Tag: Spiritual warfare

Looking at the story of David and Bathsheba, what is it that makes someone as close to God as David was jump as he did into adultery? We’ll leave that as a question and come back to it.

Coming back to Ephesians, Paul has been insisting on a couple important things. One, our enemies are not people, but spiritual forces – even when people, like the guild of craftsmen in Acts, sure look a lot like enemies. Second, in order to wage our battles against these enemies, we must be unified as a church.

And so Paul tells us to “put on the armor of God.” The tense here is immediate, not ongoing – implying this is something we should put on once, and then never remove (like Denethor!) Keep in mind that the Devil does not attack us when we are most prepared, but when we are least.

The first example is the “belt of truth.” Belts of the time were not there to hold up pants, but rather to gather in your tunic, giving you freedom of movement and giving you a place to attach your weapons.

What does that truth look like to us? In John 14:6, Jesus holds himself out as the truth that matters. By knowing this truth, we are prepared for the battle.

Next, the breastplate of righteousness – a breastplate was the last line of defense for a soldier’s vital organs, for anything that gets past shields and swords, often overlapping sheets of metal

We know, from Paul’s writing in Romans, that this righteousness comes from faith, and that Christ imputes His own righteousness to its.

Next, the “feet fitted with the gospel of peace.” Unlike today, shoes and feet were closely linked to messages in the ancient world, especially in the military world where couriers or runners often moved about on foot, like in the story of Pheidippides and the Battle of Marathon.

Likewise, we are fitted out to bring the good news of Christ, the promise of peace that He brings to mankind, the story of victory over sin and death.

Next, the shield of faith versus fishing arrows. Roman shields were large, built to defend against swords, spears, arrows and more. The “flaming arrows” referenced were built to kill even when they missed their target.

In Hebrews 11:1, we’re told that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” When we undergo attacks of all kinds, whether spiritual or just circumstantial (health, poverty, etc.), a head knowledge of the truth (even the belt of truth) is not sufficient. We need faith to truly protect both us and even, like a shield, those around us.

Next, the helm of salvation, protecting our most vital organs of all, not only the top of the head but also the face and the neck – while still managing to give freedom of movement to the soldier. It protects the brain, vision, hearing and speech.

Likewise, with assurance of salvation, we can go into battle with confidence whether the outcome of victory or death.

Next, the sword of the spirit. The Roman gladius was a very specific short sword built specifically for thrusting from a well defended shield wall. It was not a claymore used to bash obey people’s heads, but carefully and precisely. It was the core of a soldier’s offensive equipment.

Likewise, we must use the word of God offensively, like Jesus himself does against the tempter in the desert. We must be trained to use it properly and methodically. We do not use it as a blunt weapon or claymore to bash over people’s heads. But this means we must spend time getting comfortable and familiar with our weapon.

Paul’s last point in this passage doesn’t seem like it is continuing the military metaphor, but in fact communication is a vital aspect of any battle – we must keep lines of communication open so we can receive our orders.

This passage is largely about being in readiness, fitted with and prepared to use the gifts God has given us. It is also about heading into the fight – a key contrast with David, who stayed behind while his men went out to war and this fell into temptation.

This is a stark contrast with the story of Stephen, who stepped forward to serve the church as one of the first deacons. This ultimately led to his martyrdom in front of Paul, who wrote these words. Stephen was wearing the armor of God before Paul ever wrote the words, and your wonder how large the example of Stephen loomed in Paul’s mind here.

So why do we struggle? It may be less about the difficulty of putting that on, and more about the difficulty of taking off the bitterness, mistrust and despair that we often wear.

We do have both gatherings and people on hand to help you equip your armor and hone your capabilities.

– Sermon Notes, Aaron James, Seed Church, Lynnwood WA, March 7, 2021

Paul has been alluding to spiritual warfare and an unseen reality since early in the epistle, all leading up to this final section when he calls on the Ephesians (and us) to gird themselves for the struggle that they have ahead of them.

First, he instructs them to be “strong in the Lord.” This is much what he says he prays for the Ephesians:

…that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:16-19

This is what strength in the Lord looks like.

Paul is speaking into a community that had seen up close the way spiritual darkness could impact their community. In Acts 19, we see the story of the Sons of Sceva, ineffectually trying to cast out demons but in the process demonstrating the power held by those who are truly “strong in the Lord” and inspiring a mass turn away from occultism in Ephesus.

After being strong, we are called to stand firm, like an army resisting a charge. This term “stand” is used multiple times in this passage, and is in many ways the main theme.

Specifically, we are to stand against the “schemes of the devil,” which raises the question of “who exactly is the devil, who is our enemy?” The Hebrew terms for Satan intermingle seemingly incongruous concepts like serpents and seraphim and light and deception. The concept is not entirely clear, but what’s clear is that he is alluring despite being fundamentally opposed to God and His people.

We do see his strategies, though – deception, disunity, pushing us away from Christ and from each other. Psalm 1 shows the movement he seeks, from standing to sitting: walking in the counsel of the wicked, standing in the way of sinners, sitting in the seat of scoffers.

This means our response must be the reverse of that – coming closer to Christ, coming closer to each other. Our response is not mystical or esoteric, but the everyday Christian living that we know we must do, the prayer and fellowship and seeking of Christ’s will.

Spurgeon said, “The howling of the devil may tend to drive us nearer to Christ, may
teach us our own weakness, may keep us upon our own watchtower, and be made the means of preservation from other ills.”

Paul uses a wide variety of terms to describe the various forces of darkness: thrones, dominions, world-powers and so forth. There does seem to be some kind of relationship to geographic area, which comports with some of Daniel’s visions as well. What this means to us is not entirely clear – please don’t go on the internet to try to figure out which demonic kingdom you live in – but it does mean we should be zealous about making the places we control to be places of peace, live and prayer.

We can do this by doing as Paul instructs, to put on the armor of God and keeping in mind what Paul tells us in Romans 8:

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39

We can also look to the promises made to those who overcome in the letters to the churches in Revelation – each one promised something to those who overcome. From the tree of life to hidden manna, to authority over the nations to sitting with the father. The specifics of what all this means is unclear, but it’s certainly exciting.

When feeling oppressed or attacked spiritually, we should be vocal – these “authorities” are not omniscient. We should sing, as called to in the Psalms and elsewhere. We should pray, and immerse ourselves in scripture.

– Sermon Notes, Bart Hodgson, Seed Church, Lynnwood WA, February 28, 2021