The Good War

The world has been at war since Cain killed Abel (Gen 4). There might even be a case for Adam and Eve being the initiators of war (Gen 3). Men are fascinated with war. We study it. We prepare for it. We practice it. We win wars. We lose wars. We pay dearly for wars. Is there such thing as a good war?

Each year, during Passover week, we remember Jesus’ death on the Cross. We call the day, “Good.” Maybe it is good because Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice to God. Maybe it is good because Jesus paid the penalty for our sins. Maybe it is good because Jesus propitiated the wrath of God directed against us. I believe all of these things make Good Friday good. My proposition here, however, is that Good Friday is good because Jesus engaged in a good war.

Typically, two evil parties are incensed with one another, and their passions heighten to the point of mass bloodshed. It is war. The fact that all men are sinful and a party to evil means there is no just war theory. I am not saying God does not employ evil tribes and nations to war for a purposeful end, but no nation or tribe is righteous as it goes to war, therefore, war is not good, unless there is at least one righteous party engaging one or more evil parties. In the history of the world, this only occurred one time.

The good war fought by Jesus Christ at the Cross was just because He was righteous. The evil parties were sin, the devil, and the world system. How were these enemies defeated by Jesus fighting the good war at the Cross? What are the ramifications for us? Do we fight in Jesus’ good war?

First, Jesus was manifested to put away sin (Heb 9:26). Sin is man’s mortal enemy. Sin kills (Rom 6:23). All unrighteousness is sin (1 Jn 5:17). Sin is lawlessness (1 Jn 3:4), and sin invites the wrath of God as an act of justice (Rom 1:18). Therefore, sin works to enslave and destroy us, and it attracts God’s righteous judgment. The only thing that stops sin is death. Sin reigns over man until death (Rom 5:21), and the last enemy that will be abolished is death (1 Cor 15:26).

The death of Christ abolished death (2 Tim 1:10). This is a living reality for those who have been baptized into Christ (Rom 6; 1 Cor 12:13). Grace now reigns through righteousness, instead of death (Rom 5:21). Whereas sin had dominion over sinners, there is now a new way through the death of Christ.

There is also a new Lord, who is Christ Jesus. Instead of ministering wrath, in judgment of sin, in compliance with the law, Jesus Christ, having fulfilled the requirements of the law (Mt 5:17), suffering God’s wrath, now ministers mercy and grace through faith granted to those given to Him by the Father (Jn 6:37–40; Phil 1:29). Mercy triumphs over judgment (Jas 2:13). A Christian’s union with Christ positions him in the same place as Christ in relationship to God (righteousness). Christ is enthroned in heaven, having triumphed over death, and He always leads us in His triumph (2 Cor 2:14).

Second, Jesus defeated principalities and powers in the good war (Rom 8:37–39). When He disarmed rulers and authorities, God made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Christ (Col 2:15). Christ’s victory over rulers and authorities in heavenly places is manifested in and made known by the church (Eph 3:10), so that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places (Eph 6:10).

Spiritual warfare is a Christian reality (Eph 6:10–20). The battlefields are as legion as the legion of demons we war against. Consider idolatry, as one example. People in western cultures scoff at the altars of idols in the kitchens and temples of tribal peoples, but they never think of their trophy cases and trophy wives as idols. If greed is idolatry, what is your 401k plan all about?

Spiritual warfare begins at one’s conversion to Christ because the devil was never your enemy when you were his slave. The minute grace appears, the war begins. The apostle Paul lamented this internal conflict in Romans 7. He knew what was right in his mind but getting his flesh to do right was a struggle. People acknowledge they are creatures of habit, and if one’s habit is sin, then his addictions signal enslavement. The addict puts up a feeble fight to be free, but the powers control him. He must obey the law of sin and death. The rulers and authorities insist.

The mind is a battlefield. Satan blinds the minds of those who are not believing the Gospel (2 Cor 4:4). The fleshly mind is controlled by spirits leading people into futility. Deceitful spirits teach the doctrine of demons (1 Tim 4:1), which is earthly, natural, and demonic (Jas 3:15). At conversion, the new Christian is given the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16) via the indwelling Spirit (Rom 8:9). The Christian must hold every thought captive to Christ because of the power of evil persuasion (2 Cor 10:5). We must not be captive to empty philosophies, traditions, and elementary principles of the world (Col 2:8).

The heart is the seat of affections, and these include passions. Look at the news right now and consider the crimes of passion being reported right now. Sin demands its subjects keep sinning in obedience. The principalities are ever laying traps and temptations. Sinners are easy prey, especially since they are not inclined to pray. The heart is deceitfully wicked, who can understand it? The Christian acknowledges she has received a heart transplant (Ezek 36:26), and Christ must be sought in Spirit (prayer) and the Word to be continually washed clean (Eph 5:26).

The tongue is like a fire ready to consume whatever is before it (Jas 3). Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and who can control the escaping passions of the heart. “I am going to give her a piece of my mind,” is merely one way of saying, “I am about to unleash the demonic fury of hell upon my neighbor.” Of course, it can be more subtly delicious with gossip, rumors, and lies. Christians are to speak the truth in love (Eph 4:15).

The work of human hands craft idols for a man (Rev 9:20). He takes pride in his labors, and men shower honors, awards, trophies, and glory upon him. Never once does the achiever think of his Maker, to give him honor and glory due His exalted name. The Christian is instructed, “Whatever you do in word and deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus (Col 3:17). Acknowledge Him in everything (Prv 3:5–6).

When the spirits of envy, jealousy, and covetousness prevail upon a man, he becomes a thief and a robber. When the spirits of demons come upon whole nations, they go out to war with other nations (Rev 16:14). The unbeliever concedes, “the devil made me do it.” Yes, but you were a willing, responsible party, and God’s judgment is justly against you (Rom 1:18). All people must give an account of their deeds done in the flesh, whether good or bad, at the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor 5:10). The dead soul is simply waiting for the death of his flesh, so that he can be judged in the resurrection of the dead (Jn 5:28–29), where body and soul, he will be cast into fiery, eternal hell (Mt 25:41, 46; Jude 7). Why will you die? Ready to defect?

The believer has access to a greater power in Christ Jesus. His victory at the Cross is the Christian’s victory at the Cross, “but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor 15:57).” Death is swallowed up in victory (1 Cor 15:54), for we have died with Christ, who leads us in His triumph, having been raised to new life in Him. All things are now possible with God (Mt 19:26), who made us alive in Christ (Eph 2:5), and who caused us to be born again of the Spirit (1 Pet 1:3). If God is for us, who is against us (Rom 8:31)?

The Holy Spirit manifests Christ’s victory in the Christian. The spiritual war does not end until the death of the flesh, but we have been raised to spiritual life to fight the good fight of faith (1 Tim 6:12). The spirit wars against the flesh, and the flesh wars against the spirit. The weapons we fight with are spiritual (Eph 6:10–20) because our enemies are spirits. They believe in God and tremble (Jas 2:19), but they blind men from believing the Gospel of God (2 Cor 4:4). God has mercy upon whom He will have mercy (Rom 9:15, 18), and grants faith in an act of good war (Phil 1:29). Is God just to forgive sinners?

Jesus Christ, the righteous, has satisfied the justice demanded by the Law (Mt 5:17). God is just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Rom 3:26). How does one attain faith? Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ (Rom 10:17), who grants faith (Phil 1:29) to those appointed to believe (Acts 13:48). Christians are, “little Christs,” and Christ is a divine warrior (Rev 19:11). Therefore, we are soldiers of the Cross.

Our spiritual warfare engages the same rulers, authorities, powers, and principalities as Christ defeated at the Cross. The war is over, but the battle continues. The Spirit leads us, and we take up our cross daily, following Christ in faith, and He guarantees our ultimate victory over our enemies: death and demons. There is another enemy Christ defeated at the Cross.

Third, Jesus overcame the world (Jn 16:33). The world is the devil’s domain (Col 1:13; Acts 26:18). It is a place of spiritual darkness. It is fallen creation. One might think salvation is obvious to all, but despite the innumerable illustrations of salvation in God’s creation, the unregenerate mind will never comprehend the light of general revelation in creation. Special revelation is needed to understand what is going on in the world. The Christian worldview comes from the Bible.

The created world is not evil in itself (Gen 1:31), but the world is used by demons to stir up sin. Man is prone to give away Paradise for a piece of forbidden fruit. Sin has become the environment for those in the world. Sin is everywhere causing lawlessness. The demons would have men running as wild savage beasts, if they were not restrained by God. The present age is called, “evil” (Gal 1:4). God promises to punish the world for its evil (Is 13:11).

The spiritual warfare in the world is caused by the kingdom of darkness being invaded by the kingdom of God’s Beloved Son, or the kingdom of light. The strongman, the devil, the god of this world was bound at the Cross, and his house is being plundered by an invading army, who will prevail against the gates of hell. Still, the whole world lies in the power of the evil one (1 Jn 5:19).

Despite his restraints the devil is fighting a war he has already lost. He knows it, but he does not want people to know it. The world is already condemned (Jn 3:18), and it is doomed to destruction by fire (2 Pet 3:10–12). As a result, people in the world, living under demonic dominion, with lives of sin, are doomed along with the world. Thus, all their aspirations and accumulations are vanity (Eccl 1:2).

In the way of application, we must encourage each reader to consider which side of this war he is on. Is your allegiance to sin? Is your allegiance to Christ? Ask your neighbor to help you with these simple questions. There is evidence enveloping your whole existence. Christ is all, or sin is all. If you examine yourself, today, and find yourself a slave of sin, then your task is simple: ask for that which God promises to give. Jesus taught, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him (Lk 11:13)?” Ask and you shall receive.

If you have received the gift of God, recognize your enlistment in the Lord’s army. He provides your daily bread. He is the one equipping you to do the work of the ministry. He has made you adequate as His slave. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. He guides you through every battle.

There must be a warning, however. If you are not fighting sin in your life; if you are not using the means of grace to fight spiritual powers; if you are not hating the world, then you are fooling yourself (1 Jn 2:15). You must be pursuing peace with all men and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord (Heb 12:14). Examine yourself: are you in a battle? If not, your ease is a warning.

Learning Christ has taught us about His good war against sin, devils, and the world. As the body of Christ, we join with our exalted Head (Col 1:18), who has gone before us on the way of suffering (1 Pet 2:21). Jesus lived a life of war against the temptation to sin (Mt 4; Lk 4). He battled against the devil and demons. He told the world what it did not want to hear. Through the Cross, He earned the crown of heaven. We overcome our enemies by faith (1 Jn 5:4), and as we join in Christ’s suffering in the good war, we share in the guarantee of the crown of life (Jas 1:12). Be on guard! Fight the good fight of faith in Him, who won the good war on Good Friday.

David Norczyk

Spokane Valley, Washington

March 21, 2021