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Victory!!! - Thoughts on Ephesians 6:10-24 [24]

If you are new to this blog, I encourage you to start with Intro [1] and then continue in order.

"11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore..." Ephesians 6  ESV

I wondered at the emphasis on stand: stand v 11, withstand and stand firm v 13, stand v 14. Why stand? Then I thought of earthly wars. How often is a commander content that his army just stand their ground? Aren't they usually trying to advance? Gain more ground? I found what my Pastor Timothy had to say to be helpful:

We stand, in this case, because the ground has already been won (cf. Thielman). We have already been fully reconciled by God, to Himself, and to each other, in Christ. So our task as soldiers is never to win new ground, but to stand – to preserve and maintain what Christ has already gained. Our calling is to stand firm, hold our position, resist, and never surrender to the enemy, but prevail against it. In other words, we’re fighting from a position not just of tactical advantage, but of victory (cf. Lincoln).*

VICTORY! What a wonderful word! Jesus has already done it! He paid it all! He has won the victory! So we stand firm, we resist, but we don't have to worry about gaining new ground. This reminded me of James 4:7, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." Resist. All we have to do is resist, and the devil will flee. Because Jesus has already won the victory!

Well, I think victory is a great place to end. But if you'd like some more thoughts on the passage including prayer, what name of God is used, what surprised me, and Paul being human; check out my previous blog, My Observations.

*Also, if you would like to read more of what my Pastor said, look for the pdf of Ephesians 6:10-13 here.

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