In the edition of “Food for Thought” that was distributed in the spring of 2017, I began a series called, “How to be Victorious in a Spiritual Battle.” In the first part of this series, we delved into Luke 4:1-13.
The enemy of our souls, Satan, will oppose God’s plan for us any way he can, but God’s Word has a lot to say about how He wants us to deal with this opposition from the evil one. God has taught us, and equipped us, to be victorious in any battle we have with Satan. I was originally planning to cover Ephesians 6:10-20 all at once. But, as I began taking a closer look at it, I realized that there was too much contained in that passage, to adequately address it in one article.
The focus of my second article on this topic is Ephesians 6:10-13 (NIV), where we begin reading about “The Whole Armor of God.” In the next edition of “Food for Thought,” we will continue reading this Scripture, as we look at Ephesians 6: 14-20.
Ephesians 6:10-13 says,
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
What can we learn from this passage of Scripture?
- Interestingly, this passage of Scripture reveals the same thing that we saw in Luke 4:1-13 (NIV). Jesus properly identified the source of His temptations as the devil, Satan. Our inclination can be to blame a certain person(s) or situation for causing our temptations and trials. However, God’s Word tells us, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12)
- Properly identifying the source of our spiritual battle is vital because it enables us to follow God’s instruction to “love one another.” (John 13:34) He IS love, and if we behave otherwise, we are not fully obeying or imitating Him.
- We need to acknowledge the reality of the battle that we are in. Once we do, we need to be ready and willing to deal with the enemy of our souls, Satan. He means business, and we should as well.
- In an effort to weaken us from the start, the first thing that Satan will likely target is our thoughts. He will try to convince us that our defeat is guaranteed, but that is not true. 1 John 4:4 speaks the truth…“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them [spiritual forces of evil], because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” God has equipped us to be victorious in this battle. Through Him, we can be victors – not victims!
- Satan is relentless in his assault against us, so we need to be prepared 24/7 – not just at certain times when we can SEE trouble approaching. We need to remain clothed in our battle attire. We should never take it off, but daily we need to remember to “take up” the whole armor anew, and commit to living in the whole armor of God for the day ahead of us.
- The Lord’s faithfulness never ceases. We can be confident that Psalm 121:4-6 (NIV) is true. It says, “indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you—the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
- We can be sure that Satan will continue his attempts to engage us in battle with him, wherever he can find an area of weakness/vulnerability in us. However, we can also be confident that Jesus has already won the war, which means that Satan has already been defeated. That knowledge enables us tofocus our attention onwhat God is doing, instead of what Satan is doing.
- Persistence in this battle is key to our success. However, persisting in the battle doesn’t always require movement on our part – but it does require faith in God. God’s ways are sometimes different from our human ways. For example, God’s Word tells us to “Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10a) It goes against our human nature to “be still” in the midst of any kind of struggle. Nevertheless, that is what God asks us to do sometimes. When that happens – we need to trust Him.
- In looking at the pieces of armor that we will take a closer look at in the next edition, we see that ‘the shield of faith’ is essential to all of the other pieces working effectively. The ESV says that we are to take up ‘the shield of faith’ in all circumstances. Scripture says “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb. 11:6), which confirms its importance.
We’ll look at more of Ephesians 6 next time. But, let’s remember that through this armor, God has provided us with everything we need to be victorious against the enemy of our souls, regardless of the flaming arrows that he throws at us.
