Anchor My Faith

Put On the Whole Armor of God

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. (Ephesians 6:11 ESV)

Our verse for today is found in a very well-known section which is titled, “The Armor of God” in the ESV Study Bible and includes verses 10 through 20 of Ephesians chapter 6. This is a verse of instruction, that opens the section, and gives the reason why the instruction should be followed. The instruction is to “Put on the whole armor of God” and the reason given is the strength it provides, which is needed, in standing against the schemes of the devil.

The opening verse of this section is, ¹⁰ “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” which indicates that Paul is near the end of his instruction material of Ephesians. In order to live out what he has instructed his readers to do, we will need to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. As believers, we are still human and do not have the strength to stand against super-human powers we will be facing and thus we will need to rely upon the strength of the Lord’s own might. We have the promise of this strength in Ephesians 1:19 ESV: “and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might.” This strength is available primarily through prayer (Ephesians 6:18).

We can pray for strength, but it must be accompanied with us having on the full armor of God because it contains the elements that prayer will strengthen to provide us with the strength we will need to stand against the schemes of the devil, and what do these schemes entail?

¹² “For we [will] 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. ¹³ Therefore 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.”

What is the armor of God that we will need to stand against these spiritual forces? What are its elements or parts? The armor of God has six elements or parts: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, shoes for our feet to take the gospel of peace to others, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. Each of these elements or parts would take a lesson to cover, so let us close this lesson with a very brief description of each.

The belt of truth is listed first and is of utmost importance because Jesus said that he is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:16), and that it is only through him that one comes to God. Without truth, the rest of the armor would be of no use to us because we would not have the Spirit of truth (John 15:26).

The breastplate of righteousness represents another part of God’s strength that is extended to us when we become born spiritually. For our sake God made Jesus to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Shoes for our feet indicates a readiness to take the gospel of peace, which is the message Jesus gave to those who trust him, to others. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” John 14:27).

The shield of faith provides a means of protection against the flaming arrows of the devil’s attacks. When an attack seems overwhelming, “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 ESV).

The helmet of salvation is a metaphor for the assurance of our salvation which is our impenetrable defense against anything the enemy throws at us.” Because of our salvation “[we are able to] destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5 ESV).

The sword of the Spirit is the word of God and “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” (Hebrew 4:12 ESV). We are to “Be diligent to present [our self] approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15 ESV).

Father, the content of this lesson is so important for us to know and live out but requires several more lessons to fully understand and apply to our lives. I pray for an opportunity to write more lessons on this in the future. Thank you for each element of the armor and its provision for us in living holy and righteous lives.