Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Whole Armor of God
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Ecclesiastes 9:10
Ecclesiastes 9:10 commands us to do everything with our might, all of our vigor and strength. Where does this strength come from? From food or exercise? No! Ultimately, God gives us our strength. Everything we are comes from Him, giving us the ability to work and play. Notice Psalm 68:35: "The God of Israel is He who gives strength and power to His people. Blessed be God!" God provides the power to gain strength through training, through discipline. Just as bodybuilders train with weights, doing what is called "resistance training," so do we, as we resist the selfish pulls of our bodies. In resisting, we become stronger. We also need mental strength. The secular society we live in has its own agenda, one that promises freedom, but which is really license in rebellion against God. At the same time, powerful forces also want to restrict the ideas and activities of Christians and traditionalists. Political and cultural groups try to convert others to their way of thinking and acting, even going so far as vigorously pursuing and pressuring them. Due to such pressure, many have weakened and been caught off-guard, unable to provide sound reasons for following what is right. However, God wants us to be strong, to resist and guard our minds. The apostle Peter writes, "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." We need to be strong because behind these forces and groups is Satan, the ruler of this secular world. He uses them to wear down all of mankind. But God gives us strength and power, as promised in II Timothy 1:7: "For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." God supports us by His Spirit. We must be of a willing mind to accept God's way of life, making the changes in our thinking that will give us strength to resist those who would try to bring us down. Mental strength comes through exercising our mind with the Word of God. The more of God's Word we read, absorb, and practice, the stronger our minds become. We need moral strength, too. Every day, we are bombarded with immorality. A co-worker may make a statement about gross immorality. A television show we watch may make fun of infidelity. Our boss may lie to superiors regarding an important project. We may hear of an abusive spouse or parent. The news may cover a story about a politician accepting bribes for personal gain. These sins are all caused by a lack of moral and spiritual strength. We are stricken by this society's lack of moral and spiritual strength. In Ephesians 6:12, the apostle Paul informs us where it comes from: "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places." This evil influence is all around us. The overwhelming effects of this immoral and debased society have touched each of us. Righteous character is rare these days, yet we are admonished to be strong. How? We must put on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18). We cannot fight against this prevailing tide in the culture alone. We must stand against it in faith, trusting in what God supplies. We will not be able to endure if we try to face it with our own strength. We must rely on God as our source of strength, as David did: "The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold" (Psalm 18:2). He writes in Psalm 19:14, "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer."
Gary Montgomery
Necessary Strength
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Romans 7:24-25
We all know the titanic struggle Paul describes in Romans 7, where he talks about wanting to do what is right yet doing what is wrong instead. He cries out, "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (verse 24). Paul supplies the answer in the next verse. The Amplified Bible reads, "O thank God! [He will!] through Jesus Christ (the Anointed One) our Lord!" The solution to the evil present within us is deliverance from this body of death through Jesus Christ. This does not happen at baptism or through a quick prayer but through the relationship that the blood of Christ makes available, as well as through taking on His image over the course of our lives. Our ultimate deliverance does not come until the resurrection, but along the way, through our submission to God, He overcomes and delivers us from the evil within us and around us. Paul thus concludes his letter to the Romans with a confident declaration: "And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly" (Romans 16:20). The apostle similarly encourages the Corinthians: "But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Corinthians 15:57). This is not at all to suggest that we sit back and coast. We are told to resist the Devil, a very active approach (James 4:7; I Peter 5:9). Paul commands us in Ephesians 6 to put on the whole armor of God to stand against Satan. The metaphor of the armor of God is perfect in showing the respective responsibilities of God and the Christian. Every single piece of the armor of God is one that He gives to us. We do not have to create the armor of God—we "only" have to use it. We cannot gird our waist with truth unless He first reveals it. We cannot forge our own breastplate of righteousness, for He has to supply the righteousness. We cannot shoe our feet without first hearing the gospel of peace. We cannot raise the shield of faith unless we receive faith as a gift. We cannot craft our own helmet of salvation, for salvation can only come from God. Even the sword of the Spirit—God's Word—is given to us, as is the understanding of how to apply it. God gives us the means to resist Satan and his evil, but God is still the driving force and the One who actually brings about the victory. In the model prayer, notice that Jesus teaches us to pray, "Deliver us from evil" (Matthew 6:13; Luke 11:4). We need deliverance from evil every day, just as we need "bread" (Christ) and forgiveness every day. Some translations insert the word "one" after "evil" so it refers to Satan, but it can be limiting to focus solely on Satan, overlooking the evil he has spawned. This world is evil, as is our corrupted human nature. Each day, then, we need to be delivered from the evil that is external to us and from what is already in us. Jesus teaches us to ask for this deliverance because we cannot accomplish it alone. Reflecting on Revelation 12:11 and those who overcome Satan "by the blood of the Lamb," we can see that the first step in overcoming is to grasp what the blood of the Lamb does for us and how much we need Him to do anything. This is why He says, "Without Me, you can do nothing" (John 15:5) and why Paul writes, "For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). The second way Satan is overcome is "by the word of their testimony." A better translation is "they overcame him . . . because of the message of their witness," which includes much more than just public preaching or a verbal confession of faith. Their testimony or witness is solidly grounded in the way they live. When Paul outlines the qualifications of a church leader, a requirement is that he "must have a good testimony among those who are outside" (I Timothy 3:7), meaning he has a solid reputation that only comes from right living. Thus, a good testimony depends on a life that is consistent with the message. Clearly, we cannot be mere observers when it comes to overcoming Satan. True overcomers make use of all that God provides through the blood of the Lamb, resulting in empowerment to live God's way—something that is not possible for carnal man (see Romans 8:7). Their conduct, which will be according to God's law (Hebrews 8:10), demonstrates the indwelling of God's Spirit, the same power that allows a man to choose God's way over the ways of Satan, his world, and corrupt human nature. Overcomers are not sinless by any means, but the overall trajectory of their lives is one of walking ever closer with God. Their life with Him is the message of their witness, and as they walk closer with God, they move farther away from Satan and his way. Satan is overcome through the deliberate practice of living by God's standards.
David C. Grabbe
How Did They Overcome? (Part Three)
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Ephesians 6:16
When writing about putting on "the whole armor of God" in Ephesians 6, Paul begins to conclude the passage by repeating the concepts in Luke 21:36—praying always and watching (verse 18). He says in verse 16: ". . . above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one." Albert Barnes' New Testament Commentary explains these fiery darts: Paul here refers, probably, to the temptations of the great adversary, which are like fiery darts; or those furious suggestions of evil, and excitements to sin, which he may throw into the mind like fiery darts. They are blasphemous thoughts, unbelief, sudden temptation to do wrong, or thoughts that wound and torment the soul. In regard to them, we may observe: (1) that they come suddenly, like arrows sped from a bow; (2) they come from unexpected quarters, like arrows shot suddenly from an enemy in ambush; (3) they pierce, and penetrate, and torment the soul, as arrows would that are on fire; (4) they set the soul on fire, and enkindle the worst passions, as fiery darts do a ship or camp against which they are sent. What happens when these fiery darts hit their target? The answer appears in James 1:13-15 (Contemporary English Version, CEV): Don't blame God when you are tempted! God cannot be tempted by evil, and he doesn't use evil to tempt others. We are tempted by our own desires that drag us off and trap us. Our desires make us sin, and when sin is finished with us, it leaves us dead. As Barnes says, these darts "enkindle the worst passions," or as James says, "our desires." Actually, these darts have been flying since the day we were born, doing their damage. Where is it better for us to deal with these darts: at the point of the shield or after they have hit their mark? Of course, at the shield! II Samuel 22:31 tells us what our shield is: "As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him" (see also Genesis 15:1; Psalm 33:20; Proverbs 2:7). We are not the shield. Our faith is not the shield. God is the shield, using the same faith Jesus Christ had. If we let Him, God will protect us in our battles. How do we erect this "shield of faith?" Notice these verses: Matthew 17:19-21: Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting." Psalm 18:30 (CEV): Your way is perfect, Lord, and your word is correct. You are a shield for those who run to you for help. Along with fasting, Christ gives prayer as one of the antidotes to unbelief. David says that running to God for help, of which striving to pray always is the essence, will allow Him to be our shield, our source of power and strength (II Corinthians 3:5; 4:7). Notice the first part of Matthew 26:41 from the New Life Bible: "Watch and pray so that you will not be tempted. . . ." Jesus repeats the instruction in Luke 21:36 but shows that the same process will build the shield of faith to protect us from the fiery darts of temptation. Notice that the shield mentioned in Ephesians 6:16 can quench all the fiery darts—not some, not most, but all. Consider the great peace we would have if none of Satan's fiery darts ever reached their intended target! This sheds light on why Christ says in Matthew 11:30: "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." We know He used every spiritual tool God makes available.
Pat Higgins
Praying Always (Part Six)
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