Lessons #271 and 272
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual exposition not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GWT = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Belt of Truth (Eph 6:14)
…14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
We have indicated that Ephesians 6:10-20 is concerned with the exhortation that believers should live as Christians in the spiritual warfare mentioned in our passage. We are involved in this spiritual war because we are God’s children and so are soldiers enlisted in His army to duke it out with satanic forces while on this planet. This spiritual warfare applies as long as a believer is on this planet but once a believer exits from this life to be in the presence of the Lord that is the end of it. Thus, the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul has much to tell us in the section we are considering about this spiritual warfare. To help us understand our responsibility in the spiritual warfare, we have stated thus far two fundamental truths. A first one is that living as a Christian in the spiritual warfare requires the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. This implies that no one can be victorious in this warfare without reliance on the ministry of the Holy Spirit since none of us is strong enough to duke it out with satanic forces on our own power. A second fundamental truth we have considered is that living as a Christian in the spiritual warfare requires complete spiritual armor. This means that if a believer is going to resist satanic forces such an individual must be clothed with the spiritual armor. The reference to spiritual armor leads us to our next fundamental truth that is essential in understanding our responsibility as Christians in the spiritual warfare.
A third fundamental truth that concerns the spiritual warfare is that it calls for defensive and offensive weapons. In effect, we are saying that the full armor of God consists of defensive and offensive weapons which are the things we will expound beginning from verse 14. Thus, we have introduced the answer to the question some of us may have, which is, what is the full armor of God the apostle has been speaking since verse 11 of this sixth chapter of Ephesians?
This third fundamental truth we stated is indeed an elaboration of the second fundamental truth that living as a Christian in the spiritual warfare requires complete spiritual armor. The mention of the word “complete” would normally raise a question in the mind of the listener as to what is meant by “complete spiritual armor” and so this third fundamental truth is intended to further explain what is meant. The Holy Spirit through the apostle described the defensive weapons in verses 14 to 17a while the offensive weapons are described in verses 17b to 20. We will consider these in detail as we continue our exposition of the passage.
The most important assignment every believer has in this spiritual warfare is simply to resist satanic forces, that is, to say that our major responsibility in the spiritual warfare involves general resistance and opposition of satanic forces. This resistance to satanic forces is one the Apostle Paul emphasized in our passage. He first introduced the concept in verse 13 with the word “stand.” We first find the word “stand” in the clause you may be able to stand your ground although the Greek word (anthistēmi) used may mean “to resist, to oppose,” but the rendering of the NIV in the verbal phrase to stand your ground is a good one. Again, the word “stand” appears in the last clause of verse 13 after you have done everything, to stand. The word “stand”, as we examined previously is translated from a Greek word (histēmi) that, no doubt, means “to stand” but in verse 13 of Ephesians 6 it means “to stand up against”, that is, “to resist.” Thus, the important assignment of the believer in the spiritual warfare involves resistance and opposition of satanic forces. By the way, it is not only through the Apostle Paul that the Holy Spirit makes us aware that we have the responsibility of resisting satanic forces. The Holy Spirit through James commands us to resist Satan with the promise that he will flee from us in James 4:7:
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
The same concept is given through the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 5:9:
Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
Anyway, it is our primary assignment in the spiritual warfare to resist and oppose satanic forces.
There is no denying that our primary assignment in the spiritual warfare is to resist and oppose satanic forces. As we have already mentioned, this assignment is evident by the fact that the apostle used two words in Ephesians 6:13 that although may mean “to stand” actually means “to resist.” To ensure we understand that it is our primary assignment, the Holy Spirit then issued in an emphatic or in a forceful manner the command that is concerned with resistance of satanic forces in the first three words of Ephesians 6:14 Stand firm then. The expression “stand firm” is translated from the same Greek word (histēmi) used in verse 13 that basically means “to stand” but it is used with several other meanings. We have already noted that the word can mean “to resist” in verse 13. The Greek word can mean “to stand firm” in one’s belief or in a personal commitment, as it is used in reference to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 1:24:
Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm.
The meaning “to stand firm” may refer to holding one’s ground in battle. It is in this sense that the word is used in verse 14 so that it may be translated “to endure” or “to hold one’s ground.” This means that the command is to hold one’s ground in the spiritual battle but holding one’s ground in a battlefield is only possible if the enemy is resisted. Hence there is no significant difference in translating the Greek word using “to stand firm” or “to resist.” Regardless of the word used in rendering our Greek word into the English, one thing is for certain, which is that the command the apostle used has a sense of urgency as it is used in an aorist tense in the Greek that here has that sense of urgency. You see, believers may be slack in their understanding of their involvement in the spiritual warfare or some may not even recognize that they are in true spiritual battle and so the Holy Spirit through the apostle tells us that we urgently need to get involved in holding our ground or resisting satanic forces. The instruction of the Holy Spirit is that believers should make this command a top priority. We are to act immediately with respect to the instruction that involves our primary assignment of resistance and opposition to satanic forces. Some of us may have been sleeping on the battlefield or we may have become weary and discouraged then the command is for such believers to get off their stupor state and actively resist satanic forces that are involved in the spiritual warfare against us. We are saying that if you have not been keenly aware of the spiritual warfare or if you have not taken it seriously, then from this time forward that we have encountered this command stand firm, you should act immediately. Do not delay. Wake up and recognize that you are expected to hold your ground in the spiritual warfare. Satanic forces might have knocked you down through any of their schemes such as discouragement or suffering. This command stand firm says for you to get up, dust yourself through confession of your sins and take up a posture that involves resistance and opposition to satanic forces. You should understand that the command is given in such a way that it is timeless, which means that you should not think that it is something you do once and you relax. No! Resistance to satanic forces is ongoing so that throughout your time on this planet it is something you should do.
The command to be involved in resistance and opposition of satanic forces in the sense of holding one’s ground in the face of satanic forces’ assault is not only issued to convey the sense of urgency but there is a sense of emphasis in it. We say this because of the word then in the command of verse 14 Stand firm then. The word “then” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (oun) that may be used to introduce a result or an inference from what precedes and so means “then, therefore, so.” It is possible that the word is used in this sense to indicate that the command in verse 14 results from the mention of resistance of satanic forces in previous verse, in which case, the command is to be seen as one with an intensive force; but it seems that its use here is to introduce emphasis so that the Greek word may be translated “certainly” implying that the command to stand firm or to hold one’s ground is being emphasized. The point being that it is important that every believer should take seriously the command to stand firm or to hold one’s ground in the spiritual warfare.
How does a believer go about taking firm stand or holding ones’ ground in the spiritual warfare? The answer is by taking a series of actions the Holy Spirit through the apostle specified in the passage we are considering. But before we consider these actions, you should recognize that the actions are given in such a way that they are those that should be taken before the believer is capable of holding his/her ground in the spiritual warfare. That is not all, these actions are also those that should be part of the believer so that they are considered as those that take place at the same time that standing one’s ground in the spiritual warfare takes place. What we have said seemed to involve complex situations of actions that have taken place but are also taking place at the time of resisting satanic forces. Yes, this is because a warfare in and of itself is a complex occurrence that invokes the past training of the soldier that is used at the time of resisting the enemy. Take for example, a soldier would have learned how to use his weapon before combat but in combat he puts that training in place so that at that time it seems that he was still doing what happened during training or in course of getting ready for war. That aside, the reason we indicated the series of actions that answer the question of how the believer goes about standing firm in the spiritual warfare involves actions taken before engagement in it and the same actions are to be taken at the time of engagement of the spiritual warfare is because the apostle used aorist participle in describing most of the actions that answer our question.
An aorist participle when used in the Greek to describe an action that is associated with a main action in a sentence often describes an action that takes place before that of the main action demanded in the passage. However, when the main action, as it is in our passage, is also in the aorist tense then both the main action of the sentence and the action described in the participle take place simultaneously. In our passage, the main action is the command to stand one’s ground in the spiritual warfare as in the command of the NIV Stand firm then. All the other actions described in verses 14 through 16 are those associated with aorist participles so that they should take place at the same time the believer takes his/her stand in the spiritual warfare. Nevertheless, the context also indicates that the actions stated in these participles are those that should have taken place before a believer holds his/her ground in the spiritual warfare. Let me clarify this point using boxing analogy. A boxer learns beforehand how to defend blows thrown to him in the ring before he enters the boxing ring but when faced with an opponent in the ring he applies these techniques so that it can be said that the techniques learned outside the ring are applied at the same time that the boxing context takes place. In other words, the boxer applies at the time of the context what has been learned previously. He will certainly lose if he waited to get to the ring in order to learn his defensive techniques. This analogy should help you to understand that the actions that we will consider in this passage are ones that should have taken place before the spiritual conflict, so to say, but they are also those that take place in spiritual conflict. Truly, satanic forces do not wait for the believer to get trained before they attack. No! As soon as you become a believer they are ready to pounce on you. Therefore, we can say that even when the believer is involved in the actions that we are to consider that such actions actually involve spiritual warfare so that we cannot separate preparation for the spiritual warfare from the actual battle; they take place simultaneously. Having made this comment, we proceed to consider the actions that are the answers as to how the believer should hold his/her ground in the spiritual warfare.
A first action that is necessary for a believer to hold his/her ground in the spiritual warfare is equipping oneself with the certainty that Christianity contains the ultimate truth of God. In other words, a believer must have the assurance of the Christian faith, as expressed in its doctrines, is indeed true without any equivocation. We can understand this point from the fact that soldiers do not usually hold their grounds or die in battle if they are not convinced of the truthfulness or rightness of their cause. It is not difficult to understand this point with those Muslims that blow up themselves because they are convinced of the rightness of their cause although they are wrong but they go the route they do because they are firmly convinced that their belief is the absolute truth. Many of us Christians are not devoted the Lord because we do not have the conviction that Christian faith is true. Nonetheless, the Christian faith is indeed true and so any believer who is going to stand his or her ground in the spiritual warfare must come armed with that conviction. We can also understand this because believers of the early church equipped themselves with this fact. They were convinced in the absolute truthfulness of the Christian faith that they were willing to die instead of deny the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter was scared when Jesus was arrested that he denied his Lord but once he witnessed the resurrection of Jesus Christ, he was willing to die instead of deny his Lord. It is because of this conviction that when he and other apostles were instructed by the Jewish authorities of his time not to preach Jesus Christ, he ignored such instruction and continued to preach in keeping with his explanation given in Acts 4:18–19:
18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.
Peter’s response at this point implies that he and John withstood their ground in the spiritual warfare that was manifested through the Jewish authorities that wanted them to stop preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Satanic forces want to stop the preaching of the gospel because of what the gospel does. So while it is not stated that Peter and John were in a spiritual battle, that was exactly the case since Satan was certainly directing those who opposed the gospel of Jesus Christ. This being the case, we are sure that their interaction with the apostles involved spiritual warfare.
In any case, it is our assertion that the first action that is necessary for a believer to hold his ground in the spiritual warfare is equipping oneself with the certainty that Christianity contains the ultimate truth of God. This action is derived from the next verbal phrase of Ephesians 6:14 with the belt of truth buckled around your waist. It is not readily apparent that this phrase states the assertion we indicated so we will spend time to demonstrate that it does. To begin with, let me give you the literal translation from the Greek that reads having girded your waist with truth that will be the focus of our interpretation of the verbal phrase given in the NIV. It is from the literal translation that we derive the point that the verbal phrase is the first action that answers the question of how to hold one’s ground in the spiritual warfare. This is because the word “buckled” of the NIV is really translated from a Greek participle that we rendered having girded. A Greek participle is subject to various interpretations. In our passage, the Greek participle is used primarily to convey means of doing something so that it answers the question of how a person goes about to stand firm in the spiritual warfare. Of course, there is also the sense of time involved, indicating that the action described takes place at the same time one holds his ground in the spiritual warfare. Anyhow, to reflect that the Greek participle conveys means or answers the question how to stand firm, the literal translation may be rendered by having girded. In fact, to see clearly that it answers the question of how to carry out the command stand firm, let me translate the first part of verse 14 using the suggested translation of the participle as stand, by having girded your waist with truth. This translation makes it easier to see that holding one’s ground in the spiritual warfare involves girding of oneself.
Be that as it may, we stated that the action conveyed in the literal verbal phrase by having girded your waist with truth is equipping oneself with the certainty that Christianity contains the ultimate truth of God. Our concern is to show that the literal verbal phrase by having girded your waist with truth actually says what we asserted. We begin by noting that the word “buckled” of the NIV is translated from a Greek verb (perizōnnymi) that in its use in the Septuagint has the meaning of “to arm” for battle in Judges 18:11:
Then six hundred men from the clan of the Danites, armed for battle, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol.
In the NT, the Greek word may mean to put a belt or a sash around someone, that is, “to gird about” as it is used of the Lord Jesus in Revelation 1:13:
and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.
The phrase with a golden sash around his chest of the NIV is more literally girded around his chest with a golden belt. The Greek word may mean to gird oneself in connection with service, as it is used in Luke 12:37:
It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.
In our passage of Ephesians 6:14, it has the sense of “to gird oneself with something” or “to bind something about oneself.”
The something that is girded is the waist that is translated from a Greek word (osphys) that means “waist” as the place where a belt or girdle is worn, as the word is used in 1 Peter 1:13:
Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.
The verbal phrase prepare your minds for action of the NIV is more literally having girded up the loins of your mind. The Greek word may also mean “loins” as the place of reproductive organs, as it is used in Hebrews 7:10:
because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.
The phrase in the body of his ancestor of the NIV is more literally in the loins of his father. In our passage in Ephesians 6:14, the Greek word is used in the sense of “waist.” When the words that mean “to gird” and “waist” are used together, as in the literal phrase of Ephesians 6:14 by having girded your waist, we have an idiom that denotes preparation for an activity such as for a journey or for a labor. The Orientals wore long flowing garments but when they are ready to carry out a strenuous activity, they would tuck in their garments using a belt or similar device. Prior to Israel’s journey out of Egypt, we read of the instruction that has to do with tucking in their clothes in Exodus 12:11:
This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.
Of course, sometimes, they would remove their outer garment so as not to interfere with a proposed activity. Jesus did this before washing the feet of His disciples in John 13:4–5:
4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
Peter, in the post resurrection appearance of Jesus to him, wrapped his outer garment that he had taken off before jumping into water in John 21:7:
Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water.
These examples help us to understand that girding oneself is something that is done in preparation for another activity. So, while the apostle might, according to the authorities, have been thinking of the leather apron of the Roman soldier that hung under the armor and protected the thighs, rather than the sword belt or the protective girdle worn over the armor when he penned down the literal phrase by having girded your waist, he meant to convey the sense of being ready or prepared for the spiritual warfare.
The readiness for the spiritual warfare involves wrapping oneself with truth as in the literal verbal phrase by having girded your waist with truth or with belt of truth buckled around your waist of Ephesians 6:14 we are considering. When the apostle wrote down this phrase, he was probably thinking of the prophecy concerning the Messiah given in Isaiah 11:5:
Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
The Septuagint of this verse, which would have been the version of Isaiah the apostle used reads And he will be girded at the waist with righteousness and enclosed with truth at his sides where the same Greek words that mean “to gird” and “truth” are used. Thus, the apostle intended to convey that the armor the Messiah wears in battle is now available to His followers to use in their spiritual warfare. That aside, we need to understand what is meant by “truth” in Ephesians 6:14.
The word “truth” is translated from a Greek word (alētheia) with a range of meanings. It may mean the quality of being in accord with what is true hence means “truthfulness, dependability, uprightness in thought and deed”, as it is used for God in Romans 3:7:
Someone might argue, “If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?”
It is in this sense of being in accord with what is truth that Apostle Paul used it in his appeal to the Corinthians not to let his boasting about them turn out to be empty so that he would be put to shame in 2 Corinthians 7:14:
I had boasted to him about you, and you have not embarrassed me. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting about you to Titus has proved to be true as well.
The verbal phrase has proved to be true is more literally has become truth. The Greek word may mean “reality” as opposed to mere appearance, as it is used in Colossians 1:6:
that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth.
Truth here has the sense of “reality” as opposed to mere appearance. It is for this reason that the translators of the TEV rendered the phrase in all its truth of the NIV as, as it really is. The Greek word may mean the content of what is truth and so means “truth.” It is in this sense that the apostle used it to encourage the Ephesians not to be involved with falsehood as they interacted with each other in Ephesians 4:25:
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.
The command speak truthfully is literally speak truth. The word is used then especially of the content of Christianity as the ultimate truth. It is in this sense the apostle used it in connection with the gospel in Colossians 1:5:
the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel.
The phrase the word of truth, the gospel is literally the word of truth of the gospel. The rendering of the NIV is quite good because of the Greek syntax of this phrase. In fact, to fully communicate the idea of the Greek construction we could translate the word of truth, that is, the gospel; in this way, it is clearer that the word of truth is a reference to the gospel message. The apostle used the Greek word to refer to the Christian message that includes doctrine and the gospel message in Galatians 5:7:
You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?
Truth here in Galatians 5:7 refers to the Christian message the apostle delivered to the Galatians that includes the gospel message, the doctrine of justification by faith, and the doctrine that the filling of the Spirit is by faith. The apostle used the Greek word rendered “truth” as a reference to the body of accepted Christian doctrines that the church is the custodian in 1 Timothy 3:15:
if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
Anyway, we have noted the range of meanings of the Greek word translated “truth” in Ephesians 6:14 and so the problem is to determine in what sense it is used in our passage. It is primarily the sense of the “truth” content of Christian faith, that is, its doctrines as the ultimate reality from God although the meaning of faithfulness or loyalty to God is certainly implied since the objective truth contained in the Scripture should, when applied, lead to the transformation of the believer in such a way that such an individual is faithful to God and lives a lifestyle that is consistent with the character of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, the verbal phrase having girded your waist with truth is concerned with wrapping oneself with the doctrines of the Christian faith and the lifestyle that results from application of the Christian doctrines. Therefore, with this explanation we have shown that our assertion that the action conveyed in the literal verbal phrase by having girded your waist with truth is equipping oneself with the certainty that Christianity contains the ultimate truth of God is indeed the case. Equipping oneself with the certainty of the truthfulness of the Christian faith would result in a lifestyle that is necessary to function in the spiritual warfare.
How does a person go about to equip himself or herself with the certainty that Christianity contains the ultimate truth of God? It is by hearing the teaching of the word of God and believing what is heard. What we have given is a summary answer that needs to be explored further. To do this, we should state that there are fundamental truths that an individual should have to be ready for the spiritual warfare. A first fundamental truth that a person should have so that it can be said that the individual is equipped with certainty that Christianity contains the ultimate truth of God is belief that God exists. This is because it is impossible to go into spiritual warfare without knowing that God exists. For if God does not exist then there can be no spiritual warfare that involves struggle between doing what is right and wrong. Warfare implies conflict between two opposing forces. The opposing forces are generally not of the same military power otherwise victory cannot be achieved. I mean if two opposing armies are exactly marched in their military capacity then none will be victorious over the other. Victory comes because one army is stronger than the other. Thus, if there is a spiritual warfare there must be two opposing forces in which God is stronger than His opposing forces. So, a person who is going to be victorious or who can stand his/her ground in the spiritual warfare must begin with the certainty of the existence of God, that is, without any equivocation about His existence. This is the beginning point of being able to stand one’s ground against satanic forces. Belief in God is important that the Holy Spirit through the human author of Hebrews indicates that without such fundamental belief no one can please God, as state in Hebrews 11:6:
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Belief in the existence of God is really too general because anyone can claim to believe in God. Therefore, when we assert that a first fundamental truth necessary to be equipped for the spiritual warfare is belief in the existence of God, we mean that a person must believe that Jesus Christ is who He claims. He claimed to be God although He did not really use the word God directly but He used the word “truth” to state His claim in John 14:6:
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
The word “truth” in the Gospel of John refers primarily to God Himself, though it may be extended to include the revelation of God or a description of persons who respond to that revelation. Jesus’ claim as being the truth is really a claim of being God. Thus, He is saying that He is not only the One who reveals God but He is God who gives eternal life to people who come to Him, that is, those who believe in Him. Anyone who believes in Him certainly has eternal life as stated, for example, in John 20:31:
But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
A person who believes in Jesus Christ as the Son of God is one who believes that He is God. That Jesus is the Son of God is another way to describe Him as God as the Jews understood when He addressed God as His Father so that they charged Him of blasphemy, as we read in John 5:18:
For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
This passage implies that to describe Jesus Christ as the Son of God is tantamount to declaring Him to be God as also we find in John 10:33:
“We are not stoning you for any of these,” replied the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”
Of course, John although He did not directly state in his gospel that Jesus is God but that is implied in what he wrote in John 1:18:
No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.
Anyway, Jesus Christ as God gives eternal life so that when it is stated in John 20:31 by believing you may have life in his name there is the implication that it is through His person that one receives eternal life, for after all, that is one of His functions as Jesus stated in His priestly prayer in John 17:2:
For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.
The point is that a fundamental truth anyone that is going to hold his or her ground in the spiritual battle must have is the certainty that Jesus Christ is God and so must be trusted.
A second fundamental truth that a person should have so that it can be said that the individual is equipped with certainty that Christianity contains the ultimate truth of God is belief that is related to the first which is the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Resurrection of Jesus Christ is at the heart of the gospel preaching of the early church. If you read Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost recorded in the second chapter of Acts you will discover that his central theme was on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Subsequent preaching of the gospel by the apostles focused on the resurrection of Jesus Christ thus when the Apostle Paul summarized the gospel he preached he included the fact of resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:3–4:
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
Why is belief in resurrection necessary to equip a believer about the certainty that Christianity contains the ultimate truth of God, you may ask? There are several reasons belief in resurrection is important in the spiritual warfare. Resurrection of Jesus Christ confirms that He is the Son of God as the Holy Spirit conveys through the pen of the Apostle Paul in Romans 1:4:
and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
Another reason belief in resurrection is important is that it assures a believer that he is in the right standing with God or that he is justified since it is resurrection of Jesus Christ that makes this certain, according to Romans 4:25:
He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
A person who wants to hold his ground on the spiritual warfare on the side of God should be convinced that he is in the right relationship with Him. Thus, when a person believes in resurrection of Jesus Christ that individual has the assurance that Christianity contains God’s ultimate truth. Another reason belief in resurrection is important is that it gives the believer the assurance of how powerful God is. For after all, the Scripture tells us that resurrection is a demonstration of God’s power, as stated in the apostolic prayer of Ephesians 1:18–20:
18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,
A believer who is convinced that God is powerful is one that will stand his ground in the midst of the spiritual warfare by counting on the support of the One with supreme power. In effect, if you know that you can count on God’s power then you will be emboldened to resist satanic forces knowing that God is the One who provides you the strength you need. Still another reason belief in resurrection is important is that it creates hope for future existence. Such belief enables the believer to recognize that physical death is not the end but indeed a beginning of a better future for such a person. The fact that Jesus resurrected guarantees that all believers will resurrect, as indicated in 1 Corinthians 15:20–23:
20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.
A believer must continue to exercise hope of this future resurrection. For if a believer loses this hope then that individual will become a casualty of the spiritual warfare similar to what the Apostle Paul spoke with respect to those whose faith suffered shipwreck because of the deception of those who teach that resurrection is no longer available for believers, as the apostle indicated in 2 Timothy 2:18:
who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some.
Based on the reasons we have given; it should be clear that a fundamental truth that a believer should equipped himself/herself to be able to withstand satanic forces is the belief in resurrection so that a believer will not have the fear of death.
A third fundamental truth that a person should have so that it can be said that the individual is equipped with certainty that Christianity contains the ultimate truth of God is the assurance that God’s word or our Scripture is true as Jesus Christ stated in His priestly prayer in John 17:17:
Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
A believer who accepts that God’s word is the truth will then endeavor to have that word in his/her soul. This means that the believer should have the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith well secured in his/her soul so that it can then be said that the person is equipped or ready for the spiritual warfare. Actually, the equipping oneself with truth of the Christian faith in preparation for the spiritual warfare is essentially the same instruction of the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Peter to believers in a passage we cited previously, that is, in 1 Peter 1:13:
Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.
There is no doubt that understanding of the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith and belief in them are what the believer has to have in order to be ready to stand his/her ground in the spiritual warfare but there is one thing that may not easily be recognized as essential in holding one’s ground in the spiritual warfare which is experience with the word. You see, as we have indicated, there must be the conviction of the reality of Christianity as containing God’s ultimate truth. This we know by learning doctrines of the Christian faith but we enhance our assurance with experience with the word of God. In other words, if you have proven God’s word to be true in your daily experience then you have an added layer of assurance that you should utilize in the spiritual warfare. It is because experience with the word of God is important that the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Peter states that some believers have experienced the truthfulness of God’s word in 1 Peter 2:3:
now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
To taste the Lord, is to experience His goodness in
the believer’s life as that individual applies God’s word. Thus, a believer who
has actually experienced the truthfulness of God’s word is one that is equipped
to be involved in the spiritual warfare. In any event, the first action
believers should take in preparation for the spiritual warfare is to learn the
fundamental truths of God’s word and apply them so that they would be able to
hold their grounds during the spiritual warfare.