Ephesians 6:11 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Ephesians 6:11

Comments

The Greek indicates that you put it on once and for all. Yes, in a sense we put it on every day, but we say, ‘O Lord, I see my perpetual need of the means that thou hast provided for me to resist evil and walk in a holy life’, and we re-apply it every day. We also put on the whole armour of God, not just part of it. Six parts will be mentioned, some people say seven, but prayer seems to be an additional exhortation: each piece is to be put on with prayer. ‘Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand’ – not be pushed back but stand in line when the devil attacks, not give way to personal sin, and not be the means by which the devil gets into the church and creates church disorder and error. I don't want to let the devil take possession of my heart and I don't want to be the doorway by which the devil comes in to take possession of my church and to bring it down. We stand when our feet are on the rock, Christ Jesus, holding the defensive line. Stand against what? The wiles of the devil. That translates the Greek for schemes or strategies. Strategies are employed, great cunning, which in 2 Corinthians 2:11 are called by the apostle, his ‘devices’, in the plural. He has many of them. He tries repeatedly to launch the same temptations, then he tries new ones. He also has strategies. He works in darkness. You cannot see him. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, not against a visible enemy or an enemy you could slay with one stroke of the sword if successful, and destroy and leave behind. He is not destructible. We wrestle not against flesh and blood. If you defeat him today, he is back tomorrow. The battle has not ended. You cannot relax, he is not flesh and blood.

Application

Questions

Can we simplify these pieces of armour to just one piece? There is one evangelical preacher in the United States who with good intentions has greatly popularised a simple approach, if we can call it that, to sanctification. If you can only find a way to be rejoicing in God constantly, then that will look after everything. Some call it Christian hedonism – enjoying God – and if you live to enjoy him everything else will follow. You will be able to resist sin, you will be able to stay close to the Lord. But when we look in the Scripture, we find it is much more serious than that. These theories of sanctification that simplify things down to one matter, might be well intended but they are not Scriptural. The apostle Paul gives us six items of armour, six methods to keep in mind, in order to resist the devil and maintain holiness. It cannot be all included in one. Others tell us, all you have got to do is to see Jesus. If you can only keep him in view, you will never sin. Still others say, all you have got to do is abide in Christ; it is sanctification by faith. If you strive and try to resist sin, they say, you will fail. You have got to discover sanctification by faith in the same way you discovered justification by faith. It is passive, you do nothing. Disaster! The apostle says, ‘No, you have got six parts of the armour to put on’ and we need to focus on all of them. If you go out into the field of battle with the helmet but no breastplate, you will be easy prey. We need the whole armour of God, and we need to check out what we are employing, not just some parts.

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Introduction

Ephesians 6:11 Commentary and Bible Study

Explain meaning of Ephesians 6:11