his spirit than he that taketh a city'.

When we examine the one remaining reference to hopla, translated `armour'

or `weapons', we shall have further grounds for avoiding the military figure:

`Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it

in the lusts thereof.  Neither yield ye your members as instruments

(weapons, armour) of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto

God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as

instruments (weapons, armour) of righteousness unto God' (Rom. 6:12,13).

These references provide conclusive evidence as to what the apostle

intended by the word `armour'.  Ephesians 6 is the last occurrence of the word,

which is therefore adequately explained by its earlier usage.

Another important fact, parallel to that concerning the armour, is the way

in which the figure of the soldier and the fight merges into that of the athlete

and the race, strengthening our conclusion that the fight is concerned with the

prize, and is not so much a question of a campaign or conquest of enemies.

In 2 Timothy 2:4,5 the transition is most clear.  `Strive for masteries'

(Authorized Version) becomes, `contend in the games' in the Revised Version, the

verb athleo giving us the word athlete and Athletics.  The soldier is mentioned

in connection with `endurance'; the figure is then set aside for that of the

athlete and the crown.  Again in 2 Timothy 4:7,8 we have the fight and the

crown, as we have already seen; the word `fight' is agon, which is translated

`race' in Hebrews 12:1.  It is impossible to translate 2 Timothy 4:7, `I have

fought a good race'.  Perhaps the best rendering is: `I have contested a good

contest'.  This keeps the figure within the bounds of athletics, its true

We can now come to some definite conclusions:

The apostle's use of the word `armour' must be our guide as to its

meaning, and not our own ideas drawn from military figures.

His use of the word `armour' is consistent ... it concerns the

putting on of the Lord Jesus Christ, and so makes Ephesians 6 echo

Ephesians 4 where we `put on the new man'.

The figure of the athlete striving for the crown involves the

keeping under of the flesh.  The flesh, as Ephesians 2:2,3 has

already made plain, is acted upon by the prince of the power of the

air, and so brings the believer into conflict with `spiritual

wickednesses' who are the `rulers of the darkness of this world'.

The attack of these spiritual foes is not directed against our

salvation, our membership of the church, or our standing, for these

are outside all possible attack.  The attack is against the

believer's opportunity of winning a prize, a crown, or a reward.

With these things made clear from the Word itself, we can now return to

Ephesians 6 to obtain further light upon its teaching.  The `high places' of

Ephesians 6:12, as the margin tells us, are, more correctly, `heavenly places'.

Now the earlier references to `heavenly places' leave no doubt about the fact

that they are at the right hand of God.  Are these `spiritual wickednesses in

heavenly places' then, at the right hand of God?  It is imperative that we seek

a Scriptural answer to this question, for we must remember that Satan's

authority is limited to the air and that Christ and His church are `far above