Ephesians 6:10-20

This armour is specially provided for us so that we can overcome every battle we personally face in our lives and circumstances. We are told, therefore, to put on the armour of God and to make a stand.

Christ has authority over all the power of darkness. He smashed the kingdom of darkness and its demonic deception. (Matthew 12:28-29). Just as Abraham was called to live by faith in the “promised land”, so we too are called to do so figuratively. Just as his progeny were delivered from Egypt where they had become slaves and entered the “promised land”, so believers too must leave the old life of sin and learn to live in the “land of faith”.

There are giants there, it is true, but they are defeated through Jesus. Just as David slew Goliath, so we can defeat the giants we face. David trusted in the Lord and was able to defeat Goliath by using a sling and a pebble. So too we have been given the means through faith and the Word of God to defeat the giants we face.

We have already considered the putting on/putting off principle. Now, we are told to put on the whole armour of God. There are seven vital things the armour gives us which illustrate seven ways we can defend ourselves from the “wiles of the devil”. Here is a brief list of them:

First, we are to put on the Belt of Truth:

Soldiers at that time wore a short skirt secured by a strong girdle, or belt, which supported the muscles of the waist and strengthened the entire body. Truth is like a belt and a fundamental necessity above all else. There is one thing the devil cannot stand against and that is truth.

Jesus Christ is not a truth but “the Truth”. (John 1:14, 17, 5:33, 8:32, 14:6, 17, 16:13, 17:17, 1 Thessalonians 2:13, 2 Timothy 2:15). Truth is not a subjective notion, so prevalent in today’s philosophies, but is the uncompromising unchanging truth found in Jesus Christ as declared in his Word.

His Words will never pass away. (Matthew 24:35). We are to apply them in all our actions and decisions: we should never resort to hypocrisy or dishonesty. God honours truth, the devil fears and despises it. We must stand for truth.

Second, we are to put on the Breastplate of Righteousness:

This breastplate covers and guards our heart. Notice it is not putting on our own righteousness but God’s. We have no righteousness of our own but rely wholly upon Christ’s. (Romans 3:10, Isaiah 64:6).

Any righteousness we may have accrued is through the merit of Christ, who declares us to be righteous. He did a swap with us, he took our “rags of righteousness” and replaced them with the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21).

For believers, righteousness is imparted not earned. By our faith in him, Christ accredits us with his own righteousness. (Romans 3:10, 21-25, Titus 3:4-8). He gives us a credit note to say that we are righteous. (Galatians 2:16). God himself justifies us and declares us to be righteous in his sight. We display his righteousness not our own.

When it says that we put on the breastplate of righteousness, it is not our breastplate but Christ’s. By doing this, we exalt Christ, affirm our trust in him and safeguard our own actions, for it is impossible to deliberately do anything unrighteous while wearing his breastplate, and any “works of righteousness” that we do are the result of Christ’s righteousness in us and not our own. (2 Corinthians 5:21). Righteousness is taken out of self-effort and placed wholly in Christ. He alone is righteous.

The breastplate is one of faith, and we do this in faith. (1 Thessalonians 5:8). Once we put it on, Satan can no longer tempt us, for we are protected by Christ. We are to live a life of righteousness, but this is not trying to earn salvation or prove how good we are, and if we do fall the Holy Spirit convicts us and we confess our sin and are cleansed. (1 John 1:9).

Satan is called the “accuser of the brethren” and our defence is to affirm that we have Christ’s righteousness. We are heirs of righteousness, just as Noah was, and also Abraham, and multitudes of others through the ages. (James 2:23, Hebrews 11:1-2). None of these people were perfect, but they all trusted in God.

Satan can’t get to us if we are in Christ. Christ has defeated him. So, we are hidden in Christ, we are in him and he is our champion, our strength and victory. Lots of believers fall into the trap of relying upon their own righteousness but that fails. Instead, we stand clothed in Christ’s righteousness.

Third, we are to put on the Shoes of the Gospel of Peace:

Shoes are essential, especially for soldiers. They must be strong and have a firm grip so that we stand and don’t slip or fall. Our feet are in regular contact with the earth and carry us everywhere.

If our feet are shod with the Gospel of Peace then we carry it everywhere and are able to walk in peace and stand firm in every situation. To stand firm is vital in life. There is a saying: “If you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything”. If you are sure about what you believe in you will not be moved from it. The “Gospel of Peace” is what the world needs and the foundation on which we stand is Jesus our rock of salvation.

This is why the preparation of the Gospel is important. It is our readiness to both live by the Gospel and also to share it. If our lives are grounded in the Gospel of Peace, we are protected from the world’s strife and have peace. It gives us peace in a troubled world afflicted with uncertainty. The Gospel brings peace, not war. Jesus said that we should be “peacemakers”. (Matthew 5:9). Not peacekeepers but peacemakers.

The Gospel makes peace, peace with God and peace with one another. This is not the peace of compromise but the peace which comes with truth. It brings peace in trouble, despair and hopelessness. It is sown in peace and brings a harvest of righteousness and fruits of peace. (James 3:17-18). Those who believe the Gospel have the “peace of God that passes all understanding”. (Philippians 4:6-7).

If you don’t have peace, for instance, about something you are thinking or doing, then it may mean you are not in God’s perfect will or may be in disobedience and need to repent and stop doing it. If, on the other hand, you have no peace about something that is out of your control, you can come to God in prayer and give it to him and receive perfect peace.

The world needs to receive the Gospel of peace. “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things”. (Romans 10:14-15). Notice that it is the “preparation” of the Gospel that is necessary. We put these shoes on in order to walk in peace and to share the Gospel with others. We can all share God’s peace and be peacemakers in a needy world.

Fourth, we are to take the Shield of Faith:

The first three items are all part of a soldier’s regular “clothing”. We are now instructed about three more items which are necessary in a conflict. The first is a shield and is absolutely vital for every soldier to have for personal protection. A shield is not offensive but defensive. The larger the shield, the more protection it affords and so too we must grow in faith to appropriate the promises of God. (2 Peter 1:1-3). The large Roman shields were rectangular and could form a covering for a whole contingent of soldiers which nothing could penetrate. So too our faith can protect us individually and collectively from the wiles of the enemy. (Ephesians 6:11).

We have already considered some aspects of faith, and this “shield of faith” is an extra bulwark against the fiery darts the enemy may use to attack us personally. Some thoughts we have can actually originate from the adversary, who may bombard us with all manner of accusations, temptations and lies. As already said, the devil is the “accuser of the brethren”, and, just as he attacked Jesus, so he can attack us. He can bombard us with bad thoughts and attempt to influence our motives and desires. Sometimes, we may also suffer verbal attacks from people, workmates and even family, and it may be that adverse circumstances are at times engineered against us so that we require the shield of faith for our protection. (Psalm 140:3).

When we call to the Lord, he is able to give us immediate encouragement from scripture and from his Spirit. The Lord himself is our great protector, as he said to Abram, “I am your shield”. (Genesis 15:1).

Fifth, we are to take the Helmet of Salvation:

This helmet is to protect our minds with the assurance of salvation, which is the confidence we need in order to face upheavals in life and the difficulties we may face individually and in the world. (1 Thessalonians 5:8).

It is this assurance that gives us security and enables us to be more than conquerors. We can say, no matter what, “It is well with my soul”: the final outcome is certain. (Romans 8:37). There are some Christians who are never sure whether they are saved or not. They argue from certain scriptures that one can have no assurance about salvation and must continually strive to be saved as if it is up to us to somehow attain it. These believers are, in my mind, unbelievers, or else they have never understood the truth about the salvation God wrought in Jesus. He said of those who follow him, “They shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand”. (John 10:28-29).

Our salvation is not dependent on ourselves but on him. It is a gift and is a sure and certain hope. (1 Thessalonians 5:9). It is not a vain hope but a sure hope. (Hebrews 6:17-20). The devil will try everything possible to shake our confidence in Christ, but his promise is steadfast, and we are anchored to God, who cannot lie.

Jesus is the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him. (Hebrews 5:9). Our salvation is not dependent on us but on him. What Christ has done can never be undone. The devil can never change it. What we must do is believe it. There are so many promises that affirm our salvation once a resolute commitment to Christ has been made, and it would require a book to contain them all. It is true that some people make a false start and never carry on, but the mark of true repentance, as we have said, is to keep going on.

As we read and believe God’s Word, his salvation protects our minds against every vain thing the enemy will throw at us, every test and trial, every disappointment and sorrow. The problem many people have is that they don’t read God’s Word, and they don’t believe it. God says he will put his laws in our minds and write them on our hearts. (Hebrews 8:10-11). They are not written on stone but on our hearts and minds, and the more we read God’s Word, the more of a ‘sound mind’ is given to us until we have the mind of Christ and can truly say that we know him. “Let this mind be in you that was in Christ”. (Titus 1:7, Philippians 2:5).

Sixth, we are to take the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God:

This is the only piece of the armour that is offensive: all the others are defensive. The Roman sword was a short dagger used in hand-to-hand combat and needed for personal conflict with the enemy. 

Notice this spiritual sword is God’s Word, not our own. It is God’s Word that we use against the enemy. It has nothing to do with our own strength or ability but everything to do with God’s. God’s authority and power are found in his Word, not in rebuking, decreeing or binding but in using the Word of God as a skilled soldier uses a sword. We are, therefore, to know his Word and use it as Jesus did. When Satan attacked him by misquoting scripture, Jesus spoke the correct Word straight back at him. (Matthew 4:4).

The original Greek word used for God’s spoken Word is Rhema, and it is when God’s Word is spoken with the authority and anointing of the Holy Spirit. There is nothing more powerful than speaking aloud God’s Word. (Romans 10:8, 1 Peter 1:25). I would encourage people not to speak to the devil with their own words but to use God’s Word to rebuff him. There is no instruction in scripture to speak to the devil on our own initiative: our defence is God’s Word which is powerful even to the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12).

Seventh, we are to Pray in the Spirit:

It is no good putting on the armour unless we also pray. Praying in the Spirit is not praying by rote or repetition but with prayers that are inspired and energised by the Spirit of God.

Jesus taught us how to pray and we will have more to say about this later. I believe that “praying in the Spirit” includes the gift of speaking in an unknown language as the Holy Spirit gives the ability to do so. This is a very powerful way to pray under the control of God’s Spirit. (1 Corinthians 14:15).

Join me as we continue on our journey through “A Life of Faith.”

Blog series Six – Two Kingdoms at War:

Episode 5: What is Spiritual Warfare

Episode 6: The Law of Sin & Death & The Law of The Spirit & Life

Episode 7: The Riches of His Grace

Episode 8: Works of the Flesh & Fruits of the Spirit

Blog series Seven – Pitfalls to a Life of Faith