Under Christ, as our captain: “For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the captain and founder of their salvation perfect through suffering” (Hebrews 2:10).
Under the Lord’s banner: “You have set up a banner for those who fear you, that they may flee to it from the bow” (Psalm 60:4).
With faith and good conscience: “This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 19 holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith” (1 Timothy 1:18-19).
With steadfastness in the faith: “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” (1 Corinthians 16:13; 1 Peter 5:9; Hebrews 10:23).
With earnestness: “Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).
With watchfulness: “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8; 1 Corinthians 16:1).
With sobriety: “So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:6; 1 Peter 5:8).
With endurance of hardness: “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:3; 2 Timothy 2:10).
With self-denial: “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified (1 Corinthians 9:27).
With confidence in God: “Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me, yet I will be confident” (Psalm 27:3)
With prayer: “…praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18; Psalm 35:1-3).
Without earthly entanglements: “No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him” (2 Timothy 2:4).
Spiritual Warfare Warning:
Mere professors do not maintain: “They bend their tongue like a bow; falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know me, declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 9:3).