“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” Ephesians 6:10.
For several weeks, these words kept ringing in my heart, so one day I decided to see what enlightenment the Lord had in store. It seems clear on reading from verse one to the end of the chapter that these are walking truths or instructions for our daily lives – a paragon by which our attitudes can be shaped or measured.
First, children are exhorted to obey parents, then wives to submit to husbands, then parents not to provoke their children, but treat them with love. James 1:20 says “For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of GOD,” therefore; whatsoever is done in anger cannot produce fruit of righteousness. Masters, treat your slaves kindly; for us it would be employers treat your employees kindly. Slaves, be subject to your masters, or employees be subject to your employer, as unto Christ.
The marital status in our society has deteriorated tremendously from “love and cherish, honor and obey” to hate and ill-treat, disrespect and disregard. Children are rebellious, instead of being obedient to parents who gave them life; parents abuse instead of loving and nurturing their children. Masters or employers cheat and exploit servants and employees, while employees do not give full measure or faithful service – we could go on and on.
These manifestations, however, are signs of the times: the Word enjoins us to “…redeem the time for the days are evil.” See Ephesians 5:16.
People of God! It is time for the world to see that having Jesus Christ in our hearts makes a difference in every area of our lives. The Holy Spirit is willing and ready to guide every facet of our lives if we are willing to let go of our soulishness – using our own mind, emotions, will and desires instead of seeking the will of the Lord. We should desire to be guided by the Holy Spirit in all matters pertaining to our home, work and all other involvements. THIS IS THE WILL OF GOD and we are always under His watchful eye.
Verse 10, “Finally, my brethren, be STRONG…” When believers walk carelessly, they are robbed of the strength and authority that is within the Holy Spirit. “I give unto you power over all the power of the enemy.” This is conditional to obedience to the Spirit of Christ. If a battery has a leak, then it loses power. When Christians do things contrary to righteousness, they are submitting to another spirit which drains their power and divests them of their authority through the Holy Ghost, with little or no overcoming.
It is not enough to say “JESUS IS LORD.” We have to MAKE Him Lord and King over every detail of our daily lives. There are battles being waged in the heavenlies over us, and the people of God must have the victory. We are exercised first in small things. “If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?” Jeremiah 12:5.
Ephesians 6:1-9 seems to point out a few possible weaknesses in our everyday living and how to overcome them, so that we might “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.” It is a ***walk of the Spirit. The verses after 10 tell us how we can be STRONG and overcome, having the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith which quenches the fiery darts of the enemy, the breastplate of righteousness, the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God, our loins girded with truth and our feet shod with the PREPARATION of the Gospel of peace.
The armour described above is not for lying down; it is for STANDING. It is not for sitting idly by; it is for fighting. It covers the head, the forehead, and the back of the neck – the helmet of salvation. The mind is protected by our salvation – He gives us the Spirit of a sound Mind.
The shield of faith is a defensive weapon to turn back the lightning bolts which the enemies sometime throw at us. Righteousness is a breastplate of the Spirit. That which misses the shield, and is not parried by the sword, is turned away by the breastplate. The sword is the only offensive weapon in our armory. The power of the spoken Word is far beyond what we can, at this time, imagine. The Word says that “He spoke” and it was done. The words of our mouth have the power of life and death. Let us keep the Word of God in our hearts and on our lips. Loins girded with truth will help us to stand upright, and feet shod with that special mixture or preparation of the Gospel of peace will help us not only to walk but to run the race with patience.
Be not afraid of the roaring of the lion, for the power of His might is greater than that of the roaring lion. Like Daniel, let us say “…my God whom I serve continually shall deliver me.”
NO WEAPON THAT IS FORMED AGAINST US SHALL PROSPER.
Spirits clothed with immortal body do not and cannot repent, such is the situation with the devil and the fallen angels. They were created by God with the ability to do what they want. So, when they did evil it was their choice to do so deliberately. The devil and the fallen angels did not rebel against God and seek to rule man because they were deceived rather, they just chose to do what they did!
Adam deliberately joined Eve who was deceieved to sin against God 1 Tim2:14. But, Adam and Eve had a chance to repent because they were clothed with mortal body which made them human with spirit. Hence, the human body is not a curse but a blessing from the all wise and Almighty God. He knew man was going to fall but praise God he clothed man with the mortal flesh. The human spirit can only repent while in the mortal body—though it is weak, it serves its purpose in God’s scheme of things!
In Matt 26:41, Jesus said, “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak”. Though the flesh is weak, it can receive help from the spirit through the exercise of faith Proverbs 18:14a “When the flesh is bruised, the spirit sustains it”. This is the reason God has gifted all mankind with faith to call on Him for redeemption through His Son Jesus Christ.
Man needs to be humble, wise and repose their God given faith in Jesus Christ!
It is when the spirit becomes unwilling that a major problem is at hand. Then, the body runs riot freely unchecked or unrestrained—this accounts for why man was dominated by the sin-nature and hence practices sinning.
How important it’s for mankind to remember that Eve and Adam’s sin happened because they failed to have faith in God and consequently in His instruction to them. It is only through the spirit in man that man communicates with God by faith and receives grace or power to bring the flesh to submission to God.
Proverbs 18:14 asked a rhetorical question, “a bruised spirit who can bear?” In other words, when the spirit fails to exercise faith in God, it’s crushed and wounded. And, when it suffers, the flesh cannot help it because faith can only be exercised to communicate with God by the spirit while in the body John 6:63, 1 Cor 7:19, Phil 3:3. This is the reason God has appointed to man a time on the earth to repent (receive a willing and submissive spirit) before death because once the spirit leaves the body, it cannot repent while unclothed 2 Peter 3:9, Heb 9:27.
While I am not a strong believer of the testimonies of those who say they died, had a conversation with Jesus, God or God’s angels and came back to life, I do not dismiss it either. Almost all of such testimonies I have heard gave a context which I consider dearly because of the scriptural tilt which is this; they had to come back to their body to repent and accept Jesus as Saviour and Lord.
After the resurrection of the dead, man will for the first time since God created man fellowship with God clothed with immortal body though still human 1 Cor 15:53. This glorious blessing is entered only through the gospel 2 Tim 1:10. This is mind boggling! All who truly have this hope, cannot be dissauded from pursuing well-doing, ceaseless gratitude, praise, worship and thanksgiving to Jesus Christ the only source to immortality Rom 2:7, Acts 4:12.
It is impossible to consider any soul that fails to take advantage of the privilege the gospel presents to mankind as wise, no matter the level of academic and material achievement or power that soul possesses.
If you have not taken advantage of Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection, which is meant for your salvation, I plead with you to seriously consider doing so today, even now! Consider these scriptures as you take steps to believe and confess Jesus for the salvation of your soul Isaiah 1:18, Luke 5:32, John 3:16, Rom 10:9-11.
In view of the great redemption we have in Christ and the priviledge of immortality, the scripture both exhorts and admonishes us thus; “Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ and … all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure” (1 Cor 1:7, 1 John 3:3 NLT).
The greatest authentication that a believer is still holding to the grace of God with the hope of Christ’s return is the believer’s pursuance of purity. This authentication is for the believer himself or herself because the pursuance of purity associated with looking on to Christ’s return is very personal and does not entail proving oneself to others. Only God discerns thoughts against every action man takes. I believe it’s on this platform that God advises his children to leave judgement (condemning) to Him.
Definitely, we can judge a wrong or evil deed by identifying it as wrong or evil and we must do so as part of godliness, but never are we called to judge another person’s motive.
In conclusion, John 4:24, is a call for us to keep our bodies subject to our spirit and not to let the body defile our spirits which is to say, present your body as a living sacrifice Rom 7:18, 12:1, 21.
God’s graciousness in Christ Jesus is to be accepted and received now while the dispensation of salvation is wide open to the gentiles and especially while we are still in our mortal bodies breathing air.
As saying goes, “Make haste while the sun shines” or, as an African adage puts it, “catch the black goat while there is day light, else, when the night falls, the dark colour of the goat makes it difficult to see clearly to catch it”.
May the love, peace and grace of God abound to you in every way.
Jesus was fully man while He was physically on the earth and the implications are worth considering closely. Being human he was clothed with mortal flesh and subject to weaknesses.
IMPLICATIONS
Limited in Knowledge
One of the major weakness humans have is the lack of infinite knowledge. This is a design of God and as such, it is a good thing because everything God has designed has a purpose in His plan for His glory and for the benefit of his creatures. It means that Jesus being fully man did not know everything except as it was revealed to Him by His Father, God. This amplifies Matthew 24:36.
Before His death, though the fullness of the GodHead dwelled in Jesus, His mortality was fully functional– a glorious mystery! So, it’s no surprise He did not know when the risen Christ Jesus would return for His bride in His full glory as God without His humanity. I pray this understanding may help us stop trying to be smarter than Jesus who is the only human that has operated in the full capacity of God as man. Nevertheless, Jesus gave God the glory due Him by accepting to leave the things God had chosen to keep for Himself. He trusted God completely as a faithful God who does all things for His (Jesus’) benefit though limited by His humanity.
Needed Faith
Faith is a wonderful gift from God to all humans because He knows the weakness our humanity places on us. This faith helps man to look up to the invisible to see and rely on the Creator- God. Hence, before Jesus’ death and resurrection, He had to look up to God consistently for all His needs and for victory over all difficulties, temptations and trials.
Subject to Temptation
All of humanity are subject to temptations from Satan, his cohorts and from self-will (power of the mind). Jesus was subject to temptation because He had the weakness of not knowing everything. This was the major reason His life was full of prayers and the word of God. He lived by “it is written” which is the same charge God gave to Adam and Eve and remains a standing order to us today till the end of time Matthew 4:4, 10.
Possibility of Falling
The fact that Jesus was consistently tempted and had needs made it an open possibility for Him to fall and fail if He looked away from God. He had emotions and desires which meant He loved people especially those close and in agreement with Him, like Peter and John. This was a very great temptation because He wanted to respect those people and live in good understanding with them but the fact that they could not always understand His good intentions and speech was a problem. For example, He at one time said to Peter “Get behind me, Satan” (Matthew 16:23). While today we know He was not referring to Peter, at that point in time, it would have been a shock to Peter and perhaps to those around him. Such words could have been a source of huge misunderstanding and quarrel.
Window of Repentance
God has given room to all humans to repent of their sin (Adamic nature that rejects God’s way- Jesus). And He calls His children to repent if they fall into sin — that window was also there for Jesus but praise God, He showed us that John was not bluffing when He wrote, “… That you may not sin” (1 John 2:1, Hebrews 4:15)
Option not to Repent
Everyone with the window of opportunity to repent also has the liberty not to repent if they so choose. Praise God Jesus did not need to repent– He set for us an example of perfection which, Paul the Apostle tells us, “No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead” (Philippians 3:13, 2 NIV 2 Corinthians 3:18).
By faith, humanity can touch God, live beyond humanity and participate in God’s divine nature through God’s promises in Christ Jesus the One to whom all things are subject Hebrews 11:6, 2 Peter 1:4, Eph 1:21.
The world has not ended today and will not end today not because God wants to mock mere humans who refuse to humble themselves before His holy word that has been tested in the furnace (mysterious fire) and proved purer than fine gold but because He is desiring to give room for you and I to repent from our wicked ways and kiss His Son.
Kiss the Son of God O people and live! Psalm 2:12.
In another article, we will consider Jesus: Fully God.
Since God created the heavens and the earth, He has never commended anyone for anything done except, the faith exercised by the person.
Cornelius has the best credential for “work” well done than any other person in the Bible; his faith was on God but, it was misplaced. Faith must be only in Christ who is the only gateway to God.
Without faith no man has ever pleased God and no man will ever please Him.
The sprinkled Blood of Jesus is accessed only by faith. Faith accesses the only thing (Blood of Chrsit) that can clean the heart of man; no other action can ever, ever do!
There are only two kinds of life on the earth; righteous and unrighteous. God authored the first and Satan the second. There is no middle ground.
When, we can detect who we are more righteous than, it is a discovery that we are unrighteous. Righteousness is a life received and lived by faith.
To receive of the Spirit of Christ (God’s gift of salvation) by grace through faith and refuse to treasure it is treachery and ungratefulness.
Human actions can only be righteous by reason of faith in Christ. Good actions done not by faith in Jesus Christ are filthy rags.
Discovering from God, by faith, why your wife is your wife and your husband is your husband is the beginning of wisdom, peace and joy in marriage.
True Wisdom: At the end of the life of the wise, the totality of his achievements is summed up like this: I gained Christ! How? By faith!
For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? (Mark 8:36). Think!
“Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:16.
Over the years the Lord, from time to time, drops little nuggets into my heart, which are always of great blessing as I press on in Him. Many times they throw greater light on a subject, and sometimes are just words of encouragement.
We are aware that the word of God has dimensions: Ephesians 3:18 speaks of the “breadth and length, and depth, and height.”
The Lord spoke to my heart on “redeeming the time” found in Ephesians 5:16, not at all in the same sense I once understood it, but from the standpoint of reclaiming that which we have lost through decadence of the age – “because the days are evil.”
God is calling a people who will not conform to the decay of the age and the falling away from righteousness, but will take another look at the PLUMBLINE and fall in line with Him instead of with the world style.
There is a current of passivity, laxity and sheer ennui sweeping through the halls of Christianity in this hour, which will engulf all those whose eyes are not fixed on the righteousness which Jesus established in HIS CHURCH.
“The kingdom of God is… RIGHTEOUSNESS, and PEACE, AND JOY in the Holy Ghost.” Romans 14:17.
The world has invaded Christendom, thus the striking evidence of spiritual pollution: deceived with empty words.
May God help us to redeem the time, restoring true holiness and righteousness in our whole life. Notwithstanding the fact that there is a price to pay, God has given us grace in abundance.
The exhortation of the whole chapter is that we be imitators of Christ as beloved children: walk in love as Christ loved us, turn from immorality, impurity, etc. “No… man… who is an idolater hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” Ephesians 5:5.
Let us walk as children of light, for the fruit of light is found in all those who are good and right and true. Light makes everything visible. Praise God!
In every age, God has raised up those who will hear and obey Him, thus redeeming their time. There was Noah in his time, Enoch in his, Elijah and Elisha, John the Baptist, then Jesus came. He paid the supreme price – made such a restoration, bringing redemption – this second Adam. He had perfect command over the fish of the sea, trees of the field, sickness and diseases, and established a generation – the 42nd generation (Matthew 1:17) – making us sons of God, begotten by Jesus Christ, bringing man into union with Himself and the Father. See John 14:23, 17:21, James 1:18.
Let us, therefore, look carefully how we walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, REDEEMING THE TIME. Be not caught in the evil of our day, but draw from the Spirit that nature of God, seeking to know the will of the Father. Then out of our hearts and lives will flow the richest blessings to others. “Thou canst not then be false to any man” (Shakespeare).
The greatest weapon Satan uses against God’s people is division.
We praise God, that as we submit to the working of the Spirit with us, our corruptible nature is being changed from death to life. Finally we will emerge in His likeness, that when He appears we shall be like Him
The shield of faith is a defensive weapon to turn back the lightning bolts which the enemies sometime throw at us. Righteousness is a breastplate of the Spirit. That which misses the shield, and is not parried by the sword, is turned away by the breastplate. The sword is the only offensive weapon in our armory. The power of the spoken Word is far beyond what we can, at this time, imagine. The Word says that “He spoke” and it was done. The words of our mouth have the power of life and death. Let us keep the Word of God in our hearts and on our lips. Loins girded with truth will help us to stand upright, and feet shod with that special mixture or preparation of the Gospel of peace will help us not only to walk but to run the race with patience.
is not a curse but a blessing from the all wise and Almighty God. He knew man was going to fall but praise God he clothed man with the mortal flesh. The human spirit can only repent while in the mortal body—though it is weak, it serves its purpose in God’s scheme of things!
