Ephesians 6 armor

Verses 10-12:

^.10From-now-on, you must be enabled in (the) Lord and in the strongness of his strength, ^.11you must clothe-yourselves-with the full-armor of God towards (the purpose of) you to be able to stand against the methods of the devil, ^.12because the wrestling is not for you against blood and flesh but against the rulerships, against the authorities, against the world-strong-ones of this darkness, against the spiritual-things of the evilness, in the heavenlies;

Having taught regarding how holy-people ought to behave ourselves towards one-another while being in submission to our Lord Jesus Christ – whether wives or husbands or children or fathers or slaves or lords – Paul now addresses all holy-people teaching us how to behave ourselves and what resources we have available as we carry-out the activities of our everyday lives relative to the spirit realm.

From now on (of the rest, pertaining-to the time remaining, henceforth) it is imperative that you holy-people are enabled (caused to be made able, have able-power, given ability, empowered, made capable or dynamic from inside of you)…

·         within the sphere of action of the Lord (your Master, who is Christ Jesus; you have received the spirit of Christ in you making you limbs/members of the one spiritual body of Christ; it is in the Lord’s sphere of action that you are to be enabled)

·         and within the strongness of his strength (the exerted-force, power-in-effect, exerted-strength of the Lord's inherent-strength, the strength which he now is/has, which he received from God when He raised him up from among the dead-people – within the strongness of the Lord Jesus Christ’s strength, not your physical strength, nor your intellectual ability, nor your money, nor your career track, etc; refer to Ephesians 1:19-23, 3:16-18),

…you must clothe yourselves with (put-on as a garment by going inside of it, envelop yourselves with)…

·         the full-armor of God (the whole weaponry belonging-to and proceeding-from the only true God, all/every part of it, the complete panoply, the full set of tools or implements of war/battle needed for protection, offense and defense, fully armed – God is the source of this full-armor)

o   towards the purpose of (in motion to, for the purpose, direction, and intent of)

o   you to presently be able to stand (to have the able-power, ability, capability to actively stand firm, to be set in place as opposed to being caused to fall or fail)

o   against/towards the methods of the devil (in motion against the manner of the systematic ways, following after the procedures, the step-by-step processes pertaining-to, belonging-to, and proceeding-from the devil; refer to Ephesians 4:14 and 27),

…because the wrestling (the swaying or vibrating struggle which you are engaged in; this word draws attention to the truth that there are two opposing sides contesting against each other – the wrestling)…

·         is not for you (relative to holy-people [some Greek texts have the word “us” instead of “you”])

·         against/towards blood and flesh (the two parts of natural mankind, human-beings – in motion against blood containing soul-life evidenced by breathing, and flesh being the physical body – the physical, natural, fleshy category)

…but on the contrary, the wrestling that all holy-people are involved in is…

·         against/towards the rulerships (in motion against those in the first-placed, chief, dignified hierarchical positions, which some spirits and people have been given or have taken for themselves),

·         against/towards the authorities (in motion against those with authoritative-powers or permitted-rights, which some spirits and people have been given or have taken for themselves),

·         against/towards the world-strong-ones (in motion against those being strong, having strength, exerted-force, being mighty in the present ordered-arrangement that fell because the first man Adam gave it to the devil as recorded in Genesis chapter 3, which some spirits and people have been given or have taken for themselves)

o   of this darkness (specifically belonging to, pertaining to and consisting of the devil’s absolute darkness, the complete absence of light, lack of the only true God's light),

·         against/towards the spiritual-things (in motion against those matters belonging to, determined by, influenced by and proceeding from spirit, including the beings which are spirits)

o   of the evilness (belonging to, pertaining to and consisting of the devil’s active malignancy, the exercised badness that issues from the evil-one, the devil/satan),

…in the heavenlies (the plural word "heavenlies" gives great emphasis and expansive greatness to this location, which is literally anywhere above the earth, but here it is used metaphorically referring to God's spirit realm, all that is upon and pertaining to God – within the sphere of action of all that pertains to the heavenly realm).

All holy-people are in the heavenlies – spiritually (refer to Ephesians 1:3 and 20-23, 2:6, 3:10) and therefore this is our sphere of action. We have not yet received our spiritual bodies like the Lord Jesus Christ already has received from God, plus he has already ascended into the heavens. We have received the spirit of Christ in us – this is our spiritual standing with God and our Lord Jesus Christ and all the things of God, and we are against all that is against God.

The devil and his angels do not have a location for them to be present within the heaven since the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ into God’s presence in the heavenlies (refer to Revelation 12:7-12) – and therefore their ability to disrupt God's and the Lord Jesus Christ's realm in heaven is no longer available to them.

All holy-people must be enabled in the Lord and in the strongness of his strength. We must clothe-ourselves-with the full-armor of God towards the purpose of us being able to stand within the sphere of action of the heavenlies against the methods of the devil, because the wrestling is not for us against blood and flesh but against the rulerships, against the authorities, against the world-strong-ones of this darkness, against the spiritual-things of the evilness.

It is interesting to note that the papyrus P46 has the word “methods” in verse 12 (as verse 11) instead of the words “rulerships, against the authorities”; plus it omits the words translated "in the heavenlies" – therefore it reads: “because the wrestling is not for you against blood and flesh but against the methods, against the world-strong-ones of this darkness, against the spiritual-things of the evilness.”

[Reference: Matthew 22:18; John 8:44; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:29, 13:12; I Corinthians 2:6-10; II Corinthians 6:7 and 14, 10:4; Ephesians 1:3 and 19-23, 2:6, 3:10 and 16-19, 4:14, 24 and 27, 5:8, 11 and 16; Philippians 4:13; Colossians 1:13 and 27; I Timothy 1:12; II Timothy 2:1; James 4:7; I Peter 5:8; I John 5:18-21; Revelation 12:7-12. Also refer to the article The devil, satan, and evil (http://www.truebiblestudy.com/devil_satan_evil.htm).]