Ephesians 6
Ephesians 6:1-24
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
2 “HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,” which is the first commandment with promise:
3 “THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU AND YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH.”
4 And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
5 Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ;
6 not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,
7 with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men,
8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.
9 And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving up threatening, knowing that your own Master also is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.
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.
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—
19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel,
20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
21 But that you also may know my affairs and how I am doing, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make all things known to you;
22 whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, that you may know our affairs, and that he may comfort your hearts.
23 Peace to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
24 Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.
Paul has indicated that the revelation of Christ is the revelation of His love and will be displayed through His church, those who have received Him and are continually walking in His light as His children. This work of grace will look like submission of self to service of others in every relationship of life. He started off with the marriage relationship and is continuing with family and work relationships, demonstrating that love’s submission will be required in every interaction of life in order to be the unstoppable united force of His church. He prayed a prayer for this with an expectation that God would fulfill this work way beyond our expectation, but He also represents here that this will require a strength to stand that only comes through intentional preparation. Just focusing alone on the need to submit to others in love will not produce the desired results. It will come with faithful wearing of the armor that will effectively withstand every challenge to the display of love. There is assurance that simply putting on truth, righteousness, peace, salvation, the Word, and prayer, there will be no submission to attacks against our walk of love. We will be strong and immovable if we are true to what we’ve already been given in faith. By daily redirecting our attention from the challenges to the armor that will overcome them, there is assurance of an unshakeable stance. Only putting on some of them, though, may leave a vulnerability in an uncovered area. Leaving truth out of our donning, for instance, may open the door to a love-disrupting falsehood that corrupts the whole.
Rather than being overwhelmed by what could look like another impossible weight to carry of ensuring every part is covered, there can be a draw on the help we need at the throne of grace. This is actually the only way that we can hope to grow in this at all. Being strong in our representation of Christ and His love will be a work of the Spirit as each one of these necessary elements is acquired in Him and by His power alone. This is why our love will be the sign to the world of Christ’s coming, because it will be secured in a way that only God could establish, something impossible apart from His imparted nature. This fruit and empowerment can be a confident expectancy in our faithful approach to His throne – something to be energized and wonderfully thrilled in – will be standing strong in the evil day, never falling.
I’ve never though about the continuity between the section of serving masters and going into the armor of God, and our battle not being against flesh and blood. I don’t think that was an accident.
Many times our leaders grieve us, let us down, mistreat us and create atmospheres that are full of turmoil; whether it’s a boss, or someone in government. People’s reaction is to slander that person, to dishonor them; but Paul is telling us, it’s not the man we struggle with, it’s the spirit behind the man.
We need to be praying for those in leadership above us all the way to the President of our nation. We are not at war with any of them personally, we are at war in the spirit realm. Praise God, we affect the spirit realm through our prayers, so our job is to pray and remain in a place of not mistreating, defaming, or dishonoring the person.
You know, the old English teacher in me sees the paragraphs and breaks and so my brain wants to read each as separate thoughts. But sometimes it takes looking at it continuously to see it in a different light, and may that be His light. The term righteousness hit me differently. Verse Ephesians 6:4, the breastplate. AMP reminds that Righteousness is an upright heart. Our hearts are TRAINED on, focused on Him. In His presence we are equipped. It’s not a self Righteousness via our striving but a heart condition. as we keep our hearts trained on Him, He does the training. I was reminded of the ancient Samuri, they were trained in a way. Warrior is different than soldier. While soldiers are trained, they take orders, that is a bit more like religion. To be on a WAY and the WAY, is a way of being, a heart condition constantly fixed on Him as our life for He is Life, in Christed.
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