Chapter 6 - Fight for your Life!

We have seen that God’s will is for us to have a long and full life. In Psalm 91:16, God’s promise for those who dwell in the secret place of the Almighty is: “With LONG LIFE will I SATISFY him, and show Him My salvation.” We saw long life can be as much as 120 years. However the length of our life depends on our BELIEVING and our LIVING. Although God gives a promise of LONG LIFE to believers, it is not automatic. We have to lay hold on it by faith and claim it, rather than have a PASSIVE attitude that says: "When it is my time to go, I will go. There is nothing I can do about it" This is an unbiblical fatalism, as we saw in Chapter 3. 

There is a war over our life and we have to fight the fight of faith. Jesus said in John 10:10 that we have an enemy: "The thief comes not, but to steal, kill, and destroy: I am come that they might have LIFE, and that more abundantly." 

Here Jesus reveals satan’ threefold strategy for our life:
The thief wants to 

(1) steal blessings from our life, and 
(2) kill, that is to cause us to die young. His main goal is: (3) to destroy us eternally, that is to take us to eternal Hell with him. So if you are a true believer in Christ you have already won the main victory over him. You have passed from death to life! Eternal life is yours, Praise God!

Nevertheless satan is still out: (1) to steal and (2) to kill, to spoil both the quality and quantity (length) of our lives. His main weapon is deception. He wants to fool you into believing that you will die young, that you can only expect to live 60 or 70 years, that you are getting old at 40 or 50. 

He wants you to passively accept it is out of your hands, and accept an early death. The Bible says: "As a man thinks in his heart, so he is." If you believe and speak satan's lies you give him power over you, but if you believe and speak God’s Word, satan’s power is nullified. If a thief came to your house, you would resist him. Likewise by faith we have to resist satan and the spirit of death. It is well-known that FIGHTERS with a strong will to live, live longer. 

John 10:10, Jesus said: "The thief comes not, but to steal, kill, and destroy: (But on the other hand) I am come that they might have LIFE, and that more ABUNDANTLY." 

Although satan, through his lies, is trying to cut our life short, Jesus is much more powerful and He has come to give us His abundant life, to overcome satan’s plan in all 3 areas:It is more than enough to overcome every attack of satan.

So (1) although satan comes to steal our blessings in this life, Jesus came to give us a good life of abundant blessings. (2) Although satan wants to kill and cut our life short, Jesus offers to give us an abundantly long-life on this earth. (3) Although satan wants to see us destroyed in Hell, Jesus gives us eternal life with Him.

So John 10:10 is a promise that Jesus offers to give us: 
(1) a good, strong life (2) a LONG LIFE and (3) eternal life. He came to give us: (1) the abundant life of blessings in this life, (2) an abundance of life (long life), and (3) eternal life. 

ABUNDANCE means ‘more than enough’, like a river that overflows its banks. So Jesus has come that satan’s plans for your life will fail and you will have an abundantly long-life. Jesus said that although satan comes to steal, kill and destroy, He came to give us abundant life: a full, long life on earth as well as eternal life. His abundant life does not just overcome death in our spirit and soul, but it is also for our bodies. 

So we are in the middle of a BATTLE over our lives. On the one side stands the thief who wants to steal, kill and destroy. On the other side stands the Lord Jesus who want us to have an abundance of life. We stand in the middle and we choosebetween life or death. It is our choice - do we believe in satan’s lies and follow his ways (and receive his death), or do we believe in Jesus and follow His ways (and receive His life)? We must not be passive, but actively choose to believe in Jesus and His promises of life, and walk in His Word. 

If we are passive, we will fall prey to the lies of the enemy.We have to actively submit to God and to His Word, and resist satan and his lies: “Therefore submit to God. RESIST the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). We have to put forth effort in this spiritual battle. 

There is a FIGHT we must FIGHT or else we will lose: 
“we WRESTLE not against flesh and blood, 
but against principalities and powers” (Ephesians 6:12). We have to: “FIGHT the good FIGHT of faith” (1Timothy 6:12). Don’t be a wimp, but fight the good fight!

1Timothy 6:12 literally says: “FIGHT the good FIGHT of (the) faith.” There is a necessary fight in the Christian life. What is this fight of faith that we are commanded to fight? A fight implies we must put forth great effort. What kind of effort must we make in order to succeed in this fight? 

The fight of faith, is the fight to believe and stand on the Word and possess the promises. We must put forth effort against enemy resistance to believe, hold onto and keep hold of God’s Word. That’s why it is literally: “the fight of THE FAITH.”The FAITH is the full revelation of God that we are called to believe. Thus THE FAITH is THE WORD of God (which He has given to us and is written in the Bible). 

So: “the fight of the faith” is: “the fight of the Word of God.” It is the fight to know, believe, receive and hold onto the Word, whatever comes against us from the world, the flesh or the devil, in the form of doubts, setbacks, lies, afflictions or circumstances. 

It is not just a fight over the Word (promise), but we shall see that it is also a fight that we must fight with the Word. The fight of FAITH is a fight that is about our FAITH (whether we BELIEVE and maintain our FAITH in the Word) and it is also a fight we fight using (with) our faith.

Notice that it is a GOOD fight. The Greek word here conveys the meaning of a fight fought with excellence of technique resulting in a successful outcome. It is a good fight with good results. It is a good fight because it is a fight we will always win, if we do it God’s way. It is not fighting other Christians in strife and gossip! That would be a bad fight! “Faith works through love” (Galatians 5:6), so if we fight the wrong fight (fighting people) and do not walk in love, our faith will fail, and we open the door to satan and lose the fight of faith. We don’t fight people, but we stand on God’s Word and resist satan when he tries to move us away from it. 

That is why we need to be strong in God’s power: 
Ephesians 6:10-12: “Be STRONG in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armour of God, that you may STAND against the wiles of the devil. For we WRESTLE NOT against flesh and blood, but (we WRESTLE) against principalities and powers.” 

The fight of the faith is really a fight over the place of the Word in our life. Fighting the good fight of ‘the faith’ is to maintain a firm hold (faith-grip) on God’s promises to us. Jesus offers us His LIFE, a life that has already overcome and defeated death in all its forms, and He promises it to us in His Word, but we have to forcefully lay hold of His life by faith:“Fight the good fight of the faith, lay hold on eternal life (the life of God)” (1Timothy 6:12). How do we lay hold of His life? By laying hold of His Word (His promise of life)! His life is in His Word, so if we want to lay hold of His life, we have to lay hold of His Word and never let it go. 

Imagine you are holding onto something very precious that belongs to you, and someone comes and tries to persuade you to let it go and give it to him. If you refuse, he then tries to pull it out of your hand. What will you do? Will you be a wimp and just let go? Surely you would resist him and fight to hold onto it. You would strengthen your grip and refuse to let go. That’s exactly what the good fight of the faith is like. 

When you believe God’s Word, you are holding onto His precious promise of abundant and long life. If you have His promise you have His life, but if you let go of the promise (if you stop believing it and trusting in it) then you lose your connection to that life, so it cannot be fulfilled in your life.

Realising this what will you do when the enemy comes and whispers in your ear: “That does not belong to you. Let it go. You are not worthy to have that. Look at all your sins and failures. You can’t expect God to fulfil that promise for you. It will never happen to you. Don’t fight me. It is easier just to let it go and see what happens. Whatever will be, will be”?

If you start listening to him, you will start to become limp and spiritually passive, and you will let go of your promise.Many Christians are wimps when it comes this fight of faith.They initially believe a promise, such as long-life, and then satan comes and puts a bit a pressure on them, and tries to pull it from them, and the Christian then quickly lets go of the Word, saying: “I guess that promise is not for me.” 

Satan comes in many disguises and uses different wiles to confuse, pressure or persuade us to let go of God’s promise. He may disguise himself as God’s voice speaking through religious false-teachings and unbelief, that are so widespread today, such as: “whatever happens, good or bad, is God’s will, just passively accept it. God may not want you to be healed, He wants you sick so He can teach you something.” 

Satan may also try and pressure you through contradictory circumstances and afflictions to let go of the Word, or he may try and distract you from the Word with other things (the cares, pleasures, needs and responsibilities of life) to cause you to loosen your grip (see the Parable of the Sower).His strategy is to feed you his unbelief to paralyse your faith, causing you to doubt in your heart that the promise is for you, for then you will let it go, and he will have won, for that Word of God can no longer produce good fruit for you. To doubt means having a divided mind which is no longer sure if God’s Word is true. It also means to differ with the Word. 

If you don’t know how to fight the good fight of the faith, satan will sucker you into doubt and defeat every time.God gives us His Word that promises us long-life, but there is a battle over whether we believe it or not (a fight of faith). The basic issue is, do we believe God’s Word or satan’s lies? When satan comes to steal the Word from us, we should recognise him with his wiles and lies and be ready for him.When he tries to make us lessen our grip and take the Word from us, we must quickly respond by laying hold of the Word of God all the more and by resisting satan. 

How do we do this? By affirming, declaring and confessing the Word, saying: “The promise is mine. It belongs to me in Christ.” Then when he can see that you are fully persuaded by God’s Word and fully resolved to believe it, so that he is wasting his time, he will leave you: “Submit to God (and His Word). Resist the devil (and his unbelief) and (then) he will flee from you” (James 4:7). 

1Timothy 6:12: “Fight the good fight of the faith, lay hold on eternal life (the life of God).” This proves that the good fight of the faith involves laying hold by faith of God’s life, and we do this by laying hold of God’s promise (word) of life. 

Effort is needed, because contrary pressures and persuasions will come from the world, the flesh and the devil to let it go.We need a BULLDOG FAITH that holds onto the Word with a death defying grip that refuses to let go no matter what.

How can we fight this good fight and defeat satan every time? Jesus showed us the way. He gave us His example to follow. When He was tempted by satan in the wilderness three times (Matthew 4), He used the same method every time to fight the fight of faith and defeat satan. He only used one method to resist satan and make him flee. He used the WORD of GOD! He spoke the WORD of GOD! Each time He opened His mouth saying: “IT IS WRITTEN” (v4,7,10). He said nothing else to satan apart from the Word and then He commanded him to be gone! Then the devil left him (v11). 

Our victory in this warfare is through the Word of God, not by our strength, or personality or I.Q. We are foolish if we try and argue with the devil or outwit him. If we depend on ourselves we will fail. The only WAY to successfully resist satan is with the Word of God on our lips: “They overcame him (satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” (Revelation 12:11). This guarantees victory. 

If Jesus had to speak the Word in order to defeat satan, then surely we do also! If there was some other way to fight, then He would have shown it to us, but He only gave us one method to use: God’s Word on our lips. And we do not need any other method, because the Word works every time!

Too many Christians are passive, they accept any thought that satan puts in their mind. They think satan comes in a red outfit with a pitchfork! No, he comes by whispering thoughts into the mind like: “You don’t believe that do you? Did God really say that? You can’t take it literally. God does not mean that. He does not really love you. His Word won’t work for you.” Satan comes to steal from you by thoughts of failure, gloom, doubt, fear, to stop you trusting God. 

The only way to fight him is to speak the Word. That’s how Jesus defeated him. He did not argue with him. Satan flees from the Word. So the first key to winning the fight of faith is to KNOW AND UNDERSTAND THE WORD, otherwise we have automatically lost. We must know what is written. Our essential preparation is to study the promises and know they belong to us. We must establish the Word in our life. When we know the promise, then we can embrace it for ourselves (believe we receive it), saying: “it’s mine, I take it now.” This is possessing, claiming and taking hold of the promise for ourselves. We must receive the Word into us. We have to make it ours and be ready to keep hold of it.

Satan will come to test our faith in the Word, but if we wrap ourselves firmly in the promise of God, it will hold us firm in the battle. The fight for our life is won or lost in our mind, so when evil thoughts of unbelief come, we must not dwell on them, or be passive and let them have a place in us. Instead, we must immediately take action and put the Word (promise) on our lips and speak it with confidence, thus nullifying and breaking the power of those thoughts over us. When we speak the Word, we not only dismiss the doubts but also affirm and establish our faith, strengthening our hold on the promise. 

1Timothy 6:12,13: “Fight the good fight of (the) faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you are also called, and have confessed a good confession before many witnesses.”Now we can see that Paul tells us to fight the fight of the faith (the Word), and then he tells us how to fight this fight.Firstly, we are to lay hold of God’s life by taking hold of His Word (claiming His promise) on the basis that it belongs to us for as His children we are called of God to possess His life.

Then, when we come under pressure and attack to let it go, we must confess the Word with boldness and accuracy. In this way, we will fight a good fight, keep hold of the promise of life and enjoy the victory (the promise manifested)

To the thought: “There’s too much opposition”, we say: 
“IT IS WRITTEN: “No weapon formed against me 
shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against me in judgment I shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is from God,” says the LORD” (Isaiah 54:17).

To the thought: “I am not loved by God”, we say: 
“IT IS WRITTEN: “God loves me with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3), “God desires that I prosper and be in health even as my soul prospers” (3John 2).

To condemnation, we say: “IT IS WRITTEN: “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ” (Romans 8:1), “I am a new creation in Christ, old things are passed away ... Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for me, so I might become the righteousness of God in Christ” (2 Cor5:17,21)

To curses we must say: “IT IS WRITTEN: “I have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (Ephes 1:3) “Christ has redeemed me from the curse, having become a curse for me, for cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree that the blessing might come upon me” (Galatians 3:13,14).

To the thought: ‘God won’t forgive me’ we are to say: 
“IT IS WRITTEN: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful (to His Word) and just (through the blood) to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1John 1:9). 

To sickness we say: “IT IS WRITTEN: “He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases” (Psalm 103:3). “He Himself bore my sicknesses and carried my pains, by His stripes I am healed” (Isaiah 53:4,5, Matt 8:17, 1Peter 2:24).

To fears, we say: “IT IS WRITTEN: “God has not given me a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). “I shall not fear, for You Lord are with me” (Psalm 23:4, Isaiah 41:10), “You will never leave or forsake me, so I will boldly say: ‘the Lord is my helper, I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5,6).

To “you will have a short life” say: “IT IS WRITTEN: 
"I shall not die (young), but live (long) and declare the works of the LORD" (Psalm 118:17). “With long life will I satisfy him and show him My salvation” (Psalm 91:16). 

Our attitude in the fight should be: God said it, I believe it and that settles it. We fight for our life by using our tongue to speak the words of God that cancel the power of darkness. This is how we win our spiritual battle - with God’s Word. Jesus has won the victory, so we do not have to win it again. He defeated satan and established the new-covenant for us which is written in His Word and includes victory over all the power of satan. We stand in His victory, and just enforce it in our life by declaring what is written. This puts us in the arena of faith where we automatically overcome satan. 

As with any promise of God, in order to enjoy the promise of long-life, we must possess it by faith, and this involves a fight of faith. God gave us a wonderful picture of this in Israel’s possessing of her Promised Land of blessing. 

POSSESSING THE PROMISED LAND. 

We have a promised land of blessings in Christ, including 
long-life. Just like Israel we have to possess it by believing the Word of God and fighting the fight of faith. At the first attempt Israel failed to enter and possess it because of unbelief for they had not established the Word (promise) in their heart. As a result when they saw the enemy (the giants) they quickly forgot and let go of the promise and so failed to enter in.

Then when they had a second chance, in Deuteronomy and Joshua 1, God firstly gave them clear descriptions of the Land, its boundaries and blessings so they knew exactly what belonged to them, with instructions on how to go in and possess it (Deuteronomy 1:7, 11:8-31, Joshua 1:4). 

Then He told them the Land was their inheritance from God, that it was already theirs by Covenant, that He had already given it to them, so that it was theirs for the taking, but it was up to them to go in and possess it: “See, I have set the land before you. Go in and possess the Land which the Lord swore (by Covenant) to give you” (Deuteronomy 1:8).

Again and again He told them that THEY must possess the Land (Deuteronomy 11:8,10, 11,23,29,31; Joshua 1:11): “For you shall pass over Jordan to go in to POSSESS the land which the LORD your God gives you, and you shall POSSESS it, and DWELL (live) in it” (Deuteronomy 11:31).

Again in Joshua 1, God said He was giving them the Land, but they still had to arise, go over the Jordan and take it by force: “Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot treads upon, that have I given unto you” (Joshua 1:2,3). 

They still had to go in and possess (claim) it, by putting their foot on it: “You will cross over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess” (Joshua 1:11). 

To give them every confidence that they had the right and the ability to claim and take the Land, He told them that: (1) He had given it to them (positionally, by Covenant), and (2) He was giving it to them (experientially, as by faith they put their feet upon it, He was releasing it to them).

Let’s say you bought a big box of chocolates and told your family that you bought it for them, so it was theirs to possess. You give them your word (promise) that it is your gift to them and they can come to you anytime and take whatever they need. In one sense you have already given it to them, even before they come and claim it. Then, when they come for a chocolate, you hand it over to them for them to possess. So in another sense you give it to them when they come in faith (believing your promise to them) claiming what’s theirs. 

Although God had already given Israel the Land by means of a covenant promise (Joshua 1:3) based upon a covenant oath (1:6, Deuteronomy 1:8,11:9,21) it was not theirs in experience until they believed the promise and went in to possess it. 

Then as they claimed in faith each piece of land by putting the soles of their foot upon it, God gave it over to them. He gave them whatever they dared to put their foot upon, because it was already theirs, waiting to be claimed. So God was giving it over to them as they were going in to possess it:
“go to the land which I am giving to the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot treads upon, I given unto you” (Joshua 1:2,3). “Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours” (Deuteronomy 11:24). “go in to possess the land which the Lord is giving you to possess” (Joshua 1:11). “go in to possess the land which the Lord gives you, and you shall possess it” (Deut 11:31). “the good land which the Lord is giving you” (Deut 11:17).

Likewise God has already given us a Promised Land of many covenant promises that are ours through the blood of Jesus. But WE must POSSESS our Promised Land. We have to do the POSSESSING! It is already ours positionally, but we have to make it ours in experience, by believing and claiming the promise by faith (putting our foot upon it, saying: “it is mine, I believe I receive it now”). As we claim each promised blessing it becomes ours as God freely releases (gives) it to us. What if Joshua just waited on the edge of the land waiting for God to do something? Passive Christians say: “If God wants me to be blessed, He will just do it.” No! - It is ours, but we have to take it! It is ours, but we must possess it. 

It is up to us how much land you take. God gives us an open invitation: “Every place that the sole of your foot treads upon, I have given unto you” (Joshua 1:3). “Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours”(Deuteronomy 11:24). We do it one step (promise) at a time - every step a step of faith. Put your foot on the promises. Possess your possessions. God promises you that every place you put the sole of your foot shall be yours. 

When you go in to possess the land you will meet resistance. Israel had to face giants and other enemies who tried to get them off the land. Having taken some ground they had to be ready also to stand firm and hold it against enemy pressure and attack. Likewise we need the faith to lay hold of the promise, and then to keep hold of it. We must take the land and then abide in it, refusing to move from our position of faith, whatever satan tries to try and get us to let go of it. 

So the main preparation needed to be successful in possessing and keeping (abiding in) the Land is to be strong in faith. Again and again God told Joshua: “Be strong and of good courage” (Joshua 1:6-9). ‘Be STRONG’ means ‘be strong in faith.’ The key to being strong in faith (and so to be able to go in and possess the promised inheritance) is continual meditation in the Word of God, so that you know it and believe it and receive it for yourself:

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success (in possessing your Promised Land)” (v8).Likewise we need to study God’s Word so that we know our inheritance in Christ that has been freely given to us, and so that we will have the faith to go in and possess (claim) it.

This truth is also spelled out in Deuteronomy 11:8.9: “Therefore you shall keep every commandment which I command you today, that you may be strong (in faith), and go in and possess the land which you cross over to possess, and that you may prolong your days in the land which the LORD swore to give your fathers, to them and their descendants, ‘a land flowing with milk and honey.”

In Deuteronomy 11:18-20, He tells us to put God’s Word first and establish it in our heart: “that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the Land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven on earth” (v21). He also promises that if we keep God’s Word strong in us, then we will be able to take the whole land and no one will be able to stand against us, for any enemy that comes against us to remove us from the land will be defeated and will flee from us (v22-25).

So there are 3 steps to taking any part of our Promised Land. 

(1) We must KNOW what is our Promised Land. We must find out from God’s Word what He has given to us and so what belongs to us. Find the promises that cover our need. In particular we must know that God’s promise of long-life is part of our inheritance, waiting to be claimed by us.

(2) Then we must go in and take (possess) the Land by faith. We plant the flag of our faith and claim what is ours (we can only claim what we know God has promised us). We put our foot on the promise, believing we receive it according to Mark 11:24. We obtain it according to Hebrews 4:16. 

(3) Then we STAND firm on the promise and refuse to let satan move us off it. We must ABIDE in our land. If you took possession of a house and someone challenged you and trying to remove you from it, you would take a stand and show them the Title Deed, where IT IS WRITTEN that it is yours. Likewise we are to take the Word and declare the promise, saying: “IT IS WRITTEN!” and commanding the enemy to be removed (Rev 12:11, Mark 11:23, Matthew 4:10). 

We have the authority to do this. No mountain or giant that contradicts God’s Word (trying to intimidate us so we believe in its power above God’s Word) will be able to stand before us. STAND against satan’s wiles, when he tries to make you doubt God’s Word and persuade you that it is not working. The Christian fight is centred on believing and speaking the Word of God. Without the Word we automatically lose.

Satan’s purpose is to separate us from God (and His Word), so then we are no threat and are wide open to his deception and attacks. With the Word in our heart and on our lips we win everytime. By meditating and holding onto the Word we will possess our land of promises.