The Christian Soldier: A Doctrine of Spiritual Warfare

Posted on Oct 20, 2024 in Religion

The Christian Soldier

Part 1: Understanding the Battlefield

Some people are smart and know themselves, but not smart enough to know their opponents, and others are the other way around. Victory is secured when you know the enemy and know yourself.

Part of the exercise set in the mandates for the royal family of God involves rigorous discipline.

Every believer is a full-time Christian soldier who is moving forward in God’s plan. God is not the only general with a strategy. The enemy has a very good strategy as well. The theory involves strategy and plans of operations to reach a target. The divine purpose for the believer is to implement the plan of God and glorify God. The goal of Satan is evil: to oppose, prevent, and disrupt God’s plan at all costs and render the enemy powerless. Tactics teach the use of armed forces in battle, while strategy teaches the use of the battle as the war aim. Strategy decides where to act, logistics brings the troops to this point, and tactics decide the manner of execution and placement of troops.

For example, the cross is where Jesus Christ won His strategic victory. The strategy paved the way for all His disciples, thereafter, to execute the tactical stage victory. Therefore, the believer is given the responsibility of the tactical victory.

Their position is not only the company and under the color of his battalion, but his rank and position as well. He does not have to lose or move to the left or right of his row, if not to leave a space to quietly infiltrate the enemy positions. There is no excuse for dropping out because it not only puts oneself in danger but the battalion, company, and country. No weapons cover the back, meaning that turning around and running brings death. This is how the soldier knows which way to go when in the middle of combat and confusion. He must always be the focus of the believer – in all circumstances of life. If we remove the focus from the confusion, we will end up lost in a mass of smoke, similar to subjectivity. Once we take our eyes off the focus, the battle begins to sink. Subjectivity adds to the forces against us so that we are not only fighting the external forces, but now the internal enemies that can only be tackled with the wisdom and power of God!

Our enemy, Satan and his kingdom of darkness, prevents us from moving forward due to our sins and failures of our old sin nature. Satan is very clever in selecting the most advantageous time for his attack, and you can be sure he knows when it is most likely to prevail. The enemy is coming and going to hang false colors to mislead the believer. Therefore, Satan knows the best time to execute an attack on the positive believer! Our enemy gradually approaches the soul about to attack. Therefore, we also need an intimate knowledge of how our enemy operates so that we can resist his opposition. The enemy will use anything because it can slowly pull the positive believer away from God’s plan. It can start with only a destructive thought at an opportune time, fired into the mind by a friend, doubt, etc. Once you allow the thought the freedom to wander in the mind, it begins to move quickly and accrete in the mind towards language, turning into the soul of another, following the process. Survival, growth, progress, and then it seems like an infectious and deadly disease. The enemy not only tries to project things into the mind of the believer, but his greatest work is to be careful that the doctrinal point of view is left out of our mind. Satan is the master at using others and, therefore, always has to bring fresh troops to the front lines. You never think that the enemy has withdrawn because things are going well. Currently, this is what the enemy wants the believer to think: that he has retired and has been defeated. Thinking this way only gives the illusion to the believer that he has secured a victory that has not really been secured. Satan’s goodwill takes on the appearance of a temporary loss for a bigger result. He knows that if you think all is well, you’re going to let down your guard, and here comes the left hook.

The Christian soldier must always keep fresh in his mind the virtue of his calling. Do not let the word of God, the plan of God, or other believers become commonplace in your life. There is a battle to fight every day. The conflict will not stop until the Rapture or the time of our physical death. But this is not to bring you down or to discourage you because the power and strength of God is promised to every believer who chooses to be firm and considers it an honor to suffer for Christ. It sounds so inspiring, but it is very easy for a weak soldier to be forgotten. A soldier is weak in faith that is buried under doubt, guilt, condemnation, confusion, ignorance, etc., all preventing effective action.

A man determined to obey God never gives up his purpose but always continues to move forward despite what he sees in the battle scene. The soldier with strong faith knows that the immediate appearance of things will change soon once the smoke and confusion settle. So he does not rest on what he sees, but by the faith he has in God’s wisdom and God’s awesome power. The good soldier endures forever!

All wars are based on deception, however, regardless of what appears to be happening at the time, the good soldier continues moving towards the call, towards the rising glory of eternal rewards! The Christian soldier believes he is more than a conqueror even before entering the conflict because God said so. But assuming that the strategic victory has been secured, the theory does not require the tactical victory of the believer. The soldier’s tactical victory has to incorporate the strategy and hand movements at the same time. If the movements of the soldiers are incomplete or inadequate due to fault on his part for not conforming to power and divine goods, then the tactical victory is not assured. The Christian soldier has to concede to a life together with many hardships and difficulties if he wants to bring glory to Christ.

The Christian soldier must learn to support the following:

• If anything takes away from the plan of God, God will ask you to separate from it.
• The penalties come because God is pulling out of the believer. This is not to say that God leaves the believer, but rather, that the believer is God’s way of complementing the opportunity to rely on the world’s greatest power, the word of God.
• But the soldiers have to endure what happens in the place and season where he has been placed, until God sees fit to remove him. Unfortunately, many soldiers do not accept their assignment and never advance in the plan of God.
• The life of a soldier is not just penalties. There are also rewards, triumph, and great victory for the soldier to resist until the end of their assignment. For the Christian soldier, there is a great reward and honor, and intense joy, in carrying out his call to glorify God. But this takes discipline and great strength, dedication, and devotion. This is part of the basic rules of conflict: all the grace of God and the possible manifestations are always opposed by the enemy. Further progress, because your reward is great!

Part 2: Training for Battle

How does the Christian soldier claim the mantle of the spiritual warrior? The spiritual warrior takes action, does not react. He does not try to avoid the hard lessons but rather removes from them everything he can for the advancement of the goal: the glorification of God. As with the military soldier, a daily routine of disciplined training ensures the right set of mind.

Training a soldier is multifaceted, and each facet must be well known so the soldier can answer the call appropriately, at the right time, and in the proper manner. There is an exact and precise way to ensure every desired goal. The proper procedure is always based on how God does things through His divine power. Our human ability is never an option to the main objective. As military soldiers do not invent their own projects, the spiritual soldier must rely on God’s plan. This may sound easy, but this is in direct contrast to the old sin nature (OSN) of man. The old sin nature is always trying to control. However, we try to control, but we can never truly do so, since it is the monopoly of the Lord Jesus Christ (LJC) that controls the story!

The warrior, therefore, must abandon his desire to control his circumstances, his life, his world, and so on. Our unity of action must align with the general in control and the head of command, the LJC. The spiritual warrior does not blindly accept anything, but is disciplined and precise in executing his current task and the execution of the spiritual life. The soldier is not tied to actual things in this world but lives his life according to the internal power received from God.

There is a distinct sound and a call sent to the soldier for the proposal at hand, and the soldier must be fully trained to respond appropriately. The accuracy of the various sounds is based on perception, metabolization, and application (PMA) of biblical doctrine (BD), resulting in a boost to execute God’s plan for your life. If the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will prepare for battle? Unfortunately, many Christians have no training and respond to indistinct sounds. The sound of the clarion call or order by voice must be heard above the noise (i.e., the distractions of life) to take appropriate action. So the soldier must be trained to distinguish sounds which require action. In the military, there is a trumpet call to gather, to outfit, and to line up. And when we grow spiritually, the “sound” or call grows stronger and easier to discern.

The details are given with precision and accuracy as part of the word of God to reveal the importance of the right thing done in the correct manner. The power belongs to God, and the consequences must be surrendered to God. The soldier does not control the call but answers the call.

And much of the training occurs when we need it. All the details in life, both big and small, train us for bigger events. Daily discipline is needed to move forward in the area where we are trained. And while all believers are in full-time Christian service, not all have received their stamp of approval. Only after receiving the mark are we ready to go to war. Spiritual abilities consist of three things:

• Knowing biblical doctrine.
• Applying this doctrine to implement the plan of God.
• Donning the mantle of the Christian soldier indicates fidelity. Constantly using God’s divine goods. The constant training is necessary for the constant changes and challenges we face. And our success is directly dependent on our training.

There are nine military principles of war that can be passed on and implemented in spiritual warfare:

1. Objective/Goal – This principle is the guide for the interpretation of orders, for the formulation of decisions, and the use of available power to achieve that objective.
2. Offensive/Victory – The offensive is taken to ensure victory, while the defensive prevents defeat. Here the great enemy is the emotion of self. In spiritual victories, divine power is given one hundred percent of the time. We begin to neutralize the power of opposing forces in the spiritual life using the bounce because divine power is only available to those who are filled with the Holy Spirit.
3. Mass/Combat Force – Mass refers to the force of combat. You have the option of using the force of combat when the main effort is used at the appropriate time and place to achieve the ultimate goal.
4. Economy of Force/Execution – In the spiritual world, this emphasizes the privacy offered in our position as a royal priesthood for the preparation of direct contacts.
5. Maneuver/The Big Push – An example is given to Satan’s surprises during this era of the church through tactical victories based on equal opportunities and privileges secured by the believers of all cultures. As Christian soldiers, we must know the principles of war and also know that Satan is well acquainted with them. We always have to be prepared against the principle of surprise because it gives the advantage to the enemy.
6. Surprise/The Attack –
7. Security/Support – Safety dictates that we must protect ourselves from the enemy at all costs. We must take all available measures to avoid giving ground to the enemy. No matter what problems we have, God wants us to know that we are kept by the power of God. Satan can only be victorious if we let him.
8. Simplicity/Accuracy – In the spiritual world, this refers to God the Father who is the author of the plan, God the Son/Jesus Christ that provides the input to the plan, and God the Holy Spirit who provides the power to execute the plan.
9. Cooperation/Teamwork – Cooperation implies that all elements are working together to perform the operation. This involves intelligent interpretations towards implementing the spirit and intent of the person having the authority who is giving the orders. In collecting, we apply a word to each of the nine principles: Goal – the plan, Offensive – victory, Mass – combat force, Economy of Force – execution, Maneuver – the big push, Surprise – the attack, Security – Support, Simplicity – accuracy, Cooperation – teamwork.

The spiritual warrior is trained on all fronts. First, there is the personal front, which is our participation in the inner spiritual battles of everyday life, which is evidenced by our thoughts. Second is the interpersonal front, covering our efforts to help others who are under attack. It also includes how we challenge and confound those attacks. This type of front can include anything from one-on-one to small groups. The third front is the local church. This battle is based on spiritual warfare in the local church. It can be focused on one person or a small group of people, but the impact affects the whole church. The fourth front is the systematic struggle against the composite systems of our societies, cultures, and political, economic, and religious systems. The war at this level is our struggle against the view that is not pious about the cultures that try to control and shape our lives. In view of the various fronts of the battle, the soldier never has to walk casually in instruction and discipline but must go forward. Marching emphasizes the importance of accumulating as much time as possible to be filled with the Spirit.

Having knowledge of the doctrine is not enough. Our knowledge must be tested, our training must be exercised. Spiritual warfare offers the fully trained soldier the opportunity to fight on the side of the Lord Jesus Christ towards the goal of glorifying Him. What an honor to be part of this army! The army of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Part 3: Never Go AWOL

The Tree of Life

TREE OF LIFE is a weekly summary of teaching. The Tree of Life for the week ending 02/14/99.

The divine power extends to the believer the ability to handle the divine mandate to execute the divine commands. The Christian soldier should never leave his army or be, what is known as “AWOL” (absent without leave). Being “AWOL” (AWOL by its acronym in English means to drop out and was used mostly in the American war for those who dropped out. Its use is more widespread and is used to define someone that goes without saying anything…) in the spiritual realm is the act of changing or being changed from a state or a past practice. “AWOL” is a wildly inappropriate action and is the state of the believer who cannot execute the plan of God for his life. If the believer is not going forward, he is going backward. This prevents the hostile takeover of negative thoughts and their spread through his tongue. The spiritual warrior must be completely ruthless about what he brings into his soul.

Only when our souls are filled with the divine point of view, rather than being cluttered with negative thoughts from the human point of view, do we have the option of using the divine power required to resist the devil. You may have all areas of your life covered, but if you leave an open space, a neglected site, this is where Satan will focus his attack. God has provided for us a defensive position because Satan will do all he can to attack us and take us out of God’s plan. It is important not to fight Satan on his terms, but we oppose or resist using the perspective and power of God. God calls us to obey in spite of the opposition. The opposition is never a valid excuse to fail or to go beyond the protection offered in predestination, God’s plan designed in advance. The opposition should encourage us to advance to greater heights of spiritual life. If you wish to participate in the victory that our Lord Jesus Christ won on the cross, you must walk in obedience to God’s plan rather than react inappropriately to Satan and the kingdom of darkness. If you do not take a position, you’ll fall for anything. Through this divine power, the grace of God truly offers a greater power than the power of Satan. But you need to learn and use the power of God. Even in light of the offensive position of Satan, we should not fight him; we have orders to resist. When we go out on our own to attack, we step out of that wall of fire. Therefore, it is very important to learn the mechanisms of God’s plans and what He requires of a Christian soldier.

Only when you have the details of your life under control are you ready for spiritual warfare. What makes you think that you are stable enough and prepared to handle spiritual warfare when you cannot handle the relationships in your life? God requires every believer, of his own volition, to have the ability to handle authority in his life. Only then can the believer continue to effectively combat spiritual warfare. The defense of Satan against God was so bright that God created mankind to resolve the conflict. Basically, what our soul breathes in the world system is controlled by Satan. He surrounds us from a vantage point, looking into the soul to cleverly infiltrate our system of thoughts. Each of us has a secret room in our soul. If this secret room is something you reject and do not try to resolve, you can be sure that, at the right time for him, Satan will use it to block or destroy your relationship with God. Many believers have a room in their soul where their imagination has been allowed to run rampant and where idols are erected. An idol can be not only the worship of a physical image, but it is also having an affair or an excessive devotion to someone or something. Idolatry is not just giving someone or something the honor and dedication that belongs only to God; it is also deciding to give in to any human desire as taking precedence over the will of God. It’s a room within which is something that the person is extremely dedicated to. This room in the soul is the place where personal weaknesses are allowed to continue because the individual is not able to overcome these weaknesses. Thus, this room can be a mystery even to the host. This can be a room untouched by man, but God can touch it.

Consider the illustration of the secret room in the Jewish temple in Ezekiel, Chapter 8. The secret room in the temple where they worshipped idols in the dark was known as the chamber of images. If the panels of light in this room had been open, more light would have flooded into this room than in any other room in the temple. But the panels in this room were kept securely fastened so that no light would shine through. Many believers have a room in their soul like this. And this secret room is different from the rest of the temple. Although this secret room in the soul is an abomination to the Lord, we find that His attitude towards this room is one of grace and restoration. On the other hand, Satan’s desire is to use this room for blame and to destroy our spiritual life.

If what you are looking for is good, he can offer that; if what you are looking for is excitement, he can give this too. And his agents are generally believed to be working for the cause of Christ. In fact, Satan’s agents are used to twist the truth of the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. The proper way to study the word of God is for the proper use of the word; Satan manages and conspires to deceive and lure the unsuspecting person, not to “take” for himself, but to mislead. The primary strategy of Satan is, of course, the production of the good that human beings do. His plan is to cleverly spoof the good that is done with the power of God working in God’s plan. Satan’s plan to improve this world and the human condition, and so on, ensures that the good that human beings do is what God rejects. In fact, what Satan puts into use is the rejection of God, but it works for him. This also works for people. This is contrary to the policy of the grace of God, but it meets the needs of the old sin nature. The plan of God is for the believer to operate in his new nature and with divine power. That is the only avenue to the production of the good that is passed through the power of God. In the world system of Satan, as we know, man works in his flesh, his old man, that is, the old sin nature. This is greatly applauded by the enemy and his host of extensive fallen angels. If they can wrap Christians up in the good cause that human beings create, then Christians offer no threat or resistance to the efforts of Satan. And this is exactly where they work most Christians, deep in the deception of the devil’s strategies.

Only the Christian soldier who has been fully trained, who is disciplined, who is exact in the execution of God’s plan, as the word of God says, can see the evil ambushes along the road. All wars require an intimate knowledge of not only their own resources but also of the enemy. The time to measure, calculate, and learn is before the time of execution. Only then can the warrior venture confidently to victory.

God makes available to every Christian soldier the best equipment, the best ammunition, the best maps, the best of everything! But discipline and accuracy are key. I say “but” because most people want an easy out. This is just another strategy of Satan.

Part 4: Knowing the Real Enemy

Knowing the real enemy in spiritual warfare. Send this team to find the location of enemy forces, to locate their current positions, and to determine which generals are in charge of the enemy. The more information that the survey team can get, the better. This information is converted into power because it better equips the forces as they prepare for battle. Without knowledge of their enemy, it is difficult to determine the most stable course of action. Knowledge is necessary to make appropriate decisions.

A perfect example of this was what happened to General Lee in Pennsylvania. The next battle was not planned. General Lee was heading north looking for shoes for his men. General Snort recognized the strategic importance of Gettysburg and, therefore, secured the best location. This location was maintained until reinforcements arrived. This was the first time that General Lee was going into battle without information about the enemy; his cavalry was inefficient at this time. Through General Stuart, General Lee did not know his enemy. In the previous battle, the cavalry of General Lee always gave a descriptive overview of the enemy. But this time, General Lee could only guess. And we know that his decision for a frontal assault on the third day was disastrous, a decision that lost him the battle and a lot of men. If he had known the location, disposition, and the numbers of his enemy, General Lee’s tactics would have been quite different going into the battle of Gettysburg.

Only proper preparation results in effective action. What if you were to teach all Christian soldiers only doctrines such as the love of God, the essence of God, the death and spiritual substance of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the order of the elective decrees, and so on? There is nothing wrong with these doctrines concerning the power of God. But teaching only these doctrines makes the believer’s recognition incomplete and also attenuates the plan of God. The world of doctrines needs to be learned and inculcated in the soul of the believer to make a full circle around the camp of the enemy and know their status. The Christian soldier must acknowledge that he is a full-time soldier with a full-time enemy. The Christian soldier must not only become intimate with the character of God, but he must also become well informed about the enemy. There is a spiritual conflict all around us. Without proper knowledge of our enemy, we become totally vulnerable to his tactics.

Most Christians like to be in “love” with God and like the idea of cleansing the world of the devil. They never come to understand that the world belongs to Satan and that the world has been rejected by God. Most Christians never come to know their true purpose in life. Therefore, the Christian death toll continues to grow more and more. Satan, with a satisfied air, tries to blind believers to their true calling, and he blinds believers to the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. But we know that there is a conflict and, therefore, there is an opposing force. The enemy is composed of Satan and his forces, the kingdom of darkness. The enemy is as real as we are. In fact, he increases his deception. This is why it is so important to learn what the word of God has to say about our enemy.

God does not put us here on earth to go through life always happy because everything is easy to get or because everything is going our way. But happiness is also found in the spiritual realm. Happiness in the spiritual realm is based on knowledge, not emotion. Knowing your enemy brings confidence and empowers the believer with the assurance of action and the ability to maintain his position under pressure. The believer, therefore, must recognize the enemy’s camp with biblical doctrine. The word of God gives us great details about the nature of our enemy, his position, his history, his strength, and his future. We know that Satan is not omnipresent like God, but he controls a huge army of fallen angels. In this way, the kingdom of darkness has eyes everywhere. They have complete files on you and everyone in your family.

1. Rulers
2. Powers
3. The World Forces
4. The Spiritual Forces

Rulers consist of the highest generals of the devil, such as Apollyon (who at this time is imprisoned in the abyss, the fourth compartment of Hades) and Beelzebub (who is free). Fortunately, the believers in Christ have already been transported out of the world before the tribulation period. Those left behind will find a way of life totally different from anything we know. Currently, elected angels can take a form visible to human eyes, but the fallen angels cannot because of their transgression documented in Genesis 6 when they violated the rules of the angelic conflict. The devil’s general, Beelzebub, is free at this time, but he is invisible. He serves as the interior contact for Satan’s secret war against the human race. He is in charge of the “eggastromuthos” demons, which are the ventriloquist demons. These demons represent the present (false) languages. Many Christians swallow such nonsense.

Each of these generals has fifty million demons under his command. Among the four generals, the total number of demons is 200 million. They have been prepared and have remained in a state of readiness for the expected time. They are ambassadors of Satan the devil. They control much of the world’s leaders to achieve the objectives of Satan and execute the policies and mandates of Satan. They attack any nation that operates under the laws of divine establishment, any local assembly that runs on the truth of biblical doctrines, any positive believer, and every gift of grace. They attack not only VIP spiritual believers, such as the apostle Paul, but also attack anyone in the vicinity of a VIP believer. Many of these fallen angels were the main forces behind the world of the past, are the main forces behind the world today, and will be the main forces behind the world during the Tribulation period. During the Tribulation period, they will be visible and mix again with humans, as they did in Genesis 6. These fallen angels prevented the messenger directed to Daniel and prevented the powerful messenger from reaching Daniel for about 21 days. This group works hard to demonize our systems today and will be numerous during the Tribulation. The last group is The Spiritual Forces of Evil, and they are located in divine places. This group is in the atmosphere surrounding the earth, in the stellar universe, and the…