«　WEEK 11　DAY 4　»

　　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.

　　In the universe there are three wills: the divine will, the satanic will, and the human will. If we would know how the church can be God’s warrior to engage in spiritual warfare, we must know these three wills, these three intentions. God’s will, being self-existing, is eternal, uncreated. As created beings, the angels also have a will. One of these angels, an archangel, was appointed by God to rule the universe that existed before the creation of Adam. Because of his high position and his beauty, this archangel became proud. This pride gave rise to an evil intention, which became the satanic will…. In addition to God’s intention…there is a second intention,…the satanic will,…set against God’s will…. All the different kinds of warfare have their source in the controversy between the divine will and the satanic will. (Life-study of Ephesians, p. 527)

　　Through repentance man can turn from the satanic will to the divine will, from Satan’s side to God’s side. The first commandment in the gospel is to repent. The next two commandments are to believe and to be baptized. Any sinner who desires to be saved must obey these three commandments…. To repent is to have a turn from the satanic will to the divine will.

　　As the new man the church should walk according to truth and by grace, and… as the bride the church should live in love and in light. However, not only must God’s eternal purpose be fulfilled and the desire of Christ’s heart be satisfied, but God’s enemy must be defeated. For this, the church must be a warrior…. Therefore, we walk according to truth and by grace, we live in love and light, and we fight to subdue the satanic will. Our walk is for the fulfillment of God’s purpose, our living is for the satisfaction of Christ, and our fighting is for the defeat of God’s enemy. Hence, for these three things the church must be the new man, the bride, and the warrior.

　　The Greek word in Ephesians 6:10 rendered “empowered” has the same root as the word power in 1:19. To deal with God’s enemy, to fight against the evil force of darkness, we need to be empowered with the greatness of the power that raised up Christ from the dead and seated Him in the heavens, far above all the evil spirits in the air. 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 charge to be empowered implies the need to exercise our will. If we would be empowered for spiritual warfare, our will must be strong and exercised. We should not be like jellyfish, those who are weak-willed and vacillating.

　　On the day of Pentecost Peter told the people to be saved from that crooked generation (Acts 2:40). This command seems to be both active and passive, with the word be implying something active and the word saved, something passive. The same is true of Paul’s command in Ephesians 6:10 to be empowered…. We need to exercise our will to be empowered in the Lord.

　　In chapter 4 we see that we must be renewed (v. 23) and in chapter 5, that we must be submissive (v. 21). For the new man, we need to be renewed; for the bride, we need to be submissive; and for the warrior, we need to be empowered. As the warrior, we must go into battle not as a gentleman or as a lovely bride, but as a lion. Therefore, for the new man, the bride, and the warrior, let us be renewed, submissive, and empowered. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 528-531)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1963, vol. 3, “Basic Principles for the Practice of the Church Life,” ch. 6; Truth Lessons—Level Three, vol. 3, lsn. 46