The Enemy Within

The Enemy Within - Kris Lundgaard
Christians are in an ongoing battle. Never does this battle give us a break to relax our guard or take a breather. It is constant, relentless, and at times overwhelming. Because of our humanity and living in the aftermath of the Fall, we will never be completely separated from it. We will always be engaged in it.

In this battle we face one mighty enemy and the enemy is sin. Sin affects all that we are, all that we do, think or say. The task of the believer is to defeat this enemy and reshape our lives according to biblical principles.

Kris Lundgaard has written a helpful book for dealing with this enemy. Drawing heavily from one of history’s greatest theologians, John Owen, he gives some straight talk about the power and defeat of sin. His examination of sin is detailed in 3 sections: The Power of Sin in What It Is, The Power of Sin in How It Works and The Power of Sin in What It Does. The fourth section is dedicated to the total eradication of sin and is titled, Nailing the Lid on Sin’s Coffin.

If the believer’s task is to defeat sin, he must first understand sin’s attacks. Lundgaard helps us identify that. It’s in the arena of the mind. Sin hits us where we think. Chapter 7 was perhaps one of the most helpful in that he gives solid ways of implementing the great tools of the mind: meditation and private prayer. By meditating on God with God, on the Word in the Word, and on self in the Word and with God, “prayer and meditation sound the depths of your soul, dredge up the schemes and plots of the law of sin, and drag them into the light of God’s presence”(p.73). He follows that with a warning: “Your flesh will not sit still for meditation and prayer any more than a wounded wolverine would submit to surgery”(p.73).

The Enemy Within is a refreshing, biblical study of the nature and effects of sin. Contrary to much of the teaching from deliverance ministries, most of our struggle with sin is from within, not from external “spirits” persecuting us. As those who have been raised up with Christ, we are to “mortify”, or put to death the members of our earthly bodies (see Col. 3:1-11). For more information about sin see Cornelius Plantinga’s “Not the Way it’s Supposed to Be”, “The Mortification of Sin” and “The Indwelling Sin in Believers,” both by John Owen. Read ‘em & Reap!

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Comments

Posted by: Fidel at December 27, 2004 11:03 AM