After the apostle Paul had made it clear how Christ saves from sin and frees from the power of Satan and evil habits, he said: “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1, NIV). God not only surrounds His people with a protective defense, but He also gives them strength to overcome.
The protective defense that God gives His people is so strong that the devil cannot destroy it. “We have a strong city; God makes salvation its walls and ramparts” (Isaiah 26:1, NIV). This signifies the power of God: the salvation of the soul. He not only gives us strength outwardly but also inwardly. The Scripture exhorts us in Ephesians 5:18: “Be filled with the Spirit.” When Jesus ascended to heaven, He gave His followers the promise of the Holy Spirit. When His power, love, and glory fill the soul, we have a secure and strong protective defense against everything that storms in on us. Therefore, how necessary it is to be filled with the Spirit of God!
So how can we overcome in battle? Faith is our shield with which we can extinguish all of Satan’s fiery darts. Faith is the victory that overcomes the world. In every battle, we must hold up the strong shield of faith. Some true and honest followers of the Lord sometimes seem to forget, or have not yet fully learned, that Christians must walk by faith. In the morning, they rise with a happy and joyful feeling; they praise and glorify the Lord. They are so happy, but then suddenly a dark cloud comes over them.
All at once, doubts and bad feelings arise in them, and they ask themselves: “What have I done wrong?” Although the Lord does not show them anything, a voice tells them that they have somehow done wrong. The more they pay attention to their feelings, the worse it gets, until the victory they had in the morning is lost. Had they held on to their faith, in spite of their emotions, they would not have been overcome.
Had they realized right away that this was the devil’s discouragement, and firmly resisted him in the name of the Lord and in childlike faith, and sung a joyful song of victory, they could have spared themselves a lot of unnecessary suffering.
If you too find yourself in such a situation in which a voice tells you that you have done wrong, but you are not aware of it, then do not listen to the voice! For if it is the Spirit of God who is warning you, He will show you the wrong you have done and make it clear to you where you have gone wrong, and how to repent and make it right. Pay no attention to your feelings, but look to God, to His greatness and power! Look up to Him who made heaven and earth, who made the waters of the Red Sea part for His people, who rescued the three men from the fiery furnace. Look up to the mighty Savior, who has all power and authority in heaven and on earth. This will strengthen your faith. If we look to the Lord and are obedient to Him, we will have a glorious victory and will be more than conquerors in everything.
Faith must be based on the Word of God. This can never fail. The shield of faith, which we must always uphold, renders the arrows of the tempter harmless and powerless. Jesus has taken away the power of the enemy. Anyone who believes, obeys, and trusts Him can and will be victorious. Every redeemed person can remain protected from sin and be an overcomer – as long as he remains in the freedom he has attained through Christ, is clothed with the whole armor of God, walks in the light of God’s Word, and coura-geously fights the good fight of faith.
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