"Jesus Changes Our Spiritual Warfare (Ephesians 6:10-18a)", Thad Yessa | 12/1/24

Ephesians 6:10-18a | 12/1/24 | Thad Yessa

Ephesians 6:10-18a

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.”

1. Our Enabling (vv.10-11,13)

Paul begins this section by saying, “Finally.” You might be tempted to think this means that Paul is drawing his letter to a conclusion. While it’s true that we’re getting close to the end of Ephesians, the placement of this word is more than merely a transitional word. Paul is preparing his audience to take all that he has written and give them the opportunity to apply all that comes with a new identity with Jesus. Jesus is changing everything about the life of a believer. Another way to say this is: “Here’s what I’m calling you to do…” or “As you think about what’s next, remember this…” In other words, “finally” doesn’t mean this is the last part. It means that something critical is being said. 

We are enabled to stand firm against the schemes of the devil because of Christ’s strength not our own. It can be tempting to skim this passage and come away with the conclusion that we individually need to suit up as we fight against the Kingdom of Darkness to be sure our individual responsibility must be taken, but before Paul even lists out our problem, he says, “be strong in the Lord and the in the strength of HIS might.” Paul tells us that we are to be strong in God’s tremendous, magnificent power, a power that is beyond comparison. Paul’s words in Ephesians 6:10 echo the Greek words he used in 1:19 to describe the power of God that raised up Christ. In other words, the power with which we have been equipped for our fight against sin and Satan is the very same power that brought Christ back from the dead. “In the Lord” or “In Christ” – is a primary theme throughout the book of Ephesians. “In Christ” is the way in which we are supposed to live our lives. Paul continually compares “What we once were to who we are now in Christ.”

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  Once We Were:

  Dead (2:1)

  Under the dominion of Satan (2:2)

  Objects of wrath (2:3)

  Separate (2:12)

  Foreigners (2:19)

  Aliens (2:19)

  Denied gospel mystery (3:5)

  Infants (4:14)

  Old self (4:22)

  Darkness (5:8)

  Now We Are (in Christ):

  Alive (2:5)

  Seated in heavenly realms (2:6)

  His glorious inheritance (1:18)

  Brought near (2:13)

  Fellow citizens (2:19)

  Household members (2:19)

  Understanding gospel mystery (3:4)

  Maturing in Christ (4:15)

  New self (4:24)

  Light (5:8)
  

  Being “in him” is a spiritual and theological reality. It describes a miraculous spiritual condition where my life enters into a different spiritual realm and existence. It’s an other-worldly reality. This is why we gather on the Lord’s Day. It’s why we sing. It’s why we study God’s Word. It’s why we need to read the Bible and pray. You aren’t doing all these things simply to learn. You are doing them to grow in your new identity of being in Christ; because of God’s power, this is the new way in which you and I are enabled to live and stand firm. Our enabling is our new reality because of the power of God. 

  But what are we standing firm against?

  1. Our Enemy (v12)

  Spiritual warfare does exist.  “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Eph 6:12). If that sounds scary, it is because it is meant to be. The devil is a very real, very powerful opponent, far too powerful for us to take on in our own strength. In our Western context, we are inclined to ridicule the idea of a literal devil. Who could ever believe in a cosmic being whom we can’t see, feel, or touch, and who promotes unthinkable evil in this world? We think this way because instead of the image that the Bible portrays of the Devil (1 Peter 5:8), “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”, we picture a ridiculous image of a red being with horns and a pointed tail holding a pitchfork, or a misunderstood being, or a friend to outcasts. I would go so far as to say Satan wants these inaccurate images of him to be spread far and wide so that he can go about unnoticed. 

  I am not going to walk through how to identify whether missing your alarm, my slipping and falling in the driveway this morning, or traffic on the way to work is spiritual oppression from the Enemy. 

  But I want to paint at least the picture that the Christian life is one of active war. Because of our new identity and reality, Paul is reminding these Christians and us that our struggle is not fundamentally against our impulses anymore. Satan, the one who is parading himself around as an angel of light, uses forces beyond mere flesh and blood as his instruments. Bryan Chapell states, “He deludes or distracts us with selfish interests to convince us that we must accept these evils (evil leaders, poverty, injustice, racism, and materialism) for the sake of personal liberty, pleasure, and power that are supposed to bring happiness.”

  “Like the Spartans, every Christian is born a warrior. It is his destiny to be assaulted; it is his duty to attack… He must be able to say with David, I come against thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom thou hast defied? He must wrestle not with flesh and blood but against principalities and powers. He must have weapons for his warfare—not carnal but "mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds." - Charles Spurgeon.

  Spurgeon was known for describing the Church as the Church militant—this idea of the church militant from the overarching story of Scripture. Ever since the arrival of the serpent in the Garden, there has been a war between the Christian and the powers of darkness. This conflict has marked all the people of God at every point of redemptive history. From Cain and Abel to Abraham’s battles, to the Exodus, to Israel’s march in the wilderness, the Canaanite conquest, and David’s battles throughout the historical books, and on through the rest of Israel’s story, the theme of the war between the seed of the woman and the serpent runs through all of Scripture. This war would culminate with the coming of Christ, and through his death, Christ bruised the serpent’s head. By his resurrection, Christ triumphed over sin, Satan, and death, and now reigns as the Resurrected King of God’s armies. And now we, as those enlisted in Christ’s army, stand in the Kingdom of Light fighting against the Kingdom of Darkness. Satan hates Jesus and, therefore, hates his children.

  Two important notes about Satan and his attacks:

  1. The story has already been written, and Satan is eternally defeated. You can read how the story ends that Satan will be cast for all eternity into the lack of fire (Rev. 20:7-10). Satan is limited in power by permission and presence. Satan does not operate devoid of God’s permission, and Satan is limited in where he can be, unlike God, who is omnipresent.

  2. The worst that can happen, death, only hastens us home to be with God for all eternity. “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.”(2 Corinthians 4:17-18). “The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18)

  A quick note on fighting sin. Our hearts have been described as idol factories, but another helpful way to think about them is as vacuums. Picture a science teacher holding up an empty beaker and he says, “Your job before the next class is to figure out the best way to get all of the air out of this beaker.” Each student designs a different vacuum machine, a suction thing. They return with their devices, and one kid fills it with water.

  That's the fastest way to get rid of all the air. Put something else in there. So in the same way, we could fight against sin in our lives, but unless you put something else in there, it will fill up again immediately.

  And so, a vision of the beauty of God and delighting in him, and the affection for Him, displaces the affections for sin in our lives. The problem isn't that we like sin too much; though that might be a problem, it's not the biggest problem. The biggest problem is we don't have a taste for the real thing. For the glories of what Christ has offered us. It’s like young children at Christmas when they are more attached to a bow than the actual gift. We are too easily distracted from God that we easily fall into the snares of the Devil by being drawn to the shiny things that we miss what God has truly offered us.

  "Be always at it, all at it, constantly at it, with all your might at it. No rest. Your resting time is to come, in the grave. Be always fighting the enemy." -Spurgeon 

  What are we to fight with?

  2. Our Equipment (vv. 14-17)

     1. Belt of Truth

  The belt was the logical place to start because it was the first piece of the soldier’s equipment to be strapped on. It went underneath the armor to hold all the other clothing out of the way. In those days, when people wore long, flowing robes, the belt enabled a person to run and fight without being tripped up. To update the image, it is challenging to fight if your pants keep falling down. The belt is foundational to any soldier’s effectiveness, and, according to Paul, the equivalent of the belt in God’s armor is truth. Truth is essential to the Christian life; it is foundational to taking a stand against the devil.

  "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32;). Later he said, "Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth" (John 17:17). Paul refers in Ephesians 4:21 to "the truth [that] is in Jesus". There is objective, spiritual truth in Jesus and his Scriptures: truth about God, ourselves, history, and the future. Jesus answered, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me(John 14:6). Without the truth of Jesus, we do not have a chance to participate in the spiritual battles that come our way.

  Without cinching ourselves tightly with the truth of Scripture, the other weapons of our warfare will clatter in disarray. Those who have stood firm as great warriors for Christ have been men and women of the Word and so were filled with the eternal truth of Scripture.

  The devil hates truth and will do anything he can to distract you from it. The Bible says that Satan has been a liar from the beginning (John 8:44). That is how he persuaded Adam and Eve to sin in the first place, with a lie: “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Gen. 3:1). What God actually said was, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat” (2:16–17). Satan lied, and Adam and Eve listened to his lie—like the rest of us so often do—with all of the tragic consequences that followed.

  2. Breastplate of Righteousness

  Paul moves from the belt to the protection of the vital organs. It’s important to note that the righteousness that Paul is talking about is not our own personal holiness/righteousness but Christ’s righteousness.

  But there is "a righteousness of God" (Romans 1:17). Isaiah 59:17 tells us that "[God] put[s] on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head" as he comes out to destroy his enemies. Here in Ephesians, he gives us his armor of righteousness, which is not clean and new but well-worn because Christ has done the work. It is not our own righteousness and personal holiness we are putting on, but it is Christ’s! Paul describes his experience of receiving God's righteousness in Philippians 3:7-9:

  But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.

  The breastplate of righteousness is received and put on through faith as God gives us Jesus’s righteousness. He clothes us through his Son,

  "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). It is what theologians call imputed righteousness. If you do not have this righteousness, nothing can save you, but if you have it, you are safe for eternity!

  This is not to diminish the pursuit of holy living, but seeks to magnify it. If we are trying to stand firm against Satan by putting on our own holy living, not seeking to give him an inch, we will quickly find out that we are no match for him, but God is; we are safeguarded by putting on the armor that can stand up to the attacks of Satan. If we seek to rely merely on our own sanctification, we will find ourselves easily distraught by the slow work of the Spirit of peeling away the old flesh as we fall again into that sinful temptation. 

  “So be on guard against your natural tendency to substitute your own righteousness for that of Christ. Notice the self-exalting and self-condemning thoughts that flow through your heart, moment by moment. If, when you are doing well, your mind is full of yourself, it is a sign that you are unduly enamored with your own armor. If, when you are failing, you are cast down with overwhelming feelings of guilt and shame, your problem is the same. Refocus your attention again on the gospel. Surround yourself with older, wiser, battle-hardened companions who can help you when the fight grows most intense. Young enthusiastic soldiers full of zeal for the battle can be a great encouragement, but sometimes we need to sit with those who have felt the heat of the conflict before and can remind us who must win the battle on our behalf.” - Iain Duguid

  3. Shoes of Gospel Peace

  The right footwear matters. Contrary to what some of the students might try to convince me, Crocs are not the ultimate and universal footwear appropriate for every circumstance. 

  According to commentators, a Roman soldier’s footwear was specially designed for protection and traction. They intended to help soldiers never lose their footing due to the spikes attached to the bottom. For us the footwear God is calling us to lace up is the footwear of Gospel Peace. 

  In Isaiah 52:7, the prophet declares:

  How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

  The idea being portrayed is that of a herald whose job is to come and declare good news. For those in the Army of God, it is the good news of the Gospel that our God reigns over all and provides a way for sinners to be brought into the right relationship with Him through the person and work of Jesus on the cross. 

  This isn’t the first time Paul uses this theme of feet who bring Gospel hope. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (Rom. 10:13–15). As Warren Wiersbe puts it, “Satan has declared war, but you and I are ambassadors of peace (2Cor. 5:18-21): and as such, we take the gospel of peace wherever we go.”

  4. Shield of Faith

  The Roman shield was made of two layers of laminated wood, covered first with linen and then with hide, and then bound top and bottom with iron. A man could put his entire body behind it as it absorbed the javelins and arrows of the enemy. A group of Roman soldiers could line their shields up right next to each other and above each other to provide complete protection from arrows raining down on them. In the case of flaming arrows, very often the arrow would be extinguished as it buried itself in the thickness of the shield. During battles these great shields would often bristle with smoking arrows like roasted porcupines.

  This is the faith of which Paul is speaking in our passage when he says, “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one” (Eph. 6:16). He is not saying that faith has some remarkable defensive power against Satan, in and of itself. Rather, he is saying that the object of our faith protects us from Satan’s attacks because of what faith enables us to take hold of, namely, the power and protection of God himself.

  Throughout the Old Testament, it is not faith but God who is repeatedly described as our shield. In Genesis 15:1 the Lord tells Abraham, “I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” Proverbs 30:5 says: “[God] is a shield to those who take refuge in him.” This same theme is repeated many times in the psalms. For example, in Psalm 3:3, David says: “You, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.” In Psalm 28:7, we read, “The Lord is my strength and my shield.” In Psalm 119:114, the psalmist says to the Lord, “You are my hiding place and my shield.”

  Our faith is in God and what He has done for us. The only right and proper object of our faith is the Person and Work of Jesus Christ (Galatians 2:16; Philippians 3:9). 

  “Faith helps us as it lays hold of the promises of God in the darkest of days. When the evil one throws his flaming darts at you that say, “God doesn’t really care about you, or this bad thing wouldn’t be happening,” faith puts out the fire. Just as when parents take a young child for an injection, as the needle approaches, she clings tighter and tighter to them, and she doesn’t understand. So also when the needles of life are getting awfully close, by faith we lean in and cling tighter to the God who we know loves us, even when we cannot understand.”- Iain Duguid.

  5. Helmet of Salvation

  The Bible refers to salvation, or being saved, as the amazing grace that God applies to people who turn from their sins and put their faith in Jesus for their forgiveness. This brings salvation: the cleansing that makes a person righteous creates a new heart, and grants God’s people a promise of eternal life. It’s a personal relationship with Jesus that changes everything about you because how you think about yourself is totally different now. It means that your future is secure and fixed. 

  “That which adorns and protects the Christian, which enables him to hold up his head with confidence and joy, is the fact that he is saved.” Charles Hodge

  You have a level of spiritual confidence as you face the battles of life.

  For that to be true, you must believe in Jesus. You must turn from your sins and trust in Jesus alone for the forgiveness you need. We call on the name of Jesus to be saved.

  You see, that’s what the Helmet of Salvation is all about. If you’re a Christian, everything I just said is not new. But your posture toward that information is

  critical. On the one hand, you can have a passive attitude: “Yep, did that already.” As a result, you think of the helmet of salvation in an unhelpful way. You can think of salvation as something in the past with little relevance to your life

  today. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Christian life is about rehearsing and reminding ourselves of the gospel that has brought about our salvation and living now in light of our new reality. 

  6. Sword of the Spirit 

  It’s the only offensive item that is listed. To say “of the Spirit” implies that this piece of equipment is provided by and connected to the Holy Spirit. The sword isn’t the Spirit. The Spirit supplies the sword. Besides connecting this to the third member of the Trinity, it’s also bringing in the notion of supernatural power. To say that it’s “the word of God” makes the image even more evident and clear. Now “word of God” could refer to the statements in the Bible, like the way Jesus countered the Devil’s schemes in his temptation (Matt 4:1-11). Jesus countered the deceptive statements of the Devil with the truth of God’s word. It also could be a more general reference to the message of the gospel itself.

  Paul is connecting this Sword of the Spirit to Isaiah 11:4. The Messiah will “strike the earth with the rod of his mouth.” His words are the means of life, judgment, and victory. By using the Word of God, the Christian puts himself or herself in

  a position to use the spiritual resources of the King of Kings.

  It is the Word of God that is able to dispel the enemy’s assaults and temptations. But it’s also the Bible that is able to cut through the fog of unbelief and hard-heartedness that plagues so many non-believers.

  As the world grows darker and temptations seem stronger, our hope is not some new strategy or program. We must know, love, and trust the Word of God. “Let the Word of God dwell in you richly” (Colossians 3:16).

  But here’s the thing about the Sword of the Spirit: you have to read the Bible and listen to the Bible taught with this in mind. Otherwise, you’ll just treat it like another book or sermons as some TED talk or podcast episode. You have to be vigilant with how you read and how you listen! This is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

  3. Our Empowering (v18)

  It might seem a little odd for Paul to wrap up this section with a quick word on prayer after detailing out the armor of God that we are to be putting on daily with, “ praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication” (Eph. 6:18)

  Prayer in the Spirit is the outflow and outworking of a relationship with God, which is itself rooted and grounded in his Word. In Ephesians 6 Paul has just identified the Word of God as the sword of the Spirit, so prayer in the Spirit is prayer that flows from understanding that Word. Jude makes the same point when he links “praying in the Holy Spirit” with “building yourselves up in your most holy faith” (Jude 20). Praying in the Spirit is not a mystical experience but prayer that is prompted and guided by the Holy Spirit. All of it flows out of our communion, our closes, our spending time with God. 

  John Piper helpfully connects prayer to the armor of God by describing it as a walkie-talkie:

  “We cannot know what prayer is for until we know that life is war. Life is war. That's not all it is. But it is certainly that. Our weakness in prayer is owing largely to our neglect of this truth.

  Prayer is primarily a wartime walkie-talkie for the mission of the church as it advances against the powers of darkness and unbelief. It is not surprising that prayer malfunctions when we try to make it a domestic intercom to call upstairs for more comforts in the den. God has given us prayer as a wartime walkie-talkie so that we can call headquarters for everything we need as the kingdom of Christ advances in the world.”

  Prayer is not merely something Christians do and participate in. It’s to be our continual practice—a spiritual, heart-level conversation with the Lord.

  This fits well with the all-encompassing nature of this spiritual battle. While we may experience different intensity levels, we must realize that this battle is always happening.

  “In the Spirit” is not a special kind of prayer. Instead, Paul is connecting this phrase to the previous one about the sword of the Spirit (the Word). The Bible is God’s way of communicating with us, and we communicate with him through prayer. We are to pray this way through our prayers and supplication—a reference to more general prayer and our specific requests. We fight by being on our knees.