Christians wage spiritual “warfare” through right conduct, acts of love, and by proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ.
But what exactly did he mean by “spiritual
warfare,” and more importantly, how do we war against these spiritual forces? Unfortunately,
too often we read his words with little regard to their larger context, and all
too easily this results in assumptions that are read into the text. But the
passage is NOT disconnected from what has preceded it.
By “wrestling against
the principalities and powers,” Paul is not introducing
new mystical experiences that Christians must practice so that they may resist
the Devil more effectively. Rather, he is concluding all that he has written in
the letter to this point before launching into his final salutations and
instructions to the church - “Finally…put on the whole
armor of God...”
And in his conclusion, he has provided us with a
list of the “weapons” at our disposal for resisting Satan, including
truth, righteousness, the “preparation
of the gospel of peace,” faith,
salvation, prayer, and the “word of God.” Moreover, the final item in
the list is described as the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
The structure of the Greek sentence makes it clear
that “word of God” refers to the term “sword” rather than “spirit”;
that is, the sword wielded by the Spirit is the “word of God.” And in
the list of weapons, the “sword” is the only one that can be used offensively
when confronting an enemy soldier.
But this description is more accurately translated
as the “utterance of God”; it is the spoken word of God or rhéma
rather than the written word or logos. While either Greek noun can be
used synonymously as a general reference to the “word of God,” in this passage,
the distinction is important.
Paul has already listed the “preparation of the
gospel of peace.” And by “utterance,” he does not mean words spoken by God
Himself or words spoken through the gift of prophecy. Rather, the reference is
to the preaching of the gospel. That is, the proclamation of the gospel is how
the Spirit wields the “sword,” preaching the gospel is the Spirit in action and
on the offensive against the works of the Devil.
This understanding is borne out by Paul’s request
for prayer that he be given utterance and “boldness” to preach the “mystery
of the gospel.” And the Greek term rendered “boldness” or parrésia
more fully mean “freedom of speech.”
Before our inclusion in the church, we were walking
“according to the course of this world, according
to the prince of the powers of the air, the spirit that is working in the
sons of disobedience.” That
former miserable state was made evident by how we “lived in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the
mind, and were by nature children of wrath.” Our sinful lifestyles demonstrated that we were under the dominion
of the Devil. One did not need supernatural powers to perceive our fallen state!
But in the church, God has drawn us “nigh,”
though previously we were “alienated from the
commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of the promise, and without
God in the world.” And He has made both Jews and Gentiles “one new
man,” having “dismantled the
middle wall of partition between them.” And through Jesus, both now “have access in one Spirit to the Father,” and
all are “fellow-citizens with the saints, and members of
the household of God… built together for a habitation of the Spirit of God.”
This is the “mystery of Christ” that was
unknown in previous generations but has now been revealed through the “apostles and prophets,” that
the “Gentiles are fellow-heirs and
fellow-members of the body, and fellow-partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus
through the gospel.”
Considering all the gracious blessings that God
has bestowed on His people, Paul then gave a series of exhortations summoning believers
to right conduct, interspersed with real-life examples of how they do so. His
description of “warfare” with spiritual powers at the end of the letter concludes
this section by informing the Ephesians about the true nature of their
struggles in everyday life. In other words, his instructions on how Christians should
“walk” demonstrated how “spiritual warfare” was to be waged; that
is to say, how one resists the Devil.
Thus, we ought to “walk worthily of the calling wherewith we were called in all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love.” No longer must we be “blown about by every wind of doctrine,” but instead, speaking truth in love, we ought to “grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ.”
And to walk worthily of this calling, we must “no longer walk as the Gentiles walk in
the vanity of their mind.” Truth
is “in Jesus,” and if we have been taught by him, we must discard the “old
man” and be “renewed in the spirit of our
minds.”
And that “new man” has been created “in righteousness and holiness” for
good works. Therefore, we must eschew falsehood and only speak
truth one with another. We ought to be angry but not sin or otherwise “give place to the devil.” And herein is a clear statement on how we opposed
and prevail over satanic forces, the “powers and principalities,” by NOT
sinning against one another.
And we succeed at not “giving place to the
Devil” by doing positive acts for others. Rather than steal, we ought to “work
with our hands that we may have whereof to give to him
that is needy.” Satan works to impoverish our brothers and
sisters. Resist him by feeding and clothing those who are hungry and naked. Rather
than profane speech, speak to one another that which is “good for edifying.”
Put away all wrath and bitterness, and instead be “kind
to one to another, forgiving each other, even as God also forgave us
in Christ.” It is our backbiting and expressions of anger
towards our brethren that “grieves the Holy Spirit.”
We are
called to become “imitators of God,” and therefore
we must walk in love just as Jesus did, the one who loved us and “gave
himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet odor.” It was
by his self-sacrificial death that he defeated Satan and all the “powers and
principalities”! Sexual impropriety, uncleanness, and covetousness should
not even be named among the saints. Instead, let us be “giving thanks”
to God for all His graciousness. It is our positive acts for others that defeat
the spiritual powers that are arrayed against us. But when we surrender to
lust, anger, and greed, those same powers are victorious over us.
We now “live in the light” and must “walk”
accordingly by having no fellowship with the “unfruitful works
of darkness.” And proper Christian
conduct and “spiritual warfare” extend even to the more mundane areas of our
lives. Wives, for example, must show reverence to their husbands. Husbands
are called to love their wives, “just
as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for it.”
Children should obey their parents, “for this is right” in the
Lord. And
fathers must not provoke their children, but instead, nurture them “in the chastening and admonition of the Lord.”
Rather than get “drunk with wine” as the Gentiles do, Christians are called to be “filled
with the Spirit,”
and this is achieved by “speaking one to another in psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs, singing and making melody o the Lord.”
It
is by “walking worthily of the Lord” that we apply “the whole armor
of God,” and in the process, we recognize that the source behind the temptations
in our daily lives is Satan and his forces. We “resist the Devil” by performing
concrete acts of love and mercy for others. As Paul wrote elsewhere, “Be not
overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.” And it is the Spirit of God
that enables the believer to “walk” in this manner.
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