Ephesians 6:10 (ESV)
¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

As Paul closes his letter to the church at Ephesus, his final exhortation is to put on the armor of God. We can break down this exhortation in two parts. First, Paul encourages us to be strong. This should be our battle cry every day because the devil is always in attack mode.

Peter warned us of the constant prowling around of the devil (1 Peter 5:8). He is looking for weak Christians of whom he can take advantage. He is not working alone. Paul warns us what we are up against in Ephesians 6:11.

Ephesians 6:12 (ESV)
¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Almost all commentators agree that the spiritual forces of evil refer to evil spirits in the unseen realm. We do not know a lot about these evil spirits and the extent or limitations of their power, but to deny their reality is unwise.

These spirits are the devil’s assistants who do his bidding in this world, but it is the devil who is in charge of them. This is why Paul referred to Satan as the “god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4), and the “prince of the power of the air,” referring to the spiritual realm over which he has control.

There is no doubt that the power of Satan has been curtailed by the sacrifice of our Savior; nevertheless, he still has a great deal of influence. No, he cannot dwell in us directly, but he does have many tools at his disposal to influence us (pride, envy, lust, false doctrines, humanism, liberalism, etc.). This is why the consistent exhortation of the scriptures is for us to be strong (Joshua 1:7-9; Psalms 27:14; 1 Corinthians 16:13; 2 Timothy 2:1).

The second part of Paul’s exhortation has to do with understanding the true source of our strength. We must be strong in the strength of the Lord’s might. This is very encouraging. We do not have to rely on our own strength to defeat the devil. The truth is, we do not have the power to defeat him. The good news is the One who does is on our side. John once wrote, “…he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

We are strengthened by the Lord when we put on the armor which He supplies for us (Ephesians 6:11-17). The armor consists of truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, the hope of salvation, and, of course, the Word of God, which Paul calls the “sword of the Spirit.” When we are equipped with this armor, there is nothing the devil can do to hurt us spiritually. It is only when we remove a piece of the armor that we become vulnerable.

Another way that we tap into the strength of the Lord is by taking advantage of the power of prayer. After exhorting us to put on the whole armor of God, Paul then encourages us to pray at all times (Ephesians 6:18). While we may not be able to beat the devil all by ourselves, when we are equipped with the armor of God and the power of prayer, our strength is too much for Satan to overcome. So, “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.”

As you wind down for the night, think on these things.