Armor of God

By Andrew Williams – March 28, 2021

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints”— Ephesians 6:10‭-‬18 NKJV



Introduction

I don’t know if you have struggled with this passage the way that I have done in the past. My problem has always been figuring out how do I apply in the armor of God to use in my life. I have heard many sermons and many teachings on the armor of God, but the majority of them always leaves my mind focused on the different parts of a Roman soldier’s armor. Most of these teachings do not show me how to practically use the armor of God, and honestly each time I think about it all I do is use imagery to show myself fighting against an enemy using these different aspects of a Roman soldier’s armor.

My problem has been that I have focused too much on the physical armor ,and not much on what it means to have the ARMOR OF GOD in battle against the enemy. As I share my views today I pray that it will give us more clarity on being armed by God for spiritual warfare and how to stand and operate successfully in God’s armor.

As we look at the following seven subheadings it is my prayer that as we explore them we will understand what it means to be armed by God, the significance of each aspect of that armor, and how to use them all together to stand for God and against the enemy.



Truth

What is (the) Truth? What is the benefit of having (the) Truth? These two bible verses says it all.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6 NKJV

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31‭-‬32 NKJV

God’s truth is embodied in a person, his son, our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only way for us to have fellowship and relationship with God the Father as stated in John 14: 6. It is when we believe Jesus’s words, and pattern his lifestyle, that we know the truth and we become free.

This truth comes from God. is only given by Him, and can only be received by those who believe in His son Jesus Christ.



Saved

When we become aware of God’s Truth and we accept Him, then God saves us as stated in the following passage.

“that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:9‭-‬10 NKJV

When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior we automatically gain the second part of God’s armor: salvation. It is God’s gift to us for believing on His son and the work that He did here on Earth.



Righteous

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord , My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. Isaiah 61:10 NKJV

For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) Romans 5:17 NKJV

When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior we are made righteous in God’s sight because of Him. We are clothed with God’s righteousness as mentioned in Isaiah 61:10. This is the righteousness of God, and not the righteousness that we have because of our behavior. It is a gift from God !


Gospel of Peace

Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ— He is Lord of all— that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.” Acts 10:34‭-‬43 NKJV

The Gospel of Peace is the good news that God has redeemed us through His son Jesus. When we accept Jesus Christ as Lord, we are at peace with God and His kingdom. This is the good news that we should be prepared to proclaim wherever we go.



Faith of God

And Jesus answering saith to them, ‘Have faith of God; Mark 11:22 YLT98

Many versions of the Bible translate this verse as ” have faith in God”, but the original Greek is also translated as ” have faith of God”. The Faith that we have through the Holy Spirit is a gift from God. It is not our faith but it is the Faith Of God.

What can the Faith of God accomplish? The faith of God has no doubt, and whatever He speaks comes into being. This is the faith that we have in the armor of God. Whatever we declare in faith must come to pass as stated in the following verses:

For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. Mark 11:23‭-‬24 NKJV



Word of God

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:1‭, ‬3‭-‬4‭, ‬14 NKJV

When we think of God’s Word we think of the Lord Jesus Christ and we think about the Holy scriptures which include the Old testament and the New testament writings. When we think of the Word of God we see that it is all powerful, it is creative, it is restorative, and the Word is a person.

In the Ephesians passage the word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit. When we look at Jesus being tempted by Satan, you see that he used the written word of God to defeat Satan. The word is powerful when we use it correctly.



Prayer/ Proclamation

After describing the aspects of God’s armor Paul goes on to say that we should pray at all times. Prayer at its root is simply focusing on God. So when we are clothed in God’s armor our focus should be on Him as we battle the enemy. When we pray in faith God answers our prayers, and when we proclaim in faith our proclamations become reality.



Conclusion

Every aspect of the armor of God is a gift from God to us. When we hear and accept God’s truth ,we are saved, we are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus, we are taught the gospel of peace, and we use the faith of God to proclaim God’s word with power and authority. We are to pray at all times in our fight against the enemy and in our fight for our brothers and sisters.

In Ephesians 6:10-13 we are encouraged to TAKE UP the whole armor. This means that even though we have access to all of these through God, it is our duty to actually USE all of them together. If we’re not fully clothed in God’s armor, then we are at risk of losing to the enemy.

As a child of God I am fully armed because God has gifted me with every piece of His armor. It is my duty to take up this armor and to operate as someone who is saved, righteous, full of God’s truth, full of God’s word, knows the gospel of peace, and is operating in the faith of God, knowing fully that the words that I speak based on all these giftings will defeat the enemy.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Ephesians 6:10‭-‬13 NKJV



PRAYER PROCLAMATION

Jesus Christ has saved me, clothed me in His Righteousness, filled me with His Truth, prepared me to proclaim the Gospel of Peace, given me the Faith of God, and placed the Word of God within my heart. Fully empowered by God and filled with His Holy Spirit ;my testimony, my proclamations and, my prayers defeat the enemy!