«　WEEK 1　DAY 6　»

　　Eph. 6:10-12 Finally, be empowered in the Lord and in the might of His strength. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil, for our wrestling is not against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies.

　　Ephesians 6:10-20 reveals that the church, which is the new man, needs to fight against the enemy of God….The church is a warrior. However, the warrior is not a status of the church but an aspect of the church as the new man. The new man has the obligation of fighting against God's enemy. This is indicated in Genesis 1, where we are told that when God created the old man, He commissioned him to bear His image for His expression and to have His dominion for His representation to deal with the enemy….The new man in the new creation also has the twofold obligation of bearing God's image to express Him and of fighting against God's enemy. Therefore, the church as the new man is a warrior fighting against God's enemy, for the new man is now fulfilling God's purpose to express God and to fight against God's enemy for God's dominion, God's kingdom. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 2321)

　　[In Ephesians 6:12] “blood and flesh” refers to human beings. Behind men of blood and flesh are the evil forces of the devil, fighting against God's purpose. Hence, our wrestling, our fighting, must not be against men but against the evil spiritual forces in the heavenlies….”This darkness” refers to today's world, which is fully under the dark ruling of the devil through his evil angels. “The world-rulers of this darkness” are the princes Satan has set up to rule the various nations. Because of the working of Satan, who is the authority of darkness, the earth and its atmosphere have become “this darkness.” “The spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies” are Satan and his spiritual forces of evil in the air. The warfare between the church and Satan is a battle between us who love the Lord and who are in His church and the evil powers in the heavenlies. We must fight against these spiritual forces.

　　The Greek word translated “empowered” in Ephesians 6:10 has the same root as the word “power” in 1:19. To deal with God's enemy, to fight against the evil forces of darkness, we need to be empowered with the power that raised up Christ from the dead and seated Him in the heavens, far above all the evil spirits in the air. First we are empowered by the power that raised Christ from among the dead and made Him to be the Head over all things, and then we know God's might and strength. In 6:10 Paul charges us to be empowered “in the Lord.” The fact that we are to be empowered in the Lord indicates that in the spiritual warfare against Satan and his evil kingdom we can fight only in the Lord, not in ourselves. Whenever we are in ourselves, we are defeated.

　　The new man fights against God's enemy not only by being empowered in the Lord but also by putting on the various attributes of Christ as the whole armor of God (vv. 11, 13-17). The whole armor of God is for the entire Body, not for any individual member of the Body. The church as the corporate new man is the warrior, and the believers together make up this new man. Only the corporate new man as the warrior can wear the whole armor of God; no individual believer can wear it. Therefore, we must fight the spiritual warfare not individually but in the Body, in the new man.

　　In 6:14-17 we have the various attributes of Christ as the whole armor of God: the girdle of truth, or reality, the breastplate of righteousness, the firm foundation of the gospel of peace (the shoes), the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. Of these six aspects of Christ as our armor, only the sword is for offensive warfare. All the other items are for defense. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 2321-2323)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 14, 21, 102, 112, 114, 147-148, 218, 316-317, 358, 401; CWWL, 1956, vol. 1, “The Church as the Body of Christ,” chs. 1-2, 4