The spirit of war seduces people to trust in the flesh which is hostile against God and cannot produce the fruit of the Spirit. Since the flesh is hostile against God, it cannot trust God and His ways. Isaiah 55:8 says: For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
As humans, we have a natural tendency to trust our own ways, that is the ways of the flesh, rather than God's Ways, including our own ways in evangelism and church planting. This is to act according to the flesh. No matter how spiritual something may seem, if it not done according to God's Will, it is sin.
The flesh is hostile against justice, mercy and love according to God's Way. It has its own standards of justice, mercy and love. The spirit of war which feeds the flesh, blinds the mind of those who live according to it, and tempts the true Christian to fall into acting according to it. It puffs up the persons pride and desire or bondage to the sins of the flesh, such that the person judges deeds of others accordingly to it. The flesh not only cannot judge righteously; it is deceitful and loves itself. So, it judges the deeds of others according to its own selfish interests.
Thus, the person under the spirit of war thinks it is legitimate to commit sins of the flesh against others to act justly in its own lusts - an extremely evil thought. He thinks that what is right is according to his own self-interests because he in his own mind believes he is the one who is right to judge according to his own desires of the flesh so as to satisfy it.
This explains why people under the spirit of war think it is just to revenge. However, the spirit of war does not merely manifest in revenge. It manifests itself in a failure to trust God to seek justice since it holds a person who has been wronged by another and is suffering, in spiritual bondage. He seeks to tempt the person into bitterness, unforgiveness, and eventually hate, which Jesus said was murder (Matthew 5:21; 1 John 3:15). The spirit of war manifests in the desire to seek justice rightly, but to seek justice in one's own ways. This has lead to the "just war" theory which is extremely deceptive.
Revenge is a mere manifestation of the spirit of war. It the flesh and indulgence in the flesh that it feeds upon to lead people into more sins of the flesh.
As humans, we have a natural tendency to trust our own ways, that is the ways of the flesh, rather than God's Ways, including our own ways in evangelism and church planting. This is to act according to the flesh. No matter how spiritual something may seem, if it not done according to God's Will, it is sin.
The flesh is hostile against justice, mercy and love according to God's Way. It has its own standards of justice, mercy and love. The spirit of war which feeds the flesh, blinds the mind of those who live according to it, and tempts the true Christian to fall into acting according to it. It puffs up the persons pride and desire or bondage to the sins of the flesh, such that the person judges deeds of others accordingly to it. The flesh not only cannot judge righteously; it is deceitful and loves itself. So, it judges the deeds of others according to its own selfish interests.
Thus, the person under the spirit of war thinks it is legitimate to commit sins of the flesh against others to act justly in its own lusts - an extremely evil thought. He thinks that what is right is according to his own self-interests because he in his own mind believes he is the one who is right to judge according to his own desires of the flesh so as to satisfy it.
This explains why people under the spirit of war think it is just to revenge. However, the spirit of war does not merely manifest in revenge. It manifests itself in a failure to trust God to seek justice since it holds a person who has been wronged by another and is suffering, in spiritual bondage. He seeks to tempt the person into bitterness, unforgiveness, and eventually hate, which Jesus said was murder (Matthew 5:21; 1 John 3:15). The spirit of war manifests in the desire to seek justice rightly, but to seek justice in one's own ways. This has lead to the "just war" theory which is extremely deceptive.
Revenge is a mere manifestation of the spirit of war. It the flesh and indulgence in the flesh that it feeds upon to lead people into more sins of the flesh.
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