Standing Firm

My pastor has been preaching in Ephesians the last few months. Last week and this week, he is preaching on Ephesians 6:10-19, where Paul tells believers that we are in a war, a spiritual war against Satan and his minions. I will be posting some thoughts on these verses, which are some of my favorite. There is a military theme in these verses which is applicable to our struggle against Satan.

Ephesians 6:11-14a states: “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore……”

The emphasis here is standing firm, which the Apostle Paul repeats several times. This requires facing the enemy and standing firm without wavering against their attack. In warfare, if the soldier turns away or flees in the face of the enemy, the flanks are exposed and the enemy can strike where the soldier is not protected. Standing firm in the face of the attack obliges the enemy to attack the soldier at their strongest point. In ancient warfare (of which the Apostle Paul was familiar), two armies that were locked in combat suffered relatively few casualties until one side wavered and no longer stood firm. Their opponent would then have the initiative and begin to inflict huge casualties, which resulted in the lopsided victories that are reported in ancient battles.

Like a soldier, standing firm is what we are to do against Satan and his schemes. Below is a great film clip that shows vastly outnumbered soldiers standing firm against their determined enemies, taken from one of my favorite war movies: Zulu.