English · KJV

Ephesians 6:10

“The Call to Spiritual Warfare”Ephesians 6:10–20

King James Version
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

KJV (with Strong's)
Finally G3063, my G3450 brethren G80, be strong G1743 in G1722 the Lord G2962, and G2532 in G1722 the power G2904 of his G846 might G2479.

Bible text: King James Version with Strong's numbers · Public domain

Berean Standard Bible
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible · Public domain

American Standard Version
Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

World English Bible Messianic
Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might.

Bible text: World English Bible, Messianic edition · Public domain

Geneva Bible (1599)
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Bible text: Geneva Bible (1599) · Public domain

Young's Literal Translation
As to the rest, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might;

Bible text: Young's Literal Translation · Public domain

King James Version — Interlinear
14 Greek words
  1. ΤοῦTou[the]G3588T-GSNDefinite article Genitive Singular Neuter
  2. λοιποῦloipouHenceforthG3064A-GSNAdjective Genitive Singular Neuter
  3. ἀδελφοίadelphoibrothersG80N-VPMNoun Vocative Plural Masculine
  4. μουmouof mineG3165P-1GSPersonal pronoun Genitive 1st Singular
  5. ἐνδυναμοῦσθεendunamousthedo be empoweredG1743V-PPM-2PVerb Present Passive Imperative 2nd Plural
  6. ἐνeninG1722PREPPreposition
  7. κυρίῳkuriō[the] LordG2962N-DSM-TNoun Dative Singular Masculine Title
  8. καὶkaiandG2532CONJConjunction
  9. ἐνeninG1722PREPPreposition
  10. τῷtōtheG3588T-DSNDefinite article Dative Singular Neuter
  11. κράτειkrateistrengthG2904N-DSNNoun Dative Singular Neuter
  12. τῆςtēsof theG3588T-GSFDefinite article Genitive Singular Feminine
  13. ἰσχύοςischuosmightG2479N-GSFNoun Genitive Singular Feminine
  14. αὐτοῦautouof HimG846P-GSMPersonal pronoun Genitive Singular Masculine
English is a literal word-by-word gloss of the Greek, not the KJV's wording. Why?

This is the original text the KJV's translators worked from — each Greek word with its own literal English meaning in this verse, prepared by scholars at Tyndale House, Cambridge. The KJV translates whole sentences, not word by word, so its wording differs: one Greek word can become several English words, and the KJV may choose “charity” where the gloss reads “love”. Both are faithful — they answer different questions. For the KJV's own rendering, switch to the KJV text.

Words in [ ] are added by the English.

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In the KJVVerse 29,348 of 31,102 · 94.4%

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This verse

Paul begins his last charge by telling believers to be strong in the Lord, drawing their strength from the Lord’s own mighty power.

“Finally, my brethren,”

Loipón, “for the rest”, turns to the last part of the letter. Paul speaks to the whole family of believers together.

“be strong in the Lord,”

A passive command: “be made strong”. The strength is received, and it is found in union with Christ.

“and in the power of his might.”

Two words for God’s strength, krátos and ischýs, the same pair Paul used of the power that raised Christ (Ephesians 1:19).

Passage studyEphesians 6:10–20

The Whole Armour of God

Summary

Paul closes his letter to the Ephesians with a call to arms. “Be strong in the Lord,” he writes, and put on “the whole armour of God”, because the enemy we face is the devil, with an ordered array of spiritual powers behind him. The armour is God’s own provision: truth as a belt, righteousness as a breastplate, the gospel of peace on our feet, faith as a shield, salvation as a helmet, and the word of God as the sword of the Spirit. Over it all goes prayer, at all times and in the Spirit, for every believer and for Paul himself, an ambassador in chains who asks for courage to make the gospel known. In these eleven verses we learn that our strength comes from the Lord, that our fight is a spiritual one, and that God means us to be found standing at the end of it.

Our strength comes from the Lord

“Finally” turns the letter toward its close. Paul’s first three chapters set out God’s plan of salvation, the riches believers have in Christ, and the church as his body. His next chapters show how to live it out, in unity in the church (Ephesians 4:1–3), between husbands and wives (Ephesians 5:22–33), and among children, parents, servants and masters (Ephesians 6:1–9). Now he shows the battle that lies behind all of it. The word for “finally”, loipón, means “for the rest” or “henceforth”, the word Paul uses as he turns to what remains to be said. “My brethren” is a family word, and it is spoken to the whole church, which stands together in this fight.

“Be strong” is endynamóō, a verb built from en, “in”, and a word for giving power. It is passive in form, so the command means “be strengthened” or “be made strong”. Paul calls us to receive strength, and he tells us where it is found: “in the Lord”. The little word en marks the Lord as the place and source of our strength, so this strength belongs to those who live in union with him. Kýrios, “Lord”, here is Jesus Christ in his full authority over all things.

Paul then sets two words for power side by side. Krátos, “power”, is might shown in action and in rule, and ischýs, “might”, is the strength someone has in himself. “The power of his might” is God’s own strength put to work for his people. Paul has already prayed that the Ephesians would know “the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe”, and the same two Greek words stand together there in “the working of his mighty power”, the power God used when he raised Christ from the dead (Ephesians 1:19–20).

The rest of Scripture speaks the same way. Christ is “the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24), and every spiritual blessing is ours “in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). Paul prays for believers to be “strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power” (Colossians 1:11). He writes, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13), and he heard the Lord tell him, “my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Jesus put it in a picture: “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5). To be strong in the Lord is to abide in him, the one who has already triumphed over every hostile power.

Why we need the whole armour of God

“Put on” is endýō, the ordinary word for putting on clothes, used both literally and figuratively. It is a command, so we have a part to play: we dress ourselves in what God has provided. “The whole armour” is panoplía, from the words for “all” and “weapon”, the complete equipment of a heavily armed soldier, from which English takes the word “panoply”. Paul wrote this letter as a prisoner (Ephesians 3:1), most likely in Rome around A.D. 60–62, and Roman soldiers in full gear were a familiar sight both to him and to his readers. The armour is “of God”. He makes it and gives it, and every piece of it is needed, so that the whole believer is covered.

Paul uses the same picture elsewhere. “Let us put on the armour of light,” he writes (Romans 13:12), and “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds” (2 Corinthians 10:4), as part of a longer passage on the war of the mind against every thought raised up against God (2 Corinthians 10:3–5).

The purpose is “that ye may be able to stand”. To stand, hístēmi, is to hold one’s ground and keep one’s footing under pressure. The whole passage returns to it: “to stand” in verse 11, “withstand” and “to stand” in verse 13, and “Stand therefore” in verse 14. The armour equips us to hold our place in Christ under attack. Scripture calls us in the same way to “stand fast in the faith” (1 Corinthians 16:13) and to “stand fast in the Lord” (Philippians 4:1).

What are the wiles of the devil?

The wiles are the devil’s schemes. Methodeía is built from words meaning “with” and “to travel”, and it came to mean a planned method, craft or trickery, the way of someone who lies in wait. The devil works far more by cunning than by open force, through temptation, lies, misdirection, discouragement, doubt, division and false teaching. “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14), and his way from the beginning was the serpent’s question and lie in the garden (Genesis 3:1–5), making evil look good and good look like a burden. In our own day the same schemes come as the pull of possessions, the call to rely on ourselves, unforgiveness and bitterness, or quiet attacks on who we are in Christ.

Diábolos, “devil”, means a slanderer or false accuser, and as a title it names the Devil, Satan. His name tells us his work: he accuses God’s people and speaks against God’s truth. Peter warns that he walks about “as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour”, and tells us to resist him “stedfast in the faith” (1 Peter 5:8–9). James promises, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

Who we wrestle against

Verse 12 opens with “For” (hóti) and gives the reason we need God’s armour: the enemy is spiritual. “Flesh and blood” is a common way of saying human beings, so Paul is telling us that our real opponents stand behind the people and institutions we can see. That changes how we treat people. Those who oppose us are often under the influence of the powers Paul describes, and we can meet them with compassion and forgiveness while we resist the powers themselves.

The word for “wrestle”, pálē, is a wrestling match, a close, hand-to-hand struggle. The conflict is personal and sustained, and it takes all the strength the Lord gives.

Paul names the opponents four times over, each with “against” (pros), which presses home how direct the struggle is.

  • “Principalities” are archai. The word archḗ means “beginning”, and in a separate sense it means a ruler or power, which is the sense here: spiritual rulers of high rank.
  • “Powers” are exousiai, those who hold and use authority. With the principalities they describe an ordered government of evil.
  • “The rulers of the darkness of this world” are literally the world-rulers of the darkness of this age. Kosmokrátōr joins the words for “world” and “to rule”, and it appears only here in the New Testament. These powers hold sway over the moral and spiritual darkness of the fallen world, its values and its ways of thinking.
  • “Spiritual wickedness in high places” means the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places, a phrase that names both their evil nature and the realm where they work.

These are real, intelligent beings, and Satan leads them. Paul has already called him “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2), and he reminds the Ephesians that they once walked according to him, “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1–2). Ephesus was a great city of trade, famous for the worship of Artemis (Diana) and for its magic, and when many there came to Christ they burned their books of magic in public (Acts 19:19). The Greeks and Romans already believed in a crowd of gods and lesser spirits who ruled parts of life, so Paul’s readers understood the idea of unseen powers. He tells them plainly who stands behind the darkness.

What are the “high places”?

The “high places” are the heavenly places, the spiritual realm. Paul uses the same Greek word, epouraniois, throughout this letter. God has blessed us “with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3), and he has “made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6). So the battle is fought in the very realm where we already have our place with Christ and our access to his power.

Christ has already won

God raised Christ and set him “far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion”, and put all things under his feet (Ephesians 1:20–22). On the cross Christ “spoiled principalities and powers” and “made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:15), and he is “the head of all principality and power” (Colossians 2:10). Paul is sure that neither angels nor principalities nor powers “shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38–39), and John writes, “greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). We wrestle in the strength of the one who has already won, and the armour that follows is his own character and victory given to us.

Standing in the evil day

“Wherefore” draws the conclusion from verse 12. Since the enemy is this strong, we must “take unto you the whole armour of God”. The verb (analambánō) means to take up deliberately, and panoplía again stresses that every piece is needed. “Withstand” is anthístēmi, “to stand against, oppose”, the word for holding firm face to face with an enemy.

“The evil day” is a time when the forces of darkness press hardest: a season of temptation, persecution or trial. The first Christians knew such days, facing persecution, the loss of their neighbours’ goodwill and struggles within the church. The phrase also fits the present age as a whole, of which John says that “the whole world lieth in wickedness” (1 John 5:19). The armour is given for exactly these times.

“Having done all” (hápanta katergasámenoi) means having carried through everything the fight requires. Then comes the goal, “to stand” (stēnai). “Withstand” and “stand” share the same root, so the verse moves from resisting in the battle to remaining upright when it is over. God means his people to come through the evil day still on their feet, holding their ground in Christ and found faithful at the end.

The pieces of the armour

Paul now goes through the armour piece by piece, and behind each picture lies the gear of a Roman soldier. The pieces also come from the prophets, as the next section shows, because this is first of all the armour that the LORD himself wears.

The belt of truth

“Stand therefore” is hístēmi again, now as a command, and “therefore”, oûn, ties it to everything before it. The “loins”, osphŷs, are the waist and hips, the core of a person’s strength. “Girt about” is perizṓnnymi, to fasten a belt all the way round. In Israel, as among the peoples around, people wore long robes, and to gird the loins was to tuck the robe up into a belt so that one could run, work or fight freely. A Roman soldier’s belt (the cingulum) held his tunic in place, carried weapons such as a dagger, and gave a base for the rest of his gear.

The belt is truth, alḗtheia. The word covers both God’s revealed truth, his word and his gospel, and our own honesty, sincerity and faithfulness, and it stands against every falsehood, deception and pretence. Truth holds the believer’s whole life together and leaves him free to move. Jesus said, “ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32), and he is himself “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

The breastplate of righteousness

The breastplate, thṓrax, covered the soldier’s chest and the vital organs within it, the heart and lungs. The Romans made it of metal plates or of mail (the lorica). Here it is righteousness, dikaiosýnē, which means rightness of character and action and, in the gospel, the righteousness by which God justifies us.

Both senses belong here. The first is Christ’s own righteousness, credited to us by faith. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Paul wants to be found in Christ with “the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Philippians 3:9), the righteousness God gives through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe (Romans 3:21–26), for Christ “of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30). This guards our hearts against the accuser’s charges and the condemnation of sin. The second is the upright life that grows from it, which keeps our conscience clear of guilt and our hearts from the defiling power of sin.

Feet shod with the gospel of peace

“Shod” is hypodéō, to bind under the feet, that is, to put on sandals. Roman soldiers wore the caligae, sturdy hobnailed sandals made for long marches over rough ground and for a sure grip in battle, so that they kept their balance and could stand or advance. “Preparation”, hetoimasía, means readiness, and many take it also as a firm footing, so that the gospel itself is the ground under our feet.

“Gospel”, euangélion, is the good message of salvation through Jesus Christ. “Peace”, eirḗnē, which Strong’s traces probably to a verb meaning “to join”, is far more than an end of fighting. It is reconciliation and a right relationship with God: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). In this letter Christ “is our peace”, who has broken down the middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile (Ephesians 2:14) and reconciled both to God in one body by the cross (Ephesians 2:16), making peace for those far off and those near (Ephesians 2:14–18). The gospel is “the power of God unto salvation” (Romans 1:16), and the peace of God that passes all understanding keeps our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7).

The shoes also make us ready to go. Paul writes elsewhere, “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace” (Romans 10:15), taking up the words of Isaiah 52:7 about the one who brings good tidings and publishes peace. Jesus himself went about “preaching the gospel of the kingdom” (Matthew 4:23), and we walk in his steps as people sent with the message of reconciliation.

The shield of faith

“Above all” gives the shield a place of its own, as the piece that covers all the rest. The shield is the thyreós, the large shield, a name Strong’s links to the word for a door because of its shape. The Roman shield of this kind was about 2.5 feet wide and 4 feet high, made of wood covered with leather or canvas and sometimes strengthened with metal, and it covered most of the soldier’s body. Enemies shot arrows wrapped in burning material, and some think the soldiers soaked their shields in water before battle so that a flaming arrow would go out when it struck.

Faith, pístis, is persuasion and conviction of the truthfulness of God, and above all reliance on Christ. It is trust that God is who he says he is and will do what he has promised, “for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). We are to take it up for ourselves.

“Quench” is sbénnymi, to put out a fire. The “fiery darts” are the burning attacks of the enemy: temptations, doubts about God’s love or power, lies about who we are in Christ, accusations that bring guilt and shame, fears that freeze our obedience, and thoughts that sow discord. When a doubt comes, faith holds to God’s word. When an accusation comes, faith rests in Christ’s finished work and his righteousness. “All” of them can be quenched. “The wicked” is ponērós, evil and hurtful, and here it is singular, the evil one himself, who leads the powers of verse 12.

This faith rests on Christ, “the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2), who “ever liveth to make intercession” for us (Hebrews 7:25). John writes that the one born of God is kept, “and that wicked one toucheth him not” (1 John 5:18), and in all these things “we are more than conquerors through him that loved us” (Romans 8:37).

The helmet of salvation

“Take” here is déchomai, to receive, to welcome what is offered. The helmet, perikephalaía, is literally what goes around the head. It guards the head, and so it pictures the guarding of the mind, our thoughts and our understanding. Salvation is that helmet. It is our deliverance in Christ, finished when we believed and going on now, and the sure hope it gives guards our minds against lies, doubt and despair. Paul names the same piece in another letter, “for an helmet, the hope of salvation” (1 Thessalonians 5:8). This salvation is found in Christ alone: “Neither is there salvation in any other” (Acts 4:12).

The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God

The sword (máchaira) is the short sword used in close combat, and it is the one weapon in the list made for attack. Every other piece guards the believer, and with the sword he presses back against the enemy’s lies. It is “of the Spirit”: the Holy Spirit gives it and makes it effective, so we fight in his strength. Paul tells us plainly what the sword is: “the word of God”. Hebrews says the same of it, that “the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword” (Hebrews 4:12).

Jesus showed us how the sword is used. When Satan tempted him in the wilderness, he answered each temptation with Scripture (Matthew 4:1–11): “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). The word that made the world is the word the Spirit puts in our hands, and the eternal Word, who was with God and was God (John 1:1), “was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). To use this sword well we need to know it, by reading, studying, memorising and praying over Scripture.

Why does Paul call the word rhēma here?

Rhēma means what is said or spoken, a word or a saying, and here it is the word God has spoken, which the Spirit puts in our hands and on our lips. Both rhēma and lógos are translated “word” in the New Testament, and they overlap a great deal. Lógos is the word John uses for Christ himself in John 1:1. In this verse, in the middle of a battle, the word of God is God’s word spoken out, as Jesus spoke Scripture aloud against the tempter.

The armour is the Lord’s own

Before it was ours, this armour was worn by the LORD and promised to his Messiah. Isaiah says of the coming King, “righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins” (Isaiah 11:5), and of the LORD going out to save his people, “he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head” (Isaiah 59:17). So God gives us his own armour.

The New Testament shows that every piece is found in Christ. He is the truth (John 14:6) and our righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30). “He is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14). He is the author of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), and we live “by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Salvation is in his name alone (Acts 4:12), and he is the Word of God made flesh (John 1:1–14). To put on the whole armour of God is, in the end, to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14), to be clothed with him and to stand in his victory.

Praying always in the Spirit

Prayer comes last, and it keeps every piece of the armour in use. “Praying”, proseúchomai, means to pray to God, to make requests of him and to worship him. “Supplication”, déēsis, comes from a word meaning to beg or to lack, and it is an earnest request that rises from need. Paul uses it twice in the verse, joining general prayer with specific, urgent asking.

Paul uses the Greek word for “all”, pâs, four times: “always” (at every time), “all prayer”, “all perseverance” and “all saints”. Prayer is to be continual, of every kind, persistent, and for the whole church.

“In the Spirit” uses pneûma, which means breath or wind and, by extension, a spirit. Here it is the Holy Spirit, who prompts, guides and strengthens our prayer and brings our requests into line with God’s will. “The Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered”, Paul writes, “according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26–27). In this letter the same Spirit has sealed us (Ephesians 1:13) and makes us one (Ephesians 4:3–4).

“Watching thereunto” is agrypnéō, to keep awake, to go without sleep, like a sentry who stays alert at his post. It is the word Jesus used when he said, “Watch ye therefore, and pray always” (Luke 21:36), and Paul gives the same charge elsewhere: “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving” (Colossians 4:2). “Perseverance”, proskartérēsis, is steady persistence. Answers to prayer often come slowly, and Jesus told the parable of the widow who kept coming to the unjust judge to teach “that men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1–8).

What does it mean to pray always?

To pray always is to live in a continual attitude of prayer and dependence on God through the whole day. It includes set times of prayer, and it also includes quick prayers in the moment and a constant awareness that God is near, ready to turn to him in every situation. Paul says the same in “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and “in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Philippians 4:6).

Prayer for all saints

“For all saints” widens prayer to the whole body of Christ. We fight this battle together, and the strength of one believer affects all the others. Paul has taught that believers are “fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19–22), one body built up in love (Ephesians 4:1–16), and praying for one another is part of that love.

Jesus is our pattern in all of this. He rose a great while before day to pray in a solitary place (Mark 1:35), he went about “in the power of the Spirit” (Luke 4:14), and in Gethsemane he prayed more earnestly in his agony (Luke 22:41–44). He prayed for his disciples and for all who would believe through their word (John 17:9–26), and he still intercedes for us at the right hand of God (Romans 8:34, Hebrews 7:25). When we pray for all saints we share in the work he is still doing.

An ambassador in bonds

“And for me”: having called for prayer for all saints, Paul asks for it himself. Even an apostle depends on the prayers of the church. He asks “that utterance may be given unto me”. The word is lógos, word or speech, and Paul asks God to give him the right words for the message. “Open my mouth” is a way of saying to begin to speak, and “boldly” is parrhēsía, freedom of speech, confidence and outspokenness, the courage to speak plainly when speaking is dangerous. Paul wrote from chains, and preaching that challenged the religion and politics of the Roman world could cost a man dearly, as Acts shows again and again.

What he wants to make known is “the mystery of the gospel”. A mystḗrion is a secret once hidden and now made known by God. In Ephesians that secret is God’s plan to unite Jews and Gentiles in one body through Christ, “that the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel” (Ephesians 3:6), with the dividing wall broken down (Ephesians 2:14–16). For centuries God’s covenant people had been Israel, and salvation through a crucified Messiah, open to Gentiles who did not keep the law of Moses, offended both Jews who held to that law and pagans with their many gods. At the heart of the mystery is Christ himself, “in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3).

Paul made the same request of other churches. He asked the Colossians to pray “that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds” (Colossians 4:3–4), and the Thessalonians to pray “that the word of the Lord may have free course” (2 Thessalonians 3:1). The first believers prayed for boldness when they were threatened (Acts 4:29–31), and “they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31).

What does Paul mean by “ambassador in bonds”?

Paul means that he is Christ’s official envoy, sent with the gospel, and that he carries out that office while wearing a chain. “I am an ambassador” is one Greek verb, presbeúō, from the same root as the word for an elder, meaning to act as a senior representative. An ambassador speaks for the ruler who sends him and carries his message with his authority. The verb appears only here and in 2 Corinthians 5:20, “we are ambassadors for Christ”. “Bonds” is hálysis, a chain or fetter. Paul was most likely under house arrest in Rome, chained to a Roman guard as prisoners awaiting trial commonly were, and such prisoners were often allowed visitors and the freedom to teach, which is how he could go on with his work.

An ambassador in chains is a striking picture. The envoy of the King of kings is bound, and yet his message is free. Paul tells the Philippians that his imprisonment had “fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel”, and that it made other believers “much more bold to speak the word without fear” (Philippians 1:12–14).

“That therein I may speak boldly” uses parrhēsiázomai, to speak frankly, to be confident in spirit and manner. Where we might expect him to ask for release, Paul asks for courage to speak. “As I ought to speak” (deî) expresses what is necessary and fitting for one in his office: it is the right way for Christ’s ambassador to deliver the King’s message.

In this Paul follows his Lord. The Father sent the Son, and the Son sends us: “as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you” (John 20:21). Christ is “the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person” (Hebrews 1:1–3), and he taught “as one that had authority” (Mark 1:22), without fear, all the way to the cross. All power is given to him, and he sends his people to teach all nations, with his promise to be with them always (Matthew 28:18–20, 28:19–20).

Dressed for the battle every day

Many of our daily struggles have a spiritual side, and this passage teaches us to see it. When temptation, discouragement or an old accusation comes back, we can recognise the wiles of the devil, and we can meet a hard person with forgiveness, because our real wrestling is with the powers behind the darkness.

Putting on the armour is a daily habit of trust. We hold to God’s truth and live honestly. We rest in Christ’s righteousness and walk uprightly. We stand on the peace the gospel has made with God and stay ready to share it. We answer doubt and fear with faith in God’s promises, keep our minds in the hope of salvation, and learn the Scriptures well enough to use them as Jesus did. None of it is done in our own strength, because the strength is the Lord’s.

And we pray. Paul’s request teaches us to pray for those who preach and teach, for pastors, missionaries and every believer who speaks of Christ, that God will give them the right words and the courage to say them. Every believer is an ambassador for Christ in some place God has put him, so we can ask the same for ourselves. The goal of the whole passage is simple and full of hope: when the evil day has passed, God’s people will still be standing.

Last revised

Public-domain commentary

Matthew Henry

From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry wrote on whole passages, and this entry covers Ephesians 6:10–18. He set out his notes in a four-level outline, kept here as he numbered it.

1662–1714 · 9 verses
Passage under commentEphesians 6:10–18
I. II. Main points1. 2. Sub-points(1.) (2.) Details[1.] [2.] Fine details

Here is a general exhortation to constancy in our Christian course, and to encourage in our Christian warfare. Is not our life a warfare? It is so; for we struggle with the common calamities of human life. Is not our religion much more a warfare? It is so; for we struggle with the opposition of the powers of darkness, and with many enemies who would keep us from God and heaven. We have enemies to fight against, a captain to fight for, a banner to fight under, and certain rules of war by which we are to govern ourselves. "Finally, my brethren (Ephesians 6:10), it yet remains that you apply yourselves to your work and duty as Christian soldiers." Now it is requisite that a soldier be both stout-hearted and well armed. If Christians be soldiers of Jesus Christ,

I.They must see that they be stout-hearted.

This is prescribed here: Be strong in the Lord, etc. Those who have so many battles to fight, and who, in their way to heaven, must dispute every pass, with dint of sword, have need of a great deal of courage. Be strong therefore, strong for service, strong for suffering, strong for fighting. Let a soldier be ever so well armed without, if he have not within a good heart, his armour will stand him in little stead. Note, spiritual strength and courage are very necessary for our spiritual warfare. Be strong in the Lord, either in his cause and for his sake or rather in his strength. We have no sufficient strength of our own. Our natural courage is as perfect cowardice, and our natural strength as perfect weakness; but all our sufficiency is of God. In his strength we must go forth and go on. By the actings of faith, we must fetch in grace and help from heaven to enable us to do that which of ourselves we cannot do, in our Christian work and warfare. We should stir up ourselves to resist temptations in a reliance upon God's all-sufficiency and the omnipotence of his might.

II.They must be well armed:

"Put on the whole armour of God (Ephesians 6:11), make use of all the proper defensitives and weapons for repelling the temptations and stratagems of Satan - get and exercise all the Christian graces, the whole armour, that no part be naked and exposed to the enemy." Observe, Those who would approve themselves to have true grace must aim at all grace, the whole armour. It is called the armour of God, because he both prepares and bestows it. We have no armour of our own that will be armour of proof in a trying time. Nothing will stand us in stead but the armour of God. This armour is prepared for us, but we must put it on; that is, we must pray for grace, we must use the grace given us, and draw it out into act and exercise as there is occasion. The reason assigned why the Christian should be completely armed is that he may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil - that he may be able to hold out, and to overcome, notwithstanding all the devil's assaults, both of force and fraud, all the deceits he puts upon us, all the snares he lays for us, and all his machinations against us. This the apostle enlarges upon here, and shows,

1.What our danger is, and what need we have to put on this whole armour, considering what sort of enemies we have to deal with - the devil and all the powers of darkness: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, etc., Ephesians 6:12. The combat for which we are to be prepared is not against ordinary human enemies, not barely against men compounded of flesh and blood, nor against our own corrupt natures singly considered, but against the several ranks of devils, who have a government which they exercise in this world.

(1.)We have to do with a subtle enemy, an enemy who uses wiles and stratagems, as Ephesians 6:11. He has a thousand ways of beguiling unstable souls: hence he is called a serpent for subtlety, an old serpent, experienced in the art and trade of tempting.

(2.)He is a powerful enemy: Principalities, and powers, and rulers. They are numerous, they are vigorous; and rule in those heathen nations which are yet in darkness. The dark parts of the world are the seat of Satan's empire. Yea, they are usurping princes over all men who are yet in a state of sin and ignorance. Satan's is a kingdom of darkness; whereas Christ's is a kingdom of light.

(3.)They are spiritual enemies: Spiritual wickedness in high places, or wicked spirits, as some translate it. The devil is a spirit, a wicked spirit; and our danger is the greater from our enemies because they are unseen, and assault us ere we are aware of them. The devils are wicked spirits, and they chiefly annoy the saints with, and provoke them to, spiritual wickednesses, pride, envy, malice, etc. These enemies are said to be in high places, or in heavenly places, so the word is, taking heaven (as one says) for the whole expansum, or spreading out of the air between the earth and the stars, the air being the place from which the devils assault us. Or the meaning may be, "We wrestle about heavenly places or heavenly things;" so some of the ancients interpret it. Our enemies strive to prevent our ascent to heaven, to deprive us of heavenly blessings and to obstruct our communion with heaven. They assault us in the things that belong to our souls, and labour to deface the heavenly image in our hearts; and therefore we have need to be upon our guard against them. We have need of faith in our Christian warfare, because we have spiritual enemies to grapple with, as well as of faith in our Christian work, because we have spiritual strength to fetch in. Thus you see your danger.

2.What our duty is: to take and put on the whole armour of God, and then to stand our ground, and withstand our enemies.

(1.)We must withstand, Ephesians 6:13. We must not yield to the devil's allurements and assaults, but oppose them. Satan is said to stand up against us, 1 Chronicles 21:1. If he stand up against us, we must stand against him; set up, and keep up, an interest in opposition to the devil. Satan is the wicked one, and his kingdom is the kingdom of sin: to stand against Satan is to strive against sin. That you may be able to withstand in the evil day, in the day of temptation, or of any sore affliction.

(2.)We must stand our ground: And, having done all, to stand. We must resolve, by God's grace, not to yield to Satan. Resist him, and he will flee. If we distrust our cause, or our leader, or our armour, we give him advantage. Our present business is to withstand the assaults of the devil, and to stand it out; and then, having done all that is incumbent on the good soldiers of Jesus Christ, our warfare will be accomplished, and we shall be finally victorious.

(3.)We must stand armed; and this is here most enlarged upon. Here is a Christian in complete armour: and the armour is divine: Armour of God, armour of light, Romans 13:12. Armour of righteousness, 2 Corinthians 6:7. The apostle specifies the particulars of this armour, both offensive and defensive. The military girdle or belt, the breast-plate, the greaves (or soldier's shoes), the shield, the helmet, and the sword. It is observable that, among them all, there is none for the back; if we turn our back upon the enemy, we lie exposed.

[1.]Truth or sincerity is our girdle, Ephesians 6:14. It was prophesied of Christ (Isaiah 11:5) that righteousness should be the girdle of his loins and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. That which Christ was girded with all Christians must be girded with. God desires truth, that is, sincerity, in the inward parts. This is the strength of our loins; and it girds on all other pieces of our armour, and therefore is first mentioned. I know no religion without sincerity. Some understand it of the doctrine of the truths of the gospel: they should cleave to us as the girdle does to the loins, Jeremiah 13:11. This will restrain from libertinism and licentiousness, as a girdle restrains and keeps in the body. This is the Christian soldier's belt: ungirded with this, he is unblessed.

[2.]Righteousness must be our breast-plate. The breast-plate secures the vitals, shelters the heart. The righteousness of Christ imputed to us is our breast-plate against the arrows of divine wrath. The righteousness of Christ implanted in us is our breast-plate to fortify the heart against the attacks which Satan makes against us. The apostle explains this in 1 Thessalonians 5:8, Putting on the breast-plate of faith and love. Faith and love include all Christian graces; for by faith we are united to Christ and by love to our brethren. These will infer a diligent observance of our duty to God, and a righteous deportment towards men, in all the offices of justice, truth, and charity.

[3.]Resolution must be as the greaves to our legs: And their feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, Ephesians 6:15. Shoes, or greaves of brass, or the like, were formerly part of the military armour (1 Samuel 17:6): the use of them was to defend the feet against the gall-traps, and sharp sticks, which were wont to be laid privily in the way, to obstruct the marching of the enemy, those who fell upon them being unfit to march. The preparation of the gospel of peace signifies a prepared and resolved frame of heart, to adhere to the gospel and abide by it, which will enable us to walk with a steady pace in the way of religion, notwithstanding the difficulties and dangers that may be in it. It is styled the gospel of peace because it brings all sorts of peace, peace with God, with ourselves, and with one another. It may also be meant of that which prepares for the entertainment of the gospel, namely, repentance. With this our feet must be shod: for by living a life of repentance we are armed against temptations to sin, and the designs of our great enemy. Dr. Whitby thinks this may be the sense of the words: "That you may be ready for the combat, be shod with the gospel of peace, endeavour after that peaceable and quiet mind which the gospel calls for. Be not easily provoked, nor prone to quarrel: but show all gentleness and all long-suffering to all men, and this will certainly preserve you from many great temptations and persecutions, as did those shoes of brass the soldiers from those galltraps," etc.

[4.]Faith must be our shield: Above all, or chiefly, taking the shield of faith, Ephesians 6:16. This is more necessary than any of them. Faith is all in all to us in an hour of temptation. The breast-plate secures the vitals; but with the shield we turn every way. This is the victory over the world, even our faith. We are to be fully persuaded of the truth of all God's promises and threatenings, such a faith being of great use against temptations. Consider faith as it is the evidence of things not seen and the substance of things hoped for, and it will appear to be of admirable use for this purpose. Faith, as receiving Christ and the benefits of redemption, so deriving grace from him, is like a shield, a sort of universal defence. Our enemy the devil is here called the wicked one. He is wicked himself, and he endeavours to make us wicked. His temptations are called darts, because of their swift and undiscerned flight, and the deep wounds that they give to the soul; fiery darts, by way of allusion to the poisonous darts which were wont to inflame the parts which were wounded with them, and therefore were so called, as the serpents with poisonous stings are called fiery serpents. Violent temptations, by which the soul is set on fire of hell, are the darts which Satan shoots at us. Faith is the shield with which we must quench these fiery darts, wherein we should receive them, and so render them ineffectual, that they may not hit us, or at least that they may not hurt us. Observe, Faith, acted upon the word of God and applying that, acted upon the grace of Christ and improving that, quenches the darts of temptation.

[5.]Salvation must be our helmet (Ephesians 6:17); that is, hope, which has salvation for its object; so 1 Thessalonians 5:8. The helmet secures the head. A good hope of salvation, well founded and well built, will both purify the soul and keep it from being defiled by Satan, and it will comfort the soul and keep it from being troubled and tormented by Satan. He would tempt us to despair; but good hope keeps us trusting in God, and rejoicing in him.

[6.]The word of God is the sword of the Spirit. The sword is a very necessary and useful part of a soldier's furniture. The word of God is very necessary, and of great use to the Christian, in order to his maintaining the spiritual warfare and succeeding in it. It is called the sword of the Spirit, because it is of the Spirit's inditing and he renders it efficacious and powerful, and sharper than a two-edged sword. Like Goliath's sword, none like that; with this we assault the assailants. Scripture-arguments are the most powerful arguments to repel temptation with. Christ himself resisted Satan's temptations with, It is written, Matthew 4:4, Matthew 4:6, Matthew 4:7, Matthew 4:10. This, being hid in the heart, will preserve from sin (Psalm 119:11), and will mortify and kill those lusts and corruptions that are latent there.

[7.]Prayer must buckle on all the other parts of our Christian armour, Ephesians 6:18. We must join prayer with all these graces, for our defence against these spiritual enemies, imploring help and assistance of God, as the case requires: and we must pray always. Not as though we were to do nothing else but pray, for there are other duties of religion and of our respective stations in the world that are to be done in their place and season; but we should keep up constant times of prayer, and be constant to them. We must pray upon all occasions, and as often as our own and others' necessities call us to it. We must always keep up a disposition to prayer, and should intermix ejaculatory prayers with other duties, and with common business. Though set and solemn prayer may sometimes be unseasonable (as when other duties are to be done), yet pious ejaculations can never be so. We must pray with all prayer and supplication, with all kinds of prayer: public, private, and secret, social and solitary, solemn and sudden; with all the parts of prayer: confession of sin, petition for mercy, and thanksgivings for favours received. We must pray in the Spirit; our spirits must be employed in the duty and we must do it by the grace of God's good Spirit. We must watch thereunto, endeavouring to keep our hearts in a praying frame, and taking all occasions, and improving all opportunities, for the duty: we must watch to all the motions of our own hearts towards the duty. When God says, Seek my face, our hearts must comply, Psalm 27:8. This we must do with all perseverance. We must abide by the duty of prayer, whatever change there may be in our outward circumstances; and we must continue in it as long as we live in the world. We must persevere in a particular prayer; not cutting it short, when our hearts are disposed to enlarge, and there is time for it, and our occasions call for it. We must likewise persevere in particular requests, notwithstanding some present discouragements and repulses. And we must pray with supplication, not for ourselves only, but for all saints; for we are members one of another. Observe, None are so much saints, and in so good a condition in this world, but they need our prayers, and they ought to have them. The apostle passes hence to the conclusion of the epistle.

Historical interpretation

Three Centuries of Reception

5 surviving comments on this verse. Each one is dated, so this reads as a timeline rather than a list.

5 quotes · AD 250–500
Ante-NicenePost-Nicene
300400500

Select a marker to jump to its quote. Markers stagger vertically where authors wrote within a few decades of each other.

d. AD 250Fabian of RomeAnte-NiceneSourceDecretals, Epistles of Pope Fabian, To Bishop Hilary, V
“Finally, dearly beloved, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil; for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places (cœlestibus). Wherefore take unto you the armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and to stand perfect in all (omnibus perfecti). Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace; in all (in omnibus) taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”2875 It is our wish, brother, that those things which we have written to you should be made known generally to all, in order that things which touch the others should be made known to all. May Almighty God protect you, brother, and all our brethren everywhere situate, even to the end,—even He who has thought good to redeem the whole world, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
d. AD 253Origen of AlexandriaAnte-NiceneSourceEPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS
To be “strong in the Lord” is to be strengthened in word and wisdom and the contemplation of truth. All these qualities are encompassed in the titles applying to Christ. The greatest of these is the strength of his might, which is stronger than all human virtues combined. Moral corruption lacks power in his presence. This one virtue, being strong in the Lord, is inconceivably powerful. Those who are wise in these matters call it the strength of his might. It has some analogy with bodily might but far exceeds it. This strength is beautiful, as a strong body is beautiful.
d. AD 407John ChrysostomPost-NiceneSourceHomily on Ephesians 22
"Finally," saith he, "be strong in the Lord."

Whenever the discourse is about to conclude, he always employs this turn. Said I not well from the first, that every man's house is a camp in itself? For look, having disposed of the several offices, he proceeds to arm them, and to lead them out to war. If no one usurps the other's office, but every one remains at his post, all will be well ordered.

"Be strong," saith he, "in the Lord, and in the strength of His might."

That is, in the hope which we have in Him, by means of His aid. For as he had enjoined many duties, which were necessary to be done, fear not, he seems to say, cast your hope upon the Lord, and He will make all easy.

But now, when any one is going to the theater, or going off to the bath, he drags all his servants after him; but when he goes to church, not for a moment; nor does he compel them to attend and hear. Now how shall thy servant listen, when thou his master art attending to other things? Hast thou purchased, hast thou bought thy slave? Before all things enjoin him what God would have him do, to be gentle towards his fellow-servants, and to make much account of virtue.

Every one's house is a city; and every man is a prince in his own house. That the house of the rich is of this character, is plain enough, where there are both lands, and stewards, and rulers over rulers. But I say that the house of the poor also is a city. Because here too there are offices of authority; for instance, the husband has authority over the wife, the wife over the servants, the servants again over their own wives; again the wives and the husbands over the children. Does he not seem to you to be, as it were, a sort of king, having so many authorities under his own authority? and that it were meet that he should be more skilled both in domestic and general government than all the rest? For he who knows how to manage these in their several relations, will know how to select the fittest men for offices, yes, and will choose excellent ones. And thus the wife will be a second king in the house, lacking only the diadem; and be who knows how to choose this king, will excellently regulate all the rest.
AD 500Desert FathersPost-NiceneSourceThe Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks
She also said, ‘The devil sometimes sends a severe fast which is too prolonged; the devil’s disciples do this as well as holy men. How do we distinguish the fasting of our God and King from the fasting of that tyrant the devil? Clearly by its moderation. Throughout your life, then, you ought to keep an unvarying rule of fasting. Do you fast four or five days on end and then lose your spiritual strength by eating a feast? That really pleases the devil! Everything which is extreme is destructive. So do not suddenly throw away your armour, or you may be found unarmed in the battle and easily captured. Our body is the armour, our soul is the warrior. Take care of both, and you will be ready for whatever comes.’
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.

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