When we look at the spiritual war against Satan as discussed in Ephesians 4 and 6, there are two passages in particular that stand out as being well worth discussion.  We find the first in Ephesians 4:25-32, which tells us:  “Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another.  “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.  Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.  Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.  And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”

We find the second passage, regarding the armor of God, in Ephesians 6:10-20:  “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.  Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”

Why does Paul mention the devil in these two passages?  What insight do we gain from the devil by looking at how to avoid giving place to him and how to engage in spiritual warfare against him and his kingdom?  First, let us examine how it is that one avoids giving place to the devil in Ephesians 4.  First, Paul urges honesty instead of deception, generosity instead of theft, edifying rather than corrupt communication, and graciousness and peacefulness rather than wrath and bitterness.  In pointing out the qualities to avoid, Paul implies the sorts of behaviors that give place to Satan in the first place.  To avoid giving place to Satan and being subject to corruption and domination by him, one must avoid those qualities that allowed Satan to become the adversary of God and man and cultivate those qualities of gracious and edifying speech and of generous honesty that made Jesus Christ who He was.  As is so often the case, Paul presents the reader of his letter with the choice of becoming more like Jesus or more like Satan, with the consequences plain and obvious.

This competitive and hostile aspect of the comparison between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of the devil is made plain in Ephesians 6.  While the image of the armor of God and its analogues in the Roman armor of the time is obvious enough and frequently commented upon, the implications that our enemies are spiritual and not physical is not well understood or applied.  Paul’s intense and frequent focus on demonology in his letters that we have seen points to his understanding that our ultimate enemies are not on the physical plane but on the spiritual plane, and that our attention needs to be moved from the people with whom we may debate and quarrel to the larger spiritual and intellectual battleground that motivates these conflicts in the first place.  Regardless of the controversies that may exist between us and other people when it comes to petty political matters, the real fight is with the spirits and powers of darkness that motivate such struggles over power and who encourage intellectual and moral follies that lead to disagreements and arguments.  It is worthwhile to note that the armor of God includes such unexpected qualities of combat such as truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, and prayer.  Clearly, this is not the sort of combat that most of us envision when it comes to doing battle with others.

Despite the fact that Paul is being particularly obvious and consistent with his call for humility and peace and graciousness when it comes to our interaction with others and despite the fact that he points to deeper spiritual realities as underlying the disagreements we have with other people, these passages are not easy for us to apply in our lives.  We are physical beings with limited insight and observation and it is very easy for us to attack other people with whom we have a disagreement without seeing the larger issues at stake.  It is hard for us to be humble because we lack understanding of our spiritual state or the spiritual state of others, or anything internal to other people as far as their thinking process or feelings or beliefs are concerned.  No amount of repeating the need for humility and honesty and fair dealing and recognizing the real enemy is going to make it easy to do so.  Nor does Paul’s sincerity and his own ability to see the hand of Satan in trying to corrupt the truth of the Gospel, which was done most notably to his own writings, and in seeking to attack believers make it easy for us to turn our eyes to spiritual rather than physical matters.  The hard work is to believe, understand, and apply these truths, not to speak or write them.