XXVIII. THE CONFLICT OF THE CHRISTIAN
`Strive to enter in by the narrow door.'
-- Luke 13:24
`Fight the good fight of the faith.' -- 1
Tim. 6:12
`I have fought the good fight, I have
finished the course, I have kept the faith.' -- 2 Tim. 4:7
These texts speak of a twofold conflict.
The first is addressed to the unconverted: `Strive to enter in by the narrow
door.' Entrance by a door is the work of a moment: the sinner is not to strive
to enter during his whole lifetime: he is to strive and do it immediately. He
is not to suffer anything to hold him back; he must enter in. (Gen. 19:22;
John 10:9; 2 Cor. 6:2; Heb. 4:6,7)
Then comes the second, the life-long conflict:
by the narrow door I come upon the new way. On the new way there are still
always enemies. Of this life-long conflict Paul says: `I have fought the good
fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.' With respect to the
continuous conflict, he gives the charge: `Fight the good fight of faith.'
There is much misunderstanding about this
twofold conflict. Many strive all their life against the Lord and His summons,
and, because they are not at rest, but feel an inner conflict, they think that
this is the conflict of a Christian. Assuredly not: this is the struggle
against God of one who is not willing to abandon everything and surrender
himself to the Lord. (Acts 5:39; 1 Cor. 10:22) This is not the conflict that
the Lord would have. What He says is that the conflict is concerned with
entering in: but not a conflict for long years. No: He desires that you should
break through the enemies that would hold you back, and immediately enter
in.
Then follows the second conflict, which endures
for life. Paul twice calls this the fight of faith. The chief characteristic
of it is faith. He who understands well that the principal element in the
battle is to believe, and acts accordingly, does certainly carry off the palm:
just as in another passage Paul says to the Christian combatant: `Withal taking
up the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery
darts of the evil one.' (Eph. 6:16; 1 John 3:4,5)
And what then does it mean, this `fight of
faith'? That, while I strive, I am to believe that the Lord will help me? No:
it is not so, although it often is so understood.
In a conflict it is of supreme importance that I
should be in a stronghold or fortress which cannot be taken. With such a
stronghold a weak garrison can offer resistance to a powerful enemy. Our
conflict as Christians is now no longer concerned with going into the fortress.
No: we have gone in, and are now in; and so long as we remain in it, we are
invincible. The stronghold, this stable fort, is Christ. (Ps. 18:3; 46:2;
62:2,3,6,7,8; 144:2; Eph. 6:10) By faith we are in Him: by faith we know that
the enemy can make no progress against our fortress. The wiles of Satan all go
forth on the line of enticing us out of our fortress, of engaging us in
conflict with him on the open plain. There he always overcomes. But if we
only strive in faith, abiding in Christ by faith, then we overcome, because
Satan then has to deal with Him, and because He then fights and overcomes. (Ex.
14:14; Josh 5:14; 2 Chron. 23:15; John 26:33; Rom. 8:37; 2 Cor. 2:14)
`This is the victory that hath overcome the world, even our faith.' Our first
and greatest work is thus to believe. As Paul said before he mentions the
warlike equipment of the Christian: `From henceforth be strong in the Lord, and
in the strength of His might.'
The reason why the victory is only by faith, and
why the fight of faith is the good fight, is this: it is the Lord Jesus who
purchased the victory, and who therefore alone gives power and dominion over
the enemy. If we are, and abide, in Him, and surrender ourselves to live in
Him, and by faith appropriate what He is, then the victory is in itself our
own. We then understand: `The battle is not yours, but God's. The Lord your
God shall fight for you, and ye shall be still.' Just as we in opposition to
God can achieve nothing good of ourselves, but in Christ please Him, so also is
it in opposition to Satan: in ourselves we achieve nothing, but in Christ we
are more than conquerors. By faith we stand in Him righteous before God, and
just so in Him are we strong against our enemies. (Ps. 44:4,9; Isa. 45:24)
In this light we can read and take home to
ourselves all the noble passages in the Old Testament, especially in the
Psalms, where the glorious conflict of God in behalf of his people is spoken
of. Fear, or spiritlessness, or uncertainty, makes weak, and cannot overcome:
faith in the living God is equal to everything. (Deut. 20:3,8; Josh. 6:20;
Judges 7:3 Ps. 18:32-40; Heb. 11:23) In Christ this truth is now still more
real. God has come near. His power works in us who believe; it is really He
that fights for us.
O Lord Jesus, who art the Prince of the army of the Lord, the Hero,
the Victor, teach me to be strong in Thee my stronghold, and in the power of
Thy might. Teach me to understand what the good fight of faith is, and how the
one thing that I have need of is, always to look to Thee, to Thee, the supreme
Guide of faith. And, consequently, in me, too, let this be the victory that
overcometh the world, namely, my faith. Amen.
1. The conflict of faith is no
civil war, in which one half of the kingdom is divided against the other. This
would be insurrection. This is the one conflict that many Christians know: the
unrest of the conscience, and the powerless wrestling of a will which consents
to that which is good, but does not perform it. The Christian has not to
overcome himself. This his Lord does when he surrenders himself. Then he is
free and strong to combat and overcome the enemies of his Lord and of the
kingdom. No sooner, however, are we willing that God should have His way with
us than we are found striving against God. This also is truly conflict, but it
is not the good fight of faith.
2. In Galatians 5 reference is made to the
inner conflict; for the Galatians had not yet entirely surrendered themselves
to the Spirit, to walk after the Spirit. `The connection,' says Lange, `shows
that this conflict betwixt the flesh and the Spirit of God is not endless, but
that there is expected of the Christian a complete surrender of himself, in
order to be led only by the one principle -- the Spirit; and then, further, a
refusal to obey the flesh.' The believer must not strive against the flesh, to
overcome it: this he cannot do. What he is to do is to choose to whom he will
subject himself: by the surrender of faith to Christ, to strive in Him through
the Spirit, He has a divine power for overcoming.
3. Hence, as we have seen in connection with
the beginning of the new life, our one work every day and the whole day is to
believe. Out of faith come all blessings and powers, also the victory for
overcoming.