eally, than is here given prophetically, of the means substituted by carnal wisdom for the armour of God. Calling on saints and angels, humility in the sense of self-degradation, or submitting our will to human au- thority, neglecting the body, or ascetic observances, abstaining from things lawful, uncommanded rites and ordinances, observing months and days—these are the arms with which the church im her apostasy has ar- rayed her children for this warfare. These are by name enumerated and condemned by the apostle, who directs us to clothe ourselves with the panoply of God, which he proceeds to describe in detail.
Πρὸς τὸ δύνασθαι ὑμᾶς othvar πρὸς τὰς μεθοδείας τοῦ διαβόλου. This divine armour is necessary to en- able us to stand against the wiles of the devil. Tf our adversary was a man, and possessed nothing beyond human strength, ingenuity, and cunning, we might defend ourselves by human means. But as we have to contend with Satan, we need the armour of God. One part of the Bible of course supposes every other part to be true. Ifit is not true that there is such a being as Satan, or that he possesses great power and intelligence, or that he has access to the minds of men and exerts his power for their destruction ; if all this is obsolete, then there is no real necessity for supernatural power or for supernatural means of defence. If Satan and satanic influence are fables or figures, then all the rest of the representations concerning this spiritual conflict is empty metaphor. But if one part of this representation is literally true, the other has a corre-
CHAP. vi. vs. 11. 12. 377
sponding depth and reality of meaning. If Satan is really the prince of the powers of darkness, ruler and god of this world ; if he is the author of physical and moral evil; the great enemy of God, of Christ and of his people, full of cunning and malice; if he is con- stantly seeking whom he may destroy, seducing men into sin, blinding their minds and suggesting evil and sceptical thoughts ; if all this is true, then to be ignor- ant of it, or to deny it, or to enter on this conflict as though it were merely a struggle between the good and bad principles in our own hearts, is to rush blind- fold to destruction.
V.12. This is the point on which the apostle most earnestly insists. He would awaken his readers to a due sense of the power of the adversaries with whom they are to contend. He lifts the vail and discloses to them the spiritual world; the hosts of the kingdom of darkness. We have to stand against the wiles of the devil, ὅτε οὐκ ἔστιν ἡμῖν ἡ πάλη πρὸς αἷμα καὶ σάρκα, because our conflict is not with flesh and blood, i.e. with men. The word πάλη means a wrestling. The apostle either changes the figure immediately, or he uses the word here in a more general sense. The latter is the more probable. ‘“ Flesh and blood” does not here or any where else, mean our corrupt nature, as jlesh by itself so often means; but men. So in Gal. 1, 16, “I conferred not with flesh and blood,” means, ‘I did not consult with man.’ The apostle after his conversion sought no instruction or counsel from man ;
all his knowledge of the Gospel was received by im- mediate revelation.