Ephesians 6:10-13 (NIV)
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Now that Paul has dealt with internal strife and its ultimate solution, respect and mutual submission, he turns to the other source of strife in the Church: spiritual attacks from the enemy.
Many “sophisticated” people, then and now, have denied the reality of the spiritual dimension entirely, and thus denied any attacks and danger that could come from that direction. But that is not sophisticated, just foolish. Paul and Jesus Himself were far from denying the reality of satan and his forces. They fought them actively and urged all Christians to do the same.
Of course, since the enemy forces are not physical in nature, they cannot be fought off with physical defenses, nor defeated with physical weapons. And, make no mistake, Paul is not advocating a purely defensive war. At least two of the weapons he describes in this section are offensive. Paul believes Jesus’ promise in Matthew 16:18 that the gates of Hades would not be able to withstand the onslaught of the forces of the kingdom.
Paul points to the source of power for both offense and defense: the Lord and His mighty power. The senses of humans cannot detect the enemy, and mere human power is completely inadequate to defeat him and his demons. But by standing in God’s power and His strength, each of us has access to the same mighty power to fight satan and to cast out demons that Jesus Himself used.
The other benefit that we have as Christians is the ability to put on God’s armor, specially crafted supernatural tools for both defense and offense that can help us to be utterly victorious in every spiritual conflict. Paul did not invent the elements of this armor as some sort of philosophical exercise or spiritual meditation. Indeed, God had revealed some of them to Isaiah 700 years earlier (Isaiah 59:15b-17). But Paul not only received a fuller revelation of those elements than Isaiah had, with the coming of the Holy Spirit, they had become a reality for all God’s people. Paul himself had successfully used them over several decades of his life, and not only knew their purpose and uses, but had experienced their power and effectiveness.
In two places in this short section, Paul encourages the Ephesians to put on the FULL armor of God, not just parts of it. Any soldier, ancient or modern, knows that any piece of armor that you leave behind is an area of vulnerability where the enemy can attack, disable, or even kill you. And Paul clearly shows that the twofold purpose of donning the armor is to both act (“after you have done everything”), and to be able to stand firm in faith and righteousness after the battle is won.
Father, I know some Christians today who deny the reality of the enemy, or who pooh-pooh him as a defeated foe. But not even Paul, not even Jesus did either of those things. Satan is ultimately a defeated enemy, but he is still working today. He is not to be feared, so that we cower, or hide, or run away. He is to be faced, fought, and defeated one battle at a time until Jesus completely defeats him at the final battle and throws him into the lake of fire forever. (Revelation 20:7-10) Thank you for providing every tool that we need, and all the power that we need to utterly defeat him and his forces whenever and wherever he challenges us. Amen.