armor of God

Did you ever read about putting on the armor of God and wonder “What does that mean, in real life?” Paul’s illustration of a soldier putting on armor in Ephesians 6:10-18 gives us a symbolic picture of a real-life activity. He states that we have a spiritual enemy who is not “flesh and blood”. Our enemy is unseen, and that makes it difficult to sort out what the causes of our problems are and how to solve them.

Notice that the very first item to put on is the Belt of Truth (verse 14). Jesus says that the Spirit of Truth will counsel us (Jn 14:16-17). If we feel ourselves under the enemy’s oppression, it is the truth of the matter that needs to come first. Satan will have us looking everywhere but where the truth is; in the Spirit of Truth. Our enemy will tell us our problems are due to personal sin, or the residue of someone else’s sin against us. He does not want us to be clothed in the powerful armor God gave us because that means eventual defeat for him.

The first struggle we have is against our own reasoning; do we want the counsel God sends to us, or do we want our own thoughts? In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians he points out that we are fighting “strongholds . . .demolish(ing) arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God . . . “ Satan is refuting the truth so that we won’t buckle it around our waist to hold our sword in place. He hates the sword. Since this battle takes place in the mind Paul admonishes us to take our thoughts captive and make it submit to Christ (2 Cor 10:3-5). When our mind submits to the Holy Spirit then we can begin our winning battle.

It may seem odd to think about righteousness when in a mind-battle with our enemy. His job is to smear our reputation to us, and to make God seem like a liar. But the truth is, we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Cor 5:21). We stand with our sins under His blood, who bought us for Himself, even Christ Jesus. Satan tries to defeat us by his accusations. We are smart to not let them into our heart. That’s what the breast plate of righteousness is for.

During a battle do we think of peace? Hardly. However, the turmoil comes from our enemy and it is the peace of God that we want. Satan will offer concessions, such as removing his harassment if we will vent in anger (a poor release for the stress he brings). However, God is offering the lasting victory of peace. It is a gospel of peace (Eph 6:15; Rm 10:15) which is the reconciliation of Man with God. Why did Paul use the imagery of shoes? Because it is a destiny we walk in, now being sons and daughters of God through the reconciliation Christ brought with His shed blood. We are in the family of God, our destiny. This post-reconciliation Life brings works with it (Eph 2:10). Our jealous enemy does not want us to walk with God in His family and do the works we were predestined to do. Yet, by faith we daily put on the shoes of the gospel of peace and walk out the Life Christ Jesus died to give us. It is a preparation that continues to form us into sons and daughters of God.

To wear the armor of God takes faith. When we are being lied to by our enemy, we may succumb to thoughts of unworthiness, and that we are disqualified by our very humanness that Christ has redeemed. It takes greater faith to believe God intended that we walk with Him and as Him than it takes for anything else. Yet this faith puts an end to the “fiery darts” of our enemy. True faith believes God meant good towards us, and that He saw worth in us. Only the foolish think that God sacrificed His Son for nothing.

To secure the victories we have won we must do more than wear the armor already mentioned. We must walk in our salvation, keeping our thoughts under the protection of the Helmet of Salvation. If we regress to listening to the tumultuous thoughts of satan we will return to striving in our flesh, as Paul described,” fighting as a man beating the air.” (1 Cor 9:26). Paul did not want to be disqualified by returning to the flesh. We do not want to lose our battle by succumbing to the lies of satan. To come this far and enter back in to the futility of our own thoughts and actions will bring a greater defeat because we will lose courage for future victories.

To secure our victory we must use the Sword of the Spirit. This sword is so powerful that it “penetrates even to the dividing (of) soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Heb 4:12). Satan wants to keep us from the full counsel of God that resides in the Holy Spirit, coupled with the Word of God. Our enemy judges us unjustly; God brings the truth of the matter to our minds by the Sword which uses the Spirit and Word of God to defeat the lies of our enemy. When we recognize that it is our enemy’s lies that accuse us, we are free to say that there is One who is set to judge the living and the dead, and that we trust His judgment. We are the “living” and God will discern our hearts for us . . . we don’t need satan’s input!

Satan schemes against us because we are powerful in God. He tries to deter us from the work of prayer (Eph 6:18) because our prayers, coupled with Truth and the counsel of God, defeat his works. Having the armor on, we stand in confidence of Christ’s work and God’s plan for us, and by praying in the Spirit partner with God for the accomplishment of the works of His kingdom here on earth. Children of God, saints of the Living Christ, we should be bold in our works and not fear, for God has made every provision for our victory. Amen