Putting On The Armor of God
Monday, August 4th, 2008By Eddie Smith
In Ephesians 6 we’re told:
Put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your 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. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. (vv. 13–18, emphasis mine).
T he most common instruction I’ve heard regarding this passage is that we are to awaken every morning and “pray on” God’s armor. I disagree. I believe the armor Paul refers to is descriptive of the life we’re living and, thus, increasingly, as time passes, the life we’ve lived—not a prayer we’ve prayed.
Notice, for example, that the book of Ephesians doesn’t begin referring to warfare; it ends with warfare. The first five chapters deal with how we are to live.
When I was born again at age five and a half (the “halves” were important back then!), I put on the helmet of salvation. It was then that I trusted Christ as my personal Savior.
As I’ve read, memorized, meditated upon, and used the Word of God, I’ve put on the belt of truth and taken up the sword of the Spirit. The sword of the Spirit—the Word of God—is our only offensive weapon. If you’ve not taken it up, you are unarmed. There are no shortcuts. You can’t “pray it on.”
As I’ve received Christ’s righteousness and allowed Him to live His life in and through me, I’ve clothed myself with the breastplate of righteousness. There is the righteousness of Christ that’s imputed to me, and the righteousness that I must live out. Together, they form my breastplate.
Since elementary school I’ve openly shared my faith in Jesus as a witness, a soul winner. In this way I’ve put on my “gospel shoes.” That is, my feet are fitted with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
As I’ve been tested and tried, I’ve learned to trust the Lord. That’s where I’ve received the shield of faith. Because I continue to live it out, my shield grows day by day.
I’ve noticed that many of us focus on the metaphor rather than the message. We see the belt, the breastplate, the shoes, the shield, the helmet, and the sword. We should be focusing on truth, righteousness, soul winning, faith, salvation, and the Word of God!
Anyone who denies the truth, lives unrighteously, shrinks from sharing the good news, is fearful and isolated, continually questions his salvation, and doesn’t know God’s Word isn’t prepared to engage in spiritual warfare. Do you understand what I’m trying to say? God’s armor goes onto us—and we grow into it—as we abide in Him and increase in faith.
Yes—absolutely, certainly, always, pray. Just don’t make the error of thinking that we become mature, seasoned veterans of faith either by merely asking for that to happen or by merely declaring that it is happening.
(Eddie Smith, Making Sense of Spiritual Warfare, pp 116-118)