We live in an age where there is great interest in the unseen spiritual world. There are many TV shows and movies that have to do with battles between humans, and evil spirits. And my guess is that the reason we have so many, and they are so popular, is that we as a society recognize that there is actually something to all of that. There is an ongoing battle between humans and evil spirits. In first century Ephesus, they too recognized that all of human existence is lived in co-existence with spirits, some of them good, some of them evil. And the question is, how do you navigate this kind of world successfully? How do you partner with good spirits, and good gods, to ward off the attacks of evil spirits, evil gods? In Ephesus, you might wear something that looked like a charm bracelet to ward off attacks. You might have memorized a number of incantations, whose magic words would protect you from certain spirits. And you might employ the services of a magician who could help you, when the attacks were too strong.
Where the Ephesians and Netflix shows would be in total agreement, is on this point: You're going to be attacked from spiritual beings. Where they differ, is in how they answer two questions:
(1) How do you defend yourself? (2) How do you fight, in the spiritual realm?
Paul finishes his letter to the Ephesians off by answering these questions.
Now, the thing that's often lost about all of these verses, is that much of what Paul talks about in these verses, is the same stuff Paul's been talking about in his letter. The themes Paul talks about here-- salvation, and righteousness, and peace, and the word of God-- these are not new ideas. What Paul does, is grab all of these themes, put them together in a single passage, and frame it against the background of God's big cosmic plan.
So we've seen in Ephesians, that God has this big cosmic plan to bring together all of creation into one family. God is making one family, one temple, one body, who will live in peace with Him and with each other. What makes this plan possible, is Jesus. It's through Jesus, that we are forgiven, and cleansed, and reconciled to God. It's through Jesus that we are seated with Christ, in the heavenlies. Through Jesus, we have access to God, and we are empowered by God's Holy Spirit.
For those of us have accepted this invitation, and turned from our sins to God, and put our faith in Jesus, giving Jesus our loyalty, our job now has become very simple: walk worthily of our calling. Paul has described this calling using different metaphors. There are two paths before us, and our calling is to walk on the path that God walks-- the path of righteousness, and holiness. This world is filled with darkness, but we are called to rise out of that darkness, and live as children of light. There are two outfits in our closet-- the old, stained, dirty clothing that marks our old way of life, and the new clothing of righteousness. Every day, we look in that closet, and we are called to choose the new outfit God has given us.
What we're reading today, is an extension of that imagery. That new outfit waiting for us, is re-imagined as first century Roman armor. That's what's waiting for you in the closet when you wake up in the morning, and prepare to do battle. That's the outfit that keeps you safe from Satan, and empowers you go on attack.
Now, it's sometimes seemingly thought that the secret to understanding this passage, and spiritual warfare in general, is to learn about military equipment for first century Roman soldiers. Is there value in learning about helmets and belts, and different types of Roman swords? I think there's not. It's a metaphor. I think we are better off not getting too caught up in questions about what the purpose of a belt is, or how a helmet protects your head and mind, but a breastplate protects your heart. It doesn't matter if the sword is sharp on both sides or one, or if it's shorter or longer than 2 feet. We're much better off reminding ourselves of how Paul has used these themes, as he repackages them using spiritual warfare imagery.
Let's start, officially, by reading Ephesians 6:10:
Verse 10:
(10) Finally, become strong in the Lord
and in the might of his power. ("power": Ephesians 1:18-21; 3:7, 16, 20)
Every soldier needs strength. Equipment alone doesn't make a soldier.
The muscle you need to fight this war, is muscle God has made available through Jesus. You can become strong "in the Lord"-- in Jesus, and in the might of Jesus' power. This isn't automatic. Power is available, but you don't necessarily have it. You see that?
We've all times where spiritually, we've felt really weak. The idea that we can faithfully serve Jesus seems like a joke. It's hopeless. There have been times where we've come to church, week after week, and declared, "We confess that we are in bondage to sin," and that's been our reality, again, for another week.
There is a way out. There's a way to live a very different type of life. Jesus will give us strength. He will give us his power.
How do you get it?
There are two passages in Ephesians where Paul has used this power language. Ephesians 1:15-23 (NRSV updated):
15 I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love[h] toward all the saints, and for this reason 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, 18 so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may perceive what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. 20 God[i] put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,[j] 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. 22 And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
It's in the second passage that we learn how to receive it:
(3:14) For this reason I bend my knees toward the Father-- [The One] by whom every family in the heavens and on earth is named--
(16) (A) that He may give to you in accordance with the riches of his glory,
with power to be strengthened through his Spirit in the inner person,
(17) so that Christ may live in your hearts through faith(fulness),
in love having been firmly rooted and established;
We receive God's power, by asking God to give us that power. This is something Paul prays that God would give the Ephesians. The idea in verse 16 is that we can be more or less filled with the Holy Spirit, more or less empowered by the Holy Spirit, to live faithfully toward God. There is more out there. We haven't necessarily maxed out what God is willing to give. So if you want to become strong, ask God for more. Ask him to fill you more fully with his Holy Spirit, to fill you with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:21). Ask him to strengthen you. Tell him you're tired of being weak, and caught in sin, and that you want more. This is something we can pray for ourselves, and for the church. Father, please give us more strength, more of your Spirit.
What we see in Ephesians 3:17, is that this strengthens us in our inner person, so that we are empowered to live faithfully, and empowered to live in love.
We might be tempted at this point to make power more complicated, and add in spiritual disciplines, or who knows what. But Paul seems to say, that if you want to become strong in the Lord, and receive the power he's happy to share with you, you simply ask. We can ask this for ourselves, and for each other. When your brother or sister in Christ is struggling, seemingly caught in sin, we can pray for them: God, please empower them to be strengthened in the inner person. Give them strength, to get out of this. This is something we should add to our list, of things we pray for, for each other.
Verse 11-12:
(11) Put on the full armor of God
so that you are able to stand against the scheming of the devil,
(12) because the struggle for us isn't
against blood and flesh
but against the rulers,
against the authorities,
against the cosmic rulers of this darkness,
against the wicked spiritual ones in the heavenlies.
When we look at the world, it'd be easy to misunderstand who our enemies are. Who has it in for us? Who are we fighting? Christians are being killed around the world right now by human beings, but our struggle is not with blood and flesh. And the armor God gives, doesn't protect us from persecution, obviously.
We know that God's kingdom is growing on earth. Every time someone new becomes a Christian, choosing to follow Jesus, God's kingdom gets bigger. And every time that happens, Satan's kingdom shrinks.
Satan fights this by using the people who are caught inside his kingdom. In Ephesians 2:2, Satan is described as the ruler who is now at work in those who are disobedient (NIV). Satan uses people to shoot Christians in places like Syria, Nigeria, and the Gaza Strip. Satan raises up politicians to push anti-Christian laws. He raises up celebrities to promote satanic ways of life.
It looks like our struggle is against flesh and blood. But it's actually satan, and all of the evil spirits who partner with him.
So we see in verse 11, that God has made available for us, a set of armor. We can choose to keep that armor in our closet. Or we can choose to put it on. Kind of like how everyone riding a motorcycle chooses, are they going to wear the helmet, or just keep it on the back of their bike? And if we put it on God's armor, the end result will be that we are able to "stand."
So we have a choice. Wear the armor. Don't wear it.
In verse 13, Paul tells us why you should put it on:
(13) For this reason take up the full armor of God:
in order that you may be able to resist in the day of evil,
and, everything having accomplished, to stand.
We live in an evil age. We live, in an evil day. And we are vulnerable, by ourselves, to this evil. We can very easily give in, and live like the world. We can be spiritual zombies, who walk in the darkness. But if we take up the armor God offers us, the end result will be that we can resist, and that we can stand. So here we find the same verb again-- stand. There's a way to stand strong, and do the job Jesus gave us to do.
Do you want to be able to resist? Do you want to stand strong? Or do you want to make falling, and losing, a lifestyle? Do you want to struggle against satan and win? Or do you want to give in to satan, and re-enter your old way of life?
We want to win. We want something better. So we need God's armor.
Starting in verse 14, Paul lists different aspects of the armor that God has made available, that we can put on. I'm not going to talk about helmets, and belts, and shields, and swords. What I'll do instead, is focus on the words that matter-- truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and the word of God. That's the half that matters.
Now, I said at the beginning, that the thing about each of these pieces of armor, is that Paul has already talked about them. If we read Ephesians as a whole, we know what truth, and righteousness, and faith, are. So the trick to hearing this section right, is to read it in light of everything else Paul has said. I've put footnotes in your translation linking the key words to where Paul talked about these things earlier in the letter. I'm sure I missed some. But I'll just try to summarize the key words using the letter of Ephesians as a whole, without really defending my summary. And you're welcome to go home, and study it in more detail, and see if I did it right, and see if you find yourself wanting to add to my explanation.
Verse 14:
(14) And so then, stand,
girding yourself with the truth, (Eph. 1:13; 4:21, 24, 25; 5:9)
What is the truth?
The truth revolves around how you answer one central question in life: How can you live the best possible life? God answers that question one way. Satan answers it another. And you have to decide who you will believe.
Who is telling the truth?
We live in a world where the truth seems really hard to find. Everyone shades the truth. Everyone bends it. But what God has offered us, is the truth about the best possible life. He points you to the things that will build you up, and be good for you. He points you away from the things that will harm you. God speaks the truth what things aren't okay to compromise on.
So what does it mean, then, to gird yourself with the truth?
To put on the truth, means to trust what God says about what's righteous, and holy, and pleasing to Him. If you've been believing lies about sin being harmless, you take those off. And you put on God's truth instead.
If you want to stand, successfully, the first piece of armor you need to put on, is God's truth about right and wrong, and what's good, and what's harmful.
Next on the list, still in verse 14, is the breastplate of righteousness. The key verse for this, that opens it all up, is Ephesians 6:1. Children, obey your parents in the Lord. For this is right(eous).
There is a family of words in the Greek that have to do with righteousness (the stem of "dik-"). These words are often used, as they are in the OT, to describe relationships (cf. Jacob telling Tamar that she has acted "more righteously" than him, or King Saul telling David that David acted more "righteously"). When God acts rightly toward people, He is showing his righteousness (Romans 1:17). God showed his righteousness by sending Jesus to die for us. In a similar way, when children obey their parents, they are acting "rightly," "righteously."
Most of life is lived in relationship with the people around us. We are usually part of a family-- we have parents, or are parents. We have kids, or are kids. We might have a spouse. We have a boss, or we have employees. When we act rightly toward those people we have relationships with, the end result is righteousness. So when I put myself under my wife by loving her as Christ loved the church, and when I live sacrificially toward her, cherishing her, that's righteousness. When she puts herself under me by treating me with respect, that's righteousness. When I work hard at work, focused on Jesus, working for Jesus, and treating my human boss with respect, that's righteousness.
Part of the armor God offers, is the ability through the Holy Spirit to act rightly toward the people around us. When we put on that armor, and live that way, we are empowered to stand against the devil's schemes. Satan can't get at us at home, or at work, when we wear this breastplate of righteousness. But if I decide I'm going to treat my wife really poorly, and be selfish toward her-- I lose my armor. I'm vulnerable to Satan. Does that make sense?
So God has offered us the breastplate of righteousness. He's offered us a way of life, empowered by the Holy Spirit, where we act rightly toward everyone around us. And we have to decide if we will embrace that type of life, putting on that particular piece of armor.
Next on the list, verse 15, is "the readiness for the gospel of peace" (Eph. 1:2; 2:14, 15, 17; 4:3; 6:23),
What God would like us to put on, is a constant readiness to share the good news. And it's interesting, that Paul labels this good news, "the gospel of peace." It seems like the natural state of things in this world, is for the people in it be violent, ruthless, selfish, sarcastic, and harsh toward each other. And it seems like the natural state of things, is for people to live in rebellion and hostility toward God. When Paul calls the good news about Jesus, the "gospel of peace," it highlights how Jesus fixes that natural state of things (Romans 5:1 also). Inside God's kingdom, people live in peace with God, and with each other. God shows grace to us; we show grace to each other. God forgives us when we sin; we forgive each other when we sin. God's kingdom is meant to be a place where relationships are healthy. So to call this good news about Jesus, the gospel of peace, is a reminder that peace and reconciliation of broken relationships, is very near the heart of the gospel. That brokenness, is what God sent Jesus to fix.
So God has given us a pair of sandals, which are the readiness to share the gospel. For many Christians, this is a piece of armor that they'd rather not pick up. They don't want to share the gospel at all. They certainly aren't ready, when opportunities pop up. What I've found, is God is drawing the people around me to himself (John 6:44). Some people are far. Some people are close, and getting closer. And when they get close, you can sometimes tell. They stop saying "Jesus Christ" when something bad happens, or they apologize when they say that in front of you. They'll talk about God, and Jesus, in a way that seems open-minded and thoughtful. And when you talk about God and Jesus, they listen carefully. When God draws people to himself, sometimes those people seem to find themselves drawn to you. God is bringing those people to you, basically, so that you can share the gospel of peace. You'd maybe prefer that God use someone else in this church to do that. But God wants each of us to put on the readiness to share the good news.
So if you decide you want these shoes, this is what I'd say: Near the start of your day, let God know that you want to be his faithful and loyal servant today. Ask him to draw the people around you to himself (John 6:44). Ask for opportunities. Ask that God would help you recognize opportunities as opportunities. Ask for courage to share the good news. Those are prayers that God will say "yes" to. And all of this is part of the good works that God planned ahead of time for you to do (Ephesians 2:10).
We've all had moments where there's this clear opportunity to tell people about Jesus, and we weren't ready. And those moments, sometimes don't show up a second time. It's a horrible feeling to know that you failed God, and failed that person, by not being ready. To realize that you were a total failure. Take up the readiness to share the gospel, so that God will say of you: "Well done, good and faithful servant."
Next on the list, verse 16:
(16) in everything taking up the shield of faith(fulness)/loyalty (Eph. 1:15; 2:8; 3:12, 17; 4:5, 13; 6:23),
with which you are able all of the flaming arrows of the evil one to quench,
Many weeks ago, I talked about how "faith" has three main parts. "Faith" includes believing "that" certain things are true about Jesus. Believing the content of the gospel. Faith includes "trust," trusting in Jesus. And faith includes the idea of allegiance, and loyalty. I think it's this last part, faith as allegiance, that Paul has in mind here with the shield of faith. When you maintain loyalty toward Jesus, Satan finds it impossible to successfully hurt you spiritually. Like Jesus in the wilderness, acting out of loyalty toward God the Father. Satan offered him an easier path to glory. Satan offered Jesus the world. And Jesus turned it down, because Jesus maintained loyalty toward God.
At every given moment in life, you should find yourself walking on the path God has set before you-- the path of holiness, and righteousness, and truth. And at every given moment, Satan offers an off-ramp toward of life of sin and darkness. Satan's path lets Satan hurt you, and make you a useless servant. To be loyal, means to reject Satan's testings, and stay on God's path.
Verse 17:
(17) and the helmet of salvation receive,
How we understand the helmet of salvation, depends almost entirely on how we define "salvation." Let's try thinking about salvation in terms of milk, and the fat content in milk. Maybe you'll find this helpful; maybe you won't. But as someone who grew up on skim milk, and only much later in life came to appreciate the health benefits and taste of whole milk, this resonates with me.
The skim milk understanding of salvation, is that it has to do with being forgiven of your sins. Jesus forgives your sins. The 2% milk definition, is that it includes being freed from the power of Sin, and transferred out of Satan's kingdom into God's. You don't have to live in bondage to sin. There's a better way. The whole milk definition of salvation, would be something like this: In Christ, you have been transferred into God's kingdom. You are seated with Christ in the heavenlies, far above all rulers and authorities and powers. In Christ, you are royalty-- full sons, full daughters, in God's family. In Christ, you have status, and you have access to your Father. You have your Father's ear. In Christ, through the Holy Spirit, you are empowered to live faithfully and loyally toward God and people. In Christ, the NT never calls you a sinner. It instead calls you a saint-- God's holy one, consecrated to God.
To receive the helmet of salvation, I think, is to receive these blessings. Put them on you. Let them define who you are you. Let them define how you view yourself, and how you view the world around you.
Next on the list, still verse 17:
and the sword of the Spirit,
which is God's word (rhema, not logos), (Romans 10:8-9; Eph. 5:26; so also 1 Peter 1:25)
When you hear that the sword of the Spirit is the word of God, my guess is that you instinctively think that Paul is talking about the Bible. Right? We think about how Jesus resisted Satan in the wilderness by quoting Deuteronomy. This isn't the worst thing in the world to think, but it's not quite right (and I'm pretty sure there's a strong scholarly consensus on this).
The word we translate as "word" here is rhema. It's not the normal word logos. And this is how rhema is used in Romans 10:8-10:
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
The rhema of God-- the word of God-- is the good news about Jesus (so also 1 Peter 1:25). It's the mystery Paul has the privilege of sharing with the nations. It's not the Bible. It's the good news about Jesus.
So what is Paul teaching here in Ephesians 6? In our war against Satan, God has given us a weapon to take the
fight to Satan. That weapon is the gospel. God has a kingdom, and Satan has a kingdom. God's kingdom grows, and wins, through the gospel. That's how we bring the fight to Satan. That's how God continues winning, pushing against Satan's kingdom.
Now, the interesting thing about the gospel, is whose weapon it is. It's our sword, made available to us. It's also the sword of the Spirit. Do you see that?
The idea here is when we tell people about Jesus, the Holy Spirit takes our words, and uses them like a sword to cut through people's hard-heartedness, and rebellion against God, and resistance to God. The gospel goes through their armor, like it's nothing.
So if you feel like your friends, and family, and co-workers, and fellow students are hard-hearted, and far from God, and hopelessly wicked, what's the solution?
Ask God to draw those people to Himself (John 6:44). You put on your feet, the readiness to share the gospel. And when the opportunity pops up, and you're brave, and you tell people about Jesus, you watch in awe how the Holy Spirit partners with you, to do incredible things.
So that's the weapon God has made available, to fight in his army, for his kingdom. The gospel is how we fight, and how the Holy Spirit fights with us.
And you have to decide if you'll draw your sword, when the opportunities arise, or if you'll let those moments slip by.
We often stop reading at verse 17, and think Paul's done talking about armor. But he's not done yet (the sentence runs through verse 20). Let's tack on the rest of this very long sentence, verses 18-20:
(18) with all prayer and petition praying at every time in the Spirit,
and for this being alert,
with all perseverance/dedication and petition
for all of the holy ones (19),
and for me,
in order that to me a word (here, interestingly, "logos") may be given at the opening of my mouth, (compare Luke 21:12-19)
with boldness to make known the mystery of the gospel,
(20) for which I am an ambassador in chains,
in order that with them I may speak boldly as it is necessary for me to speak.
The other thing that's needed, in order to successfully stand in this battle, is constant prayer in the Spirit. And this prayer, we notice, is still mostly focused on evangelism. You think I'm done talking about evangelism, and telling people about Jesus, and Paul just isn't quite ready to drop it. Paul is stuck in prison, and he asks for one thing. Not that God would free him from prison. But that God would give him the words to speak, when the time comes to share the good news about Jesus and God's kingdom.
Paul has reached the place, as of this letter, where the boldness is there. No one has to nudge him to talk about Jesus. Paul's prayer here, is that when that moment comes, and he goes for it, that God would give him the words.
I think that's the part that often scares us. It doesn't matter how long we've been a Christian, or how well we understand the mystery of the gospel, we still wonder what will come out of our mouths when we choose to brave, and draw the sword.
We can pray for ourselves, and for each other, that God would give us words. We can trust that the Spirit will use that sword, and partner with us. And we can pray also.
So that's the armor God has offered to us. This armor lets us live a better type of life, dedicated to righteousness, and faithfulness, and holiness. This armor helps us always keep in mind that we are royalty, full sons and daughters, full citizens in God's kingdom. It's an armor that is always ready, and always looking, for opportunities to extend this better life to people who are still are far from God, still stuck in Satan's kingdom.
That's the armor hanging in your closet every morning. Take up this armor, and you will stand firm against Satan, and successfully resist him. Take up this armor and weapon, and the Holy Spirit will partner with you to advance God's kingdom.
Translation:
(10) Finally, become strong in the Lord
and in the might of his power. ("power": Ephesians 1:18-21; 3:7, 16, 20)
(11) Put on the full armor of God
so that you are able to stand against the scheming of the devil,
(12) because the struggle for us isn't
against blood and flesh
but against the rulers,
against the authorities,
against the cosmic rulers of this darkness,
against the wicked spiritual ones in the heavenlies.
(13) For this reason take up the full armor of God:
in order that you may be able to resist in the day of evil,
and, everything having accomplished, to stand.
(14) And so then, stand,
girding yourself with the truth, (Eph. 1:13; 4:21, 24, 25; 5:9)
and putting on yourself the breastplate of righteousness, (Eph. 4:24; 5:9; 6:1)
(15) and tying your feet with the readiness for the gospel of peace (Eph. 1:2; 2:14, 15, 17; 4:3; 6:23),
(16) in everything taking up the shield of faithfulness/loyalty (Eph. 1:15; 2:8; 3:12, 17; 4:5, 13; 6:23),
with which you are able all of the flaming arrows of the evil one to quench,
(17) and the helmet of salvation receive,
and the sword of the Spirit,
which is God's word, (Romans 10:8-13; Eph. 5:26)
(18) with all prayer and petition praying at every time in the Spirit,
and for this being alert,
with all perseverance and petition for all of the holy ones and for me,
in order that to me a word may be given at the opening of my mouth, (Luke 21:12-19)
with boldness to make known the mystery of the gospel,
(20) for which I am an ambassador in chains,
in order that in them I may speak boldly as it is necessary for me to speak.
Romans 10:8-10 (NRSV updated):
8 But what does it say?
“The word (rhema) is near you,
in your mouth and in your heart”
(that is, the word (rhema) of faith that we proclaim), 9 because[a] if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe[b] in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For one believes[c] with the heart, leading to righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, leading to salvation. 11 The scripture says, “No one who believes[d] in him will be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
