Ephesians 6:10-20
The Armor of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
Paul tells us that we are in a spiritual battle with the evil one...We're not fighting flesh and blood, but spiritual forces of evil...C.S. Lewis, in his book The Screwtape Letters, portrays this battle vividly through the eyes of a demon named Screwtape, who instructs his nephew on how to tempt humans away from God...Like the patient (who is man) in Screwtape's grasp, we need the full armor of God: the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, gospel of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, and sword of the Spirit...Only then can we stand firm against the devil's schemes and resist his temptations...Lewis imagines a series of lessons...
Lewis gives us a series of lessons on the importance of taking a deliberate role in Christian faith by portraying a typical human life, with all its temptations and failings, seen from devils' point of view...Screwtape holds an administrative post in the bureaucracy ("Lowerarchy") of hell...The senior demon Screwtape instructs his nephew Wormwood on how to tempt a human, "the Patient," away from God...Screwtape's advice focuses on distorting God's word and encouraging the Patient to abandon his faith, offering insights into human psychology and diabolical strategies...From the demonic perspective, only selfish gain and power are considered good, and the very concepts of Divine LOVE and genuine human virtue are incomprehensible...Until the book's final pages, Screwtape acts as a mentor to his nephew Wormwood, an inexperienced and incompetent tempter...
Lewis writes this about Screwtape's' strategy: "Keep pressing home on him the ordinariness of things...Above all, do not attempt to use science (I mean, the real sciences) as a defense against Christianity...They will positively encourage him to think about realities he can't touch and see...There have been sad cases among the modern physicists...If he must dabble in science, keep him on economics and sociology; don't let him get away from that invaluable "real life."...But the best of all is to let him read no science but to give him a grand general idea that he knows it all and that everything he happens to have picked up in casual talk and reading is 'the results of modern investigation'."...
C. S. Lewis reveals to us a strategy from the evil one's perspective for keep us away from faith...Here's what we learn about the tactics being employed by the evil one: The evil one will take us (the Patient) away from our primary goal of Jesus and God...So we must keep focused on Jesus and His Father...Focusing on the mundane and ordinary, prevents us from contemplating deeper spiritual or philosophical questions...By emphasizing the most ordinary of things, the evil one hopes to stifle any inclination towards seeking meaning or purpose beyond the material world...This passage advises against using "real science" as a defense against Christianity...God has created a Complex Universe...So true scientific inquiry, when pursued honestly, can often lead to a greater appreciation for the complexity and wonder of the universe, potentially opening the door to faith...We can better see God in His Creation...Instead, the demons suggest keeping us focused on "economics and sociology," disciplines that, while important, can be more easily manipulated to reinforce a materialistic worldview...
The most insidious of his tactics is the suggestion to cultivate a sense of intellectual superiority in us...By giving him the impression that he "knows it all" and that his casual knowledge is equivalent to "the results of modern investigation," the demons aim to create a barrier against genuine learning and humility...This arrogance makes us less likely to question our own assumptions or to consider alternative perspectives, including those offered by religious faith...
The evil one wants us to have a fear of anything that points to realities beyond the physical world...The demons recognize that contemplating the unseen—the spiritual, the transcendent—can awaken a longing for something more and potentially lead the patient towards faith...
In essence, the evil one's strategy outlined in this passage is one of intellectual and spiritual manipulation...It aims to keep both the believer and non-believer complacent, intellectually arrogant, and focused solely on the material world, thereby preventing him from ever seriously considering the claims of Christianity...Therefore, we must be vigilant, putting on the full armor of God, lest we fall prey to the enemy's deceptive tactics of the evil one...Let us be sober-minded, rooted in truth, and filled with love, so that we may stand firm against the wiles of the devil and live lives pleasing to our Father...