The Armor Of God

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On August 13, 2020 I was driving to Paducah, KY to visit my mother for a few days. I had been listening to the book of Ephesians, and as Paul was describing the armor of God something finally made sense to me. God’s Armor is Jesus Christ Himself!

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 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.

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:10-17 NIV

The Helmet Of Salvation Is Jesus

Jesus’ name, Yeshua, in Hebrew means Savior! His blood shed on the cross purifies us from all sin and continues to cleanse our minds as we submit to Him. Jesus is the Head of the Body of Christ and when we submit to His commands as King our minds are protected. Jesus is our Helmet!

Praise the Lord, O my soul. Do not forget all his kind deeds. He is the one who forgives all your sins, who heals all your diseases, who delivers your life from the Pit, who crowns you with his loyal love and compassion, Psalm 103:2-4 NET

The Belt Of Truth Is Jesus

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6 NKJV

Jesus is Truth. He is our belt of Truth! Jesus Christ is the exact representation of God, the Father. God does not lie, so His Word is truth. The devil is the father of all lies. He is the deceiver and attempts to harm us by getting us to doubt God’s Word– to listen to him instead of the Holy Spirit. But if we are filled with God’s Word revealed by the Holy Spirit, we are protected from the devil’s lies. We can stand tall!

The Breastplate Of Righteousness Is Jesus

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB

Through the power of the blood of Jesus we are made righteous, justified, holy and sanctified. Jesus gave us many commands, the greatest being to love God wholeheartedly and to love others as we love ourselves. We can only keep His commands if our hearts are yielding to the power of His Spirit. (Hebrews 10:16)

The Gospel Of Peace Is Jesus

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5 KJV

Our Prince of Peace literally gave His life so we could have peace (reconciliation) with God! This is the Gospel! We have been reconciled to God through Jesus and now we carry the message of reconciliation! (2 Corinthians 5:18)

The Shield Of Faith Is Jesus

But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory and the One who lifts up my head. Psalm 3:3 NKJV

Without faith in God we cannot please God. (Hebrews 11:6) Faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus is the beginning of our born-again relationship with God. But there are so many promises in God’s Word that we can obtain if we seek to be like our Father and resist doubt. (Matthew 21:21)

The Sword Of The Spirit Is Jesus

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 NIV

The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God, and Jesus is the Word! We must not separate the Holy Spirit from the Word of God. Just as Jesus used the Word of God to combat the enemy in the wilderness, we must do the same! Otherwise, we are not fully armed. But if we believe from our hearts that the Word is alive and active in us, we can speak His Words through our mouths and the enemy will be driven away!

Clothe Yourself With Jesus

This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living. Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see.

Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires. Romans 13:11-14 NLT

Jesus is the armor of light– the Light of the World. When the Word tells us to be clothed with the Lord Jesus, He is speaking of the Holy Spirit. We are born again to live victoriously through the Spirit. We are overcomers in Christ!

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him. Romans 8:9 NET

Jesus said He would always be with us. God promises to provide, protect and rescue us. It’s up to us to believe that He is with us, in us, and for us. When our faith is in Christ and we believe in His Word, anything is possible. But it is up to us to “put on the full armor of God!”

Stay In Christ

Any time we accept defeat, it’s as if we are taking off a piece of the Armor Of God. The Holy Spirit is grieved because every piece of the Armor is vital to Life in the Spirit. God loves us and wants us to be safe!

Our Armor Is Alive And Powerful

We are spiritual beings. If we interpret the armor as simply knowledge or ideals that we need to try and live up to, we will become vulnerable to the schemes of the enemy. We do need to grow in the knowledge of God and resist bad behavior. But our struggle is not against flesh and blood. It’s against evil spirits. The Only One who can conquer the enemy of our souls is Jesus Christ Himself! If we have been wounded by the enemy, Jesus is standing ready to deliver us from evil and heal us by His mighty power!

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Ephesians 6:10 KJV

The Lord Is The Spirit

We will encounter opposition from the enemy in many forms, but in Christ we can endure, persevere and overcome. Even in the deepest valley, keep your Armor, on at all times. His Name is Jesus! He is the joy of our Salvation and the Peace that surpasses all understanding! Your victory in battle will one day be someone else’s hope! The Spirit of Jesus Christ is The Armor Of God and we are very much alive in Him!

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is freedom.  And we all, with unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, which is from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 NET

God loves you and has already made all the arrangements for you to be forgiven and to walk in close fellowship with Him. If you would like to learn more about Him, follow this link: Meet Jesus. God bless you!