"Soldier Up" -2

Having possibly confused learned Bible readers, or even myself; not that I have said anything new, but mixing several different lives into one can be a little foreign; I must stress the need we have as a soldier to be committed to one cause. Much like Paul exposed how that "no man that warreth entangle himself with the affairs of this life", we that are new creatures in Christ should not coexist with our old man; unfortunately, that old man keeps hanging around. This is where 'purging of the old man' comes into play; and must be dealt with as if the old man is at enmity with the new man, and thus an enemy of God. Much like the unbelieving spouse will not want to be persuaded, so too, the old nature will fight to keep those things that keep it satisfied. Therefore, that old man must be considered dead, and any form of life that is still holding on, must to placed on the side of that which is contrary to the side of that which is holy. In this regard, my analogy will not work; but my intent was not to confuse the two separate worlds, but to illustrate how one force can influence the other. With that said, the main point I was trying to make was that of service, and how by serving the Lord in some form or fashion brings with that service the ability to be used for the express purpose of warring against that which is to be counted as dead. But you might ask, How can we, or even need we, to war against that which is dead? Well, in a perfect world that would not be the case; and in a perfect marriage, neither would there be any threat of being corrupted by your spouse; which is why we are instructed not to be unequally yoked. However, in the case where we are already married and then one of us gets saved, then it comes down to the believing spouse not leaving the unbelieving spouse with the hope that the other will be saved also. And without getting too far out there, let me say, that we were not born holy, but that we were born in sin; which means that the old nature, though dead in Christ, is very much alive in the memories of our mind, and thus still able to influence the new man we are in Christ. Therefore we are not to coexist with the old man, as with an unbelieving spouse; but rather, as a soldier in a foreign land that must ready himself for attack, knowing that the enemy of Him which he is serving, will use that which is familiar to distract him and cause him to drop his guard. Which brings me back to what being a servant does for the life of being sanctified, and how that we that are His workmanship must not be idle in our calling for which we are called; because, an idol soldier will stand a chance to become accustom to the familiarities of the foreign land... "Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity (love), peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient; in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will." (2 Timothy 2:22-26)