Reflections On Ephesians 6:10-18

**Meg** · May-8th-2011, 01:20 PM

The famous Armor Of God passages... I have pondered these things for so many years. The Holy Spirit brought these things to mind once again this past week, and again I searched for the core truth that is strong enough to reveal the long desired victory over the things that torment us and all too often seem to defeat us as we struggle for something that makes sense in an increasingly frightening and offensive world around us...

First, I remembered a study I had done on Ephesians 6;12, which describes what exactly we are up against. I had done a paper study of the concepts with the book resources I have had for many years (Strongs, Vines, Word Pictures In The New Testament and Word Meanings In The New Testament). Then I asked Mattfivefour about the same verse, since he fully comprehends the Greek and how the sentences actually communicate the ideas Paul had mastered. The following is quoted from Matt''s reply in a recent PM:

Simply, it does not imply but plainly states that we are not fighting against flesh and blood. Rather we are fighting against principalities, powers and rulers. These are the unseen powers that are operating around us and in the enemies of the Cross. After all Scriptrue says there are only two Masters a man can have: Satan or Christ. (Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:13) Therefore, those who do not have Christ as their master have Satan. In fact, to those who opposed Christ, He said, "Ye are of (belong to) your father the devil." (John 8:44)

The Holy Spirt , through Paul, is clearly telling us here that we may think our problem is the evil king or the bad president or our contrary neighbor or evil people or those who oppose the gospel; but, rather, our problem is the unseen powers that inspire and control them. We can fight against men all we like, but we are wasting our energies. Our battle is not really with them, it is with those "beings" that control and drive them. This does not mean they are necessarily possessed (very, very, very few are); but it does mean that these ones are under the influence of the dark powers which are summed up in Satan. Therefore, instructs the Holy Spirit, we are to put on the COMPLETE armor (πανοπλίαν) of God.

This particular sentence is very important:

The Holy Spirt , through Paul, is clearly telling us here that we may think our problem is the evil king or the bad president or our contrary neighbor or evil people or those who oppose the gospel; but, rather, our problem is the unseen powers that inspire and control them.

Evil and wicked people are indeed satan's hands and feet, and it is perfectly natural to attempt to resist the person who is perpetuating the problem that is directly bothering us. But, unfortunately, that would be rather like destroying a barrel that holds toxic waste without doing anything about the toxic waste that is inside the barrel itself. That is very easy to say and an entirely different matter to actually do, which is why Spiritual Warfare is the most confusing, frustrating and poorly understood task the Christian can undertake. So let us consider what we are instructed to do about it...

Ephesians 6:13 tells us that what we are ultimately trying to accomplish is to stand our ground:

13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

This underscores the impression I have had from my earliest, shakiest efforts to master Christianity (these were the years I was still doing a whole lot more wrong than I was doing right, and really wondering if I could ever get away from what the street had done to me...) The Lord never ever criticized me for not doing well enough or not trying hard enough. This was the point where I began to see the difference between how God thinks and how people think. At one point, when I was fussing about how little progress I thought I was making, the Holy Spirit told me that if He made too many changes in me all at once, the shock would be too much for me. I discovered what He meant by that when He began healing me of the frightening anger I had in my heart, and at first I actually felt unarmed and scared... It took a while to adjust to life without the familiar defenses...

Ephesians 6:14 (first part)

14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist,

The truth is so critical to our ability to survive the relentless onslaught of doubts and accusations we suffer aimed at ourselves and at each other. Negative thoughts about ourselves and each other are so common, so unfortunately, normal, that they're kind of like the air we breathe, always there and often going unnoticed! It can and does take a genuine effort to seek out the lies we believe about ourselves and about each other, and discover what the truth is in any given matter. Therefore, one of the most important ministries of the indwelling Holy Spirit is to show us the truth in our daily lives! Which brings us to the next statement in Ephesians 6:14, which takes more prayerful consideration, and I truly believe, a genuinely humble submission to Scripture:

with the breastplate of righteousness in place,

Now here is where we need to slow down and get careful, because if we are going to really succeed, we need a working definition of righteousness! That definition can only be found in Scripture, and we need to be very careful what we think righteousness actually is, or one our primary defenses will be compromised!

So I pose a question to be considered through the Word:

What then is righteousness?

I will need further study with help from Robert who is really skilled in exegesis to get that answer clarified through the Word of God, which is the only source of such an important concept that we dare trust.

In Christ, Meg

**king'sbloomingrose** · May-8th-2011, 03:57 PM

Isn't it Christ's righteousness which is imputed to the believer by faith when he is saved?

Philippians 3:9-10

and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;

**mattfivefour** · May-8th-2011, 10:39 PM

Exactly. It is Christ's righteousness, as it states in the Ephesians verse you quoted ... and which is confirmed by Philippians 3:8-9— "I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith."

Also:

"He made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:19 NASB

In fact, we are given even more than righteousness in Christ:

"But by His (the Father's) doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption." 1 Corinthians 1:30

And we appropriate that righteousness to ourselves ONLY BY FAITH (Romans 10:4) ... in Christ and His finished work at the Cross. Thus Paul wrote of the confusion of the Jews who could not comprehend that with all of their law-keeping they could not attain to the righteousness they desired (and which the Pharisees assumed) yet the "Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness...!" How? "... even the righteousness which is by faith." (Romans 9:30)

Let that be a lesson for all of us who, so desiring righteousness, try to attain that righteousness by keeping laws ... whether church laws, scriptural laws, or those laws we derive from scripture and that seem holy and right to us. Our living right is our due service to God; but it does not achieve any righteousness on our behalf. We are complete in Him ... in Jesus Christ. Complete. Nothing lacking! Our living right is merely what we should do.

Yet even this we cannot do in our own strength: for if we can keep holy in our own strength and do true righteous deeds in our own ability then Christ need not have died. Rather, it is only as the Holy Spirit in us has the freedom to work in us (which He does as long as our faith is in what Jesus did at the Cross) and thus is able to gradually more and more form the image of Christ in us, that our lives can begin to mirror the righteousness and the holiness of Christ. Those things are fruit of the Spirit ... not of our works. And when that fruit is mature, when we walk only in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and complete self-control, then people will not see us ... but Christ in us.

I pray this helps someone.

**myinnuendo999** · May-9th-2011, 10:36 AM

Originally Posted by mattfivefour

Exactly. It is Christ's righteousness, as it states in the Ephesians verse you quoted ... and which is confirmed by Philippians 3:8-9— "I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith."

Also:

"He made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:19 NASB

In fact, we are given even more than righteousness in Christ:

"But by His (the Father's) doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption." 1 Corinthians 1:30

And we appropriate that righteousness to ourselves ONLY BY FAITH (Romans 10:4) ... in Christ and His finished work at the Cross. Thus Paul wrote of the confusion of the Jews who could not comprehend that with all of their law-keeping they could not attain to the righteousness they desired (and which the Pharisees assumed) yet the "Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness...!" How? "... even the righteousness which is by faith." (Romans 9:30)

Let that be a lesson for all of us who, so desiring righteousness, try to attain that righteousness by keeping laws ... whether church laws, scriptural laws, or those laws we derive from scripture and that seem holy and right to us. Our living right is our due service to God; but it does not achieve any righteousness on our behalf. We are complete in Him ... in Jesus Christ. Complete. Nothing lacking! Our living right is merely what we should do.

Yet even this we cannot do in our own strength: for if we can keep holy in our own strength and do true righteous deeds in our own ability then Christ need not have died. Rather, it is only as the Holy Spirit in us has the freedom to work in us (which He does as long as our faith is in what Jesus did at the Cross) and thus is able to gradually more and more form the image of Christ in us, that our lives can begin to mirror the righteousness and the holiness of Christ. Those things are fruit of the Spirit ... not of our works. And when that fruit is mature, when we walk only in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and complete self-control, then people will not see us ... but Christ in us.

I pray this helps someone.

Amen mattfivefour thanks for the wonderful encouragement brother.

It's JESUS whom we cling to- who IS our Righteousness, our Justice, our Hope,----JESUS our Joy our WISDOM.... We don't cut it but we look to Jesus who satisfied the Father in every way-iota and we LEARN to let HIM be our Strength

We STAND firm on the everlasting promises of GOD and although we FAIL,,, by faith IN JESUS through the darkest clouds and deepest valleys of my life, I SMILE- ONLY when I SEE a glimpse of JESUS through it all. HE is the ONLY SMILE in my heart when all Ive done fails because JESUS is the sweet smelling aroma pleasing to the Father. In our obedience we find our deepest joy and satisfaction is the righteousness of Jesus ---not us

Philippians 4:13 "I can do everything through him who gives me strength"

**Meg** · May-9th-2011, 12:47 PM

Thank you Matt and Myinnuendo, I am starting to get my mind around all this. I am also working with a devotional book I found that discusses suffering and the wisdom of the Lord. The hardest thing I have ever done as a Christian is attempt to recover from prosperity preaching, probably because we are all so sure we know what love is supposed to imply.

What is it then, the flesh which seeks and craves only what feels good and is devoid of conflict? I recorded a statement from my first teacher, "Love grows in conflict" ( a reference to his marriage and them process of he and his wife working to overcome their differences in parenting issues)... Does trust in the Lord then, grow in conflict? Deep down, I think the answer must be yes... What a difficult paradox!

As Robert and I discuss what happened top his Mother, and what is and has been happening to his Dad, the necessity and value of self sacrifice becomes increasingly clear as well. But be warned, dear readers, self sacrifice is deadly, utterly impossible without the sustaining Holy Spirit! I have seen well-meaning unbelievers try to be self sacrificial without the help of the Holy Spirit, and I have seen them burn themselves out... Without the Lord and His Holy Spirit, we are far from strong enough to be as good as we would like to be!

**Meg** · May-9th-2011, 02:11 PM

John 3:21 is a good guide:

21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

**mattfivefour** · May-9th-2011, 02:29 PM

But be warned, dear readers, self sacrifice is deadly, utterly impossible without the sustaining Holy Spirit! I have seen well-meaning unbelievers try to be self sacrificial without the help of the Holy Spirit, and I have seen them burn themselves out... Without the Lord and His Holy Spirit, we are far from strong enough to be as good as we would like to be!

Indeed! In fact I think there may have been an Oswald Chambers reflection posted by Holly in the pasty few weeks that spoke the same thing.

The plain fact is that the Christian life is IMPOSSIBLE to lead ... by our own will-power and strength. If it were possible to live and act like Christ through our own efforts, then He came and died unnecessarily: we could have attained right relationship with God by ourselves. But Christ did come ... because neither we nor any person who has ever lived (outside of Jesus) could ever attain to right relationship with God—either in position or in condition—through anything we could ever do. Christ's death on the Cross was necessary to enable us to be saved ... and Christ's life in us through the Holy Spirit is necessary to enable us to live His life on this earth.