Paul the
apostle listed the pieces of armor of God the Ephesian church members
were to “take unto” themselves so they “may be able
to withstand in the evil day, and having do all, stand”. They
were in a spiritual battle, and as Paul continued his list of armor,
he shared concerning “the helmet of salvation” and “the
sword of the Spirit” where we read:
And take
the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the
word of God:
The
verse begins, “And take the helmet of salvation,...” Paul
began with the words, “and take” which means “receive,
take upon one's self, sustain, bear and get” “the helmet”
or “the protective encirclement of the head” “of salvation”
which means “saving or bringing salvation”. As a protection to
the “head”, the Ephesians were to put on “the helmet”
of knowing they were and are to be saved.
The
verse goes on to say, “and the sword of the Spirit, which
is the word of God:” Paul
added, “and the sword”
or “a large knife used for killing animals and cutting up flesh, a
curved sword for a cutting stroke or a straight sword for thrusting”
“of the Spirit” which
refers to “the third person of the triune God, the Holy
Spirit, coequal and coeternal with the Father and the Son”,
“which is” or
“that is to say” “the word”
which means “that which is or has been uttered by the living voice,
thing spoken, word or a series of words joined together into a
sentence” “of God” which
refers to “the Godhead bodily and trinity which is comprised of God
the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit”. As their first
offensive weapon, the Ephesians were to have wield God's
“sword” - His “word”.
When
we consider these words of Paul, we note the importance of
remembering our “salvation”. The enemy of our soul will
put woeful “doubts” in our minds as to whether we are really
saved. He challenges us with thoughts of unworthiness, sinful
behavior and horrific attitudes, and we must remember that our
“salvation” was accomplished by nothing other than the
“grace” of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Any attack
against our “salvation” must be refuted by God's
“word”. Our “weapon” in God's armor is His “word”,
and we are to use it in the same manner as Jesus did against the
devil when He was tempted in chapter four of the gospel of Luke. May
the Lord Jesus through His Holy Spirit help us to put on the “helmet
of salvation” and strap on the “sword of the Spirit”
before we rise each morning, and may we use our weapons daily to
defeat the “fiery darts” of our enemy.
Next
time Paul shares about the weapon
of “praying”, so
read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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