"Get dressed and ready for a big fight!"
Without more information than that, I might not be appropriately attired when I arrive at the fight. If the fight is a boxing match, I might arrive in trunks and boxing gloves, shirtless and with high tops laced tight. But, what if I’m supposed to be the referee? Then I’ve got the dress all wrong. And if I’m supposed to host a visiting dignitary who requested to attend a boxing match, I’ll be wearing something altogether different again. If the big fight is against a wildfire, I’d better show up in firefighters gear. Black and white silk shorts are definitely not going to cut it out there.
In today’s text, Paul wants to give us enough information so that we show up in the right attire to fight the right fight. Life is a struggle, but our main adversary is not other people. When we focus on flesh and blood opponents, we dress ourselves with our intellect and our attitude and our sharp tongue and our cleverness to overcome their threat. But God’s Word lets us know that that is the wrong opponent and the wrong attire. Our first and most dangerous adversary is spiritual. The same Satan that cunningly brought calamity to the human race in the beginning brings his forces into conflict with all of us still. To be strategic about defeating these foes, we must dress for victory.
There are six pieces of armor that Paul identifies as the proper dress for spiritual success.
Truth is a belt. In Paul’s day, a soldier’s belt had armor resting on it and hanging off of it. The belt was the foundation for the rest of the ensemble. Is your life well-seated in Truth? Jesus is Truth. God’s Word is Truth. Satan is a liar. He is the father of all lies. To be able to win against evil, we must first identify the lies that we have been hanging our lives on. Wrap yourself up in Jesus and the Word and strip off the lies that are contrary to them.
Righteousness is a breastplate. It protects the most vital organs from injury and mortal wounds. We are most vulnerable to serious spiritual injury when we dabble in unrighteousness. Sinful, unholy behaviors take our defenses down and open us up for major casualty. Righteous, holy behavior keeps the breastplate in place; it protects us from the spiritual enemy Jesus named, “Killer."
The gospel of peace is a pair of shoes that makes us ready for this fight. But we have to be fitted with them. The gospel is the good news that Jesus has already defeated Satan, won this war, and set us at peace with God. Only after we have accepted that gift of peace with God through the cross are we in any position to fight a good spiritual fight. Are your gospel shoes on? Are you standing ready in the shoes of repentance and faith in Christ?
Faith is a shield. The evil one will assault you with some hellacious blows. “Flaming arrows” is what the text calls them. When the battle becomes a conflagration, how will you survive? You will survive by faith. You will trust that God is with you to wield that shield. You will trust with a faith that is drenched with the water of His Word. Then the fiery darts will be extinguished against your Word-soaked shield of faith.
Salvation is your helmet. The helmet protects your brain, the command center. Know who you are; know who you’re fighting under and with; know that you are able to access the mind of Christ; know your enemy and his tactics; know that the war is already won! The mind that has been renewed by the transformation of salvation can think clearly and stand against the wily mind-games of the devil.
The Word of God is also the Spirit’s sword. This is the one offensive piece of the spiritual soldier’s ensemble. This is the dragon slayer! Want to see how it works? Jump back to Matthew 4 and Luke 4 and read how Jesus overcame the temptations in the desert. He wielded the Word like a brilliant swordsman. Satan’s attempts to defeat Christ were blocked and he was routed in the Battle of the Judean Wilderness.
Pray: Commander of the host of heaven, lead me to victory against my prime adversary, evil in the spiritual realm. Help me to say to the people in my life, “You are not the enemy,” especially when I am at odds with them. Help us to lock arms as comrades and fight the good fight together. Help me put my armor on and keep it on every day.
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