By Randall L. Broad
Read: Isaiah
54:1-57:13; Ephesians 6:1-24; Psalm 70:1-5; Proverbs 24:8
The Book of
Ephesians contains some of the fullest and richest theology found within the
epistles of the Apostle Paul. It presents the divine scope of the Messiah and
the reconciliation of all believers through the cross; it includes God’s plan
for salvation, union with Christ Jesus through the Holy Spirit, and God’s
supremacy over the powers of darkness. Entire books have been written about the
depth of the theology found in Ephesians, but arguably one of the most famous
parts of all Paul’s epistles is contained in chapter six, verses ten through
twenty–the so called Armor of God passage. With Paul’s focus on spiritual
warfare, the imagery of armor and the call to prayer is particularly relevant
for any period where spiritual warfare takes on sinister characterizations.
Pastors and evangelist around the world exhort believers to evoke this passage
when struggling with the challenges of spiritual warfare. But, what is the
original meaning of this passage? What was Paul’s message to the original
audience? How can we apply it against the backdrop of our modern lives?
Ecclesiastical
tradition concludes when Paul wrote the Epistle to Ephesus around AD 61-62,
he was imprisoned in Rome. The intended
audience was the first century churches of Asia, composed primarily of
Gentiles, at the time when Rome was at the peak of their power and exercised
dominion over the entire Mediterranean world. The church was still young though
the age of the Apostles was coming to an end–many of them either had been or
would be martyred in the near future. The Apostle Paul’s mission was to
reconcile Jew and Gentile under the authority of Jesus Christ by preaching the
“mystery of the gospel” revealed to him on the Damascus Road. However in this
period, Paul was no traveler. He was a prisoner of the Romans and composed the
so called prison epistles which included: Philippians, Ephesians, Colossians,
and Philemon.
Ephesians is
usually divided into two main sections: the summing up of all things in Christ
(chapters 1-3) and the ethical foundation of the Christian life (chapters 4-6).
The first section declares the unification of all things under the authority of
Christ and His role as the head of the church. The second section forms a
paraenesis[1]
that begins with the term, “I exhort you” (4:1) and counsels’ believers to walk
as Christ walked, ethically and spiritually. The summing up of all Paul has
said in the epistle will come in verses 6:10-20. The individual armor pieces
represent our divine weapons of spiritual warfare as well as the ethical
qualities required of believers. To the believer the shield of faith represents
salvation and eternal life, but it also is an ethical call to carry the burdens
necessary in the spiritual battles of life. Any veteran soldier knows his
equipment is essential to his survival in battle, but it can also be a burden
to his strength, endurance, and mobility on the battlefield. The armor of God
has this same duality. The shield of faith ensures our eternal salvation, but
requires ethical sacrifice. Taken in the context of the paraenesis, it could be
argued that the entire exhortation beginning in Ephesians 4:1 rests upon this
same principle.
The first part
of the Armor of God is Ephesians 6:10-13 which sets the tone for the rest of
the passage with its declaration of spiritual warfare.
10Finally, be strong in the
Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put
on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s
schemes. 12For 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. 13Therefore
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.
Ephesians
6:10-13
Right away
Paul’s choice of the conjunction ‘finally’ reflects the entire passage back on
the preceding three chapters in which he exhorts the believer to walk in
Christ–a term that appears in five different sections in the previous two chapters
(vv. 4:1,17; 5:2,8,15). The Armor of God passage concludes this theme in
setting out the language of the difficulties of the Christian life. Spiritual
warfare will mark the path of everything brought under the headship of Christ
in heaven and on earth and in this spiritual warfare there will be two
combatants. Jeffrey Asher writes Ephesians has two groups of combatants: the
believers empowered by God and the devil which is the supernatural and cosmic
force of evil.[2]
In Paul’s words strength can only be found in Jesus but with the Armor of God
for protection the believer can stand firm against an enemy who is treacherous
and deceitful. Paul makes clear however the enemy is not of this world, but is
a spiritual force of wickedness in the heavenly places. This is why we must
have spiritual strength to stand firm against him.
The heart of the
passage then goes on to define the Armor of God using the illustration of a
Roman soldier and his armor. According to Paul the churches of Asia must:
14Stand firm then, with the
belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness
in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes
from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the
shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the
evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of God.
Ephesians
6:14-17
The Roman
soldier serves as a metaphor for the audience of which all the churches in the
first century would have been very familiar. It was under the authority of the
Roman Army that Christ was crucified. Yet the passage calls for the churches of
Asia to rise above the limited powers of an earthly sword or shield and embrace
God’s gifts of truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and His Word. They represent
the soteriological benefits given through God’s grace, and ethical qualities
the believer is to embrace like a pair of sandals. In fact, Paul is telling the
churches of Asia that without Jesus Christ and His mighty power (v. 10) none of
these blessings is possible. The armor of the Roman soldier is nothing more
than a visual reference to the true message of Paul to the churches in
Asia–embrace Christ and stand firm in God’s grace.
In concluding
his Armor of God passage, Paul has already exhorted the church of Asia to
declare spiritual warfare, to put on the Armor of God, and in the final verses
he exhorts them to pray.
18And pray in the Spirit on
all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be
alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19Pray
also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will
fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an
ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
Ephesians
6:18-20
Prayer is a
common theme amongst all of Paul’s letters. Here though, Paul requests
believers to pray for all the saints, including him, and specifically to pray
he will be able to maintain his strength and “fearlessly” carry forth the
message of the gospel. In fact, Paul asks them to intercede on his behalf that
he might be able to make known the “mystery” that is the gospel. His unveiling
of the mystery of the gospel seems to reach a climax in Ephesians. There he
employs the term six times, clearly explaining the socio-cultural implications
of the gospel which he preaches along the way.[3]
It is his final plea in the Book of Ephesians for the fulfillment of Paul’s
mission to bring all things together in Christ. In the verses that follow, Paul
will close out the epistle with a brief personal reference to Tychicus and a
final benediction.
The question for
us is how do we understand and apply the Armor of God message in our modern
lives. First of all, the English translation of this passage is not difficult
to understand. The principles of spiritual warfare, ethics, and prayer are
common to all generations. While some subtle details and qualities of the words
may be lost through the passage of time and multiple translations, the concepts
of warfare and struggle are universal characteristic of the human race. Every
generation has its wars, in the world and in the spirit. Certainly the tools
and tactics of modern warfare have changed significantly since Paul wrote
Ephesians. A soldier dressed in Roman Armor today would stand no chance on the
battlefield. However, Paul’s message is not about wars in the world, but wars
of the spirit and wars on the behalf of God. Remarkably, this type of warfare
has not changed much in the last two thousand years. The only way to win this
war is to understand the nature of your enemy (vv. 10-13), put on God’s armor
(vv. 14-17), and pray for all believers (vv. 18-20).
Walk with the
Lord …
Ephesians 1:17
(RLB230928)
© Copyright
2019: Randall L. Broad
Disclaimer: This commentary is written by Randall L. Broad. It is in no way affiliated with or represents any denomination, university, church, or pastor. Any errors or omissions are purely my responsibility.
[1]
An exhortatory composition: advice, counsel.
[2]
Asher, Jeffrey R. "An Unworthy Foe: heroic
ethe, trickery, and an insult in Ephesians 6:11." Journal of Biblical
Literature 130, no. 4 (2011): 732.
[3]
Smillie, Gene R. "Ephesians 6:19-20 A
Mystery For The Sake of Which The Apostle Is An Ambassador In Chains." Trinity
Journal 18, no. 2 (1997): 200.
