Sermon, 21st Sunday after Trinity, 2025
We can mean many things when we use the word, “believe”. It can mean an intellectual assent, which is merely an acknowledgment or agreement that has no real impact upon us. It can mean that we take action regarding a conviction, that we actually do something. It can also mean that we have experienced a particular thing or event and thus have no doubts about its truth. In this last case, there is a confidence, a peace, which accompanies belief.
In our lives, we will certainly face many personal battles on all kinds of levels. The epistle lesson provides for us disciplines and “spiritual armor” for us to use in facing these trials of life. But spiritual warfare isn’t about just conquering the trial at hand. It is about gaining confidence in Christ throughout our lives. It is about moving from intellectual assent about Jesus to actually believing in Him so that we would have peace in all circumstances of life, gaining so much confidence in Christ that we will never again be afraid to face anything that life may bring our way.