Christians are called to walk in a manner worthy of the calling we have received (Ephesians 4:1). That would be simple… if not for the world, our flesh, and the devil. An enemy who hates us and our Savior with intense malice opposes every step we take with Jesus. Victory won’t come without a fight.
For most of my life, I have viewed myself as a fighter. In my youth, I sought to dominate other young men who were intent on doing the same to me. I wrestled in arenas against “flesh and blood.” But when I began following Jesus in 1988, I began a new type of fight—the fighting moved from Carver-Hawkeye Arena to my home, my church, the streets of my community, and the rest of the world.
Before deciding to follow Jesus, my opponents were flesh, like me, who needed sleep, who got weak, and who could become sick or hurt or hungry. Since trusting in Jesus, my opponents are spiritual principalities, with vastly superior intellect and strength and no need for sleep or physical nourishment. My new opponents want more than a win; they seek my demise and the complete undoing of my person, my family, and the Lord’s church. This is one reason Paul exhorts us to take up that spiritual armor and stand firm.
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
Ephesians 6:10–13
I have always taken pride (good and bad) in continuing to fight until the end. I didn’t always win on the mat, but I never walked away from a fight, I never quit, and I always went back into the fight. Since taking up the armor of Christ, I’ve brought those same habits to bear in my spiritual battles: I have not always won the day-to-day, and I have been wounded, but I have never quit. Still, I have entertained thoughts of walking away at times. Wrestling flesh and blood is hard, but wrestling against unseen principalities is harder. At times, I relate to the final verse in Paul Simon’s song The Boxer…
In the clearing stands a boxer
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of every glove that laid him down
Or cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame
“I am leaving, I am leaving.”
But the fighter still remains
I have stood in the ring for twenty-eight years in the same church. This year, as my family experienced one health crisis after another, there were times I lay on the canvas—knocked down, bloodied, angry, and full of shame—and imagined leaving the ministry. Does it trouble you to read your pastor admit he has had thoughts about walking away? They are just fleeting thoughts, not plans. Paul Simon’s fighter yells, “I am leaving, I am leaving,” but the fighter still remains.
Have you ever pondered leaving your marriage, church, job, family, or faith? Have you been knocked down repeatedly and, in frustration, anger, and shame, brooded about whether this fight, whatever it is, is no longer worth it? Have you seen other Christians who seem scar-free or all those happy pagans who couldn’t care less about Jesus, and asked, “Why don’t they ever seem to get pummeled?” Have you asked, “Why should I get back up and fight when I don’t even sense God’s presence? What if I stayed down? What if I threw in the towel and walked off?”
If you have had those thoughts, you are not alone.
If you haven’t had such thoughts yet, it might be because you haven’t been fighting long enough. No one ever plans to quit before they get in the ring. Like former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Everyone has a picture of how our life will look—how we plan to serve God, what our marriage and family will look like, what that job is going to be like, and more. We have everything planned out in our minds, and then comes an unexpected blow. We feel pain and see stars, and we hear the ref standing over us, counting to ten. If you have never been there, your turn is coming. Just as Christ suffered, we are also called to suffer. When suffering comes, the only question is whether or not the fighter will remain.
Whether we get up and fight or head to the nearest exit sign will depend on one thing: our union with Christ, the fighter who always remains.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:35–39
The fighter who remains is not you or me. To be sure, we are called to remain steadfast and stand firm in the Lord’s strength and power (Ephesians 6:10-18), but Scripture says our victory and staying power are based upon our union with Christ. Paul wrote, “In all these things, we are more than conquerors….” These things include tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, betrayal, illness, violence, and death! Think about his words literally for a moment: a Christian is stripped naked, thrown into the center of an arena for sport, and run through with a sword to slowly bleed out to the sound of Romans cheering his death. How is that the picture of a conqueror? Is Paul delusional? No, he is not. Because he is referencing our union with Jesus. In Christ, we are more than conquerors of sin, death, and hell through him who loved us (Romans 8:37).
Christ is the fighter who remains.
Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ.
Christ is our victory.
Christ is the one who conquered sin and death.
Christ is the one who makes a public spectacle of his and our enemy.
Christ is the one who has resurrected from the dead.
Christ is the one interceding for those of us who stand toe-to-toe with an already defeated foe.
Christ is VICTORIOUS! And if you have been bloodied by blow after blow, you will stand firm by holding fast to your union with Christ. When the final bell rings, in Christ, we will raise our hands above our heads in victory while our foes are cast into the lake of fire for eternity.
We want to learn how to take hold of our union with Christ, so we plan to start studying Romans 8 on February 2 and running through Palm Sunday. Not one of us will stand firm in Christ without knowing who we are in him. Paul’s letter to the church in Rome will help us remain in the fight as we discover that Christ is the fighter who remains, and we are in Christ.
Mark your calendars, open your Bibles, lace up your shoes, and stay in the fight.
