“Put on the Full Armor of God”

“Put on the Full Armor of God”

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day. And having done everything, to stand firm.” (vv. 10-13)

I hope you noticed how many times I repeated “stand.” This is the key thing: we stand firm on God’s truth; and if we don’t have God’s truth, we cannot stand firm.

I’m going to just explain to you how God showed me I should put on the armor, because I think it could help all of you. I learned this almost as soon as I became a Christian, because God just had me open up to Ephesians, and He made me so excited when I read that.

First of all, I realized that it is not enough just to put the armor on as a recitation, you know, just to go through it like a formula and say, “Now I gird my loins with truth; now I put on the breastplate of righteousness; now I put on the sandals of peace.” That’s no better than lying in bed in the morning and saying, “Now I’m getting dressed; now I’m getting my breakfast; and now I’m brushing my teeth.”

We have to actually do it. We have to actually put on each piece of armor. And each piece of armor is a truth about God, in fact, it’s God Himself.
Heis the truth,Heis our Righteousness,Heis our Peace. But we have to take hold of those truths as God has given them to us in the Bible, and remember them, and affirm them, so we can take our stand on God’s eternal word.

So here’s how He showed me to do it. First, I just thank Him for being my Truth, for being truth to me. He told us in the book of John that He is the way. He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6) And then I thank Him that He is not only truth, but He is my King, my Lord, my Father, He’s my Peace, my Wisdom, my Strength; everything that I need every day, no matter how difficult the day is.

Second, I put on the breastplate of righteousness. Now since Jesus is my righteousness, I’m not righteous on my own, I want to make sure that there is nothing in me that hinders Him from filling me with His good life, His righteous life. And so I start out by just asking Him to search my heart. This is mentioned in Psalm 139:23-24. I ask Him to search my heart and to see if there’s anything in me that I need to confess. I wait a moment to see what He shows me, and then I confess that. I thank Him that He has promised me in 1 John 1:9 that when I confess my sin, “He is faithful and righteous to forgive [my] sins and to cleanse [me] from all unrighteousness.”

Then I put on the sandals of peace. And here I just simply say, “Thank you, Lord, for the peace I have when I know you. And I know that I am filled with your life and I know that I am walking with you.”

And then I put on the shield of faith by saying, “Thank You, Lord. I choose this day to count on everything You have shown me about Yourself, everything You are and all the truth’s and promises You have given me in Your word.”

And then I put on the helmet of salvation, thanking Him for not only saving me for all eternity, but also in every battle that I’m going to face today, and tomorrow and for preparing me for those battles.

And then I ask Him to show me what sword of the spirit—which of His Bible verses, which truth in His word—I need to memorize and hold up as a sword against the enemy no matter what accusation or lie he sends me. And I want to share with you one Scripture that I think is almost the best one for every situation. I like the way it’s written in the KJV Bible where it says, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” (Gal. 2:20)

That, to me, is so exciting. That’s such a wonderful reminder that I have been crucified and Christ has filled me. I look at Him, focus on Him, set my eyes on Him, trust Him to live His life through me, and nothing, no one, can stand against Him, because He is the mighty God of the universe.

Satan can do nothing apart from God’s permission, and so I know I am safely hidden and can walk in victory when I walk with Jesus.

(Excerpted from Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics, Baker Book House, 1999)