The Armour of God

Eph 6:11 “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil”.

The verse says that we need the armor of God to get the “ability” to stand against the wiles. These are the basic necessities for surviving or even just standing. The requirement of armor is that we do not know the enemy and so cover everything as much as possible. This acceptance is something this chapter teaches us. A Christian has be alert in all aspects to be successful. The armor is totally different from the concept of gifts which are optional. The armor is mandatory for every soldier for survival. The only difference between various men of god is the talent or gift they use for fighting.

The previous verse is the foremost foundation in this warfare: being strong in the Lord and the power of his might. Our understanding, love, obedience and relationship with God should be very strong and determine what we are. The armor is for every soldier, but a person becomes a soldier only when he is strong and otherwise, cannot hold this responsibility. We should allow the power of God’s might strengthen us.

The devil uses wiles meaning that he plans a lot cunningly to make us fail. We expect the darts only in a few forms we have been seeing in horror movies. Cunningness has a feature of pleasing us initially giving an illusion of what would come. And this cunningness is elaborated in the next verse as principalities, powers, rulers of darkness and wickedness that reach up to high places. A whole government and army is present there which is not to slay us directly but cunningly. Sometimes, it is preached that evil spirits steal blessings from us and we need to claim them back by shouting in the name of Jesus or praying or by quoting verses. We should consider the devil as a strong enemy who always waits for our failure and we need to be equipped strongly with the armor in order to survive the battle.

We can see similarities between earthly governments and this verse (verse 12). We have the spiritual wickedness as the actual forces we face in the war similar to goons or even policemen or army. Then rulers of darkness like the officers who control them. Then powers similar to Collectors or Thasildhars who ensure the rulers work efficiently and ultimately the principalities or law-makers. Somehow, it is fatal in our governments that the law-makers are given complete authority over everything in the government making powers and rulers obsolete.

We also need to understand the importance of winning the battle. Jesus had crushed Satan’s head through His life. Meaning, all the wiles of Satan had failed to make

Jesus fall. Our leader has made Satan a failure through His righteous and perfect living. Satan has failed at Jesus, but still has authority now and the victory of Jesus and the strength the Holy Spirit gives us an opportunity to win over Satan. Our victory is attained only when we finish living like Jesus did.

Belt of Truth

The first item in the armor is the belt which holds a person up and gives him the confidence. The truth is that Jesus is the only way to heaven. This truth should be strongly fit in us so that however any weapon of confusion comes, the truth will remain the same even if we die. This cannot be shaken. A loose or weak doctrine in us will weaken all the other protections we have. Based on John 8:32, it is required that we understand the truth completely and that frees us from the devil and makes us a strong opponent.

Breastplate of Righteousness

The breastplate is the innermost of all the other protections. This is behind the sword and shield. Also this is the most inactive thing here. We do not act or control using the breastplate. Similarly, righteousness should be something that we should attain as a habit and these characteristics will protect us subconsciously even if we do not apply it with our will.

Preparation of the Gospel of Peace: the slippers.

Interestingly being available for ministry is shown as a part of the armor. This preparation helps us move forward in our spiritual life. The gospel and truth contain the same information that Jesus saves. But the truth is something that we have and the gospel is when we share with others. We can see the same similarity between the belt and the slippers here. When a belt holds everything together, the preparation of evangelizing helps us move forward. Also, our preparation gives us more understanding of the truth. Rom 1:16 says that the Gospel is the power of God that is sent to others from us.

Shield of Faith

This is the most important thing of the armor and is emphasized by Paul himself saying “above all”. We can use this as a formula during trouble or testing. The first thing we do is that ensure that our trust in Jesus is intact and cannot be broken. The answer to everything in our life is that “God is in control”. This will help us keep away from anger or any other failure. This faith alone helped martyrs suffer. They strongly believed in Jesus and His promises of eternal life even though they haven’t seen anything with their eyes. Again, let us note that the shield is for “fiery darts” which cause immediate harm and look evil. Faith is sufficient for known enemies, but the enemy is crafty and may cause harm from any direction.

Helmet of Salvation

Salvation is from God and protects our head the most important part of the body. Also, this gives the understanding that the grace of God is the highest protection far above our righteousness or even faith. Unless God saves us, we look foolish carrying any other armor in the warfare.

Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God

This sword is the only offensive weapon here. The sword or word had the power to penetrate deep inside to our spirit and give us the understanding of the truth. This word does not initiate from us, but from the Holy Spirit. Whenever we fight against evil, we first pray and ask the Holy Spirit to come and give us words or verses. If we do not let the Holy Spirit take over, our warfare will fail miserably. (Heb 4:12)

Prayer

This preparation is not during warfare but while waiting for the enemy. Prayer keeps us awake. Prayer for other saints is also mentioned here which keeps us watchful. The word “all” implies many types and requirements for prayer and we need to give them all while waiting.

This armor and preparation makes us just stand and to win in this war, we are required to survive till our death and then Satan will be crushed just as Jesus did to him.