The whole Armour of God Part 1

Our Spiritual Warfare in Ephesians 6:10-18

Whole armour of God

When we become believers, we soon discover that we have come into a battle! It is the spiritual battle between God with his holy angels versus Satan with his armies of evil spirit beings. We need to understand how to survive in our spiritual battles.

The whole armour of God is a metaphor in the Bible (Ephesians 6:10-18) that describes the protection available to Christians in our spiritual battle. It is more than a metaphor since it actually describes spiritual realities. Here are 4 things you should know about the full armour of God.

1. The whole armour is the expression of your full trust in God and what He has done for you through Jesus Christ

2. The Armour of God is receiving and applying everything that God has done for you. This is explained in Ephesians chapter 1-5.

3. Your victory in spiritual warfare was secured at the cross of Jesus Christ and his blood that was shed there (Rev. 12:11).

4. Examples of spiritual attacks on believers might include things like the temptation to sin, doubting your faith, or feeling like you are not good enough to share God's word etc. The Bible says that such attacks originate by Satan and his evil forces and are directed at the believer’s mind.

The Background to our Spiritual Warfare

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places…

The church is engaged in a spiritual war, and its enemy is Satan and a host of unseen angelic and celestial enemies whose power vastly exceeds our own. With a few exceptions, our enemies remain invisible to our eyes, but they nevertheless are real, and so is their opposition. These celestial enemies come in various forms, as is suggested by the variety of terms used by Paul to identify them: “rulers” these are the 5-star generals, “powers,” “world forces of this darkness,” “spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places”. 

 In this war Satan employs a variety of strategies to oppose and to defeat the Christian.  Paul does not speak of one single “scheme” (wiles KJV), but of his many “schemes” (plural), likewise, there are different parts of God’s armour that we must put on to counteract each scheme of attack.  Satan’s opposition against the church is not a frontal attack, but a sneaky attack through intrigue, deception, and trickery, so we must remain prayerful and alert (Eph 6:18, 1 Peter 5:8).

Ephesians 6:13 Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Because of verse 12, which is Satan’s kingdom in the heavenlies, we need take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all, to stand. Paul says there is going to come an evil day, an evil day comes in the life of every one of us. Whether we stand or not depends on whether we have the defensive equipment (armour) we need. And then Paul lists the armour, and it is taken from the battle armour of a Roman soldier of his day.

14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.

The believer’s armour has 6 main parts.

Girdle of Truth

Breastplate of Righteousness

Gospel of Peace (Shoes)

Shield of Faith

Helmet of Salvation

Sword of the Spirit

The armour of God is an illustration in the Bible that reminds Christians about the reality of spiritual battle and describes the protection available to them. Each piece of armour has a distinct purpose and is a means of defence against temptation and evil. Jesus Christ has provided each piece of armour to protect Christians. But we still need to put the armour on!  Paul having been chained to Roman soldiers for several hours every day whilst in prison would have had lots of time to draw the analogy from the soldiers’ armour. There are six parts of armour which we will look at in order and some detail armour as we proceed.

Please note that all these 6 pieces are defensive although the sword of the Spirit can be used to some extent (arm’s length) to attack the enemy.

Amen

Prayer

In Part 2 We begin to consider each piece of our armour in order and in detail.