The War for Our Souls - Pt 1

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. (1 Peter 2:11-12 ESV).

I am returning to two verses we have already used in our journey through Peter’s first letter with our reading today. The key phrase for me is found in the first of these verses: war for your souls. Being a Texan by birth, I am very familiar with the battles that took place to secure the freedom that ultimately led to the inclusion of the state to the union. That war is perhaps best remembered for the Battle of the Alamo where the heroic efforts of both Texans and Tennesseans insured the ultimate victory at San Jacinto. It is one fo the classic examples of losing a battle, but winning the war. The Apostle Peter reminds us of a similar parallel in the death of Jesus. It may have appeared to be an incredible defeat; however, when we understand the ultimate war for our souls, it was a glorious victory! What these two verses of our reading make clear is that there are two tremendous issues in the world. And, one of the reasons we know that we are aliens and strangers in the world is that the modern world we live in does not believe that these two issues are the main issues. If the world believed this, the newspaper and the television and the theater and the university and popular music and industry mission statements and government goals would look and sound very different than they do. But, in fact, we live in a world that shows by its priorities, values, commitments, standards, preoccupations, and pleasures that it does not regard these two issues as paramount. In fact, they are not even on the list of the world's priorities. The two issues that dominate these two verses, and indeed dominate the whole New Testament, are the salvation of the human soul and the glory of God. The two great issues of the Bible are how the soul of man might not be destroyed and how the glory of God might not be belittled. This was what the primary concern in the battle Jesus fought and won on the cross was about. While Calvary might have seemed like the Alamo, where every patriot died; the resurrection was San Jacinto, where the dictatorial reign of death was once and for all time defeated! The devil may not have been wearing a Mexican Army General’s uniform, he never-the-less was beaten into submission and defeat! That guaranteed our eternal life!