How is fighting as a Christian different from the Old Testament fightings that the Israelites were engaged in? The Israelites often fought physical battles against other nations, as directed by God. However, when Christ came, He changed the rules of engagement in the Kingdom of God. Now, Christians are called to engage in spiritual warfare, not physical combat.
And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. Mark 5:37-38
When Jesus came on the scene, He changed the rules of engagement, including how we fight. Jesus began teaching about the Kingdom of God, a Kingdom that operates entirely differently from the kingdom of this world, with rules that are often the opposite of those in the worldly kingdom.
Christians do not fight against people, nor are they called to gain spiritual victory by conquering geographical territories.
Just as many requirements in the Old Testament were types and shadows of the spiritual realities God intended to reveal, physical fighting was replaced by spiritual warfare in the New Testament. We no longer focus on sacrificing lambs for the atonement of our sins because Jesus paid the price as the final and perfect Lamb of God. Furthermore, God no longer requires physical circumcision as a sign of His covenant but instead seeks circumcised hearts. The Lord calls us to fight spiritual battles using spiritual weapons. Therein lies the paradigm shift!
Are you naturally a fighter? If so, how does the passage above relate to conflicts in your life? Do you handle them differently now, in your new nature, compared to how you did in the past? In my opinion, if we handle conflicts the way we used to in the past, it will be like new wine bursting old wineskins—our behavior will cause more harm in our relationships because we are expected as Christians to handle things in a Christlike manner.
I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.