Put on the Armor, Part 1 (Eph 6:10–13) from South Woods Baptist Church on Vimeo.

Scoffing at defeat seems to be natural to those who’ve not experienced its pain. One almost gets the attitude that he cannot be stopped or stymied or conquered. When he does, he becomes most vulnerable.

My high school football team had a string of three straight state titles in its division, with a winning streak that extended to forty-one games. By the time I made it to my junior year, it seemed that winning was inevitable, and defeat, just not possible. Then came the last game of the season. Maybe it was a fluke but the upstart team with a losing record broke our winning streak. We couldn’t believe it even possible as we looked toward the state playoffs, but it happened. That still didn’t knock us out of the playoffs, so we regrouped and decided that one little defeat could not keep the hardware out of our trophy case.

In the first round we played a team nicknamed the “Aggies.” We laughed about the nickname. No tigers or lions or bears or bobcats but an Aggie. We knew that a team with such a name could not stand up to our team. So we derided the very idea of the Aggies coming into our hallowed stadium and attempting to play the game on our level. At the school pep rally that Friday, I still remember a huge sign reading, “What’s an Aggie?” We thought it clever and expressive of our stature as football conquerors. But that night the Aggies mopped the floor with our team. They did nothing but stomp us into the ground, defeating us by over forty points. The caption that followed in the yearbook perfectly expressed our sentiments: “We Found Out What an Aggie Was!”

I wonder if we don’t do the same thing in our spiritual lives? We have lived pretty much above the norm, without much conflict or spiritual battles raging. We’ve left our mark, at least we think, on the world of Christianity as exemplary Christians who know how to live just as we should. Pride sets in, leading to presumption, which leads to negligence in our spiritual walks. Instead of walking worthy of the gospel call, we unconsciously focus more on walking to be applauded by others. All the while, we fail to see the subtlety of the devil’s trap, luring us to over-confidence, pride in our spirituality, knowledge, and self-dependence, taking our eyes off of Christ, the gospel, and the power of the cross. Then he sets the snare and we’re trapped and overpowered by some pattern of sin, whether in attitude, thought, speech, or action. He wins the battle. And the caption reads: “We found out what the devil is.” Sometimes it seems that we’ve forgotten the enemy’s power.

When Paul uses the word “finally” at the beginning of verse 10, we typically think of it as telling us that he’s wrapping everything up, so wind down the brain and relax. But rather than announcing a conclusion it seems that it better expresses the pinnacle of his application of walking wisely as Spirit filled Christians (5:15–18). We live in the Spirit’s fullness and so experience the fruit of His control in relationships with the body of Christ, worship, gratitude, and learning to serve one another. We see its fruit in marriage, in the home, and in our work lives. Yet the filling of the Spirit doesn’t mean that we are wrapped in Teflon so that nothing affects us, nothing attacks us, and nothing sticks. Rather, the Holy Spirit’s control enables us to be faithful soldiers of Christ. We’re to live daily prepared for spiritual battle. The Spirit empowers us to do so. But what does it mean to live prepared for spiritual battle? Let’s look at it over two studies on this text.

1. God’s armor is rooted in relationship

The repetition of “the full armor of God” or transliterating the Greek, the panoply of God in verses 11 and 13, plus the description of the armor in verses 14–17, shows the weight that Paul puts on this theme. He’s teaching the church how to live as Christians in a fallen world under the domain of Satan and his demo[...]