Battlefield Discipline

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Ephesians 6:10 – 18

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

12 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.

13 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.

14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;

18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.

Sometimes the Christian life is a battlefield.  In these times, we get weary, beaten, wounded and maimed.  Have you ever felt like you’re more “beaten and maimed” than “conquering and victorious”?

You’re not alone if the latter is an uncommon feeling.

The Apostle Paul is trying to tell us a lot of things in this passage and one of them is that “discipline” is not developed on the battlefield.  While Paul wrote this epistle he was literally chained to a Roman soldier and/or constantly in the presence of a Roman soldier.  He is taking critical notice of the implements of war that adorn the body of this Roman guard.  Paul is mindful of the entire system that governs every action that this guard does or does not take in the discharge of his duty to Caesar.

Meanwhile, the Holy Spirit is speaking to Paul’s heart to remind him that Christian’s are in battle also and that in the same way that Rome has conquered the world, so must the Christian go into battle with the “powers of this world”.  There are lots of reasons that Rome conquered the known world at the time of Christ, but one crucial aspect of their success was the military discipline of her troops.  The training was rigorous and demanding.  The equipment was the best that the world had ever seen and the sheer might of Rome’s number of troops made every nation take pause and “bow the knee”, so to speak.

Speaking of “bowing the knee”, this is the first discipline of the Christian Soldier.  Without this weapon, there is no armor to hang; in fact, you’ll not even recognize the armor you’ve been issued without it.  Verse 18 above indicates the persistence of prayer and its ultimate mission in preserving the saints.  Martin Luther once said, “it is no more possible to be alive without breathing than it is to be a Christian without prayer.”