Know the Enemy (Ephesians 6:10-13)

We now come to the final block of teaching about the Christian life that Paul mentions in this letter. In this section, Paul speaks about spiritual warfare and the armour that has been provided for all of God’s people. 

We could ask where Paul anticipated the conflict would be fought. Some think that the move to this paragraph from his previous focus is disconnected, but they think that because they don’t believe that there is a connection. Perhaps the connection is very obvious, and that spiritual attack could be anticipated in the domestic sides of life in the main because that was where most Christians would spend their time. Whether they were masters or slaves, husbands or wives, parents or children, they could be affected by the enemy. He would not have looked upon Christian households as tolerable. Rather they could be lights in their locations of spiritual darkness and therefore we can be assured that the leader of the enemy will want to snuff out all locations of spiritual light.

As we look at what he says in verses 10-13, we can see that all Christians have the same resources, have the same enemy and have the same purpose. The resources are God’s strength, the enemy is the kingdom of darkness, and the purpose is to withstand the onslaughts of the enemy.

The resources

In verse 10, Paul says that we should ‘be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might’. How strong is the Lord? The answer is that he possesses divine strength. This is the case whether we think about Jesus as divine or human. As the Mediator, he has both natures and in his human nature he has the power of the Holy Spirit.

As we think about the Lord’s strength, we can see that it is effective, enough and endless. When we say that it is effective, we mean that there is no other power of any kind that is stronger than the Lord. Even if every other power were to unite against the Lord, that united expression of power would be ineffective against him. It would not overcome the power of God. 

When we say that the power is enough, we mean that all of it is available for each of God’s people. Even if every Christian in the world is under spiritual attack simultaneously, each of them has access to the power of the Lord and therefore they need nothing else to overcome the devil and his agents. 

And when we say that the power is endless, we mean that it is constantly available for believers to use. Jesus mentioned this in the Great Commission when he said to his disciples that (1) all power was given to him in heaven and on earth and (2) he would be with them always, on each of the days until his second coming.

Of course, this raises the question as to how they can be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Paul provides the answer when he tells them to put on the whole armour of God. It is not a literal armour for the body, but a spiritual armour for the soul. Christians put the armour on by faith, but faith is based on information found in the Bible. The different features of the armour are listed by Paul and each of them is straightforward to understand. They are also freely available for believers to utilise at all times; indeed they should never take them off. So we read the Bible, see what God has provided, and take those provisions by faith. No doubt, such faith is marked by prayer, but it is faith connected to specific provisions that the Lord has given to his people.

We should observe that Paul does not say ‘strengthened by the Lord’ but ‘strengthened in the Lord’. Our strength is connected to our union with Christ. This living union is one that we seldom thing about. Briefly, we can say that when the enemy picks on a weak Christian trusting in the Lord he finds himself fighting the Lord. 

The enemy

Paul mentions several details about the spiritual enemy that believers face. They are organised, they are powerful, and they are evil. In charge of them is the devil, but since he is not omnipotent and omnipresent, he has others who help to do his will. Of course, all of them together are not omnipotent or omnipresent. They are limited in their abilities to attack the people of God, but still they can do a lot of damage if believers are not wearing the divinely-given spiritual armour.

Having said that, they exercise their power and Paul indicates that they do so in two places. The first location can be seen in what Paul calls ‘this present darkness’, which is a way of describing the world in which we live, the world that is opposed to God in a wide range of ways. We can trace most of the opposition to God in this area of life back to the devil. The apostle John reminds us that the whole world lies in the wicked one. Peter says that the devil goes around devouring people. Earlier in this letter, Paul had mentioned that Christians before they were converted were under the influence of the devil. Satan does this to people by blinding them to the existence of God, to benefits of the gospel, and to the reality of future judgment for sinners. He even blinds them to his own existence. 

The other location where the enemy powers are at work is one that may surprise us. Paul says that they are active in the heavenly places. The heavenly places is not a physical location such as a country or a city. Instead, it is the location of good spiritual experiences. Paul uses this phrase several times in this letter. In Ephesians 1:3, he mentions it is the location where God has blessed his people with every spiritual blessing (some of them are in the past, others are in the present, and others are in the future). Then in 1:20, Paul says that it is the place over which God and Jesus rule, and that this rule is far above all creaturely power, including demonic authorities. In 3:10, he points out that the authorities in this location learn about God’s wisdom through what he does in the church. And here in 6:12, he says that those hostile powers have access to the heavenly places, the location where we enjoy the blessings of God. We should not be surprised at this because part of the reward bestowed on the ascended Christ was for him to rule in the midst of his enemies.

The apostle highlights that the devil is crafty and close by. There is only one way to deal with his craftiness and that is to put on the whole armour of God. Paul implies that the devil’s schemes is to look for areas in our lives which are not protected by the armour and defeat us in those areas. 

In addition, he points out that the conflict is fought at close quarters. We wrestle against him and his helpers. In a wrestling match, there is only one winner. The devil’s aim is to stop us standing. It would have been common for soldiers at that time to wrestle with their enemies, trying to through them to the ground where they could easily be killed.

How does the devil attack us? Briefly, he does so by temptation, accusation and distortion of the Bible, whether its commands or promises. We are familiar with his temptations, and there are numerous ones available for him to use. He does not tempt every Christian with the same temptation, but he does know the ones that we are liable to heed. His accusations can be based on our failures, our sins, and our motives. He can twist what we said or did, and he can scare us by bringing thoughts into our minds. He can twist the words of the Bible, and we know that he tried this method when tempting the Saviour in the desert.

Our purpose

The purpose that the Lord has for us is that we remain immoveable. This purpose is corporate, constant and clear. It is not sufficient to stand as individuals – we are not on solo missions in this war. There is a sense in which all are affected if one soldier falls. It is not just in my interests that I don’t fall, it is in the interest of the congregation. When Satan tempts me, I should think of others as well as myself. 

How long do I have to keep this up? As long as the enemy is active in his areas of activity. We see what he is doing in society and we see what he is doing in the spiritual area, the heavenlies. Therefore, we are to be on guard, alert, perceptive. We are soldiers until the war is over.

The purpose is also clear. Paul here does not suggest that God’s people are to advance; rather they are to be immoveable. This implies that they have reached the highest place that they can have in this life. After all, they are members in the family of God. He has forgiven them and given to them assurances of glory. The devil knows that if he can weaken their commitment he can bring about situations where they lose the sense of loyalty they should have to their Lord. Sadly, he has done that on numerous occasions, but we also know that Jesus is able to restore his fallen soldiers.