Deeper Commentary
CHAPTER 6
6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord. For this is right-
Given the predominance of slaves, children and women in the early
churches, we are to imagine the house church meetings with plenty of
women, nursing mothers, kids running everywhere. Eph. 6:1 and Col. 3:20
seem to suppose that children would be present at the church gatherings
and would listen attentively to what was said. But "in the Lord" may mean
that this obedience is not simply because parents are parents. It could be
a continuation of the theme of respect for the sake of being "in Christ"
which was developed at the end of chapter 5. Believing children should
obey their parents "in the Lord"; or perhaps, for the sake of the fact
that they are "in the Lord", seeing them as the manifestation of the Lord
Jesus. The whole passage in 6:1-3 is a strange allusion to Jacob; " Jacob
obeyed his father and his mother" (Gen. 28:7) by going to Padan Aram
(actually he fled there, but the record frames it as if he did so purely
out of obedience to his parents and from a desire to find a wife in the
Faith). Because Jacob did this, God promised him at Bethel that it would
be well with him (Gen. 32:9 = "that it may be well with you", Eph.
6:3), and he too was given the Abrahamic promises of living long on the
earth / land (= "the... commandment with promise", Eph. 6:2). Thus
Jacob's fleeing to Padan Aram is seen by the Spirit in Paul as a righteous
act of obedience to faithful parents, which resulted in him receiving the
promises. And yet his flight was rooted in fear, and at the time he did
not accept the promises as relevant to him, neither did he believe Yahweh
was his God (Gen. 28:20). And yet the positive side of Jacob (i.e. his
obedience to his parents) is seized on and held up as our example.
6:2 Honour your father and mother (which is the first commandment with
promise)- See on :1. Paul clearly saw "the promise" of the old
covenant as being the hope of the new covenant; the hope of the promises
made to the Jewish fathers was the Christian hope, as Paul so clearly
stated at his trials. This involves eternal possession of a glorified
earth- and not going to Heaven on death as an immortal soul.
6:3 That it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth-
The promise of 'long life' now means eternal life in God's Kingdom on
earth. "Well" is the equivalent of the promise that "it may go well with
you" (Dt. 5:16). The same Hebrew word is used of the blessing of Abraham
to be received in the land of promise (Gen. 32:9,12). Again, the promises
to Abraham are seen as the basis of the Christian hope (Gal. 3:8).
6:4- see on Eph. 5:31.
And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but nurture them
in the training and instruction of the Lord- This confirms that the parents and children in
view are "in the Lord". The balance within the verse suggests that the
opposite of nurturing in the Lord is to provoke them to anger, perhaps
referring to anger at a later stage in the child's life. "Nurture",
paideia, is literally 'education' or 'training'. The idea is that the
Lord Jesus should educate our children; in the sense that we are to allow
Him to operate through us in training them. We are to be the Lord Jesus in
training our children; if we do not show them Him then we are not Him to
them. We are to provide this nurture; Sunday School or church programs for
kids are all very well, but the essential responsibility is with the
parent. And any "admonition" is to be from the Lord, and not therefore
motivated by a flash of anger or frustration.
6:5 Servants, be obedient to those that according to the flesh are your
masters, with respect and fear, in singleness of your heart, as if to
Christ- As with the commands about parents, children and marital
partners, this would seem to apply to servants and masters within the
church. As we each manifest the Lord Jesus because we are in Him, so
servants should perceive the Christ in their believing masters. Seeing the
Christ in others is what can so elevate and transform human relationships,
including the difficult ones, such as between believing master and
believing slave. The believing slave would have been sorely tempted to
despise their believing masters, considering that really they should
release them from slavery and shouldn't even be involved in slavery in the
first place. To respect those who are not living as they might in Christ
is hard indeed, but again, it is because they are "in Christ" that we can
find the sort of respect for them which Paul found even for the
Corinthians.
6:6 Not in the way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers; but as servants of
Christ, doing the will of God from the heart- Whether or not the
master was in Christ, the slave was allowed to serve them as if serving
Christ. All the wonderful ideals of serving the Lord Jesus in works, such
as evangelism and caring for others, would have seemed unrealistic for
those who were slaves. They had no freedom nor ownership even of their
bodies. With what relief they would have read that their secular service
could be accepted as service to the Lord. This is a comfort likewise today
to those who are effectively in slavery, working on minimum wage and
paying high rent and taxes. It can all be accepted as done unto the Lord,
and therefore is not to be done as work done just when the master is
watching ["eyeservice"], but knowing that the Heavenly Master is watching
at all times, and we are pleasing Him and not men. Slaves could also
reflect that their position and labour was "the will of God". By obeying
the will of their masters, they were obeying the will of God. But we need
to be aware that many masters asked their slaves to perform immoral deeds,
especially sexually. Paul does not call for rebellion against such
masters, which would likely have resulted in mutilation or death. And yet
the Bible is clear that we should be obedient to men only insofar as we
are not thereby disobedient to our Master in Heaven, Peter's example with
regard to preaching being perhaps the clearest. The fact the question is
not directly addressed is surely because we are to this day left with many
such nuanced situations, where principles appear to be in conflict, and it
is not the case that not following the highest path shall lead to the
Lord's rejection.
6:7 Giving service with a good will, as if to the Lord and not to man-
"Giving service" is literally 'being in bondage'. We are His slaves, and
the force of that metaphor should not be lost upon us. The depth of that
servitude should mean that our 'slavery' in secular things is not
significant, compared to our deep sense of bondage to the Lord. He is our
exclusive Lord, and so any human servitude is to be performed as unto Him.
6:8 Knowing that whatever good thing each one does, the same shall he
receive in return from the Lord, whether he be slave or free- The
'receiving in return' is at judgment day; the same word is used of our
'receiving' a reward in response to life lived today. Not in this life,
when the righteous often suffer for their goodness. Every good deed
will then have its recognition. "Each one" again encourages us that we are
taken notice of as individuals; the slaves, who probably rarely attended
church meetings, may have felt that they were somehow insignificant to the
Lord. Paul is encouraging them that every act of service performed in
their secular lives- yes, every errand run and meal prepared- could be
accepted as service to the Lord and would be rewarded at judgment day. Our
status as slave or free will not be significant.
6:9 And you, masters, do the same things to them, and stop your
threatening; knowing that he who is both their master and yours is in
heaven, and that there is no partiality with him- "The same things"
refers to the good things of :8. For masters to do good to slaves was a
paradigm breaking idea in the first century world, where a slave was not
considered a person but a machine. Clearly it is believing masters who are
being addressed here, and some of them practiced "threatening"; quite
against the spirit of their Lord who when He suffered, "threatened not" (1
Pet. 2:23 s.w.). Masters were to realize that they too are in slavery- to
the Lord Jesus. He will not take account of someone's social status in His
judgments of people- "there is no partiality with Him" matches the comment
in :8, "whether he be slave or free". Surely nobody actually said in so
many words that the Lord took account of their higher social status; but
in their hearts they assumed this, and so Paul directly tackles that
attitude. I noted on 5:32 that Paul uses the same principles about the
unity of Jew and Gentile to reason that husband and wife are to be united
in Christ. Here too, "there is no partiality with [the Lord]" is used both
about the unity between Jew and Gentile (Rom. 2:11) and now here about the
essential unity between master and slave in Christ. Paul is teaching far
more than that masters and slaves should be civil, reasonable and tolerant
towards each other; but beyond that, they were in fact united together as
one in Christ. This is the result of baptism into the same Lord (Gal.
3:27-29).
6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might-
Here we have the two aspects brought together: human endeavour meshed with
the Lord's activity. We are to be strong, but in His strength. The
strength of the Lord's might clearly refers to His Spirit. We are
strengthened with His might (1:19; Col. 1:11), and that strengthening is
by the might of His Spirit in the inner man (3:16,20 s.w.). The
strengthening envisaged is therefore internal, psychological
strengthening. But we must wish for it- this will not happen against our
will. We must seek to be strong in the Lord, putting on the armour (:11),
and will be strengthened by this internal Spirit strengthening.
6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to stand
against the wiles of the Devil- Having spoken of the strengthening of
the Spirit in :10, we are reminded that we must seek that strengthening;
we must put on the armour. Our battle is essentially spiritual (:12), and
so we need the armour of the Spirit. It is the Spirit which will empower
us against temptation, but we must seek to put it on. See on :12.
6:12 For we do not wrestle only against flesh and blood, but also
against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers
of this darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the
heavenlies- At least three possible interpretations present
themselves. The language is partly relevant to Angels; yet also to the
Judaizers and also to the Roman authorities. Those three possibilities can
mesh with each other. Paul is writing in Jewish terms to a group under the
influence of Judaizers and Jewish thinking. The Old Testament presents the
world as under the control of Angels, with each power group having Angelic
representatives in the court of Heaven. For "spirits" see on Dan.
10:20,21. Paul sees the Christian conflict as not only against their own
flesh and blood, or even against individual humans; but against systems of
wickedness, both Judaist and Roman. Both groups were involved because the
Jews were seeking to use Roman power and litigation to destroy the
Christians, just as they had in the crucifixion of the Lord. And yet Paul
frames the conflict in terms of Angels because he sees great comfort in
the fact that all situations on earth are allowed by Angelic control, and
God is not unaware of the earthly situation. We find this kind of approach
commonly used in Revelation. Here, the "principalities and powers" can
refer therefore both to literal Angels and to those they represent in the
Roman system; the wicked spirits in heavenlies can refer to Judaizers
within the church as well as to their representatives in the throne room
of Heaven.
As regards common misunderstanding of this passages, note that the world
is under God’s control, not that of evil beings in heaven (Dan. 4:32).
“All power” in heaven and in earth has been given to Jesus (Mt. 28:18) by
God (Rev. 3:21; Lk. 22:29), so it cannot also be possessed by wicked
beings in heaven. There can be no sinful being in Heaven itself (Ps.
5:4,5; Hab. 1:13; Mt. 6:10). There is much figurative language in vv.
11–17 – the armour of the Christian is figurative, as is the wrestling,
seeing that “the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto
all men” (2 Tim. 2:24); v. 12 should be similarly interpreted. If the
“Devil” was cast out of heaven in Eden, how could he and his followers
still have been in the literal heavens in Paul’s time?
The same phrase "Principalities and powers" is used in Col. 2:15
concerning the Angels who gave the Law. The phrase "wiles" (:11) is only
used again in 4:14 ("Lie in wait") regarding the Judaizer-devil
circulating false doctrine. The rulers of the Jewish heavenlies were both
literal Angels and the Judaizers whom they represented in the court of
Heaven. Eph. 6:13 warns of a forthcoming battle: "Take unto you the whole
armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day"- the
spiritual battle between the Law of Moses and that of Christ which is
detailed in Rev. 12. Paul could see that in the final conflict against the
Judaizers, he would need courage to speak out as he should: "Pray... for
me... that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the
Gospel" (v. 19)- a phrase often used in connection with Gentiles and Jews
having equal standing with God through Christ.
The Greek for "wrestle" in Eph. 6:12 is the same word as "cast out" in
Rev. 12. The battle of the Christians then was not to cast out men- "we
wrestle not against flesh and blood". This is a real difficulty for any
'explanation of difficult passages' that tries to make this refer to human
rulers alone. It was the Jewish devil that needed casting out, and the
Angel principalities and powers which co-ordinated it. There is no doubt
that "principalities and powers" does also refer to Jewish and Roman
authorities (Lk. 12:11; 20:20; Mt. 7:29 etc). This is to be expected once
we understand that the devil and satan of the New Testament often refers
to both Jewish and Roman systems and the Angels behind them. Remember that
the Angels rule the world. God's system of manifestation remains constant.
In the same way as the "pattern of things in the Heavens" in the Angelic
organization there was repeated on earth through the organization of the
tabernacle and the elohim of Israel's judges and priests, so that
Heavenly system is maybe also reflected through the judges and leaders of
the world, every one of whom is controlled by an Angel. Hence the
identical language used for both Angels and worldly rulers- in the same
way as Angel-Cherubim language is used concerning both Angels and earthly
armies, e.g. of Babylonians, who fulfilled their will.
This passage seems a footnote to the epistle: "Finally, my brethren..."
(v. 10). This is similar to the footnotes begun in Phil. 3:1; Gal. 6:12
and 1 Tim. 6:20, all of which warn against the Judaizers - indicating the
immense importance Paul attached to the coming struggle with the
"Principalities and powers”.
The context is set in v. 13. The preparation was to be because the church
was facing “the evil day”. This refers to a period of especial persecution
of the church, which was to come at the hands of the Romans, seeing they
were the only people with enough power to create an “evil day” for the
Christian church at the time Paul was writing. (1 Pet. 4:12; 5:8–9). The
wrestling was against “the rulers of this dark world”, who at the time
were the Romans. Note that the wrestling is spiritual wrestling to keep
the faith (2 Cor. 10:3–5). This time of evil had already begun as Paul was
writing (Eph. 5:16) – “the days are evil’. “Principalities” is translated
“magistrate” in Luke 12:11; human “rule”, in the sense of human
government, in 1 Corinthians 15:24, and the “power” of the Roman governor
in Luke 20:20. So it does not necessarily have reference to any power or
prince in heaven. “Powers” is translated as the “authority” of the Roman
governor in Luke 20:20, and regarding one having “authority” in Matthew
7:29. We must “be subject to principalities and powers” (Titus 3:1) in the
sense of earthly governments, insofar as they do not ask us to do things
which are contrary to the law of God (Acts 5:29; 4:19; Mt. 19:17). If
“principalities and powers” are evil beings in heaven whom we must resist,
why are we told to be subject to them? If we accept that they refer to
human governors and authorities, then this is easily understandable.
“Heavenly places” may also refer to positions of authority in the secular
world. Thus the king of Babylon was a figurative “star” in heaven (Is.
14:12), i.e. a great ruler. Jesus is the “sun” (Mal. 4:2), the saints are
the “stars” (Dan. 12:3) of the future order. The present “heavens” of man
will be replaced by the new Heavens when the Kingdom is established on the
earth (2 Pet. 3:13), i.e. the positions of power and rulership, now in the
hands of sinful men, will be handed over to the true Christians. The
saints of the Most High shall possess the kingdoms of men (Dan. 7:27).
Thus wicked spirits in the “heavens” could refer to men of wicked minds in
places of power in the world who were persecuting the Christians.
“Wicked spirituals in high (heavenly) places” does not refer to wicked
beings in heaven itself. The exalted position of the true believers in
Christ is described as being “in heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 2:6).
“Spirituals” can be used to describe those in the church who had the gift
of the spirit; having given a list of commands as to how the gifts of the
spirit should be used, Paul concludes: “If any man (in the church) think
himself to be a prophet, or spiritual (i.e. spiritually gifted, see
N.I.V.), let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the
commandments of the Lord” (1 Cor. 14:37). 1 Corinthians 14 shows there was
a big problem in the church of believers misusing the spirit gifts.
Hebrews 6:4–6 describes some Jewish Christians in the first century who
had the gift of the spirit, but who were leading the church away from true
Christianity by their attitude. These would be a prime example of wicked
spirituals in the heavenlies (i.e. in the church). The temple and ark are
sometimes referred to as the heavens (2 Sam. 15:25, cp. 1 Kings 8:30; 2
Chron. 30:27; Ps. 20:2,6; 11:4; Heb. 7:26). The church is the new temple.
In the same way as wicked people could be in the temple, so, too, they
could be in the heavenlies of the church. Possession of the Spirit did not
mean that someone was necessarily acceptable in God’s sight, e.g. Saul
possessed it for a time (1 Sam. 10:10) as did the judges of Israel (Num.
11:17) although they were not righteous; they did not believe the report
of Joshua and Caleb and therefore were condemned to die like the other
Israelites, despite their having the Spirit – Psalm 82:1–7 says as much.
For a period the churches of Revelation 2 and 3 possessed the gifts
despite their errors, until eventually their candlestick was removed (cp.
Acts 20:28–29; Eph. 4:11; Rev. 2:5). Thus the wicked spirits in the
heavenlies were apostate Christians within the church, in league with the
Judaists, leading the church into an “evil day” of temptation.
Thus the threat to the church was twofold: from the Roman/Jewish
persecution and from the (often Judaist) “false apostles” (2 Cor. 11:13)
within. Remember Ephesians 6:11–13 was written to the church at Ephesus.
Paul had previously warned them about this threat from within: “For I know
this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you,
not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking
perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:29–30).
Rotherham’s translation brings this out well: “Our struggle is against the
principalities against the authorities against the world – rulers of this
darkness, AND against spiritual wickedness in heavenlies”.
It is possible to still interpret “the Devil” in v. 11, as having a
certain degree of reference to the “Jewish Satan”. The “Heavenly places”
of v. 12 may refer to the Jewish heavenlies; 2 Peter 3 and Deuteronomy
32:1 speak of the Jewish heavens. This is strengthened by the fact that
the “sun, moon and stars” are sometimes figurative of the Jews (e.g.
Genesis 22:17; 37:9; Dan. 8:9,10,24). We have shown that the wicked
spirituals may have reference to the Jewish Christians who were
spirit–gifted, but turned to apostasy. They would thus be in both the
Christian and Jewish “heavenlies”. The threat from within the church posed
by the Judaizers infiltrating the church, who were Jews. Thus “the Devil”
was manifested in the Roman authorities and the Jews within the
Christian church. The two entities were connected insofar as the Jewish
synagogue powers often informed the Roman authorities against the
Christians.
The “wiles of the Devil” offers support to the Jewish context in that the
Greek word for “wiles” is elsewhere translated “to lie in wait to
deceive”, in a verse which talks about the Judaizers subtly trying to
introduce false doctrine into the church: the church was being “tossed to
and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of
men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” (Eph.
4:14). If the “heavenly places” also represent the Jewish system, further
meaning is given to Ephesians 3:3–10: “The mystery... that the Gentiles
should be fellow heirs (with the Jews), and of the same body, and
partakers of his promise in Christ by the Gospel... To make all men (both
Jews and Gentiles) see what is the fellowship of the mystery... To the
intent now that unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places
might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God”, i.e. that by the
church showing the unity that existed between Jew and Gentile within it,
the Jewish leaders (“principalities and powers in heavenlies”) might come
to appreciate “the manifold wisdom of God”. This, in turn, opens up John
17:21: “That they all (Jews and Gentiles) may be one... that the world
(this phrase almost always means the Jewish world in John’s Gospel) may
believe that You have sent me”. The “evil day” of v. 13 would be a result
of the Judaizers, who were “evil men and seducers” (2 Tim. 3:13).
Another approach is to be found by considering the view that many of the
later New Testament documents are full commentary upon and critical
allusion to popular ideas of false religion which were circulating at the
time. The commentary of David Pitt-Francis on Ephesians 6 bears quoting at
more length:
“The object of the Christian message was to shake such imagined deities
out of their places, so that men would give real glory to Christ, and to
the God of Heaven alone. Paul describes the conflict of Christian witness
as a struggle, not 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”. To many unacquainted with the real impact of the gospel,
both sun and moon seemed to have personalities which they did not
possess, as did the stars of heaven, heaven itself, and those exalted
parts of nature such as mountains and islands. Thus Isaiah 2, which
contains primarily a prophecy against idolatry in Israel and describes
idol–worship in the context of ‘high mountains’ and ‘lofty hills’ contains
a description of the flight of men into caves and holes of the rocks from
the terror of God, and this description is borrowed in Revelation. The end
of the worship of sun, moon and stars is also foretold by Isaiah in a
later passage, where the imagined gods of heaven are described as being
punished: “On that day, the Lord will punish the host of heaven, in heaven
– and the kings of the earth, on earth – they will be gathered together as
prisoners in a pit... then the moon will be ashamed, and the sun
confounded for the Lord of hosts will reign” (David Pitt-Francis, The
Most Amazing Message Ever Written (Irchester: Mark Saunders Books,
1984) chapter 4).
6:13 Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of
evil comes, you may be able to withstand it; and after you have done
everything, to stand firm- See on :12. Protection against spiritual
destruction was not therefore simply in their own strength; they were to
put on God's defences. Once they had done all they humanly could, the
Divine defence would operate. The same idea is found in :17. It is this
huge spiritual power which enables us, as David against Goliath, to
successfully "withstand" evil. The same word is used in teaching that we
are not to resist evil in physical, secular terms (Mt. 5:39). We are to
resist evil- but in spiritual terms. I explained on :12 that the evil in
view was the power of Judaism seeking to destroy Christianity in league
with the Roman authorities. The same word for "withstand", often
translated "resist", is used of how the Gospel of grace was resisted by
Judaists and Romans (Acts 13:8; 2 Tim. 3:8; 4:15), but the power of the
Christian defence / resistance could not be 'withstood' (Lk. 21:15; Acts
6:10; Gal. 2:11; 1 Pet. 5:9). We in our last days face a final time of
evil which shall swamp the believers unless they are armed with God's
defences, which basically refer in various forms to "the Spirit". The
armour described is all defensive; the peace of God (surely a reference to
the Spirit) keeps hearts and minds in Christ (Phil. 4:7).
6:14 Stand therefore, having girded yourself with truth and having put
on the breastplate of righteousness- "The breastplate of
righteousness" was understood by Jewish ears as referring to the High
Priestly breastplate. No ordinary Israelite would ever have had the
ambition to dream of wearing it. But as often, Paul calls the believers to
the heights of spiritual ambition. They were not mere spectators at a
show, but participants, the priestly tribe, called to do even the work of
the High Priest on earth. The girdle or belt of truth enabled the
Christian to flee swiftly; being girded on Passover night spoke of being
able to flee quickly. And it is "truth", our covenant relationship with
the Lord, which psychologically keeps us mobile from temptation, binding
our minds together rather than us having the disordered and loose mind of
the unbeliever.
6:15 And having shod your feet with the readiness to announce the
gospel of peace- This is in the context of defensive measures against
temptation and tribulation. Being prepared to witness to the Gospel is of
itself a means of defence against temptation; for the work of witness
means we will not be in league with the world but separate from it in a
spiritual sense. "Peace" has been earlier used in the letter regarding
peace in relationship between Jew and Gentile because of the peace with
God which is in Christ (2:14,15,17; 4:3). The good news is not simply of a
future eternity upon planet earth redevivus. It is far more than
that. It includes the genuinely good and attractive news of reconciliation
between persons who would otherwise have remained intractably separated.
Eph. 6:15 speaks of our each being 'sandaled' with the preparation of the
Gospel. Who prepared the way of the Lord by preaching, wearing sandals?
John the Baptist. It seems Paul is alluding to John here, setting him up
as the preacher's example; and it was John who was described as
'preparing' the Lord's way, using the same word as here translated
"readiness". The reference to "loins girt" (Eph. 6:14) would also be a
John allusion- the record twice (in Mt. 3:4; Mk. 1:6) stresses how John
had his 'loins girded'. See on Mt. 10:32.
6:16 Meanwhile taking up the shield of faith, with which you shall be
able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil- "Taking up" here as in
:17 carries the idea of receiving, accepting, as David received Saul's
armour. The idea is not simply that our own faith will be our shield. That
would be somewhat axiomatic, and the power of resistance and defence would
rest with us alone. I suggest the idea is that we are to accept the shield
of Spirit defence against temptation, which shield we receive if we
believe we shall be given it. We are to believe that truly the Lord is
able to keep us from spiritually falling (Jude 24). The fact He is able to
do this shows of itself that we can be fortified over and above our own
efforts. Otherwise He would have no role to play in keeping us from
falling.
6:17 And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God- "Take" as in :16 really means to receive or
"accept" (GNB); see note on :16. We are to take the defensive armour of
the Spirit. It is the Spirit which will keep us from falling; the helmet
guards the head, the mind, the thinking, which Paul presents as the
essence of Christianity. The Spirit is the guarantee that we will be
finally saved, it is the earnest of the possession yet to be received in
final salvation (1:14; 2 Cor. 1:22; 5:5). Believing this will keep our
minds in peace; if really we are persuaded that we shall eternally live
the spiritual life, we shall not give in to petty temptation now. But we
must clothe ourselves with that as a helmet, just as we must of our own
volition clothe ourselves with Christ in baptism. We receive not
'the-sword-of-the-Spirit', but the sword which is the Spirit or given by
the Spirit. "The word [rhema] of God" is not necessarily the Bible
from Genesis to Revelation; for not all the Bible had then been written.
Paul in Rom. 10:8,17 understands this term to mean the Gospel. And the
Spirit is available from believing the Gospel. And the rhema of God
is likewise understood as the Gospel message in Acts 10:22 and often. The
rhema of the Lord is specifically stated to be the promised gift of
the Spirit in Acts 11:16. Experiencing the rhema of God was to
experience the Holy Spirit (Heb. 6:5). The grammar requires that the sword
and not the Spirit is the word of God. The Spirit therefore gives us God's
word; it is incorrect here to draw a direct equivalence between the Spirit
and the word. The Spirit can give help through God's word- Bible verses
can be brought to our mind in the battle against temptation. But the
"word" in view is, as suggested above, specifically the word of the
Gospel, the good news of the Spirit's help to us in times of need. This is
the nourishment and strength ministered to us by the Lord Jesus, "the Lord
the Spirit" (2 Cor. 4:4), in our times of spiritual crisis (Heb. 4:15,16).
6:18- see on Lk. 12:37.
With all prayer and petition, praying at all times in the Spirit; and with
this in view, be alert with all perseverance and petition for all the
saints- "At all times" is
really 'on every occasion'. Every occasion of temptation or testing is to
be met by prayer; and we are not to simply pray for ourselves, but for
others as we observe them in times of crisis. This suggests that spiritual
strengthening is partly dependent upon the prayers of third parties for
us. This is the reason for fellowship with other believers, opening up to
others our spiritual needs. And it is why we should be continually in
prayer for others- for we can play a role in their eternal salvation, just
as they can in ours. Paul has listed six items in the defensive armour of
the spiritual warrior; prayer is the seventh. This is the ultimate and
completing weapon we are to use in withstanding temptation and the day of
trial. "Prayer and petition" are hard to define separately; the sense may
be that "prayer" is more general, and "petition" refers to specific
supplication in time of specific need. Prayer "in the Spirit" surely
connects with how the same phrase has been used earlier, of how "in
Christ" we are the temple of God and are indwelt by His Spirit. If the
promised Spirit of God dwells in us, then we are "in the Spirit" (Rom.
8:9). So the idea would be that those who are aware of the indwelling of
the Spirit and live "in the Spirit" will pray "in the Spirit", in that
same atmosphere, for the Spirit to provide the spiritual defence against
temptation which the previous verses have offered. We are to pray whilst
being alert / awake, in the spirit of the disciples in Gethsemane, indeed,
in the spirit of the Lord Jesus praying there; see on Mt. 26:41. For He
there was surely praying for us; and we with His Spirit are to pray for
the spiritual perseverance of others in time of trial. This was exactly
what the Lord was praying for in Gethsemane, whilst the disciples slept.
6:19 And on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in opening my
mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel- Paul saw
the Lord’s “boldness” as an imperative to him to likewise be “bold” in
preaching (Eph. 6:19). We all find it hard to be bold in witness, and yet
in this as in all spiritual endeavour, ‘thy fellowship shall make me
strong’. A deeper sense of the presence of Jesus, a feeling for who He was
and is, a being with Him, will make us bold too. Even Paul found it hard;
he asked others to pray for him, that he would preach “boldly” [s.w.] 'as
he ought to' (Eph. 6:20 AV); and their prayers were heard, for in his
imprisonment during which he wrote Ephesians, he preached boldly (Acts
28:31 s.w.); indeed, boldness characterised his whole life (Phil. 1:20
s.w.). In passing, we note how Paul felt spiritually weaker than he was;
he felt not bold, when he was bold; and we see how the admission of
weakness to others and their prayers for it can grant us the victory we
seek. The point is, who the Lord is, we are. Or, we must be. If He was
bold, if He was apt to teach and patient, so must we be; indeed, so are
we, if we are truly in Him. Likewise, all the Father is, we are to
manifest if we bear His Name. We should daily pray for opportunities to
witness ("utterance").
6:20- see on Mt. 26:35.
For which I am an ambassador in chains-
Again we sense Paul's resentment of his chains, his
limitations; but he doesn't become demotivated, he seeks for ways to serve
and witness all the same, and asks others to pray for him that he might be
able to still be the Lord's ambassador despite them. This should be our
example, as we all feel limited in some ways. There is an intended
juxtaposition in ideas between being am ambassador, and yet being "in
chains". The Lord's Kingdom has ambassadors / diplomats who are "in
chains", who are not qualified at all in secular terms, indeed, who might
appear to be precluded from such a role by the limitations of their
position in life. But that is precisely the Lord's style and way of
operation with us.
That in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak- After his conversion, we sense from the record of
the preaching that Paul was in his element. The record of his early
preaching in Damascus and Jerusalem is recorded with the same rubric: he
preached "boldly", and on each occasion it seems he would have gone on,
utterly oblivious of the fact he was heading for certain death, had not
the other brethren "taken" him and quietly slipped him out of those cities
(Acts 9:27). The same word translated "boldly" occurs later, years later,
when Paul asks his converts to pray for him, that he would speak "boldly,
as I ought to speak" (Eph. 6:20). He has already asked them this in v.19;
he asks for the same thing twice. And he confessed his same problem to the
Colossians (Col. 4:4). As he got older, he found it harder to be bold.
First of all, in those heady days in Jerusalem and Damascus, it was the
most natural thing in the world for him. But as time went by, it became
harder for him to do this.
6:21 But so you may also know my affairs and how I am doing, Tychicus,
the beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, shall make known to
you all things- Tychicus is mentioned as running errands and messages
(Tit. 3:12; Col. 4:7), and from his prison cell Paul sent Tychicus to
Ephesus (2 Tim. 4:12). This is another indication that Ephesians was
written initially specifically to Ephesus, regardless of what later usage
the letter had. Such "messengers of the churches" (2 Cor. 8:23) were
vitally important in a period of very limited communications. In essence
we can take the lesson that we should likewise sacrifice time and effort
in order to keep the body of Christ informed of each other.
6:22 Whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, that you may know
our state and that he may comfort your hearts- Tychicus was sent from
Paul's prison cell right at the end of his life, it would seem (2 Tim.
4:12). Yet Paul looked out from his own immediate needs and sacrificed one
of his few stable friends and encouragers, in order to comfort them
and to tell them about his "state", so that they might pray for him. This
was how much he valued prayer for him.
6:23 Peace be to the believers and love with faith, from God the Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ- These wishes of peace, love and faith have
real power. Paul clearly believed that his prayerful desire for their
spiritual growth would result in them actually increasing in peace, love
and faith. These are all fruits of the Spirit, or aspects of love, the one
fruit; and he believed that his desire for them to be spiritually minded
in these ways would produce actual fruit. It is an awesome concept- that
we can actually positively influence the spirituality of others.
6:24 Grace be with all those that love our Lord Jesus Christ with
undying love- "Grace" often refers to the gift of the Spirit, the
power of new life within the heart of the believer. Paul has just wished
them peace, love and faith- all results or fruits of the Spirit. Paul
wishes them this gift and the spiritual growth which will come from it.
"Undying love" is a fair effort to translate a difficult phrase, but the
same word is elsewhere translated "immortality" and "incorruption". The
love we now have for the Lord Jesus is an eternal love- in that, as John's
Gospel expresses it, we can live the life we shall eternally live right
now. The love we have for the Lord now is the love we shall eternally
have. This highlights the profound and eternal importance of who we are
now; our love for Him now is an attribute we shall eternally display,
indeed we could say that the type of love we now have for Him, the
relationship we have with Him now, is what we shall eternally enjoy. And
that is going to be unique, slightly different, for each of us.
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