Ephesians 6:10,11

Paul has been painting a great picture of what God has achieved and is achieving in Christ and through the church. In the previous two chapters he has been focusing on how we are to live as individuals. Our main problem is the sin within ourselves, and chapters 4 and 5 focus on this, but we are also in a spiritual battle, with spiritual adversaries. Our first priority should be our own behaviour and attitudes, then we should turn attention to attacks from the enemy. To often we can use Satan as an excuse for our own shortcomings. However, we must also be fully aware of the reality of the spiritual battle, or else we will find things deeply frustrating.

The first step in the spiritual battle is to be strong in the Lord and in His power. We need the power of the cross and resurrection flowing through every part of our lives, and we need to be continually filled with the Spirit.

The succeeding verses amplify what Paul means by being strong in the Lord. He likens this to the armour that a Roman soldier would wear, and just as a soldier makes sure he has his complete kit, so we are to make sure that too have the full protection of God on. It only needs one weak point for an enemy to be able to strike. As Christians we are the ones who are on the attack, we are the ones who are taking ground. It is the kingdom of God that increases without end (Isaiah 9:7), but in the course of this advance the enemy will seek to stop and reverse the advance.