The Lord who gives the Promised Land to His people, and Who just furnished a striking instance of this in the destruction of Jericho, demands of His people loyalty to the covenant He has with them.  Holiness requires a radical response to the presence of sin in our lives.

The previous chapter outlines the final preparations for conquest: attention to the details of obedience, reminder of God’s great faithfulness, and renewed vision of supernatural assistance. The battle is now upon them and Israel must recognize here, before advancing, that all warfare is ultimately spiritual for God’s people. Do the churches in America today remember this truth?

God’s people often suffer from spiritual amnesia. The psalmist opined, “They forgot what He had done, the wondrous works He had shown them” (78:11). The inconvenience of the moment, the clamor of the urgent, and the concerns of the future all may contribute to this forgetfulness. God calls today to secure past memories in order to inspire future victories.

Every church today faces a choice—staying silent, politically correct, and uninfluential OR crossing over into conflict and opposition with the culture in order to extend the kingdom of Christ in the world. The first option offers aimless futility and requires nothing. The second option offers a purposeful future with eternal impact. This path requires three things. 

Every great biblical adventure begins in a seemingly strange place: the place of personal consecration before God. Before cities are conquered or sacrifices are offered, God always requires the spiritual preparation of each believer. So it is with a people called Evergreen.

A survey of the Bible reveals extensive teachings about Satan, the enemy of God. As such, no believer should be ignorant about our spiritual adversary. Recognizing his masquerades and tactics is essential to the daily spiritual warfare of the Jesus life.

As we celebrate the Resurrection today almost 2000 years after the fact, there is a tremendous encouragement to be found from an ancient cry for Easter almost 2000 years before the fact. In the midst of troubles known by few men in history, Job affirms his core theology—“I know that my Redeemer lives!”

Peter now returns his attention to life together in the church. Here, he is writing to us personally, pastors and people. Before addressing warfare with Satan, Peter reminds us of our call to live in proper standing with one another according to God’s community plan.

When time is short, things get urgent. And simplified. As Jesus approached the cross, His focus and intensity increased. Suffering produces concentration. Peter brashly scolded Jesus and received the harshest rebuke in the NT (Mt. 16:23). Years later, Peter instructs believers how to possess Christ-like focus during persecution.

Peter continues to call believers to live the “Jesus life” in hard days—to strength, to resolve, to unwavering firmness like a soldier entering battle. Accordingly, he outlines four motivations for “swimming upstream” and three practical steps for “living the life.”