Last week we gave thought to God’s people as pilgrims. This week we continue to investigate biblical analogies that help us think about our relationship with God as His redeemed people, exploring the analogy of believers as soldiers.
First Peter 2:11 warns us against “fleshly lusts which war against the soul.” This imagery of spiritual warfare is repeated in Paul’s letters to churches and individuals. For example, Philippians 2:25 expresses a commendation of Epaphroditus by Paul as “my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier.” In a similar vein, Paul referred to Archippus as “our fellow soldier” in his letter to Philemon (v. 2).
‘Endure hardship’
Addressing Timothy directly in a second letter, Paul admonished his younger companion in ministry, “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” before reminding Timothy “no one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier” (2 Tim. 2:4).
Worthy soldiers give themselves obediently to their superiors. As soldiers in the army of God the Church ideally responds immediately, gladly and completely to divine commands.
This imagery of Christians as well-armed soldiers appears prominently in Ephesians 6 with the admonition, “Put on the whole armor of God,” before enumerating in rapid order the spiritual armor that consists of divine truth as a belt that girds the waist, righteousness as a breastplate, the gospel as sandals for our feet, faith as our shield, salvation as our helmet and God’s word as our sword.
Trio of foes
As members of the army of God, those of us in the Church face a trio of formidable foes, namely the world, the flesh and the devil. In every age the Church needs to be well-armed for the ongoing spiritual battle.
In Jesus’ time a centurion in the army of Rome had a servant who was seriously ill. He approached Jesus with the recognition that Christ could heal his servant with the power of His spoken word. The centurion based this on the fact that as a military officer he could order those under him to come or go, with immediate obedience.
Isaac Watts gave as the title to a hymn a searching question for all Christians to ask themselves, “Am I a Soldier of the Cross?” It’s a good question for us to be asking ourselves each day.
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