The resurrection of Christ, makes it possible to have a living hope, forgiveness of sins, a future resurrection, and a relationship with God.
Therefore, turn yourselves to God and oppose (resist) the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7
Christ did not leave us to guess. Not one verse... not even one verse, suggests or mentions reincarnation. Instead, Jesus said every one of us shall cross over to eternity just once, and He showed us exactly what happens after we die, through His own resurrection. There's nothing better nor more believable, than a personal eye witness. However, Jesus' resurrection was witnessed by over 500 people!
"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this, the judgment." Hebrews 9:27
The Bible says we fight against spirits and principalities, who try to keep us from heaven. Therefore, if we're going to fight the enemy, we would do well to know how! This is why Jesus came. To show us the way, so we wouldn't have to guess, and we could rest in Him, assured of our eternal destination.
First, it is important to understand that Satan does not have a physical body, but is a spiritual entity, inhabiting an spiritual realm, which we shall soon be experiencing, so we better prepare, not leave it to chance. In order to fight Satan, the Bible tells us we must fight the devil by spiritual means. That presents a problem. How can our "flesh", resist evil entities in the spiritual realm?
We Must Come Alive in the Spirit
But how??? The Bible doesn't leave us to guess. It says our spirit remains dead in our trespasses, until Christ brings our spirit to life, through His plan of salvation. How do we receive salvation? It is a free gift from God, upon inviting Jesus into our hearts and lives.... asking him to forgive us our sins and be our Savior. Then as promised, God's Holy Spirit comes to dwell and live in us, forever. Our sins are forgiven and washed away. Remembered no more.
Now you can understand why we cannot fight spiritual wickedness, unless we have invited Jesus into our hearts and lives as our Savior. God's Holy Spirit cannot help us, if His Spirit has not yet joined with ours. As promised by God, His Spirit enters and transforms our hearts and lives as only He can do. He helps us fight spiritual things, by means of His Spirit. Therefore, after God has saved our soul, we are no longer "dead in Christ", but our Spirit has been brought to a brand new life in Christ, and has joined with His Spirit. Praise God!
This is what the Bible refers to as being "born-again". First, we are born of the flesh, then after God saves our soul, we are "born of the spirit"... made spiritually whole by Jesus and His saving grace...our spirits brought back to life through Christ!! Amen!!! This is why we celebrate Christ's Resurrection throughout the year. It is a remembrance and Memorial to our precious Jesus, who sacrificed everything, so that we may have eternal life in heaven. It is no secret. Over 500 people we're blessed enough to witness it.
How to Put on the Armor of God
"Put on the full armor of God, so that you can fight against the devil’s evil tricks. Our fight is not against people on earth, but against the rulers and authorities and the powers of this world’s darkness, against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly world. That is why you need to put on God’s full armor. Then on the day of evil, you will be able to stand strong!!! And when you have finished the whole fight, you will still be standing. So stand strong, with the belt of truth tied around your waist and the protection from living for Christ, on your chest. On your feet wear the Good News of peace to help you stand strong. And also use the shield of faith, with which you can stop all the burning arrows of the Evil One. Accept God’s salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God."
As Christians, we are always in a spiritual war. Our fight in this spiritual war, is against spiritual darkness and wickedness in this world.
First, we do not use physical weapons to fight, but spiritual ones. Secondly, our fight is not against each other, but against the rulers and authorities and powers of this world’s darkness and spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly realms. In spiritual wars, we are powerless to defeat our enemy the devil and his demon followers, without God’s help. That is why Paul tells us to use spiritual weapons, known as the "full armor of God". This armor will help us to fight the good fight, when dealing with the devil and to help us remain standing strong during and after each battle we will face.
The Belt of Truth - The belt of truth holds all the armor in place. Knowing the truth of the scriptures will help us to recognize the devil’s lies because he is well-known as the “Father of Lies.” The truth can also set us free from believing the devil’s false accusations against us. In addition, it helps us to stay committed to the truth of God, so we remain a person of honesty and integrity.
The Breastplate of Righteousness - The breastplate of righteousness protects and shields all our vital organs from the enemy, as a soldier in battle. The breastplate of righteousness protects our heart from evil, so we live a life that honors God and reflects his character. That is a powerful defense against the devil. We are protected by the righteousness of Jesus’ blood.
The Shoes of the Gospel of Peace - The shoes of peace allow us to stand firm in the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are representatives of Jesus. Everything we say and do, reflects on Him, so we should strive to be faithful to God. Sadly, there are a bunch of phonies out there, but if we love Jesus with all our heart, soul and mind, we will want to be a light for Christ and lead others to Him, not away from Him, by false teaching and a terrible example. God help those who have led others astray through their false witness. He knows who they are and they shall reap what they sow.
The Shield of Faith - The shield of faith protects us from attacks of the devil. His attacks include putting doubt in our minds about the goodness of God and His good plans for our lives. Satan spreads lies about God and people believe them. Even places doubts in our minds about our salvation, because we sinned, or worry about what others may think about us. This is when we have to remember that Satan is a liar and he always will be. He cannot be trusted. He is the father of all lies. Listen to him and he'll lead you in the wrong direction, every time.
Satan wants nothing more, than people to spend eternity in hell with him, but don't forget that our destination for eternity is strictly up to us. No one decides our eternal destination, but ourselves. That is strictly our responsibility to take care of our spiritual side; not only protecting, but preparing our souls for eternity. Do nothing to protect your soul, and you will not be able to walk into heaven with sin on your heels. Jesus turns no one away, but you must allow him to rescue you and your soul, by inviting Jesus into your heart and life as your personal Savior. Scripture is very clear on that.
The Helmet of Salvation - The helmet of salvation protects our head and thoughts from doubt and fear. It keeps our mind focused on the truth of God’s promises, so the devil cannot control our thinking. With the helmet, our thinking is controlled by the Holy Spirit of Truth. God's character is not like Satan's. His character is that He cannot lie. He is pure and sinless. That is why God the Father chose Jesus as Savior of the world. That is also why Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead, conquering sin and death and atoning for our sins, so that we can be in heaven forever with God.
Humility - Pride makes us vulnerable to Satan's attacks, so humility before God is essential. We are not smarter nor wiser than God.
The Sword of the Spirit - The sword of the Spirit is the only offensive weapon we use in our spiritual war. We must use the Word of God to help us use and believe God’s truths, rather than believing the devil’s lies. Jesus used the Word of God to defend even himself, when he was in the flesh on this earth, and against the devil’s lies, when he was tempted in the desert. The truth of the Gospel helped keep Jesus from sinning.
Remember the Victory of Christ - Focus on the fact that Jesus has already defeated Satan, through His death and Resurrection. Scripture confirms that those who follow the devil, his influences, and evil instead of Christ, shall have a terrible end, forever and ever. Now is the time to prepare our souls for eternity. Jesus can save us, but only if you will allow him to. Not everyone wants to believe and for that reason, God is not going to disrespect their decision nor beat people over the head to force them to follow him. He's always willing and wanting to save everyone on earth, but if they say no....that they want nothing to do with him...He will give them the desire of their heart, honoring their request, and they will not be able to use the excuse that God's Plan of Salvation was not offered to them.
I just reminded my kiddo's about them having to be born again if they want to enter into Heaven, and the way to do it is to sacrifice themselves upon Jehova's alter as a living sacrifice. My youngest son took it well, my daughter well, not so much but at least the seed has been planted!
@LadyGrace Yes, but I did lay myself down upon my bed like an alter after writing God a letter of devotion, as I lay myself down upon my bed like an alter, I was sealed by the Holy Spirit saying that if I wanted to be a true Christian to stop living a lie, which I told my friends earlier that week I felt like I was, and that I didn't have to do anything, which to me meant to make my past right because God would do it Himself and later He did! And then I was told to live in love and by faith and to be good... Simple enough for me...These things were prophecied by a Christian radio DJ I even remember her name, as I was sealed covered from head to toe by the Holy Spirit, I then jumped up and down upon my bed full of excitement knowing that I was born again! And that one day Heaven would be my reality, after walking through the valley of the shadow of death for a year...I was so happy! I was not foresaken! And yes you are right it means my life my intentions thoughts emotions and actions and time were dedicated to God!
@saintsong I remember when I was saved and the Holy Spirit dwelled in Me upon My confession of faith, as promised in the Bible. I, too, jumped up and down on the bed hahaha, I was so happy and I knew the Holy Spirit had transformed my whole life. Everything was different. Not everyone has the same salvation experience. It's different for each one and it's beautiful. And nothing in the Bible says we have to have the same experience because we're all different but the main thing is we receive exactly as the Lord said in our different experiences, depending on where we are and what we're doing.
