Ephesians 6:10

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the might of his power.”

Paul is now getting ready to conclude his letter. He has covered the topics of the glory of Christ, the cosmic importance of the church and each member of it, the implications of this for our morality and our relationships at home and at work. He now finishes it all with a remainder of the battle in which we are engaged and the source of our strength.

In this verse, Paul uses three different words for the same idea: strength, might, and power. He wants to emphasise this idea that we need strength, and that it comes from the Lord.

Nobody can live the Christian life out of their own resources. Not only is this impossible, the idea of self sufficiency apart from God is the definition of sin. We cannot live for God from this underlying position of sinful pride.

Our strength for spiritual battle does not come from ourselves. Tto think that I can take on satan, or sin, or evil, by myself is a recipe for defeat. The devil is bigger and stronger than any human being .

Our strength must come from the Lord. When Paul tells us to be strong in the Lord, he is telling us that the Lord is where we go to gain our strength.

We strengthen ourselves in the Lord when we seek to know him more. Our delight should be in God’s word, the Bible. It is in the word that we discover the nature of God, His personality, and His desires for our lives in relationship with Him.

The word by itself is not enough. We need to read scripture prayerfully, constantly asking the Holy Spirit to make the written word come alive to us. The Bible must never be read merely for information. When we read it this way, we lose the power of the word.

We become strong in the Lord as we learn to pray. Prayer is not just my words to God, but a two-way conversation. The process of listening prayer in which we both speak and listen to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit is the way to grow to maturity and strength in the Lord.

Power and strength in the Lord come as we learn to obey Him. Paul has given us instructions about how we are to live as Christians in Ephesians and in his other writings. But we must not reduce Christian living to a moral code or series of regulations

To obey the Lord also means being sensitive to the Holy Spirit in other ways. We need to grow in the gifts of the Holy Spirit described in 1 Corinthians 12, allowing the Holy Spirit to manifest Himself through us in words of knowledge, wisdom, faith, miracles, and so on.

Our relationship with the Holy Spirit will result in the grace of character in such areas as love, joy, peace, patience, and so on (Galatians 5:22-23)so that we grow to be more like Christ.

To be strong in the Lord and in the might of his power means that we pursue a relationship with God by every means possible.

Key points in this verse:

• We must become strong in the Lord's power

• This means that we read God’s word, pray, listen, and obey

• As we seek the gifts and fruit of the Holy Spirit, we will grow in maturity and strength