Page 182 - Ephesians

read a verse like 6:12. Now God tells me I’m up against
“Principalities and powers. Spiritual wickedness in heavenly
places”. I couldn’t even hold my tongue! And now I had to fight
all the powers of hell.

What a great way to end the book of Ephesians! It begins
building me up. Telling me how rich I am in Christ. Then it
commands me to beat back the forces of hell, while destroying all
the powers of wickedness. I’m ordered to take control my old
nature, and make sure that I fulfilled my responsibility to have
victory all the time. You might as well have told me to swim the
ocean, or just flap my arms and fly. What’s he talking about?

You see, people take the illustration and think, they know what it
is picturing. But you’ve got to know what it’s really picturing. It’s
not picturing the awful burden I just described. That is NOT God’s
intention and it never was God’s intention! The responsibility of
every Christian is to have victory. But victory is not an “it”.
Victory is not as event. Victory is a Him! Victory is a Person.
“The King of Kings and Lord of Lords”. Not my inspiration, or
example. But the One who substituted His life for mine. If I have
Him, I have complete victory!

Studying EPHESIANS to Know God

Chapter 32 What/Who is the Armor? 6:13

Most Christians think of victory as being a “thing”. When asked if
they have victory they might say, “Well, sometimes.” We don’t
have victory sometimes! We have victory, all the time! We all,
have victory right now. Because victory is not a thing, nor is it the
result of anything we do. The illustration of the Roman armor, is
not a picture of the Christian’s life. It is not a picture of the awful
struggle between two natures. It is not a picture of the awful war
going on between heaven and hell. That’s not His intention, and
it’s not what it’s all about.