IN HIS LETTER to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul gives what he calls a final word: “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power” (Eph. 6:10 NLT). Then he tells the Ephesians how to be strong: “Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil”
(v. 11 NLT).
To stand against the devil, we have to do what the Bible says. And that is to put on all the armor of God, not just part of it. Sometimes I think Christians put on a few pieces of armor and not the entire set. But it all goes together.
When we’re putting on our clothes, we don’t put on our shirt and shoes but forget our pants. The armor of God has two parts: defensive and offensive. We need both to stand against the enemy and defeat him.
Our battle is spiritual. Paul told us, “We are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places” (v. 12 NLT). We fight these spiritual enemies by putting on our spiritual armor.
Verse 13 (NLT) says, “Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.” When we are wearing our armor, we can stand firm knowing the devil has no right or authority over us. He is not going to win.
Verse 14 (NLT) begins, “Stand your ground.” We need to remind ourselves of what God’s Word says. We are the head and not the tail. We are above and not beneath. (See Deuteronomy 28:13.) Whenever we’re in a battle, we must stand our ground. That means don’t retreat and don’t give up.
If we don’t quit, we’ll win. If we continue to stand our ground, we will win every time. Why? Because Jesus defeated the devil 2,000 years ago on the cross of Calvary. We are victorious today because of what Jesus did then.
“It’s easier to stand strong when we’re fully dressed in God’s armor.”
The Belt of Truth
Our first piece of armor is the belt of truth (Eph. 6:14). When I think about the belt of truth, I picture the huge heavyweight champion belts given to boxers and wrestlers. I picture a big belt buckle of truth.
However many lies the devil tries to tell us, truth always wins out. The truth of God’s Word is sitting at my waist, and wherever I walk, truth comes in.
The Body Armor of God’s Righteousness
Verse 14 (NLT) also tells us to put on the body armor of God’s righteousness. Body armor guards our heart and other vital organs.
Sometimes people say, “You’ve done this. You’ve done that. You’ve messed up so badly, God can’t use you.”
No, we have been made righteous through the blood of Jesus (Rom. 5:9; 2 Cor. 5:21). Paul wrote most of the New Testament. But he had a past life and did a lot of bad things. He was Saul of Tarsus who had many Christians killed. God, however, still had a plan for his life.
It doesn’t matter what any of us did before we came to the Lord. God wants to use us.
Shoes of Peace
Here’s another part of our armor: “For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared” (Eph. 6:15 NLT). The peace this verse is talking about is a peace that passes all understanding (Phil. 4:7).
It’s hard to stand strong if we don’t have peace. We have to decide that we’re going to stand in God’s peace.
One of the last things Jesus said before He went to the cross was “peace I leave with you, My 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” (John 14:27 NKJV).
Jesus is the Prince of Peace. When everything is falling apart around us, we can have peace by casting our cares on the Lord. We have to choose peace. We will have days when the author of un-peace tries to take away our peace. But if we have our shoes of peace on, we will be fully prepared to walk through anything.
The Shield of Faith
The shield of faith is our first line of defense, and it stops the fiery arrows of the devil. The Word says that no weapon formed against us will prosper (Isa. 54:17). But the devil will keep trying to pummel us with something, and it’s better if we stop his attacks with our shield. Even so, if something gets past our shield, other parts of our armor will stop the attack.
The devil attacks from behind too. So I imagine that my shield of faith is more like a space shield, and it covers me all the way around.
The Helmet of Salvation
One of our biggest battlefields is in our mind. The devil will try to attack us there daily. Scripture tells us to cast down imaginations (2 Cor. 10:5). And we are told to renew our minds (Rom. 12:2). We do that with God’s Word.
Paul calls this piece of armor the helmet of salvation. We need to think about what salvation has done for us. Knowing the Word and what Jesus did for us on the cross will help us win the battles in our mind.
The Sword of the Spirit
God’s Word is the sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17). What does His Word say? It’s important for us to know. If we don’t know what the Bible says, we can’t defeat the enemy.
When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, He answered each temptation with the Word. That is our example to follow. When the devil lies to us, we have to quote the Word. That’s how we defeat him.
Be Fully Dressed
It’s hard to forget to put all our clothes on when we’re getting dressed each day. Spiritually speaking, let’s make sure every day we are fully clothed in God’s armor. If we’re going along and the devil tries to attack our heart, it could mean we forgot to put on the breastplate of righteousness. Or if we’re feeling unsettled, maybe we didn’t put on our shoes of peace.
It’s easier to stand strong when we’re fully dressed in God’s armor. The devil can get through if we’ve forgotten to put a piece of that armor on. But when we are fully equipped, we’ll have the power to withstand him.
Author
Craig W. Hagin
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