The Whole Armor of God

The Whole Armor of God

And now one of what some might see as a more controversial posting…

Did you know that every day, you, your family, your faith and some of your most fundamental values are under attack by forces both devious and dangerous?

“What?!?!” you say, “How can that be? Everything is going great. Job is good, kids seem ok, wife is happy.”

Nonetheless, everything you hold dear is subject to persistent, sometimes overt but mostly subtle assaults by an evil we cannot see, the devil and his minions. We cannot see these attacks directly, only the effects and fallout of the battles waged and lost are visible to us:

• Families destroyed by husbands & wives seduced by the lure of easy sex out of marriage.

• Teen lives extinguished by suicide after buying into the enemy’s lies of hopelessness & despair amid life’s every day struggles.

• Children coming home after school to empty houses not out of necessity but because their parents have bought into the ultimately empty philosophy of material success where “more stuff, more $$” is better than time with their families.

• Parents, in a total abrogation of what the Bible calls on them to be, take the easy way out allowing our faith-adrift society to be the primary basis of your children’s core values rather than taking the time for solid biblical parenting.

• People thinking they are on their way to heaven because they think they sufficiently tipped the scales so their “good” outweighs their “bad”.

Now I know some of you who are reading this are saying to themselves - “Please dude, you are a nut job. Are you serious? The “devil”…? Really….? Please….”

I get that in today’s society, the idea that a supernatural force might aligned against you can be seen as alarmist and be discounted out of hand as hyper-religious dogma or even as bell-ringing, sign-wearing “The End is Near” crazy guy lunacy.

And in some cases you are probably even correct. Talking about the devil today is out of style, and those who do are subject to ridicule. Even in many Christian churches, the subjects of hell, the devil, and spiritual warfare is neglected, discounted as uncomfortable for congregation, sometimes even shunned.

And you know what? The enemy would not have it any other way.

Because these battles for our hearts & minds are ultimately spiritual in nature, the enemy behind them cannot be fought with tangible weapons.

2 Corinthians 10:3-6 New King James Version (NKJV)

3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

The cost of losing these battles is high as the enemy seeks nothing less than our separation from the love of God. However, intangeable does not equate to defenseless, not by any stretch of the imagination!

God in His omniscient wisdom has provided us with the means to confront the enemy’s lies and triumph over him and Paul tells us how.

Ephesians 6:10-19

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—

Briefly explained, the elements of the full Armor of God consist of:

1.      The Belt of Truth: The truth of your enemy and his intentions is essential to victory. In John 8:44, the Bible says our enemy is the very antithesis of truth – He (the devil) was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Putting on the ultimate “truth” of our Salvation in Christ for our own protection negates the deceptions of our enemy.

2.      The Breastplate of Righteousness: A breastplate covered a soldier’s vital organs from a frontal attack. In our spiritual warfare Paul means that we are to put on the righteousness of Christ we received by our faith in Him. This will protect our hearts from buying into the baseless and seditious charges and accusations of the devil.

3.      Feet Shod with the Gospel Of Peace: In regular warfare, natural and manmade obstacles have to be contended with and a soldiers feet protected from harm. In our war with Satan, as we advance against him we can fall prey to many traps (feelings of helplessness and inadequacy for example) he has prepared against us but our sure understanding of the Gospel Of Peace will ensure we do not become ensnared.

4.      The Shield of Faith: A soldier’s shield was his primary means of defense from close and ranged attacks from sword and arrow. The attack, the “fiery darts” Paul refers to is are doubts. Doubt is insidious and the enemy uses every chance available to him to sow doubt amongst believers. Doubt that God’s word is true; doubts that God can and will extend His love, grace, and mercy to sinners & backsliders like ourselves; doubts that someone as poorly equipped as we perceive ourselves to be can be of any use to God, each and all can be knocked aside by our Faith in God and his promises to us, his children.

5.      The Helmet of Salvation: A good helmet is vital for a soldier to live through a battle. The head is the seed of conscious thought and the helmet Paul refers to is what protects our ideas, our “way of thinking” from compromise. Our minds are susceptible to temptation and rationalization but with the Helmet of Salvation on our heads, full of the sure gospel promise of eternal life, will not receive false doctrine or give way to Satan’s temptations.

6.      The Sword of the Spirit: In the physical battles of those ages, the sword was a primary offensive weapon. As in those physical battles, the Sword of the Spirit is also using to go on the offensive against the enemy. Paul says the Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God and no greater weapon can a believer wield against the enemy. During Jesus’ time in the desert with Satan, he used the power of the word of God to directly refute and pierce the enemy’s temptations.

Even after donning the full Armor of God, Paul exhorts us to do that thing which enables to draw upon the strength of God, and that thing is to pray. Much like a modern soldier going into battle without ammunition for his rifle, our spiritual warfare without prayer, without reliance upon and communion with God, our fight will lack the power we are able to draw upon.

As was mentioned earlier, the devil ultimately seeks to separate us from God. He wants us to trade the momentary pleasures of sin for the joy of eternity with Christ. He wants us to rely upon our own efforts to achieve heaven rather than salvation through Jesus Christ. He wants us to buy into the philosophies of the world, those of materialism, of entitlement, of self deservedness than the simple philosophy of the Son of God.

But in Romans 8:35-3,9 the Word of God says:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written:

“For Your sake we are killed all day long;

We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We should stride confidently into battle because the even the most determined attacks of the enemy cannot stand against a believer who prayerfully puts on the whole Armor of God.

So equipped, absolutely nothing can separate you from the Lover of your soul.