Our Redemption “in Christ” Detailed to the Ephesians Volume 63

Paul Instructs the Ephesian Believers on Spiritual Warfare Part 4: Standing in our Armor (Christ Jesus our Lord)

Ephesians 6:13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. KJV

Paul now repeats, restates, and retells these Ephesian believers and we believers today that since we have all of these powerful invisible enemies going about continuously to do us physical and spiritual harassment, hurt, and harm, then we are to be certain and sure to, “take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Ephesians 6:13). It is Paul doing what he was so often very fond of doing and that is repeating over and over again a subject or topic because of its great importance to his brethren he was writing to instruct and inform. Paul uses the English phrase in verse 11 “to stand” or the Greek word histemi meaning to abide, continue, and hold up. However, here in verse 13 Paul uses the English word “withstand” translated by the Greek word anthistemi which has an even stronger meaning to stand against, that is, oppose: - resist, withstand. It is Paul’s desire to make these Ephesian believers and us today to understand that our armor “in Christ” gives us the power to actively oppose the devil and his principalities and powers in high places and defeat them only in and by Christ Power working in us and for us. However, it is solely our responsibility to take up the whole armor of God and put each piece on “in Christ” spiritually seeing that our battle and warfare is a spiritual one against evil spiritual beings.

It was the devil who used the Apostle Peter to try to stop our Lord Jesus from going to the Cross as recorded for us by the Gospel writer Mark, “And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.’” (Mark 8:31-33). Likewise, when the devil worked to get David to the number the people of Israel right after David had a great victory over the Philistines (1 Chronicles 20), he then disobeyed the Lord as documented in 1 Chronicles 21. These are just a couple of examples of how the enemy is relentless in his attacks and assaults against the people of God. The “evil day” Paul speaks of here is not exactly clear to me, but we do know that our war against the devil is at all times and in all places on going, however, Paul here may be speaking of the special days of wicked assault the devil and his demons come against every saint of God or child of God such as attacking a father and mother’s children with overdosing on drugs or using a human instrument to kidnap and murder a child (namely, the Jon Benet Ramsey case for instance) and there are many other things I could list but you get the point.

Paul wants these Ephesian believers and all we believers of every generation to be actively waging war against the enemy, so that when these horrific attacks come we can still stand firmly “in Christ” and His Word knowing that He will always love us, keep us, and protect us no matter what battle grounds the devil gains an advantage in, but we must remember always that we hold the key to our victory or defeat in our lives and in the lives of our family if we do as the Apostle James declares with these words, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7). Note: “This English word ‘resist’ the Apostle James uses here is the exact same Greek word anthistemi Paul uses above in Ephesians 6:13.” The Word of God is where these Ephesian believers and we believers today will get much of our assaults from the enemy hurled against us by using his principalities and powers to influence, invoke, and even inhabit human instruments to persecute us severely for standing firm in the truth of the Word. Our Lord Jesus even declared in His parable of the sower sowing seed (the seed being the Word of God) that some would seem or appear to be true believers, but will be proven to in actuality be false believers when He said this as again recorded for us by the Gospel writer Mark, “These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the Word’s sake, immediately they stumble.” (Mark 4:16-17). This English word stumble here in verse 17 is translated by the Greek word skandalizo which is where we get our English word scandal and scandalize it means apostasy or falling away or the active state of rejecting the truth of the Gospel of Grace and then believing in the opposite which can then only be a Gospel of Good Works to get to God and receive His approval.

We see then that his warfare is not only aimed at the believer’s physical person (although it surely is), but his attacks also come against the core of who we are as redeemed children of God and that is will we believe God. We see that his very first attack on humanity (Adam and Eve) was this very one as documented for us by the Hebrew Moses with these words, “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’ And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’” (Genesis 3:1-5). We can stand as conquers and victors over the devil and his demons by waging warfare purposely, properly, and persistently as the Apostle Paul instructed Brother Timothy with these words, “This charge {and} admonition I commit in trust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with prophetic intimations which I formerly received concerning you, so that inspired {and} aided by them you may wage the good warfare, Holding fast to faith (that leaning of the entire human personality on God in absolute trust and confidence) and having a good (clear) conscience. By rejecting {and} thrusting from them [their conscience], some individuals have made shipwreck of their faith.” (1 Timothy 1:18-19).

“Many would be strong, but fail because they forget that they can be effectively so only ‘in the Lord, and in the strength of His might.’ Paul had a very vivid conception of the powerful forces that are arrayed against the Church. He is not dealing here especially with our personal temptations, but with those hosts of wicked spirits that lie behind the evil of the world. It is probable that the vast systems which oppose the Gospel-the philosophies, temples, and priests of false religions; the trade in strong drink, impurity, and like evils; and such iniquitous institutions as the system of indentured slavery-are directly promoted and furthered by the agency of evil spirits in arms against God.” F. B. Meyer

“Most of us feel but little the stern reality underlying the metaphor, that the whole Christian life is warfare, but that in that warfare there are crises, seasons of special danger. The interpretation which makes the ‘evil day’ co-extensive with the time of life destroys the whole emphasis of the passage: whilst all days are days of warfare, there will be, as in some prolonged siege, periods of comparative quiet; and again, days when all the cannon belch at once, and scaling ladders are reared on every side of the fortress. In a long winter there are days sunny and calm followed, as they were preceded, by days when all the winds are let loose at once. For us, such times of special danger to Christian character may arise from temporal vicissitudes. Joy and prosperity are as sure to occasion them as are sorrows, for to Paul the ‘evil day’ is that which especially threatens moral and spiritual character, and these may be as much damaged by the bright sunshine of prosperity as by the midwinter of adversity, just as fierce sunshine may be as fatal as killing frost. They may also arise, without any such change in circumstances, from some temptation coming with more than ordinary force, and directed with terrible accuracy to our weakest point.” Alexander MacLaren

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…