“…Epaphroditus,…,and fellow soldier…”
The third report Paul gave of Epaphroditus was that he was a “co- soldier” to the apostle.
“and fellow soldier”
Paul says, “Epaphroditus and I were in the same spiritual outfit. We sloshed through the spiritual mud together; we slugged it out with the enemy together; we were in sick bay together; we went through the war together.”Some Christians act surprised when they end up in spiritual war. Alas, many Christians do not even engage the enemy. The battle is raging and they are sitting off in the hills where there is little danger. They care little for the consequence of who will win. The impact may be disastrous for the cause of Christ but they are off in lala land.
Granted, not all belong at or are fitted for the front lines. Some should be in the supply lines, others support for those who are flying the jets. But everyone should be a soldier, not a sitter, a soldier.
The Christian life is a war. We have a great enemy. He is powerful and his troops are many and well trained. To hold no defense against that force is calamitous to the Christian cause.
There are many metaphors of soldiering in the Bible.
“This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare” (
I Ti. 1:18 ).”Fight the good fight of faith” (I Ti. 6:12 ).“You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (
II Ti. 2:3 ).We operate on three fronts: the world, the flesh and the devil. We need to know both ourselves and the enemy. In the book The Art of War makes that point, “If you know yourself and your enemy, you need not fear the results of a 100 battles. If you know yourself but not your enemy for every victory gained you will suffer one defeat.”
Principle:
We cannot call every believer a “fellow (co) soldier.” Only those engaged in spiritual warfare can be called that.
Application:
Only those who are actively engaged in spiritual war we can genuinely call soldiers. That is, those who are employed winning people to Christ, caring for the spiritually wounded, giving support to the troops on the front lines (missionaries, preachers, lay leaders). When Satan attacks us personally we must put on our spiritual armor. This involves both defensive (spirituality) and offensive measures (advancing the cause of Christ). Are we at the center of the spiritual battle? Do we view ourselves as engaged in a spiritual war?
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