spiritual warfare in Ephesians 6

Two exhortations stand side by side. The first is general: *Be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might* (verse 10). The second is more specific: *Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil* (verse 11). Both commands are conspicuous examples of the balanced teaching of Scripture. Some Christians are so self-confident that they think they can manage by themselves without the Lord’s strength and armour. Others are so self-distrustful that they imagine they have nothing to contribute to their victory in spiritual warfare. Both are mistaken. Paul expresses the proper combination of divine enabling and human co-operation. The power is indeed the Lord’s, and without *the strength of his might* we shall falter and fall, but still we need to *be strong* in him and in it, or more accurately to ‘be strengthened’. For the verb is a passive present which could almost be rendered “Strengthen yourselves in the Lord’ or (NEB) ‘Find your strength in the Lord’. It is the same construction as in 2 Timothy 2:1 where Paul exhorts Timothy to ‘take strength from the grace of God which is ours in Christ Jesus’ (NEB). Similarly, the armour is God’s and without it we shall be fatally unprotected and exposed, but still we need to take it up and put it on. --John Stott