by Jeffrey Mindler

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” ~Ephesians 6:13 ESV

Within Christian apologetics, an oft-neglected element of our defense of the faith is simply to stand firm. In the classic text on the armor of God in Ephesians chapter six have you ever noticed how often the apostle Paul urges his readers to stand firm? He mentions the command to “stand” at least three times (vv. 11, 13, 14). In the heat of battle, it is easy to crumble, give in, or fold to the pressure, but the apostle Paul is clear in what he commands of Christians; stand firm. Exploring the details of what it looks like to stand firm in the face of opposition is what we will cover in this post.

Paul’s exhortation in Ephesians chapter six is a classic text that many use to describe what spiritual warfare looks like. Notice however that in this text Paul specifies what this warfare looks like and characterizes it using the command to stand firm. He does not command Christians to bind territorial spirits or cast out demons, but the central command given is to stand. This command to stand firm is particularly important when defending the faith. By default, because apologetics is largely a defensive exercise, it requires a firm foundation to stand upon. When answering objections to Christianity we must stand firm in the faith, knowing clearly what we believe, why we believe it, and how to articulate it to those who would oppose it.

The need to stand firm in the faith is becoming increasingly more evident in our culture as we move into a post-Christian era or into what some have called the negative world. Christianity is no longer being seen as a societal plus but rather as a danger to societal progress, where once Christian values and ethics were largely embraced, now they are being seen as hateful and bigoted. This can create a great temptation for Christians today to compromise the truth of Scripture on hot-button cultural issues such as gender and marriage and crumble beneath the societal pressure to be loving and accepting, at least in so far as how the culture defines those terms. We must resist this temptation and stand firm in the faith. We must stand firm upon the Scriptures and what they teach, regardless of how unpopular it may be in our culture today. Brothers and sisters in Christ, the imperative is clear: stand firm.