General response to a comment regarding spiritual warfare

My history with spiritual warfare involves doing a teaching called the Fourth Way which puts a person whether they know it or not on the spiritual battlefield. It puts them in conflict with themselves (their fallen nature) and with the world around them (and, yes, with the Devil and his forces). Doing this made me realize I needed the armor of God.

Eph. 6:10-18 is the famous armor of God passage in the Bible.

The main insight is to realize that *doctrine itself* is armor of God. Pure, unwatered-down biblical doctrine is the true armor of God. And on a battlefield you want real armor.

A soldier on a real battlefield has no use for fake armor, i.e. doctrine that has been watered down or negotiated down to please fallen man's desires and demands. Only a Christian in the comforts of the world and going with the current of the world would settle for such a thing.

So, actual biblical doctrine insults our fallen nature and notions of what is right and wrong or good and bad or just and unjust. So when we are able to see and understand and *accept* true biblical doctrine (five solas, doctrines of grace, i.e. TULIP, classical - federal - covenant theology) it changes us inwardly. It re-orientates us inwardly from being man centered to being God centered, and from self-will to God's will.

All that *hard doctrine* that Arminians, for instance, refuse to give in to. It is actual armor of God.

Or like when people say, "It's not fair that I should have original sin just because of something Adam did in the Garden." But when you accept that Adam was our federal head (our King) and his act effected us (just as if the American President declares war citizens have to be at war whether we like it or not) it's an example of accepting hard truth biblical doctrine. Of course then you realize that Jesus becomes our new federal head (King) when we have faith in Him and His work, and we don't have a problem with *that.* We like receiving from Jesus what we couldn't do ourselves.

Another example is accepting that God is sovereign and is the first cause of everything that happens, yet we are also responsible for our own actions and thoughts and words. That is an example of accepting hard truth biblical doctrine. You can philosophically iron all that out, but ultimately it really is a matter of God says it, I believe and accept it. I'm a soldier on the spiritual battlefield. I don't have a problem with difficult to accept biblical doctrine because it is my armor, and I know it changes me internally to being, or conforming, to Christ, the ultimate soldier and King.