Ephesians 6:14-15

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

From Background Notes [BN] for Aug 16th & 17th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

What we must not lose sight of is that this passage is not about one solitary soldier, but rather about the equipping of a whole army: the army of God, the people of God.

Martin Kitchen reminds the reader of Paul's letter/sermon that this metaphor has a corporate understanding (pp.119-126). Drawing from Bruce Malina's helpful research on "dyadic personality,” Kitchen suggests a total understanding of the organism, the image of a corporate man who is complete, integrated and at one, both with his environment and with himself. This parallels Paul's earlier picture of Christ's followers as reaching toward becoming "the perfect man" (4:13), the "mature humanity" (p. 121). Furthermore, in Revelation 19, the writer of the Apocalypse paints a grand picture of Christ, the armed horseman, mounted on a white horse. That portrait neatly summarizes much of the armor Paul depicts in Ephesians 6, applying it to the continuing work of Christ [BN, 15]

Join us this week in Study, Worship, Praise and Celebration at Chicago First Church of the Nazarene:

* Saturday 6:00pm
* Sunday 8:30am & 11:00am