Facing Prometheus — Week 30 (The Mysterion) | “A Cosmic Struggle” | Pastor Jason Parrish
About the series: Facing Prometheus: A Letter to the Ephesians and the Future Church Dilemma is a 48-week look at how Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus can transform our lives. If you’re just joining us, watch the prequel message here.
There is arguably no verse in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians that has generated more speculation, fascination, and misunderstanding than Ephesians 6:12. It is a verse people build entire ministries around, and it is also a verse people quietly dismiss as metaphor. Both of those responses miss what Paul is actually saying.
In Week 30 of Facing Prometheus: A Letter to the Ephesians and the Future Church Dilemma, Pastor Jason Parrish walks us into one of the most sober and important teachings of the entire series. This is the opening of a new mini-series within Facing Prometheus called The Mysterion, and it begins with a hard question: who, or what, is the actual opponent standing in the way of the redemptive work of Christ in our lives?
The Text — Ephesians 6:12–13
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens. For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.”
— Ephesians 6:12–13 (CSB)
Two Ditches to Avoid
When examining this text, there are two ditches that we can fall into. The first is an oversimplification of the text that leaves it sterile, metaphorical, and lacking the substance that drives one toward a serious assessment of the battle we are in. The second is an over-inflated and overproduced understanding of our battle that jettisons itself from the text Paul has written. This second ditch creates an almost mythic interaction with the subject, generating ideas, characters, and pictures that are simply not supported by the pen of Paul.
Said another way, we tend to see either fascination with this subject or a form of Christian agnosticism.
On the over-inflated side, theologian Opoku Onyinah writes in Spiritual Warfare: A Centre for Pentecostal Theology Short Introduction:
“Some proponents of spiritual warfare admit that there is little biblical evidence for their teachings. Because testimonies, rather than the bible, have been the engine of this whole movement, charlatans have had the freedom to deceive people through their exaggerated stories, and they brand as skeptics anyone who challenges them.”
— Opoku Onyinah, Spiritual Warfare
And on the oversimplified side, theologian R. Kent Hughes writes in Ephesians: The Mystery of the Body of Christ:
“The prevailing materialistic, mechanistic thinking of our age leaves no room for the supernatural, or indeed anything without a physical cause. Sadly, many Christians are so influenced by this thinking that even though they give conscious voice to their belief in Satan and spiritual warfare, their lives show no evidence of this reality. They actually live in unconscious disbelief. For such persons, this passage provides a much-needed antidote.”
— R. Kent Hughes, Ephesians: The Mystery of the Body of Christ
The goal of this message is to stay away from both ditches and to allow the text to shape and form our interaction with this subject.
★★★ What does Paul, full of the Holy Spirit, have in mind as he writes these words and describes both the opponents and the nature of the battle we find ourselves in?
Clinton Arnold, in Powers of Darkness: Principalities and Powers in Paul’s Letters, sets the stakes:
“What the Apostle Paul has to say about the powers of darkness should be formative for our thinking as Christians. For those of us who regard his letters as containing theology that is normative for belief and practice, Paul’s teaching on the powers should shape and refine our worldview. A careful assessment of his teaching on this topic is therefore essential, especially since our modern worldview is often thought to be at odds with the biblical teaching on evil spirits.”
— Clinton E. Arnold, Powers of Darkness
Exegesis: A Verse-by-Verse Walk
1. “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood”
The 16th-century theologian John Calvin captured the weight of this opening phrase:
“He (Paul) means that our difficulties are far greater than if we had to fight against men. Where we resist human strength, sword is opposed to sword, man contends with man, force is met by force, and skill by skill; but here the case is very different, for our enemies are such as no human power can withstand.”
— John Calvin, Commentary on Ephesians
Paul first lays the groundwork for our understanding of spiritual warfare by identifying the actual opponent that we face in this spiritual battle. This is important because if we do not understand our true opponent, we tend to fight everyone and everything else in front of us.
★★ Just because someone is difficult or frustrating does not mean they are a demonic vessel used by the devil to thwart your life from the God-ordained purpose he has for you.
With Paul’s words, we can understand two important realities about the wrestle we are in.
a. Our wrestle is supernatural
As Kent Hughes writes:
★★ “We are all involved in a superhuman battle in which conventional tactics will avail nothing.” — R. Kent Hughes
This truth helps properly frame the coming conversation about the individual pieces of the armor we are told to put on. If our battle were natural, we should grab a sword, spear, chariot, horse, or weapon of choice. But Paul says to put on something wholly different because he knows that what we wrestle against is supernatural.
b. Our wrestle is personal
In his commentary on Ephesians, S.M. Baugh writes:
★★ The Greek word πάλη (palē) — translated “struggle” — refers almost exclusively in Paul and his audience’s world to a “wrestling match.” — S.M. Baugh, Ephesians (citing BDAG and LSJ)
Words mean things. The words we use in a text are important. They are not just clues but actual discoveries of what the author was thinking. So when Paul uses this very specific Greek word, it is not by accident. He is telling the Ephesians, and us, that the battle is not some cosmic contest “out there.” It is a wrestling match we are involved in up close.
Hughes captures the image:
★★ “The root idea here is, swaying back and forth while locked in mortal battle. An exchange of arrows or artillery is not pictured here, but sweat against sweat, breath against breath.” — R. Kent Hughes
Think of the hand-to-hand combat scenes in Saving Private Ryan. What made those moments so jarring and unforgettable was the proximity of the fight. It is one thing to have bullets flying at you. It is another thing entirely to go head-to-head with an opponent when the battle will be decided by sheer brute strength.
Paul uses the word “wrestle” to bring the fight into our neighborhood so that we would take it seriously.
2. “But against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers…”
Theologian Grant Osborne, in his verse-by-verse work on Ephesians, submits:
★★ “This is the closest the Bible comes to describing the military order of the demonic forces.” — Grant R. Osborne
This is not a new idea for Paul. He tends to use the terms “rulers” and “authorities” to depict the spiritual realm throughout his writings. Especially in this letter:
“He exercised this power in Christ by raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens — far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given, not only in this age but also in the one to come.”
— Ephesians 1:20–22 (CSB)
“This grace was given to me — the least of all the saints — to proclaim to the Gentiles the incalculable riches of Christ, and to shed light for all about the administration of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things. This is so that God’s multi-faceted wisdom may now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavens.”
— Ephesians 3:8–10 (CSB)
We also see this terminology used across Paul’s other letters in 1 Corinthians 15:24; Colossians 1:16; 2:10, 15; and Titus 3:1.
What does Paul mean by this designation? John Stott comments:
★★ “By this expression, borrowed from late Jewish apocalyptic thought, Paul meant ‘supernatural cosmic forces, a vast hierarchy of angelic and demonic beings who inhabited the stars and were the arbiters of human destiny,’ enslaving men ‘beneath a cosmic totalitarianism.'” — John R.W. Stott
This idea has evolved and taken on many forms across church history. Many theologians and scholars have moved from an overtly spiritualized picture of rulers and authorities to a natural view, translating Paul’s words to represent the systems, rules, and ideology of the current cultural moment. While these dark spiritual forces and the devil can and will use anything at their disposal, the text is best read for what it is: rulers and authorities of a spiritual realm that stand behind things and, at their discretion, use whatever they can to make humanity subject to their overarching plan to steal, kill, and destroy.
John Stott takes a similar position in God’s New Society: The Message of Ephesians:
“In reaffirming that the principalities and powers are personal supernatural agencies, I am not at all denying that they can use structures, traditions, institutions, etc. for good or ill; I am only wishing to avoid the confusion which comes from identifying them. That social, political, judicial and economic structures can become demonic is evident to anybody who has considered that the state, which in Romans 13 is the minister of God, in Revelation 13 has become an ally of the devil.”
— John R.W. Stott, God’s New Society
God’s creation is good, but it can be co-opted and hijacked for demonic purposes. Many aspects of God’s creation have been perverted and exploited for evil and nefarious use. Early church father Jerome named the same reality with unusual clarity:
“The battle is not against flesh and blood or ordinary temptations. The scene is the war of flesh against spirit. We are being incited to become entrapped in the works of the flesh. But this is not merely a physical temptation. It is not merely the inward struggle against flesh and blood as such. Rather Satan has cleverly transformed himself into an angel of light. He is striving to persuade us to regard him as a messenger of goodness. This is how he throws his full might into the struggle. He employs deceptive signs and lying omens. He sets before us every possible ruse of evil. Then, when he has so ensnared us that we trust him, he says to us, ‘Thus says the Lord.’ This is not flesh and blood deceiving us. It is not a typical human temptation. It is the work of principalities and powers, the ruler of darkness and spiritual wickedness.”
— Jerome, Epistle to the Ephesians 3.6.11
From the text, we gather that there is an organized, strategic, hierarchical system that is vast and on a mission against the great redemptive work of Christ upon the earth.
3. “Of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens”
Paul does something here that is really important for us to see. He reminds the Ephesians of their life before Christ, just as he did earlier in the letter:
“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also.”
— Ephesians 2:1–3 (CSB)
★★★ The issue Paul is dealing with here is the issue of submission. Sin is not just the doing of wrong or misalignment with Christ. It is also a choice of the will to submit to darkness, evil, and the spiritual forces that rule and take authority in the domain of darkness.
Four Important Texts on Darkness and Deliverance
“Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for God’s wrath is coming on the disobedient because of these things. Therefore, do not become their partners. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light — for the fruit of the light consists of all goodness, righteousness, and truth — testing what is pleasing to the Lord. Don’t participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what is done by them in secret.”
— Ephesians 5:6–12 (CSB)
“While he was still speaking, suddenly a mob came, and one of the Twelve named Judas was leading them. He came near Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus said to him, ‘Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?’ When those around him saw what was going to happen, they asked, ‘Lord, should we strike with the sword?’ Then one of them struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. But Jesus responded, ‘No more of this!’ And touching his ear, he healed him. Then Jesus said to the chief priests, temple police, and the elders who had come for him, ‘Have you come out with swords and clubs as if I were a criminal? Every day while I was with you in the temple, you never laid a hand on me. But this is your hour — and the dominion of darkness.'”
— Luke 22:47–53 (CSB)
Paul recounts his Damascus road moment in his defense before Agrippa:
“I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'”
— Acts 26:15–18 (CSB)
“For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience, joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
— Colossians 1:9–14 (CSB)
Ephesians 6:12 tells us that there is an opposing power to Christ and his kingdom. It is a kingdom of darkness. It is a kingdom of hierarchical power in which the devil has enlisted fallen angels and demonic powers to prey on the sons and daughters of God, causing them to submit to his kingdom — the kingdom of this world, the kingdom of darkness.
This kingdom and its powers, rulers, and authorities will use anything and everything to distract, defile, and pervert the good and gracious gifts that God has given, under the guise of “Did God really say?” If we are not careful, due to sin and distraction, we will submit to these powers, and we will, as Paul writes to Timothy, “shipwreck our faith.”
Closing: A Letter from Screwtape
In C.S. Lewis’s classic work The Screwtape Letters, we are given a fictional correspondence between a senior demon named Screwtape and his nephew, an understudy named Wormwood. Throughout the letters, Screwtape instructs Wormwood on how to do the job of luring humanity into the kingdom of darkness. Summarizing would rob the passage of its veracity and sobriety, so read it in full:
“But do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy (God). It does not matter how small the sins are, provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed, the safest road to hell is the gradual one. The gentle slope. Soft underfoot. Without sudden turnings. Without milestones, without signposts.”
— C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
These are the rulers, authorities, powers, and principalities.
★★★ And in Christ, they have been overcome.
References
- Arnold, Clinton E. Powers of Darkness: Principalities & Powers in Paul’s Letters. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1992.
- Baugh, S. M. Ephesians. Evangelical Exegetical Commentary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2015.
- Bauer, Walter, Frederick W. Danker, William F. Arndt, and F. Wilbur Gingrich. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000.
- Calvin, John. The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians. Translated by T. H. L. Parker. Vol. 11 of Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1974.
- Edwards, Mark J., ed. Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians. Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament 8. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999.
- Hughes, R. Kent. Ephesians: The Mystery of the Body of Christ. Preaching the Word. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1990.
- Lewis, C. S. The Screwtape Letters. New York: HarperOne, 2001.
- Liddell, Henry George, Robert Scott, and Henry Stuart Jones. A Greek-English Lexicon. 9th ed., with revised supplement. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996.
- Onyinah, Opoku. Spiritual Warfare: A Centre for Pentecostal Theology Short Introduction. Cleveland, TN: CPT Press, 2012.
- Osborne, Grant R. Ephesians: Verse by Verse. Osborne New Testament Commentaries. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2017.
- Stott, John R. W. God’s New Society: The Message of Ephesians. The Bible Speaks Today. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1979.
