The armor of God

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around our waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with our feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish (all) the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. Putting on the full armor of God we (can) stand against the devil. The shield of faith is quite specific in stopping all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

So how do we switch on the power of God first?

As disciples, this passage of scripture reveals a few clues on becoming a spiritual warrior able to fight the devil. To get access to the truth we need to be washed in the Word. Repentance, belief, baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit are the four key steps to start with. Once the washing process begins and we become worthy to house the Holy Spirit, the progress of change can be instant, overnight, or may take longer for others. Righteousness and readiness make us eager to read the Bible soaking up the Word of God. in turn with daily prayer, this taps into the pool of God’s power.

When you’re in a pool, you’re covered all over in the water, soaking wet. As soon as you get out, you get everything you touch wet. In the same way, when you spend time immersed in God’s presence, it influences your whole life and everything around you. You have more to give and feel more peaceful and aware of God’s presence. The armor of God is not to be taken of it becomes part of you. Constant strength and power from the Lord require obedience to the law of God.

The majority of people today are lawless, have no strength or power, and are unblessed by the Creator as they are out of His will. Every single day we are in a spiritual struggle yet most people are oblivious to it.

God has a plan for our lives. The devil has a plan for us too. We just have to decide which voice we’re going to listen to, and who we’re going to choose to obey each day. And chances are, if we don’t make a determined choice to follow God, we may eventually fall into the evil one’s trap. Every piece of the armor of God is to be put on in full, not in part and is the disciples spiritual outer invisible garments for war.

So what faith do we need and why is it likened to a shield?

James 2:19
“You say you have (faith), for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.”

One deception that continues to be perpetrated today, is that knowing about the Lord Jesus Christ is the same as trusting Him completely as the only sacrifice for sin.

There are many people who accept a historical Jesus that lived on earth and was crucified on the Cross, but they do not trust Him as their Lord and remain under God’s eternal condemnation. The Bible clearly teaches that the Lord our God is One, and believing in One God, rather than many false gods, is vital for salvation. True faith must be placed in God and His one and only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, Whom He sent as a ransom for sin.

A shield is a vitally important piece of the armor of God providing a blanket of protection. It is meant to be taken up in all circumstances. It is the first barrier against the enemy’s attack but identifies the disciple as a foot soldier who serves the Commander of the Lord’s army. Justification is the act by which God moves a willing person from the state of sin (injustice) to the state of grace (justice); the change in a person’s condition moving from a state of sin to a state of (righteousness). Justified faith is a compound of heaven.

The belt of truth is buckled around your waist. To secure the belt around our waist, we must come to the source of truth: Jesus. After all, God describes himself as the way, the truth, and the life. We must ask God to equip us and regularly spend time with him in Scripture and in prayer.

Satan is ready for battle seven days a week so are you?

The scripture links the spirit with the mind and knowing things on earth. The mind and the spirit are the same. Any two beings can communicate and understand one another because they both have a human mind, a human spirit. An unbeliever cannot communicate or understand the Word of God because the spiritually lost person does not have God’s mind or God’s Spirit.

The Bible teaches, however, that we as disciples do have the mind of Christ because we have the indwelling Holy Spirit, who explains the scriptures to us as we read them and soak them in being the true fruit of the soul. The promise is the marriage ring on the hand of faith. The belt of truth we literally mentally put on every single day as it holds all things together.

Since truth is extensive to our temporary physical lives, how much more important is it to our eternal soul?

At the most, our mortal existence will be about ninety years in length; our existence in paradise will be forever.

Without the belt of truth, everything else falls apart. Satan’s number one goal is to keep unbelievers from accepting the truth of Jesus Christ. He wants to make disciples ineffective; he wants to cause doubt about the love of God, the deity of Christ, and the power of Jesus sacrifice for our sins. As disciples, we need never fight alone, for God is constantly at work on our behalf, shielding, protecting, strengthening, exposing deeds of darkness, bringing to light what needs to be known, covering us from the cruel attacks we face even when we’re unaware of them.

We just need to stand firm and have courage. Paul started with the belt, just as a belt is buckled and worn close to the body, we should hold God’s truth close to us and allow it to surround us daily. Being soaked in the Word daily keeps the Word of God 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.

If our thoughts and attitudes are of the world, then the heart wavers and the belt of truth can fall down making the whole armor ineffective. If all disciples are doing is just church on Sunday then it’s back to the worldly life, then don’t expect the armor of God to function as intended to God’s standard in readiness.

A disciple is partaking in spiritual warfare until he gets to heaven, so He should always be on duty.
The Roman soldier’s belt used to have medals of victory attached to them. A disciple today needs their belt of truth with daily medals of victory over darkness. Spending time with other seasoned disciples or let’s say officers, can teach a recruit how to warfare effectively.

The breastplate of righteousness is another critical piece of spiritual armor. Righteousness is the quality or state of being morally correct and justifiable. It can be considered synonymous with rightness or being upright. To obey God’s commandments and live in a way that is honourable to Him. Righteousness allows us to stand before God, men and demons.

The breastplate deflects various angles of the deceptive tactics of warfare. The Roman breastplate covered the front, back and sides of the body. It offered good protection from spears, (darts), missiles, knives and swords. Satan will attempt to pierce our most vulnerable areas. Therefore, God arms the disciple with the breastplate of righteousness to prevent the evil one from delivering a fatal blow to the vital organs.
The evil one knows our weaknesses, and he is more than willing to exploit them. Eager to take advantage of the knowledge he has about us, Satan accuses us continually making our character seem questionable and our obedience seems half-hearted.

Obedience is a key strategy that Satan likes to weaken. Sometimes he can weaken it so much that worldly darts can penetrate the breastplate because the belt of truth has gone down a notch ineffectiveness. Satan requires you to be unrighteous and not read the Bible which is God’s truth.
Righteousness is right-living under the standard of the authority of Jesus Christ.

Purity, character, freedoms and holiness is designed by God, not man, wealthy businessman, governments or social media. Satan has wickedness in him, in Hebrew this simply means unrighteousness, so the full righteous spiritual armor is needed to counter unrighteousness. Immersing in the full armor of God is required just like water baptism is full immersion.

If there are chinks in your armor that expose sin, disobedience, addictions, and wrongdoings then satan will try to expose those weaknesses. Sin is unrighteousness, humans are classed as filthy rags, or in the Hebrew minstrel rags. You have all these different denominations trying to get to heaven, yet God calls them filthy rags as they think works alone will get them there. A minstrel rag has blood on it, so you are trying to get there with your own righteousness and not the blood of Christ.

Righteousness is twofold.
Firstly, it is imputed to us: this means something we are given free of charge without effort. This gives us the right to stand before the Lord and speak to him as if we were sinless.

Secondly, righteousness is imparted into us: this means something that Christ works in us and with our sincere cooperation. This grants us the inner strength and courage to live and conduct ourselves in a manner that is pleasing to God. A cowardly spirit is beneath the lowest duty of a disciple. Jesus is the ultimate commander and prayer is God’s hotline to the plans of the battlefield.

Many people profess Christ but so few are true disciples who are properly equipped to go into the arena with the evil one. Commissioned soldiers are divine, not substandard. Christ is the commander of salvation who died on the cross and will be with you taking your sting out of death.

When a disciple begins his walk with Christ you are a baby receiving milk, as you grow you receive more solid substance.
Baby disciples, we see that Paul is talking about people who are always dependent upon others, who never learn to have spiritual independence and growth individually handling the meat of God’s Word.

Mature disciples receive the truths of the gospel as it was passed down to them. Mature disciples stop pointing out everyone else’s sins and start confessing their own wrongdoings. Mature disciples watch their words and know when to say yes and when to say no. And most importantly mature disciples grow less dependent on themselves, and increasingly dependent on Christ. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.

Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. The word (instrument) is an offensive weapon for war. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. Becoming a (weapon) for satan is committing offences against Kingdom authority from above and against our great Commander Jesus Christ who gave us the victory over the evil one and death on the cross.

We need to put on the shoes of peace for holy living. Peace helps us to stay grounded, and simultaneously stand our ground. To (Shod) means to bind under one’s feet, to be in bonds, to tie, to wind, to knit or be at one with. It also has to do with your daily walk to stop you from stumbling.
Nowadays we have a great variety of footwear available to us formal shoes, casual shoes, boots, trainers, flip-flops, and many more, however, God’s footwear is specific and an essential part of our spiritual armor. If we look at earthly footwear the biggest brand is Nike as of 2019, Nike was the most valuable global apparel brand, with a brand value of over 32 billion U.S. dollars. With promotion at top sporting events, the brand logo is on show with other symbols of Lucifer. Nike is a pagan god, and the (Just do it) phrase is a mirror of (Do what thou wilt) from the satanic Bible. Satanic symbols are ripe everywhere, and we can worship the image of the beast whether we know it or not. Over thirty times the term “shoes” is found in the KKV, but in two-thirds of these cases, the reference is to sandals.

In modern society, high-heeled shoes are a part of women’s fashion, perhaps more as a sexual prop. High-heels force the body to tilt, emphasising the buttocks and breasts, highlights of a woman’s sexuality. (But) people forget before natural shoes go on, spiritual shoes are needed first. Natural shoes, aesthetics, brands, colour, trends are not important. One reason might be simply that shoes are in many areas a status symbol. To have the latest brands or the high-end (fashion) shoes worn by celebrities are seen as being as much of a status symbol as an expensive wristwatch or other bits of fancy bling.

Our feet should be shod with the readiness of the gospel of peace (or) you are not ready for the day. It’s a big difference from picking your favourite style, colour or fancy bling. Man’s conscience like his mortal form was created by God, so it has to be fit for operation, constant regenerating power of the Word keeps the mind sharper than a two-edged sword. The conscience is a type of restrainer from sin it’s not a product of our own hearts which is fallen in nature. Therefore he shod’s disciples with strength and courage to be holy and act Christlike. Shod literally means to bind yourself on your own accord.

The conscience is aligned to God’s kingdom authority, while satan tries to usurp the ability to use reason and the natural inclination to do good and avoid evil. God expects every disciple to meet every trial head-on and lean on His understanding using the spiritual traction of the shoes of peace.

The peace is what we proclaim for Christ through the good news standing firm in our faith against the devil’s schemes. A resin who is an atheist is living in a graceless state of nakedness. They are spiritually unarmed and totally inadequate foot soldiers to fight sin and satan.

Adam and Eve spiritually died when they sinned. God stripped them of their spiritual armor. Removing the shoes of peace and the belt of truth created the environment for ungodliness displaying a damaged image and likeness of God. We have the shield of faith which protects the whole body not just part of it. To take up the shield of faith in the Bible secondly refers to choosing what is unseen vs what is seen. Faith by its very nature is the substance of things hoped for, the certain of things not yet seen.

The Roman soldier’s shield was literally like a door they held in front of them to block attacks especially anxiety, lies, discouragement and materialism.

So, in essence, our shield is none other than Jesus Himself. What we believe about Him and His Word determines the strength of our shield. Faith is exploring our identity in Christ, becoming secure in Him, unifying ourselves with God in strength and power, staying in humility through a relationship with Him, obedience, acting on God’s Word, or conviction of the truth. With the shield up individually it works great, but with the shield of the church up altogether it’s a formidable barrier in unity against the evil one. There are many imitations of people wearing so-called godly armor.

Just like in World War Two, the Germans often posed as GI’s to attack, confuse, disrupt, and spread lies to the American force around them wearing the uniform of enlisted soldiers. Propaganda targets faith. It’s not a matter of feeling happy or sad; propaganda targets things like fear, security, identity, pride, doubt. It taps into those deeply-held, ingrained emotions you can’t even describe, all those biases you don’t even know you have, and it exploits them.

The scriptures teach that even the demons believe in God but their belief is not one that saves. They believe in the fact that God will judge them one day and that judgment will be hard. The demon’s type of notion is a belief in facts; it is not a trust, obedience and commitment to God as Lord. To be saved, we too must have obedience, a deep trust and commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord. Mere mental assent to the facts will not do. The demons know more than we do about the awesome majesty of God. They watched Christ grace the earth, live as a man, and then be crucified in a gruesome manner pleasing to them. They trembled in horror as He rose from the dead and walked out of the tomb on the third day. They witnessed Him ascend back into heaven, as they understood that Jesus is the Son of God and would be seated at the right hand of the Father. The demons believe all this to be true, yet their condemnation is final and sure.

Paul teaches that the shield of faith is something we must (take-up), something we are required to raise. Just strapping it to our arm won’t do any good at all if we don’t make the effort to hold it aloft and use it efficiently. The demons know this and that’s why they can penetrate the shield and find cracks in the rest of the armor if the disciple is not combat-ready. It’s so much easier to assault an unbeliever who has no defence at all to get them to doubt God and out there trust in false solutions, and not the protection needed in Jesus Christ.

One of the biggest giants is complaining about circumstances so, memorise this truth: “Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God.”

A mature disciple rejoices in everything and gives thanks in all things.
This does not mean we have to enjoy every circumstance in our lives like suffering. The joy of the Word even through trials and tribulations is enough to (raise up) even the most trampled of spirit. The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand.

When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure through his armor. Good works and gracious actions bear luscious fruit, while knowledge is needed and a sprinkle of temperance. Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but one who has a hasty temper exalts folly. Temperance stewards the soul and conditions it for holy duties.

God is perfecting His disciples to prepare us as spotless brides for Jesus Christ. Now there is a famous TV quite that Mars used to promote its chocolate bar: “Work, rest and play.” This quote is so important as a spiritual soldier, as while we sleep and play we still need to have the armor fully on. Grace can be in action while we sleep (if) we condition the mind which is active 24-7 to think on Godly things rather than the love scene you watched on the film before bed. Reading the Word of God before sleep the scripture tells us “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Our interactions with Him are a lot more intimate and we can have more solitude during nighttime. Dreams are so much more meaningful and real when you read the Word before heading to sleep. It can feel like the spirit is more sensitive to what God wants requires you to hear. It’s also pleasing to God when you read the word or pray to him as soon as you wake up. If you consistently make this a chore for yourself, you’ll get very close to God and your armor will be highly polished and efficient. When we die the armor and the flesh come off together and the disciple will be clothed in robes of glory.

The helmet of salvation helps us to stand firm in Christ. The helmet protects us spiritually from a powerful blow of doubt from the devil. The head, symbolically in the scripture, tends to mean the whole person. We need to refresh the memory banks every day by staying in the scripture, praying endlessly during all circumstances, and remember who has the ultimate victory.

The armor should be visible to everyone not tarnished or damaged. Satan tried to get through the helmet of salvation to affect our thoughts, affections and plans. He will try to infiltrate governments and churches. He will use the propaganda tools of the day to attack the mind and will to conform to a narrative being implemented.

The Roman helmet stood out often with brightly coloured plumes of red. The plumes were a statement essentially. Unlike the Greeks who pretty much used them as a way to make their soldiers look taller and more imposing, the plumes of the Romans were designed for practicality as is essential in a standing professional army. Officers had them distinguish their identity from others around them. So as a disciple we hold a priestly office as hairs to the kingdom. So our plumes should be visible at all times to others around.

When the devil tries to tempt us he knocks on the door of the will. When he tries to accuse us of sin he knocks on the door of the conscience. Satan can’t pick the lock of a disciples mind padlocked by God, but he hopes that the disciple opens the way for him so he can control your mind. The head contains the brain which affects thoughts, emotions and actions.

Thinking biblically about the world makes us think truthfully. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. The mind is targeted by radio, music, TV, propaganda, other people’s ungodly behaviour, films, Hollywood, trends, false science, and sexual immorality.

A typical cycle helmet has two main parts: a hard outer shell and a soft inner liner. The hard part is manufactured to spread the force of an impact over a broader area so your skull is less likely to fracture, while the soft liner is meant to squeeze inward and absorb the impact shock energy, so less of it is transmitted to your head. Bicycle helmets are a good example of how the right material can make all the difference to how well something does its job.

The standard helmet of salvation is the ideal spiritual material and does the job efficiently and effectively. Unbelievers have residue, faults and cracks in their helmets while human nature makes the polish dull and darkened. The apostle Paul tells disciples that our salvation is secure once we are born-again.

Does this mean it doesn’t matter how we live?
Absolutely not! If we live sinful lives, it may well mean that we haven’t bent the knee to Christ after all, and we’ve even deceived ourselves into thinking we are saved when we really are not. As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. To wear the helmet of salvation means to live every day focused on eternity and the promised future we have. It changes the way we live to become more holy. Another piece of armor, not described by the apostle Paul but mentioned in the book of Isaiah, is the cloak of zeal. While not listed with the rest of the armor of God, this cloak factors heavily in the lives of disciples everywhere.

God, Himself is zealous and ardent about His disciples and His plan. Zeal drives people with conviction, passion and purpose. For disciples, zeal is a burning desire to do God’s will and to live according to His sovereignty. For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak.

The Roman soldier’s cloak was designed for warmth, was waterproof as it was soaked with oils, could be used as a makeshift shelter and for bedding. The cloak keeps the elements of the world at bay and motivates the individual to become a zealot. A zealot is not a fanatic, as zeal is a factor of God’s personality.

The Word of God drives disciples to be passionate about what they do and say, be good stewards in His will, kingdom office bearers, and have a purpose to live for. Zeal without knowledge is fanaticism.

God requires disciples to be knowledgeable of the Word. Lots of people can understand the Word of God like the Jews, but their big mistake is having no zeal and the understanding of the Holy Spirit. Zeal should be for the benefit and edification of the church. When you are wrapped in the cloak of the zeal of God you make a change and a difference. The right kinds of zeal make us more aware of the deception and lies of the world and showcase them as having no zeal for God. The born-again nature inside disciples has to come from the teacher who teaches the Holy Spirit.

Is there anything else to include with the armor of God?

Prayer and supplication are very important. No matter how complete the armor, or how skilled a warrior you are without prayer we shall be defeated. We need to pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Paul said: “Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.” Within the world’s deception, we need constant submission to God in prayer. Disciples can have a strong knowledge of doctrine, but their prayer life is not there. To be God-conscious you see and experience everything in relation to Him.

Everything is filtered through God enhanced vision, hearing, speech, actions and thoughts. We pray all the time with all kinds of prayers, meaning public, private, verbal, silent, thought, defensive, thanksgiving, requests, confession, praise, standing, kneeling, lying down etc. Most people who don’t pray feel like it’s a lie to them, a waste of time, and they don’t know how to. We should pray with all perseverance and alertness so we have to know what we are praying about.

Patience is important in prayer. We need to wait for His response until we have understood His answer. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. Wordless groans are not speaking in tongues, it’s the Holy Spirit praying for us that can’t be auidibilised. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

Most people decide to pray when there is a personal tragedy, but this just showcases our own selfishness. The direct object of prayer is God, the indirect object is all the Saints. A disciple should be concerned about the whole body of Christ and not solely on his own issues in the spirit.

When performed aright, is performed ‘in the Spirit’; with the heart, soul, and spirit engaged in it. It is put up with a true heart, and a right spirit, and without hypocrisy; in a spiritual way, and with fervency, and under the influence, and by the assistance of the Spirit of God in harmony.

How many pray with the mind and will of the spirit?

The mind of the spirit is not going to make you rich if you pray for it, nor is it the will of God. If the Holy Spirit is praying within us, if our prayers then align with Him and the will of God, we can pray in love, joy, peace, gentleness, faith, meekness, self-control, and not fulfil the lust and deeds of the flesh.

Because we are sons and daughters of God, He has placed His Holy Spirit inside you, which is a temple to the Spirit. From within you, the Spirit on your behalf is crying ABBA Father.
God offers you the same armor He protects Himself with. In the book of Isaiah, we are told:

Isaiah 59:17
“He put on righteousness as His breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on His head”