The Whole Armor of God (Part 2)
We are in a spiritual on a daily basis.
God has made spiritual resources available to us through Jesus Christ, and we need to use them in our battle against evil.
The spiritual resources mentioned in this passage are the truth, righteousness, the Gospel, faith, salvation, and the Word of God.
Ephesians 6:14-17 NLT
14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Examine the scriptures:
Ephesians 6:14-17 NLT
Verses 14-20 make up one sentence.
14 Stand your ground,
For the third time (vv. 11, 13), Paul tells Christians to take a firm position in the spiritual battle against Satan and his minions.
We are in a spiritual war on a daily basis.
- Stand firm in your battle against Satan. Never back down.
Resist Satan’s attacks by being properly armed.
- Never compromise the teachings of scripture. (Compromise is not “standing your ground”.)
Deuteronomy 5:32 NLT
32 “You must be careful to obey all the commands of the Lord your God, following his instructions in every detail.
Deuteronomy 5:32 NIV
So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left.
Paul uses the armor of a Roman soldier as imagery for spiritual armor used by believers.
Roman infantrymen were commonplace throughout the empire.
One may have even been guarding Paul when he wrote this epistle.
Everyone knew what they looked like.
Paul described the items that the Roman infantryman wore in the order in which he would have put them on.
Most of this equipment is used to defend, not to attack.
The truth.
14 Stand your ground,
putting on the belt of truth
The belt of a Roman soldier held his garments in place and gave ease and freedom of movement.
The soldiers belt kept him from getting tripped up.
Everything that hinders is tucked away.
It was also designed to hold other pieces of the soldier’s armor in place.
We have access to truth. We need to put on the belt of truth.
John 8:32 NLT
32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
- You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
John 17:17 NLT
17 Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.
Psalm 119:142 NLT
Your justice is eternal,
and your instructions are perfectly true.
The truths found in scripture as well as a lifestyle that reflects that truth are essential for a defense against Satan.
It is not enough just knowing the truth.
We need to know and live truth.
We need to live a life of truthfulness. A man of integrity, with a clear conscience, can face the enemy without fear.
Once a lie gets into the life of a believer, everything begins to fall apart.
Proverbs 6:16-19 NLT
16 There are six things the Lord hates—
no, seven things he detests:
17 haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that kill the innocent,
18 a heart that plots evil,
feet that race to do wrong,
19 a false witness who pours out lies,
a person who sows discord in a family.
If we choose not to live truthful lives we will get tripped up.
Righteousness.
and the body armor of God’s righteousness. (the breastplate of righteousness)
The soldier’s breastplate protects his heart and other vital organs.
As a soldier’s breastplate protected his chest from an enemy’s attacks, so God’s righteousness, resulting in righteous living guards a believer’s heart against the assaults of the devil.
1 Corinthians 1:30 NLT
30 God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.
Romans 6:13 NLT
13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.
Righteous living protects a believer’s heart against the assaults of the devil.
- Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.
- Without God’s righteousness, we are vulnerable to Satan’s attacks.
The Gospel.
15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.
The soldier’s shoes were designed to give the soldier a good grip to the ground, stability, and surefootedness in combat.
The Gospels are a source of peace. The Gospels give stability to our lives.
The Gospel tells us how to have a right relationship with God.
- The Gospel tells us how to have a right relationship with God.
Through Christ believers are at peace with God knowing that He is on their side.
Romans 5:1 NLT
Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.
- Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.
God is our strength and with that divine strength we can stand firm.
- We have been made right in God’s sight by faith.
Romans 8:31, 37-39 NLT
31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?
37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- If God is for us, who can ever be against us?
Faith.
16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.
A Roman soldier carried a shield that was designed to absorb fiery arrows, without catching on fire, to protect the other pieces of armor as well as the soldier himself.
- A Christian’s faith in the Lord can stop and extinguish all the flaming arrows of the devil.
Faith is trust in Christ as Savior and trust in God to meet our needs in evil times.
Hebrews 11:1 NIV
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT
13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
Salvation.
17 Put on salvation as your helmet,
Roman soldiers used their helmets to protect their heads.
The confidence of our salvation protects our minds and our thoughts.
We can know that we are saved,
John 3:16 NLT
16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
Romans 10:9 NLT
9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Knowing that we are saved, we can face the enemy with confidence.
- Protect your mind and thoughts with the assurance that God has indeed saved and given eternal life to those who believe in Christ.
The last resource mentioned is
The Word of God.
and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
The sword is the soldier’s only offensive weapon.
The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God.
Hebrews 4:12 NLT
12 For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
Jeremiah 23:29 NLT
29 Does not my word burn like fire?”
says the Lord.
“Is it not like a mighty hammer
that smashes a rock to pieces?
- God’s Word is like a mighty hammer that smashes a rock to pieces.
Believers need God’s Word to combat the enemy’s assault, much as Christ did when tempted by the devil.
- We need to be spending quality time in the Word. We need to know God’s Word and we need to be putting Biblical principles into practice on a daily basis.
Grounding in Christ and scripture provides protection and ability to stand your ground.
- Stand firm in your battle against Satan. Never back down.
- Never compromise the teachings of scripture. (Compromise is not “standing your ground”.)
- You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
- Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.
- Without God’s righteousness, we are vulnerable to Satan’s attacks.
- The Gospel tells us how to have a right relationship with God.
- Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.
- We have been made right in God’s sight by faith
- If God is for us, who can ever be against us?
- A Christian’s faith in the Lord can stop and extinguish all the flaming arrows of the devil.
- Protect your mind and thoughts with the assurance that God has indeed saved and given eternal life to those who believe in Christ.
- God’s Word is like a mighty hammer that smashes a rock to pieces.
- We need to be spending quality time in the Word. We need to know God’s Word and we need to be putting Biblical principles into practice on a daily basis.
