Day 98: What is the Spiritual Armor of God?
Ephesians 6:13
…take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand your ground on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand.”
Father God has made provisions for us to stand firm against the attacks of our external enemy—The Devil—who is at work in the World. We stand firm by “putting on” and living in the reality of our new identity in Christ.
This week, we want to look at the 6 pieces of armor that God has made available to us to stand firm against the schemes and devices of our Evil Enemy. We will also look at the critical role that prayer plays in our daily battles.
WORDwork:
Ephesians 6:13-20
For this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand your ground on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm therefore, by fastening (1) the belt of truth around your waist, by putting on (2) the breastplate of righteousness, 15 by fitting your feet with (3) the preparation that comes from the good news of peace, 16 and in all of this, by taking up (4) the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take (5) the helmet of salvation and (6) the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 With every prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and to this end be alert, with all perseverance and requests for all the saints. 19 Pray for me also, that I may be given the message when I begin to speak that I may confidently make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may be able to speak boldly as I ought to speak.
What does Paul mean by “for this reason”?
In verse 13, for what purpose or reason are we to take up the armor?
What six items does Paul mention as key components of the armor?
What is the main topic of verses 18-20?
How important does Paul seem to think this activity is?
In verse 11, Paul exhorts us to put on the “full armor” of God. The word that is used here is panoplia and it is used in non-biblical contexts to refer to the armor which would have been worn by a Roman foot soldier. You may know that Paul is in house arrest as he writes this letter to the Ephesians. More than likely, as he writes he is looking at one of the Roman guards who would have been assigned to keep an eye on him.
The main point of this armor is that it has been given to us so that we can stand firm, stand our ground—STAND against the wicked rulers and authorities with whom we are battling day by day. Paul does not seem to indicate that we should use this armor to go on the offensive, to “attack” the forces of evil. We are simply to stand firm in the victory that Christ has already won for us!!! These powers are trying to take back ground that Christ has won for us. Paul alluded to this earlier in the letter:
Ephesians 4:26-27
Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger. 27 Do not give the devil an opportunity.
One of the key realities that we have to keep in mind is that the Devil and his minions have already been stripped and shamed by Father God in Christ at The Cross as we discussed in our first session. Remember:
Colossians 2:15
Stripping the rulers and authorities [the demonic rulers in the heavenly realms], He [Father God or Christ] has made a public disgrace of them, triumphing over them by the Cross.
We need to understand three things about this truth:
- The Demonic forces have already been stripped and shamed by Jesus’ victory on the Cross. Jesus now has ALL authority in Heaven and on Earth (see Matthew 28:18)
- The Powers of evil are not yet deposed and destroyed. The Devil and his forces are still at work in the World. Satan is still blinding unbelievers in this present age (see 2 Corinthians 4:3-4). The Evil One still has power in this world (see 1 John 5:19-21). However, Jesus has already defeated Him. Satan and his demonic forces are still agents of chaos and evil, but they have already lost the War!
- Christ Will Destroy All His Enemies in the Last Day. Jesus is now waiting in Heaven for the day when “His enemies are made a footstool for his feet” (Hebrews 10:12-13). At the end, the Devil himself will be cast into the Lake of Fire, the place of eternal torment and destruction (see Revelation 20:10).
For all of these reasons, Paul exhorts us to stand firm. The War has already been won. We are to stand together, in the strength of the Lord and not allow these dark forces to bully us and steal the joy and blessing that Christ has already provided for us. Remember, our Enemy seeks to kill, steal and destroy. He is a spiritual terrorist. We must take up the wisdom and resources that God gives us to stand against the Devil’s schemes.
If we trust what the Scriptures teach us, we can know that Christ will be finally victorious over all His enemies. In the present it is very important for us to keep this in mind. We live in a World that is darkened by sin and corruption; sometimes it looks as if the Enemy is winning. But this in not reality. His doom is certain. Christ has already triumphed—we are simply waiting for the time when His Kingdom will come and all will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.
We have to remember that we were once part of the Demonic Rebellion. We were once enslaved to the Devil. We were once part of the World. We were once completely enslaved to our own evil desires (see Ephesians 2:1-3). But then we were saved by Father God because of His great love for us. The Devil and his demonic forces are simply trying to take back territory in our lives that they lost when we were washed, transferred, and rescued. So what do we do? We stand firm. We stand together and we stand firm in the strength of the Spiritual Armor that has been provided for us in Christ.
Think about all that we have discussed so far in these sessions. Take note of how many times the idea of “standing firm” or “being firm” has appeared.
*You can find a complete list of all the MilktoMeat readings here.
