The armour of God

Lesson 2

Eph 6:10-18 Here is the foundation of This lesson, read it through carefully and take note of the various pieces of armour and what they represent. Often the Armour of God is taught as a physical application of a spiritual reality where we put on the armour daily

• The armour is not just a practical application of putting it on like a good soldier would put on their armour before they would go out to battle
• This spiritual armour is far more of a spiritual growth process and each item of the armour is a pillar for our faith to rest upon

So, let’s look at it from this perspective

1^st Pillar: The belt of truth

Eph 6:14  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,

• The very first part of the armour is having the belt of truth buckled around your waist

(AMP)  Stand therefore [hold your ground], having tightened the belt of truth around your loins and having put on the breastplate of integrity and of moral rectitude and right standing with God,
(CEV)  Be ready! Let the truth be like a belt around your waist, and let God’s justice protect you like armour.

• The first and greatest revelation we can have in the realm of faith is to have the truth of God firmly established in our lives: Joh 8:31-32
• The truth of God’s word is the absolute foundation of our faith, it is the truth of God’s word that will set us apart from the world
• The very first attack we will often have is always against the truth of God’s word, when we are in a place of doubt we begin to call God’s character and integrity into question. Jas 1:6-7
• Creating doubt was the enemies first attack upon Adam and Eve. Gen 3:1
• In all of history his plan of attack has not changed he will always call the integrity of God’s word into question, “Did God really say”? Jas 1:21

The power of the word

John 17:17  Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
Isa 55:11  so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Jer 1:12 The LORD said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.”
Psa 138:2  I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above everything.
Psa 119:89  The LORD exists forever; your word is firmly fixed in heaven.

God’s word needs to become the highest form of reality that we have if we are going to grow and develop in our faith.

2^nd Pillar: Breastplate of righteousness

Eph 6:14  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,

• Now I want you to see the growth progression, when you know the truth of God’s word then you will know the power of the gift of God’s righteousness. The second attack on your faith will be in the area of your righteousness. Rom 1:17, Rom 5:17
• The word righteousness in the Bible is a legal term. It means to have been declared right before God. 2Co 5:21
• Apart from the gift of salvation, one of the greatest gifts is the gift of righteousness when Jesus Christ exchanged our sin for his righteousness. To be righteousness we have to understand that we have been declared right before God, we can stand before God without shame or condemnation, without fear or inferiority. Rom 8:1-2
• Again, the term condemnation is a legal term to be condemned to a sentence for a crime or The goodness of the gospel is that Jesus paid the price for our sin and every wrongdoing and we have been declared righteous and we are no longer condemned for our wrongdoings of the past
• So, when we know the truth we know we have been made righteous through Christ Jesus
• We have right standing before God; we know our sins have been forgiven and we can stand without guilt or shame or condemnation before God. This means that God is for us not against us, God is not mad with us even disappointed with us because we have been declared righteous
• This is really the second part of establishing our faith as the enemy will try to bring us into condemnation, so we think God is upset with us and we are not worthy of his kindness or his grace or his 1Jn 1:9

3^rd Pillar: The Gospel of peace

Eph 6:15  and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

• Now the third pillar of our faith is peace. Rom 5:1-2
• Because we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God. Wow-what an incredible statement: We have peace with God. Rom 8:31-32
• Part of the foundation of faith is knowing God is for us, God is on our side, we are not at enmity with God, but we are at peace with God. God’s heart is to bless us and prosper us in life, God’s heart is to give us favour in life
• The word peace is Shalom in Hebrew: Peace has the meaning of safety, happy, friendly; healthy, prosperity, to be whole.
• The gospel of peace is to bring health and healing, divine protection, safety and security, to make us whole. Peace is a Covenant word that at its Hebrew core, “means nothing missing, nothing broken.”
• God wants us to walk with an expectation and the readiness that God has called us to walk in wholeness. Isa 26:3

4^th Pillar: The shield of faith

Eph 6:16  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

• Someone once said that for every dart the enemy has for you God’s word has a promise
• God’s word will not only deflect them, but it will quench them: Isa 54:17, 1 John 5:4
• God desires us to allow the Word of God to be our shield of protection against all the enemy will try to throw at us such as Doubts Discouragement, Delays, Difficulty, and Disappointments
• Everything the enemy throws at us will be contrary to what the word of God declares. 2 Pet 1:3-4
• It is the promises of God that allow us to participate in the divine nature of God and escape all the consequences of a sin-scarred Rom 10:17

5^th Pillar: The helmet of salvation

Eph 6:17  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

• This is where we need to have the greatest of all protection, the greatest battlefield that we face is in the mind. The mind is the enemy’s favourite line of attack. Jas 1:5-7
• In vs 6, there are two opposing words used:
• To believe is to have a firm conviction in the character and integrity of a person
• To doubt is to mistrust, be uncertain, to waver between two opinions, to stager at the word of God,
• Abraham knew what it meant to have the helmet of salvation on. Rom 4:17-21
• Abraham had the word of God that he would be the father of many nations

1. He understood that everything in the natural was against him

• Hope is simply a confident expectation of good
• In the natural, there was nothing good to give him any expectation of a good outcome
• In the natural everything was contrary to the word of God
• He chose to put his hope in the promise of God

2. He faced the facts, he knew exactly what he was facing, he didn’t pretend everything was right, he didn’t deny what was going on with and in his body
3. He didn’t allow his mind to waver, vacillate between two opinions

• He refused to allow the circumstances to dictate what the promise of God had declared
• This is often the biggest challenge when it comes to standing in faith

4. He was fully persuaded that God had the power to do what he had promised

• And that battle can only be won in the battle of the mind

For you and me as believers we have to understand that salvation is the complete package, it is the promise of God, it is the word of God and it is backed by the character and integrity of God. Rom 1:16

• Saved: (Sozo) To save, to heal, to deliver, to give peace, prosperity, to preserve from danger and to make completely whole
• Salvation: (Soteria) The completion, the end result, the fulfilment of the promise, the fulfilment of Sozo
• When we have the helmet of salvation on, our mind is totally persuaded that God can save, heal, deliver, make whole, preserve from danger and make completely whole.
• So, when we know the truth, we know that we have been made righteous, and because we have been made righteous we know we have peace with God, therefore we can stand in faith.
• What can we stand in faith for our complete salvation

6^th pillar: The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

• Now if the sword of the spirit is the Word of God, we have to learn to use it. Unless we begin to use the sword,
• We won’t know the truth,
• We won’t know we’ve been made righteous,
• We won’t know that we have peace with God
• We won’t have faith to trust God
• We will struggle with our salvation
• We will be defeated every time by the devil’s tactics

As we learn the pillars of faith we will learn to walk in the promises and blessing and favour of God in the areas of

• Salvation
• Healing
• Peace
• Prosperity
• Safety
• Wholeness

MSG Th 5:23  May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together spirit, soul, and body and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ.
1Th 5:24  The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he’ll do it!

Please complete and submit  this SOAP part of this devotional each week, we are looking forward to what God has revealed to you in His Word and through this Study.