If there are cracks in your armor, your opponent is going to find them.
- Doug Baldwin
Armor Of God
At birth and again at conversion, Christians are twice "born for battle." Understanding the armor of God is essential for those who would become victors rather than victims of the remarkable cosmic spiritual war spanning Three Heavens.
A half naked warrior missing some or all his armor poses little threat to even an earthly enemy, much less mankind's ancient and malevolent Adversary and his demons. Identifying each piece, as well as their order of appearance in Scripture, is the first step in learning to don and hone our skills in using this vital defensive and offensive weaponry.
At the Bible clearly states that we don't relate to God in a vacuum. Scripture reveals that Earth and all of humanity's been swept into a cosmic spiritual battle spanning eternity and raging across Three Heavens. Satan, a rebellious Archangel and the original Architect of sin, along with a mighty host of fallen angels and demons has tempted and deceived mankind for millennia. From the Old Testament's account of Adam and Eve's expulsion from paradise to Christ's dire waring to the end time Church in His terrible parable of the Ten Virgins, the Devil's success at deceiving even God's anointed is well documented.
So much so, the biggest question in mankind's mind isn't really whether God exists but rather is He good? Satan's chief refrain since the angelic rebellion and Eden's fall. Throughout the millennia his cohorts have taught humanity to sing along. A chorus amplified globally by the sin above (the Devil and his angels), the sin about (unprecedented temptation and deception) and the sin within (fallen human nature).
The Bible addresses the topic in a variety of ways. Scores of passages in the prophets and psalms deal with the question directly. As do a myriad of New Testament passages. Scripture's answer is as simple as it is marginalized. Creation is a war. Lucifer's heavenly insurrection having marred the very history of eternity, overflows onto Earth forever reshaping our own.
In a very real sense, heaven and earth are under siege. Biblical faith is a call to arms. It can’t be overstated that according to the context of Scripture, the battlefield is not a mythical analogy, but rather eternity’s reality. This partially explains the Bible’s harsh or even horrible accounts of earthly conflict. An explanation pampered modern Christians refuse to accept.
For this and other reason the Apostle Paul, the most prolific author of the New Testament and great champion of the faith explains the necessity that all believers everywhere and at all times be clad in the full armor of God:
- "A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Ephesians 6:10-13
Further complicating matters is the third front against which we battle temptation and sin. Within. As the great king, psalmist and prophet David exclaimed:
- "Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just. For I was born a sinner, yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. But you desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there. Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me—now let me rejoice. Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me." Psalm 51:1-11
A high price cautionary tale, it's easy to see that even for a great conqueror and seasoned soldier, the battle against sin from above instigated by spiritual beings, around instigated by society and within requires constant vigilance and the best armor God can provide.
Know the Order?
Both Scripture and experience strongly suggest that faith requires a certain amount of guesswork. Hebrews explains that like medical professionals are licensed to "practice medicine" so Christians "by reason of practice learn to discern good from evil." The key is to make the most educated guess possible given the tools at hand. This accounts for one of the many reason we are told study the Bible, our text book, "that you might show yourself approved of God, a workman who needn't be ashamed, rightly interpreting the word of truth."
Such a vital principal has many applications. One is the importance of learning to listen and speak to God. Given the challenges presented by the physical distance and silence of God, clearly prayer is an act of faith. Like all subjective experience, scripture plays a key role in guiding and interpreting our attempts at approaching Omnity and in the all important work of relating to our Creator and Savior.
With this disclaimer in mind, let me share a personal experience I had years ago concerning the subject of the armor of God. Ordained a decade before, I was attending a small Bible study where I was asked at the last minute to teach on the armor of God. Happily agreeing, in route it seemed as is the Spirit asked if I felt adequately prepared to the speak on the topic. Assured I was, I felt challenged to identify all the pieces discussed in Ephesians 6 without cheating by looking them up. Finding I could, a more interesting question presented itself. Could I recall the order of appearance of each of the six pieces?
For fun and insight, I suggest trying answering both questions before proceeding.
For the sake of this experiment I've skipped an inch or two down this page for you to take the same test I did…
How'd you do? If you're like me you were able to name all six pieces of the armor of God but were far from accurately remembering their order. This raised a third question. Was their sequence in this passage random or willful? When Omniscience inspires a list of something important should we look for meaning in the arrangement? In this case there are three possibilities. While clearly all the pieces of God's armor are vital, however the order of their appearance in scripture may not be. If the arrangement is significant, it must be in one of two ways. Either the order reflects how first century soldiers dressed or a deeper message has been embedded in the passage for the sake of those willing to seek it out.
Determining Paul's full intent requires careful study of the passage. Turning to the chapter I was amazed to find that the progression of the appearance of the armor of God was nothing like I had guessed. In fact is was almost the opposite! What was also immediately apparent was this was not the way ancient soldiers dressed, suggesting either there was no significance to the sequence or one billions may have overlooked.
Over thirty years of both studying and being studied by the Bible has led me to believe that, like creation itself, the Creator's Handbook is full of much greater substance than immediately meets the eye. As when dealing with typology, the meat of the word of God must be carefully and thoroughly chewed to release it's full flavor and intent. This is one of the guiding principals of Quantum Christianity. As is the fact that a little scriptural archeology and Biblical forensics can prove amazingly helpful. In this case, the order of each piece of the armor of God combines to yield a most valuable insight:
- "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 shoes of 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." Ephesians 6:14-17
Process of Salvation
The vast majority of those able to correctly recall the pieces of God's spiritual armor and try listing them without peeking understandably assume the Helmet of Salvation must be first. After all, one can hardly imagine the unsaved running around carrying the Shield of Faith or swinging the Sword of the Spirit. Surprisingly, the Helmet of Salvation in next to last in the list. At first glance this appears so irreconcilable with common sense that most immediately assume the order to be random or simply indicative of how ancient soldiers dressed. Yet a closer look seems to rule out the latter. Take a moment to imagine preparing for mortal combat. Surely the armor, to have value, would be made of heavy materials and leave as little of your body exposed as possible while still allowing for the maximum range of motion. Seen in this regard, the Belt would be comprised of at least a very thick tightly sown leather girdle covering the genitals and thighs. In the same way, the Breastplate would be fitted snugly about the torso, constructed of as dense a material as possible, perhaps all or in part by some kind of hardened metal. A warrior's Shoes would clearly not be slip ons or zories. A soldier would need extremely heavy and reliable footwear, likely laced up firmly above the ankles. At this point it becomes clear this is not the way battle armor was donned. None but a comedian would put on a heavy girdle and even heavier metal breastplate before bending over to strap on thick military issue sandals. So, having ruled this out, the remaining possibilities are that either there's no significance to the armor's order of appearance or, as is often the case of typology, one wrapped in a riddle.
With some thoughtful consideration, an incredibly important message is revealed by the Spirit's inspiration of the order of the six pieces of the armor of God. In keeping with both human experience and the whole of Scripture, close examination finds nothing less than one of the Bible's most in depth description of the very process of salvation from start to finish!
Such an interpretation is the best explanation for why the Helmet of Salvation would be next to last, as shall become evident as we "piece together" this important lesson from the Apostle Paul, the great champion and soldier of the faith. Taken one at a time, the sequence of armor reinforces other Biblical passages on salvation in a completely common sense fashion:
1. Belt of Truth: Elsewhere the Apostle Peter directs, "gird up the loins of your mind." These passages and the hundreds of usages of words such as "believe" by New Testament authors emphasize the importance of recognizing and receiving Biblical truth. Living faith begins, but does not end, with mentally assenting to the claims of Christ in the gospel. For example, suppose a Terrorist secretly released a lethal biological weapon of mass destruction, the symptoms of which gradually escalate to the point of irrationality and death. Should an antidote be offered, those uninformed of the "good news" or failing to believe the validity of the report of a deadly virus would fall prey to the contagion. Scripture reference:
- "Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'" Matthew 28:18-20
2. Breastplate of Righteousness: Once having carefully considered God's free gift of salvation through submitting to Christ as Lord and Savior, the next step is to invest one's life doing so. As a breastplate covers the chest, so too living faith requires an agreement of the mind and heart to believe to the point of righteousness. Used nearly 100 times in the New Testament, the word righteousness describes both a positional and conditional state. The former is imputed by God through faith in Christ's costly atonement. The latter reflects a radical lifestyle devotion to Biblical teaching and the leading of the Holy Spirit. Continuing the example, one might hear about a global Terrorist attack but doubt the report. Others might begin treatment but discontinue doing so for a variety of reasons. Scripture reference:
- "Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?" Romans 6:15-16
3. Shoes of the Gospel of Peace: Those who understand Christ's message of salvation and desire to be a part of God's Kingdom act on the "good news" by engaging their will. Like the song says, "shoes are made for walking." So too, like every other decision in life, living faith requires one's mind, heart and will work in unison. Consider again our example. A victim might be showing symptoms of the outbreak and even look into the claims of medical professionals, yet if they fail to begin taking the antidote as prescribed they forfeit being cured. Scripture reference:
- "Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it." Luke 9:23-24
4. Shield of Faith: The first three pieces of God's armor reflect the necessary elements of fully receiving Christ. Believers are then directed to quickly grow accustomed to wielding the Shield of Faith for protection from the deadly "flaming arrows of the evil one" such as temptation and sin, resistance and persecution. Like in the Terrorist scenario, those who for any reason drop their guard by discontinue appropriate treatments must face the specter of reinfection. As Paul who penned these words warns elsewhere. Scripture reference:
- "Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified." 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
5. Helmet of Salvation: Scripture declares, "by faith we are saved." With the head, heart and will functioning in concert believers are born again, or literally "born from above." Used skillfully, living faith shields Christians from the attacks of the Enemy keeping the Helmet of Salvation secure. Protecting the soldier as he surveys and joins the battle, this piece of armor reflects the constant renewing of one's mind in the midst of war. Christians are called to fulfill Christ's Great Commission by seeking and saving the lost. In our example, once vaccinated against the Terrorist outbreak, good samaritans would do all they could to ensure others were successfully treated. Scripture reference:
- "And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." Romans 12:1-2
6. Sword of the Spirit: The word of God is both defensive and offensive in nature. Once freed from the "slavery to sin" and the grip of "the god of this world" authentic and prophetic Christians engage the Enemy with all the power of God's word. In the Terrorist metaphor, responsible citizens would work diligently with all the tools at their disposal to uncover and eradicate any current and future threats to their society.
Interestingly, the "word of God" used in this passage is the Greek rhḗma simply meaning "any spoken word." In the Bible, there are two different Greek words used to identify words from God: lógos and rhḗma. Rhema is a spoken word. "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the [spoken] word of God" (Eph. 6:17 NKJV). The KJV translates Strong's ῥῆμα G4487 in the following manner: word (56x), saying (9x).
Logos is used in John 1:1 (NKJV). "In the beginning was the [lógos] Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1 NKJV). Strong's λόγος G3056 matches the Greek λόγος (logos), which occurs 330 times in 316 verses in the TR Greek translated as word (218x), saying (50x), account (8x), speech (8x), Word or (Christ) (7x). A well known example of the use of logos would be:
- "For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable." Hebrews 4:12-13 NLT
- "The logos is the general word of God that communicates his ability to do something or his general will on a matter while a rhema is the word the Holy Spirit quickens to a specific person for a specific situation. He used various analogies to describe this relationship and some are – the logos is a well of water while the rhema is a bowl of water from that well, the logos is a piano keys while the rhema is a single key playing, a logos is the entire body while the rhema is one part in operation. The logos & rhema are always in alignment with one another. Of note is this statement that the Rhema could be a scripture or a word spoken to you by someone or quickened directly into your heart."
Hence the need for such a book as this, highlighting the greatest crises and opportunity of our time.
Thanks to the depth of Scripture, taken as a whole, the armor of God provides crucial information regarding the process of salvation and the power needed to defend and promote the Gospel in our lives and those of others.
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