The armor of God according to what is related in the Bible in Ephesians chapter 6 verses from 11 to 17, is the way in which the apostle Paul, divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit, refers to the different spiritual elements that a son of God must take and use. God in his daily walk, to survive and overcome the setbacks of life caused by the evil one in this world so convulsed.
The Biblical passage dealing with this subject begins as follows:
“Put on the full armor of God, so that you can stand firm against the wiles of the devil.” Ephesians 6:11.
As we all know, armor is a set of special war garments that soldiers wore on the body, in the times of the Roman Empire, when Paul writes, they were made of materials such as leather, iron and different metals, and were made up of different parts. , all of them important for the comprehensive protection of its wearer.
The biblical passage hereinafter makes the following clarification:
“For we do not fight against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this century, against spiritual wickedness in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12
Pablo, author of the letter, was very familiar with the military life of his time, he knew perfectly well that no warrior, whether Roman, Jewish or of any nationality, would be prepared for a velic combat without his respective armor.
This is why knowing how bloody our fight is, he clarifies “it is not against blood or flesh” (That is, it is not against people but against evil spiritual entities) that we fight, and in the same way he urges us to put on a spiritual armor with diligence, without which we would not be prepared as efficient combatants in the spiritual plane against our true enemies.
With the above in mind, Paul begins to speak to the believer of the armor of God in the following terms:
“Therefore, take the whole armor of God, so that you can resist on the bad day, and having finished everything, stand firm.” Ephesians 6:13
In this verse he clarifies that we must possess “all the armor” and use it properly to be able to “resist on the bad day”, we cannot half dress for war and survive such a day, we will not be able to finish everything we must do in life nor to stand firm after the battle with only a part of the armor, we must possess and use it completely.
What is the composition of the armor of God?
The Belt of Truth
The biblical text in question says in verse 14:
“Stand firm then, having your loins girded about with truth,”
This marks a similarity between wearing a seatbelt and telling the truth, it is a fact that our lives must be characterized by deep sincerity in our actions towards other people.
If we really believe in God and in his word we should always speak the truth regardless of what this may cause as a consequence, let us remember that Satan is a liar and the father of all lies, to stop walking in the truth is to participate in his evil works.
Of course there are very hard truths… but the believer must maintain the faith that they cannot be negotiated and that there are ways to say them too, doing so assertively and honoring God is one of the greatest challenges of the Christian life .
The Breastplate of Justice
He also goes on to say the same verse:
“And clothed with the breastplate of righteousness”
The breastplate was a generally rigid structure that protected the chest, abdomen, and back. When it is said that we must be dressed in the breastplate of justice, Paul refers to the fact that our actions must always be just.
We must proceed with rectitude and our conduct must not be in any way reprehensible, but on the contrary, if the God of the Bible is our God, we must be an example of proceeding in justice and rectitude.
Shoes of the Gospel of peace
The passage goes on to say:
“And shod their feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.”
In the following verse, the fact that the gospel is linked to footwear implies that wherever a child of God is, they must announce the good news, that is, the hope of salvation and eternal life. Either verbally or through his actions, he must communicate, live and reflect the peace that the gospel message brings.
Jesus said: “Peace I leave you, my peace I give you; I do not give it to you as the world gives it. Not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid”. John 14:27
Always remembering that it is the constant communication with the father that can fill the heart of the human being with the peace of God that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7).
We must also remember the clarification made by the author of the letter to the Hebrews to the nation that rejected their messiah, saying “Follow peace with all, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14 ).
The Shield of Faith
Verse 16 of chapter 6 of Ephesians says with emphasis:
“Above all, take the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the fiery darts of the evil one.”
Faith is the certainty of what is expected and the conviction of what we cannot see, it is believing that God is in control of circumstances and that nothing escapes his power, and that everything helps those who sincerely love him to good.
Faith is the only resource that has the power to extinguish the fiery darts of the evil one, these fiery darts are the thoughts of satanic origin that the enemy brings to our minds, to harm us and incapacitate us, like a flaming arrow in war can cause great damage through fire if they are not put out or canceled in time.
The Helm of Salvation
The last defensive element of the armor of God is the helmet, says verse 17:
“And take the helmet of salvation.”
The helmet was the element used to protect the head, which means that we must always keep our salvation in mind, as Paul himself said well in the letter to the Philippians (Philippians 2:12) “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” And also in Hebrews 2:3 “how can we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation?”
Taking care of our salvation means having a perspective of life after death, although we believe in the promise of eternal life, we must not live as if we did not care where we will go after death, it is being aware that all our works they will at some point be brought to memory and judged by God.
And although we are not saved by works, these are going to highlight the most intimate beliefs that our hearts harbored at that moment, as Ecclesiastes 12:14 rightly says.
“For God will bring every work into judgment, along with every covert thing, whether good or bad.”
The Sword of the Spirit
Finally the apostle speaks of the sword saying in the following verse:
“and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
Until now, there had been talk of parts that provide protection to those who use armor, now the Bible tells us about an offensive element, that is, an object exclusively for attack, “the sword” and resembles it to the word of God.
This implies that the only way we have to attack and counterattack our enemy is by speaking the word of God, that is, arguing based on the Bible, if we really consider that this is the word of God.
Says 2 Timothy 3:16-17:
All Scripture is inspired by God, and useful to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice, so that the man of God may be perfect, fully prepared for every good work.
Let us remember that when Jesus was tempted by Satan in the desert, his response was always to quote the sacred scriptures, his initial expression in his responses was always “this is written”, that is the way in which we too will be able to overcome the stalking of the evil one, it is by that is of vital importance to know the word of God.
God has left us all these elements knowing what we are up against, and He expects us to be careful to always be protected, armed and ready with them to defend ourselves and attack the kingdom of darkness with the word of God.
Put on the armor of God
Putting on the whole armor of God means living in the truth, practicing justice, preaching the gospel, maintaining faith and promoting peace. In addition to never forgetting the promise of salvation always using the word of God.
The Bible says:
“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for the destruction of strongholds, overthrowing arguments and all haughtiness that is set up against the knowledge of God, and leading captive every thought to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience, when your obedience is perfect.” 2 Corinthians 10:4-6.
There Paul fully explains how we must use the main weapon of the word of God, first we must apply it to our lives, believe it and live it, so that our obedience is perfect, teach others to obey it, just as the apostle Paul himself did , who says in his first letter to the Corinthians:
“Be imitators of me just as I am of Christ.” And also “Brothers, be imitators of me, and look at those who behave like this according to the example that you have in us.”
Let us therefore be diligent in keeping these things and in spiritually clothing ourselves with the armor of God, knowing that we fight a bloody spiritual battle every day against principalities and powers in the heavenly realms.