Dressing for Battle

Any amount of time spent in church will doubtless result in the experience of hearing a sermon, Bible study, Sunday school lesson, or prayer meeting focused on putting on the whole armor of God. At some point in my church going, I began to view the list of armor in Ephesians 6:10-20 as some sort of heartless list—the only important idea contained therein was that God fully equips his children for battle as they join in the ancient fight against the evil that has already been defeated.

But a little closer reading of the passage reveals a bit more truth. It is not a list of nice sounding expressions; rather, each piece of armor is important:

“…having fastened the belt of truth…”

The entire armor of the believer shall be bound in truth—the truth of who we are fighting for, and the truth that our enemy is defeated.

“…having put on the breast plate of righteousness…”

The heart is guarded by righteousness. This breastplate cannot be permeated or destroyed by evil. It is the perfect, imputed, empowering righteousness of Christ.

“…having put on, as shoes for your feet, the readiness given by the Gospel of peace…”

This is perhaps one of the most exciting parts of our armor. Interestingly, we dress for battle with peace. This is because our enemy has already been ultimately defeated in the triumph of Christ. This is the Gospel, the very one with which our feet are shod, the good news of God’s powerful grace. Because of this news, we walk courageously into outer turmoil with inner peace.

“In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one…”

Our whole body is first defended by faith. It is our first defense. It is like one of those ancient Roman shields that covered a warrior from chest to foot. Wherever the enemy shoots his fiery arrows, we are protected by our shield of faith. We are not to forget it. Without the shield, the rest of our armor is weakened. For such virtues cannot exist without faith in the one who is our true shield. For this reason, we must always, always, be accompanied by our shield of faith.

“Take the helmet of salvation…”

Our mind is to be guarded by the truth that we are in Christ and that Christ has redeemed us. As long as we are wearing this helmet, Satan cannot destroy our minds with the lie that God is against us.

“…and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God…”

Any warrior must be disciplined, and must be courageous enough, to fight back. With this sword, we cut down all the lies of the father of lies. This is accomplished by the power of God’s promises for those who are in him. By the Word that created all things, the Word that hung on the cross, the Word that left an empty tomb, by this Word, implanted in our bodies through the power of salvation, we have overcome.

Praise the God who equips the church, his body, with overabundant strength, to combat whatever spiritual trials it encounters.

On Saying Good-Bye

For many students, May is a month of mixed emotions.

On the one hand, finals are finished—a cause for great rejoicing. But many of our friends are graduating, moving on, going home, studying abroad, or completing various other summer adventures. Whatever the case, it is a time of splitting up, of saying good-byes—an activity I do not particularly enjoy (of course, I congratulate all of you graduates, but saying good-bye is difficult regardless).

These farewells have made me think. (Some of you insist that I should stop such activity being as its summer and I no longer have any professors demanding I do so. However, my idea of freedom is precisely that—to think and not be forced to think about or remember anything besides that which one pleases. Yet that is a rabbit trail to be followed on another post.).

Here are my thoughts on saying good-bye:

There is One to whom we will never say good-bye. A proverb reads, “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24, ESV). I do not believe this passage insists we should keep only one close friend; rather, I think it refers to someone who was coming—to Christ, the Messiah, who promised, “I will never leave you or forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5, ESV), and elsewhere, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20, ESV). What a powerful truth we have in Christ: We who are in him will never have to say good-bye to the God who saves and fights for us. Our God remains.

Yet because he is our supreme and purest joy, sometimes we will be asked to let go of those things we most enjoy besides—a nice house, a favorite TV show, a good book, a dear friend, a calm summer evening, a little spark of a lightening bug. All of these comforts will slip through our fingers as quickly as melting ice cream on a warm muggy Tennessee afternoon.

Certainly, they are precious blessings, and we are called to be grateful for them. But that which is most important will never be lost; the glory of God will not be diminished, nor will his care for his children defeated. His plans are infinitely wise. To this God we must cling, for he will not let go of us.