Why Did Paul Tell Us To Put On The Armor Of God?

“It’s not about the physical fight, but instead a spiritual conflict.” Peter DeHaan

The World Seems to be Spiraling Out of Control

Today with bated breath and my eyes slightly covered, I opened the news. Bunker buster bombs were dropped in Iran, there are absolutely extreme floods happening in China, the world seems to be on the brink of war, so many people are throwing words around about the end of democracy, illegal immigration, some love the President of the United States, others absolutely clutch their pearls daily over what is happening in the administration. The Supreme Court just handed down some very weighty decisions that will impact many people groups. All those stories? They happened in the span of a week. The physical and spiritual weight of those stories are enough to make you question your sanity. What can we do? I’ve asked that question many times in the last few days. I’ve prayed, poured over scripture and personally believe that it is time to put on the Armor of God every single day, sometimes multiple times a day. It is time to really embrace our faith and belief in God and mean it. 

It’s time to put on the Armor of God

A few days ago I was listening to a podcast about growing up in the church. The speaker voiced his thankfulness that he was not brought up in the church with all of its traditions and trappings. He felt like in that absence of a faith upbringing he could look at the scriptures with new and fresh eyes. I had a much different upbringing to be sure. I was raised in a rich faith tradition, we were at the church each and every time the doors opened. Memorizing scripture was a plus. Each time we did so we were given a prize, my favorite prize was the 5 packages of Hubba Bubba gum. As with any church, there were drawbacks, after all, we humans have a tendency to shape and shift God’s Word to fit our sins and traditions rather than letting God’s Word shape us. On the whole, having those scriptures buried deep within my mind and heart has helped me cope with the craziness that has accelerated in the world. 

God can mold and shape us

If you didn’t grow up in the church, that is ok. God can shape us (if we are willing) in His Word to dwell with Him in peace in troubled times even if you didn’t “grow up” in church. That is why I want to discuss the Armor of God. In the book of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul’s audience was primarily to the Gentiles (non-Jewish people) who had come to faith in Jesus Christ. Paul wanted to make it clear that the Jews and Gentiles, those brought up in a faith tradition and those who were new to the faith, were one in Christ Jesus. Also included in that letter was a reminder that in Christ and His Words we are instructed to live a life that is different from those who are not believers. I want to stop for a moment and talk about the pure awesomeness of God’s Word. For a long time I thought it was a Holy book that was a wonderful guide to live your life in a modern world. I was wrong. God’s Word is timeless. Only in my hubris of humanity could I possibly think that God’s Word holds no power for today. After all, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. 

How do we have peace in our mad world?

In the 6th Chapter of Ephesians Paul gives us a strategy to have peace in the midst of the madness. Your strength must come from the mighty power of God that dwells within you. What does that mean? The Greek word for strength that is used is “kratos” which means: the power to resist force, the power to resist attack, the capacity to have great endurance. God has given us the tools to stand firm with His help. Put on God’s full Armor so that you can resist the schemes of the devil. Those schemes? They denote craft, deceit and cunning devices. The wiles of the devil literally lie in wait to deceive. For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but persons without bodies-the evil rulers of the unseen world, those mighty satanic beings and great evil princes of darkness who rule this world; and against huge numbers of wicked spirits in the spirit world. Our battle must be waged with God’s strength, otherwise we will indeed fail. 

Take up the Whole Armor of God

Since we have in the words of Jane Austen, “A whole camp full of soldiers” in our family with our military boys, I hear about armor and weapons a good bit. When my boys have field training exercises, they take a good bit of equipment to emulate an actual situation where protection is needed. They carry breastplates, helmets, belts, shoes that have been broken in sufficiently to endure the long road marches ahead. Their shields are the body armor that they wear both in the front and the back to protect them from harm. Their sword? Their trusty m4 carbine that they carry in case it is needed in an attack. Even historically, armor was quite important for protection from the fiery darts, arrows and attacks of the enemy. After all, the armor was to keep you alive and standing after the battle waned. 

• Put on the Belt of Truth. Church, I am going to say something that should have never stopped being uttered from the rafters of the church. There is your truth and God’s Truth. Your truth leads you one way. Destruction. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Not your feelings, not your perceived truth. His Truth. We’ve become a soft church. The Gospel is offensive to sin because the scripture tells us we are broken without Christ. The church stopped telling us to follow His way and to follow what makes us happy. In a culture that is saturated with Me, Me, Selfie Me. Let us walk toward Him and His Eternal truth. After all, the belt holds the armor up and together. Without it, the other parts of the uniform will surely fail. 
• Wear the Breastplate of Righteousness. What does righteousness mean? We are in right standing with God when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Does that mean we will never sin? No. But in God’s eyes, we are in right standing with him. In that right standing, we aim to walk with him and learn His Word to cover our most vital organ, our heart. We must guard our hearts for everything flows from it. Indeed, our lives depend on it. 
• Wear good Gospel shoes. As I discussed earlier, you need good shoes to make it in the ruck march of life. Currently one of my sons is doing some training for the military, he has been gone for a few months, I wanted to spend some time with him before he left for such a long time. I decided to go with him while he shopped for some equipment he needed for his field training exercises. Some of his purchases were very quick at the military store. The purchase that took the longest time? His shoes. He tried on many pairs of boots. He told me that in order to make it through each ruck march, each training and all the other needs of his school he had to make sure his shoes would last. Those shoes were quite expensive but they were worth it to make sure he had both short term and long term endurance. Church, the same is true for God’s Word. Wear it like your most comfortable and long lasting shoes. Every part of your foot molds comfortably and keeps you going when the walks are long. Shod your feet with the Gospel. 
• The Shield of Faith. I asked my son what a modern equivalent would be to a shield. He answered rather quickly that it would be the Kevlar plates in their uniform. These plates stop rifle rounds from killing them. Kevlar is 5 times stronger than steel. Everything about this material screams strength. These plates redistribute kinetic energy from the bullets rushing towards the soldier. Church, God’s Word can do that for us as well. 
• The Helmet of Salvation. When my boys come home they usually drop their rucks, helmets and shoes right at the door. When they were going to military school I had a little chuckle. Outside of each barracks there were shoes lining the hallways, and equipment airing out from the odorous time outdoors. One day I had to move my son’s helmet out of the way to get something off the floor, as I picked it up I couldn’t believe how heavy it was. What was the purpose of that heavy helmet? To protect the brain from injury. Dear ones, we must guard our hearts and minds with God’s Word. When we read these accelerating news stories we can rest our minds in God’s peace which passes all understanding. 
• The Sword of the Spirit. Right now, the standard issue in the Infantry is the M4 Carbine. The M4 is much like a sword, it’s there, you are familiar with how to load and unload and to shoot when needed. Why did Paul use the example of a Sword? Because a Sword much like an M4 cuts to the quick in the enemy’s camp. You have to use it to defend yourself when the enemy launches their attack, there are times it stands between life and death. In the book of Hebrews the writer likens the Word of God like a Sword, it cuts deep between soul and spirit. Its power is alive and active. 

Each of these pieces of armor can and will help us as the events of the world escalate. Some pastors are saying that Jesus is coming very soon and we should be ready. While I agree we should be ready, I am not going to predict when God decides to come. But much like historical times of old, history does indeed repeat itself. Humanity is like that, we start with good intentions, seeking God’s good way, then those deep dark spirits seep in and we start to depend and rely on our truth rather than God’s truth. The church has lost its way in western culture recently, we should absolutely welcome everyone into the faith, but in that welcoming, we need to give them God’s Word and show them that God’s truth changes them from the inside out. We are not perfect as we are, God is perfect and His Word can and will begin and deepen a good work in us if we let Him. The enemy will tell you otherwise, that you must seek the avenue of worry and self. God has provided a way of escape and church. We must step up, walk in it, live in it and put on God’s armor each day so that when the next crazy event happens we can have the peace that passes all understanding. God Bless You all dear readers.