Time To Stand Strong, And Draw Your Sword (Ephesians 6:10-20) Series

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?