The War for Holiness

September, 2008

by: Jeff Learned

During WWII, on June 11, 1944, the 3rd Battalion, 502nd PIR of the 101st Airborne Division was involved in the attack on Carentan, a pivotal piece of geography which would link the Utah and Omaha beaches into one continual beachhead. As they were marching into position, they took on enemy fire. In his book, Band of Brothers, Stephen Ambrose writes about the incident. “They should have kept moving. But… the most difficult rule to follow in combat is to keep moving when fired on. Every instinct makes a soldier want to hug the ground. [Lt.] Cole’s men did, and over the next half hour the Germans dropped mortars on the battalion, causing further casualties. Whenever an American tried to move down the causeway, he drew rifle and machine gun fire. For yet another half hour, the GI’s were pinned down.”

Men, we also are in an increasingly difficult war (1 Pet. 2:11). The struggle for purity can be constant and relentless. Make no mistake, this IS a war, and our enemy is formidable (Eph. 6:12). Our villain takes no days off, and never sleeps. Since the beginning of time, this nemesis has been studying our tendencies, watching, practicing, taking notes, and modifying his strategy. The evil one is planning well, he is crafty and he’s waiting for your moment of weakness. If you are a weak soldier, then you will soon be a wounded soldier.

It is easy to play the victim and shirk responsibility to appease our guilt. Like Adam, we blame others for our sin. Like Eve, we blame Satan. And surely Satan is our enemy. But, our enemy isn’t only from outside. Our enemy is also inside. Your enemy is you. At Calvary Bible, we talk a lot about our sin nature, and for good reason. Sin is at war within us. In Romans 7:23 the Apostle Paul says, “but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” Earlier, in the same letter, Paul says, “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate” (Rom 7:14-15). I thank the Lord that Paul wrote those verses! Somehow it’s encouraging to know that an Apostle of Jesus Christ struggled the same way I do.

However, do not deceive yourself into thinking that your sin is simply a pesky character flaw. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?” If you are not diligent to hunt down your sin and repent daily, then it will disguise itself and you will begin to think that you are better than you really are. It’s easy to see one another’s sin… but your own?

So how do we fight against such a crafty adversary? You must know yourself. What are your weaknesses? Under what conditions are you the most vulnerable to lust and temptation? What are your appetites? Make a diligent examination of your heart and mind. You know yourself better than any human, and the battle must start with you. However, we are not the best judges of our hearts. Even a believer can be blinded to his own sin. In Psalm 139, David asks God to search his heart and reveal the wicked ways that were hidden even to him (vss. 23-24).

In addition to knowing yourself, you must know your enemy (closely tied to knowing yourself). How does sin work in you? What are the strategies sin uses? How does it deceive? Where does it hide? I find that the more I talk to men about the struggle of lust, the more I find that our struggles as men are similar. Even down to the smallest details. Two men may be complete opposites, but the one thing they have in common is that they are often tempted in the same ways. This isn’t always the case, but generally it is. Haven’t you ever read Proverbs or Ecclesiastes and thought to yourself: “Solomon struggled the same way that I do!” Solomon knew his enemy, but wrote about it after he was burned. Don’t make Solomon’s mistake.

Finally, to fight the enemy you need to have a plan. No soldier goes into combat without a strategy. When you sense the enemy sneaking up to ambush you, what will you do? What weapons will you use? Will you have those weapons available when you need them? What enemy territory will you avoid? Will you be fighting alone, or will you have comrades with you? That last question may be one of the most helpful to us as men.

You cannot fight this war alone. God has supplied you with fellow soldiers to cover your flank and watch your back. They can keep you awake under the cover of darkness and give you the rest you need when you’re battle weary. During WW2, the soldiers of the 101st airborne division formed an unbreakable bond. “They also found in combat the closest brotherhood they ever knew. They found selflessness. They found they could love the other guy in the foxhole more than themselves. They found that in war, men who loved life would give their lives for them.” Shouldn’t this describe brothers in Christ? Can you say that you have a band of brothers in your foxhole? Are you in a small group with other men? To whom are you accountable? Ephesians 5:11 tells us that instead of participating in the deeds of darkness, we are to expose them. Do you have friendships with men to whom you can reveal your struggles, failures, temptations, and victories?

As men, we often shy away from close relationships with other men. If you have issues with this, then pray for humility! You are in a war and you need back up. You need someone to ask you the hard and uncomfortable questions when you get home from your business trip. You need someone who will listen and help you when you’ve clicked on that trashy website. You need men to encourage you to love Christ, your wife, your children, and your neighbors. You need men who can cheer you on as you fight the war… and others need you to do that for them.

One man described the realities of WWII. “There is no such thing as “getting used to combat.” Each moment of combat imposes a strain so great that men will break down in direct relation to the intensity and duration of their exposure… The general consensus was that a man reached his peak of effectiveness in the first 90 days of combat, that after that his efficiency began to fall off, and that he became steadily less valuable thereafter until he was completely useless.” This does not need to be true of a disciple of Christ. Fighting alone is risky and foolish (Ecc. 4:10). Men, we need each other. If you are battered and bloodied from the fight, you need your brothers in Christ. If you are strong and victorious, carry a wounded brother.

One final question: Why should we fight? The men of WWII fought for democracy and decency, they fought for liberation and freedom. Most of all, they fought to stay alive. It was kill or be killed. Why do you wage war against your sin? Possibly it is to avoid the consequences of sin. Maybe you just want to live guilt-free, with a clean conscience. However, the heart motive of a repentant man must be to give God the most glory possible (1 Cor. 10:31). If you are a Christian, then you can win this war. Christ has given Himself on the cross and purchased you with His blood. He died to set you free, and Christian, you are free! So now, praise God, we can live as free men.

Holiness is worth fighting for. So let’s fight the fight. Run the race. Wage the war. Stand firm. Act like men. Advance against the enemy shoulder to shoulder. All for the glory of God.