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Ephesians Chapter Six
(Caleb Huang)
Detailed Verse by Verse Commentary
Eph. 6:1 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for
this is right.”
Literal
Meaning of Each Word or Phrase:
“Obey” –.to
listen in under, based on… listening (meaning includes willing to listen
attentively and follow commands.)
“Right” –
proper and honest
Explanation
on the Meaning of Words and Phrases
“Children”: The original Greek text
literally states “You the children” with a definite article in front of children. This indicates that there is a
difference between the children of the believers and the children of this
world.
“Obey your
parents in the Lord”: The essence of obedience is founded “in the Lord.” It is under such factor and pattern that the
children should obey their parents. “Parents” is one word in the original
Greek; therefore, the children should threat them as a unit… meaning that they
cannot just obey the father and not obey the mother, or that they can just
choose to listen to the mother and not to the father.
“Obey your
parents in the Lord” – this phrase also has several meanings: 1) Out of our
love and reverence for the Lord, the children obey their parents. 2) Due to our
being one with the Lord, we can obey our parents in the strength of the Lord. 3) Obey your
parents based on the Lord’s guidance.
Should the parents demand the children to do certain things contrary to
the Lord’s will (like to commit a sin), then they
definitely should not blindly follow.
“For this is
right”: This means children obeying their parents is not only a teaching of
the Bible, but it is also a common sense thing that is indisputable and without
question/doubt.
Enlightenment in the Word
1)
Our love for our
parents must also be filtered through in the Lord that we would not fall into
the problem of loving our parents above the Lord (Matt.
2)
Unless our
parents request is not in the Lord, else those who are children should always
listen in obedience to them.
3)
A Christian who
does not obey his/her parents is not only a poor Christian, but even based on
the concept of the common people’s moral standard, he/she is also not a good
child.
4)
Our obedience to
our parents is not based on our natural concepts, but based on the Word of God.
Eph. 6:2-3 “’Honor your
father and mother,’ which is the first commandment with promise: ‘that it may
be well with you and you may live long on the earth.’:”
Literal
Meaning of Each Word or Phrase:
“Honor” – to respect, to esteem highly.
“Be well” –
things go smoothly or goes well.
Background
Explanation:
The ten commandments given
by God through Moses to the children of
Explanation
on the Meaning of Words and Phrases:
“Honor your father and mother”: According to
the original Greek word for “honor”, it does not have the connotation of obey here as some translations have
added. It simply means to respect or honor your father and mother. God places
even more importance on honor than
obedience, because honor includes obedience while obedience does not necessarily include the meaning of honor/respect. We need to honor our
father and mother because we issue out from them. This is also symbolic of our
having been originated from God.
“And given Himself for us”: There is a principle to our walking in
love, that is, to give our life for others or to deny our self. The Lord Jesus
incarnated as a man was for the sake of giving His life for us. God loves us by
freely giving us His only begotten Son to us; thus, God’s love has been manifested
through Christ.
“An offering
and a sacrifice”: “Sacrifice” emphasizes sacrifice, meaning His having
being killed and shed His blood for us. This points to
the Lord’s death on the cross in redeeming us from our sins. While “offering”
does not emphasize the sacrifice and the shedding of the blood aspect of Christ
Jesus’ death; rather it is like the Old Testament’s first fruits type of
offering, referring to the entire life of the Lord Jesus – the aspect of His
communication. What the Lord has done on our behalf is not just His death on
the cross, but His entire life on this earth was also for us.
“‘That it may be well with you and you may live
long on the earth.’’”: Honoring our father and mother is the way of
bringing in God’s blessings in our lives: that we may experience God’s
blessings in this age and longevity. Those who do not honor their parents will
bring upon themselves a curse and their lives will be short-lived. “That it may be well with you” not only
refers to material blessings, but it also refers to a life lived in peace. This
blessing also brings in longevity. Those who honor their father and mother
under God’s blessings will also enjoy long life, because this kind of people
have self-restraint, their thoughts are pure, and they are constructive; all
these factors can contribute to their living a long life.
“Which is the first commandment with promise”:
We honor our father and mother not only because they are our source of life,
but it is also the first commandment in the Old Testament in our interpersonal
relationship to man; moreover, it is the first commandment with a promise (Exo. 20:12)
Enlightenment in the Word
1)
To obey refers to our outward conduct;
while to honor refers to our inner
attitude. Some children may obey their father and mother, but inwardly they do
not honor their parents. The Christian children should learn to have the proper
genuine attitude of honor in obeying our father and mother.
2)
“Honor your
father and mother” in spiritual application is to venerate/fear God. There is no one who does not honor their
father and mother and be a good child in the eyes of God.
3)
The children
issues out of the parents and the parents are the source of the children – just
as man issues out from God and God is the Source of man; for this reason, when
we honor our parents, we will definitely gain God’s delight and be blessed by
Him.
4)
The relationship
between parents and children is a life-long relationship. Similarly, from the
beginning to the end of our lives, the Lord is constantly teaching and guiding
us to be His children, because we are forever the children of our Father God.
5)
Blessings and
longevity here does not refer mainly to our spiritual blessings and our life to
come; rather the promise here refers mainly to our present blessing and
longevity. The blessings we experience in this life are based on our attitude
and conduct towards our parents. To those who honor their parents, regardless
of how long they live their lives, their lives are bound to be full of
significance and meaning.
6)
Those who do not
honor their parents are committing a slow suicide – they are cutting short
their life on this earth.
Eph. 6:4 “And you,
fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the
training and admonition of the Lord.”
Literal
Translation of Words and Phrases:
“Provoke” –
to incite to anger; “Training” – to
regulate their actions with penalty
“Admonition”
– to use words in teaching, encourage, or rebuke
“Bring them up”
-- to nurture or cultivate (other than the maintenance of the mortal body, it
also includes the meaning of nurturing their character or disposition.)
Explanation
on the Meaning of Words and Phrases
“Do not provoke your children to wrath”: If
the parents are too severe, cruel, unreasonable, or are prejudicial, they will
provoke their children to wrath. Therefore, no matter how bad the child may be,
try not to provoke them to anger; rather cause them to obey you from their
heart.
“In the training and admonition of the Lord”: “Training” is teaching from the standpoint
of knowledge. “Admonition” is to use
words to correct, restrain, warn, and discipline. The meaning of the whole clause is that the
parents in treating the children: 1) Use the training and admonition of the
Lord to train and admonish the children; 2) Follow the guidance of the Lord in
training and admonishing your children.
“Bring them up”:
This includes both the maintenance and education of both the mind and the body,
including kindness and graciousness/hospitable.
Enlightenment in the Word
1)
An attitude of
kindness will cause the children to more easily honor their father and mother,
and even encourage them to gladly obey. On the other hand, a harsh and rude
attitude will be counter-productive, causing them to be obstinate and to damage
their obedient heart.
2)
“Provoke your
children to wrath “: This will stir up their flesh and cause more harm than
help.
3)
If the parents
want to prevent provoking your children to wrath, you must first pay attention
to yourselves not to have a fit of temper. Using the approach of not losing
your temper is to allow the cross to deal with your fleshly indignation.
4)
The lack of
discipline will cause the children to become morally degenerated; therefore,
God does not want the parents to overly pamper their children.
5)
“The training
and admonition of the Lord” reveals that our training and correction of the
children should rely on following the Christian model. The proper nurturing of
the children is a spiritual responsibility before the Lord that the parents
cannot neglect.
6)
The parents
ought to use the very Word of God to teach their children (Deut. 6:7). For this
reason, we ourselves need to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly (Col.
3:16).
7)
The parents
should not just orally teach the children while not being an example to them in
their own living. The children likes to imitate the
parents; therefore, the parents have to pay special attention to setting an
example – by being a good example in the family.
8)
Those who are
parents should know their position: If both the parents and the children are
believers in Christ, then we are all brothers. Due to this kind of spiritual
relationship, the parents cannot abuse their position and authority, because
our Father in heaven will not do such things.
Eph. 6:5 “Bondservants, be obedient to those who are
your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of
heart, as to Christ;”
Literal
Translation of Words and Phrases:
“Bondservants”
– servants or slaves (those who have been purchased, definitely without freedom
of their own)
“Sincerity”
– pure and single
Background
Explanation:
In the ancient time, the slave system was universally
accepted by all people. At that time, it was considered by even the civilized
society to be an indispensable kind of system. The masters use money to buy
slaves and send them to do the humblest tasks. According to the law, the masters holds the authority of life and death over their
slaves. Unless the master of some slaves out of a benevolent heart show mercy
and release them; otherwise, they are bounded to serve as slaves for the rest
of their lives. The slaves do not have any rights; their existence is wholly
for the master’s comfort, convenience, and satisfaction.
Explanation
on the Meaning of Words and Phrases
“Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters… with fear and
trembling”: “Fear” is the inner intention, and “trembling” is the outward
attitude. The bondservants must fear the masters because the masters represent
Christ. The attitude of fear and
trembling is not due to having done something wrong, but rather out of a
sense of responsibility, out of a deep fear of neglecting one’s responsibility,
and unable to meet up to the master’s expectations.
“In sincerity of heart”: This is to say that our obedience should be
truly from our hearts without any deception or falsehood. In other words, they
should not just obey outwardly and not from the heart.
“Your masters according to the flesh”: This phrase suggests that
there is another higher spiritual realm, in which Christ is the Lord and Master.
Here Paul immediately pointed out that the relation between master and slaves
are only of this world. “Your masters
according to the flesh” can be broaden to be
applied to all employers or bosses.
“As to Christ”: meaning our attitude towards our earthly
masters/bosses should be as to Christ. This point of view will uplift the
humblest task to the highest level to form a kind of motivating power to
complete our tasks/assignments.
Enlightenment in the Word
1)
When Ephesians
chapter 6 mention the father-son and master-slave common relationship, he
always first admonish the latter, because the biggest common illness of man is
not being submissive to the authorities established by God – this indirectly
indicates that they are too are unwilling to be submissive to God Himself.
2)
Among the
interpersonal relationship among men, we need to recognize that we are under
certain people’s authority and some people are under us (cf. Matt. 8:9). If we
are unwilling to be submissive to others, then it will also be difficult for
others to be submissive to us.
3)
The nature of
man is corrupt… to such an extent that “it
is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be” (Rom. 8:7). For
this reason, defiance against authorities is a common occurrence. However, we
should not live according to our old man. Thus, we the believers should be able
to submit ourselves to our superiors from the heart.
4)
The believers
should keep their status/position towards their masters or superiors. Even
though these relationships are the results of our having to work – a labor
force and a salary exchange relations, yet we must look at these relations as
being ordained by the Lord Himself.
5)
A genuinely
faithful servant should deliberately “fear” and in attitude “tremble” before
their masters according to the flesh – like we are afraid of being careless in
causing offense to our Lord Jesus Christ.
6)
If indeed a
believer is obedient to his master/boss or superiors as to the Lord, then he is
in the eyes of God a real “bondservant of
Christ” (v.6), and one who walks according to the Lord’s will.
Eph. 6:6 “Not with eye-service,
as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the
heart,”
Literal
Translation of Words and Phrases:
“Heart” –
soul
Explanation
on the Meaning of Words and Phrases
“Not with
eye-service”: that is, when your boss is watching you, you will serve and
work, but the moment he takes his eyes away from you, you stop working. This is
the problem of servants, they like to only perform
eye-service.
“As men-pleasers”: Since these people only work when they are being
watched, they are obviously men-pleasers.
“As bondservants of Christ”: This means that we look at ourselves as
if we are serving as servants of Christ. We need to have the attitude of
seizing the opportunity at work to glorify Christ in serving man.
“Doing the will of God from the heart”: If a servant stands in the
position with a heart to revere God by faithfully serving their masters/bosses
– this is doing the will of God, because God delights in seeing man standing in
the position assigned to him by God.
Enlightenment in the Word
1) On the surface, the believer may appear to be a
servant of man, yet in reality he is a servant of Christ. Thus, we need to
labor before the eyes of God; our work is for Him to see, not man.
2) Some people just work for their livelihood. For this
reason, they have this concept that whether they earn little or much, as long
as they can get by, it’s good enough. However, the believers do not work just
for their livelihood, but we are also working for the Lord. Thus, we need to be
diligent as much as possible.
3) Although believers are working for man, we
nonetheless should use our goal of doing God’s will as the highest standard of
our life.
4) If our labor is simply in the eyes of man, for the
sake of pleasing man and receiving the praise of man, then that is without any
value. If on the other hand, we gladly serve from our heart as carrying out
God’s will, and our fear is doing it in secret without any man’s knowledge, but
is seen and remembered by God; this is a true bondservant of Christ!
5) A believer’s service is not only in the physical
body, but we also need to use our hearts and spirit in our service (
Eph. 6:7 “With goodwill doing service, as to the Lord,
and not to men,”
Literal
Meaning of Each Word or Phrase:
“Goodwill” – kind or goodwill.
Background
Explanation:
In the ancient time, the slaves commonly experienced
suffering under the oppression of their masters. Though they cannot tolerate
it, they dare not blatantly revolt, but kept their concerns/depression within
their hearts. On the surface, they reluctantly obey their masters, but in
reality “their hearts are unwilling and their sentiments are undesirable.”
Thus, whatever they do for their masters are at best a
perfunctory job.
Explanation
on the Meaning of Words or Phrases:
“With goodwill doing service”: This refers to the heart’s attitude,
not just serving from a sense of responsibility, but stemming from kindness and
goodwill.
“As to the Lord”: We should not consider our job as serving man, but
take it as the Lord’s arrangement and do them as to the Lord.
Enlightenment in the Word
1)
The work/job of
Christians should not be categorized as secular and sacred. Whatever we do
before the Lord and for the Lord are sacred and for the Lord’s service.
2)
Although the works
of a Christian has the distinction of some being for the Lord and some for man,
but if our heart’s attitude is proper, even what we do for man will be considered
as serving the Lord as well.
3)
There are some
Christians who work for Christian superiors and bosses,
they considered themselves to be equal in standing to their bosses. Thus, they
are not very diligent in their service. This is a wrong kind of attitude and
concept.
Eph. 6:8 “Knowing that whatever good anyone does, he
will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.”
Explanation
on the Meaning of Words or Phrases:
“Receive the
same from the Lord” – This has two possible meanings: 1) The Lord will give
you a blessing here on this earth today. 2) When the Lord returns, He will reward you
according to what you have done today.
Enlightenment in the Word
1)
Man does many things and also receives many things. The question is:
does he receive any punishment or
penalty? Or does he receive rewards? The answer in at the end of the day lies
in how is our conduct.
2)
The works we are
assigned to do today is not a waste our heart’s efforts (1 Cor.
3)
Although the
good works we do for men are done before men, yet they are seen and remembered
by God.
4)
The Lord’s
reward will not be based on our earthly status, but on our spiritual condition.
5)
At that time,
those who are slaves without freedom can still find in their status to serve
the Lord, do good works, and receive the way of the Lord’s reward; how can we
today excuse ourselves that our environment is not good, our opportunities are
not good, or our abilities are limited and not serve the Lord, do good works,
and receive the Lord’s reward?
Eph. 6:9 “And you, masters, do the same things to
them, giving up threatening, knowing that your own Master also is in
heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.”
Explanation
on the Meaning of Words or Phrases:
“Do the same things to them”: This is to say that in the same manner
that the servants treat their masters, the masters ought to treat their
servants – the same analogous principle applies. Although the position of the
master and the servant are not the same, yet they both must carry out the same
duty before the Lord, and they are both accountable to the same Lord. Each
person should do his own part to do the good works to receive the Lord’s
reward; the principle is actually the same.
“Giving up threatening”: Those who are in the higher position often
have the sense of superiority by virtue of their authority and status; thus,
they despise those who serve under them, bully them around, and recklessly
treat them.
“There is no partiality with Him”: Or one can translate this phrase:
“There is no practice of favoritism in His sentiment.” Although there are
bosses and subordinates between man, yet in the Lord’s
eyes we are all the same; the only difference is in our standing before man.
The Lord will not highly esteem you or treat you better just because you are a boss/master, nor will He belittle you or ill-treat you
just because you are a servant/subordinate. The Lord treats each person with
the same regard.
Enlightenment in the Word
1) “Knowing”
is a most comforting word especially for a servant in times of weary with
labor, and it also serves as a word of vigilance for the masters in their
treatment of their servants.
2) People who treat others base on their appearance are
biased/prejudicial people (
3) Those who are bosses/managers, you need to realize
that you too belong to the Lord; therefore, we need to live in such a way as to
let others see in our attitude and appearance that we truly are the Lord’s
people.
Eph.
Literal
Meaning of Words or Phrases:
“The power of
His might” – the strength of His Power
“Be strong”
– to have His Strength enters or be filled with His Strength
Explanation
on the Meaning of Words or Phrases:
“Finally”:
This means that he is about to say another section of important words: 1) To speak about another purpose of God in regards to the
Church. 2) The following words are based on the afore-mentioned words, that is,
for us to be a spiritual warrior, we need to have the
life and living mentioned in chapters 5:1 to 6:9.
“Be strong in the Lord”: The secret of
spiritual battle is that we need to be “in the Lord. “ We definitely cannot be
in ourselves, because not only can we not rely on ourselves, but we should not
look at ourselves. Once we consider ourselves, we will be feeble/flabby, unable
to wage a spiritual battle, but disarm ourselves.
“And in the
power of His might”: The Source of all our power is in the Lord. That means
we need to be united in one with the Lord so that the power that in the Lord
will be transferred to us. The power of the Lord is in the believers. Due to
the ignorance of many believers in using/applying this power of Christ in us,
they cannot be empowered.
“Be strong”:
In the original Greek, this is in the passive voice; thus it is not that we can
be strong by ourselves, but by other reasons. It is as we remain in the Lord, His
Strength will become our strength. It is in the resurrection power of Christ
that we can be strong in His might.
Enlightenment in the Word
1) The secret of a Christian being strong is never in
our own effort, but it is entirely lies in our dependency upon the Lord. Only
by our relying on His might and His strength can we be strong in the Lord.
2) Man’s power is insufficient to rely upon, but God’s
power is invincible!
3) In our spiritual battle, we cannot rely on ourselves,
but on the Lord. It is not relying on our own strength, nor it is asking the
Lord to strengthen our power, but we need to rely on the Lord’s power and His
might.
4) “Be”
implies that whether we are strong or not, we ourselves bear the greatest
responsibility. If we are unwilling to cooperate with the Lord, the Lord’s
power and might cannot flow through us.
5) In dealing with the devil, we cannot be cowardly or
run away, but rather we need to bravely resist him (
6) The problem with many a believers
is that they are stubborn and not submissive to the Lord; thus they are lacking
in courage and weak before the devil.
Eph.
Explanation
on the Meaning of Words or Phrases:
“Put on the whole armor of God”: The strength is the Lord’s and the armor is also belonging to God. “Armor”
or a military costume is highly dependent on by a soldier (Luke
“That you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil”: The
literal translation here is “that we may be able to stand and resist the wiles
of the devil.” Those who retreat, sit down, or fall down cannot resist, only
those who are standing are able to resist. However, in order to stand, we need to 1) be in the Lord, 2)
and put on the whole armor or God.
“The devil”: The devil means the deceiver. The purpose for us to
stand is to resist against the wiles of the devil.
Enlightenment in the Word
1)
After taking a
stable solid stand in our battlefield, we still need the proper
equipment/weaponry in order for us wage a battle. Since our battle is a
spiritual one, our equipping is also of spiritual in nature. We cannot use our
fleshly weapons to fight this battle, but use the armor given to us by God.
2)
God uses us to
deal with satan, He is also
responsible for preparing the proper armor that we need – it is a whole set of
armor and it is spiritual in nature. We need to put on the whole set of armor
without missing a single piece of armor. To miss even one piece of armor will
provide an opening for the attack of the enemy.
3)
The function of
the Church is not to defeat the devil but to resist him in order to defend and
maintain the victory of Christ over him.
4)
Here it does not
tell us what is the wiles of the devil, but we know
that they are deceits. Of course he can devise many ways making it difficult
for man to guard against; therefore, we have to be careful and discrete, and
guard against him in every way.
5)
The whole armor
of God is given to the whole Body of Christ, and not to any single individual
member. Therefore, we need the whole Body to put on the whole armor of God in
order for us to resist against the enemy. Thus, the spiritual warfare is not
something that can be carried out individually, but we need the whole Church to
be mobilized into action.
Eph.
Literal
Meaning of Each Word or Phrase:
“Wrestle” –
hand to hand combat, or to wrestle.
“Principalities” –
those who are first, at the beginning, the dominion.
“Powers” – governing authorities, those
who control, those who takes responsibility.
Background
Explanation:
“Wrestle”: The original word used is based on the background of hand-to-hand
wrestling with strength; it has the meaning of being tormented or persecuted.
The object of wrestling is to push your opponent down to the ground until he is
down flat on the ground and you yourself are still able to stand. In the
ancient time, they have the custom of fight by being bounded together: two people
would be tied up with a solid rope with each holding a sharp knife as a weapon
to duel until death.
.
Explanation
on the Meaning of Words or Phrases:
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood”: Of “flesh and
blood” refers to man. In our spiritual battle, man is only the opponent on the
surface; the real enemy is devil hidden behind man. Today, we are not fighting
against man, but against the devil behind man. Even the people who persecute
and kill us are master-minded by the devil behind them. Therefore, we need to
recognize clearly that our enemy is not man, but the evil one, the devil.
“Principalities …powers… rulers”: These are not referring to the
various nations’ human government authorities, and the people in the position of
power, but the intangible, spiritual forces of evil who rebel against God. Our
spiritual enemy that we battle against is not desultory, but it is an organized
system; and satan is the
king of this system. The
principalities and powers are the various ranking officials
and ministers of satan.
“Against
spiritual hosts of wickedness
in the heavenly places” : “the heavenly places” is the dwelling realm of the devil
and his cohorts, and it is where he rules; the sphere of their activities is
from above directly downward… reaching the ground and the seas. “Spiritual” is referring to the nature of the
devil. The devil and his cohorts are spiritual in nature and not of flesh and
blood; however, they can possess a person’s or animal’s body. “Wickedness”: Due
to the fact that the character of the devil is evil; therefore, he is called
the devil and he is the root of all evil.
.
Enlightenment in the Word
1)
In our spiritual
battle, the believers need to recognize clearly who are our true enemies, which
is not man but the devil. Therefore, we should not reckon our brothers and
sisters as our enemies.
2)
Our enemies are
the “spiritual hosts” and not “flesh and blood.” We can only defend with the
spiritual principles using spiritual weapons.
If we are in our own planning or use our own human methodologies; once
we move in our flesh, we will fall down from our spiritual position. Thus, we
are defeated even before we fight.
3)
Our battleground
with the enemies needs to be in the heavenly places. The battle in Ephesians
six is based on Ephesians two’s position of “seated in the heavenly places.” Whenever we are of the earth and of
this world, we will lose our battle ground. And once we lose our battleground,
we are bound to be defeated.
4)
Since we are
facing spiritual enemies, we must stand upon our spiritual position and use our
spiritual authority to deal with our enemies.
5)
Our enemy has an
elaborate system of organization. For this reason, we should never face the
enemy by ourselves, but rather we need to be properly coordinated with the brothers
and sisters to storm the battlefield together.
Eph.
Explanation
on the Meaning of Words or Phrases:
“Therefore” connects this verse with
verse 12.
“Take up the whole armor of God”: We
cannot use our fleshly methods to deal with our enemies, because they are
spiritual in nature.
“Take up”: The original Greek uses a verb
that conveys a most urgent and a decisive action that’s required. If we wait
until we meet our enemy before we equip ourselves, it’s too late. Christians
ought to be able to take up their weapons quickly at anytime for us to be able
to meet the need in times of emergency.
“To withstand in the evil day”: This
means that satan uses all
kinds of evil things to disturb us, bring us bitter experiences with difficult
and dangerous days.
“Withstand”:
does not accompany the enemy at the direct object, but it includes the meaning
of standing firm to resist and defend. The meaning here is not only that we
should be prepared to fight, but that we should also be able to take hold of
and defend our position.
“And having done all, to stand”:
Initially, it is to stand and resist (v.11 based on the original Greek). After
resisting, we need to stand; therefore, taking our stand is a continuous
matter.
Enlightenment in the Word
1)
Among the armor
pieces God has given us, some needs to be put on (v.11), some needs to be
picked up and held (like the shield and the sword). In fighting our spiritual
battle, we need both to put on what needs to be put on and take up what we need
to take up. We can’t just use a part of the armor.
2)
The days in
which we live are evil (Eph.
3)
The devil is
very cunning; his strategies are constantly changing. He uses all kinds and all
categories of things to constantly torment us. Thus, from our standpoint, “the
days are evil.”
4)
The spiritual
battle we are waging is one of taking a “stand.” We fight by taking our
spiritual stand, and we win the
battle by maintaining our stand.
5)
After one wave
is passed, another wave will be approaching. Our spiritual battle will continue
indefinitely until the Lord returns. Therefore after fighting a battle, we need
to continue “to stand.” We cannot lax
our guard for a moment.
Eph.
Literal
Meaning of Each Word or Phrase:
“Breastplate” – chest sign, chest armor.
Background
Explanation:
In ancient times, the soldiers use the belts to gird
their waist on their upper garment and hang the sheath of their sword; another
thing is the breastplates
to tie closely to their chest, in order to protect their heart
organs.
Explanation
on the Meaning of Words or Phrases:
“Stand therefore”: In the spiritual warfare, the most important
position is to stand. To stand is based
the putting on of the uniform of God and not upon their own tactics. “Stand firm” refers to a victorious position.
It means that a well prepared believer will be able to stand firm. After the war, they are not drop down on the
ground and still stand firm and take full control.
“Having girded your waist with truth”:
Girdle is for girding the garment, to prevent inconvenience in movement; “garment” refers to behaviors. Therefore,
it means that our behaviors in life must be control by truth. If our behaviors
are not control by truth, then we will not be able to fight with the enemies.
“Girded”:
means concentrate the strength of the whole body, in order to allow the whole body to be strong; “Truth” refers to
the word of God and the precept of God. If the believer knows about the word of God and the precept of God
and live accordingly. Then Truth
will become our girdles and make us strong.
“Having put on the breastplate of righteousness ”: “Breast”
refers to conscience. Every one that is
in the spiritual warfare, he needs to have no condemned conscience. Once you have a condemned conscience, you
will lose your faith and cannot fight a good fight. “Breastplate” is to protect us from Satan's
accusations. And “Righteousness” is for the protection of our conscience. The
meaning of these has two sides:
1)
Objective side: the salvation of the
Lord and the cleansing of the Lord's blood. (Rev.12:11)
2)
Subjective side: Base upon the life of the Lord to live out a righteous
behavior with no condemnation.
If
the believer do not have enough subjective
righteousness, he should take the objective blood to cover him.
Enlightenment in the Word
1)
Whenever a believer receives revelation and a
truth from God’s Word, he is strengthen.
2)
The enemy is
always bothering us in our mind, therefore we have to
use the truth to gird the waist of our mind.
3)
“The
girdle of truth”
since this is the thing mention in the armor of God. This shows that the obedience to the truth is
of the foremost requirement for spiritual warfare.
4)
Partial truth is
not enough for girding the waist, it needs a complete truth. Those who failed
in the spiritual warfare, mostly are those who know so
little about the truth. They know only a part of the truths and miss most of
them.
5)
“Truth” refers to Christ as our reality
in life. (Eph 4:21, 24);
6)
Believers do not
depend on their own righteousness but fully depend on Christ as our
righteousness (I Cor.
7)
The breastplates
cover us only the front and not the back. Therefore Christians can only go
forward and not backward. Once you retread, you back will be exposed and it
will be hit by the arrow of fire from the enemy.
Eph. 6:15 “And having shod your feet with the preparation
of the gospel of peace;”
Literal
Meaning of Each Word or Phrase:
“Preparation” – Well prepared,
appropriate, stable foundation.
Background Explanation:
In ancient times, soldiers in the battlefield need to
wear the protective shoes, which were made with thick leather base and with
pointed iron for the soldiers to walk fast and secure.
Explanation
on the Meaning of Words or Phrases:
“Gospel of peace”: It refers
to chapter two: that the Lord in His body and through His cross' destruction,
cause us and the Jews to reconcile with God. The main problem between men and
men, men and God is flesh. The work of the cross in us is to wipe out the flesh
totally. So that no partition between man and man, and between man and God.
“And having shod your feet with the preparation” “Preparation” refers to prepare for serving the Lord. It means full concentration, allow men to notice where their post is and getting to fight any time. Shod your feet with t