Gifts for Moms, Dads, and Grads
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10 Things You Should Know About the Armor of God
1. The armor of God is for every believer.
The armor of God isn’t just a fun metaphor kids sing about at VBS. Nor is it something only necessary for new, immature, or struggling Christians. The armor of God is for every believer because none of us is “able to stand against the schemes of the devil” (Eph. 6:10) on our own. Paul explains in Ephesians 6 that we’re involved in an invisible, spiritual battle against forces of evil, and the only way we can “be strong in the Lord” and withstand Satan’s attacks is to “put on the whole armor of God” (Eph. 6:10–11). But what exactly is the armor of God? It’s the benefits and blessings we have in Christ—things like truth, righteousness, and salvation. If we’re in Christ, we’re equipped with a full suit of spiritual armor.
2. You have to take up the armor.
Although all believers have the armor of God, Paul is clear that we must actively make use of it. He repeatedly uses the language of “putting on” and “taking up” the armor (Eph. 6:11, 13–17) as he describes each piece. Putting on or taking up the armor essentially means to make use of or apply the benefits and blessings of the gospel in everyday life. I can have a raincoat and know all about its waterproof technology, but if I leave it hanging in my closet and don’t wear it on a rainy day, I’m not experiencing the benefits it offers. In a similar way, we can know a lot about the benefits and privileges we have in Christ but not apply them in our everyday lives.
Strong in the Lord
Winfree Brisley
This 30-day devotional invites readers to discover lasting strength by putting on the armor of God. Each reading explores a verse from Ephesians 6:10–18 with reflection prompts designed to encourage and equip women to stand strong in the Lord.
3. You need the whole armor every day.
While weather forecasts can tell us when to put on our raincoats, unfortunately, there’s no forewarning when it comes to spiritual attack. Paul instructs us in Ephesians 6:13 to “take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day.” Some commentators understand “the evil day” to mean particularly intense episodes of spiritual attack and temptation, while others think Paul is referring to the whole era being permeated by evil. Either way, the only way for us to “stand strong in the Lord” is to put on the armor every day. So, let’s consider each piece and how to take it up.
4. The first piece of armor is truth.
In John 8:44, Jesus says the devil “is a liar and the father of lies.” He has been leading people astray by distorting the truth since he tempted Adam and Eve in the garden. He tempts us to question God’s word, character, power, and promises with subtle lies that often seem plausible. The only way we can detect his deception is with the truth. In Paul’s metaphor, truth is a belt and the first piece of armor we’re instructed to put on. The belt provides the necessary function of securing the rest of the suit and freeing the soldier’s hands to wield the shield and sword. So, too, truth holds together the rest of our spiritual armor. Putting on the belt of truth might look like regularly reading and studying God’s word so we know what is true, calling to mind and clinging to specific truths that pertain to particular areas of temptation, and asking other believers to help us apply the truth to our struggles.
5. Righteousness covers our hearts.
On our own, we know that no one is righteous, not even one (Rom. 3:12). So before we can put on righteousness, we must be made righteous through the imputed righteousness of Christ. The breastplate of righteousness covers our hearts because that’s where our sin originates. Once we’re covered by Christ’s righteousness, we take up that righteousness by living in obedience to God. As 1 John 3:4–10 explains, “whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as [Christ] is righteous” and “no one born of God makes a practice of sinning” (1 John 3:4, 9). In other words, one of the primary ways we put on righteousness is to make a practice of doing what is right rather than to make a practice of sinning. When we choose to live in obedience to God’s law, we’re taking up the breastplate of righteousness.
The only way for us to “stand strong in the Lord” is to put on the armor every day.
6. The armor includes shoes.
The shoes of readiness given by the gospel of peace is certainly the wordiest piece of armor, and it’s perhaps the most confusing as well. How does the gospel of peace give us readiness? What are we ready for? And what does any of that have to do with shoes? Think about what it’s like to live without the peace that comes from knowing Christ has won the victory over sin and death. Suffering and struggle feel like having the rug pulled out from under us. The troubles of this life easily bring us to our knees. But Paul tells us to stand. When life threatens to knock us down, the peace we have in Christ plants our feet firmly in place, making us ready to stand firm against the devil’s schemes. We can put on these shoes by rehearsing the truth of the gospel. Jonathan Edwards offered a particularly helpful summary that we can call to mind in moments of need: In Christ, our bad things work for our good. Our good things can never be taken away. And the best things are yet to come.
7. Faith repels Satan’s attacks.
Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” But how can we have assurance and conviction of things we’ve never seen? The author of Hebrews goes on in chapter 11 to give us many examples of people who lived “by faith,” and they all have something in common: They lived in light of God’s promises, regardless of what they could see in the moment. Similarly, we take up the shield of faith when we live in light of God’s promises rather than in response to our feelings or circumstances. For example, when we suffer and feel alone and forgotten, we cling to God’s promise that he will never leave us or forsake us (Heb. 13:5). But in order to live in light of God’s promises, we have to know what they are. Taking up the shield of faith begins with learning what God has promised us in his word. Keeping our focus on God’s promises shields us from Satan’s flaming darts that tempt us to discontent, despair, and disobedience.
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8. Salvation guards our minds.
In his letters, Paul makes it clear that what we think about matters. He tells us to “take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5). He tells us to consider what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, etc. and “think about these things” (Phil. 4:8). And in the armor of God, he includes a protection for our heads—the helmet of salvation. Our minds are often a battleground, and no matter what distraction, deception, or temptation we face, our salvation in Christ provides protection. We’re saved, not because of our own efforts, but because of Jesus’s work on the cross. We can put on the helmet of salvation by thinking about what Christ has done to save us. Dwelling on these things gives us motivation to resist temptation and live in obedience to Christ.
9. The word of God is the only offensive weapon.
You might have noticed that so far, all of the pieces of armor have been defensive. They protect us against Satan’s attacks. But the final piece of armor—the sword—enables us to actively fight back. So how can we use God’s word as a weapon? We use it just like Jesus did when Satan tempted him in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1–11). Satan presented a temptation, and Jesus answered with a verse from God’s word that cut through Satan’s lie, revealing the truth. After three exchanges like this, “Satan left him” (Matt. 4:11). Satan knows that he is no match for God’s word. When we wield it against him, he will flee.
10. Prayer isn’t a piece of armor.
Perhaps surprisingly, Paul doesn’t associate prayer with a particular piece of armor. Instead, he suggests that it undergirds the whole suit. We’re to take up the whole armor of God, “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication” (Eph. 6:18). Prayer reminds us that we use all of this armor in dependence on the Spirit. He is God’s power at work within us, enabling us to put on the armor and stand strong in the Lord.
Prayer is also a practical way we can take up the armor. A godly woman in my church who is now with the Lord used to pray through the armor of God each morning, asking the Lord to equip her with all that she would need to stand strong in him that day. In moments of trouble and temptation, we may not remember all the pieces of armor and what each one is supposed to do, but we can always cry out to God in prayer, trusting that “the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16).
Winfree Brisley is the editor of Strong in the Lord: A 30-Day Devotional on the Armor of God.
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