For protection and swiftness-always being ready to proclaim the gospel. Righteousness in the Scripture also talks of the ability to seek that which is just-to look for the good of others over ourselves. The church is best protected when it does what is right. A breastplate, of course, protects the heart and vital organs. Without truth, we are encumbered and unable to move. Paul exhorts the church to speak the truth in love and to let truth be our guide. The belt kept that up so they could run unhindered. Roman soldiers wore a kind of toga that they would trip on if not placed on the body correctly. Battle gear that is actually representing things that are quite simple and ordinary.Ī belt of truth. The battle imagery is kind of an ironic twist for Paul-he is bringing something from the realm of Caesar to make his point. So, it is not how we dress in the morning to fight the devil-but how the community of faith, the church, protects itself against evil. It is as if he is saying, ‘I’ve talked about a body-here is how the body is dressed.’ Elsewhere he says, to ‘put on Christ,’ so here, in Ephesians, is how it is done. Here in Ephesians he is extending the metaphor. Paul’s primary image of the church in all of his letters is the Body of Christ. Put on the armor of God and go attack devils. The mistake we can make in this text is to see it as some kind of individualized way to attack the devil or the evil in the world.
#TWIZZLE TWAZZLE TWOZZLE TWOME FULL#
For Paul, the cosmos is shot full of evil in every realm-personal, political, and demonic. Paul is actually referring, in part, to the ‘realm’ of Caesar. There is evil in the world that goes beyond us-evil that is human inspired but beyond us. Interestingly, when he speaks of ‘ the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.’ He is not just talking about the demonic realm. Now he speaks of that which is evil without. Most of his book has been about renouncing that which is evil within us. Paul has followed our baptismal covenant well. Paul invites us to a different kind of outlook. The problem we have as political creatures is to see one candidate or party as evil and the other as not.
#TWIZZLE TWAZZLE TWOZZLE TWOME TV#
While my kids watch the commercials, they ask, ‘is it true?’ Because everything you hear on TV is true, right?
:origin()/pre00/d919/th/pre/i/2015/150/b/4/twizzle_by_xbeautifuldreamerx-d8vdq8j.png "twizzle twazzle twozzle twome")
Says one, Obama will drive the bus that runs over gramma says another. All of the Facebook aficionados in the congregation no doubt see where all of our ‘friends’ are politically because it can get pretty venomous. I mentioned a few weeks ago the difficulty we have in moral discourse. Is there anything worse than poitical ads, commercials and phone calls during an election year? Every time a commercial comes on, my kids give a collective ‘ugh.’ Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak. Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power.
0 kommentar(er)
