Ephesians 6:10-20--The Whole Armor of God

The Whole Armor of God​
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; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

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This is probably one of the more familiar passages to Christians, but we usually preach it and teach it as a stand-alone passage without any context of the entire letter to the Church in Ephesus or its immediate context in that book.  So, let's refresh ourselves again since we're almost done with the letter to the Ephesians what Paul has been saying to the Ephesians and what the Holy Spirit has to say to us today through this epistle.  We started by talking about our identity in Christ as adopted sons and daughters of God who are coheirs with Christ and how we have received every spiritual blessing in heavenly places.  This is the same for all Christians no matter where they came from in life whether Jew or Gentile, slave or free, rich or poor--we all share in one true faith and one inheritance and we are all equal in the sight of God.  Therefore, we can say that Christ has come to to break down the walls and barriers that sin has put up, and the gospel is to go forth to all people so that many may come to salvation and be sons and daughters of God.

Chapter 3 was a turning point in the letter where Paul stops to ask for prayer for himself as a minister of this one true gospel and to pray for the church in Ephesus that the gospel might do its work in and through them.  This sets the tone for chapters 4-6 where Paul tells them what the gospel at work in them would look like.  It brings unity and new life, it changes our behavior so that we produce the fruit of the Spirit instead of walking in darkness and producing the works of the flesh, and it changes every relationship that we have--wives and husbands, children and parents, and slaves and masters, just to name a few.  There is now a greater purpose in all these relationships--to use them to point people to Christ and to use them to live out the gospel in front of others.  Since we are the bride of Christ who lives in submission to his good will, brides should submit to the good will of their husbands, and husbands should love their wives as Christ loved and still loves His Church.  Since we are now adopted children of God and we call him "Daddy," we should all be as obedient children who show honor to our heavenly Father, and we should do the same as children here honoring and obeying our earthly father and mother.  Earthly parents should also be good stewards of the authority that God has given them to raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and fathers are explicitly told not to provoke their children to wrath, as this is not the goal of Father God for His children.  Last, but not least so far, we are all bought with a price and are slaves of Christ, so even those of us who are slaves of earthly masters in this world can use that opportunity to serve their master as if they are serving Christ and to work as unto the Lord, knowing that He is their Good and Faithful Master, and that one day we will all be free in Christ yet will choose to serve Him willingly and do whatever task He asks of us--even if it is the "dirty job" assigned to the dulos that we talked about in that section.

We now seem to transition again to Paul's final thoughts for the church in Ephesus.  He knows that the letter he's writing is coming to a close and he has one more major thought on his mind that he's going to cover in today's passage--spiritual warfare and making sure we are ready for the battle that we are going to face every day.  We can't preach the gospel and make it sound like everything is going to sweet and easy.  We are engaged in battle with an enemy that seeks to steal, kill and destroy, so although we are sons of the King, members of one Body, the Bride of Christ, children of God, and slaves of Christ, the last thing that Paul wants to tell the church about their identity in Christ (the big theme of this book) is that they are soldiers in the Lord's army, and we need to be dressed for battle each and every day, because, ready or not, it's coming.

Paul tells the Ephesians to put on the full (or whole or entire) armor of God, so that they might be able to resist the schemes of the devil, and reminds them that our enemies now are not the other people in these relationships that we've just talked about (unsaved spouses, unsaved parents or children, or unsaved masters or slaves), but that our battle is against the rebellious forces of evil and sin that work among us and within us.  Our orders from our commanding officer are this "Suit up!" and "Stand fast!."

Paul is likely chained to two Roman soldiers at this time as he was under house arrest here and is looking at their armor as he writes this (Remember that in chapter 3 he identified himself as a prisoner for the gospel?  This would be what he's referring to).  Paul has probably even watched them put their armor on and knows the order in which they would put on each and every piece and what purpose each piece serves--maybe he even talked to his guards about this as is seems from the book of Acts that he took the opportunity to share the gospel with the guards that watched him so that the whole Praetorian guard knew the gospel and in Philippians 4:22 (one of Paul's prison epistles that we'll study next), he greets the Church in Philippi from the saved members of the household of Caesar.  Paul is not wasting any opportunity to use every relationship--even the relationship of being the captive of the Roman army for the sake of the gospel to help spread the gospel, and he's willing to use whatever is there in front of him, like the armor of his Roman soldier guards to do so.

The first piece of armor that Paul talks about is the belt.  we may not find this to be so important, but ask any police officer today what the most important part of their uniform is, and you'll probably have them say it is their utility belt.  While it's not the first thing you put on, you must put it on before all the stuff that hangs on it--which is all the important stuff:  Your pepper spray, nightstick, flashlight, gun, ammo clips, taser, handcuffs, and radio, just to name a few things.  If Paul was imprisoned today by police or soldiers in modern-day uniforms, the belt would probably still be the first item he would focus on as it holds everything else up that has been put on before that and everything that goes on after that attaches to this belt.  You can't fight a battle very well if your pants are falling down or if you're juggling all of your weapons.  Paul says that it is the truth of who we are in Christ and the truth of who God that performs this role.  It keeps everything in its proper place and everything else hangs on those foundational, fundamental truths.

​Next the soldier would put on his breastplate to protect his vital organs, but this specifically protects the heart.  Paul says that this is the righteousness that comes from Christ--not our own righteousness as we've talked about already in the book of Galatians and again in the book of Ephesians, as we cannot add anything to the infinite righteousness that has been granted to us by grace through faith.  :Knowing this truth, we are sure of our eternal security in Christ because we did nothing to put ourselves in right standing with God and we can do nothing to lose our standing with God.  This is one of the primary lies of the devil--that God wouldn't want someone like you, that He doesn't really love you, that you have to do something to earn, deserve, or keep His love, and that God would choose to not love you if He knew what you were really like.  I've known people who have been Christians for longer than I've been alive that struggle with this, some of them on an almost daily basis.  It is for this reason, I think, that Paul spent so much time writing to the Ephesians about their true identity in Christ.

Next come the shoes/sandals that the soldier would wear to protect his feet.  I don't know much about what they were like in Roman times, but I know our soldiers today probably wear steel-toed boots that are waterproof.  I've heard soldiers say that one of the most important things to them is to have clean socks as it's important to keep your feet dry and prevent a situation where bacteria or fungus could grow and make your feet unhealthy (nor do you want your feet/socks to stink).  Taking care of your feet is important because they need to be ready to move at a moment's notice to anywhere and everywhere that the commanding officer orders you to go.  In this case, Christ may send us anywhere in the world to spread the gospel to anyone and we must always be ready to be about the work of the Great Commission.  We must always be ready to give an answer for the reason for the hope that we have, we must always have the gospel on our mind and be thinking about how we can share it with those around us, and we must never get so anchored in our circumstances that we cannot quickly be uprooted and transplanted somewhere else when God tells us that we need to quickly move and go somewhere else to meet with a divine appointment that he's arranged for us.  We never know when we could have a situation like Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch.

Next the soldier would take up his shield and put on his helmet.  The shields of the Roman soldiers were probably the most notable feature and were much like what we see with "riot shields" for police today.  They could be linked together and the army could advance together in unison while behind the safety of their shields and push the enemy back.  They could also be raised over the heads of the troop s as they advanced towards a walled city to keep them safe from projectiles that were coming from those on top of the city wall or from the falling debris as their catapults and other artillery took down the walls.  Paul said that this shield that puts out the fiery darts of the evil one (the design of the Roman shield was that the fiery arrows would stick in the shield, but the shield would not catch fire).  In other words, Satan's lies will not penetrate and will be extinguished by our sure hope that God is who He said He is, has done what He said He's done and will do what He says he'll do.  We need no other evidence to be sure of it because we are certain it will happen because He said it, and God is not a liar and everything He sets His mind to do, He will accomplish.  Since God sees all things in all places at all times, if God says it's going to happen, then that means that for Him, it is as if it has already happened, and we can be sure and certain that He is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do.  Oh how our lives would change if we would simply believe this and put that faith into action!

Now for the helmet of salvation.  It seems so strange to talk about salvation so late in the armor of God, as it is nearly the last piece of armor that we're going to talk about and is actually the last piece of defensive armor that we're going to talk about, but what is more important to protect than your head and your brain?  You can take quite a bit of damage to the rest of your body and still survive and have surgery to repair it, but it's nearly impossible to fix issues with the brain--we still don't really understand how it works.  Our salvation is supposed to protect our mind from the deceptions and lies of the devil as well as the temptations that come from our own flesh because we know that is no longer our identity and we don't need to desire those things any longer.  Most of our battles start in our heart and then move to our mind, and we must fill our minds with Scripture and whatever is true, pure, and lovely (see Philippians 4:8) so as to not give room or a foothold to the devil (Ephesians 4:27).  We must take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5) and put it in submissions to Christ.  So much of the spiritual warfare we face happens in our minds and we are not ready to fight these battles.  Be careful about what you let into your mind even through idle words and thoughts, and what you dream about and meditate on, and fanaticize about.  Also be careful about what you let into your mind through your eyes and ears.  Images and music are especially powerful.

Paul has now talked about all the defensive armor, but we know soldiers don't just suit up and stand there and take everything thrown at them without fighting back.  There are armed with offensive weapons as well--in this case the Roman soldier was equipped with a short sword (dagger) that was extremely effective for hand-to-hand combat and was just right for finding any weak points in the enemy's armor and getting through it to deliver a fatal blow.  Our offensive weapons we are to rely on are the Word of God (the Scriptures) and prayer.  In both cases we are really relying on God to fight our battles for us.  We are to by faith believe what the Word says that God will do and that it is true no matter what we feel or what lies come our way, "Let God be true though every one were a liar. " (Romans 3:4).  Prayer has to be like our heavy artillery and calling in for "fire support."  The resources of heaven and the legions of angels that are also under the command of the Lord of Hosts are not necessarily "at our command," but are available to us only through our lines of communication (think of it like our radio--one of the most important pieces of equipment for any soldier or police officer).  The radio is no only our way for calling for help, but it's also our way for hearing instructions and orders, being notified of the location of enemy forces that we need to be on the lookout for, and hearing about other friendly unity (other Christians) who are under attack and are in need of assistance and reinforcements.  We must be in prayer for each other and remember that Christ has prayed for us and is praying for us, making intercession before the Father, and that the Spirit is also praying for us, even when we can't form the words to utter and pray for ourselves.  Prayer brings us into the very presence of God to ask the one who is in control of everything for the good and perfect things (according to His will) that He already desires to give us, and it is through prayer that we draw attention to who is really in control and who really deserves the glory and honor and praise for each and every victory.

Paul spends the last few words of this passage instructing us how to pray for ourselves and each other.  "...praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak."  So, even in this Paul is asking for prayer to keep us and him (and the other ministers and missionaries) focused on the gospel and aware of all the opportunities that are before us.  Just because someone may seem to be a "super-Christian" like Paul doesn't mean that they get everything right all the time, and Paul is under heavy assault from the enemy forces and needs the prayers of the saints to encourage him and keep his mind and eyes fixed on Christ when he could easily be distracted by the circumstances going on arround him.