Put On the Whole Armor of God Ephesians 6:11

Paul the apostle gave the Ephesian church members practical instructions for living their daily lives. “Wives” were to “submit” to the own “husbands” as “to the Lord”, “husbands” were to “love” their “wives” as “Christ loved the church and gave himself for it”, “children” were to “obey their parents “in the Lord for this is right”, and “servants” and “masters” were to fulfill their responsibilities as “unto the Lord” and not just unto men. “Finally” Paul exhorted the Ephesians to “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might”, and in chapter six and verse eleven of his letter, he encouraged them to “put on the whole armor of God” where we read:

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

The verse begins, “Put on the whole armor of God,...” Paul began with the words, “Put on” which means “sink into and clothe one's self with” “the whole armor” or “the full and complete military protective garments including the shield, sword, lance, helmet, greaves and breastplate” “of God” which refers to “the Godhead bodily and trinity which is comprised of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit”. The Ephesian Christians were be “clothed” with all the spiritual protective “armor” that was available to the warrior.

The verse goes on to say, “...that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Paul continued with the words, “that you may be able” or “so the Ephesian Christians would be capable and have power to do something powerful and strong” “to stand” which means “to cause or make to be put in place, set, made firm with fixed establishment” “against” or “towards, with regard to and to the advantage and motion towards” “the wiles” which means “the cunning arts, deceit, craft and trickery” “of the devil” which refers to “the slanderer, false accuser, calumniator and traducer”. The reason Paul gave for “putting on the whole armor of God” was to be equipped to handle any onslaught “the devil” might forge against the believer in Jesus Christ.

When we consider these words of Paul, we recognize we are in a “battle” with “the devil” and his “slanderous trickeries”. Christians must “put on” and “be clothed with” God's “armor” to be equipped to fight off satan's desire to destroy them. We can imagine Paul the apostle, who wrote this letter from a Roman prison and was attached to a Roman guard, looking at the “armor” of the Roman soldier and realizing the metaphor it served for the Christian. The soldier was equipped for battle, and thus must the servant and warrior of Jesus Christ be also. May we, by the Holy Spirit of God and through the power of Jesus Christ, make“putting on” God's armor the first act of our day, and therewith shall we defeat the enemy in any area of temptation or trial that he sends our way.

Next time Paul tells the Ephesian church members “we wrestle not against flesh and blood”, 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.