It Is Not The Active Voice!
Ephesians 6:10-11 says, “(10) Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. (11) Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.”
The Life Application Study Bible interprets this passage by saying,
“In the Christian life we battle against rulers and spiritual forces. To withstand their attacks, we must depend on God’s strength and use every piece of his armor.”[1]
Like the passages in Colossians The Life Application Study Bible fails to understand the passive nature of scripture. Keep in mind that Ephesians 6:10-11 does fall into a Sanctification section of the letter of Ephesians, however the linguistics in this passage certainly put things into the passive voice. The phrase, “Finally be strong[2] in the Lord and His might power…” literally could be translated as "be continually empowered by the Lord and His might power." Take note of the word be. The word be puts this into the passive voice. We are to be strong, not by our action of depending on God, but by the action of God empowering us! Can you hear the difference between the active and passive voice? This is lost when the presuppositions of ascent theology and active righteousness are imbedded.
Secondly, we are called to put on the full armor of God[3]. It is really important to note that this armor is whose? It is God's armor... The origin and the source of this armor is God. The very fact that we can put on this armor is due to God giving this armor to us in the first place.
So, let's summarize this passage and the passage from Colossians! The Life Application Study Bible interprets both of these passages in the active voice. Instead of seeing the verbs as things that are done for us, gifts that are prepared for us, it actually interprets these passages as things that we need to do ourselves. This is most clearly seen by the linguistics of the passive voice verb in Ephesians 6:10. What a giving God that we have that he cares enough about us to not only strengthen us in our weaknesses but also to give us this glorious armor… to give us the virtues of Christ! Passive not active.[4]
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