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Finally, Stand v. 10-13
Remember that throughout Ephesians Paul has described to us a single man which is both the corporate body of the church and the single, incarnate body of Jesus Christ. Because we are saved by being in Christ, our salvation is a matter of being a part of this one body. Now Paul gives us one final image of this body, the arming of the body to stand. We see again and again throughout Scripture the lesson that the battle we are fighting is not the battle it looks like we are fighting (2 Kings 6:17, Acts 7:55-56). And this means that our weapons for this battle are not weapons that the world recognizes (1 Cor. 10:3-6, 1 Sam. 17:43). When we have the eyes of faith, we are strengthened to stand.
Put On v. 14-17
In ancient Greek literature, when a hero was about to go on a divinely aided rampage, the scene began with a cataloging of his armor. This was known as an Aristeia. That is what Paul is doing here, but he recalibrates our minds to understand what is the armor and what are the weapons that will actually see us through this fight. The Christian is armed with truth, righteousness, the Gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and the word of God.
Praying Always v. 18-20
And once you are armed, the battlefield that you enter is the battlefield of prayer. Corny and ill-informed application of this truth over the past generation has pushed many Christians away from pursuing their prayer-life as an important battle. But to stand as a Christian is to give yourself to prayer. Prayer is how all the members of the body participate in each other’s gifts.
Peace to the Brethren v. 21-24
When we give ourselves to prayer for one another (v. 18), we will find that verses 21-22 become more and more meaningful. We are comforted by hearing from one another because we become invested in one another. The result of this will be peace to the brethren and a faithful love from God, the fulfillment of the first and second commandments.