Equipped for the Spiritual Battle

The world has been changing rapidly over the past fifty years, since the advent and progression of the electronic age. Information that formerly required waiting for the evening news, or the latest edition of the newspaper, has become instantaneous with the touch of a finger on an iPad or smart phone. There is a sense of more convenience in our lives and acute awareness of the world globally. On a spiritual level, I have seen an insidious emergence of a more overt battle for the minds of Christians. Our society that once accepted the Bible with respect and reverence, now often doubts the validity of God's Word. Apologetics in the Christian arena has become very visible to defend the tenants of our Christian faith. As members of the Body of Christ, we realize more than ever the importance of "rightly dividing" the Word of truth to be able to withstand the "wiles of the devil." Scriptures are examined using a Bible and a concordance as the basic tools required for this study. Each lesson is divided into five days. The purpose of this weekly format is to motivate the student to independently scrutinize each one of the twenty Scriptures in the book of Ephesians and elsewhere to be studied, investigate the meanings, and write the conclusions prior to reading the weekly section entitled "Author Commentary." Spaces are provided for writing answers to the questions, comments about the Scriptures, and in a section called "Gleanings" at the end of each chapter.