Whatever you follow after is your god, and whatever is your god has authority over you. The Scriptures teach that you are either owned by Christ or Satan—there is no middle ground. When Yʜᴡʜ freed the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt, He did not simply destroy Pharaoh and their armies—He transferred the Israelites’ allegiance to Himself. In essence, Israel went from being a slave of Pharoah to being a slave of Yʜᴡʜ (the Hebrew word עֶבֶד/ʿ𝘦𝘣̱𝘦𝘥̱, “slave,” is used to describe Israel’s relationship to Yʜᴡʜ in, e.g., Lev 25:55; Isa 41:8–9; 44:1–2, 21; 45:4; 49:3). Paul repeatedly draws on this theme to show that we can either be slaves of sin or of Christ/righteousness (Rom 6:6–11; 6:15–23; Gal 5:1). The point is that whatever you worship owns you and has real power over you. Like Israel in Egypt, if you are owned by sin, you cannot free yourself—you are helplessly bound unless you ask Christ to set you free. The moment you are set free, your allegiance must shift from sin to Him. But if you are owned by Christ, you have real power over Satan and sin.
In the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, the phrase "to walk after" signifies allegiance—what you pursue is what you worship. This is why Yʜᴡʜ commands the Israelites not to “walk after” (הלך אחר; 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘬 ʾ𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳), or “give their allegiance to,” other gods (see Deut 6:14; 8:19; 11:28; 13:2, 6–9; 28:14, 26; Judg 2:12, 17, 19, et al.).
In Eph 2:2, when Paul writes that we used “to walk after” the “course of this world” and “the prince of the power of the air,” he is using a Hebraism to state that our allegiance was once to sin and Satan. Those who live in sin, apart from Christ, are not neutral parties—Scripture teaches they worship the devil and that he maintains power over them. Thankfully, the text does not stop there. Paul writes: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ” (Eph 2:5a). For those who now belong to Christ, we were once disciples of Satan, following in his footsteps, but praise be to God, who has redeemed us by defeating the powers of darkness.
Paul’s argument does not stop there, however. He not only contends that have we been set free from our previous taskmaster, Satan, but that the tables have turned—we now are the ones with power over him. Since God the Father has exalted us above every demonic authority by seating us with Christ (Eph 1:19; 2:6), we are participants with Him and wield “the immeasurable greatness of His power” (Eph 1:19). In fact, the themes of our “access” (προσαγωγή; Eph 2:18; 3:12) to Christ and our ability to tap into divine power (δύναμις; Eph 1:19; 3:16, 20; see also 6:10) are central to theological profile of Ephesians. We are called to partner with Christ, the divine warrior, in combating evil powers. When Paul describes the “armor of God” in Eph 6:10–20, he is building off Isa 59:17, where Yʜᴡʜ “[puts] on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak” (ESV). In Isaiah 59, Yʜᴡʜ goes to war by Himself because He can find nobody to join Him in the cause of righteousness. In Ephesians 6, He calls His church to suit up with the same armor and join Him on the front lines.
When you are in the throes of spiritual warfare, you need to remember that Jesus is far more than the gentle, shepherd often seen in artwork. The following passage is an equally inspired description of Christ: “Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords” (Rev 19:11–16; ESV). Just like Yʜᴡʜ in the Old Testament, Christ is described as the divine warrior who conquers evil. We are fools if we neglect Christ’s power and authority that are available to us.
As believers, I fear we are largely unaware of the access we have to Christ's immeasurable power. Prayer in the name of Jesus is a powerful weapon that is not utilized by most believers in our age of spiritual lethargy. Prayer is not only immensely effective against the evil one, it is often our only hope for deliverance. I was praying for a group of people I hold close in intercessory prayer this afternoon. My closing argument to the Lord was that unless He came and intervened for these individuals, all hope would be lost. Everything rises and falls on His response. That may sound like a precarious situation to be in, but it’s not—He will not spurn the faithful requests of His saints. He will not suffer the evil one to prevail if we pray His will. He will have complete dominion. To Him belongs all power, glory, and honor. Amen.
