The Whole Armor of God

Ephesians 6:13-17 ESV

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God…”

Most commentators say that the sword of the Spirit is the only offensive weapon in the full armor, but the sword is both an offensive weapon and a defensive weapon. We can strike the enemy down using the words of God skillfully, but this takes meditation and study of God’s words to know His words intimately. Practically, if we wanted to defeat our enemy, we would prepare for the battle, we would know our weaponry and be trained to gain the knowledge of how to stop our enemy before he attacks. We may not be able to stop his verbal threats, but we can choose not to listen to his threats. Too often we are defeated by listening to the enemy. Instead, listen to the scriptures that come to our minds from the Holy Spirit. God’s words can be actively and skillfully used to demolish falsehoods, tear down spiritual strongholds, expose the darkness, and transform our lives. God’s words put the enemy on the defensive through spoken, applied, and Spirit-empowered truth. As we study God’s words, the Spirit reveals these words when needed to defeat the enemy and his schemes. The sword of the Spirit is used when we have prepared ourselves in the words of God.

Prayer:

Lord, we do not have to run and hide, we can stand and fight if we are prepared properly in Your words. Strengthen us for the battle. empower us for this battle through the entire words of God. We wrestle not against people but against spiritual wickedness that drives people to be evil. As we read Your words, inspire us, hide those word in our heart to be used later on when we are under attack. We lean on You, we trust in You and the power of the sword of the Spirit. In Your name Lord Jesus, Amen