In the Epistle to the Ephesians chapter 6, the Apostle Paul, having encouraged the believers in Ephesus begins his concluding remarks as follows: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.” (ESV)
The following verses, after verse 10 quoted above, deal with the famous “armor of God” passage. It is almost certain that every single Christian who has been attending to his local church for a while has heard a sermon or series of sermons based on that passage.
However, I would, at this time, prefer to call your attention to v.10. This verse is often ignored because is not as “glamorous” as the others but it is no less important.
Just go back a few paragraphs and re-read the verse. Notice what the Apostle Paul is saying. If we fail to understand v.10 then we will fail to understand the passage about the armor of God!
The Apostle Paul is closing his Epistle with a final plea. It is a plea for Christians to find their strength “in the Lord.” This is an important plea.
If the Apostle Paul would have believed that Christians can live the Christian life in their own strength then he would have said so. Or, perhaps let me put it in a different way: if being a Christian were to be about being a good person then this is the place where Paul would have said something like that.
Paul would have said: “finally, make sure to be a good person, try hard to be honest, holy, and so on. Just purpose yourself, in your own strength, to be holy, lest you fall from the faith.”
But, dear reader, if you look at v. 10 yet again, you will find that none of that is suggested by Paul. Paul in fact affirms the contrary to such message: they are strong in Another One.
Because of that, I believe v.10 is a tremendous encouragement for the weary and broken hearted Christian. Because the Christian who has examined his heart before Scriptures knows that living the Christian life, denying himself, trying to live in holiness and humility before the Lord is not something that can be done.
In fact, as soon as we believe we are living rightly before the Lord than we immediately fall into sin. Sometimes we do so by being prideful, other times by failing to love God or our neighbors, but at all times we find that we sin too much.
Being that our reality I would have found Paul saying that “we need to be strong in ourselves” a very discouraging message. The reality is that we, Christians are sinners, and do not have the necessary strength to live according to God’s Word.
This is why v.10 is comfort (again). Because the call Paul has is not for me to “try hard and do better.” It is not a message that tells me that if I do good enough, then God will love me back.
No, Paul’s message is rooted in the Gospel of Christ. Christians will find strength not in themselves but in the Lord. It is the strength of his might that will help Christians live the Christian life!
In other words, in Jesus Christ, every single Christian has something to his or her reach that will empower them to live lives that are pleasing to God, and that is no other than God’s own power.
This is why I find this verse tremendously encouraging. I as a feeble human being am going to sin. But in Jesus Christ, my sin no longer defines me, in fact, in Jesus Christ, I can ask God for His power to sustain me, change me, mold me and He will.
Yes, I will still sin and fail and be a flunk. On this side of glory there is no perfection for the Christian. But at the same time the power of God, the Spirit of God living in me will make sure that I receive God’s power to live, persevere in the faith.
If we understand v.10 we will understand the passage of the “armor of God” in a proper way. Namely, that this passage is not a call for me to do this, it is not a call for me to be strong in my own efforts, but rather is a call to rest in God’s power.
That is, the Gospel of Christ! He died for His own so His people can be dressed with His justice, His armor, and be saved in the day of trouble. May this new year find us hoping only in Christ. Happy New Year!
With much love,
Rev. Cristian Garcia
Da Lucem, Domine!