We ARE in a cosmic battle between the domain of darkness and the kingdom of the Son. And if we are going to stand firm in this battle against the schemes of the devil, we must know where & when he is engaging in warfare. 

The Scripture is clear that we must stand firm, and put on the full armor of God, so that we may resist and defeat the spiritual enemy opposed to us. But before we look at what we must do, we must start with what God has done for us. Because the true secret to our success is not what we do, but what God has done for us. 

The reality of life is that we are presently, actively, caught up in a spiritual battle at all times. God is working for good, for life. The devil is working to steal, kill, and destroy. But the good news is that the One who is for us is greater than the one who is against us. So, let’s stand firm and push back darkness!

With all that we have received by faith in Christ, His Spirit living in us, who will complete the good work God has begun in us… if God is for us, who or what could possibly stand against us?

From before time began, God had a plan for us. He knew that we would mess up what He created us for and that Jesus would come to fix what we broke. When we trust Jesus and repent from trusting in ourselves and living our way, the Holy Spirit will come and live in us and do the work of God to not only apply what Jesus did but bring us to the end, when He will transform us into the image of Jesus. 

To be adopted as God’s son or daughter, to be coheirs with Jesus, means we WILL suffer alongside Jesus. To follow Jesus is to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow Him. Well, is He worth it? 

When we have true faith in Jesus, full belief and full surrender to Him as Savior & Lord, the Holy Spirit comes and lives in us and fundamentally changes us, makes us new. In addition, when the Spirit of Christ lives in us, we become adopted into the family of God as His sons and daughters. Everything in the present and future changes. 

Easter is the time when we remember the death, and even more so, the resurrection of Jesus. But Jesus did not die and rise from the dead just to put on a show. There was a reason. And that reason was to set us free from sin that we might live for Him!

At the end of Romans 7, Paul paints a painfully accurate picture of a person who is trapped and defeated by their sin and flesh. Apart from Christ, we too are like this person, but in Christ, we can have real victory over the sins that once trapped us.

As humans, we are all slaves to something. Meaning, something or someone is calling the shots for our lives, telling us what is true and how to live. For those under grace, we are slaves to righteousness, slaves to God and His ways. He calls the shots in our lives now!