fight against the world, the flesh, and the devil. Some day, perhaps, it may also occur to her as desirable to tell those children what she means by this. What is the world which they are to fight with, and how does it differ from the world which they are to get on in? The explanation seems to me the more needful, because I do not, in the book we profess to live by, find anything very distinct about fighting with the world. I find something about fighting with the rulers of its darkness, and something also about overcoming it; but it does not follow that this conquest is to be by hostility, since evil may be overcome with good. But I find it written very distinctly that God loved the world, and that Christ is the light of it.
When does the world, the flesh, and the devil first appear? The Christian armour (Eph. 6:13-17).
13.
For this reason take up the whole armour of GOD, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day and, having accomplished all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness
,
15 and having shod your feet in the preparedness of the gospel of peace
,
16 in all taking up the shield of faith, in which ye shall be able to quench all the darts of the evil one that are set on fire.
17 And receive the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of GOD.
13.
dia; tou'to
]
For this reason
, that our conflict is essentially spiritual. There is a perceptible difference in tone between
dia; tou'to
and
diov
: the former appears to point to a specific, the latter to a general reason. See also 3:1
touvtou cavrin
.
ajnalavbete t. p.
] vs. 16 (Acts 7:43), opposed to
kataqevsqai
. The armour is laid at the feet of the warrior.
i{na dun
.] the conflict is imminent: the adversaries are on the field
(
ajntisth'nai
).
jAntisth'nai
is not used absolutely elsewhere in the N. T.
ejn t. hJ. t. p.
] the day preeminently evil in evil days (
c.
Eph. 5:16): in the most violent outbreak of the powers of evil. Comp. Lk. 4:13; John 14:20.
a{panta katerg. st
.] V.
in omnibus perfecti stare: having accomplished all, to stand
, having accomplished all that belongs to your duty and to your position, still to hold your ground.
Katergavzesqai
implies the accomplishment of something grave and difficult: Phil. 2:12; Rom. 7:15, 17, 20 (
katergavzesqai, pravssein, poiei'n
). The Christian has not only to repel assaults but also to achieve great results. The rendering having overcome is un-Pauline.
For
sth'nai
see Apoc. 6:17
kai; tiv" duvnatai staqh'nai
; (Lk. 21:36). 14-16.
sth'te ou\n
...]
stand therefore
.... In this confidence take up the position
which you will be enabled to maintain to the end, having duly equipped yourselves
(
perizwsavmenoi, ejndusavmenoi, uJpodhsavmenoi, ajnalabovnte"
).
perizwsavmenoi ... ajnalabovnte"
] As the first preparation for the conflict the combatant braces up himself. The value of his arms must depend on his own vigour. Truth, perfect sincerity, perfect reality, is the stay of the Christian character. Hypocrisy or falsehood paralyses one who is strong as a believer. Before all things the Christian warrior is true. Such a man applies truth to life. In his dealings with others he aims at intellectual and moral rectitude. He puts on the breastplate of righteousness, which guards the heart.
Yet further (Eph. 5:15) he secures his foothold and power of vigorous advance, having shod his feet with the preparedness of the gospel of peace. And, as affecting all he has to do, he takes up the shield of faith, to be a protection against spiritual assaults.
14. perizwsavmenoi ] Comp. Lk. 12:35, 37; 17:8; 1 Pet. 1:13 ( ajnazw" .). Isaiah (Is. 11:5 kai; e[stai dikaiosuvnh/ ejzwsmevno" th;n ojsfu;n aujtou' kai;