The Armour of God

Believers in the Lord are at war the moment they accept Christ Jesus as their Lord and saviour. Indeed, when we submit to the Lordship of Christ, we immediately become enemies of the world and the kingdom of darkness. For God rescued us from the dominion of darkness of which we belonged when we were dead in our trespasses (Ephesians 2:1) and “He brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14). As citizens of this new kingdom, the bible tells us that we are new creatures, the old has passed, behold the new is here (2 Corinthians 5:17). We are born again! We become people who are led by the Spirit of the living God residing in us instead of being led by our flesh and any other authorities of our old kingdom. This new reality is the one the Christian must live in while still residing in a fallen world, a world completely opposed to his or her new identity. This dichotomy is a constant battle the Christian must fight. The bible is clear that we are in a war, not a war against people but a war with our flesh; a war against rulers, authorities, cosmic powers over this present darkness, against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12). Indeed, this war is not your typical war because we do not see our enemy physically but we feel its effect in our life. Unfortunately, too many of us Christians do not take the bible seriously when it declares us to be at war with this world and our flesh. However, there has not been a more pressing time to heed the bible’s warning as we see evil being put on display and becoming the norm, as we see truth being called lie and lie being called truth, as we see the proliferation of sin within the church, yes, more than ever, we should believe we are at war. As I was closing my reading of the book of Ephesians this week, I couldn’t help but see the importance of being ready for the battle and wearing the armour of God.

As Christians, we are exhorted to not be oblivious to the danger of sin and everything that sponsors it. In the kingdom of darkness, we were empowered by our flesh, following the desires that our flesh wanted even at the expense of others. This led to our destruction and perpetual condemnation before a Holy God. This also showed itself in the sins we would engage in and they always pointed to self. The flesh only has one regard, itself. However, Paul tells us that as new creatures in Christ, we must be aware of the battle of the flesh vs the battle of the spirit. These two natures are in us: one leads to death and the other to life; one feeds on evil while the other feeds on righteousness; one is of God and the other is of the devil. Our fight is to remain steadfast in the Lord, that is, in the Spirit. Paul tells us what constitutes the armour of God, what we need to wear to withstand all the attacks of our enemy and stand firm. The idea is that as Christians, we would be the last one standing and not our opponent. This armour then is comprised of the truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God, prayer in the Spirit and vigilance (Ephesians 6:10-18). Essentially, this armour is God’s character and attributes on display that we wear. First, there is truth. God is the source of all truth because He is truth. As we put on truth, we put on God. Second, God is righteousness and in Him there is no deceit; justice is His throne. Third, He is peace and He brought us peace into this world through His gospel “for God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but would have eternal life” (John 3:16). That peace He brought shows itself in the fact that we are now reconciled with God, we are adopted into the family of God and we are friends of God, no more enemies already condemned. Peace is now our portion as Christ said “peace I give you, not like the world gives” (John 14:27). His peace is an eternal one, it is not subject to situation or circumstances, it is like God Himself who does not change like shifting shadows (James 1:17). It is stable, constant, sure. Fourth, there is faith. God is faithful to Himself. Just like He remains faithful because He cannot deny Himself when we are faithless (2 Timothy 2:13), with faith, we display God who requires that medium to be pleasing to Him. For it is a prerequisite when we come before Him. “We must believe that He exists and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). Fifth, there is salvation which belongs to the Lord. By wearing it, we are conscious that we did not save ourselves, that we get no merit for being a child of God or for “accepting” Christ into our lives because God alone did that; God alone orchestrated this master plan which was hidden in ages past and was only revealed through the apostles. Salvation does two things: it elevates God and it humbles us. Sixth, we have the word of God which is the sword of the Spirit. It is the only piece of the amour that is used to defend and attack. John 1 tells us that word of God is Jesus Christ who was in the beginning with God therefore, we defend ourselves by wearing Jesus who has already done the fighting for us. It is actually very cool to see how it is all about Jesus. We do not have to do anything but to wear him. Wearing the word of God means applying it to our lives, it means knowing it and obeying it, it means being willing to stand out from the crowd and letting Jesus shine in your life. Seventh, we have “prayer in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests”. Once again, as we pray, it shows our dependence on the Spirit of God, it shows that we are not the ones that run the show, it shows that we trust the One who is powerful and mighty to save. Prayer keeps us humble and shows our powerlessness while exalting God’s. Prayer also shows us that we can put others needs before ours by interceding for them, which reflects the Lord Jesus in his service, as he laid down his life for others and relinquished his will to the Father’s. Finally, there’s vigilance or alertness. Just as a soldier is ready in battle, we too must be ready and alert. Christ was always alert while on this earth, he was always focused and did not let anything deviate him from his plan or from obeying his Father. We see that this is the armour of God which reflects God and is all about what pleases God.

I love how the bible connects everything back to God. It starts with God and it ends with God. The armour of God that we must wear is not a new concept when you think of it, just like the first commandment, it calls us to put God first, to give Him the glory and to let Him be God while we take our position of servants. I love how wearing the armour of God also shows the consistency of God with His word. Nothing He says contradicts Him. Everything always aligns. Therefore, you who call yourself a follower of Jesus Christ, are you aware that you are in a war? Are you wearing the armour of God? Do you understand that seeking the kingdom of God first and his righteousness is how you win this war? Do you see how putting God first and surrendering to Him is the way to win this war on the flesh and the kingdom of darkness? Indeed, we must wear God so that the light of Jesus shines in us and in the world for all to see. I pray we will hold fast to the Lord, never letting go of Him in these times more than ever. Amen.