The Armor Of God Series

Ephesians 6:14-15 [14] Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, [15] and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. (ESV).

The retailer “Whole Foods” raised great hostility this week when they banned their employees from what they called “augmenting” their uniform in any way by adding anything to it, including a poppy. As November is a time where we remember those who have fought and died in order to secure our freedom in this country, to ban employees from wearing a poppy did not go over well. Yes, a uniform is important for work, but to neglect to wear important items can have significant consequences.

In discussing the uniform that a Christian should always have on, the Apostle Paul continues the discussion of Spiritual Warfare in Ephesians 6:14-15 about three crucial pieces of the Christian’s Armor, that one must put on in order to be prepared for battle. The Christian life is no refined engagement.... Christianity is warfare, and because of this it is necessary for the Christian soldier to wear armor adequate to resist the spiritual (and sometimes physical) onslaughts of Satan (Boice, J. M. (1988). Ephesians: an expositional commentary (pp. 243–244). Grand Rapids, MI: Ministry Resources Library.)

Satan works by trying to get people to doubt God (1 John 1:9) and make life difficult so we forsake obedience. He tries to bring doctrinal confusion (Eph. 4:14) and opposes godly service. (1 Cor. 16:9). Satan attacks believers by persuading them to trust their own resources (1 Chron. 21:1–8). All in all, he attempts to lead them into hypocrisy or embrace worldliness (Rom. 12:2). Although we should be aware of these devices of Satan, our defense against them is not simply our knowledge of them but rather God’s provision to meet them. “Therefore, take up the full armor of God,” Paul says, “that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm” (Eph. 6:13). Partial armor is not enough. We cannot know exactly when, where, or how the enemy will attack. We therefore need to have on all of God’s armor all the time. When the believer has on God’s full armor, it is not necessary to fully know or specifically understand the devil’s schemes. In fact, many times the Christian soldier will not even be aware of a danger from which God’s armor is at that moment protecting them. In Ephesians the point is not merely protection of God’s people during satanic attack but the achievement of truth, righteousness and justice as well as of the peace brought by the gospel. We should not be so preoccupied with our personal spiritual struggles, obsessed with the possibility of satanic attack, that we neglect larger fields of conflict involving God’s righteousness in this world (Liefeld, W. L. (1997). Ephesians (Vol. 10, Eph 6:13). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.).

In Ephesians 6:14–17 Paul tells us of the seven pieces of armor with which God supplies His children to withstand the onslaughts of Satan and his hosts. No one needs to remind a soldier going into battle: ‘Don’t forget your rifle!’ And yet, so often in our lives, when it comes to spiritual combat, we have a built in tendency to forget. We forget our armour, we forget our weapons, we even forget the reason why we are fighting the good fight. It must be a strange sight for the Lord looking down from his throne in heaven and seeing so many of us carelessly walking on to the battle field each day…. Whether we realise it or not, therein lies the danger. Now, in a valiant attempt to ditch that crazy attitude, Paul tells it like it really is, he spells it out. I want us to look at each item of equipment in precisely the same order that a Roman soldier would have put it on prior to going on duty. (Gordon, S. (2003). The Genius of Grace: The Message of Ephesians (pp. 400–401). Belfast, Northern Ireland; Greenville, SC: Ambassador Publications.)

Today, we will look at the first three pieces of armor, specifically: 1) The Belt of Truth (Ephesians 6:14a) , 2) The Breastplate of Righteousness (Ephesians 6:14b), and 3) Feet prepared with the Gospel (Ephesians 6:15) These are metaphors for the spiritual resources given to those in Christ.

Believers are equipped for battle with:

1) The Belt of Truth (Ephesians 6:14a)

Ephesians 6:14a [14] Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, (and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,) (ESV)

Now before setting out to do battle with as formidable a foe as the devil and all his host, one may well ask the question: “Do I really want to fight him at all? Am I sincere about this spiritual warfare?” Hence, Paul says: Stand therefore (Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. (1953–2001). Exposition of Ephesians (Vol. 7, p. 276). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.). The goal of an army is to get its opponents to break and run—preferably without a fight. So, a soldier who does not “stand,” who does not retain (their) place in formation as (an) army attacks, puts the battle in doubt. Likewise, anyone who does not stand on defense gives an opportunity to the opposition to overrun (their) unit by (their) creating a gap in the line. Consequently standing, in the sense of remaining in the battle, is crucial (Talbert, C. H. (2007). Ephesians and Colossians (p. 161). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.)