Ephesians 6:10-20 (CSB)
10 Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens. 13 For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. 14 Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, 15 and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. 16 In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the word of God. 18 Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints. 19 Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. 20 For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough to speak about it as I should.
Ephesians 6:12 says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.” This verse tells us that spiritual warfare is real. Evil spirits exist, and they are opposed to all of God’s purposes.
You would think that the church would teach extensively on spiritual warfare, but it actually doesn’t. Some theologians argue that Christians do not have authority over evil forces. They cite the book of Jude as proof of this. Jude 8-9 says, “In the same way these people—relying on their dreams—defile their flesh, reject authority, and slander glorious ones. Yet when Michael the archangel was disputing with the devil in an argument about Moses’s body, he did not dare utter a slanderous condemnation against him but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!’”
I have to say, the amount of misinformation that is prevalent on the internet has never been so obvious to me as it was when I looked up references for this passage in Jude. It was astonishing to me to discover, among other fallacies, that so many Christian writers do not even believe the devil is active among people. One person, in an attempt to justify their position that Christians are not to rebuke demons, tried to say that the Bible rarely ever mentions demon possession nor demon activity even taking place in the Bible. He then cited the “only” times the Bible mentions it as examples of proof of the rarity of it. Well, if you have many examples, I think that means it’s not rare. Compared with other random topics, the Bible mentions the activity of demons quite a lot, actually.
Regarding the passage in Jude, it’s not telling us not to rebuke demons. Rather, Jude is warning those he’s writing to that there are people who, among other sinful things, also “slander glorious ones.” He is saying that it is wrong to do this, and he gives the example that even the angel Michael didn’t pronounce judgment on the devil when arguing with him over the body of Moses. Some people say this argument over Moses’ body is in reference to Zechariah 3, others say it’s from an ancient book called “The Assumption of Moses” which the early Christian writer Origen said is the source of what Jude is talking about. Regardless of the reference, the point Jude is making is that believers should not curse angels, not even the devil. Rather, we should do as Michael did and hand the responsibility to the Lord. My understanding of this is we should recognize that we, in ourselves, have no authority over any angels. All authority belongs to God. Jesus showed His power when He cast out demons. As believers, we can cast out demons, but we can’t do that in our power. We can only do that in the name of Jesus, for it is by the Lord’s power that He casts them out. We are just a conduit. As Luke 9:49 says, “John answered and said, ‘Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name; and we tried to prevent him, because he does not follow along with us.’” Apparently, even unbelievers can cast out demons if they are doing so in Jesus’ name. So, maybe the point Jude is making is some people were rejecting God’s authority and were attempting to speak abusively to angels or cast them out of people in their own power.
In an effort to understand Jude’s reference to Moses’ body, I read through many different commentaries and blogs, and after doing so, I think I know why the Church at large has so many problems. We have people who blame the devil for every single bad thing that happens and so they run around rebuking Satan at every turn. Then we have Christians who don’t think the devil is responsible for any bad things and they choose to ignore that he even exists. Or, they think they are powerless to do anything about it, for God handles all battling of evil. All of those types of people are hurting the Church. The devil certainly exists, and he is on the offensive. Therefore, we must engage in spiritual warfare, but we must not try and do so in our own power.
Ephesians tells us exactly what we are to do in order to battle the forces of evil: we must put on the full armor of God. To be effective, we need more than just the helmet of salvation; we need the full armor. We have to take up the full armor. It is given to us, but we must put it on. It isn’t put on us. We have to perform the action of taking it up. If we haven’t taken up and put on the full armor, then we will not be able to resist evil. Verse 13 says, “For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.” Don’t try to take a stand if you haven’t put on the armor or aren’t prepared. You won’t stand if you’re not ready. The only way we can resist the devil is if we are ready. According to Strong’s Concordance, this word for resist is anthistémi: to set against, i.e. withstand. It’s the same word that is used in James 4:7, which says, “Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
An example of Christians who are misunderstanding our role in this battle is the popular Christian website, gotquestions.com. They state that Ephesians 6:13 tells us to stand against the demonic world but not to cast out the demonic world. They say, “we are not told how to cast him or his demons out of others, or that we should even consider doing so.” I think that way of thinking is part of the reason the Church is not as strong as she should be in our world today. I think we see clearly in other places in Scripture exactly how we are to cast out demons and so Ephesians does not need to mention it here, but that does not mean that we are not to do so when needed. Acts 16:16-18 says, “Once, as we were on our way to prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She made a large profit for her owners by fortune-telling. As she followed Paul and us she cried out, ‘These men, who are proclaiming to you a way of salvation, are the servants of the Most High God.’ She did this for many days. Paul was greatly annoyed. Turning to the spirit, he said, ‘I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!’ And it came out right away.” In that verse, we clearly see the formula: we are to cast out demons in the name of Jesus Christ. As believers, we have the authority given to us by Jesus to call on His name and cast them out. I think it’s important to explain this truth as we look at putting on the armor of God. Putting on this armor isn’t the end of spiritual warfare, it is the starting place. Once we are equipped, then we are to stand and resist, and when necessary, rebuke the devil and his demons.
Let’s look at this armor that we are instructed to put on. In Ellicott’s Commentary he writes that “the order in which the armour in enumerated is clearly the order in which the armour of the Roman soldier was actually put on. It nearly corresponds with the invariable order in which Homer describes over and over again the arming of his heroes. First the belt and the corselet, which met and together formed the body armour; then the sandals; next the shield, and after this (for the strap of the great shield could hardly pass over the helmet) the helmet itself; then the soldier was armed, and only had to take up the sword and spear. It is curious to note that St. Paul omits the spear- exactly that part of his equipment which, when on guard within, the soldier would not be likely to assume.” And as we know from history that Paul was writing this letter of Ephesians while he was imprisoned, there was probably a Roman soldier nearby he could have glanced over at to see what he was wearing.
Verse 14 tells us, “Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest.” Just as there was an order in which a Roman soldier was dressed, I think there is a logical order to what we put on in order to make our stand. We must first put truth on, like a belt. We have to start from a foundation of the truth. More than knowing truth, we must wrap truth around our body. What is this truth? I think it is all the elementary teachings that Hebrews mentions. Hebrews 5:12 (NASB) says, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the actual words of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.” These “elementary principles” are the basic facts about God. We must first believe that God is greater than anyone else, and that Jesus is God and He died and rose from the dead. We must know these basic truths in order to mature in our faith. And more than that, we must apply them to our lives. As Hebrews 5:14 (NASB) says, “But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to distinguish between good and evil.” We have to learn to distinguish between good and evil. Otherwise, as Hebrews 3:13 warns, we are in danger of being deceived by sin. For in order to not be deceived, we first must be able to distinguish between good and evil. In order to do that, we must learn what is good. In other words, we must learn the truth and follow it.
This is logical because how will we know what things we are to take a stand against in this battle against evil if we don’t know the difference between good and evil? We must know the truth, so we can see clearly what we are to take a stand against.
Then, we are to wrap righteousness like armor on our chest. Recently, in my daily reading of Everyday with Jesus Devotional Bible with devotions by Selwyn Hughes, he wrote that this righteousness we put on is not our righteousness, even though our moral actions are certainly an important part of this. The righteousness we are to put on first is Jesus’ righteousness. He writes, “You see, the devil can find all kinds of flaws and blemishes in your righteousness, but he can find nothing wrong with the righteousness of Christ. That way to withstand an attack like this, then, is to put on the breastplate of righteousness. In other words, remind yourself and Satan that you stand not on your own merits but on Christ’s” (Holman, C. B. B., & Hughes, S. 2020. CSB Every Day with Jesus Daily Bible, p.337).
Next, we are to put sandals on our feet. We are to have, as verse 15 says, “feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace.” This tells me we aren’t supposed to go looking for a fight. Did you notice, too, that all these pieces of armor so far have been for defense? We aren’t putting on offensive weapons. So far, they have been for self-defense. These shoes are not shoes for war, they are shoes making us ready “for the gospel of peace.” The Gospel message we are to be sharing is a gospel of peace, is it not? Even in the well-known verse about the ultimate destruction of Satan at the end of the world, Romans 16:20 says that “The God of peace will soon crush Satan.” Even in that verse, Paul emphasizes that God is a God of peace.
It makes me think too, of the end words of Zechariah’s prophecy about John the Baptist. Luke 1:78-79 says, “Because of our God’s merciful compassion, the dawn from on high will visit us to shine on those who live in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” Zechariah prophesied that John the Baptist would announce that Jesus, the dawn from on high, would visit soon and “guide our feet into the way of peace.” We are to walk in peace, always ready to share the Gospel, which brings peace to all who receive it.
But we all know that this world does not always welcome that message of peace. We know that the world is under the control of the devil. We are wearing this armor, we are told, so that we may withstand the schemes of the devil. That is why in verse 16 we are told: “In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”
In Ellicott’s Commentary, he says, “It is the faith of patience and endurance, the almost passive faith, trusting in God’s protection and submissive to His will, on which the darts of temptation, whether from fear, or from lust, or from doubt, fall harmless. The best commentary after all, on the words is found in Christian’s conflict with Apollyon in the Pilgrim’s Progress.”
If you’ve read Pilgrim’s Progress, you will understand Ellicott’s example. Apollyon represents the devil, and he throws a flaming dart at Christian who has a shield in his hand and easily catches the dart with the shield. We must have faith if we are to stand against the attacks of the devil. Faith, as we’ve been discovering, is not without action. Ellicott said, “almost passive faith” but not because he doesn’t think actions are tied to it. I think he’s emphasizing that it is a defensive, not an offensive faith. We still must prove our faith by our adherence to God’s will. This is easily understood, for when we have faith in God, then instead of dabbling in or embracing sin, we will strive to follow His commandments. If we don’t do that, then we open ourselves to the attacks of the devil. Without faith, proven by our good works and obedience to God, we will stray from God’s path and reap the consequences. Even following the Lord to the best of our ability, like Christian in the Pilgrim’s Progress, we will still face attacks from the enemy. But with the shield of faith, those attacks will lodge in the shield, and we will not be destroyed.
Which leads us to part one of verse 17, which says, “Take the helmet of salvation.” Since Paul has been writing this instruction to believers, I don’t think he’s saying that now, after you’ve put on truth, righteousness, peace, and faith, then put on the helmet of salvation. I think all the people who are putting on the armor are already believers. We’ve put on the truth of who Jesus is, we’ve received His righteousness, we are equipped with the Gospel message of peace, we have faith in Jesus and are proving that faith by submitting to His will. And now we are to take the helmet of salvation, but we are already Christians so what does Paul mean by this? I think 1 Thessalonians 5:8 gives us the clue to what he means by “helmet of salvation.”
In 1 Thessalonians 5:8, Paul says, “But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled and put on the armor of faith and love, and a helmet of the hope of salvation.” I think this helmet of salvation in Ephesians is also a helmet of the hope of salvation. That phrasing, “hope of salvation” makes me think of Psalm 51:12, which says, “Restore the joy of your salvation to me, and sustain me by giving me a willing spirit.” I think in the same way that David prayed that God would restore the joy of his salvation to him, we are to put on the helmet, which is the hopeful joy of our salvation. That means that we should hold on to the hope we have that one day all that is wrong in the world will be made right. That means that no matter what we face in this world, we have hope that Jesus is coming again and we will forever be with Him. We have hope that God’s Kingdom will fully take over this evil world and Satan will be fully crushed and God’s victory will be fully realized and established. That hope, that joy that we have in our salvation, means that because of the salvation that Jesus has given us through His death on the cross and our faith in Him, we do not need to be afraid of the enemy. When Satan attacks us, we should remind ourselves that we are a child of God. We do not battle on our own. We are clothed in the armor of God. We stand in authority, for Christ in us has given us authority to do battle in His name. We do not have to fear the devil. We can stand in that full armor, unafraid and ready to face whatever he throws at us. We stand, ready to do battle.
Which leads us to the next piece of armor: the first offensive weapon. The second half of verse 17 says, “and the sword of the Spirit—which is the word of God.” Now clothed with full armor, including the hope of our salvation, we are to take the sword of the Spirit. We are to fight, using the Word of God as our weapon.
I want to go back to The Pilgrim’s Progress example. Apollyon attacks again, and this time wounds Christian, but right before he would have been killed, John Bunyan, the author, writes, “Christian nimbly reached out his hand for his sword, and caught it, saying, ‘Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy; when I fall, I shall arise;’ (Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me. Micah 7:8) and with that, gave him a deadly thrust, which made him give back, as one that had received his mortal wound. Christian perceiving that, made at him again, saying, ‘Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through him that loved us.’ (Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Romans 8:37) and with that, Apollyon spread forth his dragon’s wings, and sped him away, (Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7) and Christian for a season saw him no more.”
Christian fought off Apollyon by quoting Scripture to him. Jesus, in real life, also answered Satan’s attempts at temptation by quoting scripture to him. We should do the same. When Satan attacks us, we must answer with the truth of Scripture. We can start by quoting to ourselves 1 John 4:4 which says, “You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” We can remind ourselves of this truth so we can be confident instead of afraid. Then, led by the Holy Spirit, we can answer the attacks of world and the devil with the truth we find in God’s Word. We are to declare God’s Word and hold on to the truth. Again, we must know God’s Word, so we can wield it in the battle. If we don’t know God’s Word, then we will crumble under the lies of the enemy.
Then, the one weapon that isn’t on the most people’s list of armor, but really should be included, is prayer. Verse 18 says, “Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.”
Prayer is our other weapon. And prayer is most effective when we are clothed in this armor. James 5:16 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.” Part of being clothed in the armor of God is we are to “take up righteousness like armor on our chest.” I’ve said it before, and I will keep saying it: If we better understood the power of prayer, we would never stop praying. Prayer is the most powerful weapon we have.
Our ultimate struggle is not against people, but against these spiritual forces of darkness. We have to recognize the true nature of the battle we are in and engage in effective spiritual warfare by being fully clothed in this armor. We then can wield the weapons of God’s Word and faith-filled prayer. If you remember from a previous sermon, those two “tools” are the same “tools” that Jesus deployed during His suffering on the cross: He kept in constant prayer, and He recalled Scripture.
God has given us the authority to resist and rebuke the devil and his demons. Luke 10:19 records Jesus saying, “Look, I have given you the authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy; nothing at all will harm you.” If you are a child of God, He has given you that same authority. Let us stand in that confidence, taking up the full armor He has given us, and do battle through God’s Word and prayer. Let us fight against the forces of darkness. Let us stand against the schemes of the devil and extinguish all his flaming arrows, led by the power of the Holy Spirit who lives inside of us and through the power of the Name of Jesus.
But as Jesus adds in verse 20 of Luke 10, “However, don’t rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” That is why we are to do battle, isn’t it? We battle against evil so that evil does not lead us astray and we lose the hope of our salvation. We battle so we can resist sin and the devil. We battle not only so that we may be able to resist in the evil day, but so that we can share this message of salvation with the world. Just as Paul asked his readers to pray for him so that he would be bold, we too must pray for the Church. This section of Ephesians concludes with verses 19-20, which say, “Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough to speak about it as I should.” Let that be our prayer, too.
Pray: Heavenly Father, we first confess to You that we are in need of forgiveness. Please forgive us for failing to put on this armor You have given us. Please forgive us, and help us by Your Holy Spirit to daily put on the full armor. Please help us, too, to be bold in sharing this message of peace. Help us to be “bold enough to speak about it as we should.” Please forgive us for the times we’ve sat on the sidelines. Please empower us to speak the truth, and please teach us to pray at all times, making better use of the tools of prayer that You have given us. We pray for Your Church that we would join together and battle against the evil of this age. So that more and more people would find salvation and join us in the hope of salvation we hold. We pray, too, that by Your power You would stop the plans of the enemy and that Your will would be done on earth as it is in Heaven. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
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