The armor we fight in

I said yesterday that we do not fight our battles with human weapons, whether it’s literal ones, political ones, or weapons of mere human rhetoric.

Now don’t get me wrong, there is room for the latter two. We do need to make our voices heard in the political realm, and part of that means using human rhetoric to communicate.

Paul himself did that, dealing with the politicians and philosophers of his day.

But if we are expecting to successfully fight this spiritual war through human weapons alone, we are doomed to failure.

If we are to truly take our stand as we face attack, we need to have God’s armor on us. What is that armor?

Paul starts with the belt of truth. (Ephesians 6:14a)

Truth should mark our speech. Truth should mark our lives. And when lies are being spread all around us, the lies of Satan and the lies of men, we are to counter it with the truth of God.

When hypocrisy and compromise is all around us, we should be known for our integrity. See Daniel and his friends for multiple examples of this. (Daniel 1-6)

Righteousness should be protecting our hearts. (Ephesians 6:14b)

Our hearts are stained and weakened when we sin. But when we are under attack and accused of wrongdoing, we should never give in to compromise.

Daniel and his friends were often accused of wrongdoing, but they never compromised their faith.

We should also never give in to thoughts of revenge against those who attack us. As Peter said,

So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good. (1 Peter 4:19)

Our feet should be fitted with the gospel of peace. (Ephesians 6:15)

Wherever we go, we should rest in God’s peace, knowing that whatever happens to us, our salvation is assured.

And we should take that gospel with us and share it with everyone we meet that they too may have peace with God.

We are to take up the shield of faith, so that when Satan assails us with his fiery darts of doubt, our faith may extinguish them (Ephesians 6:16).

Doubts can especially creep up in times of trouble and persecution. We start to question God, “Are you really here? Why are you letting this happen to us?”

But we are to rest in the confidence that God is in control, and that our faith in him will not go unrewarded.

We are to take up the helmet of salvation to protect our minds from the evil thoughts that rise up within us or that the enemy tries to plant within us. (Ephesians 6:17a)

Each day, we are to be renewed in our thinking by the Spirit of God within us, allowing him to transform us from the inside out.

And finally, we are to take up the sword of the Spirit, God’s word, the sole weapon we are equipped with. (Ephesians 6:17b)

When Jesus was in the desert under attack from Satan, each time he countered Satan’s lies with God’s word.

It is the Word of God that shows us what truth is.

It is the Word of God that transforms our minds and our lives through the power of the Spirit.

And it is the Word of God that penetrates people’s hearts that they may see the light of the gospel.

So it’s absolutely vital that we know his Word. Do you?

And are you putting on the rest of the armor of God daily? Or are you leaving yourself wide open to spiritual attack?

Are you ready to take your stand in this present darkness we live in?