The Identity of the Enemy

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Text: 1 Peter 4:1-4

Whenever war or a battle is being waged it is almost always a good idea to be able to know and understand exactly who or what you are fighting against. To be engaging in friendly fire is not so friendly to your cause. On the other hand, when the enemy approaches and you are of the belief that he is on your side, your outlook for victory does not look so good!

In many ways man's walk or attempted walk with God is a battlefield. As Israel on their journey to the home of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob found Canaan to be a land of war before they could be at home; we too are in a battle before we can get home.

So, with regards to who or what we are fighting many people are asking the question what is its identity?
Please turn in your Bibles to 1 Peter 4:1-4 to see exactly what our battle consists of:
ceasing from sin, or as he says in verse 2:
the war is between the lusts of men vs. the will of God. For every one interested in living in heaven with God, we must be concerned about the battle to live in accordance with the will of God!

The question that is on many people's lips today however, is what is sin?
How can we identify the enemy's main weapon?
This appears to be getting a cloudier and cloudier picture in our day and age. The reason behind the question can be one of two possibilities:
  1. selfishness!
    I want to be able to do what I want to do and so therefore look for ways to get around what God may or may not say about it. However, if we want to be truly Spirit led people, this cannot describe us! John 16:8
  2. Matthew 22:37- the Great Commandment!
    Many are asking this question because they love God with all their heart and they do not want to be living in any way that contradicts His nature and breaks His heart!
    A heart by the way of boundless love for the human family!
We are going to attempt today to make some clarifications on how we can identify the enemy in the battle and then how we can slay him and move on to victory.
No matter what else you get from this lesson get this message:
we can move on to victory!
  1. From where does sin come?
    I want you to notice for a moment, we spoke about this a couple of weeks ago when we spoke about temptation, but sin comes from within us!
    Ezek.28:15! If we are going to win the fight, understand the fight takes place inside us!
  2. What does sin mean?
    This is a good question. How does the Bible define the term?
    To understand what the enemy looks like, we have got to understand this!
    1. One definition of sin is missing the mark!
      Basically God has set the goal and we missed it or fallen short of it!
      What is the mark? 1 Peter 1:14-16- holiness - Character of God, life of Christ!
      So, this is why Paul could say what he did in Romans 3:23.
    2. Another definition of sin is the transgression of God's law, as seen in 1 John 3:4!
      We are to walk in accordance with God's commands but to transgress means we overstep the limits! This is not the impatient father who comes home from work tired and when he hears 500 whines from his children he says, "I've reached my limit".
      This is a loving God who sets boundaries for His children and His children try to move the yard markers by going out of bounds!
    3. A third definition of sin is iniquity or lawlessness!
      This carries with it the idea of simply not keeping the law. Very similar you will see are all three words or definitions and are many times used interchangeably- Psalms 32:5!
    Sin is then either not measuring up to God's standard, going beyond the limits of God's law or not simply doing God's law (i.e. rebelling against that law).
    One thing to remember, everybody does this somehow! 1 John 1:8
  3. How can we sin?
    I think we are now getting closer to the meat of the question, what exactly constitutes a sin?
    Now, when answering this you must look at what is the definition of sin as we just went through!
    The Bible tells us that there are then different kinds of sin!
    1. There is what is called presumptuous sins!
      David prayed about this kind in Psalms 19:13. What does this mean?
      It is kind of like sin of daring! There is no reverent fear in the acts that we commit!
      This is what Jeremiah spoke out against in Jeremiah 6:15. We might say that many people have indeed fallen to sins of dare!
    2. There are sins of ignorance!
      This seems hard at times to understand, but there are sins that people can commit and need forgiveness of that we done in ignorance! Hebrews 9:7.
    3. There are sins of commission.
      These are acts or thoughts or feelings we commit that fall in agreement with the definition of sin.
    4. There are sins of omission.
      These are the acts that we don't do when we know they are the right things to do. James 4:17.
      You can take the position of a Pilate and still sin. Matthew 25:41-46.
    We can daringly sin (show no fear), sin by acts done or not done and then even sin unknowingly!
  4. What is sin?
    This is a great question. I am not going to or able to in this time or in any time that I am interested in to try to go through every action of man and determine what is holy and what is sinful and what is wholesome!
    What is interesting to me is that the Bible does not as well!
    Now, whenever we are answering this question we must look at why we are asking:
    Am I asking because I want to be able to do this?
    Or, am I asking because I want to know what God says?
    Why doesn't the Bible give us a direct O.K. or not O.K. on most daily decisions?
    Why doesn't God tell us how short a woman's skirt can get before it is described as immodest?
    Why doesn't the Bible give us a yes or no on marijuana when legal?
    What about how much money can one spend without being guilty of miss-using it?
    What kind of car can a Christian making 55,000 buy?
    What about a drink of alcohol?
    First of all, there are some standards with regards to all of these questions that every Christian needs to make an honest search of.
    Second of all, if God had to address one book for all time covering every situation man would face, could you imagine the size of the book?
    It would almost be like the tax code of our great nation. Nobody I knew at Revenue Canada had that book memorized, but we were all in special departments.
    Think about a first century reader going through the questions the 21st century man or woman must deal with:
    Is it okay to undergo a sex change?
    Can the cloning of a child be right?
    Is it okay to have a blood transfusion?
    Can a Christian vote in an election?
    If so, can a Christian vote for someone who believes in the equality of every type of man or woman but is wrong in abortion, gay rights or vice versa?
    Could you imagine Timothy reading to the congregation at Ephesus the third letter he received from Paul dealing with these issues?
    Let me put it this way:
    there are cases we all must agree that the Bible specifically legislates as sin: Galatians 5:19-21, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 and many other instances.
    These will be applicable to all ages and peoples no matter where you are or what your culture states. We as children of God cannot engage in these or approve of those that do (Romans 1:32). These can also act as guiding principles in other matters.
    Then there are cases that God has spelled out in principle what He would like accomplished. Things like the golden rule, the Good Samaritan, the woman taken in adultery and many more.
    All these are guides for us that if we break the principle of we sin!
    It is not wrong to walk home. It becomes wrong when you walk on by someone who desperately needed your help.
    Next, there are cases where we can sin by influence. Romans 14:21!
    Our influence can destroy a brother or sister who Christ died for!
    Then there are acts we do that cause brethren to act against their conscience 1 Corinthians 8 (esp. vs.11-13).

    So, my friends although the identity of each and every sin in each and every circumstance may be difficult to ascertain, if you live by the principles of God the answer will become clearer.
  5. What does sin do?
    Is it so important? Romans 5:12- death (6:23).
    If we don't care anymore, if we are not battling sin anymore but have given in, we have a death sentence within ourselves.
  6. Can it be defeated?
    YES IT CAN! How?
    Only by the blood!
    1 John 1:7! I love this verse:
    Ray Miller in his meeting here about 5,6 years ago taught me this:
    If we keep on walking in the light we will keep on having fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ will keep on cleansing us from all sin!
  7. What do we do to identify sin?
    Pray to God for wisdom (James 1:5), search out the Bible for all relative references (Psalms 119:11), seek godly counsel (Proverbs 11:14) and then examine yourself (Romans 12:1,2 - if you are presenting your body as a living sacrifice to God- you will discover what is His will)!
  8. What do we do to win?
    First, if never before believe in Jesus (John 8:24), repent of sins (Luke 13:3) and be baptized for the forgiveness or washing away of those sins (Acts 2:38, 22:16).
    Secondly, if already a Christian and still sinning at times, hope is not lost, but you must confess to God and repent anew - 1 John 1:8-10 - Jesus will not justify those who justify themselves, he will only justify them that lean on Him for mercy and grace.
Where do you stand today in the war against sin?
Do you need to be pardoned?
Have you been baptized so your sins could be forgiven?
That's what the Bible says to do so that your sins, the things that keep you from winning the fight will be wiped out and you will stand right with God.
If you are a Christian I pray that above all things, your desire is to know and do His will no matter where it leads you, if that is true God Bless you and Go in the strength of the Lord.

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