Ephesians 6:10 to 6:20

[SavedOnebyGrace]

Eph 6:10  Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.
Eph 6:11  Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
Eph 6:12  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Eph 6:13  Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
Eph 6:14  Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,
Eph 6:15  and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE;
Eph 6:16  in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Eph 6:17  And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Eph 6:18  With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,
Eph 6:19  and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,
Eph 6:20  for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.  [NASB]

There is so much truth in these 11 verses, I wonder how many Christians pass over these verses without truly seeing?  How often do we give ground to Satan instead of standing firm?  Isn't Ephesians 6:12 a call to action against both visible and invisible entities?

[Who me]

On 2/27/2019 at 3:04 AM, Saved.One.by.Grace said:

Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

It is like Romans 12:1+2, reprogramming ones mind to think correctly takes effort.

Guirding ones loins with truth, means knowing what the truth is as intimately as ones underwear hugs ones body.

How many Christians know the bible that well.

Without going through the whole list I'll jump to my favouret part, the one that deals with all the angest of what does God want of me.

Having done everything to Stand Firm.

As Christians we are to live for Jesus where ever we are, unhappy at work, live for Jesus there, want to serve else where live for Jesus where you are, bored liven up your life by asking your colleuge 'Why are you a Christ? What reasons do you have for not believing?'

We are to Stand Firm as we seek to serve Jesus.

[Guest]

Ephesians 6:10-6:11 seem pretty straight forward.  Rely upon the Lord and His strength.  By doing so, we will be able to stand up to schemes of Satan.  The next verse, Ephesians 6:12, deserves an in depth study.

[Guest]

Ephesians 6:12a -  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, - The Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, and some copies, read "you", instead of "we". This is a reason why saints should be strong in the Lord, and why they should put on the whole armor of God, and prepare for battle, since their enemies are such as here described: not "flesh and blood"; frail mortal men, such as were wrestled against in the Olympic games, to which the apostle alludes. For this wrestling, as Philo says concerning Jacob's wrestling, is not of the body, but of the soul; [Mat 16:17 - And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.]; and the meaning is, not with men only, for otherwise the saints have a conflict with men; with profane men, and wrestle against them, by bearing a testimony against their enormities, and by patiently enduring their reproaches, and conquer them by a constant adherence to Christ, and an exercise of faith upon him, which gets the victory over the world; and with heretical men, and maintain a conflict with them, by watching and observing the first appearance of their errors and heresies, and declaring against them, and by using Scripture arguments to confute them, and by rejecting the stubborn and incorrigible from church communion: yet they wrestle not against these only,  [adapted from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible]

So our struggle is against the unseen spiritual forces, not flesh and blood.  This is obvious.

[Guest]

On 3/3/2019 at 9:20 AM, Cletus said:

I absolutely love John Gills exposition.  it is usually the tab highlighted in my commentary section  of my bible program, and i have 11 or 12 commentaries downloaded.  here is an excerpt from another you may find interesting as well,  its Adam Clark's commentary on the bible:

Ephesians 6:12
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood - Ουκ εστιν ἡμιν ἡ παλη προς αἱμα και σαρκα· Our wrestling or contention is not with men like ourselves: flesh and blood is a Hebraism for men, or human beings. See the note on Gal_1:16.
The word παλη implies the athletic exercises in the Olympic and other national games; and παλαιστρα was the place in which the contenders exercised. Here it signifies warfare in general.
Against principalities - Αρχας· Chief rulers; beings of the first rank and order in their own kingdom.
Powers - Εξουσιας, Authorities, derived from, and constituted by the above.
The rulers of the darkness of this world - Τους κοσμοκρατορας του σκοτους του αιωνος τουτου· The rulers of the world; the emperors of the darkness of this state of things.
Spiritual wickedness - Τα πνευματικα της πονηριας· The spiritual things of wickedness; or, the spiritualities of wickedness; highly refined and sublimed evil; disguised falsehood in the garb of truth; Antinomianism in the guise of religion.
In high places - Εν τοις επουρανιοις· In the most sublime stations. But who are these of whom the apostle speaks? Schoettgen contends that the rabbins and Jewish rulers are intended. This he thinks proved by the words του αιωνος τουτου, of this world, which are often used to designate the Old Testament, and the Jewish system; and the words εν τοις επουρανιοις, in heavenly places, which are not unfrequently used to signify the time of the New Testament, and the Gospel system.
By the spiritual wickedness in heavenly places, he thinks false teachers, who endeavored to corrupt Christianity, are meant; such as those mentioned by St. John, 1Jn_2:19 : They went out from us, but they were not of us, etc. And he thinks the meaning may be extended to all corrupters of Christianity in all succeeding ages. He shows also that the Jews called their own city שר של עולם sar shel olam, κοσμοκρατωρ, the ruler of the world; and proves that David’s words, Psa_2:2, The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, are applied by the apostles, Act_4:26, to the Jewish rulers, αρχοντες, who persecuted Peter and John for preaching Christ crucified. But commentators in general are not of this mind, but think that by principalities, etc., we are to understand different orders of evil spirits, who are all employed under the devil, their great head, to prevent the spread of the Gospel in the world, and to destroy the souls of mankind.
The spiritual wickedness are supposed to be the angels which kept not their first estate; who fell from the heavenly places but are ever longing after and striving to regain them; and which have their station in the regions of the air. “Perhaps,” says Mr. Wesley, “the principalities and powers remain mostly in the citadel of their kingdom of darkness; but there are other spirits which range abroad, to whom the provinces of the world are committed; the darkness is chiefly spiritual darkness which prevails during the present state of things, and the wicked spirits are those which continually oppose faith, love, and holiness, either by force or fraud; and labor to infuse unbelief, pride, idolatry, malice, envy, anger, and hatred.” Some translate the words εν τοις επουρανιοις, about heavenly things; that is: We contend with these fallen spirits for the heavenly things which are promised to us; and we strive against them, that we may not be deprived of those we have.

The great thing about e-Sword and other bible software are how many resources are available.  Albert Barnes Notes on the Bible was actually the first "commentary" I read through regarding this passage.  I also read through Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's Commentary; the Believers Bible Commentary; John Gill's Exposition of the Bible; and others.  For the second part (Ephesians 6:12b), I'll use the Believers Bible Commentary.

I found Adam Clarke's Commentary of the Bible on these verses to miss the mark.  He mistakenly relies on the work of Schoettgen which I believe misleads him to disregard the statement "That our struggle is not against flesh and blood".   Albert Barnes, the Believers Bible Commentary and John Gill align more with my thinking.

[Michael37]

On ‎2‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 4:04 PM, Saved.One.by.Grace said:

There is so much truth in these 11 verses, I wonder how many Christians pass over these verses without truly seeing?  How often do we give ground to Satan instead of standing firm?  Isn't Ephesians 6:12 a call to action against both visible and invisible entities?

Always an engaging topic for exhortation, Saved.One.by.Grace.

The 7 categories of our combat are: salvation, righteousness, truth, readiness of the Gospel of peace, faith, Spirit, prayer.

Satan and his lot may test us with regard to these but in Christ we have the victory.

 2Co 2:14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ, and makes manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
Rom 8:35-39
(35)  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
(36)  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
(37)  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
(38)  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
(39)  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

[Guest]

On 3/4/2019 at 11:10 PM, Cletus said:

I am not really seeing what you are saying about him missing the mark?  i didnt get that from reading it.  mainly posted that about the breakdown of each thing we do wrestle with.  which is right on the money.  to me that kind of enforces the part about we wrestle not with flesh and blood.  it says pretty much the same thing in some of the commentaries you listed, even gives the same scripture reference.  so i am curious as to what makes you say he missed the mark?

the whole point was to get you to look at not only the one segment of the scripture but how it all goes together... even to the end to the word high/heavenly.  all of verse 12 is a complete thought that all goes together. 

Maybe it's just me, but I think he missed the mark by not seeing our battle the way verse 12 describes it. Our battle is not against flesh and blood.  It's a spiritual battle against spiritual forces.  Some commentaries gloss over that point.  I had about 50 commentaries to choose from before choosing Gill.  The Believers Bible Commentary is also good. 

If I am reading the Bible instead of studying it and meditating on the text, I've been known to miss an important truth that the Holy.Spirit wants me to know.  Sometimes the Holy Spirit will stop me from proceeding.  I know when to listen.  That's why I'm digging into this passage.  I appreciate you and Michael's additions to this thread.  Who knows, it may help someone else too.

Edited March 8, 2019 by Saved.One.by.Grace

[Guest]

On 3/5/2019 at 3:54 AM, Michael37 said:

Always an engaging topic for exhortation, Saved.One.by.Grace.

The 7 categories of our combat are: salvation, righteousness, truth, readiness of the Gospel of peace, faith, Spirit, prayer.

Satan and his lot may test us with regard to these but in Christ we have the victory.

 2Co 2:14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ, and makes manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
Rom 8:35-39
(35)  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
(36)  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
(37)  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
(38)  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
(39)  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Question: What's your basis for the 7 categories of combat?  I think the categories may be overlapping or redundant.

Question: What's do you think a principality is?

[Michael37]

32 minutes ago, Saved.One.by.Grace said:

Question: What's your basis for the 7 categories of combat?  I think the categories may be overlapping or redundant.

Paul and the Holy Spirit didn't think the categories were redundant when they listed the metaphorical essentals of spiritual armour. 

?Helmet of Salvation = Thoughts Free of Condemnation.

?Breastplate of Righteousness = Heart Full of Godliness.

?Girdle of Truth = Covering Secured by Living Proof.

?Footwear of the Preparation of the Gospel of Peace = Stability in Readiness to Preach.

?Shield of Faith = Protection Impenetrable because of Belief.

?Sword of the Spirit = Attack Effectual with the Word that is Perfect.

?Praying in the Spirit = Requests Holy not that of the Hypocrite.

32 minutes ago, Saved.One.by.Grace said:

Question: What's do you think a principality is?

 

Strongs G746
ἀρχή
archē
ar-khay'
From G756; (properly abstract) a commencement, or (concrete) chief (in various applications of order, time, place or rank): - beginning, corner, (at the, the) first (estate), magistrate, power, principality, principle, rule.
Total KJV occurrences: 58

[Willa]

On 2/26/2019 at 7:04 PM, Saved.One.by.Grace said:

and having done everything, to stand firm.

This is the phrase that stands out to me.  After we have done all the things instructed in these verses, including praying at all times in the Spirit, having done all, to stand.  We are told often in Old Testament battles to stand and see the salvation of God.  I especially like 11 Chron. 20

2Ch 20:12  O our God, will You not exercise judgment upon them? For we have no might to stand against this great company that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.

2Ch 20:13  And all Judah stood before the Lord, with their children and their wives.

2Ch 20:14  Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly.

2Ch 20:15  He said, Hearken, all Judah, you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you King Jehoshaphat. The Lord says this to you: Be not afraid or dismayed at this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.

After we have done all we know how to do, we keep our eyes on God, and we stand firm to see the salvation of God.  His angels fight on our behalf.  We need open our eyes of faith as Elisha said to see His armies that fight on our behalf.  We are never alone.  He is with us and will never leave us or forsake us.