The Whole Armor of God

Ephesians 6:10-18 – The Whole Armor of God

¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. ¹¹Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. ¹²For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. ¹³Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. ¹⁴Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; ¹⁷and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, ¹⁸praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

Let’s take a look at the whole armor of God, piece by piece, shall we. First of the pieces mentioned is the belt of truth. The belt of truth, I believe, refers to the truth that is God and Jesus Christ, apart from whom there is no truth. This might also be said as the belt of the knowledge of truth. It is this truth that gives birth to all the rest of the pieces, therefore is central to the whole armor of God. Next is the breast plate of righteousness. In a suit of armor, the breast plate is a large piece of metal or some other hard material that protects the torso, where most of the body’s vital organs are held. Just as a physical breastplate would protect the vitals of a person’s physique, a breastplate of righteousness protects one’s spirit from harm. For example, a physical breastplate would prevent such injuries as a sword penetrating a lung, because the sword wouldn’t be able even to penetrate the skin, much less get to the lung; similarly, a breastplate of righteousness will protect from such spiritual injuries as falling into a life of sin, for in a state of righteousness, sin is not only undesirable, but for the righteous, by definition, it is impossible. I would now like to note that up until now, all the armor has been passive armor, meaning that in order for it to do its job, one need only to wear it. The rest of the armor, with one exception, is active armor, meaning that simply wearing will do you almost no good. For active armor to work, one must use it. That being said, the next piece of armor is the shoes of readiness, or the “readiness given by the gospel of peace.” They, like any other shoe, will do nothing if by themselves. The person wearing them must put forth effort in order for them to do what they were designed to do. Like physical shoes were meant to protect and aid in propulsion (walking, running, jumping, etc.), the shoes of readiness, or the gospel, will aid in one’s spiritual movement. While we are moving spiritually this way or that, there will be some stumbling blocks in the way put there by the enemy, and in those situations, the gospel, the shoes of readiness, provide protection so that our spirit is not damaged and allows us to traverse over such obstacles. As was previously stated, the shoes of readiness are of no use unless use is made of them. Next in the list of armor is a vital piece of the suit, the shield of faith. The shield of faith is a very powerful piece of armor, for it is able to “extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one”. If you’ve ever seen a shield that goes with a suit of armor, they’re usually not big enough to protect the whole person at once. There is a good reason for this. If the shield were big enough to protect the entire body at all times, one, it would eliminate the need for the suit of armor, but more importantly two, it would not be easily toted; the user would be relatively immobile, that’s a bad thing for a soldier. Because it is, relative to the user, small in size, it must be correctly used to be effective. For a physical shield to be effectively used, one must put it between themselves and the incoming threat. Similarly, for the shield of faith to be used effectively, one must focus their faith toward incoming threats, or flaming darts, so that in faith, one will be able to stand against whatever opposition he is facing. Like the shoes, for the shield to be effective, it must be used. The next element of the whole armor of God is the helmet of salvation. I mentioned an exception early to the last pieces being active armor, this is it. Like a physical helmet, one need only to sport it to be protected by it. The helmet of salvation protects that which matters most, the soul. A physical helmet protects the head, in which the brain, which controls everything that the body does, resides, likewise, the helmet of salvation protects the soul, which ultimately dictates what the spirit does, or at least is the essence of the spirit. This piece of armor is very important. The next and final piece is the only offensive piece of the entire suit: “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” To take a closer look at this piece, we must go to a different passage. In Hebrews 4:12, the author states “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” So from this we can conclude that the sword of the spirit, or the word of God is a very powerful piece of the armor, and in fact, a weapon, but like the shoes and the shield, for any sword to be effective, it must be wielded, and wielded correctly. As a side note, I feel I need to mention that just like a physical sword, the sword of the spirit can be incorrectly wielded, at which point it has the potential to become very dangerous.

We have now detailed the whole armor of God, what do we do with it now? We can put in on, and we can even know how to use it, but, like a physical suit of armor, there is no need for it if one is not engaged in battle. Therefore, Paul goes on to say, “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.” This denotes that to pray is to engage in battle, which in turn gives way to the term ‘prayer warrior’. To be a prayer warrior is to pray constantly, or close to it. To pray is the way in which we engage the enemy, we petition God to act. In the face engagement, the enemy responds in kind, fighting back, hence the need for spiritual armor. Are you a warrior for God; are you part of God’s army?

Take a look for a moment the life of Christ Jesus. It is recorded that he prayed more than he did anything else, possibly even sleep. Jesus was most definitely a spiritual warrior. That being said, do you follow Christ? Do you follow the teachings and life of the one and only spiritual Rambo? Isn’t that what a Christian is, a follower of Christ and his teachings? Are you a Christian? Really think about that question. Are you trying to emulate the character that Jesus had? Are you trying to grow closer to God though the disciplines and avenues that Christ presented? Do you have aspirations to be a prayer warrior? When it comes down to it, you are either trying to follow Christ, or you are not, there is not middle ground. I’ll ask the question again: Are you a Christian?