Decisive Victory

\”…And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.\” 1 Samuel 17:51

Goliath of Gath was a champion from his youth and a giant of great stature, over 9 feet tall and wearing an armour of bronze that weighs over 125 pounds. He made a proposition that reveals how the kingdom of darkness operates. He said, \”…choose one man and send him to fight me. If that man kills me, he wins and we Philistines will become your slaves. But if I kill your man, then I win, and you will become our slaves. You will have to serve us.\” (1 Samuel 17:8-9 ERV).

Simply, you choose a champion among you that can fight with me, the champion of Philistine, and let\’s see who wins. The team that wins will automatically become masters to the losing team. Now, Goliath has been terrifying the armies of Israel for 40 days and the armies of both sides have been fighting everyday (1 Samuel 17:16, 19, 21).

Definitely, Israel would have killed some of the soldiers in the Philistine\’s military, and vice-versa. But you know what? killing an ordinary soldier or any number of soldiers among the Philistines does not give Israel a decisive victory. There is only one man to defeat and victory will be assured, that is Goliath.

Our conflict with the enemy

This is a picture of our conflict with the kingdom of darkness. The enemy has organized himself such that our conflicts with him is both internal and external. There are enemies within and enemies without. The enemies within are \”works of the flesh\” (Galatians 5:19-21) while the enemies without are \”the forces of darkness\” (Ephesians 6:12). The enemies within are door openers to the enemies without.

Please read 2 Corinthians 10:3-6.

Christ has purchased our victory

For the Christian, the powers of darkness have been defeated through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We \”…are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:\” (Colossians 2:10). The \”him\” there is Jesus. He has \”…spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.\” (2:15). \”And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.\” (Ephesians 2:6). Where is this \’heavenly places\’? \”…the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.\” (Ephesians 1:20-21). This is very decisive!

Without any shadow of doubt, those who have been redeemed into newness of Life in Christ Jesus are legally, objectively and practically out of the reach of the entire satanic organization. These are enemies without. We have decisive victory over them through our LORD Jesus Christ. To make it your local, subjective and experiential testimony, you simply need to KNOW that this is the gravity of what was accomplished for you and delivered unto you at the moment of salvation.

This victory has a premise

But there is a little challenge! As vanquished as hell and its hordes are concerning the Christian, they have some very reliable allies which are very comfortable within many of us Christians. And once these allies are having a field day in your life, you are giving the forces of the enemy the right (a special permit) to work in your life. The victory we have in Christ Jesus is total but we must first experience it as a LIFE (mastery over works of the flesh) before the enemy will fall before us. Think about it like this: We have the power to deal with the enemy but the authority (which is the right) to use that power comes from LIFE, a life that bears the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-24).

When you begin to experience attacks of the enemy, you might be fooled to attempt to enter a \”warfare\”, so to say, with the forces of darkness, which is okay if you have your full armours on. But as long as there is a door opener to these external enemies, it will be an endless warfare. Remember, killing any number of soldiers in the Philistine army does not make you victorious; the only person to kill is Goliath, and the whole battle will turn in your favour.

Deal with the strong man

\”Or else how can one enter into a strong man\’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.\” Matthew 12:29

Even if you bind all the lesser, lesser servants in the strong man\’s house, you are only deceiving yourself, and permit me to say, you are not yet serious. Whenever you are ready to win, you will deal with the strong man. So, if you are a Christian, you should know that Christ has made you complete in Him and where you are now seated with Him (heavenly places), no demon or principality can reach you there. However, there is an army of vices within, that if they continue to rule your life, they will open the door to demonic activities, right in the face of the perfect victory that Christ has already gained for you on the cross.

You give the devil permission to work in your life when you refuse to cease from any and every work of the flesh

Now, how do you deal with these vices that are called \”works of the flesh\”? The answer is simple, you don\’t deal with the works of the flesh primarily, you deal with the flesh itself. The flesh (or self, carnal nature, sin) is the strong man, the Goliath, that you must defeat, so that all the works of the flesh (soldiers and footmen) will scatter and become your slaves. Even this is already included in the salvation package simply waiting for you to open it. We will pick this up with the next post by the grace of God.

Note: Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version.

Picture Credits: emaze & crosswalk