The Whole Armor of God

We as Christians are continually involved in spiritual warfare. On the one hand, Satan himself is seeking to devour us (1 Pet. 5:8), and on the other hand, the human enemies of the Gospel are persecuting us for seeking to live a godly Christian life (2 Tim. 3:12). In order to stand up to this onslaught, we will need to be strong in the Lord and not rely on our human strength alone. The battle is spiritual in nature, and it will take spiritual fortitude to win the victory. For example, if a preacher gets up and preaches a hard truth from the word of God, he may face a backlash from people who don't know or don't care what the Bible says. Humanly speaking, he may be tempted to walk back his biblical statements since so many people are saying that he is wrong. However, if he is strong in the Lord, he will have enough faith to stand by his guns about what the Bible says and not water down the message.

If we are going to effectively stand, we need to first make sure that we are grounded in truth, which is why the first step to putting on the whole armor of God is having our "loins girt about with truth" (Eph. 6:14). Taking a stand is of no value if we are standing for something that is not even true. God's word is truth (John 17:17), and we need to make sure that everything we believe is derived from scripture. Possessing the truth and being confident that it is in fact the truth will give us boldness to stand in the evil day. 

The next piece of armor, the breastplate of righteousness, is also of critical importance since it involves putting the truths we know into practice. The truths of God's word give us "instruction in righteousness" (2 Tim. 3:16), and being a doer of the word means living out those truths in our day-to-day lives. For example, the Bible teaches that we should use corporal punishment on our children (Prov. 23:13-14). The world may criticize or condemn this type of parenting, but we know from the Bible that this is a timeless truth. There may be times that we doubt the wisdom of this teaching, but if we do what the Bible says in spite of what others may say or do, we are protected by the breastplate of righteousness. Knowing the truth and putting it into practice is a powerful combination. 

The next step in putting on the whole armor of God is having our feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace. Many Christians are not actively involved with evangelizing the lost. In many cases, even if an opportunity to share the Gospel were to fall right into their laps, they would be unprepared. By continually sharing the Gospel, and thus being prepared to do so whenever the opportunity arises, we are also protecting ourselves from the Devil's attacks. This may seem counterintuitive, but upon further reflection, it makes a lot of sense. Preaching the Gospel to the lost keeps the Gospel on our minds continually which strengthens us spiritually. The Gospel will be more real and fresh to the person who is regularly witnessing to the lost, than to the person who rarely, if ever, gives the plan of salvation to anyone. 

The shield of faith has to do with believing what the Bible says in spite of the doubts that may arise. This world has an agenda to get us to doubt the word of God, and when we hit a spiritual low point, the Devil will seek to sow doubt in our minds about the way we have chosen to live our lives in accordance with scripture. He will also try to get us to doubt our salvation, which is why the helmet of the hope of salvation is so important. The more we read our Bibles and the more we listen to the Bible being preached, the stronger our faith will be. Putting the Bible into practice will also strengthen our faith as we learn from experience that God's way is the right way. Preaching the Gospel will also assure us of our own salvation as we constantly revisit the fact that we are saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8). Ultimately, every piece of armor is about having total faith in the truth of God's word. 

Conclusion

The whole armor of God is essential to living the Christian life, and putting on the whole armor is an exercise in trusting God and his word. Although we as Christians do not wrestle against flesh and blood, we are involved in spiritual warfare every day. The Devil and his minions want to create doubt in the word of God, which will ultimately lead to Christians becoming backslidden and failing to stand. The catalog of armor found in Ephesians 6 provides us with a checklist to ensure that our faith remains unshaken, and that we are able to stand in the evil day.