The War for Our Souls - Pt 2

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).

Our picture today is a rendering of the surrender of General Antonio Lòpez de Santa Anna to the wounded General Sam Houston ending the Texas War for Independence. While the casualties were relatively light compared to modern wars (there were approximately 850 Texans killed and 2500 Mexicans killed), the atrocities of the war were stark. It was common for Santa Anna to take no prisoners, executing the wounded and captured Texas patriots in a bloody show of no mercy. It was no wonder that he donned the uniform of a common enlisted soldier when he realized he had lost the war and his capture was imminent. In our spiritual war Satan has yet to be “captured.” He is defeated, however, he still roams the earth “seeking whom he may devour” (cf. 1 Peter 5:8). Knowing this Peter says, "Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul" (v. 11). The ultimate issue in that verse is that the human soul is in danger of being destroyed. A war is being waged against the soul in this world. If that war is successful, the soul is lost. This is what Jesus meant when he said, "What will it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul? For what can a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matthew 16:26). If the soul is lost, the whole person is lost. And there is no way to negotiate to get it back. When this war against the soul is over, it's over. So this is one of the great issues in the world. It affects everybody without exception. And it affects everybody forever. And yet our world does not give serious attention to it. There is no column in the newspaper, there is no public service announcement on the radio, there is no soundbite on television, there is no values-clarification course in our schools, there is no government agency or even a welfare pamphlet that counsels us how to wage war for the eternal life of our souls. We are told how to wage war against AIDS; against sunstroke; against mosquitoes; against drunk driving and pollen and depression and rape and fire and theft and cholesterol and dandelions. But the world we live in gives no counsel on how to fight for the eternal life of the soul. Our modern world is massively preoccupied with the inconsequential. We are oblivious as a culture to what will one day seem so obvious that we will call ourselves blind for not seeing it, namely, the eternal well-being of the soul and its relation to God. That's the first great issue in these two verses and in the Bible, the salvation of the soul. It's the issue of how to wage war so that we will not lose our souls. We’ll look at that specifically in the coming days. Today, place your complete trust and hope in the finished work of Jesus. It is your only chance for victory!