The Armor of God

Ephesians 6: 10 – 20 (NIV): Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

We are at war. We have an enemy who wants to “steal, kill and destroy”. An enemy who wants to rob our joy and make us ineffective as witnesses. Paul says the devil is leading a whole army against us with the goal of destroying us. This battle is in the spiritual realm and so we must use spiritual weapons to win. Unfortunately, many Christians lose daily battles because they are not wearing their spiritual armor as described in this passage. The devil wants to knock us down; Paul wants us to stand firm.

Paul uses the illustration of armor that a Roman soldier would wear: the belt was important because it held everything in place. Our belt is truth. If we don't have the truth, we can't win the fight. The breastplate covers the heart. A lot of our mistakes come from acting on our emotions and not on wisdom. Righteousness will protect us from being defeated day after day. I would never fight barefooted, and our shoes are knowing and sharing the true gospel. The enemy army is shooting at us and a shield of faith will protect us. Without faith, we are dead already.

I believe the helmet is salvation is not just having salvation, but knowing that we do. I can fight because I know my salvation is safe and secure in God's hands and not my own. The only offensive weapon is God's Word, the sword of the Spirit. This is the one and only way we fight back.

And there is another piece of armor that often gets left out: prayer. Paul mentions praying five times in this passage. Wear your armor, fight back with the Word, and pray without ceasing. If we will do this, we will be victorious and live the abundant life that Jesus promised.