The armor of God

Be Strong in the Lord – Ephesians 6:10-18

Paul introduces the final section of the letter to the Ephesians in verse 10 of chapter six. This passage is considered by many to be one of the most important in regards to our spiritual warfare with our enemy.
Paul introduces this section with the phrase “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.” As Obrien points out this is a passive imperative.[1] That suggests that our “strengthening comes from an external source, which the following phrase indicates is the Lord Jesus.”[2] It is this strengthening that comes from Christ that is the key to everything that follows. Our enemy is powerful and can only be overcome by the power of the Lord all efforts of the flesh are therefore doomed to failure.
This is followed by another imperative this time in the middle voice with the intent that it be understood as an active. This imperative is that we put on the whole armor of God. It is here that many of the so called ‘deliverance ministries suggest that Paul intends a prayer of some sort. In this case it has the false idea that this passage can be used in some sort of magical sense. The problem with this view is this idea of putting on or clothing oneself is as noted to be understood as an active effort on the part of the Christian. The second problem is that this imperative is found in a number of other places and there they are not used in some formula fashion (Rom. 13:12, 14; 1 Cor. 15:53-54; Col. 3:10, 12; 1 Th. 5:8). The idea is that we would cloth ourselves in the armor of God, that we would surround ourselves with the armor of God.
The second half of verse 11 through verse twelve outlines the reason that we must rely upon the power of the Lord and have need of the armor. The following elements are identified in these two verses:
1. Who is our enemy? It is the devil and the rulers of darkness of this present world.
2. We need the armor because our enemy uses “wiles” to deceive and influence. The armor therefore prepares us for these efforts.
3. Our enemy is not flesh and blood so we need equipment that is centered not in flesh and blood but in the spiritual provision that the armor provides us.
Verse 13 then is a reiteration of the imperative to put on the armor in light of what he has told us of our enemy.
Rather than going through in detail all of the aspects of the armor consider how we might put on these aspects that the armor represents. Rather than being some sort of formula this passage highlights the importance of preaching and teaching of doctrine in an indirect way. It is only through a depth of teaching and learning that we will fully understand the significance of these elements. We have to understand the elements such as righteousness, salvation, faith, the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God. Then and to some extent only then can we surround ourselves in our daily walk so as to be prepared for the battle that we always face. Can you imagine going into battle with any elements of your armor and weaponry without first completely understanding how they function and what their importance to the battle is? That is exactly how many today approach this passage. They do not take the time to research these subjects so that they are fully equipped for the battle.
Finally the fully equipped saint is then in verse 18 told to continually watch out for the care of him and the other saints. There is to be a perseverance that marks this aspect of our walk. It is far to easy for any of us to fail in this regard either by failing to be watchful of ourselves or being watchful of our fellow Christians.


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[1] Peter Thomas O'Brien, The Letter to the Ephesians, The Pillar New Testament commentary (Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1999), 461.
[2] Ibid