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New Living Translation Chapter 6

10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.

12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

Book: Ephesians Theme: Body-Building Information: Look! An “E Fishing!” And of all things to catch—a body builder! When you try to remember the theme of the Book of Ephesians, this “E Fishing” is going to remind you that the Keyword is Body-Building. Paul writes a letter to build up the body of believers at Ephesus. For the believer in Christ, life is lived in two planes. The heavenly one, where we are seated with Christ positionally, and the earthly one, where we are in, but not of, the world. In this letter Paul sets forth both realities to the Christians at Ephesus. One of the most balanced books in the Bible, Ephesians’ six chapters are divided into two parts of three chapters each. In the first section, Paul presents the reality of our spiritual riches in Christ, all based on the grace of God we are saved by grace through faith (2:8–9). In the last half, the walk of the believer is made clear. In light of our wealth, we then should walk in a manner worthy of the calling we have received (4:1).

a. What: to be strong in the Lord (6:10).

6:10. Paul exhorted believers to be strong in the Lord and in the might (kratei, “power that overcomes resistance” as used in Christ’s miracles) of God’s inherent strength (ischyos; cf. “the power [kratous] of His inherent strength” [ischyos] in 1:19). Hence believers can be strengthened not only by the person of V 2, p 643 the Lord but also by His resources (cf. Phil. 4:13).

b. How: to put on God’s armor (6:11a).

6:11a. The form of the Greek imperative put on indicates that believers are responsible for putting on God’s (not their) full armor (panoplian, also in v. 13; all the armor and weapons together were called the hapla; cf. 2 Cor. 6:7) with all urgency. The detailed description of the armor (given in Eph. 6:14–17) may stem from Paul’s being tied to a Roman soldier while in prison awaiting trial (cf. Acts 28:16, 20).

c. Why: to stand against the devil’s strategy (6:11b–13)

6:11b–12. The purpose of putting on God’s armor is to be able to stand against the schemes or stratagems (methodeias, used in the NT only here and in 4:14) of the devil or adversary (cf. 4:27).