Armor of God

I've been wanting to do a message regarding the armor of God for a while now. But for one reason or another, wasn't able to quite get it put together. I have a renewed sense of importance that we need to examine just what it means to be clothed in the full armor of God. I've been observing things that have been going on in the world, and things that are happening with Christians right now, and there's a lot of spiritual influence going on that we need to be careful of. I believe that there is a lot going on in the spiritual realm. I believe our adversary seeks to knock us from our paths, and the closer you're following God's will for your life, the more focus that "bull's eye" will be on you. So I believe it's important to understand the armor of God, and how it is that we can apply it to our lives.

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² 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. ¹³ 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. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Ephesians 6:10-17 (NIV)

So, looking at these verses, how is it we can do this? How can we apply this to our lives? Well, this is at least the way I've come to understand it.

The first part, Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist...

I believe it's important that we live in truth, and speak in truth. If we find deceit to be a regular player in our lives, then we will not be able to wear the belt of truth. Likewise, the occassional lie here and there, even "white lies", make it increasingly difficult to properly wield the belt of truth. Like the Roman soldiers in the past whose belts' sole purpose was to support the rest of the armor and their weapon, this, too, will support the rest of the armor of God. Jesus is truth, and therefore the support and foundation for the rest of the armor.

The next part, with the breastplate of righteousness in place...

In battle, the breastplate serves one purpose, and that is to protect the vital organs. We need to understand that our own righteousness will not protect us. Only through God do we receive protection. However, we should make every effort to follow God's commandments. While we're not perfect, we cannot use this fact and the gift of grace as an excuse to go out doing whatever it is we want to do. We need to seek to live righteous lives through Christ. God grants protection for those who follow His commands. This protection, I believe, is mostly observed in the spiritual, though it can translate into the physical as well. This doesn't mean that we won't be without hard times, it's the hard times that allow us to grow and rely more heavily on God. It does help us in dealing with these hard times, though. Those who live in active sin open a doorway to spiritual influence. Oppression, and in most extreme cases even possession. If we apply the breastplate of righteousness by living under His will and repenting of any sin in our lives, then the foothold the enemy can gain against us will crumble. The door we didn't even realize was opened, would be slammed shut.

It goes on to say, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace...

I believe that this means we need to be prepared with the good news of Jesus Christ, and to be ready to share this with others. It is through Jesus that we can be brought into peace with God. Show peace in your actions and the way you encounter others, and allow this to be your firm foothold.

Then it 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...

Faith is truly important. With faith, mountains can be moved. The enemy will use any tactic against us he can manage, but having faith that God is greater than anything that comes against us will shield us from their advances. If we hold tight to the shield of faith, then we are protected. Without the shield, we rely only on ourselves, our own abilities. But if you think about it, just like the person standing in the battlefield without a shield, can they rely on their own ability for protection from the rain of arrows that's coming down on them? Likewise, we can't rely on our own defenses against the arrows of the enemy. But with faith in Christ, we are shielded.

Take the helmet of salvation...

Needless to say, without being saved we cannot wear the helmet of salvation. It is an essential part of the armor, and without it there is no survival. We have to give ourselves fully over to Jesus, and allow Him to be our Savior, our Deliverer, because we can neither save nor deliver ourselves.

Then it says, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God...

God's Word is powerful, and it can cut down the defenses of the enemy. The written word is the Bible, and the living word is Jesus Christ. The power of both the living word, and the written word are mighty weapons against the adversary. Simply the name of Jesus alone holds much power. His name alone causes demons to flee. We can even see the power that His name holds, or even that the Bible holds, in the physical as well.

Looking at names like Muhammad and Buddha, Krishna, Zeus, or any of the many that you can take your pick from, if you mention these names in front of a group of people you won't create nearly the reaction that you would if you'd speak the name of Jesus Christ instead. All we have to do is mention HIS name or quote a verse from scripture and the world squirms and takes offense. When we wield the sword of the Spirit and allow it to be directed by God, it then becomes a very powerful piece of the armor.

The important thing is to be sure to equip the full armor. If any piece is missing, that leaves us open to attack and we become less effective.

Also notice that there seems to be two aspects of applying each piece. The first and most important is that every piece always comes back to Jesus. Without Jesus, we cannot apply this armor. The second is the condition of our lives. We need to examine ourselves and see how our lives line up with this. We need to examine what areas we need to change in order for the armor to be able to fit. This doesn't mean that you won't slip up, but what's important is that when you do, you just need to be certain that you pray and repent over it. Active sin, as I mentioned before, will open us up to spiritual attack and spiritual strongholds. A stronghold is an area of your life in which the devil knows is a weakness for you. It's an area that they will seek to use against you, and it's particular strong spiritual influence is aimed at disturbing your walk with Christ. Now, if we've opened ourselves up to influence and strongholds through sin, how can we expect the protection that the armor of God will grant us if we have allowed ourselves to be exposed in the first place?