The armor of God is not something you wear.
We tend to think of the armor of God as something you put on, external pieces of battle gear that you wear on the outside to protect the life inside:
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 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. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
In this passage, even the words "put on," take up," and "take" could imply protecting yourself with something you lack or don't yet have, and therefore must "put on."
But what if the armor and its protection extends from the inside - out, rather than outside - in? Wouldn't that make sense, given the reality of our new and noble heart?
So what does that look like?
- You already have the Truth moving within you, having permanently given his heart and mind to you.
- You've already been transfigured into the righteous radiance of Christ's own goodness.
- You're already poised to bring the restoring shalom ["peace"] of Christ to others around you.
- Jesus has already given you the settled and faithful confidence he has in the Father.
- You've been rescued and renewed by the saving life of God.
- The mind and heart of Christ, voicing his affection for you and counseling your heart, dwells within you richly.
We can certainly "put on" or practice or rehearse the armor of God, remembering what we've already been given. But the armor is an internal powerhouse: The power and protection move from the inside - out.
Reader Comments (9)
I'm seeing more on this, and all I can say is it makes our understanding of Ephesians 6 look like a Sunday school lesson. The reason we have next to no light on this passage is because it is one of the main passages that will wind up this current age related directly to psalm 24 and Lift up your heads o ye Gates and be lifted up o ye ancient doors.
...reconnecting to the true identity of who we always were in Christ :)
I know people revere Paul without question and use his words and experience as the template for what a life of faith should look like but sometimes ... there is a strong emphasis on warfare in this passage and also almost a siege mentality. I've literally heard this passages hundreds of times and yet I'm left cold by the imagery.
Good point, Chris. Good thing we're getting more understanding on these passages.
Absolutely, Toby. We need to live more in the "already."
Ian -- I can understand that. For me, the Enemy isn't a human or group of humans -- it's evil itself that de-humanizes and undermines God's intent. It took me years to see it, for I had to sift through the wacko version of 'spiritual warfare' that lost discernment. Yet, I came to see that even though the idea of battle was coming to me through a distorted lens, it doesn't mean that evil isn't real and personally interested in my demise. What do you think?
Hi Jim,
This is great. Thanks for restoring sanity to Christianity. There was a woman I once knew who followed the scripture in a strange way...every morning she said the scripture and mentally "put on" the armor...One day she unfortunately had a bad car accident and sustained a minor injury to her chest and she said she was sure it was because she forgot to say "breastplate of righteousnss" first thing in the morning when she tried to remember the scripture .....ugh!
Why is it in Christianity as a whole hasn't gained a deeper understanding of God? Our relationship and understanding (in Christianity) resembles that of our Bronze Age reasoning....
Great post!
Meredith :0)
Hey Meredith -- great point. It's one thing to believe [and I do] that there are forces that are personally invested in our demise - 'bad angels' as we tell the kids: It's another to turn that into superstitious conjecture.
Hey Jim,
You are so right. Superstition masquerading as religious duty is trying to destroy faith.
Meredith :0)