To Be One in Christ: We Have Treasure in the Jars of Clay (6)-6

To Be One in Christ: We Have Treasure in the Jars of Clay -- the Series of Explanation and Analysis of Scripture (6)-6

The Explanation and Analysis of the Verses of Chapter 6 in EPHESIANS

“Honor your father and mother” is the first commandment of the interpersonal relationship in the ten commandments and also the only commandment with a promise. Because the children are from the parents, the parents are the roots of the children; just as men are from God, God are the roots for men. Therefore, if one honors his parents, that will please God and be blessed by God.

The relationship of the children and parents are for our entire life. In our entire life, LORD keep on training us how to be children, for we will always be the children of God the Father. The spiritual meaning of “Honor your father and mother” is to respect and fear God. Those who do not honor their parents could not be good children in front of God the Father.

The parents should bring the children up in the training and instruction of the Lord and the truth of the Bible. They should set a good example by themselves according to the teachings in the Bible.

Those who are servants or are at the lower level, should obey the masters and the higher authority with the attitude of obeying Christ. This viewpoint can exalt the lowest job to the highest. The believers should keep their positions in front of the boss or the higher authority. Although we have this relationship because of the job, which is a relationship of exchanging the labor and the salary, we should look at this relationship as the arrangement by LORD. If the believer truly obeys his master or the higher authority with the attitude of obeying LORD, he will be a slave of Christ in the eyes of LORD and one who obeys the will of LORD. There’s no difference between “secular” and “sacred”. Whatever we do in front of LORD and for LORD, are all sacred and all serve LORD. As to the work of the Christians, from the outside, there are difference between “serve LORD” and “serve men”. However, if we are in the right mind, to “serve men” will change to “serve LORD”.

The masters should treat the servants the same way that the servants treat their masters. Although the status of masters and servants are different, they have corresponding obligations to each other and they both need to be responsible to their duties in LORD. The principle is the same that each one does good according to his duty to get the reward.

All the authorities belong to God. The devil also bends under the complete authority of God. However, because men accepted the temptation of the devil so that to give chances to the devil, men became the lost sons. Men must admit their guilty and repent to overcome the temptations and tests from the devil, return to God as a prodigal son, through LORD Christ become the true children of God.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” (EPHESIANS 6:10-18)

“ Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” The Christians are spiritual soldiers. The secret to fight in the spiritual war is that one must be “in the Lord”. The power source that we need is “in the Lord”. That is by the union to Him, His power will transfer to us. We can do everything through Him who gives us strength (Php 4:13). The power of LORD is in the believers. However, many believers do not know to use this power, therefore, they could not be strong. When we remain in LORD, His strength will be our strength. Those who rely on LORD are strong. LORD is the fountain of our strength. By relying on Him, our strength will never dry up. The secret that the Christians are strong, lies in relying on LORD completely. We can be strong by relying on His mighty power. If we are not willing to cooperate with LORD, His mighty power would be powerless on us.

In the spiritual battle, the believers must recognize the objects that they are fighting against. The objects are not men, but the devil. Now we are not fighting against men, but are fighting against the devil hidden behind men. Even those who persecute and kill us, are instigated by the devil hidden behind them. Therefore, we must recognize clearly that our enemies are not men, but the devil.

The Christians must be alert and resist the lies and temptations of the devil. The devil has a large variety of cunning schemes which are deceitful, for the devil knows well the weak points of men. We must rely on LORD firmly and completely, take roots in the truth of the Bible, with all kinds of prayers be the one who overcomes by relying on LORD Christ in us who have overcome already.

“Put on the full armor of God”. Having been standing firm on the position in the spiritual battle, one must also have the proper equipments to fight. Since the battle is spiritual, the equipments must also be spiritual. We can not fight with the weapon of flesh and blood, but with the armor given by God. God grant the armor to us already; we believers only need to take the responsibility to “put on”. With the armor, but without putting on, it is equal to without the armor. To “stand”, one must: (1) be in the Lord; (2) put on the full armor of God. This spiritual battle, is about “to stand”: “to stand” is to fight; “to stand” is to overcome.

“With the belt of truth buckled around your waist”. If the believer’s life is not bound with the truth, he can not fight against the enemy. The believers know more about the God’s words and rules, keep God’s words in life and live according to God’s rules; that is our belt to make the whole body of us strong. God’s word is the truth. Nothing is impossible with God. The more one reads the Bible and understands the truth revealed by God, the more strength he has. Christ is the truth (Joh 14:6). Whoever rely on Him have the source of strength. “The belt of truth” is the foremost of the armor of God. This shows that the obedience of the believers is the necessary condition with priority in the spiritual battle. “Truth” indicates that Christ is the practice of our life. In the daily life of the believers, to know and to experience Christ so that to live Christ, this is to buckle with the belt of the “truth” so that the whole body of the believer will be strong.

“With the breastplate of righteousness in place”. “Righteousness” implies: (1) from the objective aspect: the redemption of LORD and the cleansing by the blood of LORD; (2) from the subjective aspect: living the righteousness and doing good deeds in the life of LORD so that our conscience is clear without accusation.

“With your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace”. Because of the peace made by Christ through the cross, the Holy Spirit of Christ dwells in every Christian with the rebirth, which is the firm foothold for us so that we can stand firm, with steady steps to fight the spiritual battle. The enemies go everywhere to spread hatred, fights and murders and so on. However, wherever our feet are, we will preach the Gospel of peace.

“Take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ” Besides the accusations and threats of the devil, every instigation, ridicule, criticism, judgment, temptation, deceit, confusion, and pride, jealousy and so on, and also whatever make people doubtful, discouraged, dismayed and lose faith, are all the flaming arrows from the enemies. The armor of “faith” is after the armor of “truth”, “righteousness” and “peace”. The believers should first rely on God of the truth to live, then they will have the “righteousness” of the truth; and the “righteousness” brings the “peace” , then they will have the firm faith. What makes us overcome the world, is our faith(1Jo 5:4). Thanks be to God, the faith that He gives can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

“ Take the helmet of salvation”. Only by taking “the helmet of salvation” can guarantee the absolute authority that Christ -- the Head has on us, so that we won’t be seized and snatched away.

“The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”. “The word of God” is the sword. Nothing is impossible with God. The word of God can defeat the enemies. The understanding of the truth, the character of righteousness, the step of the Gospel, the life of faith, and the assurance of the salvation, these protective armor are the spiritual characters trained from the daily life. These characters protect us from the harms of the evil one. Among the armor of God, this one is the only one that can both guard and attack toward the outside. By relying on the Holy Spirit and using the word of God, one can defeat the enemies. The word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-­edged sword. Therefore, to use the word of God properly is the best weapon to eliminate the crafty plot of the devil.

“ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” The full armor of God rely on the prayers. Without the prayers, these six armor have no way to be put into effect. This spiritual battle is all-round; therefore, pray for each soldier in the battlefield and also the soldiers should pray for each other.

It is edited and compiled under the guidance of Holy Spirit. All thanks, praises and glories be to God!

EPHESIANS 6:1 “ Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ”

(NOTES)

“Children”:

The believers as the children are different from the worldly people as the children.

“obey your parents in the Lord”:

“in Lord” is the essence of obedience, we obey our parents in this factor and category. “parents” include both the father and the mother. One should obey both his father and mother, but not only one of them.

“obey your parents in the Lord” implies: (1) Because of the love of God and the reverence of God, obey the parents; (2) Rely on LORD to obey the parents; (3) According to the will of LORD to obey the parents, if the parents order the children to do something against the will of LORD ( such as crime), the children must not follow blindly.

“for this is right”:

indicates that the children should obey the parents is not only the teaching on the Bible, but also the common sense of people, which is indisputable without a doubt.

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) Our love of the parents also need to be filtered in LORD so that not to love parents more than LORD (Mat 10:37).

(2) Unless the requests of the parents are not in LORD, otherwise, those who are the children should show filial obedience and obey parents.

(3) The Christians who do not obey the parents, are not good Christians; even according to the morality of the average people, are not good children.

(4) We obey parents not according to the natural concepts, but according to the word of LORD.

EPHESIANS 6:2-3 “ "Honor your father and mother"--which is the first commandment with a promise--"that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth." ”

(NOTES)

“Honor your father and mother”:

We should honor our parents; for we are from our parents, but actually from God.

“Honor your father and mother”:

“Honor your father and mother” is the fifth commandment of the ten commandments. The first four of the ten commandments are commandments regarding God. The last six are commandments regarding interpersonal relationship. “Honor your father and mother” is the first commandment of the interpersonal relationship and also the only commandment with a promise.

“father and mother” implies that we should honor both father and mother without a bias.

“that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”:

“Honor your father and mother” is the way to bring in blessings so that we may enjoy long life on the earth. For those who do not “honor their father and mother”, the results are to bring in the curses and short life.

“that it may go well with you” not only refers to the material blessing, but also a peaceful scenario to live a life. “that it may go well with you” brings in “that you may enjoy long life on the earth”. Those who honor their parents, with the blessing of God, can prolong their life.

“which is the first commandment with a promise”:

We honor our parents, not only because the parents are our roots, but also because it is first commandment in the interpersonal relationship in the old covenant, and also the first commandment with a promise (Exo 20:12).

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) “obey” is the outward conduct; “honor” refers to the inward attitude. Some children might obey their parents without honoring them. The Christians as the children should learn to obey parents with the attitude of honor.

(2) The spiritual meaning of “Honor your father and mother” is to respect and fear God. Those who do not honor their parents could not be good children in front of God the Father.

(3) Because the children are from the parents, the parents are the roots of the children; just as men are from God, God are the roots for men. Therefore, if one honors his parents, that will please God and be blessed by God.

(4) The relationship of the children and parents are for our entire life. In our entire life, LORD keep on training us how to be children, for we will always be the children of God the Father.

(5) “that it may go well with you” and “that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” do not refer to the spiritual blessings and the long life in the future life. This promise is about the blessings and long life in this life. The children who honor their parents please God and are blessed by God.

EPHESIANS 6:4 “ Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”

(NOTES)

“do not exasperate your children”:

If the father is too harsh, ruthless, unreasonable or biased, he will exasperate the children. Therefore, no matter how bad the children are, do not exasperate them, but make them obedient from their hearts.

“in the training and instruction of the Lord”:

“instruction” is the discipline with the knowledge; “training” is to correct, constrain, warn and punish. This whole verse implies that the fathers should: (1) use the training and instruction of the Lord to train and instruct the children; (2) follow the guidance of Lord to train and instruct the children.

“bring them up ”:

“bring up” indicates to educate and take good care of one’s body and mind, and implies being gentle and kind.

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) A gentle attitude will make the children honor their parents and make them obedient willingly. However, the harsh and severe attitude will make them obstinate and ruin their filial piety.

(2) “exasperate your children” will provoke their sinful nature and do harm to them instead.

(3) If the parents do not want to exasperate their children, they should be careful not to lose their temper. While the way to hold one’s temper, is to deal with one’s anger by the cross.

(4) Lacking of discipline will let the children fall. Therefore, God do not want the parents to spoil their children too much (Pro 13:24; 19:28).

(5) “in the training and instruction of the Lord” indicates that the training and instruction of the children should turn to the model of the Christians. To bring up and educate the children in LORD, it is the spiritual responsibility that the parents must not shirk.

(6) The parents should impress the words of LORD on their children (Deu 6:7). Therefore, one should let the word of Christ dwell in him richly (Col 3:16).

(7) The parents should not only teach their children with mouth, but also set a good example with deeds. The children like to imitate their parents. Therefore, the parents should pay attention to set a good example in the family.

(8) The father should understand his own position. If in LORD, the father and the son are brothers; because of this spiritual relationship, the father should not abuse their authority and status as the father, for we all have the same one heavenly Father.

EPHESIANS 6:5 “ Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. ”

(NOTES)

“Slaves, …with respect and fear”:

“fear” is the inward mind; “respect” is the outward attitude. The servants should fear the masters, for masters represent Christ. The mind of respect and fear is not because one has done some transgressions, but because of the sense of the responsibility, being afraid of dereliction of the duty, and letting down the masters’ expectations.

“with sincerity of heart”:

indicates that the obedience should be truly sincere from the heart, without cheat and false. In another word, do not obey outwardly while disobey in mind.

“earthly masters”:

It implies that there is another higher spiritual realm, where Christ is the Lord. Here, it points out from the beginning that the relationship between the slave and master is only worldly and earthly thing. “earthly masters” could be extend to apply to all the employers and the bosses.

“just as you would obey Christ”:

That is, with the attitude of obeying Christ to obey the earthly masters. This viewpoint can exalt the lowest job to the highest, and will be the motive power to accomplish the tasks.

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) In the chapter 6 of Ephesians, when talks about the interpersonal relationships of father and son, and master and servant, it always expostulates the latter one first, and then talks about the former one. It is because a biggest common falling of mankind is the disobedience to the authority established by God, that is, indirect disobedience to God.

(2) In interpersonal relationship, we should realize “For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me.”(Mat 8:9). If we do not obey to be under the authority of others, it will be difficult to make others under us obedient.

(3) The nature of mankind is corrupted such that “It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. ” (Rom 8:7). Therefore, going against the superiors is nothing new. However, we can not live by the old self and the believers are able to obey those above from hearts.

(4) The believers should keep their positions in front of the boss or the higher authority. Although we have this relationship because of the job, which is a relationship of exchanging the labor and the salary, we should look at this relationship as the arrangement by LORD.

(5) A truly faithful servant should have the fear with respect in mind to obey the earthly masters, as if he has the fear that incautiously will offend “LORD Christ” .

(6) If the believer truly obeys his master or the higher authority with the attitude of obeying LORD, he will be a slave of Christ (verse 6) in the eyes of LORD and one who obeys the will of LORD.

EPHESIANS 6:6 “ Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. ”

(NOTES)

“when their eye is on you”:

When the master’s eye is on you, you will work; when his eye is away from you, you will stop work. This is the problem of the servant: like to work only in front of the eye of the master.

“win their favor ”:

If only work when others see you, of course, this is to win others’ favor.

“like slaves of Christ”:

That is, looking at oneself as the slave to serve Christ, and serving others at work with the mind of glorifying Christ.

“doing the will of God from your heart”:

If the servants stand on their positions and serve their masters with respect and fear of LORD, that is to obey the will of God; for God like to see people stand on their positions.

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) From the outside, the believers are the servants of men, but actually are the servants of Christ. Therefore, we work in front of the eyes of LORD, and work for LORD to see, but not work for others to see.

(2) The average people work for making a living. Therefore, they always have more or less the thought of “barely pass is enough”. However, the believers work not only for making a living, but also for LORD; therefore, they should try their best.

(3) Although the believers are as the servants of men, we should take it as the highest standard of life to do the will of God.

(4) Our service, if only is done in front of the eyes of others to win their favor and praises, will be meaningless. If we willingly do the will of God from our hearts, even we do it in the darkness without being known by others, it will be remembered by God. That is the true servant of Christ.

(5) As to the service of the believers, not only serve in the way of the body, but also serve in the way of the Spirit and heart (Rom 7:6; Rom 1:9).

EPHESIANS 6:7 “ Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men,”

(NOTES)

“Serve wholeheartedly”:

refers to the attitude to serve, not only comes out of the sense of responsibility, but also comes out of the kindness, goodness and willingness.

“as if you were serving the Lord”:

Do not regard it as being the servant of men, but as the arrangement of God and working for LORD.

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) There’s no difference between “secular” and “sacred”. Whatever we do in front of LORD and for LORD, are all sacred and all serve LORD.

(2) As to the work of the Christians, from the outside, there are difference between “serve LORD” and “serve men”. However, if we are in the right mind, to “serve men” will change to “serve LORD” .

(3) As to some Christians nowadays, since their masters or the higher authorities are the brothers or sisters in LORD, they consider themselves equal to their masters or the higher authorities in LORD such that they are not serving willingly. This kind of attitude and concept is wrong.

EPHESIANS 6:8 “ because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free. ”

(NOTES)

“reward ”:

implies that: (1) the blessings that LORD give to you on the earth now; (2) the reward given by LORD in His Second-Coming according to your deeds now.

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) One must “do” something to be rewarded . The question is whether to be rewarded with award or a punishment. It depends on what we “do” now.

(2) Our labor in the LORD is not in vain (1Co 15:58). Therefore, we have no reason not to work hard.

(3) Whatever good that is done by the believers, although it is done in front of men, it will be remembered by God.

(4) The reward by God, is not based on our earthly status, but according to our spiritual situation.

(5) At that time, even the slaves without freedom could find their way within their positions to serve LORD, do good and be rewarded by LORD. How can we now use the excuses of adverse circumstance, poor chance and lacking of capability not to serve LORD and do good to be rewarded by LORD ?

EPHESIANS 6:9 “ And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him. ”

(NOTES)

“in the same way”:

That is, the masters should treat the servants the same way that the servants treat their masters. Although the status of masters and servants are different, they have corresponding obligations to each other and they both need to be responsible to their duties in LORD. The principle is the same that each one does good according to his duty to get the reward.

“Do not threaten them”:

Those who are on the higher authorities, often have sense of superior for their positions and power and authorities such that to despise those on the lower positions, oppress them and treat them at wills.

“there is no favoritism with him”:

Although there seems to be a difference between the master and the servant to men, in front of LORD, there is no such difference; there is only the difference of different positions. LORD won’t consider you any higher and treat you any better because you are the master; and won’t consider others any lower and treat them any worse because they are the servants. LORD have no favoritism and are absolutely righteous and just.

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) To “know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him” is the comfort for the servants in labor and the warning to the masters how to treat the servants.

(2) To treat others according to their appearance is to show favoritism(Jam 2:1,4). Only LORD is who searches hearts and minds (Rev 2:23). Therefore, He does not show favoritism.

(3) Those as the masters should know that they themselves also belong to LORD; therefore, should let others see that we belong to LORD from our deeds and appearance in our daily life.

EPHESIANS 6:10 “ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.”

(NOTES)

“Finally”:

that is, he will mention another important thing in the following paragraphs: to be a spiritual soldier, one not only should live a life according to (Eph 6:1) to (Eph 1:9), but also should be alert to the rulers now in the air -- the devil and the evil spirits.

“in the Lord”:

The secret to fight in the spiritual war is that one must be “in the Lord”. We must not be in ourselves; not only must not rely on ourselves, but also must not look at ourselves and think about ourselves. Whenever we look at ourselves and think of ourselves, we will be weak and can not fight but only surrender.

“in his mighty power”:

The power source that we need is “in the Lord”. That is by the union to Him, His power will transfer to us. We can do everything through Him who gives us strength (Php 4:13). As to the “mighty power”, no matter one uses it or not, it has been always there already; the power of LORD is in the believers. However, many believers do not know to use this power, therefore, they could not be strong.

“be strong ”:

It is not that we ourselves can be strong. It is because in lord, we can be strong. When we remain in LORD, His strength will be our strength. Those who rely on LORD are strong. LORD is the fountain of our strength. By relying on Him, our strength will never dry up(Psa 1:2-3; Psa 52:8).

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) The secret that the Christians are strong, lies in relying on LORD completely. We can be strong by relying on His mighty power.

(2) The power of men is not enough to rely on; the power of God is invincible. In the spiritual battle, we do not rely on ourselves, but on LORD; neither we ask LORD to enhance our power, but completely rely on the mighty power of LORD.

(3) The position that the believers need to hold firm is the position “in the Lord”. As long as we remain on this position, we will win; whenever we leave this position, we will fail.

(4) We have very big responsibility on whether we are strong or not -- if we are not willing to cooperate with LORD, His mighty power would be powerless on us.

(5) To fight against the devil, one must not be timid and flee away, but must resist the devil, and he will flee from you (Jam 4:7). Therefore, in the spiritual battle, one must be strong and courageous.

(6) The problem of many believers is : being stubborn and disobedient in front of God; being cowardly and weak in front of the devil.

EPHESIANS 6:11 “ Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.”

(NOTES)

“Put on the full armor of God”:

“power” and “armor“ are both from God. “armor” is what the soldier rely on (Luk 11:22-23). The empty-handed soldier can not fight in the battlefield. Here, God grant the armor to us already; we believers only need to take the responsibility to “put on”. With the armor, but without putting on, it is equal to without the armor. Also, the armor given by God is beyond one part, but is the full armor.

“so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes”:

Those who retreat, sit down or fall down can not resist and fight; only those who “stand” can resist and fight. To “stand”, one must: (1) be in the Lord; (2) put on the full armor of God.

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) Having been standing firm on the position in the spiritual battle, one must also have the proper equipments to fight. Since the battle is spiritual, the equipments must also be spiritual. We can not fight with the weapon of flesh and blood, but with the armor given by God.

(2) God prepared for us the armor that can defeat the devil, it is a full suit and spiritual. We must put on the full armor without lacking of any part. If one part is missing, there will be a broken point.

(3) The Christians must be alert and resist the lies and temptations of the devil. The devil has a large variety of cunning schemes which are deceitful, for the devil knows well the weak points of men. We must rely on LORD firmly and completely, take roots in the truth of the Bible, with all kinds of prayers be the one who overcomes by relying on LORD Christ in us who have overcome already.

(4) All the authorities belong to God. The devil also bends under the complete authority of God. However, because men accepted the temptation of the devil so that to give chances to the devil, men became the lost sons. Men must admit their guilty and repent to overcome the temptations and tests from the devil, return to God as a prodigal son, through LORD Christ become the true children of God.

EPHESIANS 6:12 “ For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ”

(NOTES)

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood”:

“flesh and blood” refer to “men”. In the spiritual battle, men are the objects on the surface; the real object is the devil hidden behind men. Now we are not fighting against men, but are fighting against the devil hidden behind men. Even those who persecute and kill us, are instigated by the devil hidden behind them. Therefore, we must recognize clearly that our enemies are not men, but the devil.

“the rulers…the authorities”:

not refer to the rulers and authorities of all the nations on earth; but those invisible force that are disobedient to God. The enemies in the spiritual battle are not scattered, but an organized system. The devil is the king of this system; “the rulers” and “the authorities” are the officials of the devil.

“the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”:

“in the heavenly realms” is where the devil dwells and rules; their living category is from the air to the beneath, to the earth and the sea. “spiritual ” is the essence of the devil. They are spiritual and not flesh and blood, and they can attach to men and the animals. The nature of the devil is evil; therefore, it is called “the evil” and is the root of all the evils.

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) In the spiritual battle, the believers must recognize the objects that they are fighting against. The objects are not men, but the devil. Therefore, do not take the brothers and sisters as the enemy.

(2) Since the objects we fight against are spiritual and not “flesh and blood”, in the battle, we must stick to the spiritual principle and use the spiritual weapons. Whenever the “flesh and blood” stir up in our mind or methods, we will fall right away on the spiritual position and are defeated without fighting!

(3) Our positions to fight must be in those heavenly realms. The spiritual fight in chapter 6 of Ephesians is based on that “seat us in the heavenly realms” in the chapter 2 of Ephesians. Whenever we are earthly and worldly, we will lose the position to fight. Once the position is lost, one will fail in the battle.

(4) Since our opponents are spiritual, we must stand on the spiritual position to deal with it with the spiritual authority.

(5) Our enemy is an organized system. Therefore, we should pay attention to cooperate with other brothers and sisters, pray for each other and go to the battlefield altogether.

EPHESIANS 6:13 “ 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. ”

(NOTES)

“Therefore ”:

It continues the word of verse 12.

“put on the full armor of God”:

We can not deal with them with the method of flesh and blood, for they are the spiritual enemies. “put on ” should be urgent action with determination. If one does not equip oneself until meeting with the enemies, it is too late. The Christians must be able to pick up the weapon swiftly at any time so that to meet any urgent need.

“the day of evil”:

indicates that the devil disturbs us with all kinds of evils to make us live in sins and evils in these days.

“be able to stand your ground, ”:

implies that not only we should be well prepared for the battle, but also we need to persevere the position.

“and after you have done everything, to stand”:

After the fights, one still needs to stand. Therefore, this “stand” is continuous.

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) We should put on “the full armor of God” to fight in the spiritual battlefield, not part of it.

(2) Nowadays it is “the day of evil” (Eph 5:16). Since the devil opposes us everyday, therefore, we can not lower our guard for a moment.

(3) The devil is treacherous and crafty. Its strategies ever change, to lure us and torture us. Therefore, to us, it is the day of suffering, or the day of refining to be pure gold.

(4) This spiritual battle, is about to “stand”: “to stand” is to fight; “to stand” is to overcome.

(5) In the spiritual battle, a wave has passed, another wave is approaching. It will be continued until the Second Coming of LORD. Therefore, after finishing one battle, we still need to “stand” and should not lower our guard from then on.

EPHESIANS 6:14 “ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,”

(NOTES)

“Stand firm then”:

What is most important in the spiritual battle is to stand, and this “stand” is by putting on the armor of God, but not by one’s own method. “Stand firm” refers to the victorious posture; implies that the believers who are equipped well can stand firm. After the fight, he does not fall to the ground, and he still stands firm and controls the battlefield completely.

“with the belt of truth buckled around your waist”:

“belt” is used to bind the garments to avoid the inconvenience when moving around. It implies that we should live a life within the bound of truth. If the believer’s life is not bound with the truth, he can not fight against the enemy.

“around your waist” is to centralize the strength of the whole body to make us strong. “truth” is the words and rules of God. The believers know more about the God’s words and rules, keep God’s words in life and live according to God’s rules; that is our belt to make the whole body of us strong.

“with the breastplate of righteousness in place”:

“breastplate … in place”, “place” implies the conscience. For each one in the spiritual battle, his conscience must be clear. If the conscience is unclear, the faith will be lost and can’t fight a spiritual battle. “breastplate” is to resist the accusation of the devil in our conscience. Here, the “righteousness” is to protect our conscience, including:

(1) from the objective aspect: the redemption of LORD and the cleansing by the blood of LORD (Rev 12:11); (2) from the subjective aspect: living the righteousness and doing good deeds in the life of LORD so that our conscience is clear without accusation.

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) God’s word is the truth. Nothing is impossible with God (Luk 1:37). The more one reads the Bible and understands the truth revealed by God, the more strength he has. Christ is the truth (Joh 14:6). Whoever rely on Him have the source of strength.

(2) The enemies only disturb us in our thoughts. Therefore, we need the truth to buckle around the waist of the thoughts and minds.

(3) “the belt of truth” is the foremost of the armor of God. This shows that the obedience of the believers is the necessary condition with priority in the spiritual battle.

(4) Snippet of the truth is not enough to buckle around the waist. Only the thorough an complete truth is enough to buckle around the waist. Those who fail in the spiritual battle, only have half-baked knowledge, and only know half of God’s words without knowing the other half.

(5) “truth” indicates that Christ is the practice of our life (Eph 4:21,24). In the daily life of the believers, to know and to experience Christ so that to live Christ, this is to buckle with the belt of the “truth” so that the whole body of the believer will be strong.

(6) The believers do not get covered by the righteousness of themselves, but by the righteousness of Christ (1Co 1:30). Therefore, we must rely on the righteousness given by God to overcome the accusation of the devil.

EPHESIANS 6:15 “ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ”

(NOTES)

“the gospel of peace”:

refers to what have been mentioned in chapter 2 of Ephesians. LORD in the flesh destroyed the barrier by the cross, to reconcile men to God through the cross. As to the hostility between men to men and to God, the basic difficulty of it is the selfish desires of the “self” . The cross in us, is to get rid of the selfish desires such as selfishness and self-pride of the “self”, in order that there is no barrier and friction between we and God, and also men.

“with your feet fitted with the readiness”:

“readiness” is ready to serve LORD; means devoting one’s mind to the work of Gospel so that one will quickly be aware of where is his position and is ready to join the work of preaching Gospel. “with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ” implies that: (1) live a life according to the principles revealed in the truth of Gospel; absolutely do not do anything against the truth of Gospel (that is, anything against God). (2) live a life with the purpose of preaching Gospel to more people; absolutely do not do anything that hinder the preaching of Gospel. (3) live a life that can share the good of the Gospel with others; absolutely do not do anything that make others do not see the fruit of Gospel on us.

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) “ with your feet … from the gospel of peace. ” is for walking on the worldly road, that we won’t be contaminated by this mortal world with the devil. The more we preach Gospel, the less we are contaminated with the sins.

(2) Because of the peace made by Christ through the cross, the Holy Spirit of Christ dwells in every Christian with the rebirth, which is the firm foothold for us so that we can stand firm, with steady steps to fight the spiritual battle.

(3) We stand in the “peace” to fight. If we lose the peace between God and men, we will lose the position to stand firm and can not overcome.

(4) The enemies go everywhere to spread hatred, fights and murders and so on. However, wherever our feet are, we will preach the Gospel of peace.

EPHESIANS 6:16 “ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ”

(NOTES)

“take up the shield of faith”:

“faith” is the faith of the believers to God. No matter what we experience, always believe that God is faithful and we can completely trust, count on, and rely on Him and His words. “the shield” is used to resist the attacks from the outside. The believers do not use faith to “attack”, but to “defend”.

“with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one”:

Besides the accusations and threats of the devil, every instigation, ridicule, criticism, judgment, temptation, deceit, confusion, and pride, jealousy and so on, and also whatever make people doubtful, discouraged, dismayed and lose faith, are all the flaming arrows from the enemies.

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) The armor of “faith” is after the armor of “truth”, “righteousness” and “peace”. The believers should first rely on God of the truth to live, then they will have the “righteousness” of the truth (Eph 4:24); and the “righteousness” brings the “peace” (Isa 32:17), then they will have the firm faith.

(2) The weapons of the devil, not only are sharp arrows, but also have flames in the front; not only can hurt people, but also can burn down personnel and equipment. The flaming arrows of the devil, not only can make one believer injured, but also the church and other believers will be injured together.

(3) What makes us overcome the world, is our faith (1Jo 5:4). Thanks be to God, the faith that He gives can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

EPHESIANS 6:17 “ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

(NOTES)

“Take the helmet of salvation”:

“helmet” is the armor to protect the head. The head is where men’s thoughts are. With the “salvation” as the helmet, that is, take the salvation from God as the protection of our thoughts. The enemies attack our thoughts most easily; therefore, we must believe that no matter how difficult the situation is, God will save us, so that not to accept any threat of the devil.

“the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”:

“the word of God” is the sword. Nothing is impossible with God (Luk 1:37). The word of God can defeat the enemies. Among the armor of God, this one is the only one that can both guard and attack toward the outside. By relying on the Holy Spirit and using the word of God, one can defeat the enemies.

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) The understanding of the truth, the character of righteousness, the step of the Gospel, the life of faith, and the assurance of the salvation, these protective armor are the spiritual characters trained from the daily life. These characters protect us from the harms of the evil one.

(2) Our worldly brain need to be saved, not by our own smartness, means and method, but our attitudes should be the same as that of God to resist the devil’s attack.

(3) Only by taking “the helmet of salvation” can guarantee the absolute authority that Christ -- the Head has on us, so that we won’t be seized and snatched away.

(4) Among the full armor of God, the first five are for defense, only “the sword of the Spirit” can both defend and attack the enemies. According to the sequence of the armor of God, it implies that before we use the sword of the Spirit, we should put on the first five armor to protect us completely so that there is no loophole can be used by the devil.

(5) The good soldiers of Christ should not only resist the attack of the devil, but also can use the word of God to attack and overcome it (Rev 12:11).

(6) The word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-­edged sword (Heb 4:12). Therefore, to use the word of God properly is the best weapon to eliminate the crafty plot of the devil (Mat 4:4,7,10).

(7) The believers must make effort to know more of the words of God at ordinary times, and let the word of Christ dwell in us richly so that when necessary, the Holy Spirit can remind us of the word of God (Joh 14:26). Otherwise, the sword can not be applied in time and is only a waste.

EPHESIANS 6:18 “ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. ”

(NOTES)

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests”:

The full armor of God rely on the prayers. Without the prayers, these six armor have no way to be put into effect. Prayer is to let God do.

“in the Spirit ”

We must rely on the Holy Spirit in us to be the one who overcomes.

“on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests”:

including the time, method, character, place, and object of the prayers and so on; the prayers should not be limited by the time and patterns, and should be applied flexibly. “prayers” refer to the average and normal prayers; while “requests” refer to the special asking and wishes. We should not only have average prayers, but also the special requests.

“be alert”:

means that do not doze off, keep on guard, and often take precautions.

“always keep on praying for all the saints”:

“always keep on praying” indicates to pray with the attitude of perseverance and endurance to the end. “always keep on” shows the patience, that is, not to be weary of, slack and discouraged. “for all the saints”, when praying for oneself, do not forget to pray for the brothers.

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) Prayers can make all kinds of armor of God to be put into effect. If lacking of the prayers, all the armor have no way to be used.

(2) Resist the devil in the prayers, and be alert and on guard in the prayers. If the believers can not pray on all the occasions and with all kinds of prayers, and be alert to pray, the believers will be like a city without walls, and the enemies could come to capture and kill at any time.

(3) Prayer should not be limited by time and situation. No matter in peace or in danger, weak or strong, in favorable circumstance or adverse circumstance, pleasant or anxious, one should always pray.

(4) Prayer should not be limited by patterns: No matter to make a sound or not, pray in high voice or low voice, praise or entreat, be alone or be with people, stand or kneel, open eyes or close eyes, one can always pray.

(5) The devil often makes men look at the environment instead of God so that to make their mind weary and discouraged. If the believers want to overcome in the spiritual battles, they must overcome the discouragement in the prayers, be alert and keep on praying.

(6) A Christian can not pay attention to his own moral uplift without thought of others. This spiritual battle is all-round; therefore, pray for each soldier in the battlefield and also the soldiers should pray for each other.

EPHESIANS 6:19 “ Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel,”

(NOTES)

“words may be given me”:

that is, whenever opens the mouth, he will have the eloquence so that can speak out what he wants to say.

“fearlessly”:

indicates to speak out what he should speak, that is, speak freely without worries.

“make known the mystery of the gospel”:

Since it is the mystery, if without the ministry with the words from God, it is difficult for men to understand clearly. “the mystery of the gospel”, especially refers to the mystery of the Christians “to be one in Christ” mentioned in chapter 3 (Eph 3:3-11). That is, proclaim clearly the purpose of the salvation from God to men in this generation.

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) Besides pray for the members in LORD, the believers should pray especially for the work of the servants of LORD.

EPHESIANS 6:20 “ for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”

(NOTES)

“I am an ambassador in chains”:

Because of preaching the mystery of the Gospel, the apostle Paul became an ambassador in chains. And he is proud of it.

“I may declare it fearlessly, as I should”:

The results of the spiritual battle, in the passive aspect, is to deal with the enemies; in the active aspect, is to spread the mystery of the Gospel. Dealing with the enemies of God is for the Gospel of God; the more the enemies in church are dealt with, the more the Gospel of God can spread out.

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) The devil tries its best to stop us from preaching the Gospel of God. Therefore, it stirs up all the opposing power to bind us.

(2) Each believer has his own duty to fulfill. Therefore, we should seek for the will of God and accept the entrustment from God.

(3) A mind with fear will hinder our freedom to preach Gospel. Therefore, we pray to God to make us fearless.

EPHESIANS 6:21 “ Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing.”

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) The coworkers love and care for each other. It is because of Christ in them as the fountain of love.

(2) To men is “dear”; to LORD is “faithful”. This is the necessary condition to be the servant of LORD.

EPHESIANS 6:22 “ I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you.”

(NOTES)

“I am sending him to you for this very purpose”:

At that time, the apostle Paul was in the prison (in Rome of Italy). He himself can not go; therefore, he sent Tychicus to send this letter to the church of Ephesians. Since the distance between Rome and Ephesians is far away, it is a significant act at that time.

“and that he may encourage you”:

Because at that time, the church of Ephesians cared about Paul very much, Paul was afraid that they would be discouraged because of him; therefore, he sent Tychicus to comfort and encourage them.

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) He himself was in the difficult position, but what bore in his mind constantly is to comfort and encourage others. A true worker of God, what he cared about is not himself, but other children of God. It is because of Christ in him as the fountain of love.

(2) What Paul can comfort the believers of Ephesians, is not his adverse circumstance, but his peaceful and joyful mind by relying on LORD firmly in the adverse circumstance.

EPHESIANS 6:23 “ Peace to the brothers, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ”

(NOTES)

“Peace”:

Only when we have God being with us inside, we will have the true peace. “grace” is that God is received by men to enjoy; “peace” is that God is received by men to enjoy the fruit produced by God.

“love, faith”:

Originally, the relationship between men and God is: firstly, it is “faith”; secondly it is “love”; for no one without faith first can have love. But in chapter 2 of Revelation, in the second public letter received by the church of Ephesians, we see that LORD rebuke them that they have lost their first love (Rev 2:4). It might be because there started to be some problems in their love at that time already. Therefore, in this verse, mentioned the love first, and then the faith.

“to the brothers”:

Those in LORD are members of one family.

EPHESIANS 6:24 “ Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love. ”

(NOTES)

“undying”:

implies that: (1) never change; (2) whatever belong to God, are in the eternity, and are undying; whatever belong to men, are in the time, and are dying and decay.

“ love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love. ”:

We love LORD, not by our ardency and excitement, but by the undying and eternal life of God to love Him; that is, love Him in the undying life of God, such a love won’t change forever.

“Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love. ”:

When writing this letter, the apostle in spirit might have known that there were some problems in the love of the Ephesians to LORD. Therefore, he said that “Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ”.

Those who love LORD and obey LORD, will please God and receive the grace from God.

Reference:

1. Jiale Huang: “Christians’ Digest of the Scripture Analysis Series”.