Eph 6:11-17 | Family | STEP | Armor of God ; that which he has provided in and through Jesus Christ, and furnishes by his word, Spirit, and providence. Wiles ; devices, stratagems to deceive and destroy.

Ephesians 6:11-17

Armor of God; that which he has provided in and through Jesus Christ, and furnishes by his word, Spirit, and providence.

Wiles; devices, stratagems to deceive and destroy. We wrestle not against flesh and blood; weak men like ourselves. Our great contest is not with men, but with various orders of evil spirits, styled principalities, powers, and rulers of darkness.

The rulers of the darkness of this world; those evil spirits who rule this world in and through the spiritual darkness that prevails in it.

Spiritual wickedness; or, spiritual powers of wickedness, armies of evil spirits.

In high places; in the regions of the air. See note to chap Eph 2:2. The whole armor of God; literally the panoply of God; namely, the complete armor which he has provided for you in the gospel of his Son.

The evil day; when tempted to sin, assailed by enemies, and beset with trials.

Having done all; having gone through with the whole conflict. Having your loins girt about with truth; having for the girdle of your loins truth in word and deed. The allusion is to the military girdle, which was worn about the loins for strength, and not for mere ornament.

The breastplate of righteousness; the "righteousness and holiness of truth," chap Eph 4:24, which is wrought in the soul by God's Spirit. Your feet shod; the reference is to the military shoes of warriors.

The preparation of the gospel of peace; the inward preparation of mind which the gospel of peace gives. For by shedding abroad in the soul "the peace of God which passeth all understanding," the gospel furnishes it with courage, zeal, and alacrity for every duty. Fiery darts; in allusion to the darts fitted with burning substances that were used by the ancients.

The wicked; the wicked one, the devil. He means the fiery temptations inward and outward by which Satan seeks to destroy us, and which can be quenched only by faith. The helmet of salvation; in 1Th 5:8, he says, "for a helmet, the hope of salvation."

The sword of the Spirit; the sword which the Spirit furnishes. The apostle would have us stand firm in the faith and practice of the gospel, and ever ready to propagate and promote it; relying with implicit confidence on Christ, and expecting the fulfilment of his declarations; acquainted with the Scriptures, and using them for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness; habitually and fervently praying, in secret, in the family, and in public, not only for yourselves but for all Christians, and especially for ministers of Christ; that without fear of man they may preach the whole gospel in its just application to all their hearers.