A New Identity By Grace // Your Road to Spiritual Victory, Part 1

<p>Life is something of a spiritual battlefield and when we’re in the thick of things, it’s so important for us to know what side we’re on. Each one of us has a new identity in Christ, but how many of us know that deep in our hearts, in the heat of the spiritual battle we call life?</p> <h3><span style="color: #ff9900;"><strong>GOD’S GRACE</strong></span></h3> <p>Spiritual victory is something of an odd concept, we live life, we go through all the stuff we go through, we know somehow there’s a spiritual dimension to it all but for most of us, particularly westerners like me, the spiritual dimension of life can feel somewhat distant, irrelevant even in the cut and thrust of daily life. Yet nothing could be further from the truth.</p> <p>The battles we fight often appear to be battles against circumstances, adversity, and other people – especially other people. Our daily battles appear confined to the here and now when all along there’s a spiritual battle raging for your soul in the heavenly places. This is what the Apostle Paul writes, Ephesians chapter 6, verses 10 to 13:</p> <p style="padding-left: 40px;"><em>Finally (he says) be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armour of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil for our struggle isn’t against enemies of blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armour of God so that you may be able to withstand on that day of evil and having done everything to stand firm.</em></p> <p>So today we’re kicking off a brand new series of messages called <em>Your Road To Spiritual Victory</em> because Jesus didn’t come and die for you and rise again so that you could spend the rest of your life being defeated by your circumstances or by people or by satan or by your sin. Gods plan for your life is victory – spiritual victory. 1 John chapter 5, verses 4 and 5.</p