Above all, taking the shield of faith, with which you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
All Commentaries on Ephesians 6:16 Go To Ephesians 6
John Chrysostom
AD 407
Withal taking up the shield of faith.
By faith in this place, he means, not knowledge, (for that he never would have ranged last,) but that gift by which miracles are wrought. And with reason does he term this 'faith' a shield; for as the shield is put before the whole body, as if it were a sort of rampart, just so is this faith; for all things yield to it.
Wherewith you shall be able, says he, to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one.
For this shield nothing shall be able to resist; for hearken to what Christ says to His disciples, If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove. Matthew 17:20 But how are we to have this faith? When we have rightly performed all those duties.
By the darts of the evil one, he means, both temptations, and vile desires; and fiery, he says, for such is the character of these desires. Yet if faith can command the evil spirits, much more can it also the passions of the soul.
