A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:10-12)
Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground…
- Putting on the belt of truth
- The body armor of God’s righteousness
- For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared
- In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil
- Put on salvation as your helmet
- Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God
- Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion
Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. (Ephesians 6:10-18)
Let me emphasize that those weapons are not designed to be used against flesh and blood — they are not for fighting against fellow mankind — but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
The ultimate armor against the devil
It has often been observed that there is no protection on the back of the Christian believer. First, Jesus Christ has your back. Second, there is no turning back for a Christian, no surrender, no defeat, but a continuous forward march upward.
But he gives us even more grace to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say,
“God opposes the proud
but favors the humble.”
So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. (James 4:6-8)
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you; Satan is to be looked upon as an enemy, and to be opposed as such, and to be watched and guarded against; the whole armour of God should be taken and made use of, particularly the weapon of prayer, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and the shield of faith; and also the grace of humility, than which nothing is more opposite to him: he is a proud spirit, and he endeavours to swell men with pride of themselves; and when he has worked them up to such a pitch, he is then master of them, and can manage them as he pleases; but a poor humble believer, with whom God dwells, to whom he gives more grace, and who comes forth not in his own strength, but in the strength of the Lord God, as David against Goliath, and who owns his vileness and sinfulness, and flies to the grace of God, and blood of Christ, Satan knows not what to do with him, he is puzzled, baffled, and confounded; such he leaves, from such he flees; he does not like the power of prayer, nor the strength of faith, nor the sharpness of the two-edged sword, the word of God, nor the humble believer’s staff, bag, scrip, and sling. –Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The only weapon against the devil
All of this armor is defensive except the sword of the spirit which is the word of God (Ephesians 6:17). The battle’s already been won. We just have to follow the captain of our salvation (Hebrews 2:10).
Interestingly, the Greek word for “sword of the Spirit” is not the great two-handed battle sword, which is popular in mythology and action movies.
- 3162 máχaira
- properly, a slaughter-knife; a short sword or dagger mainly used for stabbing; (figuratively) an instrument for exacting retribution.–HELPS™ Word-studies
And, the Greek word for “word of God”is not 3056 logos, but 4487 rhéma, which is the actual spoken word of God.
- 4487 rhḗma (from 4483 /rhéō, “to speak”)
- a spoken word, made “by the living voice” (J. Thayer). 4487 /rhḗma (“spoken-word”) is commonly used in the NT (and in LXX) for the Lord speaking His dynamic, living word in a believer to inbirth faith (“His inwrought persuasion”).
Ro 10:17: “So faith proceeds from (spiritual) hearing; moreover this hearing (is consummated) through a rhēma-word (4487 /rhḗma) from Christ” (Gk text).
[See also Gal 3:2,5 which refers to “the hearing of faith” (Gk text) – i.e. a spiritual hearing that goes with the divine inbirthing of faith.]–HELPS™ Word-studies
The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.—In this we pass to the one offensive weapon of the Christian, “the sword of the Spirit”—i.e., given by the Holy Spirit—which, like the helmet, but unlike the rest of the defensive armour, does not become a part of himself, but is absolutely of God. The passage reminds us at once of Hebrews 4:12 : “The word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword.” But there (as in 1Corinthians 14:26; 2Corinthians 2:17; Colossians 1:25; 2 Tim. 2:29) the original word is the larger and deeper word (Logos), signifying the truth of God in itself, and gradually leading up to the ultimate sense in which our Lord Himself is the “Word of God,” revealing the Godhead to man. Accordingly the work of the Word there, is that of the “engrafted Word,” “to divide asunder the soul and the spirit” within. Here, on the contrary, we have another expression (Rhema), signifying the Word as spoken; and St. Peter (in 1Peter 1:25) defines it exactly: “The word of the Lord endureth for ever; and this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.” We cannot, of course, limit it to Holy Scripture, though we naturally remember that our Lord used the Scriptures as His only weapon in the Temptation. It is the gospel of Christ, however and wherever spoken, able to put to shame and to flight the powers of evil.–Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
Let’s read about this armor in action
Jesus Christ showed us how to use this armor when he withstood the temptation of the devil in the wilderness. You will be tempted in the same way. In order to survive, you need to learn to use these weapons like this. (Read 1 Corinthians 10:1-13)
– Weapon –
Matthew 4:1-11 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry. During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.”
But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
– Enemy –
lust of the flesh—that is, the lust which has its seat and source in our lower animal nature. Satan tried this temptation the first on Christ: Lu 4:3, “Command this stone that it be made bread.” Youth is especially liable to fleshly lusts. –Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”
Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the LORD your God.’”
pride of life—literally, “arrogant assumption”: vainglorious display. Pride was Satan’s sin whereby he fell and forms the link between the two foes of man, the world (answering to “the lust of the eyes”) and the devil (as “the lust of the flesh” is the third foe). Satan tried this temptation on Christ in setting Him on the temple pinnacle that, in spiritual pride and presumption, on the ground of His Father’s care, He should cast Himself down. –Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.”
“Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say,
‘You must worship the LORD your God and serve only him.’”
Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.
lust of the eyes—the avenue through which outward things of the world, riches, pomp, and beauty, inflame us. Satan tried this temptation on Christ when he showed Him the kingdoms of the world in a moment. By the lust of the eyes David (2Sa 11:2) and Achan fell (Jos 7:21). Compare David’s prayer, Ps 119:37; Job’s resolve, Ps 31:1; Mt 5:28. The only good of worldly riches to the possessor is the beholding them with the eyes. Compare Lu 14:18, “I must go and SEE it.” –Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
1 John 2:16. Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life: all that is in the world—can be classed under one or other of the three; the world contains these and no more. –A Commentary: Critical, Practical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments by J.B.Names & Company, 1884
The same three foes appear in the three classes of soil on which the divine seed falls
In Matthew 13, Jesus described three kinds of soil that were metaphors for three kinds of people: the wayside hearers and the devil; the thorns and the world; the rocky undersoil and the flesh (Mt 13:18-23; Mr 4:3-8).
The world’s awful antitrinity, the “lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,” similarly is presented in Satan’s temptation of Eve: “When she saw that the tree was good for food, pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise,” Ge 3:6 (one manifestation of “the pride of life,” the desire to know above what God has revealed, Col 2:8, the pride of unsanctified knowledge). –Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
The answer is always Jesus Christ and the power of his might.
In conclusion be strong—not in yourselves but in the Lord, in the power of his boundless resource. Put on God’s complete armour so that you can successfully resist all the devil’s methods of attack. For our fight is not against any physical enemy: it is against organisations and powers that are spiritual. We are up against the unseen power that controls this dark world, and spiritual agents from the very headquarters of evil. Therefore you must wear the whole armour of God that you may be able to resist evil in its day of power, and that even when you have fought to a standstill you may still stand your ground. Take your stand then with truth as your belt, righteousness your breastplate, the Gospel of peace firmly on your feet, salvation as your helmet and in your hand the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. Above all be sure you take faith as your shield, for it can quench every burning missile the enemy hurls at you. Pray at all times with every kind of spiritual prayer, keeping alert and persistent as you pray for all Christ’s men and women. (Ephesians 6:10-18 PHILLIPS)