an Introduction to Wholeness and Armoring for Spiritual Warfare

In my first article I made the accusation that servitude was the highest value and moral. While this title belongs to love, servitude must come in a close second as you will want to serve through love and love through service. In today’s article we will be speaking on service to yourself since you yourself must be in proper order before we can serve others.

The biggest source of immorality in our world today must be sexuality. If you exist in a proverbial den of sexual depravity and perversion, then there is nothing you can do except serve as an example of what not to do, a cautionary tale of sorts, or you can chose to change your situation. This is a massive topic and will take multiple articles, but since many people struggle with promiscuity, I have chosen to tackle it first. Let us not forget that the message of Jesus, the “good news,” is that of salvation, mercy, forgiveness, and hope so if these articles speak to you and you hear Jesus knocking, answer the door as the road to realizing your redemption is that easy.

“18Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 19Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies” (1 Cor NIV).

Let’s start at the beginning: in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth… male and female he created them… “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth” … and God saw all he had made, it was very good.” In the first chapter of Genesis God lays out his plan. He created us and then ordered us to procreate. Furthermore, we are made in the image of God and as imagers of God we are to take part in his creative plan. Therefore, we are sexual beings from the very start. Sexuality is nothing to be ashamed of. It is not the sexual act that brings shame but rather the manner in which it is done.

Virginity and Singleness

There are whole books dedicated to this, so I am going to give a rough overview. Virginity is a state of being prior to engaging in sexual intercourse. It is a state of innocence which is slowly eroded away by popular culture through over sexualization. How you define sexual intercourse and what counts as sex is near impossible to define in a way which everyone agrees with. So, I will define it as any sexual act which creates guilt or shame in a moral person to include cunnilingus, fellatio, sodomy, or anything that a moral person might deem inherently sexual. I do not include here acts of personal affection such as kissing, but others might. Loosely put, it is any act in which two, or more, people become “one flesh.” Being and remaining a virgin is a deeply personal decision, but as a rule of thumb there is nothing negative about keeping one’s virginity. Some people even retain their virginity even into marriage. Likewise, being single is not necessarily negative as some people are built for it while others are not. It does seem from Genesis that God’s intent was for most us not to be alone, but to live in a state of marriage or matrimony. Being single leaves many vulnerable to temptations of lust and idolatry.

Monogamy

God created one man and one woman and put them into matrimony. Therefore, the ideal married state is between one man and one woman.  Polygamy was practiced by many well know biblical figures and while it was allowed, no where in the Bible does God bless it or endorse it like he does monogamy. This makes bigamy, polyandry, or any other combination or amalgamation immoral and sinful by New Testament standards.

 Once you are married, sexual restrictions are lifted with both parties’ consent. “3The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife. 5Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control” (1 Cor 7 NIV). That being said, some people interpret sodomy to include anal and oral sex and classify it as a sin even within the bounds of matrimony. I will let you be the judge since it is your soul on the line. There is also something of masturbation that could be spoken of here, but I will leave it for the next article.

Heteronormative

This will make many angry and that is fine. “22 ‘Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable’” (Leviticus 18 NIV). “26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error” (Romans 1 NIV). So, is being LGB… a sin? If you have its lust in your heart?  Yes. Does this mean you cannot be forgiven? No. Are you a flawed person? Yes, we all are, but that does not mean you should give in to your first nature with ever thought and deed being evil even from birth (Gen 6:5). We must fight against temptation and strive for our second godly nature. If you understand the sin of “unnatural” relationships and are repentant but cannot break free, that is a different story beyond the scope of this article.

Leviticus

For additional sexually immoral acts such as incest and beastiality/zoophilia see Leviticus chapter 18. In short: keep it in your pants unless it is your spouse. Necrophilia and pedophilia are not explicitly in Leviticus, but if it is frowned upon to have sex while a woman is on her period, I think it is safe to say that necrophilia would not be welcomed. Pedophilia is an issue of culture and law. When the Bible was written people did not live that long so it was not uncommon for girls to be married as preteens. In today’s world that will not fly. Pedophilia is the quickest way to ruin your life, and I can guarantee whatever pleasure you receive of it will not be worth the price of possibly being gang raped to death in prison. Yes that is a thing.

I hope that this has been edifying and has encouraged you to do some of your own research and reading. I am not an authority on anything, nor do I claim to be. Pick up a Bible and check my work. If you do not believe anything else, believe that you are worthy of redemption and salvation. Otherwise Jesus would never have submitted to his passion, period. But to be saved and redeemed you must conclude that you are in need of salvation and redemption. You are called to come as you are, but not to remain as you are.

an Introduction to Wholeness and Armoring for Spiritual Warfare

This is the second in a series of articles questioning what is means to be holy, becoming righteous through walking with faith with God, and filling the gaps in our armor in preparation for spiritual warfare. The first in this series is “Becoming Righteous” where we introduce the concepts of virtues, values, morals, and ethics. In this article, we will zoom out a bit to introduce the concepts of character and principles before we dive in too deep.

To recap virtues are character traits that lead to positive habits, values are things we hold as important, morals are, like virtues, intrinsic to the individual, internal rules, and ethics are externally enforced rules.

Character as a concept is the umbrella under which all these other concepts, except for ethics, stands. It is the sum of the whole. Having a good and godly character should be our ultimate goal. It is my goal to use these articles to provide a framework that anyone can use to build a good and godly character. I know some of this seems semantic, but I mean it to be systematic (pardon my autism).

Principles are related to morals. Morality is the compass we use to navigate between right and wrong. Principles are standards that calibrate our morality; therefore, principles are internal to morals. While morality may vary from person-to-person principles are generally more universal. Principles give us the why we act. Due to this universality, our starting point here will be morals.

Morality is the foundation our nature/character. I have been listening After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters by N. T. Wright. Since I want you to read the book for your own edification, I will only touch on one concept that I really like his application of and take it a step further. Wright likens character and one’s nature to language. Being a fan of linguistics et al this immediately resonated with me. For starters one must understand that different languages not only use different alphabets but also very different grammar and structuring. Due to this, your language has a massive effect on how your brain develops, your thought processing and paradigms. It shapes, in part, your nature. Those who learn another language tend to find they can approach ideas and problems from different angles they may not have previously considered. Therefore, there does seem to be some credence to this line of thought. If you want to look more into it, search linguistic relativity or language effects on thought.

Moreover, if we look at the brain, the pathways which we use most often become myelinated (reenforced) creating a stronger connection. The less the pathway is used the weaker it gets until it atrophies out of existence. If you have a memory you want to keep, think about it every so often to keep the pathway open.  This is essentially how we learn.  When we practice a second language, we are forcing new pathways to be made. We reenforce correct connections while we attempt to forget wrong ones. With enough practice, using correct syntax, grammar, and vocabulary will become second nature. Building our character is the same concept.

“The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time” (Genesis 6:5 NIV). If we want to be holy and godly we must come to terms with the fact that our given primary human nature is corrupted due in part to our actions, but also due to the Fall at Eden and subsequent history which we have no say in. Wright brings up Paul several times and in one example he references Ephesians:

“20That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

25Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26“In your anger do not sin” ^d : Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27and do not give the devil a foothold. 28Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.

29Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you (NIV).”

Therefore, we must shed our old nature and develop or practice our godly nature so that it becomes our second nature just as we have a second chance through Christ, and in time this second nature will become our primary nature. In another passage Paul is more severe instructing us not only to put away but put to death in Romans 8:

12Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live (NIV).”

We will leave it there so you can pray and meditate on this. Let us come to understand that to possess a godly character we must shed parts of our primary human nature through practice and moral effort. I recommend After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters by N. T. Wright. It is available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and kindle. Full transparency, I do not have an affiliate link nor do I get any money for recommending this book.