    The closing passage of Ephesians is a powerful summary of the whole letter. If one follows the way that Paul describes in the rest of the letter, what else is one doing but arming and armoring oneself for the journey that each Christian must battle through to reach Heaven.
    It is no small thing that Paul uses the image of a soldier preparing for war to describe the Christian fight, because everyday the devil, the world, and our own sinfulness are fighting with all of their might to take away the free gift we have been given in our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior.
    Therefore, our faith and the Word act as the armor and sword by which we can fight such enemies, and that faith and Word can only act when they are used. That is the call to arms that Paul issues by the Holy Spirit in the Book of Ephesians. Are you listening?
    This ends our study of the Book of Ephesians. Tomorrow, we begin the study of the Book of Job.
DLH
