The War on Terror—That’s Already Been Won

Biblical Anti-Terrorism: Deliverance from Meaninglessness and Bondage

“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13)

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death” (Romans 8:1-2).

As God would have it, President Bush’s knee-jerk reaction to 9/11 occurred at the exact right time: Making a promise that cannot be kept while committing a vast array and endless amount of resources to “the war on terror”—EXACTLY at a time when our culture has never been worse off from the worst sort of terror imaginable: PREOCCUPIED BY THE MEANINGLESSNESS OF LIFE.

Many have unwittingly allowed themselves to supplant the real source of EXISTENTIAL TERROR with a form of “ANTI-TERRORISM” that will never, ever result in an abiding peace within their heart.

In God’s perfect timing—that coincided perfectly with the fruits of rampant secularization (no God, all man) of our culture—we have insisted God be expunged from every nook and cranny… while crying out to Him in terror.

We’re putting an unending amount of things in place to mitigate the terror that only a faith in God can accomplish. This paradox might be called the ultimate form of “painting ourselves into a corner”—and we should not try and whitewash the impact to the human heart!

There is a SIMPLE, yet COMPLICATED TO FULFILL, antidote to bad faith: It’s called True Truth.

The irony, and near-bottomless pit of a dangerous promise (ending the war on terror), has resulted in many people having the exact wrong remembrance and expectations of what TERROR really consists of, and how to practically and eternally ABATE it.

We insist we have it both ways: “If bad faith’s only ground is that the alternative to faith is the terror of meaninglessness, then faith is only a useful fiction, a helpful lie, a handy shield to ward off reality” (Os Guinness, The Journey: Our Quest for Faith and Meaning).

This is the worst sort of faith ever: It’s faith in a lie. Like cuddling up with a deadly form of cancer that entices us to love what we despise the very most, the tenuousness of our faith leaves us doomed to ten thousand “Swords of Emotional Damocles” dangling over our lives each day.

The one true God has made a better way.

The God of the Bible Loves the World Enough to Understand and Have a Plan to Deal with Any, All Terror—Created by the Sin the Son of Man Died to Purge!
The Bible (God’s infallible, inerrant, and inspired word) is the only source in all of history to make it very clear that no human being can thrive in a state of never-ending terror.

Existential terror—living a life devoid of meaning and purpose—is a death sentence that is only prolonged by God’s mercy and long-suffering (in hopes we will turn to Him) and our near-endless creativity to distract ourselves… and thereby “live” (as dead men walking) another day. Eternal life is promised for those who are saved by heartfelt repentance and faith: The war on terror has been won!

Everyday terror—whether it’s a lack of purposefulness, a tenuous financial situation, key relationships falling apart, job security, health-related challenges, natural disasters, political upheaval and shifting reigns of terror, addictions and complex enabling behaviors, the degradation of most cultural institutions, an unrecognizable form of a constitutional government, warring worldviews, rampant political hypocrisy and betrayal, untold emotional ambivalences, paralyzing indecision and fear… and lots more…

The peace of God within the heart (by means of the Holy Spirit’s work and our faith) PROMISES to mitigate the terror by means of transforming truth!

So, let’s go back to the Bible verses (two of many in the Bible) offered above: The War on Terror That’s Already Been Won

Jesus’ Work and Offer of Eternal Assurance: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13)

Jesus’ Work and Offer of True Freedom: “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death” (Romans 8:1-2).

Please… take the most careful sort of care to do one or both of two things:

First, if you have been saved and experienced an adult conversion of faith, recount the blessed assurance of God’s unbreakable promises in your faith and offer God your full adoration, praise, and thanksgiving for the manifold mercies of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Second, if you do not believe you have been born-again or have experienced an adult conversion of faith, please check out the link above (“God loves you and created you to know Him personally.”) and follow up the careful and heart-felt reading of the content with a meeting with a Christian friend whom God has likely already placed in your midst—but perhaps you’ve been reluctant to talk to in any depth.

DO NOT LET THE TERROR OF THE WORLD, THE FLESH, OR THE DEVIL REIGN OVER THE TEMPORAL AND ETERNAL ASSURANCES AND TRUE FREEDOM GOD HAS MADE BY MEANS OF THE BIRTH, DEATH, AND RESURRECTION OF HIS SON!

Until we chow down again, run the good race (Hebrews 12:1; 1 Corinthians 9:24) with purity, perseverance, and compassion—for EVERY person God places in your life,
JohnDoz