Are You In A Battle? (part 4)

This post will go into more detail about the Armor Of God, our divine and unbeatable defense. In this life, we experience incredible pressures. How can we possibly stand in battle against everything that comes at us without weapons? As I stated in a previous post, there are six pieces of armor that we should never forget as we go into battle:

We know this is not physical armor, but an amazing metaphor for what we need to fight the battle. Our enemy is not flesh and blood, no human foe; we fight against a more crafty, fearsome and strong opponent, Satan, the devil. With this armor, “we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us”. (Romans 8:37)

When we talk about this armor, we are not talking about imaginary ideas. Even though we cannot see them with our physical eyes, these are powerful tools available to us as Christians to stand against our adversary.

First, let’s look at the Belt of Truth:
A belt is worn around the waist. The belt used in Roman armor provided a place for the soldier’s sword. Our sword (the Sword of the Spirit) needs a sheath. Truth is as vital to us as a soldier’s belt was to the soldier. We must always stand on truth. Society today tells us there is no absolute truth, but we must settle in our mind that the truth is God’s Word. Our trust in God’s Word must be solid, unbreakable and unshakable. No matter how effective the rest of our armor is, without the belt of truth, we might find ourselves short of one of our weapons.

Next, we have a Breastplate of Righteousness:
This piece of armor was a central part of the Roman soldier’s armor. It protected his heart along with all other vital organs in his body. A good breastplate could mean the difference between life and death. Why is it called the Breastplate of Righteousness? When there is no righteousness, we leave ourselves open to almost certain death while battling our enemies. Righteousness will do for us what the soldier’s breastplace did for him which is to thwart the enemy’s attacks and avoid death.

What is righteousness? It is doing what’s right in Gods’ eyes; God’s commandments are righteousness. (Ps. 119: 172) In contrast, lawlessness is the opposite of righteousness because lawlessness is sin. So, if we do as right as we can all the time, are we talking about our righteousness? No. Isaiah 64:6 tells us that “all our righteousness is as filthy rags”. You won’t get a lot of protection from a breastplate of rags. Thankfully, it is not our righteousness, but Jesus’ who died on the cross to take away our sins, He gave us His righteousness! It’s His righteousness that must serve as our breastplate.

Shoes shod with the Gospel of Peace:
Shoes may seem an unimportant topic about spiritual armor. Aren’t shoes, just shoes? As the soldier has his belt and breastplate, so must he have shoes. His feet could sustain many injuries when trying to fight and run without them. They are a definite necessity!

The definition of the Greek word for gospel means “good news. “Good news of what?”, you may ask. Answer: the good news about Jesus Christ the King, His grace and His plan of salvation for all mankind. With this plan, we can have peace now and so can the entire world. This is the message God’s people want to share with others. We, as believers, have been sent to announce the good news of God’s kingdom which will spread His peace around the world. Wearing the shoes of the Gospel of Peace, we are ready to move and spread this good news to others.

Just as the soldier’s shoes are often made with nails or spikes to make them hold firm to the ground, so the good news is our firm foundation that allows us to stand strong as we tell others of this peace as we fight the battles. Shoes, as they did for the soldier, make it possible for us to walk on unsure terrain and travel through painful trials and temptations of life without fear. (John 14:27) “Peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” We can walk in peace and help others to find the same.

Helmet of Salvation:
The Roman helmet, like helmets today, protects the head from the attacks of the enemy. We can receive tremendous hope and comfort by focusing on the incredible sacrifice Christ made for us and the wonderful future that is our goal. What does the helmet have to do with salvation? Salvation means to be saved or delivered from something and usually refers to our deliverance from sin that allows us to be delivered into God’s kingdom. (Romans 5: 8-10)

Every person has thought and acted in ways that are contrary to God. This is sin and is so vile to God that it requires the death penalty. But God’s great love and mercy for us all provided the greatest substitute to die in our place; our Lord Jesus Christ. (John 3:16)
What does salvation have to do with a helmet? Our enemy hates that we have chosen to walk with Jesus and wants nothing more than to destroy us. Just as the helmet protects the vulnerable head from fatal blows, the hope of salvation can protect our thoughts from our enemy’s attacks and temptations to disobey God.

If not for the helmet of salvation, we are unprotected from the “cares of this world” that will slam into our thoughts and feelings. The worries and problems that come from living in this world would completely overwhelm us! So far, I have described parts of the armor that we must wear. We must put them on, but they essentially hold themselves up. Now, we look at pieces of the armor that we must take up; pieces that we are required to raise. Just strapping them on won’t do any good in our fight against the enemy. We must make the effort to hold them and to use them.

The Shield of Faith:
Again, in our example of the Roman soldier’s armor, we look at the shield. It was a very large, slightly curved, rectangular shield featuring at its center a large metal knob. It was very impressive as some were 3 1/2 feet tall and almost 3 feet wide and provided great protection from their enemies. Not only did it protect the soldier from harm, it could be used to knock the opponent backward.

What is faith and why is it important? Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Substance is tangible, and evidence is solid proof. Faith is not some hazy emotion that has no grounding in reality. It is real! Even so, faith does not come easily or naturally. It involves a huge element of trust. God has proven Himself to be faithful and unchanging, giving us confidence to believe that He will keep His promises to us. While a physical shield protects us physically, faith can protect our spiritual lives even in the middle of physical trials. A shield deflects. Satan is always sending his fiery darts of fear, doubt and worry, etc., but the only time he can really hit us is when we let down our shield of faith—-when we stop believing that God is in control, no matter how it looks to us in the natural.

Our shield is our first line of defense. While the rest of our armor protects us from Satan’s onslaught, it’s the shield you use to absorb every hit. When our faith in God’s sovereignty and care is strong, we can raise our shield and Satan will not be able to break through and land an attack.

Lastly, The Sword of the Spirit:
The sword is the only weapon that serves in an offensive capacity. If we have on all the rest of our armor but don’t have our sword, we can inflict no harm on our enemy. The Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. It reveals the good and the bad, the wise and the foolish. It is our ultimate tool in learning how to live the best possible life as well as striking strong blows to our enemy. God’s word is truth, plain and simple.

This all-powerful sword of the living God is able to cut through any defense that our enemy can raise against us. (Hebrews 4:12). As soldiers in God’s army, it is our responsibility and duty to use His word to discern the truth and then follow it. Unlike all the other pieces of the armor of God, which are solely defensive, the sword is uniquely suited for both defensive and offensive measures. The Sword is the only way we can complete the work that we are here to do. Learn to use the Sword to counter Satan’s attacks as Jesus did. (Matt. 4: 4, 7, 10). We must learn to live “by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. (Matt 4:4).

Swords are used for close combat, not long-range warfare. The battles that we fight with our enemy is up-close and personal! We MUST learn how to use our weapons! There is no enemy the Word of God (Sword of the Spirit) coupled with the Holy Spirit, cannot defeat. And so, armed with our sword, we step out to fight our enemies head-on! The struggle is real. It is immediate and right in front of us.