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us." The next verse speaking of Christ as the "finisher" of faith, finds an exact parallel in
the words of II Tim. 4: 7: "I have finished my course." Here the word "course" is
dromos, which still survives in the word "hippodrome", originally a "racecourse for
horses".
Every added piece of information is leading to one conclusion, viz., that the word
"wrestle" in Eph. 6: is in harmony with the dominant idea, and that the imagery of the
armour must be adjusted to the thought of the athlete, and not overweighed with military
conceptions. This entirely harmonizes not only with the references to the "fight" which
we have just seen, but to the usage of "armour" which we observed in the previous
article.
We must ask the reader to turn once more to these passages in Timothy, for their
contexts are illuminating. In chapter 3: 7 the apostle speaks of the "snare of the devil",
which was connected with the manifest practice of the faith. In 6: 9 he refers to the
"snare and temptation" again, this time speaking of those who would be rich. Urging
Timothy to flee these things, he continues: "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on
eternal life." What are we to understand the apostle to mean here? Has he departed from
his own teaching that eternal life is a fight? That cannot be. Moreover, the same
teaching reappears in verses 17-19. There "uncertain riches" are set aside, and the riches
of "good works" are urged in their stead, that by these a good foundation against the time
to come may be laid up, and "that they may lay hold on eternal life". Here we are
evidently in the realm of Philippians. Here is one who is "working out" the salvation
already received. This exhortation is followed by another: "O Timothy, keep that which
is committed to thy trust" (I Tim. 6: 20). This is exactly parallel with the closing words
of II Tim. 4: 7: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the
faith"; and we have already seen a close connection between Christ as the "Finisher of
the faith" and Paul as the "finisher of the course".
The more we pursue this theme the more the evidence accumulates that the "fight" of
Eph. 6: is the faithful maintaining against all odds of the glorious "deposit" of truth
revealed in Eph. 1: 3-14. We have shown in earlier numbers that the structure of
Ephesians places "all spiritual blessings" (1: 3-14) over against "the panoply of God" and
"spiritual wickednesses" (6:), and that the "worked in" power of Eph. 1: 19 is the
"worked out" power of Eph. 6: 13. We must now leave this evidence with the reader,
and pass on to the consideration of the attack that is in view in the conflict of Eph. 6:
The whole armour of God is provided so that the believer shall be able to stand against
the wiles of the devil, and in particular the shield of faith is given wherewith to quench all
the fiery darts of the wicked. What are these wiles? If the reader has consulted the
writings of a certain school of teaching, he will know that the human mind and spirit are
put upon the dissecting table, and the possibilities of demon control over every avenue is
so insisted upon, that we can well believe that some timid readers would immediately
develop half the mental diseases described. Our process is simpler, for we seek to know
what God has written, and would stop where He has stopped. Now the word "wiles" is
the translation of the Greek word methodeia, and as this word occurs only here and in