The Epistle for next Sunday

Ephesians 6:10-20 (NRSV)

The Whole Armour of God

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. ¹¹Put on the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹²For our^* struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. ¹³Therefore take up the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. ¹⁴Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. ¹⁵As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. ¹⁶With all of these,^* take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench 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. ¹⁸ Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. ¹⁹Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,^{* 20}for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.

Once again I am indebted to William Barclay and his Daily Study Bible for this reflection.

Paul is aware that life is a struggle; it is a joy and a blessing, and in Christ we have a wonderful sense of purpose and fulfilment – but it is also a struggle. For Paul’s readers in Ephesus, it was probably even more daunting than it is for us today, because they believed so implicitly in demons and devils. They believed that the forces of evil were all around them and that they were determined to harm people. Barclay reminds us that the names Paul uses – powers, authorities, world rulers - were all names for the different classes of these evil spirits and demons. The whole universe was a battleground. This meant that the Christian had to contend, not only with the attacks of people, they had to deal with the spiritual forces which were fighting against God as well.

I think it is now almost universally accepted that there is such a thing as evil in the world as ‘… we have all felt the force of that evil influence which seeks to make us sin …’

By the time Paul was writing this passage, he was a prisoner, and looking up at his Roman guards, he sees a picture that he can use to make his point. Christians too have armour for their protection.

I remember as a young undergraduate hearing the following – that for me still rings true – and that is that the greatest victory Satan has achieved in recent years is to convince the world that he does not exist.

It is all too easy to be lulled into thinking that we do not need to be aware of the power of evil and the subtle ways in which we are tempted into doing the least obvious, but most destructive forms of being unloving. We are called to love and be loved; and so often we fail because of the temptations of Satan that make us indulge ourselves rather than being selfless.

Paul, looking at a Roman soldier (his captor) uses what he sees to describe the defences available to the Christian:

The belt of truth: The belt girt the soldier’s tunic and held the sword, but most importantly gave the soldier freedom of movement. We have a real freedom, because we are bound together by the truth of Christ, not in the sense that it is empirical or even verifiable, but non-cognitive and at the depth of our being. This is not a truth that makes us dogmatic and arrogant, but fills us with the love of Christ.

There was the breastplate of righteousness: We are clothed with the righteousness of Christ, so beautifully explained and foretold in the prophesy of Zechariah (chapter 3). Barclay comments: “Words are no defence against accusations, but a good life is.” I am convinced of my beliefs not because I have studied them and come to my understanding alone; but because I have studied those whose lives have been characterised by Christ’s love and righteousness.

There were the sandals: Christians are equipped and ready to move and share the Gospel with others and work for peace. We are those that ought to be working for peace and concord between peoples and God, willing to sacrifice ourselves in order to achieve this.

We need to be held together by the truth, clothed with righteousness and ready to bring peace.

The shield of faith: Paul refers here not to a small round shield but the large oblong shield which the heavily armed soldier wore. It was used as protection against fiery darts which were dipped in pitch and set ablaze. This large shield was made up of two pieces of solid wood; so the dart sank into the first layer and the fire was quenched. Our shield is faith, our close personal relationship with Christ and when this relationship is maintained, we are able to resist the darts of temptation.

The helmet of salvation: Our salvation is not something that only looks back, it is not only forgiveness for past sins; it is also strength to deal with future attacks of sin as well. This is worn on our heads because it is part of something that we can think through and so be convinced of and be comforted.

The sword – the Word of God: The Word is both a weapon of defence and attack – our defence against sin and our attack on the sins of the world. But we must remember that using the sword must be done with great caution, and this is a much abused verse in the hands of fundamentalists and other radicals. I think it was Shakespeare who once said that: “Every fool in error can find a passage of Scripture to back himself up.” The Bible needs to be carefully and prayerfully studied, not only as a rational and intellectual exercise, but more importantly as a prayerful and spiritual experience with the need to discern what God is saying to us and to our world.

And this is why Paul ends with the most important weapon of all – prayer. Barclay reminds us that Paul makes it clear that prayer must include the following:

(i) It must be constant – an attitude of being – that pervades all of our lives and not just something that we resort to in times of crisis. Barclay comments: “It is from daily prayer that there comes the strength of the Christian.”

(ii) It must be intense – sleepless and persevering – concentration of every part of our being on God;

(iii) It must be unselfish – it must be for all people.

Paul ends with a request for prayer for himself, so that he would be able to spread the Gospel of the love of God abroad. Barclay concludes:

“We would do well to remember that no Christian and no Christian preacher can go on unless his people are ever upholding his hands in prayer.”