Iain M. Duguid - The Whole Armor of God: How Christs Victory Strengthens Us for Spiritual Warfare

Ephesians 6:1013

Over recent years, there have been many television shows aimed at helping people get properly dressed. Sometimes the premise revolves around watching experts help people to pick the right outfit for a wedding. At other times, someone with a woefully poor fashion sense receives a total makeover with the help of fashion gurus and serious spending. As someone who is no expert in clothing trends, I find such programs fascinating. However, I would like to see follow -u p programs six months later. Were the peoples lives genuinely transformed by their new fashion insights, or have they reverted to their old habits, redonning saggy spandex and sandals with socks?

Christianity is a religion about helping people become properly dressed, although not in the sartorial sense. Sins against fashion ought not to be held against you in the community of believers. But Paul advises the Ephesians that there are certain things Christians must put off and others they must put on, just like in the television shows. More specifically, he tells us to put on the Christian armor so that we can be properly equipped to stand up to the assaults that will inevitably come our way in this fallen and spiritually dangerous world.

Life here on earth is hardoften very, very hard. According to the Bible, life is not a picnic but a battle , an armed struggle against a powerful adversary. To engage in that battle properly, we need a spiritual makeover in which our flimsy, inadequate natural attire is replaced by suitable armor and weaponry. So Paul concludes this magnificent, gospel -s aturated letter, Ephesians, with a final charge to be prepared to engage with the battle of life in the right way.

In this book, we are going to unpack each of the pieces of armor he describes, but first we shall look at three perspectives that orient us to the larger fight: the scale of our need, the vastness of Gods provision, and the call to stand.

The Scale of Our Need

Paul spares no effort in describing the seriousness of our opposition. We dont wrestle with flesh and blood but against the rulers, the authorities, the cosmic powers of this present darkness (Eph. 6:12). If that sounds scary, it is because it is meant to. The devil is a very real, very powerful opponent, far too powerful for us to take on in our own strength. This is a salutary reminder to people in our Western context, who are inclined to ridicule the idea of a literal devil. Many find the idea of a cosmic being whom we cant see, feel, or touch and who promotes evil in this world unthinkable. Of course, the devil in whom they dont believe is, in their minds, often not the biblical figure but a rather ridiculous image with hooves and horns. Who could seriously believe in that creature? It is convenient for the devil when people dont believe in his existence. Then he can pursue his nefarious schemes unsuspected and undetected.

Yet who doubts the reality of evil in this universe? Almost everyone agrees that some things are not merely tragic but genuinely evil. Gassing millions of Jews in the death camps of Poland is evil. Press -g anging young African children into an army, getting them high on drugs, and then sending them into battle is evil. Trafficking women in the sex industry is evil. Where does all this evil in the world come from? Mans natural inhumanity to man hardly seems a sufficient explanation for evil on this scale. Is it possible that there is another factor, a supernatural spiritual dimension, to all of this moral depravity? If you believe that the universe you see around you is all there is, then you have no rational basis on which to be shocked and outraged at evil. What we call evil must then be interpreted simply as an emotional response within us to dangerous things, triggered by evolutionary biology. But the Bible has a richer and deeper explanation for the sad world we find ourselves in, an explanation that allows us to recognize the profound reality of evil and the invisible spiritual forces that lie behind its constant reappearance in different shapes and forms.

The Ephesians to whom Paul was writing were not modern materialists. They were very well aware of the spiritual forces around them, as people in other parts of the world continue to be. Yet even to them, Paul makes a point of highlighting the power of the opposition we face:

We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness. (Eph. 6:12)

Some of the terms that Paul uses here may have been in use in Ephesus as titles for various spiritual beings; Ephesus was a hotbed of occult interest, as Acts 5:8).

Of course, adding to the imbalance in this wrestling match is the fact that although our opponents are not flesh and blood, we are. We are not principalities and powers or cosmic rulers but ordinary flawed, fallen, flesh -a nd -b lood mortals. You might think that we have no business engaging in this combat; in the language of Tolkiens Lord of the Rings , it is hobbits against orcs, an unequal contest. Yet this is exactly the battle in which we are engaged. Serving in the Lords army is not an option reserved for those particularly devoted to God. The choice is not whether you will be a Christian soldier or a Christian civilian but whether you will be a prepared Christian soldier or an unprepared one. And an unprepared soldier of flesh and blood will not be able to stand against the scale of the spiritual forces ranged against him or her.

What is more, this conflict takes place in the midst of this darkness. In many respects, the dark world in which we live is Satans playground. There are tempting sights, sounds, and tastes in this world that dazzle and allure us into sin. There is much around us that seems desirable and many powerful temptations that find a ready ally in our flesh. Earthly objects are very real to us, while heavenly realities seem ethereal and intangible. Satan also has centuries of experience as a tempter, knowing exactly which temptations are most likely to draw our individual human nature into sin, whether giving ourselves to a particular form of excess or to a subtle self -e xalting pride that flows from a belief in our own righteousness. The powerful combination of the world, the flesh, and the devil is inevitably overwhelming, left to ourselves. This is why Paul doesnt merely say, Bring the armor of God along with you on the off chance that you might need it. Rather, he says, You will need it; so put it on.

As a skilled tempter, Satan also knows how to use the difficulty of the combat to his own advantage. As a child, I used to watch the science fiction program Dr. Who . Some of the doctors opponents I particularly remember from those early days were the Cybermen. These terrifying bionic creatures loudly proclaimed, Resistance is useless, sending me scurrying behind the sofa week after week. In the same way, the devil often seeks to frighten us into submission, shouting at us, Resistance is useless! He pretends to even greater power than he has, presenting a particular temptation to us as utterly irresistible. He says to you: You cant help yourself. Its the way you were made. You need this sin to be happy. What is the point of resisting? You know you are going to lose in the end, so you might as well just give in now.

The Scale of Gods Provision

To combat this strategy, we need to understand the scale of the provision God has given us. In other words, the power with which we have been equipped for our struggle against sin and Satan is the very same power that brought Christ back from the dead.

This is not just the power that would be required to raise someone like Lazarus from the dead (see John 11:144). Raising the physically dead is no big deal, comparatively speaking. Yet the power of God is great enough to raise Christ from the dead, Jesus Christ who was buried in death under the full weight of Gods wrath against sinthe sin of every one of his people throughout all ages, including you and me. This power of God not only raised Jesus Christ back to life but lifted him to the heavenly realms, so that he is now seated at the right hand of the Father in glory. There is real power, far greater even than the terrifying power ranged against us! The one who is in us is greater than the one who is in the world (1 John 4:4).