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Ephesians: Conclusion

Just as Paul's opening comments are pregnant with theological life, his conclusion can't help but carry deep truths. This last section, a kind of addendum to the earlier three-part structure, offers Paul's closing words to the Ephesian church. Finally, says the apostle, be strong in the Lord, and in His might. Why? Because the Christian life is a war. It might be best here to break Paul's conclusion into two parts. First, Paul pinpoints our enemy (6:10-12). Second, he tells us how to fight (6:13-20).

In the first place, then, whom do we fight? The picture is intimidating. Paul describes terrible, powerful enemies: "principalities, powers," "rulers of the darkness of this age," "hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." The ESV is particularly descriptive: "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."

Paul asserts that the primary warfare in the Christian life is non-physical. We do not wrestle against flesh and blood. One of the devil's greatest victories has been his ability to turn mankind against itself. Nation against nation. Race against race. Cain against Abel. Politicians thrive on this kind of animosity, pitting us against the West, or against the USSR. Against Israel. Against the Arabs.

All this human infighting–what Douglas Jones would call misplaced antithesis–stems from a basic misunderstanding of our real battle, which began in Genesis. After Adam and Eve fell, God said, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel" (Gen. 3:15). Satan's war with Christ–and, by extension, with us–is the backdrop of the ages, the conflict that drives the plot of human history. "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested," says John, "that He might destroy the work of the devil" (1 John 3:8). Paul calls us to this invisible battle, this spiritual war, saying that behind all human evil lies a network of spiritual forces or rulers hostile to God and man.

So how do we fight this war in which we find ourselves entrenched? Paul tells us in verse 14. "Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all taking the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one."

No Marine general would think of sending men into battle without kevlar armor, proper weapons, and plenty of ammunition. Similarly, Paul wants to equip us appropriately for battle, and he presents six pieces of spiritual armor/weaponry. Obviously a detailed discussion of each of these weapons is beyond our scope here (check out Martyn Lloyd-Jones or James Montgomery Boice for a more thorough study), but notice how each of the weapons fits in with Paul's epistle as a whole. He speaks about truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation, each of which forms a key part of previous chapters.

Paul opens the letter thanking a sovereign God for the salvation of His church. Christ's righteousness, which comes to sinners through faith, is the only solution for the sin described in chapter two. Christian peace leads the discussion in chapter four, and Paul makes it clear that this peace or unity must be based on truth. All these concepts come together to form the Christian tools for defending against and attacking the enemy–what we often call "spiritual warfare." But our first step as Christians is usually to misunderstand and take things out of balance. When it comes to spiritual warfare, we do two things: We either sensationalize it, or we intellectualize it.

I grew up largely in Charismatic churches, and one strength of the Charismatics is that they don't sweep spiritual warfare under the rug–they acknowledge that demonic forces really do try to influence human events. Yet I grew up thinking of spiritual warfare in terms of loud prayer sessions (sometimes addressed to God in unknown tongues, or sometimes addressed to the devil himself in the form of "rebukes"). Spiritual warfare became a flashy prime-time affair; I never knew much about the dogged, daily struggle against the world, the flesh, and the devil in my own mind and heart. "But come by this Sunday evening for our special Spiritual Warfare service." It reminds me of a Christian comic book I saw at one point. The superheroes, instead of Batman or Spidey, were angels and archangels, and the villains were demons. While of course we don't want to deny the reality of the war between good and evil, isn't all this kind of missing something?

Reformed Christians, on the other hand, emphasize the intellectual part of spiritual warfare. And Paul certainly does lay stress on renewing our mind (Romans 12:1-2), as well as the importance of taking thoughts and arguments captive to Christ: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God…" (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). Yet over-intellectualizing this war is as bad as sensationalizing. Certainly the mind has its role; part of spiritual warfare deals with apologetics–with defending our faith against secular critiques. But Peter saw our warfare as more than this when he rebuked Ananias and Saphira (who were moved by satanic power to lie to God) in the book of Acts. Jesus knew it when he rebuked Peter, who was influenced by Satan himself to try to stop Jesus from going to the cross.

Perhaps the best way to summarize the Christian warfare is to use Paul's own words from Ephesians. Here's the ESV: "Take…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 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…" (6:17-18).

We're not stuck on defense. Though weak in our own strength, we have a sharp sword that allows even mortals like us to take a swing at the evil one. I'm reminded of the story of David fleeing from King Saul (1 Samuel 21). David has no weapon, and asks the priest if he happens to have a sword nearby. The priest answers that they have no sword except the one David had taken earlier from the dead Goliath. They keep this sword back behind the ephod, wrapped in a cloth. David says, "There is none like that; give it to me."

The book of Hebrews describes the Word of God as a double-edged sword, alive and deadly. Keeping the passage from Ephesians in mind, we could think of one edge as Scripture and the other edge as prayer. The two go together. How many times have you been weaker, more vulnerable to temptation, because you've neglected the Word and prayer? I've lost track of my own failures. But when I do study the Word, when I do pray ("pray at all times…with all prayer," says Paul, using repetition to make us get it), especially when I pray for others ("making supplication for all the saints"), I'm stronger. I have a sword to thrust with.

It's important to remember one thing in closing. While spiritual warfare is real, and we play a real role, we will destroy ourselves if we trust our own strength. The psalms in particular drive this point home: "The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength" (Psalm 33:16). "If it had not been the Lord who was on our side–let Israel now say–if it had not been the Lord who was on our side…then the flood would have swept us away; the torrent would have gone over us" (Psalm 124:1-4).

Christians must fight, but the real warrior is Christ, and the real victory is already His. In one sense, an important sense, the battle is already over. That's why John is able to say in 1 John 2:14, "I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one."

Comments

1 • Laurie Bluedorn • February 15, 2008 • 10:30 PM

Thanks for this, Chris. This one is the best of the series.
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