Be Strong in the Lord
Dearly beloved of God, be strong in the Lord and in the exerted power of his might.
Put on the whole armor of God so that you are able to stand up against the scheming methods of the devil, because we wrestle not with flesh and blood, but against rulers, against authorities, against the rulers of the present darkness of this world, against the spirits of wickedness in the heavenly realm.
Because of this, take up the full armor of God so that you are able to withstand those things in the day of the wicked, and having done all, to stand [To stand before the bema. We will all stand before the judgement seat of Christ.]
Stand therefore with your loins girded with truth, being clothed with the breastplate of the righteousness of God, and your feet bound with the readiness of the gospel of peace [which is the gospel of God concerning Christ.]
With all these things, take up the shield of the right way of believing, with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the wicked one.
Take also the head covering of salvation [the deliverance in the spiritual fight described in the context] and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying always with every prayer and supplication in the spirit [which is speaking in tongues] and watching in this very thing with all perseverance and supplication on behalf of all the saints.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the Captain of our salvation. “When he ascended on high, he took captive those who captivate, and he gave gifts to people.”
God made us alive together with Christ, having forgiven you all trespasses. Christ blotted out the document that was against us, which was contrary to us, he took it out of the way and nailed it to his cross.
Having spoiled the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realm, Christ exposed them openly to public shame, triumphing over them in his resurrection from the dead, and by it he led them as defeated captives in a triumphal procession.
God energized in the Christ the exceeding greatness of His power according to the working of the strength of His ability when He raised Christ from the dead and seated him at His right side in the heavenly realm far above every ruler and authority and power and lordship, even every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the coming age. God put all things in subjection under Christ’s feet and made him head over all things in the Church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Anyone born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our believing. Who is he that overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
God freely gives us all things with His beloved Son.
Who will bring charges against God’s chosen ones? God, the Justifier? No.
Who can condemn them? Christ? No, he died for us and God raised him from the dead, and he is seated at God’s right hand, and he ever lives to make intercession for us. There is no condemnation to those which are in Christ Jesus.
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will affliction, or calamity, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword (even as it is written: “for Your sake we are being killed all the day long; we were considered as sheep for the slaughter.”?
No, in all these things, we are super conquerors through him [Christ] who loved us. Nothing will be able to separate us from God’s love that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Beloved of God, give thanks to the Father, Who made us competent for a part in the share of the holy ones in the light. He delivered us from the authority of darkness, and He transferred us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his ability. He is Lord of all in heaven and upon the earth. Christ died and lived again so that he might be Lord over both the dead and the living.
Contend in the good contest of the right way of believing. Keep your grip on that life eternal to which you have been called until Christ comes. Be strong in the Lord, and the power of his might.