Christian references to the “armor of God” come mostly from one specific passage written by the Apostle Paul to the church at Ephesus. Since his readers were well aware of the tools worn by Roman soldiers, Paul used those as an illustration of the tools needed to resist Satan’s attacks. Here is the passage:
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 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.
Ephesians 6:10-17
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. Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; 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. And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
In a similar passage written to the church at Thessalonica, Paul spoke of having “put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.” (1 Thessalonians 5:8-11)
Let’s dive a bit deeper into Paul’s teaching.
The Enemy
Christians are being attacked regularly. The attacks include those around the world who are literally being imprisoned or even killed simply for being Christian. They also include those rejected by their families, driven from their homes for daring to convert from other religions 1. Attacks also come in the form of complaints and lawsuits for peacefully expressing faith in an increasingly atheistic, humanistic culture 2. To say that the Bible is true is condemned for its implication that contradictions to the Bible are not true; that violates the modern “religion” of “everything goes”. It seems that many, many people are acting as enemies of Christ. But…
The enemy is not really the people or their actions. They are being driven, whether they realize it or not, by the true Enemy: Satan. There is a great war going on, led by “spiritual forces of wickedness” that use humans as their proxies.
The battle is all the more dangerous because we ourselves are sinners. There are internal forces that Satan uses against us as much or even more than he uses external attacks. Each temptation to react to life in a way that pleases Satan instead of God is another front in that war.
How are we to defend ourselves, and stand against the onslaught of internal temptations plus external attacks? By using the Armor of God, the tools that He provides to us.
The Defensive Tools
Belt of Truth
What does it mean to “gird your loins”, and what does a belt have to do with it? The phrase started as a practical matter: Get the hem of a long tunic out of the way so that you can move easily to work or to fight. The belt would be used to hold the fabric in place. Here’s an article with step-by-step instructions in case you ever need to do so. 🙂
The phrase has come to mean anything done in order to be prepared for a difficult task 3. In our case, that task is to resist Satan, to not let him distract us from God and His kingdom. How does “truth” prepare us for that task?
One of Satan’s weapons against us is doubt and half-truths. These can make us wonder if God is really there, or if He really cares, or is really powerful enough to intervene even if He does care 4. This kind of doubt was used in his very first attack, against Eve in the garden.
The answer to those weapons and doubt is to be firmly grounded in the truth of what God is like and who Jesus is. We don’t have to wonder about such things: God has given ample evidence that what He says is much more true that anything that Satan tries to put over on us.
The more we study and research and internalize God’s word for ourselves, the better prepared we will be to recognize Satan’s lies and not fall for them.
Breastplate of Righteousness
What does a breastplate protect? All the vital organs: heart, lungs, etc. What does it protect against? An incoming projectile: Arrow, sword, or spear. How does it protect? By being a barrier between the projectile and the body, making it difficult for the projectile to pierce through and do fatal damage.
I remembered that in the Psalms, David often praised God for rescuing him due to his righteousness. But when I looked further, I found that many, many times the righteousness in question was God’s, not David’s. The Hebrew word translated as “righteousness”, “ṣᵊḏāqâ“, refers to God’s nature of absolute justice and integrity. When referring to mankind, it means how closely a person is aligned with God, how accurately they reflect that same nature.
We know that, on our own, none of us is righteous (Psalm 14:1-3, Psalm 53:1-3, Romans 3:10-18). We are at odds with God much more often than we are aligned with Him. Only through Jesus are we covered by His righteousness, seen by God as justified and clean before Him (Romans 5:19). We can say with Paul: “not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith” (Philippians 3:7-11).
OK, so what does righteousness protect, from what, and how does it do so? It protects life itself, as the breastplate protects the vital organs. Therefore, it protects from death, from eternal separation from God. What Satan would most love to do is defeat us by keeping our sin in place as a barrier between us and God. He can’t do that when we are covered by Christ’s righteousness. Any accusing projectile he throws at us, reminding us of all our failures, just bounces off when it meets Jesus standing in our place.
We need to be vigilant, though. If we try to resist Satan using only our own meager righteousness, that paper breastplate will fail. We will be mortally wounded unless we allow ourselves to be protected by Jesus and His righteousness.
Footwear of Peace
Have you ever tried to walk barefoot over rocky ground or hot sand? Ouch! Proper shoes allow us to travel even harsh ground in comfort.
Why does Paul say to have our feet shod “with the preparation of the gospel of peace“? That Gospel, the good news that God loves us and wants to welcome us into relationship with Him, provides comfort no matter how harsh our life journey is being at the moment. Even when walking in the midst of tragedy, grief, and heartache — “the valley of the shadow of death” (Psalm 23:4) — God still reigns, and Jesus has come to bring peace and salvation.
Shield of Faith
That Greek word “pistis“, translated as “faith”, means firm conviction, firm enough to trust and completely rely on Jesus.
Just as a shield is used to deflect an incoming attack, faith in Him allows us to answer any of Satan’s “flaming arrows” with “Nope, that’s not going to get through.” No matter how our Enemy twists the truth or tempts us to disobey or brings hardship into our lives, when we depend on Jesus we can trust that God will prevent him from having the success he wants.
Helmet of Salvation
As the breastplate protects vital organs, the helmet protects against a life-threatening blow to the head. The salvation that Jesus provides protects, not our physical skulls and brains, but our thought processes, our way of thinking about our world. It allows us to stay focussed on the future, and not to be rattled by difficulties that are only temporary. It allows us to know that “in the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I [Jesus] have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) That hope of a bright, eternal future is a solid protection against the negativity that surrounds us.
Sword of the Spirit
The sword is the most active of all these tools. Whereas the others fend off attacks, the sword takes the battle to the enemy. Jesus used this sword, the word of God, very effectively in His own battle recorded in Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13. To each of Satan’s temptations, Jesus answered with “It is written…“.
We can do the same, using the wisdom taught in the Bible to counter opposing influences that try to derail our lives.
Battle Lines
Satan has his weapons, and wields them very well. He is a murderer and a liar who can never be trusted (John 8:44). He is always poking at us, probing for weaknesses to exploit. Peter says that he “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
But God has provided His children with armor that can keep us safe from that lying, murdering lion. His truth, righteousness, peace, and salvation are all available to us. We acquire them by faith in Jesus, not by any virtue of our own. They are mediated by His word, both the written word that teaches everything we need to know about the battle, and also Jesus the Living Word who fights by our side…and who has already won! (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)
Note: A couple of similar articles on this site are “Fight Satan, Not People” and “Good vs. Evil, a Lopsided Battle“.
Footnotes and Scripture References
- Learn more about persecuted Christians at Voice of the Martyrs.
- Just ask Jack Phillips!
- https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/gird+your+loins
- The article “Why Bad Things Happen” addresses some of those questions.
