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All types of soldiers, past and present, need to wear some type of armor when they go into battle. Knights wore heavy plated armor, samurais wore bamboo armor, and modern soldiers wear Kevlar vests and other types of protection. But why would soldiers need to wear armor in the first place? Because they’re in some type of battle or war, and need protection.
The Bible tells us that as believers, we also need to wear spiritual armor. The armor of God. Why would God want His followers to put on armor? Who are God’s people fighting? Let’s talk about the answers to these questions.
Why We Need Armor in the First Place
As mentioned before, soldiers need armor to go into battle. It protects them against the enemy’s attacks. If a soldier went into battle without armor, would he stay alive for long? Definitely NOT. He would most likely get killed before he even had a chance to attack. Not only does a soldier need armor, but that armor must be strong, and he must wear all parts of the suit for it to be fully effective.
Imagine you are going into battle. You put on the knee guards, the helmet, the gloves, but forget to put on your bulletproof vest. Without that critical piece of armor, you are dangerously vulnerable to life threatening injuries. If you only wear certain pieces of armor but leave others out, your protection is incomplete.
The Ongoing Spiritual War – Why We Need the Armor of God
So, what if I told you that we are in an ongoing war, but it’s not a physical one? In Ephesians 6, we see the armor of God. He wants us to put it on fully so that we can fight our enemy (and win). Who is our enemy? Is it non-believers? People of other religions? Or maybe it’s the people of our own religion? Ephesians 6:12 puts it clearly.
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
Ephesians 6:12
Our fight is not against other people, but against the devil and his evil spirits. This verse says we must fight against the devil’s schemes. It’s a spiritual war that God and Satan have been fighting for the past 6,000 years, ever since the time of Genesis. Why have God and Satan been fighting? Jesus gives the answer in the gospel of John,
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;”
John 10:10
Satan wants to steal, kill, and destroy the creation that God cares about deeply – namely, us. Ever since the Garden of Eden, Satan has interfered time and time again with God’s efforts and plans to restore and bring His people back to Him. Therefore, it has been a constant war, between those who belong to the devil and those who belong to God. And here we are, in the middle of it too.
God tells His people multiple times in both the Old and New Testaments to fight and overcome the enemy. For that to happen though, we must put on the armor God provides, and fight. If we aren’t careful, alert, or aware of the spiritual battle that’s going on around us, then we could be captured or killed spiritually.
Protect Ya Neck (and Every Other Part)
“Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”
Ephesians 6:11
“Put on the full armor” – why the full armor? When you have a complete set of armor then it’s 100% effective in protecting you. In many war or battle-type video games, you need to collect various suits of armor throughout the game. You have to collect it piece by piece. You could wear those pieces separately, but their individual effectiveness would be low. It’s only when you’ve collected the full armor set and put it on, its defensiveness is at its max. The enemies’ attacks won’t damage you much, if at all. But that’s only if you have the full set.
With God’s armor, we also need to put on the full set so that we can protect ourselves and win against the devil’s schemes. The devil tries to steal, kill, and destroy God’s people, not with physical attacks, but spiritual ones.
What would spiritual attacks look like? Lies to deceive us about God and His Word – this could be false doctrines, false opinions, or other things that mislead, confuse or deter people from God’s truth.
How Satan Works
Satan, or the devil, which actually means “obstructor, deceiver, thief,” sows doubt into our minds. He encourages us to follow our own desires and the desires of this world which he rules over. Those selfish desires cause us to turn away from God and disobey God’s Word (sin). And we know that sin eventually leads to death (James 1:15).
It’s how he tricked Adam and Eve to sin against God by disobeying God’s command of not eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The devil twists God’s words. He adds other things to what God has said, things that sound attractive but are, in the end, lies. In that way, Satan takes God’s true and holy Word and makes it into his own unholy and false word.
Today, that’s like how people add their own interpretations of God’s Word, as well as their own traditions. When there are so many different rules and interpretations out there, it’s become really difficult to know what the truth really is.
At the start of Christianity, Jesus intended for believers to become one, united in him and the Word (1 Corinthians 1:10, 13). If that’s what Christ wanted, then why do we have thousands of denominations? It’s because Satan has sown division among believers – different ideas, different goals, so that they split off into their own factions or denominations.
Well, What is the Armor of God?
Earlier, I mentioned how a soldier needs to wear all the pieces of their armor for it to be 100% effective. What are the pieces of God’s armor?
Ephesians 6:13-17 tells us what they are: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, and the sword of the spirit. Are all these separate pieces things we must physically wear? No.
Ultimately, all of these things are referring to God’s Word, the Bible. If we think of having all the pieces, that means we must know and understand God’s Word completely, from beginning to end. It is the spiritual armor that covers us from head to toe.
For us today, we must know the Bible so well that when we hear something that doesn’t line up with it, we can spot it easily. We need to be able to discern.This is what God wants from us too, because He warns us about it in 1 John.
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1 John 4:1
When we’re able to recognize falsities and reject them, we are rejecting Satan’s lies. When we know God’s Word completely, when there are no cracks in our armor, then we won’t be deceived (or defeated) by the enemy. However, if we don’t know God’s Word well, and we can’t spot the lies about it, then Satan will use those cracks in our armor as leverage for his attacks and will deceive us.
Have You Put on the Full Armor of God?
So, do you think you’re fully armored and prepared for the spiritual battle we’re in as Christians? We cannot go into battle without our armor and weapons – which are God’s Word. If you find yourself missing some pieces, or if you don’t have any armor yet, it’s never too late to start armoring yourself now.
When wearing your armor, you must keep it well-polished and maintained. Because if we don’t maintain our equipment properly, if we don’t study God’s Word daily, then our armor won’t work well, and could be weak and vulnerable to attacks.
Fortunately, you’ve found a place where you can learn how to put on your armor and maintain it…here with us! If you would like to know more about that, please contact us and we will help you make sure you are fully armored and protected from the enemy with God’s Word.
Let’s all be fully armored, fight, and win!
Written by Kenny
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