The Divine Lamp

6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might. cb(6,11); 6:11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. cb(6,12); 6:12 For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world’s rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. cb(6,13); 6:13 Therefore, put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand. cb(6,14); 6:14 Stand therefore, having the utility belt of truth buckled around your waist, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, cb(6,15); 6:15 and having fitted your feet with the preparation of the Good News of peace; cb(6,16); 6:16 above all, taking up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. cb(6,17); 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; cb(6,18); 6:18 with all prayer and requests, praying at all times in the Spirit, and being watchful to this end in all perseverance and requests for all the saints: cb(6,19); 6:19 on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in opening my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the Good News, cb(6,20); 6:20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Be strong in the lord and in the strength of his might. With these words the apostle St Pau, A good soldier of Christ who bore the hardship of the gospel (2 Tim 2:3) even to the point where he could call himself an ambassador in chains begins his exhortation to us whose duty it is to fight the good fight of faith in imitation of him (2 Tim 4:7). It is a fight we wage against those under the power of the evil one, the devil, who prowls about the world looking for souls to consume, as St Peter, in his first letter tells us (5:8). This warfare, St Paul tells us, is not against human forces, and therefore our battle cannot be waged, nor our enemies overcome with human weapons: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, writes St Paul in 2 Corinthians 10, they are mighty and from God and given for the destruction of fortifications-the very gates of hell. they are given for the destroying of every evil counsel, and to bring down all the demonic inspired lofty pretensions of men who exalt themselves against the knowledge of God (see 2 Cor 10:3-5; Matt 16:18).

Therefore, we must cloth ourselves in the whole armour of God so as to be able to withstand the deceits of the Devil. What is the whole armour of God? Do not think for a minute that it is merely the weapons St Paul list in the Ephesians text under consideration. No! It is so much more: For all of us who were baptized in Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ (Gal 3:27). Are you unaware that you who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? (Rom 6:3). Are you unaware that as a result of this we must no longer let sin reign in our mortal bodies to obey its desires? We must no longer present the parts of our bodies as weapons of wickedness, rather we must present our bodies to God as raised from the dead to life, and the parts of our bodies to God as weapons of Righteousness (Rom 6:12-13).

Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and powers; against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places. Who among us could be fit for such a battle unless we had first been outfitted with Christ, the armour of God: in whom dwells the fulness of the Godhead bodily. We were filled in him who is the head, the master, of every principality and power (Col 2:9-10); we were filled in him and clothed with him when we were buried with him in baptism, in which we were also raised with him by faith in the power of God who raised him up from the dead. Once dead in our sins and the uncircumcision (i.e. un-baptism) of our flesh, God has given us life in Christ, forgiving all our offenses. He blotted out the decree that was against us, and was opposed to us, he fastened it to the cross with Christ, while at the same time despoiling the principalities and powers, triumphing over them in himself.

Though the victory in this war is assured, already having been, in a certain sense, won by Christ, nonetheless, the battle still rages, for Satan is too proud to admit defeat. Therefore, take unto you the armour of God, that you may be able to resist the evil day and to stand in all things perfect. On what do we stand? First, we stand on Christ, and by our steadfastness of faith which is in Christ Jesus, we will not be deceived (Greek: paralogizomai) by loftiness of words. Therefore, as we have received (Greek: paralambano) Jesus Christ the Lord we should conduct our lives (walk) with him; rooted in and built upon him and confirmed in the faith just as we learned it (Col 2:4-7). And how did we learn the faith by which we are founded upon and stand upon Christ, and are rooted in him? How did we come to know the grace of God in truth, except by having heard and learned the word of truth, the Gospel, from the ministers of Christ who are such on our behalf (Col 1:4-7). Thus we stand upon Christ because we stand upon the Church, the pillar and bulwark of truth (! Tim 3:15), whose foundation is Christ.

This is the Christ who ascended on high and took the captivity captive by despoiling the principalities and powers as was noted above. This is the Christ who also ascended and gave gifts to men. He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers: for the perfecting of the saints, for the word of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, so that we might no longer be like children tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the wickedness of men, by cunning craftiness by which they lie and wait to deceive (Eph 4:7-14). This is the Christ who said he who hear you, hears me; he who rejects you, rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects the one who sent me (Lk 10:16). This is the Christ who “is the real self of the Church,” which is “his body, permeated through and through with his redemptive might” (Karl Adam, THE SPIRIT OF CATHOLICISM, ch 2)

How then, I ask you, can we have our feet shod with preperation for the Gospel of peace if we do not take account of the preaching of the Church?

Rats! I’m getting tired and began to lose my train of though a couple of paragraphs ago. Sorry (assuming anyone found it useful), this will have to do.

Posted by Dim Bulb.  Check out my other site.