Good Soldier of Jesus Christ - Knows Without Faith It is Impossible to Please God

• A Good Soldier Understands that his Fight is Against his Own Sinful Body - The warfare that the Bible is focused upon is spiritual in nature. This is why we read in Eph 6:12, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood ...”. One of the characteristics of those who have received salvation will be a willingness to be faithful in declaring (as well as in obeying) God’s Word. Paul likens the Christian life to a race for which an athlete trains. Following the rules and employing self-control and discipline are key factors in athletic competition as well as in the “Christian race”, as Paul states, “… I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection”. There exists an internal struggle between the believer’s new, resurrected soul (in which he never sins) and his body (that still sins because it has not yet become saved), as Paul explains in Rom 7:18-19. Thus, the true Christian’s biggest obstacle is himself! The solution lies in the fact that God is at work in the believer’s life to “... will and to do of His good pleasure” so that obedience reigns, and the lusts of our bodies are dominated by the Word of God, as is seen in the phrase, “... and bring it into subjection”. The idea expressed here is to make the body a “servant” (or a slave). Those who have been redeemed are the servants of God, and they live to do His divine bidding, as Rom 6:12 affirms.

Eph 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

2 Cor 10:3-4 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds)”

Rom 7:18-19 “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.”

1 Cor 9:24-27 “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”

Rom 6:12 “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.”

• A Good Soldier Pleases Him who has Chosen him to be a Soldier - The Lord Jesus Christ’s zeal was to love God – as a man – with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength – which means to obey His commandments perfectly. He embodied the admonition in Ecc 12:13, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man”. Christ obeyed God’s will perfectly in thought, word, and deed for each of His people, as we see in John 8:29, “And he [God the Father] that sent me [Jesus Christ] is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him”. The same injunction is given to God’s elect, and underscores the true Christian’s desire to be obedient to the Word of God, as John 15:10 instructs. God’s commandments are the whole Bible. Actually, in presenting our bodies as living sacrifices (Rom 12:1) we follow the lead of the Lord Jesus Himself, as Eph 5:2 pinpoints. This involves the giving of ourselves – our time, talents, and finances – as a visible expression of our heartfelt gratitude to the Lord for His marvelous salvation and by being a good witness to our master. Please keep in mind that such a sacrifice pertains to one’s service to Christ out of love as a result of salvation, and in no way suggests that it is sufficient to take away sin. The only sacrifice for sin is that which is spoken of in Heb 10:12, “But this man [the Lord Jesus], after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;”

Eph 5:2 “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.”

Rom 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

2 Tim 2:3-4 “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.”

Php 3:10, 13-14 “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death ... 13Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

Luke 9:62 “And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Luke 9:23 “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”

Isa 43:10-13 “Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour. I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God. Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?”

2 Tim 4:7 “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:”

• A Good Soldier Understands Without Faith It is Impossible to Please God - How can a human being please God? This has been the main preoccupation with all religions and codes of ethics since the Garden of Eden. Man in his spiritual blindness persists in deluding himself by thinking he is able to please God by adhering to certain outward rituals or practices. God makes it very clear that apart from His salvation man can never please God as Heb 11:5-6 asserts “... without faith [salvation] it is impossible to please him”. In other words, we must be born again to please God. It is important to recognize that the phrases “in the flesh”, “after the flesh”, “under the law” and “carnally minded” refer to one who is unsaved and in the kingdom of Satan. On the other hand, the phrases “in the spirit”, “after the Spirit”, “under grace” and “spiritually minded” illustrate the nature of a true Christian – one who is saved has become a citizen of God’s kingdom. True believers have been raised from spiritual death to life and have an insatiable desire to be obedient to the Word of God, as John 15:10 expresses: “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love”. Every believer receives “faith” as a result of salvation, as a fruit of Spirit: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” (Gal 5:22-23), and are commanded to “walk by faith, not by sight” in 2 Cor 5:7. By God’s enabling, Moses’ and other believers mentioned in Heb 11, lives proved God’s faithfulness.

Eph 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Heb 11:5-6 “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

Heb 11:24-27 “By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.”

Rom 8:5-10 “For they that are after the flesh [unsaved] do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit [born again] the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. ”

• A Good Soldier Understands Only God can Qualify him to Please God - Only a True Believer has been qualified to please God as God works in a true Christian life “... both to will and to do of His good pleasure”, according to Php 2:13, as opposed to Satan working in him when he was unsaved. God gives His Spirit to those whom He saves – that is, those whose sins have been forgiven and who have been clothed with the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. These most blessed of all human beings have been justified by the sovereign will of the Triune God, as Rom 5:1 asserts, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”. So, After salvation, we see that God is the One who is causing the “good works” in the Christian’s life, as Isa 26:12b declares, “... for thou also hast wrought all our works in us”. Heb 13:21 teaches the same idea, “Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen”.

Rom 8:5-10 “For they that are after the flesh [unsaved] do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit [born again] the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”

Eph 2:2, 4-5 “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air [Satan], the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 4But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved)”

Php 2:12-13 “... work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.13For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”

Eph 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

1 The 2:4 “But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.”

1 The 4:1 “Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.”

2 Tim 2:3-4 “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.”