A brief look at the Armor of God

“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. ¹⁸ 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.” Ephesians 6:10-18

As a prelude to Paul’s magnificent introduction to the armor of God, the great apostle to the Gentiles exhorts the Ephesians to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty, manifested power. The first thing we must understand is that the armor comes from God and must be based on God. Its origin is never from man - not from ourselves, but from God!

What is the purpose of this armor? It is to take our stand against the devil’s plans. It is for use in the spiritual realm, specifically for our struggle against the spiritual forces of darkness - the rulers, authorities and powers of this dark world. The word Paul used here for struggle actually means to wrestle, as in the ancient Greek sport of hand-to-hand wrestling. This gives us the impression that the endurance and persistence are very essential qualities in this battle.

Looking at the armor itself, we first see that the belt of truth must be buckled on before any of the pieces. In those ancient days, the belt was important for a Roman soldier to keep not only his inner garments tight and secure but also his armor together. Without a belt, bits of untidy garment could trip him during battle, and also bits of armor could fall out of place, leaving him exposed. Basically, the belt holds everything together. Therefore, for the Christian, of foremost importance is the truth of God.

In this time and age, the devil has worked very hard to make truth relative, and the popular thinking that what is true for you may not be the same as what is true for me. Pontius Pilate asked “What is truth?” but Jesus in His prayer to the Father said “Your Word is truth!” God’s Word is the truth that must be our foundation, and not just a superficial knowledge but a firm conviction and correct interpretation concerning the truth of what the Bible says. And truth expressed itself is our Lord Jesus Christ, for He said “I am the way, the truth, and the life!” Jesus Christ is the ultimate truth and foundation of our life – His death to forgive our sins, His resurrection to bring eternal life for us, and His ongoing lordship as we follow His way! Everything that we do must stem from this eternal truth!

The second piece of armor is the breastplate of righteousness. When we believe in Jesus, His righteousness is credited to us. Only by Jesus’ righteousness can we be justified, just as if we had never sinned. We cannot depend on our own righteousness. Paul exhorts us to be clothed with the Lord.  

It is interesting that Paul also said to put on faith and love as a breastplate. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Only after we hear and believe the truth of God’s Word that we receive His righteousness. And love, is the primary reason God provided the way to righteousness for us and love is what we are saved for, to love God and to love each other. If we say we have received God’s righteousness, but have not love for God or love for each other, we deceive ourselves.

The third piece of God’s armor are the shoes of the gospel of peace. The natural consequence of receiving God’s righteousness and peace ourselves are to want to share this great gift of salvation with others. Those who are made righteous in Christ automatically will begin to have the heart of a peacemaker, wanting to bring God’s peace to others. The type of shoes we wear signify where we want to go. If we wear tennis shoes, we intend to play tennis. If we wear ballroom shoes, we intend to go for a dance. Wearing the shoes of the gospel of peace means being ready to speak to others about the Lord at any given opportunity, whether in season or out of season. Our shoes in this sense show our mindset and priorities in life, whether for our Lord or for our own ambitions or pleasures.

The fourth piece of God’s armor is the shield of faith. Earlier we saw how the breastplate of righteousness also has the substance of faith. What is faith? It is the substance of things hope for, the evidence of things not yet seen. The Romans soldier’s shield was so large, it could protect his whole body if positioned correctly. Faith encompasses our whole being. It is not a one time statement of confession, it is an ongoing way of life. We are to live by faith and not by sight. Again, where does faith come from? By hearing from the Word of God. Faith comes from hearing God’s voice which reminds us of the importance of having that close two-way relationship with God. No matter what the devil accuses us of, we can lean on God’s Word and promises to us. We are redeemed by the blood of the lamb. We have been made righteous with Jesus. He will never leave us nor forsake us. He is preparing a place for us in heaven. He promises to give us hope and a future. It is not empty faith, but faith based on the Word of God!

Finally, there is the helmet of salvation, which completes the defensive armor of the Christian. In another Scripture, Paul calls us to put on the hope of salvation as a helmet. What does the helmet protect? The head, the brain, the mind. The battle always begins in the mind. In the garden of Eden, the devil attacked Eve’s mind subtly, challenging her belief system about God, challenging the validity of God’s rule for her, even planting half-truths and lies in her mind. Our minds can be easily distracted, easily caught up with less important things. And circumstances and discouragement can cause our minds to worry, waver and doubt. That’s why Paul reminds us to always come back to the fundamental truth and most important thing in our thinking, our salvation. Whatever happens in this world, whatever we lose, whatever goes wrong, the most important thing is that we are saved in Jesus Christ. We only need to remain in Him and cling to Him. With that fundamental truth always present in our mindset, we will not be shaken, for we are secure in the salvation of Christ.

It is also useful to compare the Lord’s Beatitudes to the Armor of God. The more we behold our Lord Jesus and His holiness, the more acutely aware do we become of our own spiritual poverty and this causes us to mourn in repentance. Being aware of this, we humble ourselves and turn to Jesus Christ to save us (belt), and he then clothes us with His righteousness that we hunger for (breastplate). In the Lord’s righteousness, we then become pure in heart, and are able to see God, that is to understand God, His character and His love, making our minds more and more secure in the knowledge of His salvation (helmet). Secure in our minds and hearts, we are then ready to go forth (shoes) with the gospel of peace to be peacemakers, bringing men back to peace with God. As we go forth as peacemakers to bring peace, we are persecuted by those who do not want peace, and here is where we need the (shield) of faith, the unwavering belief in Jesus that is in us that keeps us strong in the Lord in spite of persecution.

Now Paul doesn’t just stop with the armor, but goes on to speak of two offensive types of weapons. The first is the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. It is the same Holy Spirit who inspired men to write the Bible through the ages, and it is the same Holy Spirit who brings the Word of God to us actively today to wage war in the Heavenlies. When tempted by the devil, the Lord Jesus showed us how He used Scripture skillfully to rebut his adversary. For us, we are reminded of the importance of reading, understanding and memorizing the Word of God, which the Holy Spirit will bring to our remembrance at the right time.

The second offensive weapon is prayer, specifically prayer in the Spirit, all kinds of prayers and requests, and praying for the Lord’s people. Prayer needs to be a lifestyle as well for us. We can pray constantly as we walk, as we drive, as we work, knowing that a prayerful life wages war effectively in the spiritual realm!

In conclusion, we see that the armor of God is basically based on an ongoing close relationship of faith and love with God founded on the truth of Jesus Christ’s great salvation expressed out in a lifestyle intent on sharing the gospel of peace with others in love. And two major characteristics of this lifestyle is a deep love for the Word of God and prayer.