- Belt of truth - Jesus said, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).
- Breastplate of righteousness - “…Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (Phil. 3:9).
- Shoes of the gospel of peace - “For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ” (Gal. 1:11-12).
- Shield of faith - “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8).
- Helmet
of salvation - “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to
everyone who believes…” (
- Sword of the Spirit - “By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you” (2 Tim. 1:14).
As I highlighted in the verses above, all of the armor comes
from God. It’s not something we can create or muster up by our own strength and
willpower. And it’s not something we have to obtain, but it is freely given by
God to all His children.
So how then do we put on the armor? By believing what God
has said is true of us in Christ and living accordingly. We can fight the lies
of the enemy if we know the truth of God’s Word. God has said we are overcomers
(1 John 2:14), conquerors (Rom. 8:37), free from sin (Rom. 6:18,22), reconciled
to God and ministers of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18), along with a lot of other
powerful truths.
I don’t know about you, but all too often I feel weak,
inadequate, and incapable. That’s what the enemy wants us to believe, and in
our own strength we will fail and fall. But that’s when we need to turn to the
One who has made us strong in Christ. In His power we can resist sin and
temptation, and we can combat the enemy’s lies with God’s truth. If we try to
manufacture our own armor and stand on our own, we’ll be as ineffective and
immobile as David was when trying on Saul’s armor. But by the strength and
grace of God, in the armor He provides, we can kill the giants that come our
way with just a few little stones of truth.
I don’t think it requires any elaborate ceremony to put on
the armor. It is just daily remembering who we are in Christ—feeding our minds
with the truth of Scripture, praying for His strength and wisdom, and turning
the battles over to Him. I can’t say I’m very good at that yet, but it is
becoming more clear to me, especially when I fail. If nothing else, failure
causes us to see our great need for God’s grace, mercy, and strength.
“Finally, be strong in
the Lord and in the strength of His might” (Eph. 6:10).
© 2013 Dawn Rutan.
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free
from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of
my church or employer.
