Christians are soldiers of God

Throughout the Bible, Christians are referred to as soldiers of God.  When a person invites Jesus into their life, He should become the Lord of their existence.  Jesus becomes the enlisting and commanding officer of the Christian’s life (2 Timothy 2:3-4). 

To endure means to hold out against, sustain without impairment or yielding, to bear without resistance or with patience.  Being a soldier of any army does not prove to be easy.  Just as in life, some seasons have hardships as well as seasons of fulfilling duties with fewer hindrances.  Soldiers that allow themselves to be tied up in the affairs of civilian life lose the alertness and readiness for combat.  As Christians begin to focus more on natural life their spiritual readiness begins to wean or weaken. 

Christians must maintain focus and alertness to apply the Word of God to every area of life.  Not all events in life are spiritual battles.  Some events happen due to nature (storms, sickness, old age, etc.), while similar events can be spiritual attacks (spirit of infirmity, the devourer, etc.).  Christians must have the ability to judge everything by the Word of God to better their life or battle the enemy on all fronts (1 Corinthians 2:15; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5).  As Christians fight battles, it is not people that are the real enemy but strongholds, imaginations, high things that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God, etc., that are the driving force for the actions of others in spiritual conflict. 

God is the Commander-in-Chief as the ultimate authority to the army (Acts 5:29; Romans 13:1; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 11:3; 2 Peter 1:3).  He gives the top commands that placed Jesus on the front lines for our eternal salvation (Matthew 28:18), the Holy Spirit as the guide and commanding force that works with each soldier daily, and He wrote the Bible through His followers to be the battle guide.  Jesus was commissioned as the officer to lead the battle for our salvation.  His tactics recorded in the Bible displays how soldiers should pattern their style of fighting various enemies (Matthew 12:22-24; 12:28-29; 17:15-21; Mark 3:11; 5:2-13; 9:25-29; Luke 4:33-36).

Even as Jesus fought battles, He conferred to the Commander-in-Chief for further instructions to follow through with the current battle plans (Matthew 24:36; 26:39; Mark 13:32; Luke 6:12; John 5:30; 8:42; 17:5).  The Holy Spirit is the non-commissioned officer that is the commanding force that is always present in the daily tasks of the soldiers (John 14:16-17,26; 15:26; Acts 1:8; Romans 8:9, 26; 1 Corinthians 2:13).  As a guide and connection to the upper ranks, the Holy Spirit gives God’s soldiers the discernment and moral compass that correlates with the battle guide.  The Bible is the battle guide that expresses the tried and proven methods of battle as well as the mistakes made by those who have lost battles during the history of God’s people. 

Knowing the Bible will have an impact on seeing the attacks of the enemy (Psalm 119:11; Proverbs 30:5-6; Matthew 4:4; Luke 11:28; Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12; 2 Timothy 2:15, 3:16).  This resource was created with God’s people in mind to have a personal understanding of God’s thoughts, plans, the history of people, and to have a personal relationship with Him.  As God’s army marches through time it is imperative that the foundational disciplines and doctrines be maintained to keep active, fit, and battle-ready soldiers.  God’s army is not an army of one, but an army of many jointly fit together fighting as a body of one under the commission of Jesus Christ.