Ephesians is a training course in successful living for followers of Christ.

If ever there was a person who understood practical Christian living, it was Paul. He plunged into the dangers and opposition of the Gentile world and served Christ with his whole mind, soul and body. He witnessed people’s choices, good and bad, and some of those choices affected him personally. With time and experience became an authority on how to live a life that pleased God.

How to Deal with Evil Days

When Paul wrote about “evil days” he probably had in mind the Greco-Roman world in which the Gentiles lived. The Greeks and Romans had numerous gods whose devotees practiced sexual immorality and drunkenness as part of their worship.

Poorly paid soldiers and government employees extorted money from citizens they were supposed to serve and protect. Whole classes of people lived in extreme poverty. Slaves, women and children were considered chattel and infanticide was common. Criminals were tortured and publicly executed for crimes as petty as theft or rebellion against the local authorities. At times the Roman government banished entire ethnicities of people and forced them to move to other locations where they lived as displaced people.

Temptations to sin were rampant in these social problems. Christ followers needed to discern what displeased God and then develop their defenses against it.

The Bride of Christ

Paul drew upon a metaphor from the Old Testament when he described both Christ and the church and the roles of a husband and wife in marriage.

In Jeremiah 2 God told the people of Israel that his relationship with them was like a marriage. He chose them, made a covenant of love with them and provided a home for them. He fought their enemies and sang over them with joy. He was brokenhearted when they betrayed him by giving their devotion to false gods.

In Ephesians 5:21-33 Paul says that the church belongs to Jesus as a bride belongs to her groom. Jesus came to seek and to save those who were lost. When he found them he taught them, healed them, cast demons out of them and gave up his life for them. In the end he said, ^“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:15

The relationship between Christ and the church was one of mutual love and friendship, so Paul used it to explain what human marriage should be like. He had a word of instruction for wives, and a list of instructions for husbands.

The Role of a Wife

Paul’s guidance for a wife is simple: “Submit to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.” Ephesians 5:22

There is a big difference between submitting to the will of the perfectly righteous God and submitting to the will of a fallible man. A woman has to exercise good judgment and maintain her integrity as she lives in submission to her husband. Neither of them should assume that being a husband automatically makes him as wise and able to lead as God. But when a man is wise and loving toward his wife, she can be secure and happy in her submission to his leadership.

There is no better training ground for a man to become like Christ than in his marriage, and the wisest thing a wife can do is encourage her husband’s spiritual growth. Paul tells wives to submit to the Lord simultaneously with submitting to their husbands, which tells us wives are responsible to keep growing spiritually. A woman doesn’t lose her personal relationship with the Lord when she marries.

The Role of a Husband

Paul goes into greater detail regarding the role of husbands and he places tremendous responsibility upon them. They are to take their directions from Jesus himself and,

• Love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.
• Promote their wives holiness and cleansing from sin so that they become radiant.
• Care for their wives health and well-being as much as they care for their own.
• Leave their fathers and mothers and create a new family with their wives.

Paul sums it up this way:

“This is a profound mystery – but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.” Ephesians 5:32-33

If love and respect prevail, and both people in the marriage continue to grow spiritually, a marriage can be like heaven on earth.

The War We’re In

The Apostles who built the early church knew all about spiritual warfare. Peter said Satan was like a roaring lion on the prowl, trying to kill and devour the Lord’s people. Paul told people to suit up everyday in spiritual armor to protect against the flaming arrows of the enemy.

The attacks the believers faced appeared to come from people around them, but Paul saw what was really going on.

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12

Our struggles here on earth are a manifestation of the war between God and the devil. Satan wants to take creation away from the Creator, so he kills, steals and destroys people’s lives. Meanwhile, God supplies armor and assistance to his loved ones and equips them for battle.

Why doesn’t God just take us out of this war and safely home to heaven? If he did that, people who still need to hear the gospel would never know the way of salvation. The Lord keeps us here so we can introduce them to Jesus. We are his witnesses.

How to Put on the Armor of God

“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” Ephesians 6:13

Putting on the armor of God is a quiet-time activity. Soldiers who live in a war zone use whatever down time they have to take care of their battle gear so they are ready for anything. Paul already told us we live in a spiritual war zone so we need to use our daily quiet times to prepare for battle.

The Parts of Our Armor

Suiting up starts with the belt of Truth and truth is found in the Word of God. Read Scripture, study it, and memorize it – because God’s truth is the belt by which every other part of the armor holds together. The Word is the most basic equipment for spiritual warfare.

The breastplate of Righteousness goes over our hearts and protects them from being captured by sin. Learn what the Bible says about righteousness and embrace it with all your heart. The decision to live righteously will defend you against the temptations the devil throws at you.

Let the work of the Gospel direct your feet. People carrying the gospel may be led into the thick of the battle, but they also get to be part of the Lord’s great victories when souls are rescued from the devil.

Lift up the shield of Faith to absorb the shock of Satan’s onslaught. By faith we anticipate what the devil might do, and our faith-filled prayers enable us to fight back against his worst. John Piper says that prayer is the walkie-talkie between earth’s battlefront and heaven where our help lies.

The Lord gives us the helmet of Salvation, and once it is on, it protects us forever with no extra work on our part to polish or prep it. We simply wear it with gratitude and praise to God for his provision.

The sword in our hand is the Word of God. Jesus used it to defeat the devil in the wilderness at the beginning of his ministry and when he comes again, he will use the Word to fight his enemies for the final time.

“Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.” Revelation 19:15

Keep your Bible close and use it everyday to keep it sharp.

Keep Praying

Finally, never stop praying.

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” Ephesians 6:18

Every occasion, every struggle, every victory is a reason to pray. The Lord is as near as the helmet of salvation on our heads. He is in the breastplate of righteousness that covers our hearts, and his thoughts fill the Word that we wear as a belt and wield as a sword. Why not talk to him all day long? He is the General we serve in our intense spiritual battles.

Paul relied on prayer for victory in his life:

“Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words my be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly as I should.” Ephesians 6:19-20

We can never pray too much as we fight our unseen enemy in the spiritual realm.

Tomorrow we will read Paul’s letter to the Colossians and learn more about how to live a Christ-like life here on earth.