Ephesians 6:10-12 - Finally, We Stand in Victory

Sooneror later, every believer discovers that the Christian life is a battleground,not a playground. We learn quickly that we face an enemy who is far strongerthan we are—apart from the Lord. It is very fitting that the Apostle Paul usesmilitary imagery to describe the believer’s conflict with Satan. At the time hewrote this letter to the Ephesian church, Paul himself was chained to a Romansoldier (Ephesians 6:20). His readers were well acquainted with soldiers andtheir equipment. In fact, military illustrations were favorites of Paul, as wesee throughout his letters (2 Corinthians 10:4; 1 Timothy 6:12; 2 Timothy 2:3;4:7). Wemust always remember that as Christians, we face three enemies: the world, theflesh, and the devil.Paulreminds us of this earlier in Ephesians 2:1-3: “And you He made alive, whowere dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to thecourse of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, thespirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all onceconducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of theflesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others”.That passage reminds us where we came from and what Christ has delivered us outof. Thisalso brings us to an important theme that runs throughout the Book ofEphesians. In this letter, we see three positions that every believer mustunderstand if we are going to stand against the wiles of the evil one.First,Paul teaches us that we sit in Christ. In the opening chapters, we learn ourposition in Him—"we are seated with Christ in the heavenly places” (Ephesians2:6). Secondly, we are called to walk. We walk worthy of the Lord (Ephesians4:1). We are to walk in purity (Ephesians 4:17-23). We are to walk in love(Ephesians 5:2). We are to walk in the light as He is in the light (Ephesians5:8-14). We are to walk wisely (Ephesians 5:15-17). And we walk in harmony withthose around us (Ephesians 5:18-6:9). Now,finally, in this last section, Paul teaches us how to stand in victory.We do not fight the devil in our own strength. We do not fight spiritual forcesin our own power. Rather, we stand in the victory that has already been wonthrough Jesus Christ at the cross of Calvary. That is why Paul says at least twomore times that we are able to stand against the wiles of the devil. In verse 13,he writes, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be ableto withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” And again,in verse 14, “Stand therefore, having girded your waist withtruth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness”. Wemust never forget that our battle involves the world, the flesh, and the devil.The world refers to the system around us that is opposed to God. 1 John 2:15–17warns us not to love the world or the things in the world, describing it asdriven by “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride oflife. The world is passing away, but the one who does the will of God abidesforever.” A simple but accurate definition of the world is: “Societyapart from God.” Theflesh is the old nature we inherited from Adam—a nature that is opposed to Godand incapable of pleasing Him spiritually. That is where much of the internalwarfare takes place. And then there is the devil, our spiritual enemy. Hereis the good news: we can stand in victory. Christ has already overcomethe world (John 16:33; Galatians 6:14). In Christ we can overcome the flesh (Romans6:1–6). And through Christ, we can stand against the devil. In other words, wedo not fight for victory—we fight from victory. The Spirit of Godenables us, by faith, to appropriate Christ’s victory in our daily lives.