Belt of Truth
Ephesians 6.10-20
Rick Warren said that “life on earth is a test. God continually test people’s character, faith, obedience, love, integrity, and loyalty.”
In Ephesians 6.10-20, Paul said that Christian life is warfare. Satan and his spiritual forces are committed to hinder and obstruct the work of Christ and to knock the individual follower of Christ out of combat.
In reality, the ultimate power of the devil was destroyed by our Savior and Lord by the cross. No matter what happened today, the devil had lost the battle. The final eradication of the devil and his works are due on judgment day.
Colossians 2.15. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
Hebrews 2.14-15. Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
For the meantime, God allow Satan to accomplish His will , to reveal his glory, to advance his kingdom, and to transform us into the image of Christ. Daily we engage in a spiritual warfare.
Romans 7.15-19. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.
My goal this morning is to inform you how to win more wars if not all against the devil. We have set out goals, resolutions, and expectations, what we can we do to ensure our victory against our struggles?
Paul gave two instructions in Ephesians 6.10-13 that are vital in ensuring our victory against all odds.
1. Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. (6.10)
The instruction revealed that we need the strength of the Lord to tackle the devils’ schemes. In our own strength we are no match for the devil. Those who win the spiritual war are those who are conscious of their own weakness and ineffectiveness, and who rely solely on Him.
How do we draw strength from the Lord? We draw strength from the Lord as we engage in spiritual exercises. Personal devotion with God through prayer and reading of His word. Asking God’s Holy Spirit to guide and lead our lives.
2. Put on the full armor of God. (6.11)
Paul’s instruction shows that believers do not automatically wear the “armor of God.” It is true that positionally we have His grace and truth in our lives but experientially, it involves putting on the full armor of God.
The armor involves daily living in truth, righteousness, and faith; standing firm in our faith, ready to quench the enemy’s darts with God’s shield, and living in the hope, standing ready to tell others the good news about Jesus.
Why do we need to rely on the strength of God and the full armor of God?
1. Devil’ Schemes - The devil has various strategies like discouragement, frustration, confusion, moral failure, conflicts, and doctrinal error. He knows our weakest point and aims for it. If he cannot disable us by one method, he will try for another.
2. Nature of Struggle - Paul emphasized that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against rulers, authorities, powers of this dark world, and spiritual forces of evil. (6.12)
The battle is against demonic forces, against battalions of fallen angels, against evil spirits who wield tremendous power. Though we cannot see them, we are constantly surrounded by wicked spirit-beings.
While it is true that they cannot indwell a true believer, they can oppress and harass him. Relying on our own strength is foolishness. Every day we engage in spiritual warfare and we need spiritual strength and protection to win our daily struggles.
The more effective a believer is for the Lord, the more he will experience the savage attacks of the enemy: the devil does not waste his ammunition on nominal Christians.
Today, we are going to look at the different parts of the armor of God and see how we can utilize them in winning our daily struggles in life.
Let us consider one part of the armor of God. What does it mean? Why do we need to wear it? How can we use it as a protection from the devil?
1. With the belt of truth buckled around your waist.
The belt of a Roman soldier was typically a wide leather belt designed to hold the soldier’s tunic in place. The soldier tucked his outer garment under the belt so that the tunic would not hinder his running or fighting.
When his belt was tightened, he was ready for battle. On the other hand, slackened belt meant that the soldier was off duty. As believers, we must always wear the belt of truth around our waist.
What does it mean?
1. Wearing the belt of truth means that we embrace Christ and his words as embodiment of truth. (John 14:6)
It means adapting the truths He revealed and his ways. It believes that He did what we cannot do for ourselves. It is accepting that facts that he accomplished for the believers – sacrificial death, forgiveness of sins, freedom to approach God’s throne of grace, and acceptance into the kingdom of God.
All these truths are found in his Word and knowing and embracing them would liberate us from the lies Satan inflicted on us.
John 8.31-32. To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Satan is a liar (John 8:44) and one of his primary attack strategies is to feed us lies or to entice us to lie to ourselves. The best defense against his lies is the truth.
a. I must strive to be good to be accepted by God – We believe the lie that God’s acceptance is dependent on our good performance. Having a sinful and corrupt heart made us impossible to really live a good life acceptable to God, thus frustration comes.
It is only by believing and appropriating the sacrificial death of Christ that we gain our acceptance by God. Believing the Christ made us righteous, holy, and pure by his death on the cross is what made us acceptable to God. (See Ephesians 1:3-10, “in Christ”; Romans 5.8)
b. I must have everyone’s love and approval – if I’m not loved and approved by everyone, then I’m doomed to a life of unhappiness. I must try to be what others want so they will like me. Receiving other’s approval becomes more important than pleasing God. (1 Thessalonians 4.1)
c. “Personal Worth = Performance” –the belief that one’s worth as a human being has to do with how well or how much one performs. For example, believing one’s worth is linked to how well one does his or her job. This leads to an unhealthy view of self-worth. Our worth comes from being made in the image of God, not from personal performance. (Genesis 1.26)
As the New Year starts, buckle the belt of truth by embracing Christ and His Words as the embodiment of truth. Stop believing the lies that Satan feed us.
2. Wearing the belt of truth means living a life of integrity and honesty.
John 3.20-21. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.
A life of integrity and honesty is being able to accept one’s limitation and weakness but depending on God to living truthfully and honestly. Wearing the belt of truth means giving up deceptive behavior, hypocrisy, lying, and dishonesty.
On the other hand, we succumb to Satan’s temptations when we speak or live anything less than the truth. When we live a life of hypocrisy, the belt is not on us.
Do you consistently speak the truth?
Do you give in to temptations to tell “little white lies” or to avoid the truth?
Are your public and private lives consistent with each other?
Do you strive to be the same person internally as you are externally?
Are you currently covering up any lies?
Do you ever rationalize your wrong, even when you know God is displeased?
Do you ever lie to convince yourself that your particular sins are sometimes acceptable?
To win the battle of spiritual warfare, we must fight by knowing, believing, and living God’s truth. The belt of truth must be buckled tightly about our waist. If you are wearing the belt of truth today, ask God to give you the integrity to wear it every day.
If your life lacks truthfulness and integrity, take time now to confess to God your wrong and ask His forgiveness. Decide now that you will always tell the truth and live a life of integrity.
Another year has come, a life of constant struggle between right and wrong, between good and evil are evident but we don’t need to lose the war if we buckle the belt of truth around our waist.
