Offensive Christianity

I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.
–Ephesians 4:1

God has called us to not just survive Satan’s attacks, but to go on the offensive against the enemy. I am not talking about binding the power of Satan or casting out demons. Offensive Christianity simply means moving forward in the plan that God has for your life.

Throughout Scripture, the Christian life is compared to a walk (or, for those who are more physically fit, sometimes a run):

• “We have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord” (Colossians 1:9-10).
• “I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called” (Ephesians 4:1).
• “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2).

Why does God say that we are to walk? Because when we are walking forward, the enemy is retreating. In his book “The Bondage Breaker,” Neil Anderson elaborated on this imagery. He wrote: “Imagine that you are standing at one end of a long, narrow street lined on both sides with two-story apartments. At the other end of the street stands Jesus Christ, and your Christian life is the process of walking down that long street with your eyes on the Author and Finisher of your faith. There is absolutely nothing in the street that can keep you from walking toward Jesus by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit. But since this world is still under the dominion of Satan, the apartments on either side are inhabited by beings who are committed to keeping you from reaching your goal. They have no power or authority to block your path or even slow your step, so they hang out of the windows and call to you, hoping to turn your attention away from your goal and disrupt your progress. . . . What is the enemy’s goal in having his demons jeer you, taunt you, lure you, and question you from the windows and doorways along your path? He wants you to slow down, stop, sit down, and if possible, give up your journey toward Christ.”

In the face of the enemy’s attacks, we are to keep walking, to keep moving forward in the path that God has ordained for us. Satan wants you to sit down and give up, so every time you take a step forward, it is a nail in the enemy’s coffin. That is offensive Christianity.

God has sent you and me here on earth to be the first wave of assault against Satan and his kingdom. We are softening the ground, so to speak, to prepare the way for the return of our Commander in Chief–who, when He returns, will finally reclaim this world that is rightfully His.

Today’s devotion is excerpted from “Storming The Gates Of Hell” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2011.

Neil T. Anderson “The Bondage Breaker” (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 2006), 118-19.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org