The Battle

Though you probably don’t realize it, you are in the midst of the greatest battle there is: the war over God’s Word and people’s souls that has been raging since man’s beginning.

God’s interests are simple: He wants people to seek Him and go through His Word-and-Holy Spirit growth process. But this happens for LESS THAN 1% of His creation (a calculation based on Scripture). The rest, over 99%, either do not pay any attention to God at all, or they think about God but then choose church or religion instead of God and His process. Why does this happen?

Because of the battle. Your brief time on earth is actually a spiritual battle that you do not want to lose. There is a battle because man has his own interests, different from God’s, which the Bible calls “lusts.” These lusts of man lead to sin (going against God and His Word), and sin leads to death (people being without God).

Understand the battle, so you have a chance to live

Life on earth is not as simple as: people want God and God wants people. If it were, there wouldn’t be so many people headed for eternal destruction. In reality, people do not want God or the things of God. Instead, people want what they want, which leads to death. If this causes you concern, you should familiarize yourself with the spiritual battle you’re in…

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. (1John 2:16)

The battle is three versus One. Every sin and temptation can be categorized as one of three lusts. The three lust categories are:

the lust of the flesh
the lust of the eyes
the boastful pride of life

On one side of the battle is God and His Word, calling people to Himself, His Word, His growth process. On the other side of the battle are the three lusts. And people are stuck in the middle…

→
God and
His Word
→

people

←
the three lusts
of man
←

In the battle, people are forced to make choices. When tested, most people choose the lusts (resulting in death) rather than God and His Word. This happened with Eve in the Garden of Eden. She ate from the bad tree because, to her, it was:

“good for food” (lust of the flesh)
“a delight to the eyes” (lust of the eyes)
“desirable to make one wise” (boastful pride of life)

The three-lusts battle is a huge theme in Scripture, repeated THOUSANDS of times. And yet, churches and religions (the “many”) do not discuss it. Below are some examples of how the Bible shows the three-versus-One battle:

Three lusts versus will of God ¹
Jesus being tempted ²
Eve being tempted ³
The parable of the sower ⁴
The four horses of Revelation ⁵
The Lord’s judgment at His return ⁶

Please investigate the examples in the Bible. They are a matter of life and death.

God’s most important parable

And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? And how will you understand all the parables?” (Mark 4:13)

Of all the parables in all 66 books of the Bible, the parable of the sower is probably the most important.⁷ The parable deals with God’s growth process and the three-versus-One spiritual battle that you’re in. If you do not come to understand this parable from the Lord Himself, you have little chance of winning the battle over your soul.

The parable is about people hearing the Word of God (the first part of God’s process – God calls people), and then how they choose to treat the Word of God after hearing it…

Boastful pride of life – “beside the road” – Word snatched: People hear the Word of God (God calling people to Himself and His Word, not to church or religion), but they don’t understand His Word/call. The devil – by sending family, friends, and churchgoers – plucks the truth of the gospel (“you surely shall not die!”⁸). (Hear the Word, but do not repent.)
Lust of the flesh – “rocky places” – Word scorched: People hear the Word of God (God’s call) and receive it, joyfully, but only temporarily. Having no root or moisture, when affliction or persecution arises over the Word, they immediately fall away when tested. (Hear the Word, repent briefly, but do not learn the Scriptures from the Lord.)
Lust of the eyes – “among the thorns” – Word choked: People hear the Word of God and probably understand it, but desires for other things come in and choke God’s Word so that it does not bear fruit. (Hear the Word, repent, learn the Scriptures from the Lord, but do not persevere to speaking and doing God’s Word – bearing “good fruit.”)

vs.

Word of God – “the good soil” – Word bears fruit: These are the Lord’s “few.” They hear the Word of God and continue proceeding through His growth process. They understand the Word, receive it, accept it, and eventually bear fruit by persevering. As their One Teacher, the Lord teaches them the Scriptures and trains them for speaking and doing His Word in truth, which they do. (Fulfill all of God’s spiritual growth process; His people if persevere with Him to the end.)

Know who’s battling against you…

“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:26)

While God works to get you to Himself and His spiritual growth process, other forces battle against His call and work, killing your chances with God. Some of these forces are not who you would expect. The chief stumbling blocks to you starting and completing God’s spiritual growth process are:

your family and friends
your church or religion
the devil
the world
your own self (your flesh)

These will try to get you to choose the three lusts rather than God, His Word, and the things of His growth process. The battle is about choices. Eve quickly chose to believe in false teaching about God, rather than consult God over what she had heard about Him. Your only chance of winning the battle is to forget all you’ve heard and learned from men and go to God Himself for His Word and Holy Spirit. You must go through His growth process to maturity, to be able to stand and not be killed in this life-or-death battle.

God is real, your upcoming final judgment is real, and the battle over your soul is real. From God’s perspective, there is a fight to get you to want Him, seek Him, choose Him, serve Him, and persevere with Him – because you want what you want, rather than wanting God and what He wants. Those who choose God will not be disappointed.

(1) 1 John 2:16-17 (2) Matthew 4; Luke 4 (3) Genesis 3 (4) Matthew 13; Mark 4; Luke 8 (5) Revelation 6; Zechariah 6:1-5; Ezekiel 14:21 (6) Zechariah 14:12 (7) Mark 4:13 (8) Genesis 3:4

• Chart showing the 3 vs. One battle
• Parable of sower chart

Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible (NASB), which this site would recommend, along with the King James Version (KJV).