Christians do not walk away after taking the identity. A Christian follows on to walk in the principles and values taught by Christ. ‘Remain united to me, and I will remain united to you.
A branch cannot bear fruit by itself; in the same way you cannot bear fruit unless you remain in me.’ John 15: 4. The essence of salvation is for you to become – who? – Christ! But you don’t become that in a day. You are transformed gradually, as no normal growth occurs suddenly.
It takes hours, days, years to consciously unlearn the contaminated seed of Adamic nature and to relearn the righteousness of God, which God imputed on us at first, and confirmed to be good by God. This is done consciously, a part you share with Jesus in your work of salvation. “So then, dear friends, as you always obeyed me, when I was with you, it is even more important that you obey me now while I am away from you. Keep on working with fear and trembling to complete your salvation Philippians 2:12-13”
It is then you are qualified to be called a child of God; a CHRISTIAN! I believe that by now you understand that Christians are not just those who go to Church or people who had their names from the Bible. Let us move further to navigate this part. Do Christians use weapon? Why and how?
From the Bible era, there has been war. No wonder Paul wrote in the language the people of Corinth can relate with I Corinthians 10:4-5. They expected Paul to come and act in a worldly way over a matter, but Paul obliged to use a world weapon. Paul knew anything could be weapon— those harsh words, unruly attitude, worldly motive could be a weapon against souls. Here, Apostle Paul distinguished how godly weapon works and what it is.
I believe you will be willing to be armed with these weapons. Before then, you need to know why it is expedient to possess these weapons:
• For you to stand against the Devil’s evil tricks
• To overthrow wicked spiritual forces, the rulers, authority and cosmic powers of this Dark Age.
• To resist enemy’s attack in these evil days.
• To fight and overcome till the very end.
It is rare for a civilian to use weapon.
The Rt. Rev. Dr. Isaac I. Oluyamo, JP, is the Bishop of Ijesa North Diocese, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)
Thus, every Christian has been recruited into the Lord’s army to wage war against God’s enemy, and this battle is designed to be fought in God’s own way and only with God’s powerful weapon. No other weapon is permitted, except the following from the book of Ephesians 6: 14-16
• Put on The Truth as your belt.
• Put on righteousness as your breastplate.
• And be ready to put on the Good News of Peace as your shoes.
• Faith is the shield you must carry about always. This will help to put out all the burning arrows shot by the evil ones
• Don’t forget Salvation is your helmet. If you don’t have it, you are not protected.
• And the Word of God is the sword you can’t do without.
Every child of God, CHRISTIAN, is expected to possess not just some of these listed weapons, but you are also admonished to use it, because provision has been made for it all. There is no excuse or alternative for it. Shalom!
The Rt. Rev. Dr. Isaac I. Oluyamo, JP, is the Bishop of Ijesa North Diocese, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)