Continuing our study of St. Paul’s famous “Armor of God” passage in his letters to the Ephesians, let us look at what immediately precedes the “checklist” of spiritual armor.
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Saint Paul begins in 6:10-11 exhorting his followers to “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might” and to “put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” In exhorting the Ephesians to “put on the armor of God,” Paul is resuming the “theme of Eph. 4:24 in a new form.”(1)
In 4:24, Paul introduced the idea of putting “on the new man, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” In this context, Paul is instructing the community to renounce sin and to walk in the way of Christ. Additionally, he is bringing to mind to an “early liturgical practice in which catechumens were clothed in white robes immediately after baptism.”(2) What this early Christian practice symbolizes is putting “our baptismal commitments into practice by stripping off sinful habits (vices) and putting on the new garments of Christ (virtues).” (3) Paul is teaching them that Christ is the “transformer of human life” and becoming a Christian requires putting away the “old life, the old self” and putting on the “new self (kainon anthropon),” thus effecting a “complete renewal of mind and life.” (4) With this in mind, what follows in Paul’s description of the “armor of God” appears to be a further explanation of how to put on the “new man” and specifies it in the context of spiritual warfare.
Next, Saint Paul gives a brief summary of why putting on the “armor of God” is so important. He explains how, “we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” In this passage, Paul is giving a stern warning to his “readers of the spiritual warfare that rages unseen in the Church.”(5)
At the same time he is trying to explain to the Ephesians how “Christ’s kingdom does not spread free of opposition or enemies, rather it is daily attacked by malevolent spirits under the command of Satan.”(6)
Additionally, Saint Paul continues by exhorting the community to “take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” Paul is heightening the gravity of this spiritual battle, explaining how even though “the struggle is present already…it may also be on the increase as the ‘evil day’ – perhaps a final cosmic battle – draws nearer.” Thus, Paul “envisages an ongoing battle that will culminate in the future in the final submission of all God’s enemies.”(7)
Be vigilant! Stay tuned next week, when we start to unravel the various pieces of spiritual armor that will help us against this ongoing battle against Satan.
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(1) Nils Alstrup Dahl, “Ephesians,” In Harper’s Bible Commentary, edited by James L. Mays et al., (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988), 1219.
(2) Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch, “Ephesians,” In The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The New Testament, (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010), 350.
(3) Ibid.
(4) Gorman, Michael J. Apostle of the Crucified Lord: A Theological Introduction to Paul and His Letters. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004), 520.
(5) Hahn, 353.
(6) Ibid.
(7) Gorman, 526.