Ephesians 6:10 - Meaning and Application

Here is a general call to stay faithful and steady in the Christian life, and to be encouraged in Christian warfare. Is not our life a battle? It is, because we struggle with the common troubles of human life. Is not our religion much more of a battle? It is, because we struggle against the powers of darkness and many enemies who would keep us from God and heaven.

We have enemies to fight, a captain to fight for, a banner to fight under, and rules of war to guide us. So when Paul says, “Finally, my brethren” (Ephesians 6:10), he means that it still remains for us to give ourselves to the work and duty of Christian soldiers. A soldier must be both brave and well armed. If Christians are soldiers of Jesus Christ, then they must first make sure they are brave-hearted. That is what this verse calls for: “Be strong in the Lord.”

Those who have so many battles ahead, and who must fight their way to heaven through every pass, need a great deal of courage. Be strong, then, strong for service, strong for suffering, and strong for fighting. A soldier may have the best armor on the outside, but if he has no courage within, that armor will help him little. Spiritual strength and courage are very necessary for our spiritual warfare.

“Be strong in the Lord” means either be strong in his cause and for his sake, or, more likely, be strong in his strength. We have no strength of our own that is enough. Our natural courage is really cowardice, and our natural strength is really weakness. But all our sufficiency comes from God. We must go forward in his strength. By acts of faith, we must draw help and grace from heaven to do what we cannot do by ourselves in Christian work and warfare. We should stir ourselves up to resist temptation by trusting in God’s complete power and mighty strength.

Christians must also be well armed: “Put on the whole armor of God” (Ephesians 6:11). Use every proper defense and weapon to push back the temptations and tricks of Satan. Seek out and practice all Christian graces, the whole armor, so that no part is left bare and open to the enemy. Those who want to show true grace must aim at all grace, the whole armor.

It is called the armor of God because he both prepares it and gives it. We do not have any armor of our own that can stand firm in a hard trial. Nothing will serve us except the armor of God. This armor is prepared for us, but we must put it on. That means we must pray for grace, use the grace we have received, and bring it into action as need arises.

The reason for being fully armed is so that we may be able to stand against the devil’s schemes, to keep standing, and to overcome, despite all his attacks of force and deceit, all his tricks, all his traps, and all his plans against us. Paul explains this by showing, first, what our danger is, and how much we need this whole armor because of the kind of enemies we face, the devil and all the powers of darkness: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood” (Ephesians 6:12).

The fight we must be ready for is not against ordinary human enemies, not merely against people made of flesh and blood, and not only against our own sinful nature considered by itself. We wrestle against different ranks of devils, who have a kind of rule they exercise in this world. We deal with a crafty enemy, one who uses tricks and schemes, as in (Ephesians 6:11). He has a thousand ways to mislead unstable souls. That is why he is called a serpent for his cleverness, an old serpent, skilled in the business of temptation.

He is also a powerful enemy: principalities, powers, and rulers. They are many and strong, and they rule in those heathen nations still in darkness. The dark parts of the world are the seat of Satan’s rule. They are also unlawful rulers over all people who still live in sin and ignorance. Satan’s kingdom is a kingdom of darkness, while Christ’s is a kingdom of light.

They are spiritual enemies, “spiritual wickedness in high places,” or wicked spirits, as some translate it. The devil is a spirit, a wicked spirit. Our danger is greater because our enemies cannot be seen, and they attack before we know they are near. These devils are wicked spirits, and they mostly trouble believers by pushing them toward spiritual sins, such as pride, envy, and malice.

They are said to be in high places, or heavenly places, meaning either the air between earth and the stars, where the devils are thought to attack us, or heavenly things, as some of the older writers understood it. In that sense, our enemies try to keep us from rising to heaven, to take away heavenly blessings from us, and to block our fellowship with heaven. They attack the things that belong to our souls and try to erase God’s heavenly image in our hearts. So we must stay alert against them.

We need faith in our Christian warfare, because we have spiritual enemies to face. We also need faith in our Christian work, because we must draw spiritual strength from God. This shows the danger we are in. It also shows our duty: to take and put on the whole armor of God, and then to stand our ground and resist our enemies. We must withstand them (Ephesians 6:13). We must not give in to the devil’s temptations and attacks, but oppose them.

If Satan stands against us, as in (1 Chronicles 21:1), then we must stand against him. We must keep an interest set against the devil and hold it fast. Satan is the wicked one, and his kingdom is a kingdom of sin. So to stand against Satan is to fight against sin. We must do this so that we may be able to withstand in the evil day, the day of temptation or of heavy trouble.

We must also stand our ground: “and having done all, to stand.” By God’s grace, we must resolve not to yield to Satan. Resist him, and he will flee. If we lose trust in our cause, our leader, or our armor, we give him an advantage. Our present duty is to withstand the devil’s attacks and keep standing. Then, after doing all that good soldiers of Jesus Christ should do, our warfare will be finished, and we will be finally victorious.

We must stand armed, and Paul explains this at length. Here is a Christian in complete armor, and the armor is divine: armor of God, armor of light (Romans 13:12), armor of righteousness (2 Corinthians 6:7). Paul names the parts of this armor, both for attack and for defense: the belt, the breastplate, the shoes, the shield, the helmet, and the sword. Notice that none of them are for the back. If we turn our backs on the enemy, we leave ourselves exposed.

Truth, or sincerity, is our belt, (Ephesians 6:14).

Christ was foretold to wear righteousness as his belt and faithfulness as the sash around his waist (Isaiah 11:5). What Christ wore, all Christians must also wear. God wants truth, that is, sincerity, deep in the heart. This inward sincerity gives strength to our whole life, and it holds all the other parts of our armor together, which is why it comes first. I know of no true religion without sincerity. Some take this to mean the truth of the gospel doctrine, which should cling to us as a belt clings to the waist (Jeremiah 13:11). That truth keeps us from loose living and self-indulgence, just as a belt keeps the body secure. This is the Christian soldier’s belt, and without it he is not prepared.

Righteousness must be our breastplate. A breastplate protects the vital parts and shelters the heart. Christ’s righteousness counted to us, that is, credited to us, is our breastplate against the arrows of God’s anger. Christ’s righteousness worked into us is also our breastplate, strengthening the heart against Satan’s attacks. Paul explains this in 1 Thessalonians 5:8: putting on the breastplate of faith and love. Faith and love include the whole Christian life, because through faith we are joined to Christ, and through love we are joined to our brothers and sisters. These graces lead us to do our duty toward God and to act rightly toward other people, in justice, truth, and kindness.

Resolve must be like armor for the legs: “and their feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace” (Ephesians 6:15). In earlier times, soldiers wore shoes or bronze greaves as part of their armor (1 Samuel 17:6). These protected their feet from traps and sharp stakes laid in the path to slow them down. The preparation of the gospel of peace means a heart made ready and settled, fixed on the gospel and steady in it. That kind of heart helps us walk firmly in the path of religion, even when it is hard and dangerous. It is called the gospel of peace because it brings peace with God, peace with ourselves, and peace with one another. It may also mean repentance, which prepares us to receive the gospel. We must have our feet shod with this, because a life of repentance arms us against sin and against Satan’s schemes.

Dr. Whitby takes this to mean something close to this: to be ready for the battle, put on the gospel of peace and seek that calm, peaceable mind the gospel calls for. Do not be quick to anger or eager to quarrel. Show gentleness and patience toward everyone, and this will protect you from many temptations and troubles, just as bronze shoes protected soldiers from traps.

Faith must be our shield, and above all else we must take it up (Ephesians 6:16). This is more necessary than any other piece of armor. Faith is everything to us in a time of testing. The breastplate guards the vital parts, but the shield is turned in every direction. “This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.” We must be fully convinced that all God’s promises and warnings are true, because such faith is a great help against temptation. If we think of faith as the evidence of things unseen and the assurance of things hoped for, we can see how useful it is for this purpose. Faith receives Christ and the blessings of redemption, and it draws grace from him, so it works like a shield, a kind of protection for everything. Our enemy here is called “the wicked one.” He is wicked himself, and he tries to make us wicked too. His temptations are called darts because they fly fast and often unseen, and because they wound the soul deeply. They are fiery darts, like poisonous arrows that inflame the wounded place, just as serpent bites are called fiery. Strong temptations, which set the soul on fire from hell, are the darts Satan shoots at us. Faith is the shield that quenches these fiery darts. We receive them on faith, and then they lose their power, so they do not strike us, or at least do not harm us. Faith, when it acts on God’s word and applies it, and when it acts on Christ’s grace and makes use of it, quenches the darts of temptation.

Salvation must be our helmet (Ephesians 6:17), and this means hope, whose object is salvation, as in 1 Thessalonians 5:8. The helmet protects the head. A good hope of salvation, one that is solid and well founded, will both cleanse the soul and keep it from being defiled by Satan. It will also comfort the soul and keep it from being troubled and tormented by Satan. He would drive us toward despair, but good hope keeps us trusting God and rejoicing in him.

The word of God is the sword of the Spirit. A sword is a very necessary and useful part of a soldier’s gear. In the same way, God’s word is necessary and greatly useful for the Christian, if he is to keep fighting the spiritual battle and win. It is called the sword of the Spirit because the Spirit gave it and makes it effective and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword. Like Goliath’s sword, there is none like it, and with it we strike back at our attackers. Scripture arguments are the strongest way to answer temptation. Christ himself resisted Satan by saying, “It is written” (Matthew 4:4, 4:6, 4:7, 4:10). When this word is hidden in the heart, it keeps a person from sin (Psalm 119:11), and it also weakens and kills the sinful desires and corruptions that live within.

Prayer must fasten on all the other parts of our Christian armor (Ephesians 6:18). We must join prayer with all these graces as our defense against spiritual enemies, asking God for help and strength as need requires. We must pray always. That does not mean doing nothing except pray, because there are other duties in religion and in our daily stations in life that must be done at their proper times. But we should keep regular times for prayer and stay faithful to them. We should pray whenever our own needs or other people’s needs call for it. We should keep a ready heart for prayer at all times, and mix brief prayers into our other duties and ordinary work. Set and formal prayer may sometimes be out of place, as when other duties must be done, but short, devout prayers can never be out of place. We must pray with all prayer and supplication, that is, with every kind of prayer, public, private, secret, shared, and alone, both formal and sudden. We must also pray with all the parts of prayer, confession of sin, requests for mercy, and thanksgiving for blessings received. We must pray in the Spirit, with our own spirits engaged in the work and by the help of God’s Holy Spirit.

We must stay alert and work to keep our hearts ready for prayer. We should use every opening and make the most of every chance for it. We also need to watch the stirrings of our own hearts toward prayer. When God says, “Seek my face,” our hearts must agree and obey (Psalm 27:8).

We must keep doing this with steady endurance. We should hold fast to prayer whatever changes come in our outward life, and continue in it as long as we live in this world. We must also keep at a particular prayer and not cut it short when our hearts are ready to go on, when time allows, and when our needs call for more. In the same way, we should keep pressing in particular requests, even when we meet some discouragement or refusal at first.

We must pray with humble requests, and not for ourselves alone, but for all the saints, because we are members of one another. No one is so holy, or in such a good place in this world, that they do not need our prayers. And they should have them. The apostle then moves from this to the closing of the letter.