Tag Archives: Faith

What is life in Christ Jesus?

Life in Christ Jesus is the result of faith, of believing that Jesus of Nazareth is God incarnate and manifested to humanity,[1] to the Jewish people in principle, in order to show by His doctrine and example[2] the way to reconciliation with the Creator.[3]

Life in Christ Jesus is a life of faith, it consists in living on earth observing the principles of life in heaven;[4] it consists in learning not to depend on the resources that derive from self-sufficiency and denial of God, nor to live under the fear originated by the powerlessness of not knowing how to handle adverse circumstances; life in Christ Jesus is a life of rest based on the Word of Salvation that He sends to free us from that which threatens our faith.

Life in Christ Jesus is a life of establishing God’s Will on earth;[5] any other theme or emphasis is just ‘aggregate’ benefits granted by Grace to those who showed the dignity of being called ‘children of God’.

Life in Christ Jesus is a spiritual life, it is a new life brought about by the Spirit of Truth who introduces us into the Body of Christ, by water baptism in His Name;[6] and from there, every ‘born-again’ person becomes a ‘Temple’ of the Holy Spirit,[7] establishing spiritual guidance,[8] deliverance,[9] healing,[10]  and supernatural strength.[11]

Life in Christ Jesus is being hidden in God,[12] is restoration of the image and likeness of god,[13] is God’s righteousness,[14] is Peace and Joy;[15] life in Christ Jesus is to glory even in tribulation.[16]

Life in Christ Jesus is God’s dignity and honor,[17] not that we sought Him, He sought us, and gave Himself up in propitiation for us.[18] Therefore, he who has been called to live the life in Christ Jesus understands and can say with certainty of faith:

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:35-39

All biblical quotations are taken from the King James Version.

Pastor Pedro Montoya

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Twitter: @pastormontoya

[1] 1st. Timothy 3:16: And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

[2] 1st. Peter 2:21: For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

[3] Romans 3:23: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

[4] Matthew 16:19: And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

[5] Matthew 6:10:Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

[6] Romans 6:4:Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

[7] 1st. Corinthians 3:16: Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

      1st. Corinthians 6:19: What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

[8] Romans 8:14:For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

[9] Romans 6:22:But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

      Colossians 1:13:who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

[10] Romans 8:11:But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

[11] Ephesians 1:18-19: 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

[12] Colossians 3:3:For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

[13] Romans 13:14: But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

      Ephesians 4:24: and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

[14] Philippians 3:9: and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

[15] Romans 14:17: for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

[16] Romans 5:3: And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

[17] Matthew 8:8-10: 8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. 9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. 10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

[18] Galatians 2:20: I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

FAITH and REVELATION are activated by suffering

And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

Mark 8:31

opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.

Acts 17:3

In a world of Greek philosophical heritage in which we live, where the purpose of life is to seek and achieve personal happiness and well-being, a statement like the one proposed in the title of this chapter would surely offend more than one and could be taken as religious nonsense.

Why should the Christ suffer? Unlike philosophies and religions of higher social projection in history, where their doctrines are based on the realization of man by observing the theosophical rules compiled by their founders, Christianity does not depend on what man does to get his spirituality and eventual salvation. It is widely known that in the Gospel of the Kingdom, salvation is by Grace, Gift of God, and consists in believing in the name of Jesus, precisely to avoid anyone to glory in his deeds.[1]

The Gospel only asks to believe. The apostle Paul summarizes in this unique expression taken from the book of Deuteronomy[2]  the key to salvation:

that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Romans 10:9

Simple. Believe and confess what is believed. Why then the need to suffer?

Man is a being that tends to gather all his knowledge and to reduce it to a systematic knowledge; by nature, he is very given to boasting about what he knows; thence, so that a knowledge that God gives him does not fall in the “library” of his knowledge, and the Revelation is lost, it is necessary for man to process his knowledge through “experiences” that lead him to put aside his tendency to boast about what he knows; in the process, man discovers God speaking to his spirit. The suffering that man faces is of the same degree as his resistance to depose his tendency to boast.

It was necessary for the Christ to suffer because only in this way man could understand the way of the Revelation of salvation, which is why we read in the epistles of the Apostle Paul that the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. [3]   If there were no suffering, the doctrine of Christ would be reduced to theoretical knowledge only.[4]

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

1st. Corinthians 2:14

Thus, suffering makes it possible for the knowledge acquired to be transformed into the Revelation of God’s purposes. It is not that we preach a doctrine of suffering, nor worse, that we exalt it, but it is the form provided by God so that by an attitude of submission to the Lordship of Christ, and by the decision to be participants in His sufferings, a person finds faith as a resource of trust in God; the apostle Paul established among the Gentile communities that it is necessary that through many tribulations we enter the Kingdom of God, note that according to the teaching of the apostle, to remain in the faith means to remain firm in the face of suffering.[5]

In the teaching about the life of the Kingdom set forth by the parable of the sower,[6] Jesus instructed his disciples that unwillingness to tolerate suffering for the sake of the Gospel causes the seed of Revelation and Faith to be lost. The seed that remains superficial on the road, together with the one that is choked by the rocks, and the one that is suffocated by the thorns, are the graphic representation of lives, although interested in developing a life of faith but unwilling to suffer for it; faith and Revelation are not the product of the theory of knowledge, but the experience of being participants in the sufferings of Christ;[7] in the experience of being ‘hidden’ in God is when the things are discovered that eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man.[8] A life based on the theory of knowledge is a life that lags behind and is immersed in religious rituals that only encapsulates its confidence in what it knows theoretically about God.[9]

It is not a matter of seeking and promoting suffering, life in Christ Jesus does not consist of suffering for the sake of suffering; the merit of the life of faith does not lie in pain. God determines which revelation needs to be processed by the experience of suffering, when it comes, not avoided.[10] The life of faith does not consist in reproducing stereotypical models of pietistic, silent, tolerant, medieval Christianity; the life of faith in Jesus Christ consists in activating in our own lives the conviction of Revelation that has been deposited in our spirit.[11]

The Revelation of His Word brings faith, but there are Revelations that need to be processed through suffering.

that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

1st. Peter 1:7

Faith is not a product of human endeavor; it is a spiritual virtue. God Himself subjects us to situations designed by Him to produce in us the Revelation of His Essence, and for us to believe in Him. It is not the logical, rational belief, product of the acquired knowledge, it is the Revelation of His Power, of His Sovereignty, of His Lordship, and through this Revelation the necessary Faith is activated to move us in His Grace.

15 who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint; 16 who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;

Deuteronomy 8:15-16

These verses are widely known in the religious media, but they highlight only the end result of God’s action: to do thee good at thy latter end, but they deliberately ignore the way God used to achieve that result. That’s why we have many frustrated, disappointed, bitter, and depressed believers today, denying their faith and blaming God for all their misfortunes.

If the Scriptures themselves testify that it is through suffering that the believer receives and develops faith, why then the tendency to avoid it.

13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. 15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.           

Hebrews 11:13-16

How much Revelation does God have for you? Suffer patiently the race that is set before you, seek neither merit nor gain nor recognition; let it not be said of you that it is lighter work to put a camel through the eye of a needle, …

All biblical quotations are taken from the King James Version.

Pastor Pedro Montoya

Twitter: @pastormontoya

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[1] Ephesians 2:8

[2] Deuteronomy 30:10-14

[3] 1st. Corinthians 1:18

[4] Ditto 1:21-23

[5] Acts 14:22

[6] Mathew 13:1-23

[7] Philippians 1:29: For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

[8] 1st. Corinthians 2:9

[9] Mathew 13:19-23

[10] Ditto 10:38

[11] Jeremy 31:33

Faith is therefore the substance…

Now faith is the substance (υποστασις) of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

Faith is a spiritual virtue, it does not belong to the human plane. It comes from God; it is the Creator who grants it to man. Man cannot generate faith by himself; a man that operates in faith, or claims to have it, is because he has received it from God who has placed it within him.

The popular concepts spread by the religious media qualify faith as a natural consequence of human conviction, a product of its conscience before the divine reality; however, the Scriptures clearly stipulate that faith does not belong to everyone.[1]

The apostle Paul is forceful in pointing out that in life in Christ nothing is obtained by human work, to avoid glory being taken away from God and being diverted to man. No matter what man can do to produce faith, he cannot act on it without divine intervention. Paul states categorically that what man has comes from God.

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 not of works, lest any man should boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

The Gospels record in Jesus’ teaching that there are epochs of time, and even regions, where faith is scarce. Luke’s gospel records that one of those times is precisely the time before Jesus’ return to earth: But when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?[2]

As for regions and generations where their inhabitants lack faith, it had already been recorded since ancient times.

And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.

Deuteronomy 32:20

But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.

Jeremiah 7:28

It is important to understand the spiritual value of faith because despite our devotion to Jesus, we have acted arrogantly in believing and arguing that rational and logical belief has been the basis of the faith we hold; and worse, we have allowed our convictions to be strengthened by a philosophical humanism rather than by supernatural dependence on the Eternal, Almighty God.

Faith is unique and exclusive to a person who has established a relationship of communion with God. The Scriptures clearly establish the need for spiritual communion with God as the necessary and absolute condition for receiving faith:

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Hebrews 11:6

In Jesus’ teaching this need for communion is presented in terms of a new birth, according to the teaching presented to Nicodemus.[3]  It also appears in terms of possessing Eternal Life, according to the teaching of the rich young man.[4]  In both teachings the need for communion is the condition for becoming a man of faith.

Therefore, for the man of faith what is sufficient for him is a faith the size of a mustard seed to operate,[5] because the relationship of communion that he has established with God is the one that will make his actions protected by the powerful hand of God. There is no super-faith, because it throws away that faith comes from God. It is the communion that man and woman have established with the Creator that makes things that are not, be made.

Moses explained to the people that the reason why God spoke with a loud voice was so that the people would believe God and establish communion with Him:

And the Lord said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee forever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the Lord.

Exodus 19:9

The message of the prophets was directed to the restoration of communion with God, lost because of the presence of the idolatrous worship of Baal, or some other Canaanite deity.

And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.

2 Chronicles 20:20

It is communion with God that is the basis of faith, not just belief, for as James says, even the demons believe and tremble.[6]  The incongruence in the account of the Sermon on the Mount of those who are classified as evildoers,[7] can only be understood by taking into account that belief in Jesus is only the gateway to life in Christ, but the purpose is to establish communion with Him. Only those who have communion with Jesus will be able to do His will.

Active faith operates through action. Faith is not only the capacity to believe, as is taught in many academic circles, but more so, and above all, to act, for it is by action that one measures the conviction of what one believes. Faith moves a person in the direction of the particular Word presented by God. James in his epistle clearly states that faith, if it does not have works, is dead in itself.[8]

14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?…    18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.…     20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?…     24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.….      26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

James 2.14-26

Belief is important, for unbelief can hinder the development and growth of faith, for we read in the biblical account that Jesus did not do many wonders there, because of their unbelief;[9]  yet it is action that ultimately makes known who the person is who has and executes in faith. The father of faith, as Abraham is known, was characterized because his faith consisted in the fact that in spite of the absurdity and ridiculousness of the demands made upon him, he moved in the direction of what was asked of him, and believed even in hope against hope.[10]

So, if it was counted to Abraham for righteousness, and his righteousness is action before the Word of God, and since the Word states that those who are of faith, such are the children of Abraham,[11] it means that faith is evaluated by the ability to move in the direction of the Word and not just by believing it.

But what good is faith to us?

Most of those who confess faith in Jesus have the concept –erroneous, by the way– that faith serves to ask, to make possible the materialization of what we are asking for, or needing. In short, to make things that are not, to make them happen.

It is a false concept because the Scriptures clearly state that even though the lilies of the field do not work or spin; God dresses her that way, and it stands out that God is obligated to dress us without our having to ask Him. The text emphasizes the confrontational question: – will He not do much more to you, men of little faith?

It is a false concept because the Scriptures clearly state that even though the lilies of the field do not work or spin; God dresses her that way,[12] and it stands out that God is obligated to dress us without our having to ask Him. The text emphasizes the confrontational question: –will He not do much more to you, men of little faith?

Faith was not given to us, nor is it in this world as a spiritual tool to ask for, or to materialize things, faith has been given to us to operate according to God in the execution of His purposes.

Faith helps us to understand God, to read Him, to interpret Him, to know what He wants us to do. Faith is the spiritual capacity to interpret and understand God. Only those who know how to understand God do and are willing to execute what He demands of them.

The epistle to the Hebrews established the spiritual principle that without faith it is impossible to please God. This principle shows us that it is only possible to please someone when you understand what the other person wants. John established it in the following way: And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.[13]  The reason the Father was pleased with Jesus was precisely because He always did what the Father was pleased with.[14]

Faith is a capacity that is only achieved by those who take time to understand God. God’s main complaint is precisely the presence of people who were exposed to God, but never developed the capacity to understand Him.

Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:  

Psalm 95:10

Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.

Hebrews 3:10

The purpose of the Scriptures is that the man of God should be perfect, thoroughly instructed for every good work;[15] that is, that man should know God, and know His will, and act in accordance with it.

Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

Deuteronomy 7:9

The first phase in Abraham’s instruction was precisely to know the God who called him. We observe this in the way Abraham intercedes for the case of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah:

That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

Genesis 18:25

A case that deserves to be highlighted is the case of Nebuchadnezzar, who in spite of being a pagan and idolatrous king, the Almighty revealed himself to his life, and he understood God.

34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: 35 and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? 36 At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. 37 Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.

Daniel 4:34-37

Faith helps us to understand God’s times. Although we often confess that we do not walk in darkness, and that we know about God’s times, the reality of the case is that a great majority of us who profess life in Christ do not have a clear conscience of the times we are living in.

And it is not a question of lack of teaching, for as the apostle John rightly pointed out, the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you.[16]  Even if we do not know in detail about precise dates, for no one knows the day or hour,[17] we are sure of the times we are living in.

The apostle Paul wrote in the same vein as John to the Thessalonian community of believers, who had no need to write to them about the times and moments, because regarding the return of Jesus to the earth, they knew well, that the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.[18]   However, we find in another of his epistles that there were those who had gone astray from the truth, saying that the resurrection is already done, and they upset the faith of some.[19]

So, it’s not about absence of the respective teaching, it’s about absence of faith, because faith is the spiritual virtue from God that serves us to understand about the times, and to be warned even of dangers that hover over our heads.

Cases that deserve to be highlighted are the cases of Simeon and Anna, who at the time of the presentation in the Temple of Jesus, according to the prescription of the Mosaic law, were at the precise moment when Joseph and Mary presented Jesus in the Temple.

25 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. 26 And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, 28 then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, 29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: 30 for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, 31 which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; 32 a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. 33 And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him. 34 And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; 35 (yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. 36 And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; 37 and she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. 38 And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

Luke 2:25-38

In the account of the eleventh chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews all the cases of men of faith that are presented in that entire section, in none of them is faith highlighted as a tool to ask, but as a tool to wait according to the times that had been revealed to them by the Spirit.

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19 accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. 20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. 21 By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones. 23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment. 24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 26 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. 27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. 28 Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. 29 By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. 31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace. 32 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: 33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: 36 and others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 37 they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; 38 (of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

Hebrews 11:17-40

Why, if the Scriptures do not highlight faith as a tool for asking, do we have to? The reason is because, as he rightly pointed out in his epistle, James, it is because you ask wrongly, to spend on your delights.[20]

The only case where one is exhorted to ask in faith, in the epistle of James, is to ask for wisdom to act according to the Will of God. This is something that today’s believing communities need to correct.

pastor Pedro Montoya

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[1]  2nd. Thessalonians 3:2: and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.

[2] Luke 18.8

[3] John 3:2

[4] Luke 18:18

[5] Mathew 17:20

[6] James 2:19

[7] Mathew 7:21-23

[8] ditto 2.17

[9] Mathew 13:58

[10] Romanos 4:18

[11] Galatians 3.7

[12] Mathew 6.28

[13] 1st. John 3:22

[14] John 8:29

[15] 2nd. Timothy 3:16

[16] 1st. John 2:27

[17] Mathew 25:13

[18] 1st. Thessalonians 5:1

[19] 2nd. Timothy 2:18

[20] James 4:3

I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians…

and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

Exodus 3:8

Although He is present everywhere, and His Glory covers the earth,[1] God descends from the heavens and visits the earth from time to time, and does so to establish judgment and order in the regions where man has allowed a government of darkness to be established.

This activity of God is not new; it was part of His intention to maintain communion with man since he was placed in Eden.[2]  From there, His visit to the regions is to destroy the order of darkness that man has built as an ally of the demons. Because of this we find references of when God descended to hinder the construction of the tower of Babel;[3] when He descended because of the sin of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah;[4] when He descended to “expel” Judah and send them in captivity to Babylon because of idolatry;[5] and, the case that occupies our attention on this occasion, the time when He descended to take the children of Israel out of slavery and free them from Egypt.

God’s visitation brings judgment and awakening; judgment for those who operate according to the principles of darkness;[6] awakening for those who operate according to the Righteousness of the Kingdom.[7]  The two processes occur at the same time; in the religious media these processes are presented independently of each other; references in both the Old and New Testaments make it clear that they are two processes within the same event.

3 And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side; 4 and the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. 5 And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:

Ezekiel 9:3-5

5 which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: 6 seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; 7 and to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,

2nd. Thessalonians 1:5-7

How do we know the times of God’s visitation?

Based on the teaching of the story of the liberation of the children of Israel from slavery at the hands of the Egyptians, the visitation of God has the following characteristics:

GOD CHOOSES A MAN OR A WOMAN TO BRING BY HIS/HER HAND JUDGMENT AND DELIVERANCE

Judgment and deliverance do not come alone; they come through the one God has chosen for that purpose. It is God’s way of operating. In the book of Exodus we read that God chose Moses and commissioned him to be the one who would establish judgment on Egypt and open the way for the deliverance of the people of Israel.

Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.

Exodus 3:10

There is always a person in the middle, it is the person chosen by God, it is characteristic of the operation of the Spirit of God. In several texts where they are referred to they are also defined as ‘anointed’. The apostle Peter was sent as the chosen one to establish God’s visitation to the house of Cornelius, in Caesarea;[8] the apostle Paul was sent as the chosen one to establish God’s visitation to the Gentiles, from Jerusalem to Illyricum.[9]

The person chosen by God is invested with a supernatural spiritual capacity to carry out his work, in the gospel of Matthew we read that the person that God uses as a chosen one to establish of the visitation of God is a person that possesses the ‘keys’ of the Kingdom, to open and to close the doors of the spiritual, and to subject by the spiritual warfare to the forces of darkness.[10]  Although we are all called to enter into spiritual warfare, the one who is chosen to establish by God judgment and deliverance possesses a special and higher authority than natural believers normally possess, and demons are subject to it.

God’s “visitation” establishes among those who live under the Lordship of Christ a Spirit of Revelation, as the Apostle Paul himself points out: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give unto you the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the knowledge of Him:

Ephesians 1:17

The person chosen by God is usually a minister of the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not necessarily the rule; God chooses who He thinks is suitable, we have biblical testimonies that in many cases the visitation of God was established through people who had no ministry. The Gadarene who was delivered from the legion of demons that tormented him for many years was chosen to introduce God’s visitation into his land.[11]  Cyrus, a Persian king, pagan according to the idolatry of his time, was chosen by God to introduce visitation in Jerusalem, and whom even God called, ‘my servant’.[12]

God’s visitation is introduced into the regions by the hand of a person chosen for that purpose; God chooses whom He wants, in most cases, whether they are ministers of the Gospel or not, they are not the favorites or the most appreciated by the public to whom they are sent.

27 but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29 that no flesh should glory in his presence.

1st. Corinthians 1:27-29

Many world rulers have been chosen by God to introduce judgment and liberation, and to inaugurate a time of God’s visitation over regions of the earth, only the wise can transcend the political, and see them as such.

THE VISITATION OF GOD COMES BEFORE A TIME OF ANGUISH IN THE PEOPLE OF FAITH

Unlike what religious philosophy states, in the sense that God’s visitation is synonymous with ‘revival,’ understood as a time of Pentecostal gifts, God’s visitation actually means a time of distress, pain, scarcity, even persecution, in those who are born according to the faith of Jesus and persevere in it; the apostle Peter clearly reveals by the Spirit of Truth that God’s visitation begins ‘first’ in and through the house of God:

For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

1st. Peter 4:17

The time of anguish is the ‘characteristic’ of God’s visitation to a place, the learned can discover by it the sign that God is preparing his chosen ones to manifest themselves and establish liberation and joy;[13] in the account of the teaching of the liberation of the people of Israel by the hands of the Egyptians we see it in the way that God reveals to Moses the state of His people in Egypt, we read: And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows:[14]

The Revelation that Moses receives from God is that slavery is only the visible part of a greater spiritual power that is hidden; God declares to Moses: I have surely seen the affliction of my people, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows. Affliction, cry and sorrows produced, according to the same Revelation of God reveals to Moses, by the dominion of demons in the area; God declares to Moses that the plagues have the purpose of judging the gods of Egypt.[15]

The apostle Paul also states in his doctrine, according to the Revelation of the Spirit of Truth, that tribulation is the means by which in many cases, the majority, the visitation of the Kingdom of God is established.[16]

Affliction, cry, and sorrow is a time of suffering through which the people of faith must pass in order to make it clear, in principle, that God is no respecter of persons, that at the hour of His visitation all are weighed in the same way,[17] but that each one shall receive according to the works and righteousness of their hands.[18]  The multiple stories contained in the book of Judges illustrate this characteristic of God’s visitation to the regions of the earth.[19]

GOD’S VISITATION ESTABLISHES CALL FOR SPIRITUAL WARFARE

Religious philosophy claims to see in God’s visitation a time of awakening gifts in the style of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost; however, this is not what the Bible points to as indicative of it. The visitation of God is accompanied by spiritual warfare.

The argument that Pharaoh used to subject the children of Israel to slavery was the fear of experiencing a demographic explosion on the part of the Hebrews, and that they would join their enemies in coming war on Egypt;[20] what Pharaoh feared was what came over him: war, but spiritual war that desolated Egypt.[21]  In the account of when the people of Israel came out of Egypt, we read: And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.[22] How can they be described as an ‘hosts’ having just come out of slavery? The use in the story of a ‘military’ term to refer to the people is not simply to embellish the story, it is the spiritual description of what really happened in Egypt during the time of the plagues: spiritual warfare.

Spiritual warfare is not an auxiliary knowledge of life in Christ Jesus, spiritual warfare is the evidence that the person is living within the Kingdom of Light by faith in Jesus; darkness raises daily and continuous opposition to lead him to desist from his decision to follow the teaching of Jesus.

In the book of the prophet Joel we also read of the emergence of an army that is to manifest itself in future time, this army has the characteristic of emerging to put into effect His Word, precisely in a time of visitation.[23]

In conclusion, I believe that we are living a time prior to the visitation of God, the conditions that meet these times we are living indicate that we are at the gates of a time of visitation of God very great, but lack that we can enjoy it as appropriate, in the Spirit of Truth and not under the approaches of religious philosophy that promotes local church activities. If we are not clear about what the visitation of God means, we can distort it, and instead of knowing how to establish the Kingdom, we could open doors for a time of apostasy. May the Lord open our spirits to understand.

All biblical quotations are taken from the King James Version.

Pastor Pedro Montoya

Twitter: @pastormontoya

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[1]     Psalm 104:1-3: 1 Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty. 2 Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain: 3 who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind:

      Isaiah 2:19-21: 19 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth…  21 to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.

[2]     Genesis 3:8: 8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.

[3]     Genesis 11:5: And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

[4]     Genesis 18:21: I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.

[5]     Isaiah 31:4: For thus hath the Lord spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof.

[6]     Isaiah 10:3: And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?

      Hosea 9:7:The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come; Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred.

      Zephaniah 1:9:In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit.

[7]     Malachi 4:2:But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

[8]     Acts 10:5-20: 5 And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: 6 he lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.…   19 While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee. 20 Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them.

[9]     Romans 15:19: through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

[10]   Matthew 16:17-19: 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

[11]   Luke 8:38-39: 38 Now the man out of whom the devils were departed besought him that he might be with him: but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 Return to thine own house, and shew how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him.

[12]   Isaiah 44:28:that saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

[13]   Psalm 30:11: Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;

[14]   Exodus 3:7

[15]   Exodus 12:12: For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.

[16]   Acts 14:22: confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

[17]   2 Kings 21:13:And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down.

[18]   2 Samuel 22:21:The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness:
according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.

      Galatians 6:8: For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

[19]   Judges 2:16-18: Nevertheless the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. 17 And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the Lord; but they did not so. 18 And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the Lord because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.

[20]   Exodus 1:8-10:Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. 9 And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: 10 come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.

[21]   Exodus 10:7: And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?

      Exodus 12:36:and the Lord gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.

[22]   Exodus 12:41

[23]   Joel 2:11:and the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?

Spiritual warfare, the resource to grow in faith

11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle (ἡ πάλη: fight of strength) not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Ephesians 6:11-12

Spiritual warfare is seen in many Christian circles as an auxiliary knowledge of life in Christ Jesus, useful to know, but not necessary to reach salvation; therefore, many men and women of faith do not consider it a subject of transcendent study to grow in the life of faith; however, there are quite a few testimonies of the Spirit of Truth in the Scriptures that testify to the contrary; the most notable testimony is the one we find in the epistle of the apostle Paul to the community of faith in Ephesus: Put on the full armor of God, for we have a struggle (ἡ πάλη: struggle of strength) against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the world, the governors of this darkness, against spiritual wickedness in the air.

The teaching that the apostle presents in the epistle on the ‘armor of God’ is not a study in spiritual warfare, that is not the task of the apostle in writing the epistle; the teaching is aimed at instructing those who have believed in Jesus on how to live the life of faith according to the Gospel of the proclamation of Peace.[1]  The apostle’s mission is to teach the Gentiles of Ephesus how to free themselves from the pagan way of life to which they were accustomed in the old way of living.[2]  Note, however, that in the teaching introduced by the epistle, the apostle links spiritual warfare with faith, as if both had the same function of forming life in the Gospel; that is, as if both exercises –spiritual warfare and faith– were the daily way of living life in Christ Jesus. This way of Paul presenting spiritual warfare and faith together under the same instruction on how to live the life in Christ Jesus leads us to establish, without a doubt, that a life of faith cannot be developed without taking into account that faith is to face the fiery darts of the evil one, which leads us to understand that faith is spiritual warfare, without discussion.

The basis of this teaching of Paul is the continuity of the work of proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom that the apostle established during his stay in the city of Ephesus.[3]

Thus, according to this teaching, life of faith and spiritual warfare are doctrines of character formation for those who have been born of the Spirit according to the Gospel of Jesus; in these, note, faith is defined as a “shield”,[4] not a weapon of attack but a weapon of defense, which leads us to the understanding that spiritual warfare is not solely about “rebuking” Satan, nor is it solely directed at waging battle against satanic possessions; spiritual warfare is the resistance that one who has believed in Jesus puts up against Satan to prevent him from continuing to use his life as an instrument of iniquity.[5]  Note that this teaching is not exclusive to Paul’s doctrinal theology; the apostle James writes in fairly similar terms, which shows us that this teaching was the general content of the doctrine of the gospel:

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

James 4:7

Spiritual warfare is the faith resource developed in and by the Spirit of Truth to strengthen the spiritual growth of the man and woman who have believed in Jesus.[6]

The man and woman of faith become strong in the Spirit not behind a desk seeking information about the life of faith, they become strong in facing and resisting all the darts of the enemy, taking refuge in the Truth of Jesus’ teachings. He who submits himself to the Lordship of Christ but does not resist the devil, is equivalent to the soldier who does not carry his shield, at some time the darts of the enemy will strike him, and he will perish: taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

The life of faith does not consist in ‘attacking’ Satan, nor in destroying the kingdom of darkness, the life of faith consists in being ‘witnesses’ to the super-eminent greatness of God’s power that worked in Christ Jesus, raising him from the dead, and placing him at the right hand of the Father in heaven;[7] in doing this, as recorded in the teaching of Jesus, the gates of hell will not prevail against the advancement in faith of his saints.[8]  The kingdom of darkness is destroyed by the testimony of faith.[9] 

The life of faith in Jesus consists in establishing on earth the principles of Heaven, in the face of which there is no frontal attack great enough to bring down a man or woman of faith.[10]  The life in Christ Jesus is a life of faith.

Faith is spiritual warfare because, as the apostle Paul rightly stated, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.; but it is a warfare that is waged from resistance to all that seeks to lead man and woman to walk in opposition to the teachings of Jesus. This spiritual warfare consists of taking away from Satan all ‘legal rights’ that allow him to operate in the same environment of faith; a theology that teaches the believer to ‘rebuke’ the devil is useless if it does not first instruct him on how to cancel the actions that give Satan ‘rights’ to operate in their environment.

Faith is born of restored character in the image and likeness of Jesus Christ; the legal right that Satan uses to continue to operate in a faith environment is the same ambiguity of mind that still persists in the heart of the believer.[11]  Apostasy is precisely a double doctrinal position; in Jesus’ words, apostasy is the tares sown in a wheat field.[12]

Another testimony of the Spirit of Truth that spiritual warfare is the resource for growth in faith is found in Paul’s exhortation to Timothy: “fight the good fight of faith”.

Fight (ἀγωνίζου) the good fight (ἀγῶνα) of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

1st. Timothy 6:12

In this exhortation, the apostle is defining spiritual warfare as the conscious ‘effort’ to do God’s Will. Fight’ means ‘strive’ to establish the Will of God. The expression used by the apostle reflects an ‘agonizing’ effort, that is, an effort carried to the ultimate consequences.[13]  The good fight of faith, then, means the strength born of the knowledge of God’s call that is imposed on all spiritual resistance that seeks to stop the work of faith. According to this teaching, faith is born of the personal decision to go beyond the limits of sacrifice –state of agony, according to the term used by the apostle– until the work demanded of us by the Spirit is completed. Faith overcomes all resistance put up by the kingdom of darkness; faith is understanding that nothing and no one can stop the work of the Lord, but understanding, above all, that we are charged with watching over it. Faith is not just waiting for things to be fulfilled, faith demands active participation. In the epistle to the Hebrews we find this same exhortation in almost the same words.

3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. 4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. 5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:

Hebrews 12:3-5

The apostle Paul’s exhortation to Timothy can be paraphrased as follows: “Sacrifice yourself to the point of agony in order to win this spiritual battle of faith; on it depends the Eternal Life for which you were called, having borne witness before many witnesses”. Faith is activated when man and woman enter into spiritual warfare. Faith is not to faint because of those who have piety for the sake of pomp,[14] faith is to continue proclaiming the virtues of the one who called us out of darkness into the wonderful Light even though we do not see the results of our action of faith.[15]

In the teachings established by the apostle Paul, spiritual warfare is not always referred to as a frontal fight against the forces of darkness, the apostle warns that the demons use alternate forms to hide so that they cannot be ‘rebuked’ for their actions; the apostle describes several forms of attack used by demons, the first of which is persecution, in his epistle to the Philippians, we read:

having the same conflict (ἀγῶνα) which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me.

Philippians 1:30

The reference that the apostle makes in this text from Philippians is with regard to the persecution he suffered during his stay in the city of Philippi,[16] persecution that he still suffers at the time of writing the epistle; the text can be paraphrased as follows: “having similar suffering to Christ, as you have seen when I was among you, and as you have been notified, that I still have“. Faith is the participation with the sufferings of Jesus Christ,[17] in others of his written faith is presented as perseverance and joy.[18]

Another way demons use to attack those who live a life of faith in Jesus is by the introduction of false doctrine, in the epistle to the Colossians we read about the sorrow in the apostle to learn of those who introduce false doctrine into the community of faith, and to be powerless to intervene personally:

For I would that ye knew what great conflict (ἀγῶνα) I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh;

Colossians 2:1

What the apostle is facing can be understood in the following paraphrased translation that we have prepared: “I want you to know how great a conflict I have for not being with you, for those of Laodicea, and for all those I do not know personally. I would like to be with you to strengthen your hearts, and to lead you in love, that you may understand and not give up the riches of the revealed knowledge of God, and of the Father, and of Christ.”

The apostle is transmitting the sorrow that is in his heart because of the threat that is hanging over those communities –Laodicea and Colossae– false doctrinal threat that attempts to make them desist from the knowledge of the Gospel that they received through Epaphras, and that has made them stand out as communities of faith in Christ Jesus, and for the love that they show to all the saints that have visited the community.[19]

What Paul is manifesting is his powerlessness not to confront in person those who are introducing teachings that distort sound doctrine in the region. Paul has discovered that behind some of the teachings that the believers of Colosse and Laodicea have received in recent visits from Judaizing preachers, there are teachings that attempt to disrupt the knowledge of Truth, about God incarnate and manifested in Jesus. Spiritual warfare is present in the denunciation of every introduction of apostate doctrine, for not to denounce it means to allow it, which makes us participants in it, according to the apostle John.[20]  In this case the apostle confronted it through the epistles sent to both communities.[21]  Faith is the result of zeal for the work of God; spiritual warfare is aimed at combating all apostate doctrine.

Spiritual warfare is not waged only by ‘rebuking’ demons, as we have seen in the previous cases, there are situations that do not allow it, and not because of that one who has believed in Jesus must refrain from entering into spiritual warfare; spiritual warfare is waged on the basis of the testimony of faith, in the epistle to the Hebrews, we read:

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race (ἀγῶνα)  that is set before us,

Hebrews 12:1

The ‘race’ to which the apostle refers is the struggle against the spirit of sin that is present in the environments we frequent; the ‘weight of sin’ consists of the arguments of deception and falsehood on which the societies of the cities in which we live have been built, arguments of deception and falsehood that demand that we behave according to their philosophies of life. Faith is to reject every philosophy of life that cannot be explained according to the teachings of the Word of Truth.

In his final statement, late in his life, the apostle identified that spiritual warfare is in reality the ‘good’ battle of faith, thus making it clear that spiritual warfare is in reality the faith resource developed in and by the Spirit of Truth to strengthen the spiritual growth of the man and woman who have believed in Jesus. He who desists from entering into spiritual warfare, discards his faith growth.

I have fought (ἠγώνισμαι)  a good fight (ἀγῶνα), I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

2nd. Timothy 4:7

A third testimony to the value of spiritual warfare as a resource for growth in faith is the way the apostle describes the supernatural results obtained by those who entered into disproportionate battles to defeat all their adversaries, striving only on the promise God had given them, that through them great deliverance would be established on earth:

33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

Hebrews 11:33-34

In the first verses of the chapter he emphasizes that without faith it is impossible to please God, and he defines under that very statement, that faith is the conviction that he who comes to God believes that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him, thus emphasizing that all they achieved was not on their own merit, but because they held fast to the knowledge they had of who God is,[22] and to the knowledge of the Truth of His Word.[23]  Faith is clinging to the knowledge of the Sovereignty of God, if God said it, He will do it, and we will carry it out.[24]

When a person who has begun a life of faith in Jesus does not know about spiritual warfare, every vicissitude he faces he will see in it, or a trial or a temptation, all depending on alternate knowledge he possesses, but he will hardly see in it the God-established way of growing and strengthening in faith; many people even, when faced with these types of setbacks, desist from continuing to develop in their spiritual growth.[25]

Spiritual warfare is not an auxiliary knowledge of life in Christ Jesus, spiritual warfare manifests itself in the opposition that the person suffers in all his daily and everyday activities, to lead him to desist from his decision to follow the teaching of Jesus; and he will be confronted, whether he wants to or not, whether he understands about it or not, because by being Light for Jesus he will represent a threat to the forces of darkness; the difference of knowing about the subject is that by becoming aware of the reality of the spiritual struggle, and what it represents for the faith, the person will face every situation with the joy of knowing that he is fighting the battles of Jehovah,[26] and his action against the spiritual hosts of evil will be with wisdom and much more forceful.

The faith that is built on the activity of spiritual warfare is the faith that moves mountains to the sea

Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.

Matthew 21:21

All biblical quotations are taken from the King James Version.

Pastor Pedro Montoya

Twitter: @pastormontoya

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[1]     Ephesians 2:14-17: For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 15 having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; …   17 and came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.

[2]     Ditto 4:21-24: 21 if so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

[3]     Acts 19:9-12:  9 But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus. 10 And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. 11 And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: 12 so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.

[4]     Ephesians 6:16: above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

[5]     Romans 6:13-19: 13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. …  19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

[6]     Ephesians 6:10: Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 

[7]     Ditto 1:19-20

[8]     Mathew 16:18. See also Genesis 22:17: that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

[9]     Revelation 12:11: And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

[10]   Mathew 7:24-25: 24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

[11]   Luke 9:62: And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

[12]   Mathew 13:24-30

[13]   1st. Thessalonians 2:2: but even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention (ἀγῶνι).

[14]   Read the context of the chapter.

[15]   Isaiah 53:1: Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

[16]   Acts 16:12-40: 12 and from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days.…   19 And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers, 20 and brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, 21 and teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans. 22 And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. 23 And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: 24 who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.

[17]   Philippians 1:29: For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake; Philippians 3:10: that I may know him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

[18]   Romans 5:3: And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;   2 Corinthians 4:17: For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

[19]   Paul refers to a possible visit by Mark, Barnabas’ nephew: Colossians 4:10

[20]   2nd. John 9-11: 9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. 10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: 11 for he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

[21]   Colossians 4:16: And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea.

[22]   Jeremiah 9:24: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.

[23]   Titus 1:2: in hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

[24]   Psalm 60:12: Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies. Psalm 108:13: Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.

[25]   Mathew 13:20-22: 20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; 21 yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. 22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

[26]   Numbers 21:14; 2 Chronicles 32:8; Isaiah 30:32; Judges 3:1; 1 Samuel 18:17; 25:28