Every day we are faced with new trials, new tests and temptations. Every day we have the opportunity to walk in accordance with the Word of God and be doers of the Word and not hearers only.
Something the Lord has shown to me is the very real battle we engage in every single day in our minds and hearts against evil. Not only do we walk in vessels corrupted by sin and battle against the sinful desires of our bodies, but we are subjected to diverse temptations by our spiritual adversary Satan and his demonic forces. This battle is waged within our minds, with the consequences of victory and defeat going to the state of our hearts.
A heart for good
Jesus tells us that: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.” (Matthew chapter 12 verse 35)
What comes out of our hearts are the things that can defile us, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders.” (Mark chapter 7 verse 21)
These thoughts of evil come from our hearts, but proceed through our minds. They can also come from the enemy. We may then act on these thoughts through the evil desire of our hearts, and when desire conceives it gives birth to sin (see James chapter 1, verse 15).
We are encouraged in the word to not be double-minded or dualistic in nature, but to be consistent in our speech so to not bring forth both blessing and cursing, as a spring does not bring forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening (see James chapter 3, verse 11). So we can see that the state of our heart can bring forth evil thoughts through our minds, but we are encouraged to have good treasure from our hearts and not evil treasure.
Diverse temptations
Complicating the situation is that we are not only waging battle against our fleshly nature that desires to sin, but we battle against the various temptations of the spiritual forces of evil (see Ephesians chapter 6, verse 12). Jesus Himself was tempted by Satan, and the Word tells us:
“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathise with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews chapter 4, verses 15-16)
Jesus set the example for us to walk in as we are being conformed to the image of Christ. Jesus tells us to deny ourselves, bear our cross and walk after Him (see Luke chapter 9, verse 23). Jesus knew temptation and knows what we go through but He Himself was sinless, and resisted the temptation of evil in all its ways.
The Lord wants us to be holy and perfect, so we should strive against evil in like manner, and when we pray and seek the Lord’s grace boldly we may obtain mercy and grace to help in the time of temptation and need (see Hebrews chapter 4 verse 16). Temptation and sinful desire must be resisted and I have come to understand this forms the major basis of spiritual battle that we engage in.
Fight back
The Word tells us: “‘God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.’ Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” (James chapter 4, verses 6-8)
By submitting to God we are submitting to His Word and His standard of what is good and what is evil. We are told that to draw near to God is to cleanse our hands and purify our hearts. The Lord has shown me that purification of the heart comes by resisting evil in our minds by the Holy Spirit. The Word of God gives us a foundational understanding of what is good and evil, but there is more understanding for unclear circumstances given through the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit will convict us of sin, and can convict us of ungodly thoughts and behaviours, sinful desires and lusts. When sinful desires of our heart come before our minds, or the temptations of the enemy come before our minds, we must take to battle and resist. The Word is clear regarding this battle in the mind we engage in: “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be,” and, “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
(Romans chapter 8, verse 7 and Galatians chapter 5, verse 17)
Taking every thought into captivity
The Word tells us that Jesus grew to know to refuse the evil and choose the good (see Isaiah chapter 7, verses 15-16). We must also do the same against the evil that seeks to overcome us in our minds. The specific instruction that leads to victory is found in 2 Corinthians:
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Corinthians, chapter 10, verses 3-5)
To bring our thoughts into captivity to the obedience of Christ is to resist everything that comes against the knowledge of God including evil in our minds, to resist the evil desires of our hearts and our flesh and to resist the evil temptations of the enemy. To do this I have found we must know and read the Word to learn what is good and evil, and the Lord’s counsel to us.
We must also seek the grace of God by the power of the Holy Spirit to wage warfare against evil in all its forms and this is especially true of internal evil. In this manner we draw nearer to God and purify our hearts. The reality of these verses and the spiritual battle in our minds has been made abundantly clear to me.
Christopher Harris is 28 years old and confessed his faith in Jesus Christ in 2016 and has sought to set his focus on the Lord. He makes videos on his youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/JESUSisLORD and believes the world is living in those times prophesied by the Holy Bible as the last days.
A link to Christopher’s other articles: https://www.pressserviceinternational.org/christopher-harris.html