The Armor of God

[HKHaugan]

Vs.13 The armor of God, Gk. panoplion, spiritual covering for the mind, the heart and the spirit.
1. For the mind---against rationalization and self-justification.
2. For the heart---against the attitudes, strongholds that hold the heart captive.
3. For the spirit---against fear, pride and the numerous spirits that war against faith in Christ. The antichrist.
Also “the day of evil” is the present. When we are speaking about spiritual reality it is always in the ‘now’.
Vs.14 “Stand firm then” KJV---“Stand therefore” When you are prepared, on firm ground, informed by the knowledge of what you will be facing, you are ready, covered and armed for the conflict. Paul’s use of a military model also includes the fact, though not mentioned, that you are not standing alone but together with armed brothers and sisters who, in the practice of gifts, are locked arm-in-arm as a Roman legion would have done in battle. Their formations were impregnable. If one fell there was always one to take his place immediately. Also here is the indication that the forces of evil are aggressive, invisible and strike the unprepared at the point of weakness and aloneness.
Three things to note here. First, Paul wants them to stand on the rock of Christ and His Word together. Don’t anyone try and be a vigilante. There is no need to be aggressive. Second, he wants them to know the nature of the enemy. The devil is a guerrilla marauder looking for the isolated, the alienated and the straggler. Third, trust the armor they have been provided. It is more than sufficient to ward off any attack. Thus when Paul says “stand” his tone seems to be like that of a wise general issuing a command to his troops to obey orders, stay close together, check their armor and protect the ground they stand on because that is what assures the victory over enemies that will ultimately be worn out by their own internal weaknesses.
The armor---vs.14-17
1.belt of truth ‘gird the loins’ (It tied up the leather apron that was the underwear of the Roman soldier. It tightened the undergarment so that the soldier had more flexible movement when he put on the outer armor.) It has a Messianic ref. (Is.11:5) “Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.” First, we need to separate the visible from the invisible intention in Paul’s use of the word truth in this passage. Here it’s all about character. This is not the Word of truth but the truth of the Word in action led by the Spirit of truth. It is the internal character shaped by the Word. Truth here means integrity, honesty, openness to the Spirit in all circumstances, a willing and consistent Godly witness. We will deal with its visible meaning when we come to the sword.
2.breastplate of righteousness (Again a messianic ref. Is.59:17 “He put on righteousness as his breastplate…”)---This is an attitudinal posture, the heart’s determination to trust in the Lord’s presence. Being conscious of the Lord’s main goal, to honor His Father in everything, “Not my will but Thine be done.”
3.feet shod--- Gk. “and shoeing the feet with readiness of the gospel of peace” (Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. John14:27) Remembering the peace of Christ in the moment of turmoil. It’s like a spiritual ‘counting to ten.’ It’s patience, ‘bearing with one another’ and listening.
4.shield of faith---Gk. scutum, a 4X2.5 ft. Roman shield. The flaming arrows, ‘darts’ in the KJV, give us a picture of the enemy casting fiery missiles (evil spirits and demons) at the weak parts of our mind, heart and spirit. Faith in Jesus is the quenching quality that meets the fiery temptations to take control, to self-justify, rationalize and carry out the desire to get immediate satisfaction of an issue or problem, to leave God out of the equation. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Heb.11:1).” For Abram in Gen.12:6 who believed the Lord; that belief was “credited to him as righteousness.” Also remember Rom.14:23, “That which does not proceed from faith is sin.”
5.the helmet of salvation (also part of Is.59:17 about the Messiah)---note, ‘to take’ means that it is received. The choice is up to the believer to be reminded of his deliverance from the evil one through the Cross of Christ and His presence in the heart of the believer. There is a sense here that one continues to gird the mind with the consciousness of being saved from sin and the evil one in the ‘day of evil; as we ‘work out our salvation with fear and trembling’, and ongoing process. Every next moment is approached with a simple message to the heart, “I am a disciple of the Lord Jesus.”
6.The sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. This is self-explanatory. It’s Scripture. It’s the external visible truth manual shaping the internal response. But the sword image reminds us of Heb.4:12-13,“12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”
7.While prayer is not a piece of armor per se it is the ‘seventh seal’ of God’s presence, the Holy Spirit, who “is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession---to the praise of His glory (Eph.2:14).” It is the Holy Spirit who does the fitting of the armor for each person so that every circumstance, which is unique to each individual, is dealt with creatively in the Spirit as every prayer is directed to the Lord through the Spirit. He is the manager of the Lord’s armory (Jn.16:13-15). “With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints (vs.18).”
Paul’s closing words in vs.19-20 can be our request as well. We share that need with others in the Body. We rely on the brothers and sisters to pray for us at the point of our need to face every next moment in the Spirit. Pray that the Holy Spirit will move in our worship together, in our small groups as they meet who in turn pray for each member as they face their moments. Pray for the growth of the Body in the Spirit, for a consciousness of the Spirit who is our source for experiencing the presence of Jesus in our hearts and minds. Pray that we move in the Spirit sensitive to the moment when we can share the Lord and make a disciple.
Paul closes this section with a fitting request for prayer that can be embraced by all of us individually and together, “Pray also for me [us], that whenever I [we] speak, words may be given me [us] so that I [we] will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I [we] am [are] an ambassador[s] in chains. Pray that I [we] may declare it fearlessly, as I [we] should (Eph.6:19-20).”
We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.