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Who is qualified to do battle in
Spiritual Warfare? Anyone who is a bornagain Christian and who
to the best of their knowledge has no unconfessed sin in their
lives and who knows God's will for them and is diligently walking in
it.
How is one bornagain, or as it
states it literally in the the Greek text born from
above? Jesus stated in
John 3:3 "Truly, truly, I say to
You, unless one receives-birth from-above, he cannot see the kingdom
of God." Again he states in John 3:5-6,
"Truly, truly, I say
to you, unless one receives birth of water and the Spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God. That which receives-birth from the
flesh is flesh, and that which receives-birth from the Spirit is
spirit."
For a full explanation of why see
the following two articles:
When one is bornagain, Jesus
cleanses away all that person's sins with His blood (past, present and Future:
Hebrews
10:10, 12, 14) and God then gives that person His Holy Spirit which
then gives that person authority and power over unclean spirits.
Without the Holy Spirit and the power of God, one will be at the
mercy of the demons. Acts Chapter 19 tells the story about
some Jewish priests who were not bornagain who tried to exercise
demons. When they did this, not having the authority and power of
the Holy Spirit and Jesus
behind them, one demon possessed man overpowered seven men and
stripped them and they ran away naked,
embarrassed and ashamed. This was the first recorded case of
streaking in history.
Therefore, to be
bornagain one must be born from above by the Holy Spirit of God.
How does one do this? The Apostle John wrote in John 1:12
"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become
children of God, to those who believe in His name." In order
to be bornagain and become a child of God one must receive Jesus
Christ into their heart as Savior and Lord.
Jesus said in Revelation 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door
and knock; if any one hears My voice and opens the door, I will come
into him, and will dine with him, and he with Me." Jesus
promised in this passage that anyone who opened the door of their
heart and invited Him in, that He would come in.
The Bible states that it is impossible for God, Jesus, to lie:
Titus 1:2 "In the hope of
eternal life, which God, who cannot lie,
promised long ages ago."
Hebrews 6:18 "It is impossible for God to
lie."
Joshua 21:45 "Not one of the good promises
which Yehovah had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to
pass."
Numbers 23:19 "Elohim
[Hebrew term for God] is not a man, that He should
lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; has He said, and will
He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?"
Jesus proved to us that He was not a liar when
after being dead three days He fulfilled His promise in John 2:22
by recreating and resurrecting healthy and alive His human body.
John 2:22
"When therefore He was raised from the dead, His disciples
remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture [Old
Testament], and the word which Jesus had spoken [New
Testament]."
To Receive Jesus Christ into your heart and be
bornagain, pray like this:
Jesus, I confess
to You that I am a sinner and repent of my known sins. I ask You now
to come into my heart as Savior from my sins and as Lord of my life.
Heavenly Father, thank You for forgiving my sins through Your Son’s
death and shed blood on the cross and that I now have eternal life.
Now take control of my life, and through Your Holy Spirit lead me
into your will and plan for my life; in Lord Jesus Christ of
Nazareth’s name, amen.
Because Jesus cannot lie, when you just asked Him
in, He came in. Once Jesus comes in He promises
in Hebrews 13:5 "I will
never ever desert you, nor will I
ever,
ever,
ever forsake you." It
is a literal double and triple negative in the Greek. Jesus
wants you to know beyond doubt that when you asked Him in, He
absolutely did come in, whether you felt it or not, and that He will
never leave you now that He is in your heart.
God the Father then testifies:
1 John 5:11-12 "And the witness is this,
that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
He who has the Son has the life;
he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life."
No one is higher than God and God the Father
states that to have His Son living in you IS to have eternal
life and go to Heaven.
Colossians 1:27 "To whom God willed to make known what is
the riches of the glory of this mystery among the nations, which is
Christ in you,
the hope of glory."
In addition to be bornagain, saved and going to
Heaven, the moment you received Jesus God the Father
automatically, whether you feel it or not, gave you His
indwelling Holy Spirit:
Ephesians 1:13-14 "In Him, you also, after
listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your
salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the
Holy
Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with
a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of
His glory."
When the Holy Spirit comes to indwell you, He
brings your human spirit back to life and back into permanent
relationship with God, which is what it means to be bornagain. That means you can now come boldly
before the throne of Grace and say "Hey! Dad! I've got a need.
. ." and he will listen to you:
Ephesians 3:11-12 "This was in accordance
with the eternal purpose which he carried out in
Christ-Jesus-our-Lord, in whom we have boldness and
confident access through faith in Him."
When the Holy Spirit did that you then became one
spirit with Jesus:
1 Corinthians 6:17 "But the one who joins
himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him."
That means that whatever now is true for Jesus is
now true for You: His death became Your death for your sins
and His resurrection to life your resurrection to life eternal also.
Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but
the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
2 Corinthians 5:21 "He made Him who knew no sin
to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of
God in Him."
1 Peter 2:24 "And He Himself bore our sins in His
body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to
righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed."
Romans 6:3-5 "Or do you not know that all of us
who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His
death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into
death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the
glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if
we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death,
certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection."
2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man is in
Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold,
new things have come."
This also means that all the power Jesus has against
Satan you also now have at your disposal by faith through Him.
One catch:
you only have Jesus' Holy Spirit power against Satan when you are
certain that there is no unconfessed sin in your life and that you
are walking diligently in obedience to Him and His will for your life:
Isaiah 59:1-2 "Behold, Yehovah’s hand is
not so short that it cannot save; neither is His-ear so dull that it
cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you
and your-Elohim, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so
that He does not hear."
Proverbs 28:13 "He who conceals his
transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes
them will find compassion."
If you have known Jesus for a while, but are
uncertain that there is no unconfessed sin in your life, ask the Holy Spirit to bring any unconfessed sins
to your mind, confess them to God and then thank God for His
automatic forgiveness according to 1 John 1:9 "If we confess
our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Next, ask Him to refill
you with His Holy Spirit, retake control of your life and continue
to lead you according to His will and plan for your life. Pray like this:
Jesus, I confess to you that I am a sinner and
repent of my known sins. Thank You for forgiving me according to
Your Promise in 1 John 1:9. I now ask You to refill me with Your
Holy Spirit, to retake control of my life and to continue to lead me
into your will and plan for my life. By faith thank You that it is
done according to Your promise to answer any prayer that is
according to Your will, in Your name, Jesus, amen.
If you know God's will for you and have not been
walking in it, confess and repent of that also and get back in God's
will according to His command in Ephesians 5:15-17,
"Therefore
be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the
most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be
foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is."
Once
you are certain you are in God's will in your personal life and in
praying for the person in question for deliverance, then you are
ready to pray for deliverance. James 4:7 states "Submit
therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
Now you have complete authority over Satan in the given situation:
Acts 5:32 "And we are witnesses of these
things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who
obey Him."
Luke 10:19 "Behold, I have given you
authority over all the power of the enemy and to tread upon serpents
and scorpions, and nothing shall injure you."
Now, when you bind Satan and command him to leave
in Jesus' name, Satan MUST
leave!
I encourage you to read all my articles listed on
this website on
Spiritual Warfare. They will
answer your other questions this introductory article did not.
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