17. The Armor Of God
Chapter 17 The Armor Of God Paul Wrote About A Very Real Battle That We Fight Every Day—A Spiritual Battle!
Some of the books that the apostle Paul wrote were written while he was locked up in prison. Soldiers stood guard over him day and night. These soldiers were tough, battle-hardened men dressed in armor, and they guarded prisoners like Paul carefully so they wouldn’t escape. But Paul didn’t try to escape or fight them. Instead, he did battle in a very different way. He loved to share the gospel with the soldiers because he knew his battle was a spiritual one. When Paul wrote a letter to the Ephesians, he used a word picture about soldiers and their armor to depict this spiritual battle that all of us Christians fight each day. Maybe you are not aware of this battle, but it is very real. Our enemies are not human soldiers. Instead, we are at war with Satan and his army of demons. Let’s see what Paul wrote about this:
Ephesians 6:10-12 says: “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.”
Satan Has A Powerful Government And Army Who Want To Destroy Us
These verses in Ephesians 6 paint a sobering picture about our spiritual enemies. This is not a game. We Christians are up against a powerful force. Paul called them:
“…rulers, authorities, powers and spiritual forces of evil” This doesn’t sound like child’s play. From this verse it looks like Satan and his demons form a very powerful government system with officers of differing ranks, and an army which is much more powerful than any human government or army. We have seen this in previous chapters—Satan is the ruler of this world (1 John 5:19; John 16:11). Powerful demons under Satan are like kings or princes, governors and officers who seem to have their own areas of authority (Daniel 10:13; Daniel 10:20).
Other demons are like soldiers in Satan’s army and fight against God’s people. They all do battle in order to rule over the human governments of the world so that every person will be subject to their influence or rule. And ultimately, they want to destroy us all.
Satan’s Army Uses Other Kinds Of Weapons
Satan and his demons don’t use human weapons like spears, swords or guns. Ephesians 6:11 says that he uses all kinds of deceitful schemes to fight against us. Satan is a spirit and he uses spiritual weaponry, so ordinary human weapons are useless against him. God has given us other types of weapons to do battle with Satan and his worldly empire.
2 Corinthians 10:3-4 says: “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”
Thankfully, God has not left us alone to fight against Satan and his demons. He has provided everything we need to do battle in this spiritual realm.
We Need The Full Armor Of God To Defeat Satan
Ephesians 6:13 says: “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.”
Satan is a powerful enemy. Without God’s help, we are vulnerable and don’t stand a chance. But God doesn’t want us to be unarmed or vulnerable in the face of our enemy, so he has given us a full set of his complete armor so we don’t have to depend on our own strength or abilities. If we depend on God’s armor and his strength, then we’ll be able to “stand”—we can be strong in the heat of the battle. We will be able to dodge Satan’s “flaming arrows” and everything else he throws at us. So we need to be diligent to use what he has provided.
God Gave Us The Armor, But We Need To Use It!
God himself has provided and given us his armor—the armor of God (Ephesians 6:11; Ephesians 6:13). We don’t have to make it or buy it ourselves. But we have to put it on as the Bible says. If we don’t USE the armor, it certainly won’t help us! The Pieces Of God’s Armor
Ephesians 6:14-18 says: “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 Lord’s people.”
Now let’s look at each piece.
—BELT OF TRUTH— (Vs. 14)
Long ago, when these verses were written, soldiers dressed a little differently than they do now. One of the first and most important items of clothing for the soldiers was a strong belt. The large belt was fastened at their waist and it kept their tunic in place, as well as the breastplate, their sword and other parts of their armor safely secured to their bodies. Ephesians 6:14 says we need to put on the belt of truth like a soldier puts on his belt.
Without truth, all the other armor begins to fall away. If we listen to Satan’s lies and deceit then we are not believing in God. It’s like letting Satan loosen our belt. The rest of our protection will start to fall away. So we need to carefully guard and follow the truth because our spiritual well-being depends on it.
Jesus Is The Truth In John 14:6, Jesus told the people that, “I am the way, the truth…” And John 1:14 says Jesus is “full of…truth.” This shows us that Jesus himself is the belt we need to put on. His words, his actions, his example, his life lived out through us—is truth. Jesus is the living Word (John 1:1). He is the standard of truth by which all words and actions can be judged. We need to pay close attention to his words of truth and study his life lived in truth, and use them to guide our own lives. As we are applying his truth to guide our lives, the truth becomes like a critical piece of our spiritual armor that helps protect us in fighting our battle against Satan’s lies and deceit. And our greatest source for truth is God’s written word.
Jesus Used The Truth Of God’s Word To Defeat Satan When Satan was tempting Jesus, Jesus used the word of God to defeat him. Three times we see him use the truth in God’s word to resist Satan. And we can too! The truth of God and the words of Jesus have the power to defeat all of Satan’s lies. We can’t defeat him by ourselves, but Satan doesn’t stand a chance against God’s truth. The Holy Spirit Reminds Us Of Jesus’ Words And Life
Jesus is that belt of truth, but it is the Holy Spirit that brings Christ’s truth to our memory in our everyday life. The Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of Truth” and he helps us understand Christ’s true words and actions and directs us in what he would say and do in each situation (John 14:17; John 15:26; John 16:12-15; 1 John 4:4).
How Do We Put On The Truth As A Belt?
Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to teach us the truth.
Study the Bible daily and learn about Jesus’ ways and words.
Don’t rely on our own wisdom and the wisdom of the world.
Trust God and allow him to direct our steps with his truth.
—BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS— (Vs. 14) Ephesians 6:14 says: “Stand firm then…, with the breastplate of righteousness in place”
Soldiers are always careful to guard their chest and stomach area from enemy attacks because an injury there could be very serious. Today soldiers use special bulletproof vests, but long ago they used a breastplate of metal to shield themselves. In verse 14 God refers to the “breastplate of righteousness.” But whose righteousness is he referring to? It is definitely not the type of righteousness we produce in our own strength (Titus 3:5). And since all the armor comes from God, we know that this is referring to Christ’s righteousness (Romans 3:21-22). When Satan Accuses Us, Christ Is Our Righteousness
Before we believed, we had no righteousness of our own. We were guilty sinners. But when we believed in the death and resurrection of Jesus, we became united with Christ. And so, in God’s eyes, Christ’s righteousness has become ours too. Therefore Jesus is our breastplate of righteousness. So now when Satan accuses us and says we’re unclean sinners, we can be at peace and remember that Christ is our righteousness! Christ is our breastplate that will deflect Satan’s spears of accusation. Satan can’t accuse Christ of being a sinner. Christ is perfectly holy and righteous. So we can rest assured that Christ’s righteousness covers and protects us like the breastplate protects a soldier. We are hidden in Christ.
Colossians 3:3 says: “For you died and your life is nowhidden with Christin God.” As we depend on Christ’s power within us, his righteousness begins to show itself in our own daily lives. His righteous words come out of our mouths and his righteous actions become ours too. In this way, Christ hides us like a protective breastplate protecting our hearts against Satan’s accusations. Satan cannot rightly accuse Christ of any wrong, and since he is our righteousness, our hearts are safely protected. The Holy Spirit’s Conviction Is Different Than Satan’s Accusations
Sometimes we do sin and the Holy Spirit convicts us. We can’t hide from him, so when that does happen, we just need to admit to God in our hearts that we have sinned (1 John 1:9). Then God will give us peace again, because Jesus has paid for that sin already on the cross. The Holy Spirit convicts us in order to help us so we will be in fellowship with God once again and be strengthened. But Satan is different. When he accuses us, he does it to put us down and discourage us and ruin our lives.
—THE GOSPEL OF PEACE LIKE A SOLDIER’S SHOES— (Vs. 15) Ephesians 6:15 says: “...and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.”
Sandals With Spikes A soldier’s feet cannot hold a weapon like a sword or spear, but the feet were extremely important in a battle because they were the foundation of support for each soldier. Those feet needed special shoes. Soldiers’ shoes were actually sandals with little spikes on the bottom to help them get traction on slippery ground and keep them from slipping. And so when the enemy attacked, they were on solid footing and could stand their ground and be ready to move with confidence and keep fighting.
Peace With God Is Sure Footing That Helps Us Stand Firm When Satan Attacks When Satan tries to accuse and frighten us, we have the gospel or good news of peace to comfort and protect us. Even though we are at war with Satan, the gospel of peace reminds us that we are at peace with God (Romans 5:1). Since we are at peace with God, we are on his side—the winning side! Yes, being at peace with God is very good news indeed, because it encourages our hearts so we can remain steady and stand firm in our faith, just like a soldier’s shoes keep him steady on his feet. The gospel of peace helps us “stand firm” (Ephesians 6:13-14) and hold our ground when Satan attacks.
Jesus Brings Stability Like Soldiers’ Shoes When They Fight
Jesus gave his life in order to bring us into a peaceful fellowship with God. So Jesus himself is the Gospel of Peace (Ephesians 2:14); he is the Good News that reminds us that we are no longer at war with God—we are at peace because we are his children now and nothing can change that solid footing. Therefore we can completely trust him when life is a slippery battlefield. He is like those surefooted shoes that give us stability when Satan attacks.
John 16:33 says: "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 14:27) Readiness Or Preparation Of The Gospel Of Peace
We have heard how a soldier’s shoes provide traction for when he needs to hold his ground, but the shoes also allow the soldier to move forward and advance like an army advancing into enemy territory. Soldiers often walked long distances over rugged terrain into foreign lands in those shoes. Ephesians 6:15 mentions that our feet should be: “...fitted with thereadinessthat comes from the gospel of peace.” The Gospel prepares us and makes us ready to move forward and advance into Satan’s territory. As we realize how much God has done for us through the Gospel of Peace and we think about all those who do not yet know that peace, this challenges us to move forward into the world. We advance into Satan’s territory and share the Gospel of Peace with those who are still under Satan’s control, so that they too may be freed from the slavery of sin (Romans 16:20).
Jesus Prepares And Motivates Us
We already know that Jesus himself is the Gospel of Peace. He is the good news that helps us stand steady when Satan attacks. But now we see that Jesus is also like the shoes that protect and prepare our feet as we advance into Satan’s world. Jesus is the one who motivates and encourages us to walk into Satan’s territory to help those who are still in need of that peace. And when our feet carry us to those who need the gospel, Jesus can bring peace to them also, because he himself is the source of peace for everyone (Ephesians 2:14)!
“How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news? Who proclaims peace...” (Isaiah 52:7 NKJV) —FAITH IS LIKE A SHIELD— (Vs. 16)
Ephesians 6:16 says: “In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”
Soldiers Were Terrified Of Fiery Arrows
Enemy soldiers sometimes dipped their arrows in oil and lit them on fire before they would shoot. These flaming arrows struck fear into any soldier because they could be badly burned as the arrows rained down on them from afar.
Satan’s Temptations Are Like Flaming Arrows, But Faith Can Repel Them In verse 16, Paul said that our faith is like a shield which a soldier holds up to repel the flaming arrows of the enemy. Satan and his demons “shoot” many temptations into our hearts and minds, like soldiers shooting flaming arrows. But we need to fend off these temptations or repel them by faith in the truth, rather than listening to Satan’s lies. So let’s consider what actually this shield of faith is.
Faith In Jesus And His Word Is Like Using Him As Our Shield When Tempted
Again we see that Jesus is like a part of our God-given armor. Remember how Jesus resisted Satan’s temptations in the desert (Matthew 4)? Satan was not able to defeat him in any of his temptations. Jesus deflected every one of Satan’s temptations like a shield deflects flaming arrows. Jesus used God’s word to resist Satan and didn’t give in to sin even once. Jesus has proved himself, therefore he can also help us when we’re tempted. If our confidence is in ourselves to overcome Satan’s temptations, then we will fail. Instead, we need to have our confidence and faith in the Lord Jesus and his word to guide and enable us to defeat Satan’s temptations. The Lord Jesus is always faithful and worthy of our trust (Psalms 91:4-5).
Sometimes Satan will deceitfully accuse us and say that God doesn’t love us or God has forgotten about us. If Satan ever tempts us to believe that kind of lie, then we need to read God’s word and see all the things Jesus did for us, and all his promises. When we believe those things about Christ, then our faith in him is like using Jesus as our shield to deflect Satan’s flaming arrows. And this will encourage our faith in Christ even more.
—THE HELMET OF SALVATION — (Vs. 17)
Head injuries are usually very serious to a soldier, so it is very important for them to wear a helmet during a battle because their enemies will try to injure their heads. In a similar way, in our spiritual warfare, Satan and his demons will try to attack our minds because this greatly affects our relationship with God and others. They want to put all sorts of lies into our heads to frighten and discourage us. They say things like, “You’re a sinner! God couldn’t love you and so you are not his child. You are not saved; You will never go to heaven!” When they attack our thoughts and plant doubts in our mind, we need to remember what God’s word says.
Ephesians 6:17 says: “Take the helmet of salvation...”
Jesus’ Work Of Salvation Is Like Our Helmet When We Doubt
Satan will always try to cause us to doubt our salvation, but when we think of Jesus hanging on the cross for you and me, then we are reminded that God does indeed love us very much. He was even willing to give his own son to redeem us with his own blood. That payment for our sin has been completed and God has promised to take us to live with him forever in heaven (John 3:16; John 11:25-26; John 14:1-3 : Romans 8:11). Those of us who have trusted Christ are truly saved! What a wonderful promise! Christ’s promise of salvation is like a helmet to protect our minds from doubt when Satan causes us to doubt our salvation or when he tells us we are unloved or unaccepted. So Jesus himself is like that helmet to protect and guard our thoughts when Satan tries to fill our minds with lies.
Jesus Has Also Saved Us From The Power Of Sin Not only does Jesus save us from the eternal penalty of sin, but he saves us from everyday sinful habits also. Satan does not want us to know that, so he attacks our minds. It might sound like this: “You may be a Christian but you will never conquer your sinful habits or day-to-day sins.” If Satan’s lies attack our minds like that, then we need to remember Jesus on the cross again. Jesus not only saved us from the payment for our sin, but also from the power of sin (Romans 6). So now we can trust Jesus daily to give us the power to resist and overcome temptations and change our sinful habits as we grow in maturity with him. So again we see that Jesus is like our helmet of salvation—to save or protect our minds from Satan’s lies. Jesus alone can overcome sin in our lives and he will too, as we continue to trust him.
—THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT— (Vs. 17)
After soldiers have put on all their armor, then they need a weapon. Nowadays soldiers use guns, but before guns were invented, a sword was the soldier’s main weapon to fight the enemy. It was made of strong metal and was sharpened on both edges. Soldiers carried these swords at all times, and even slept with them, so they were always ready to fight at a moment’s notice. But a metal sword could never be used to fight Satan and his army of demons. We need a spiritual sword.
Ephesians 6:17 says: “Take the… sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” The Sword Of The Holy Spirit: The Most Powerful Weapon We Have Against Satan The word of God is the sword the Holy Spirit uses as his main weapon of choice against Satan. So it should be our weapon of choice also. Satan isn’t afraid of people, but he is afraid of the Holy Spirit and God’s word. So if we know God’s word well and use it correctly to resist Satan, he will flee. The word of God is the most important weapon the Spirit can use to fight against Satan and his demons. Can you imagine a soldier who didn’t have a sword or didn’t know how to use it? That’s what it is like if we don’t know how to use God’s word correctly.
We Need To Use The Sword Of The Spirit Like Jesus Did
Think back to the time when Satan tempted Jesus in the desert (Matthew 4) and how Jesus dealt with Satan. Three times Satan tempted him and three times Jesus used the same weapon to fight back. He didn’t use a sword made of metal, but rather the Sword of the Spirit—God’s word. Three times Jesus quoted God’s word, and Satan couldn’t argue or resist the power of God’s word. He had to admit defeat and leave. In the same way, if we ourselves are tempted, we too need to use God’s word as a weapon. Our own thoughts, ideas, or words cannot resist or defeat Satan. We need to study the word of God and learn it well—even memorize it—so we can remember it in time of need. The best way to resist Satan when he tests us is to pray and ask God: “What does your word say about this?” He will remind us what it says and then we can believe and follow it. Then Satan will have to flee (James 4:7). He can’t fight against the Sword of the Spirit.
Jesus Is God’s Word. He Is The Sword Of The Holy Spirit Inside Of Us
We can read God’s word in the Bible but if we want to see God’s word in real life and know what God is like, we can look at Jesus’ life. Jesus is called the “Word of God” (John 1:1; John 1:14), because he is God’s spokesman and representative on earth. Colossians 1:15 says that: “The Son is the image of the invisible God...!” By studying Jesus, we see a visible human form of what our invisible God looks like, and how we are to speak and act. So as we study the life of Jesus and put his words into practice, then our lives look more and more like Christ’s, and Satan’s work is defeated. Jesus is the Word—the Sword of the Spirit that overcomes Satan work. When we walk in the strength of the Holy Spirit, Jesus works within us to defeat Satan’s work.
We’ll talk more about the Sword of the Spirit later.
—STAY ALERT AND PERSISTENT IN PRAYER— (Vs. 18)
We’ve studied all the armor, but there’s one more very important thing listed in verse 18 that a soldier must always remember. If a soldier puts on all of his armor, but then lies down and watches the clouds float by or falls asleep, will all this nice armor help him? Not really. Armor doesn’t help a sleeping soldier much. His enemy could sneak up and easily defeat him while he’s napping. It’s much the same in our spiritual battle.
Ephesians 6:18 says: “Pray in the Spirit at all times…Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers…” (NLT) The Greek word in this verse means to stay awake, watchful, and ready at all times. Soldiers who are in the middle of a battle must always be alert for enemies attacking from the side or from behind them, and especially in the dark. At night, soldiers post guards who need to stay awake, and always remain alert for enemies. Paul was using these types of words as a good picture of our own spiritual battle. We may not be able to see our spiritual enemies, but we can be constantly alert through prayer—prayer in the Spirit. When we constantly pray for the Lord’s help and direction, the Holy Spirit makes us alert to the enemy’s efforts to defeat us. It is a spiritual awareness that comes from talking to and listening to the voice of the Spirit within us. This topic of prayer is such an important part of our spiritual warfare against Satan that we will take a more detailed look at this in the next chapter.
Concluding Thoughts About The Armor
Now we’ve looked at all the armor. A soldier’s armor protects his body, but God’s armor protects our spiritual well-being. The breastplate protects our heart. The helmet protects our thoughts and the shoes give us stability, traction, and surefootedness as we stand against Satan’s work and advance into his territory. The Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, provides a powerful weapon that Satan cannot resist.
God himself has provided everything we need for our spiritual battle and we need to be very thankful to him for all these things—especially the Lord Jesus, since he himself is our armor in every way.
2 Thessalonians 3:3 says: “But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.”