Satan shoots flaming arrows at us, often in the form of some perverse actions on the part of other people—sometimes other people in the church. These flaming arrows have the potential of setting our entire personality on fire.

This will be more true in the days to come than ever before, especially if we have real persecution of Christians in America. We need to be able to wield the shield of faith in God's Word so swiftly and effectively that the flaming arrows of the evil one are intercepted and extinguished before they reach our heart.

If anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing; whoever attacks you will surrender to you. "See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to work havoc; No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me," declares the LORD. (Isaiah 54:15-17—NIV)

This promise will hold true for us if we really are the servant of the Lord and not just a casual Christian. These words from God are a shield that we can use to intercept the flaming arrows of Satan.

We put on the helmet of salvation, which protects our head (and mind, figuratively), when we put our faith in God's Word that through Jesus Christ He has forgiven our sin and we now are without condemnation. As we said before, this certain knowledge of being a saved person in the sight of God comes as we actually walk before Him, confessing, denouncing, and renouncing our sins as we encounter them.

Some of the teachers of today, in order to provide assurance to believers who feel for one reason or another that they may not be pleasing God, overemphasize the role of forgiveness in the plan of salvation. The idea is, if you make a profession of belief in Christ you can forget about any possible condemnation.

While this may help for a season, it eventually will break down because it is not scriptural. It might be better to find out what behavior is troubling the distressed individual, face it directly, and present God's plan for dealing with bondage.

We have the opportunity to confess our sins, and then through the Holy Spirit to eventually conquer them completely. God will work so as to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If there is restitution to be made, the Lord will lead us in this also, not leaving it up to us to just grit our way through whatever embarrassing confessions or restorations must be endured. If we pray, God will help us to make any amends or repayments that should be made. It is wise to wait on the Lord and not just attempt to relieve our guilt by blurting out something that will injure another person, our wife or husband for example.

To be continued.