Active service (4754) strateuomai

Wage war (4754) (strateuomai from strategos = army, stratos = an encamped army) means literally to perform military service, serve as a soldier in the army, go to fight, carry on a military campaign, make a military expedition, lead soldiers to war or to battle. Strateuomai is used figuratively in this verse (and James 4:1) of spiritual battle, thus meaning to carry on a campaign of spiritual warfare, in both the NT uses planned and orchestrated by the indwelling flesh, the evil disposition all mankind inherited from Adam and which is still "latent" even in believers. Note the use of strateuomai in the present tense which indicates that the spiritual campaign spearheaded by fleshly lusts against our souls is a continual struggle we can expect to engage in until the day we see our Commander in Chief, the Lord Jesus Christ. Vincent remarks that.. The thought of wars and fightings is carried into the figurative description of the sensuality which arrays its forces and carries on its campaign in the members. The verb does not imply mere fighting, but all that is included in military service. A remarkable parallel occurs in Plato, “Phaedo,” 66: “For whence come wars and fightings and factions? Whence but from the body and the lusts of the body?” Moulton and Milligan write that this verb is common in the general sense “serve in the army,” “am a soldier” (whether on active service or not). Strateuomai is used 8 times in the NT (See all the uses below) and is translated -- active service, 1; fight, 1; serves as a soldier, 1; soldier in active service, 1; soldiers, 1; wage war, 2; war, 1. Strateuomai is used 3 times in the Septuagint (LXX) (Judges 19:8; 2Sam. 15:28; Isaiah 29:7) Luke uses strateuomai with the literal meaning... And some soldiers (strateuomai) were questioning him, saying, "And what about us, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages." (Luke 3:14) (Vincent comments: Strictly, soldiers on service: hence the participle, serving as soldiers, instead of the more comprehensive term stratiotai, soldiers by profession. Some explain it of soldiers engaged in police inspection in connection with the customs, and hence naturally associated with the publicans.) Paul uses strateuomai literally writing.... No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier (strateuomai) (See note 2 Timothy 2:4) Who at any time serves as a soldier (strateuomai) at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard, and does not eat the fruit of it? Or who tends a flock and does not use the milk of the flock? (1Cor 9:7) Strateuomai means to engage in a conflict as referring to spiritual battle in the following verses... For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war (strateuomai) according to the flesh (2Cor 10:3) This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may fight (strateuomai) the good fight (1Ti 1:18) James uses strateuomai in a similar manner as Peter asking... What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war (strateuomai) in your members? (James 4:1) What a picture Peter paints in regard our old enemy, the indwelling flesh nature which is totally opposed to God and godliness. And so we see that believers are in a war until the day we go to glory. The picture of strateuomai is not that of hand-to-hand fighting so much as it is of a planned expedition against a military objective. For example, recall Delilah’s persistent exploitation of Samson’s fleshly lusts which waged war against his soul and led to his capture by the Philistines. We would also do well to consider the English words derived from strauteo, words such as strategy and stratagem (trick). In Peter fleshly lusts are personified (portrayed as persons in the imagery, cf Genesis 4:7 where sin is pictured as a "wild animal crouching ready to pounce") as if they were an army of rebels or guerrillas who intend to capture and enslave and destroy the human soul. And the term implies not just antagonism, but a continual aggression that is malicious and ongoing and does not stop. Fleshly lusts wage an incessant "search and destroy mission" against believers. The world allures us and the flesh is the beachhead by which its allurement takes place. And Peter simply says stay away from it. Don't pander your fleshly desires. They want to destroy you. In the classic allegory "The Holy War" (read it) John Bunyan pictures a city and he calls the city Man's Soul because it represents the soul of man. And he pictures the city as surrounded by high walls. And the enemy wants to assault the soul of man but he has no way over the walls or through the walls. The only way the enemy can get to the soul is through the gate. The only way that the World or Satan can get to the otherwise impregnable soul of a believer is through the gate of fleshly lusts, the gate of fallen desire. Beloved, if you keep the gate closed, you cannot lose the war. You say, "How do you do that?" (Gal 5:16-note) It's all about living in the spiritual dimension. It's all about walking in the Spirit's power (Ro 8:13-note). The battle begins on the "inside" (Ro 13:12, 13, 14 - see notes 12, 13, 14). We wage war on the inside. And the weapons of our warfare are spiritual not fleshly (2Cor 10:3, 4, 5). AGAINST THE SOUL: kata tes psuches: Against (2596) (kata) generally describes a downward movement and when used as a hostile sense as in this verse conveys the idea of "against".

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Active service (4754) strateuomai

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