not one. The peace of God keeps you through Christ Jesus, but only by thinking on it. That’s in your soul.
Sidelining Deflation
Fourth, Satan wants you a casualty, someone out of the fight. He uses those fiery darts that penetrate the heart, not in a deadly manner, but in an injurious or incapacitating way. The Apostle Paul had an open door in Troas, but because he had no rest in his spirit (2 Corinthians 2:13), he missed an opportunity. People become incapable of fulfilling God’s will because they subject themselves to fear and discouragement. Their deflation keeps them sidelined.
Boldness
Fifth, Paul twice asked church saints, once of Ephesus and once of Colossi, to pray that he would have boldness. Boldness comes when the Spirit fills a believer in his inner man. He speaks the truth in love and the Spirit encourages him.
Filled with the Knowledge of God’s Will
Sixth, Paul prayed that the knowledge of God’s will would fill the saints of the church in Colossi (Col 1:9). Furthermore, he says this knowledge of God’s will is in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. God’s will is not arbitrary. It is based on wisdom and understanding and not a feeling proceeding from the flesh.
Fleshly lusts debilitate everyone, both believers and unbelievers. It is a very sad tale when they strafe the souls of believers. They bring this on themselves. Believers have all the resources in the grace of God to abstain. They just won’t. The worst thing very often that you can do to one of these professing believers is exhort or admonish them about it. They are quick to speak, slow to hear, and quick to wrath.
Beach Heads or Gates
John Bunyan clued true believers to the methodology of fleshly lusts. Before him in Pilgrim’s Progress, it was James 1:13-16. The gates through which fleshly lusts pass are akin to the allies taking the beaches in the South Pacific and at Normandy. The flesh forms a beach head through the eye gate, the ear gate, and the three other lesser senses: touch, taste, and smell. Abstaining from fleshly lusts means guarding those gates, stewarding them.
The Nazis had deadly holds on the Beaches of Northern France. Those required removing for victory to occur. Allied soldiers eliminated them at great cost. Professing believers instead contribute to the fleshly strongholds in many different ways. They talk like God gives them liberty to keep those deadly beach heads.
More to Come
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