Armor to put on…

By Sidharth Mohandas

There are a lot of unscriptural practices that we see among Christians in our day. As I was studying on the topic of armor of God, I came across a lot of clichés people use that are contrary to the instructions God has given us in His Word.

One of them is chanting the phrase “the blood of Jesus” in an attempt to protect oneself from the attacks of the enemy. Needless to say, the testimony of the blood of Christ and the importance of Christ’s blood to be used as a plea against the attacks of the enemy plays a major role in spiritual warfare, but it is never a substitute for the armor of God. (For more on the blood of Christ, read the article: Where is your plea? )

The purpose of the armor of God is so that we can stand against the wiles of the enemy (Ephesians 6:11)

There are seven parts in this armor that God tells us to put on. We shall quickly deal with five of them in this article:

(1) Having your loins girt about with truth (Ephesians 6:14)

This scripture was written during the time of Roman rule. To gird up your loins meant to draw-up and tie your lower garment between your legs as to increase your mobility. But before we go any further, we need to ask ourselves where this girdling is required.

1 Peter 1:13 tells us to gird up the loins of our mind. Therefore, as I shared in a previous post to prepare our minds for action, we need to get ready for the battle beforehand by feeding our minds with God’s truth. This is so we won’t become immobile and ineffective in the times of temptation or trial. Difficulties and problems can freeze our minds and make them clouded. It is necessary to have a clear and single-focused mind.  This ‘belt of truth’ is vital for our preparation and is the basis of our armor.

(2) Having the breastplate of righteousness (Ephesians 6:14)

As said in our previous teachings, the primary area the enemy attacks is our position with God. And one of the main tools he uses here is the tool of accusation. He will accuse you of your position with Him. Many of us even retract from approaching God because we are deceived into thinking that we need to earn our way into His Presence.

Here’s an important battle plan: when the enemy accuses you, never try to justify yourself. If the Holy Spirit convicts you of sin, God has made a way: confess your sins before Him (1 John 1:9). Receive forgiveness. For you have an advocate (Jesus) with the Father  who righteously stands in your behalf. Operate always in the boldness of His righteousness.

(3) Take the helmet of salvation (Ephesians 6:17)

1 Thessalonians 5:8 calls the helmet, ‘the hope of salvation’. This part of the armor covers the mind. And how do we cover the mind? With hope… Negative thoughts can bombard us when we face problems. The only way to counteract them is with His positive thoughts in accordance to His Word. Set your hope for the best always.

(4) Sword of the Spirit, the word of God (Ephesians 6:17)

The Greek word used here for “word” in the above verse is rhema and it means “spoken word”. As we have been emphasizing in all our posts, we need to give ‘voice’ to the written word; believe it and speak it from our faith-filled hearts. It is then that it becomes a sword.

However, if you did notice, there is one part of our body that does not have a weapon and that is our back. I had written an article on this topic a while back.  Read how you can protect your back, in Don’t turn your back!

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