Ephesians 6--Ready for Battle

There is a clear pattern for me when it comes to this passage. When I am close to the front lines of the battle for God’s Kingdom, the truths of this passage in vv 10-20 make so much sense. When I am making decisions that will dent the Kingdom of darkness, I feel the effects if I am not prepared for battle. However, when I am not near the battle lines, I feel the cultural distance of this passage.

Let’s face it. “Armor of God” doesn’t fit with our western sentiments. It makes a ton of sense outside of the west where people see things much more through spiritual lenses. However we wear lenses in our glasses that were developed out of enlightenment thinking and modern philosophy. Our lenses are shaped by philosophical forces from the 17th century that suggests that the only things we can know for certain are the things that we can see and touch and that they are the only true forces within reality. Kant, Hume and other philosophers didn’t deny a spiritual world, but basically paved a cement ceiling between this world and any other—and so effectively turned the attention of our thinking towards measurement and evaluation based upon naturalistic and tangible realities. Products of their thought are Marxism, liberal theology that discounts God’s ability to speak through scripture, as well as feelings-based Christianity.

In contrast to that, we are to arm ourselves everyday against the devil’s schemes against us. We are to take our stand and recognize that our spiritual lives are a struggle against the Kingdom of Darkness in the heavenly realms. On one hand, this can be encouraging to us, for if we find a certain struggle in our faith, it may mean that we are living our lives in such a way that it is bringing upon the opposition of God’s mortal enemy. In a sense, the struggle (the right ones) may indicate to us that we are right where we are supposed to be. This passage reminds us that as we follow Christ, we will be opposed as he was opposed. This helps teach us to wage that battle as Christ did.

On the other hand, if our spiritual lives present no struggle at all, we should ask if our lives are presenting any threat to the Kingdom of Darkness. Could it be that the devil’s scheme in the materialistic lie of modern philosophy has already had such a corralling impact on you that he has you where he wants you—safely distant from the battle lines? If you do not believe in him, he has no need to draw out any other schemes against you and risk alerting you to himself and his opposition to you. Or

A final note--You are not called to win in the battle against Satan. This passage calls you to simply stand firm in your faith when the day of evil comes. The battle has already been won by Jesus in his resurrection (1 Cor. 15:54-57). We can make our stand in confidence that “the God of peace will soon crush Satan under our feet.” (Ro 16:20).

Or to quote an Irish poet, “And the battle has just begun, to claim the victory Jesus won.”