God's Armor
Kaiser Söze from The Usual Suspects (yup, I’m quoting
Kevin Spacey’s character from this awesome movie) once said, “The greatest
trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.”[1]
The Apostle Paul and his contemporaries knew better though, and so, taught and
fought against this otherworldly entity from the power of God, through Christ,
and by the Holy Spirit. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians as a whole speaks of
salvation as the grace of God (2:4-5) and expounds greatly on the unifying work
of Jesus Christ (2:13, 16; 4:3-6). God is sovereign and loving, bringing new
life to those who know and accept His Son. What of the last chapter of the
letter to the Ephesians then? Although believers are saved by faith and not
through works (2:8) faith is an active obedience to God’s Word, so that one
cannot simply sit idly by, but must strive to become
more Christ-like. The spiritual battle then, Paul asserts, occurs because if
true believers walk in a way worthy of our calling, in humility and gentleness,
patiently and with love in one Spirit (4:2-3) then the evil spiritual forces
will contend and vie for their attention and allegiance. In short, “The true
believer who lives the Spirit-controlled life can be sure to be in a spiritual
war.”[2]
In striving to be faithful and obedient then, one must shore up their entire
being by utilizing the tools God has given.
A Little Background
Culturally, Ephesus was a strong
city that had many marks of being a bustling metropolis of the ancient world.
Its harbor provided shipping and trading opportunities and its former claim to
fame, the Temple of Artemis, which was destroyed in 262 A.D. by the Goths,
still provided opportunity for local artisans to profit by making idols. Paul’s
teaching about Jesus in Acts 19:23-41 turned people from idol worship though, and
therefore deprived “Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of
Artemis,” (24) and other artisans from keeping their source of income. In this
section Demetrius states,
Men, you know
that from this business we have our wealth. And you see and hear that not only
in Ephesus but in all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great
many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods.
The Ephesians also enjoyed and
“practiced magic arts” (Acts 19:19), though Paul’s teaching greatly reduced
this.
The Meat of the Text
This passage at the end of
Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is both powerful and popular. Military challenge
coins often pictorially depict the armor described in this passage on one side
with the description on the reverse. There is a dual nature of Christian
living, that is, the reliance on divine provision and the necessity of personal
responsibility.
Ephesians
6:10
Here we have a general call to
faith in Him and obedience to Him. “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength
of his might” is an imperative to accept what God offers, not to look inward to
oneself, but to the sovereign God. Now, “in the strength of his might,” again
shows the greatness and power of God and is a parallel to what Paul states
earlier in that those who know Him have profound provision for he is, “…far
above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that
is named…” (1:21). Paul then in this verse, pinpoints the foundation of the
Christina’s strength, God the Father.
Ephesians
6:11-12
These two verses pack a
cornucopia of meaning that in effect command each of us to ready ourselves
against the onslaught of the demonic powers that permeate the world. It has
immediacy and indicates that it is our responsibility as Christians to be
cognizant of the gifts or tools that God so graciously gives. Just as in 4:24
Paul instructs us to, “put on the new self, created after the likeness of God,”
we are to figuratively take up the “whole armor,” of God, which he provides.
The reason for the need of God’s armor is simple, evil.
All of us, as well as the Ephesians
that Paul addresses, “once walked, following the course of this world, following
the prince of the power of the air” (2:2), but we are now made for good works,
created in Christ (2:10), so that we are no longer to obey or be under the
subjection of Satan, but under the auspices of God. Satan of course wants to
rule unimpeded as Jesus’ testing in the wilderness displayed. This is why Paul
urges us to fortify ourselves, that we “may be able to stand against the
schemes of the devil” (6:11). Division plays an immense role in Ephesians as
well, since Paul is not addressing an individual as he does in some of his
letters, but the church in Ephesus. Paul reminds the Ephesians and us that we
are “fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God”
(2:19). With that, the unity of all Christians is paramount. We must recognize
that disunity in the Church and attacks on individuals in the Church will
depreciate the entire community of believers. This is why we must put on the
armor of God and why we must stand firm.
The
enemies we face are not of this physical world or “flesh and blood,” but are of
an otherworldly order. Throughout scripture the world is considered Satan’s
realm of influence. That is why in other letters Paul tells believers to not
conform to the world (Romans 12:2) because it is full of sin and deception.
Paul’s fellow apostle John agrees as he writes that the world is simply full
of, “the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in
possessions” (1 John 2:16). Let me be clear, it is not humanity that we
ultimately fight and struggle against, but the truly real and dangerous evil
spiritual forces that are headed by Satan. Yes, humans are depraved and evil,
but behind most of it are Satan and his minions. As theologian Charles Hodge
writes, “If our adversary was a man, and possessed nothing beyond human
strength, ingenuity, and cunning, we might defend ourselves by human means. But
as we have to contend with Satan, we need the armor of God.”[3]
Ephesians
6:14-17
Now for the fun stuff, our
weapons and devices of spiritual war, Hooah (that’s Army for Awesome!). Paul
starts off the list of gear with the “belt of truth.” A belt holds everything
in place, just as reality is based and held together by objective truth.
Earlier Paul reminds the Ephesians that they are saved because they “heard the
word of truth” (1:13), which is from God, and are also to speak truth in love
as to not be deceived by human cunning (4:14-15). Going outside Paul’s
correspondence, John reports Jesus as saying, “If you abide in my word, you are
truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you
free” (John 8:30-31). What Paul is getting at then, is that to fasten on truth
is to know where one stands in Christ. Satan is the “Father of lies” (John
8:44), so knowing Truth, the incarnated Word (John 14:6), one can stand firm
against him, against his deceit and evil schemes.
The second piece of armor is the
“breastplate of righteousness.” The question then is, “What is righteousness?”
Culling through Paul’s other works, righteousness is something that comes from
God, it is a gift received by faith (Romans 4:5, 6:18), it is something
Christians become when they are justified (2 Corinthians 5:21). “Righteousness
is a divine attribute, given as a gift, with the implied call to living out the
implications of this gift.”[4] Paul urges us to put on
the breastplate, just as one puts on the “new self, created after the likeness
of God on true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24).
Next, we have some sweet kicks,
or the shoes of “the gospel of peace.” What this verse suggests is that the gospel,
the good news, gives us, internally mind you, a firm foundation upon which to
stand, it readies us for battle. It is peace from God and we should be prepared
to speak its truth against the lies of the powers and authorities and be
readied and fortified by its saving message.
The fourth piece of armor is the
“shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the
evil one” (6:16). Faith, according to Paul, comes from God as a gift (2:8-9). It
is something we accept from God and hold to. Faith is putting one’s complete
trust, confidence, and life in the care of God’s sovereign hands and knowing
that He will ultimately do what is best. Faith is more than a humanly
determined acquiescence to God; it is God himself who is ultimately faithful.
Paul in Romans 5:8 beautifully says that, “God shows his love for us in that
while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” The evil one’s darts are
Satan’s wiles, wicked ways, hushed lies, and the like that Paul knows all too
well. He says that these evil ways of the flesh and world are what kills people
(Ephesians 2:1), but again, like what he said in Romans, God’s faithfulness
prevails (2:4-5).
Paul then prompts us to, “take
the helmet of salvation” (6:17), which is our assurance of life eternal, so
that no matter what happens, we will be with Him. Notice that Paul tells us to
“take” this defensive divine gift. It is something given and received that we
must hold to for protection. The helmet protects the head that encases
the mind, which Paul says must be renewed in the spirit (Ephesians 4:23).
The last piece of armament is like
Aragorn’s sword Andúril (I’m reading The Lord of the Rings again, so I had to
give Tolkien a shout out) it is “the sword of the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:17).
Paul leaves no question as to what this is, it is “the word of God.” The Word
of God is indeed powerful as was demonstrated by Jesus during his temptation in
the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13). Jesus used God’s word no less
than three times to combat Satan’s ploys to prevent him from fulfilling his
mission. Paul therefore shows us that we too can combat darkness through the
Word of God. It is only the Word that
can be used to combat evil.
Prayer
is Powerful…
That is why, in these last few
verses of this passage, Paul prompts us to pray without ceasing, in the Spirit,
humbly and reverently, for all who know Christ and also specifically for
himself. It should be noted that verse 18 is a continuation of verses 16 and
17, so that the believer is to use the sword of the Spirit through prayer in
the Spirit. One cannot simply use and cite Scripture and expect results; even
Satan cited Scripture (Matthew 4:6). Paul implores his readers then to pray
constantly “in the Spirit.” Not only that, we are to “keep alert” when
doing so and persevere. What happens when Christians do not keep watch? “Peter went to sleep when
he should have been praying, and the result was victory for Satan”[5]
(Mark 14:29-31). Keeping alert and praying prepares people for Satan’s
onslaught, not just on the individual, but also on the church. This is why Paul
says to pray “for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18).
“Only when we begin to identify
the evils of our society in terms of Ephesians 6:10-13 will we be prepared to
accept the guidance of Ephesians 6:14-17 as our appropriate strategy for
defense.”[6] Evil is real. One only
needs to turn on the television or open a newspaper to see the effects of sin
and evil spiritual forces at work in the world. Not only that, peoples’ minds
are under attack as well. As Christian counselor Neil Andersen states, “There
is no inner conflict which is not psychological, because there is never a time
when your mind, emotions, and will are not involved. Similarly, there is no
problem which is not spiritual. There is no time when God is not present.”[7] People come up against
spiritual attacks through temptation daily, this can be obvious such as
deciding whether or not to surf the internet for pornography or it can be
subtler. Perhaps only doing something, even if it is good, because of the
reward or praise one will receive. The Christian then, when looking at what Paul
writes in Ephesians, is to be mindful of evil spiritual forces in the world and
to be steeped in the Word and prayer to combat their influences.
[2] John
MacArthur, Ephesians: Our Immeasurable Blessings in Christ (Macarthur
Bible Studies) (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2000), 77.
[4] Donna R. Reinhard, “Ephesians 6:10-18: A Call to
Personal Piety or Another Way of Describing Union with Christ?”, 524.
[5] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996),
Ephesians 6:18–20.
[6] Paul T. Eckel, "Ephesians 6:10-20," Interpretation
45, no. 3, 290.
[7] Neil Anderson, The Bondage Breaker: Overcoming
Negative Thoughts, Irrational Feelings, and Habitual Sins (Eugene, OR: Harvest House
Publishers, 2000), 21.
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