How We Live Week 4

We find ourselves in the eighth week of an incredible journey through Ephesians, where Paul transitions from teaching us who we are in Christ and how we should live, to showing us how to stand firm in spiritual battle. This passage in Ephesians 6 pulls back the curtain on a reality we often miss: we're all engaged in a spiritual war whether we realize it or not. The brilliant insight here is that our strength doesn't come from our own muscle, but from our Master. Just as Roman soldiers drew their authority from the empire behind them, we draw ours from heaven itself. We're backed by heaven's authority, supplied by heaven's resources, and strengthened by heaven's power. The most liberating truth? Our real enemy isn't flesh and blood. It's not the difficult person at work, the political party we disagree with, or even the cultural forces that seem so overwhelming. The real battle is against spiritual forces of darkness using the same three schemes they've always used: tempting our desires, distracting our focus, and dividing us through pride. When we recognize that people aren't our problem—the powers behind them are—everything changes. We stop fighting the wrong battles and start standing firm in the armor God provides: truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, and the Word of God. This isn't about chasing demons; it's about standing so firm in our identity in Christ that when the dust settles, we're still standing.