The Battle for Your Life: The Armor of God – Part 5

Your Spiritual Weapons

 

 

Did you notice the directive Paul gave the church in Ephesus?

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.                        Ephesians 6:10 NAS

 

That’s right. The Number 1 thing to do in the face of our unnatural enemy:

Be strong in the Lord.”

 

Don’t EVEN TRY this (spiritual warfare) alone!!

  • Without God, you can do nothing against the enemy.
  • In your own strength, you can do nothing against the enemy.
  • In your own flesh, you can do nothing against the enemy.

 

You must be “in the Lord.”

4 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.                                    John 15:4 NAS

 

And not merely “in the Lord,” you must be “strong in the Lord.”

And, “in the strength of His might.”

 

What?

How can I be “in the strength of His might”?

10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.                                            Colossians 1:10-12 NAS

 

 

Through the in-dwelling Holy Spirit:

16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,                                         Ephesians 3:16 NAS

 

 

It is only through the power and might of God-in-us, the Holy Spirit, that we can ever have power and might over satan.

It is only through the power and might of God-in-us, the Holy Spirit, that we can ever live in Victory.

 

 

The Armor of God

 

The Roman army was the best equipped, best armed, best trained, battle-hardened army that the world had ever seen (or did see, for hundreds of years).

  • Roman conquering advances: almost unstoppable.
  • Roman weapons: lethal.
  • Roman armor: invincible to the weapons of most of the peoples they fought.

 

Roman troops were a ubiquitous sight in Judea, the Galilee, Samaria, etc.

Their armor and weapons well-known, and recognized by Jews and Gentiles alike.

Paul knew the readers of his letter to the saints in Ephesus would be easily understood. (See NOTE about Ephesus):

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore *, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, 15 and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,                                     Ephesians 6:10-18 NAS

 

 

What good is armor if you don’t know it exists?

 

… About as good as armor you don’t wear.

 

 

So, PUT IT ON!!!

 

How?

Through prayer, affirmation of, and agreement with biblical Truth.

 

Why?

In order to stand firm against the “schemes of the devil.”

13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore,                                               Ephesians 6:13-14 NAS

 

 

The Belt of Truth

 

The first piece of armor Paul writes about is what is commonly called The Belt of Truth. To “gird” is to “wrap around.”

14 Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and

 

The first thing Paul says to do is to surround yourself with Truth.

 

In John 18:38, Pontius Pilate asks, rhetorically: “What is truth?

 

To believers, this is not a rhetorical question, with no answer expected.

 

To believers, Truth is the foundation of Faith.

  • If you don’t believe something is true, then you don’t believe.
  • If you don’t believe, then you don’t have Faith.

 

To believers, Jesus is Truth.

 

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life…

6 Jesus said to him [“doubting” Thomas], “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.                                        John 14:6 NAS

 

But, who, then, is the anti-Truth?

44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.                                                John 8:44 NAS

 

 

What’s the best way to discern a lie?

 

KNOW the Truth.

Inside. Outside. Upside. Downside. This way. That way. Over. Under. 360o squared.

 

The classic story I’ve heard is that US Treasury Dept. counterfeit detection employees never handle counterfeit currency for training purposes. They only handle the real thing!

 

I found a source who researched this, albeit, for Canadian bills.

There, Tim Challies writes:

“Training in identifying counterfeit currency begins with studying genuine money.”

The same concept works in discerning the Truth of God from the lies of the adversary.

 

If you want to know what’s a counterfeit, then you must focus on what is genuine.

 

If you know what’s true, if you focus on what the Bible actually says, then you won’t be led astray by false doctrines, worldly wrong thinking, or deceptions of the devil.

 

Challies later writes:

“The more we understand what is true, the easier it will be to identify what is fraudulent. The more we know about God’s character, God’s ways, and God’s Word, the greater the contrast will be between truth and error.”

Another fact Challies learned was

“that the Bank of Canada expects all Canadians to exercise discernment with their currency.”

 

In the same way, Christians are to discriminate between the Truth of YeHoVaH and the lies of satan.

21 But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; 22 abstain from every form of evil.                                     Ephesians 4:21 NAS

 

After the Belt of Truth comes the

Breastplate of Righteousness.

 

What is righteousness?

 

More on that

… next time.

 

Blessings,

 

TLThomas

It’s ok to doubt, if you check it out!

 

Be a Berean!

 10The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.                                                       Acts 17:10, 11 ESV

 

NOTE:

Ephesus was located on the western coast of what is now Turkey. (map)

 

See also

The Battle for Your Life: The Armor of God – Part 1

The Battle for Your Life: The Armor of God – Part 2

The Battle for Your Life: The Armor of God – Part 3

The Battle for Your Life: The Armor of God – Part 4

 

Please join me in this journey of discovery.

  • Leave a comment, or ask me a question.
  • Share this blog with others, whether they are doubting, or not.
  • Take what I say and CHECK IT OUT FOR YOURSELF!

 

© 2017 by the author