The First Letter of Peter- 2

Subtitle: The Joy of Our Salvation- part 1

1 Peter 1:5-7.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, November 23, 2025.

Last week, we walked through Peter’s introduction of the letter and, beginning in verse three, several verses that began to praise God for the salvation that He has made available to us.

Today, we will continue looking at this praising of God.

Let’s look at our passage.

Praise to God for His salvation

Verse four celebrated the inheritance “reserved in heaven for you.”  It is this “you” that verse five describes further.  You are those who are being protected by the power of God.

The preposition “by” can also be translated as “in.”  In this case, I think both are instructive.  We are not only protected by the power of God, but we are also protected in the power of God.  It is connected to Paul’s penchant to describe believers as being “in Christ.”  In Christ, we are surrounded by the power of God protecting us, like strong walls that none can break.

This is an important point because we can be discouraged by an inheritance reserved in the heavens, but no help to get there on earth. In our flesh, we can come to feel that way.  Peter is not pointing to “pie in the sky when you die.”  The same power of God that reserves it for us is also working in and around us to bring us to the day of inheriting.  God is always working in the heavens and on the earth.

This power is both external and internal because our threats are internal and external.  Thus, we can think about the way that the Holy Spirit takes up residence within us.  We can think about how the Holy Spirit fills us and empowers us to stand against the thoughts and desires of our flesh that are contrary to God’s will for us.  He protects us from those things that seek to invade our lives and separate us from Christ.  He protects us from those things that seek to disqualify us from our inheritance.

Yet, this protection is not in such a way where nothing touches us and tests us.  It is not a protection where we are unable to fall back into unbelief.  It is a protection guaranteeing that we will not be tested beyond our ability to belief God and persevere.  Our flesh may not like this kind of protection, but it is the problem not the solution.  The power of God is more than able to bring us through this world and all the tests and trials that we will face.  If we trust Him, we can know that no power on earth or in the heavens can keep us from this inheritance that He has for us and the completion of our salvation!

Peter then emphasizes that all of this is “through faith.”  We must persevere by trusting His good intentions for us.  We must also persevere by staying true to His commands and instructions to us, the Word.  Our enemy’s only successful line of attack is to weaken our faith in Christ and the Word of God.

Our flesh is quick to complain.  “God, you can’t expect me to go through this and trust You!”  However, one of the signatures of God is that He puts things in front of us that seem to be too big for us.  Yet, if we trust Him, He brings us through and makes us stronger.  A young man starting a family or a job may feel that it is too hard for him, but this is generally immaturity.  If he hangs in there and learns, he will find that he expands in ways that he didn’t know possible to do it.  The same is true of a young woman facing childbirth for the first time.  It is intimidating and fearful.  Yet, God made you for this.  Trust Him.

We often go through things that don’t feel like God is protecting us.  However, He is there working to protect your mind and heart.  He does this through the Word and by giving us insight when we pray.  He does this through the help of mature believers around us.  God is faithful even to ensure that the external attacks are not more than we can handle with Him.

He then speaks of a “salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”  The word for “time” here is not a word that focuses on chronology, numbers of days.  It is a word that can be translated as “seasons.”  Though there is chronology to seasons, the emphasis is on what happens in that time period, rather than on the time itself.  Of course, we are talking about spiritual seasons in this case.  What spiritual season are we in right now?  We are in a season of grace.  God is sending out emissaries to all the world, inviting them to join the Messiah and participate in His great salvation.

It is true that a person can speak of being saved in the present, and this is rightly done.  Our salvation can be contemplated in several ways.  First, we can speak of a person who has become a citizen of the Kingdom of God’s Son.  They are part of those who are saved in the sense that they are on the side of Messiah.  They have salvation and nothing or no one can take it away from them, as long as they continue with faith in Jesus.  Sometimes this is called legal salvation, or positional salvation.  You are in a saved state though you haven’t received it all.

Yet, we can also talk about salvation in a second sense.  Throughout this life, the Holy Spirit works within us in order to practically save us from the inroads of sin in our life.  By faith, we fight with the Holy Spirit against those things in our life that are contrary to Christ.  We also battle to replace those things with the character and righteousness of Christ.  Over time, we become more and more like Him.  This does not mean we become any more saved in a legal or positional sense.  No, we are always just as much today His child as we were when we first believed.  Yet, our life is more like Jesus.

At the Second Coming of Jesus, we will step into the fullness of this salvation as we receive our resurrected body, a heavenly, imperishable body.  All that went wrong with humanity in Genesis three will be overturned completely in the lives of those who are resurrected in Christ.  This past, present, and future sense of salvation is always true whether it is being referenced in the moment.

Peter is clearly looking ahead to that aspect of our salvation that is going to be revealed at the end of this season of grace.  He is looking ahead to the completion of our salvation of which we only have a foretaste now.  This fullness of salvation awaits us, is even now ready to be revealed.  The readiness is referring to the fact that nothing more in relation to salvation needs to happen.  It is ready for the moment that the Father sends the Son to take up the kingdoms of this world, which will occur at the closing of the Age of Grace.

Though Peter doesn’t specifically mention the Second Coming of Jesus in this verse, he foreshadows it with the mention of this salvation being revealed.  Verse seven, however, makes it explicit that this is what he is pointing us to look at.

This salvation from God should cause us to rejoice greatly as Peter mentions in verse six.  Of course, most people rejoice in their salvation on day one, but what about day 1,000? If we are not still rejoicing, then it is because we have our eyes on something other than Jesus and the salvation that he is giving to us and shall finish in us.

When a person realizes that their true inheritance is kept by God for them, it brings great joy even in the midst of hardship.  Our inheritance is not at the mercy of the things that we experience on this earth, at least not if we keep our trust in Jesus.  Peter knows that they were experiencing difficulties, just as we do.  The trials of this life are trifles in comparison to the reward ahead.  Whether circumstances, events, or people, we can trust that God is bringing us to Himself for the reward that He has reserved for us.

This is why Peter ties their rejoicing to the reality that they are facing trials and tests.  He uses the term “for a little while.”  The word doesn’t actually have time in it.  It simply is “for a little.”  The context is to supply what the little is here.  I think little time works because our reward is not only in the future, but it is an eternal reward.  This life is short in comparison.  However, it also could be a reference to the fact that the trials themselves are little in comparison to the joys ahead.

This earth can seem long when we are undergoing trials and difficulties.  Martyrdom in such cases may come as sweet release.  Still, these are hard things to face.  Often trials and difficulties are short-lived in comparison to our whole life.  How many things that were so big in your life twenty years ago no longer bother you or weigh down your mind?  Of course, this is not to minimize how these things feel.  Yes, they feel big and heavy.  Faith teaches us to see them in light of God’s eternal purpose for us, and it is good.

It is amazing how God takes our tests and trials and uses them to make something good in our life when we put our faith in Him.  Like Paul in prison writing a letter of rejoicing to the Philippians, we can become a strong bulwark of faith helping others because we have been tried and tested.

Peter uses the phrase “if necessary.”  This recognizes that not all people suffer trials at the same intensity and duration.  God even determines to relieve us of some trials that we may face if we will ask Him in prayer.  It is this unknown aspect of our trials that can be particularly testing.

Have you ever thought about how comfort itself tests us?  It cannot be referred to as suffering.  However, it begs the question of whether or not you will keep your eyes and faith upon Jesus and his salvation.

There are things that God has determined we must go through them.  Whether He actively causes them or simply allows them to be (permits them) because of the choices of others, we can know that He has a good purpose in so doing.  On top of this good purpose, His Spirit within you is working to give you all that you need to be preserved through the test and to pass it with flying colors.

I have been referring to these things as trials and tests.  It is actually one word in the passage.  This word can be translated several ways depending on the context.  What makes the difference is the intention of the one doing it.  When the devil tests us, he is attempting to disqualify us, to make us fail.  Thus, it would more appropriately be called a temptation.  Yet, God does not tempt anyone.  He does not allow these things to disqualify us.  Rather, He ensures that we who are already qualified will be strengthened and made stronger, refined and made purer through them.  Thus, we would not use the word temptation but rather test or trial.  Do you not know that the devil cannot take you out of the hands of Jesus?  Do you not know that the devil’s pounding upon you is being used by the Lord to make you more like Him?  Even now, the Lord Jesus is interceding on your behalf.  Will not the Father answer His prayer?  May the Lord strengthen our faith as we go through times in which we are tested.

In verse seven, Peter uses a phrase of our faith, “the proof of your faith.”  Some versions say proving or simply interpret it as genuine.  What he is talking about is the testing process by which something is determined to be genuine.  The process is a proving or testing of our faith.  Yet, when the process is done, the process itself becomes the proof of our faith.  Regardless of how it is translated, Peter is looking ahead to the day in which we are no longer being tested.  Our faith will have been proven, and our life on this earth will be the evidence of our faith.  Is my faith genuine or a ruse?  Is my faith only good in fair weather or is it durable through trial?

Peter is referring to a process of refining and even mentions being tried by fire.  This brings up the comparison to gold.  Your faith is more precious to God than gold.  In fact, the gold of this world is typically thought of as enduring a long time.  Yet, compared to God’s plan of an eternal inheritance for you, it is perishable.  This heaven and this earth will melt away as God creates a new heaven and a new earth. God wants your faith more than all the works that you can do for Him, and yet, He has works in mind for you to do by faith in Him.

Our faith should also be more precious to us than gold.  No amount of gold, money, etc., can purchase salvation for us.  Also, it is our faith which keeps us in Christ where the power of God is promised to preserve us.  These tests may seem to destroy and ruin, but in the end, they are only refining us for Christ.

When our faith is proven by this life and its tests to be genuine, then it will result in praise, glory, and honor.  Yes, it will result in us praising Jesus, giving him glory, and honoring him.  However, Peter is speaking of the praise, glory, and honor that we will receive in participation with him.  In this life, we give all the glory to Jesus, but the amazing thing is that, when he returns, we will have been made to be like him.  We will come with him as a host of immortals in his wake, like a bride coming with her husband.

This world will not praise your faith and give you glory.  This world often dishonors those who have faith in Christ.  Yet, God will overturn all the ridicule, shame, and dishonor heaped upon those who put their faith in His Messiah.  This is part of our inheritance.

In case there is any question, Peter adds that this will be at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  This event is mentioned again in verse thirteen.  It is also called the apocalypse of Jesus.  It simply means to unveil something that had previously been hidden.

On one hand, Jesus has already been revealed, unveiled, on this earth, and we have believed in him!  Yet, we did not see the powerful works that Jesus did, nor did we see his post-resurrection appearances.  Yet, we have put our faith in him.  Thus, Jesus himself said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29).  The world even now operates in disbelief of this.  Even parts of the world that give lip service to the Lordship of Jesus do not truly follow his commands as if he truly was lord.  Jesus is not ruling on this planet.  He is hidden in the heavens awaiting the day of judgment.

At the Second Coming, Jesus will be revealed in all his glory, shining like the sun, coming on the clouds of heaven, pouring out judgment on the rebellious powers of this world and of the heavens.  There will be no doubt to believer and unbeliever alike that Jesus is the glorified Lord, the Son of God’s love, the Son of Man to whom all the kingdoms of the earth belong.  And, amazingly enough, we will be at his side!

Well, we will stop here and pick this up again next week as we continue marveling at the joyous salvation that our God has reserved for us in the heavens!

Joy of Salvation audio

The Acts of the Apostles 84

Subtitle: Showdown in Jerusalem V

Acts 23:6-22.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on October 13, 2024.

We join Paul today before the Sanhedrin, the head legal council of first century Judea.  The Roman commander appears to be observing because he wants to understand exactly what the charges are against Paul, who is a Roman citizen.

We saw last week that Paul was struck on the mouth when his opening statement offended the high priest.  Basically, Paul explained that he had a good conscience in all that he had done.

Let’s pick it up there.

Paul faces the Sanhedrin before the commander (v. 6-10)

After he is unjustly struck for his testimony, Paul realizes that he is not going to receive a real hearing, much less a fair one.  It seems that he chooses to switch tactics here.  If they are not going to listen to him presenting the Gospel, then he can at least couch his position in terms that at least some of them can accept.  Those terms would be the belief in resurrection.

Regardless of what people think about Jesus personally, the resurrection of Jesus is the true sticking point.  If he wasn’t raised from the dead, then his followers were conducting a ruse and should be exposed, resisted.  Yet, if he did come back from the dead, then this is a reality that must be faced.

From their reading of the Old Testament, the rabbis who were Pharisees held that God would raise all the righteous dead from the grave in order to participate in the promised kingdom age under King Messiah.  They were not expecting Messiah himself to be resurrected, but they did believe that God planned to do it, i.e., it should be expected at some point.  The Sadducees, however, not only believed that resurrection was impossible and not prophesied, but they rejected the reality of spirits and angels.  They would scoff at the very idea of resurrection, whereas the Pharisees would only scoff at Jesus being resurrected.

When Paul complains that he is under attack because of his belief in resurrection, it would bring immediate scoffing from the Sadducees.  Their outward scoffing at the very idea of resurrection would naturally provoke a defense from the Pharisees because they had been strongly arguing this point for a long time.  They would not like Paul, and they would reject that Jesus was resurrected, but they would resist the tendency of the Sadducees to use belief in resurrection as proof that Paul was in error.

We should recognize that our traditions can hem us into positions that refuse to see the truth and ignore its attempts to open our eyes.  Christians make this mistake every bit as much as the Jews of the first century.

Paul’s complaint will provoke a fight between the Sadducees and the Pharisees.  We could accuse him of being a trouble maker, but several things are brought to the surface here.  The Sanhedrin is not a united group.  There are great dissensions among them.  Their anger and rage is affecting their ability to reason.

It is not Paul who is creating, or causing, their troubles.  He is only bringing them to the surface in front of the Roman commander.  Romans did not like being involved in points of religious belief.

I think the Pharisees started out defending the concept of resurrection, but throughout the angry arguing, they ended up somewhat defending Paul, or at least the possibility of the things Paul described.

Notice that Paul speaks of “the hope and resurrection from the dead.”  The resurrection is itself a hope to those who are living righteously in this wicked world.  Even if we are put to death by the wicked, or die having lived under the boot of wickedness, God will resurrect the righteous in order to reward their life of faith in Him.

Think of it this way.  The God of the universe created all things “very good.”  Yet, humans (along with some of the angels) have messed up this universe (particularly the earth).  Yet, God has promised to help humans and save us from this state that we have fallen into.  When humans died, their spirits went into a spiritual holding place, Sheol, Hades, The Grave.  However, the wicked would be held for a final judgment, but the righteous are held for the day when God rewards the righteous. He will empty Sheol and give the kingdoms of this world to the righteous, but the wicked will inherit everlasting shame and darkness.

May God help us to grasp this hope and to hold on to it stubbornly.  The resurrection of Jesus gives evidence to us that our resurrection will one day come about at his command.  God help us not to be too cynical, too quick to quit and declare that it is not worth it to serve God.  We want Jesus to find us doing what we are supposed to be doing, and, if he doesn’t come back in our lifetime, we want him to see that we lived out righteousness by faith in him.

At some point, the Roman commander sees that the heated argument is going to engulf Paul and bring harm to him.  He sends in his soldiers to rescue Paul again.  They take him into custody and back into the fortress.

The Lord protects Paul (v. 11-22)

Though we have seen this Roman commander protecting Paul in this story, it really is the Lord who is protecting Paul.  In a bit, we are also going to see how the Lord uses Paul’s nephew to protect Paul again.  We can be too fixated on the mechanism, the person, that God uses to help us.  We can treat a person or thing as if they are the solution to our problems.  Is the solution for an oppressive Pharaoh a shepherd from Midian?  Of course, not.  Are guys with beards and bearing a staff a weakness for Pharaoh, his Kryptonite?  Or perhaps, there is something about the Red Sea that always hits Pharaoh where it hurts.  We can make an idol of the things that God uses to help us.  Israel did this with the bronze serpent that Moses had crafted in the wilderness (see Numbers 21 and 2 Kings 18:4).  In truth, before the Lord all powers of heaven and earth are weak.  It is the LORD who is Pharaoh’s weakness, and Paul understood this. 

Verse 11 tells us that the Lord “stood by” Paul that night.  I believe that Paul was wrestling with the Lord in prayer over how he could have done a better job that day.  We need to understand that Paul’s desire was to turn his people’s hearts back to Messiah Jesus, not to provoke them into riot.  It is easy to think that nothing phases guys like Paul, or Elijah.  However, the truth is that these are men who wrestled with what it was going to take to reach their people.  Perhaps, they prayed asking for God to reveal what they were doing wrong.  If only I spoke more eloquently and had greater passion, then they would all believe!  Don’t you think?

Yet, that night, the Lord stood by him and gives him a message.  I don’t know if this was a vision of Jesus standing by him, or if Jesus actually materialized to him.  Both are quite possible.  Yet, let’s look at how Jesus encourages him.

Paul is told to be of good cheer.  It is possible, even when things are not “working,” to be cheerful in God.  How?  We can do it by remaining focused on what we can control, our actions.  God does not send us to save people.  He sends us to put the message of salvation in front of them.  However, it will be their response to the work of the Holy Spirit that will bring about their salvation.  Paul had faithfully done what Christ wanted him to do.  Jesus was well pleased with Paul, and he could take joy in that (so can we).

Jesus also tells Paul that he has testified of him to Jerusalem and so he must do in Rome.  We don’t always understand the full purpose of God’s work through us.  Humility teaches us to step out in faith, and then be joyful that God is working through you.  Yet, God sometimes gives us light on our path ahead.  Jesus reminds Paul of that part of his future that he was aware of already.  He would go to Rome and testify of Jesus there.

In order to be cheerful in Jesus, we will have to quit looking at politics, economies, and the possibility of world war.  We will have to keep our eyes upon him and what he is giving us to do.

You may not have a visitation or a vision of Jesus.  Yet, he is speaking to you now through his Word.

There can be a part in all of us that says, “I wish the Lord would stand by me,” as if his Word and his Holy Spirit are not enough.  It is not visions and physical manifestations that give encouragement.  We have to be careful that we are not being dishonest.  Many generations that had a large amount of physical manifestations from God failed to trust God, while others believed without those things.

Let me emphasize my point by asking this question.  Do you realize how impossible it is to impress the God who created everything in the universe?  You could say that it is impossible.  Yet, what impressed Jesus the most about any person while he was on this earth?  He was impressed by a Gentile soldier who said that Jesus didn’t need to come to his house in order to heal his servant.  All he needed to do was give the command and it would happen.  Jesus was impressed with the faith that this Gentile had, when many in Israel couldn’t believe half as well.

It takes faith, and faith is not necessarily helped by great physical manifestations and miracles.  If God always manifested and jumped through our hoops in order to get us to trust Him, then, at some point, it would cease to be faith.  It becomes a negotiating over what He has to do in order to obtain our faithfulness.

Do you not know that God cares about you?  There will be moments in your life where He will show up in special ways.  It may only be a spiritual experience, or it could involve a dream, a vision.  It might be through a person that He uses to speak into your life.  Such times are like milestones in our lives where God refreshes us and keeps us pointed in the right direction.  Yet, at the end of the day, He wants us to trust Him and to keep going on in faith.

Paul went to Jerusalem by faith.  Not a faith that declares that I won’t be touched by anything.  It is a faith that says, “I will follow You, regardless what I face, because You are worth it!”  In the end, it is not up to what we can see that will protect us.  It is up to the Lord Jesus, and that should give us great hope!

The next day, we are told about a plot that develops to kill Paul.  Forty plus men have bound themselves with an oath that they will not eat until they have killed Paul.  No doubt, they did this in the name of God.  They come to the Sanhedrin and tell them their plot.  They want the Sanhedrin to ask the Roman commander to bring Paul back for more questioning, but it would be a ruse in order to create an opportunity for ambush.

We keep running into this tendency to mix wicked things with God and His things.  This is just how we are as humans.   When we get into positions of power and authority, we become entrenched in a system that we protect because it protects us.  We can use the color of law and the color of morality to cloak wicked actions. 

Of course, we know that Paul will live years following this.  I doubt that these men were spiritual enough to actually starve themselves to death.  I’m sure that they went back to the same rabbis and ask for some kind of ritual absolution for their rash vow.  But the real question is this.  Will they repent?  Will they actually see that God is goading them to turn away from the wicked path that they are on?

We are told that Paul’s sister’s son (nephew) learns about this plot and reveals it to Paul.  The term used for “young man” here refers to a man in his 20’s or 30’s.  Paul has the guard take his nephew before the commander in order to reveal the plot against him.

This is the grace of God that the right person is in the right place at the right time in order to expose a wicked thing. 

Of course, the commander is rankled by the idea that he would be tricked into having a Roman citizen killed under his watch.  He plans to thwart it, and he commands the young man not to tell anyone that he has made the commander aware of the plot.

Paul is rescued by the Roman commander over and over, and now his nephew helps to protect him.  In all of these things, we must not lose sight that God is working through them to accomplish His purpose.  God is not necessarily protecting Paul from pain and suffering.  But, He is protecting Paul’s ability to share the Gospel.

This is where we need to understand that God can use anyone, even our enemies, to work something for the good of the mission.  This is at the core of the message of the cross of Jesus.  Without the cross, there can be no eternity with God the Father, there can be no redemption for human beings.

When you prayerfully step out in faith, you will get a mixed response.  Don’t let negative responses dissuade you from what God is leading you to do.  Keep your eyes upon Him.  Trust Him.  He will be with you and help you in a multitude of ways.  However, will I trust Him and step out in faith?

Worry easily crops up in our human hearts.  So, let me remind us all of Philippians 4:6-7.  “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

That is the path that God has for us.  Anxieties will arise, but take hold of them and bring them to God in prayer with thanksgiving.  He will aid us and bring us to the good thing that He intends through those things that cause us worry.

Showdown V audio

Lessons from the Underground Church 9: Permissible Stratagems

This is a 13 week series that will not be posted on our website.  If you would like an audio of the sermon or a written article on the sermon contents then please contact the church at AbundantLifeEverett@frontier.com.  You can also leave a message at 425.438.1500.  Thank you for your interest.

The Spirit of the Age

Ephesians 2:1-3; 6:10-13.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on September 6, 2020.

We have reached Mark chapter 13, which is a big transition in the book.  We will also have a visiting evangelist next Sunday.  Therefore, I have decided to go a different direction today and talk about the Spirit of this Age.

Throughout history, it has been noticed that people groups can be infected by an idea that seizes them to such a degree that they are caught up into something that is bigger than themselves.  The group energy often pulls the individuals that comprise it beyond where they would go on their own. 

Fyodor Dostoevsky, among others, saw this happening in his country of Russia, and, at the end of the 1860’s, published his novel The Possessed (depending on how it is translated it could also be called The Demonized).  At one point in the book, some revolutionaries have started a poorer part of town on fire.  During the pandemonium of trying to put the fire out, one character that has been a bit of a goof, even borderline mental, shouts one of the best lines of the book.  “You can’t put out the fire; the fire is in the minds of men!” 

We similar activity in our own country today, and must ask ourselves the question.  Just what has seized the minds of not just 21^st century Americans, but people all over the world?  The Bible refers to it by many names, but we are going to use “The Spirit of the Age.”

The reality of the unholy spirit

In the opening verses of Ephesians 2, the Apostle Paul points out the reality of a spirit that is influencing this world.  Satan loves to mimic God.  If there is something that God has done then he will mock it with a false version of his own.  Just as there are true prophets of God so, he sends false prophets.  Those who pretend to speak on behalf of God, but delude the people.  Just as there is a true Christ so, he sends all manner of antichrists, or false Christs, in order to deceive the people.  The Bible warns of a coming, ultimate Antichrist who will deceive the whole world with the help of the ultimate False Prophet.  It should be no shock that there would also be the work of an unholy spirit, which represents the whole force of spiritual wickedness led by Satan.

Notice how Paul portrays those who do not follow Christ.  Yes, they are walking in their sins, but they are also under the influence of the “prince of the power of the air.”  In fact, he says more pointedly that this unholy spirit is presently “working in the sons of disobedience.”  They are those who refuse to follow the Holy Spirit of God and believe upon Jesus Christ.

There are some who disobey the Holy Spirit knowingly.  They believe that the God of the Bible and Jesus of the cross have misled the world.  They work directly against the Truth of God.  However, the great majority of people in this world participate in disobedience unknowingly.  They are simply following the course of this world that was laid out in front of them, and going with the overall flow of this Age.

Paul explains that this spirit uses the lusts of our flesh and the desires of our mind to influence and direct us.  Like a harness on a horse, we can be pulled around away from truth and towards the destructive ends of our own desires.

Satan didn’t make Eve want the fruit of The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  He only influenced her towards the idea of rebellion against God’s command.  The Bible tells us, “when the woman saw [who saw?] that the tree was good for food [good for whom?], that it was pleasant to the eyes [whose eyes], and a tree desirable to make one wise [which one?], she took of its fruit and ate.”  The strong desires and appetites of our flesh do not want to be limited by the Truth of God.  The willfulness of our mind wants to go in particular directions that God warns against.  On top of all of this, there is a spiritual realm with beings who are working overtime to influence and manipulate us towards rebellion against God, whether knowingly or unknowingly.  This is the Spirit of the Age.

You should go ahead and read all of Ephesians 2.  When reading verses 1-3, it seems a rather dark image with little hope.  However, verse four says,

“But God, rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.”

Christians are no longer a part of the “walking dead.”  Instead, we have been delivered and made alive.  The biblical picture is not one of Zombie movies, or games, in which we are trying to slaughter all the zombies created by the evil spirit of this world.  Rather, we are the hand of Christ to touch the minds and hearts of the zombies so that they may have a renewed mind.  Everywhere he went, Jesus touched people and healed them.  He has given us the antidote to the greatest wound, the direst disease, that this world has.  We have compassion because, “we too were zombies once.” 

Let us never forget the battle that is going on all around us.  If we merely go through life trying “to get ours,” or trying to change the world according to the philosophies of this world, then we will find ourselves part of a fire that may promise a better future by which to warm ourselves, but in the end only leaves mankind in cinders and shackles. 

Later in the letter, Paul touches on this spiritual dimension again.

Our battle is not with people, but with the Spirit of the Age

In Ephesians 6:10-13, we are reminded of our real enemy.  Jesus has given us a clear directive, but it is easy for us to lose sight of the one we should be fighting.  Paul reminds us that our battle is with the spiritual powers that are enslaving people by their own lusts and self-will.

An important part of any battle is one’s protective gear.  Paul tells us to put on the armor of God.  The things that he lists involve the very things that often make us afraid.  The Spirit of the Age (SotA) warns us not to tell the truth because it will cause us trouble.  The SotA tells us that doing the “right thing” will only get us into trouble.  The SotA tells us not to share the Gospel because we will look stupid; don’t trust God because He doesn’t exist; don’t trust Jesus to save you, take your salvation into your own hands.  And, the antibiblical messages never stop.  Through fear, the Spirit of this Age convinces people to lay aside the only things that can protect them from it.

Christians, we cannot put our faith in Jesus without also trusting his armor.  Too many Christians are wearing the armor of Saul, the armor of this world.  However, Christ calls us to wear the armor that the world can’t see and it can’t understand.  It is an armor that protects our hearts and minds from the lies of a deceptive enemy.  Now is the day to stand on the Truth of God’s Word even when the world says it isn’t true.  Now is the time to do what God says is right rather than what the world says is right.  We need to be a people of the Gospel, walking in faith, and holding onto the salvation of Jesus through prayer.  This is the only protection we have against an enemy that is to us much more than Goliath was to little David.  However, always remember that is sufficient for the task.

Paul does list one offensive weapon, the sword of the Spirit.  He makes it clear that he is talking about the Word of God, the Bible itself.  It is powerful and able to cut to the hearts and minds of people.  It is the Good News of Jesus, which is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.  Becoming a student of God’s Word, and a follower of the Holy Spirit of God, will enable us to both stop attacks against ourselves, and rescue others from the grip of the spirit of this world.

Jesus said that you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.  This world tells us that our problem is that we don’t have stuff that other people have.  But, the truth of God tells us not to covet anything that belongs to our neighbor, much less steal or destroy it.  It tells us to love our neighbor like we love ourselves.  Yet, the spirit of this age stirs up envy, jealously, resentment, and then anger and rage.  It seeks to light a fire of passions in you that can be used to destroy you and your neighbor (and our communities, nations, world). 

The spirit of this age tells us that our problem is all the differences that we have: gender, race, economic status, etc…  But, the truth of God tells us that there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  It is not that these distinctions and affect on our lives aren’t real, but that they are used to manipulate us.  Men and women fighting against each other, blacks and whites, the have-nots against the haves, these are the things that only destroy us further.  In Christ, believers are to cease living for their distinctions.  They are to lay down the bloody flag of earthly revolutions in the flesh, and join God’s revolution against the spirit of this age.  If we will do this then we will truly find life.

Spirit Age Audio