Standing Together in Christ
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 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.
Ephesians 6:10–12
A very great truth of this passage, one that we often neglect, is the simple fact that Paul was addressing the Ephesians not as individual believers but as a church. His entire emphasis throughout the letter has been on the unity of the church, and though there are personal applications to his words, the focus was on the community. So in our understanding and applying these words we must likewise begin with the church, the local church, to understand them. As Paul wrote in Philippians:
Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. Phil. 1:27–28
The Good News Translation says, “That with only one desire you are fighting together for the faith of the gospel,” which conveys an accurate sense of the original Greek.
Armies have throughout history realized that their success on any battlefield is dependent on two key ingredients: the preparation of each individual soldier and the unified coordination of the soldiers working strategically together on the battlefield. And the same is true for the Christian Church, that our effectiveness is based on each believer being strong in their faith and on the unity and support of the church as a whole — and we must surrender the ultimate strategies to the “Lord of the Harvest” or the Spirit of Christ as He moves in the world.
The most obvious point here is that our enemy is well organized and Paul described the dark forces in four terms: rulers, authorities, cosmic powers, and forces of evil. We would be well-advised not to make too much out of this, to try not to use these few words to construct in our minds a complete organizational chart of Satan’s forces. There is simply not enough information in them for us to do so, and any fascination on the subject itself tends to lead us to error, not to truth. But the point is that Satan is organized, strategic, and evil. His evil is not simplistic or with only one focus or aspect to it. It is systematic, comprehensive, multifaceted, and conniving. He is willing to terrify us with his power at one moment, and then lull is into false security at the next that he is nothing at all to worry about. He tempts us with lust and the abuse of power, and then with false pride in our own humility. He isolates us from the Body, discourages us in our faith, leads us down paths of corruption, fills our hearts with self-pity (a horrible sin we often underestimate), tempts us to judge others, and inspires us to cloak our hearts in self righteousness and unforgiveness, and then to blame God and others for our own moral and spiritual failure.
The only effective strategy against such a powerful enemy must be a unified strategy, where we fight a coordinated battle, with each Christian soldier outfitted with the “armor of light” (Rom 13:12), and with the entire church of Christ moving in the power of the Spirit on the battlefield we call planet earth. In spite of the power and pervasive presence of Satan’s kingdom, we are encouraged with two great truths of Scripture.
First, more are they who are with us than those who are against us. This was said by Elisha the prophet to his servant Gehazi when they were surrounded by seemingly overwhelming forces (2 Kings 6:16). As I understand the Scripture, the original rebellion of Satan resulted in one third of the angels turning to his side in the battle in heaven (Rev. 12:1–17). The phrase, “His tail swept a third of the stars and flung them to the earth” (Rev. 12:4), seems to refer to how many angels sided with him. This simply means that two-thirds did not join Satan’s rebellion, so we read, “There was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven” (Rev. 12:7–8).
Second, greater is the One who is in us, namely Christ who indwells us by His Spirit, than the devil (1 John 4:4). Even if every angel God made had joined in the rebellion, not a single one of them, nor all of them together, are any match for the Spirit of God. So we need not fear no matter what.
But isolation is not the plan of God for any believer. We all need the support and encouragement of a Christian community. The pronouns of this passage are all plural and God is commanding us believers to unite in our faith with one another, to find in the church the strength of a united community that teaches, prays, serves, believes, witnesses, encourages, and redeems — and even is willing to confront, rebuke, and correct when necessary, always with a goal toward restoration. The church as a whole must put on the full armor of God to fight the battle.
We normally isolate ourselves out of pride or self-pity, or because we did not get the recognition we think we were due, or we don’t like some leader, or for some other petty reason with withdraw and isolate ourselves. But we need one another. The body of Christ called the local church needs you and you need the body. Find in the church and in Christian fellowship the strength and protection God intended you to have, and your spiritual life will grow.
