What is the full armor of God?

The Full Armor of God in Ephesians 6

What is the full armor of God? We're going to answer that question. The phrase full armor of God comes from Ephesians chapter 6 verses 13 through 17. Therefore 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 of 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. Ephesians 6 .12 clearly indicates the conflict with Satan is spiritual and therefore no tangible weapons can be effectively employed against him.

We are not given a list of specific tactics Satan will use however the passage is quite clear that when we follow all the instructions faithfully we will be able to stand and we will have victory regardless of Satan's strategy.

Truth, Righteousness, and the Gospel of Peace

The first element of our armor is truth. This is easy to understand since Satan is said to be the father of lies. A lying tongue is one of the things God describes as detestable to him. We are therefore exhorted to put on truth for our own sanctification and deliverance as well as the benefit of those to whom we witness.

Also we are told to put on the breastplate of righteousness. A breastplate shielded a warrior's vital organs from blows that would otherwise be fatal. This is not works of righteousness done by man rather this is the righteousness of Christ imputed by God and received by faith which guards our hearts against the accusations and charges of Satan and secures our innermost being from his attacks.

The scriptures also indicate the preparation of the feet for spiritual conflict. In warfare sometimes an enemy places dangerous obstacles in the path of advancing soldiers. The idea of the preparation of the gospel of peace as footwear suggests that we need to advance into Satan's territory aware that there will be traps with the message of grace so essential to winning souls to Christ.

Faith, Salvation, and the Word of God

Continuing in the passage reveals the shield of faith which makes Satan's sowing of doubt about the faithfulness of God and his word ineffective. Our faith of which Christ is the author and perfecter is like a golden shield precious solid and substantial.

The next piece of our armor the helmet of salvation is protection for the head keeping viable a critical part of the body. We could say that our way of thinking needs preservation. The unsafe person has no hope of warding off the blows of false doctrine because he is without the helmet of salvation and his mind is incapable of discerning between spiritual truth and spiritual deception.

Scripture is clear as to the meaning of the sword of the spirit. It is the word of God. While all the other pieces of spiritual armor are defensive in nature the sword of the spirit is the only offensive weapon mentioned.

It speaks of the holiness and power of the word of God. A greater spiritual weapon is not conceivable. In Jesus's temptations in the desert the word of God was always his overpowering response to Satan.

Prayer and Spiritual Victory

What a blessing that we have the same word. In addition we are told to pray in the spirit that is with the mind of Christ with his heart and his priorities in addition to wearing the full armor of God.

We cannot neglect prayer as it is the means by which we draw spiritual strength from God. Without prayer without reliance upon God our efforts at a spiritual warfare are empty and futile. The full armor of God, truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation, the word of God, and prayer are the tools God has given us through which we can be spiritually victorious overcoming Satan's attacks and temptations.

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