Ephesians Chapter 6 in the Bible gives Christians the instruction to use armor to protect ourselves. What are we guarding against and what does each piece of the armor do?
The Book of Ephesians in the Bible is a letter from the apostle Paul to the Church at Ephesus. Paul had lived and preached at Ephesus for three years, and these Christians were close to his heart. His intent was to encourage and strengthen their faith, and his letter serves the same purpose for us.
One of the lessons that Paul teaches in Ephesians is that Christians are in a spiritual war. We are soldiers of Christ and will be tried and attacked by the enemy. Different churches and doctrines will have different definitions of the enemy, but I keep it simple. The enemy is Satan and his demons. They present themselves in many guises, but they are the same enemy. Lust, pride, anger, jealousy, deceit, murder and any other sin you could think of has a spiritual force behind it that we must guard against and to do that we must be equipped.
In Chapter Six of Ephesians, Paul tells us what armor we'll need to protect ourselves in the spiritual battle waged against us as soldiers of Christ. He starts by telling us about the war:
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For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (KJV)
Principalities, powers and rulers of the darkness are our enemies. These entities are as real as angels and they will draw us into battle; most often with the weapons of temptation and deception. Christians must always be on guard and prepared to fight off that which we know to be sin. We must be wise and discerning to guard against deception. Never forget that Satan was a beautiful angel. His deceptions can be clothed very nicely and appear quite attractive, but under the garments you'll find sin and temptation.
The entire purpose of a war is to crush the enemy. That's what Satan would like to do to Christians. He'd like to kill as many of us in the spirit as he can. To protect ourselves, we must put on the armor of the Lord. Paul tells us to ""¦ take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." (vs 13, KJV) We do not need to try to win anything, the war is won, and Christ is already the victor. We need only to stand. It means just that, too. We need to just keep standing against the temptations and the deceptions. That alone is a big job. But our Lord doesn't leave us without weapons of defense.
Vs 14 "Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;" (KJV). Paul compares our Christian armor to armor the Ephesians would have been familiar with, that of the Romans. A Roman soldier's girdle is what held his entire uniform together and kept it in place. Our loins are the center of our physical being and Paul is telling us to guard our center with truth and that truth is what holds all of our Christian equipment together. Truth is the core of Christian faith.
A Roman breastplate was a metal shield of sorts that strapped on and guarded the soldier's chest. Within the chest lies our heart. When our heart stops beating we die. Thus, the heart is a key target that an enemy will try to hit to end our lives. Our heart is also symbolic as the home of our spirit. The breastplate we are given to protect our heart is righteousness. Not our righteousness, Christ's. We have already gotten God's approval, He sent Christ to be righteousness for us. No trick or scheme of Satan can take away that righteousness unless we let down our breastplate and bare our heart for him to take. By holding the sacrifice of Christ against our heart as a shield, we cannot be lost by attack to the heart.
Vs 15 "And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;" (KJV) Here Paul is telling us that we must be prepared to tell the Gospel, to run and spread the Good News. To do so, God has covered our feet making us able to travel long distances without injury that would slow us down. Shoes are important armor. If an army can't stand from wounds to its feet, it can scarcely do battle. Satan would love for us to have wounds to our spiritual feet. The last thing he wants is to have us running around as fast as we can spreading the Word. He'll attack our feet by telling us the work is too hard, that there is no one that will listen, that we will be branded crazy if we try to spread the Good News. He's just trying to steal your shoes. Don't let him.
Vs 16 "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." (KJV) A shield is a movable defense tool. A Roman shield was carried on the forearm and the soldier could fend off weapons from any direction by swinging his shield to guard the area under attack. We have a formidable shield in faith. Our faith can answer any lie that the enemy would throw at us. We can throw up our shield of faith to guard against any attack. Lies, temptations and fear will all be thrown, hurled and shot at us, but when we become wily with our shield, the weapons can do us no harm. Feed your faith with the Word of God. Keep your armor in good condition so it will protect you.
Vs 17 "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:" (KJV) One of Satan's most powerful weapons is deception. To deceive, he must get to your mind. Keeping your helmet on will prevent him from attacking your mind. Your helmet is your salvation. You have been bought for a price, the price being Christ's work on the cross. Nothing can take that away from you. You are a Child of God. As long as you keep on your helmet of salvation, the enemy cannot defeat you. Protect your mind from the lies that the enemy will try to tell you. They will try to convince you that you're not really saved, that you're too bad to be saved. Salvation works for other people but not for you. These are lies. Your salvation is real. You must only claim it and cling to it.
A sword is used to repel attack as well as to attack. This is the only offensive weapon that we require and that weapon is the Word of God. Knowing what God says will allow you to repel the lies thrown at you by the enemy. Jesus repelled Satan's attacks on him in the desert with the Word. This is exactly what we must be able to do. Counter all the lies and deceptions with the Word. Measure all things against the Word of God to find out whether they are truth or not. And, play offense, too. Knowing the Word allows you to carry it to those who don't know the truth. You are able to use your sword against those things that would lie to people you share the Word with. Dedicated study of the Word will make you a formidable soldier.
While Paul was teaching in metaphor in this set of verses in Ephesians, it is good practice to take up the armor mentally every day in our devotions. Make putting on the armor of God a conscious part of your day. Reflect on the meaning of each piece as you spend time in devotion. The strength of your faith will grow immensely if you do. And, your effectiveness as a Christian soldier will, too.
