Defensive Armor of God

As we have seen in last week's message, "Understanding the Whole Armor of God", that the main reason we, as the army of God, need to put on the whole armor of God is to enable us to face the "evil day". We have also seen that to put on the armor of God is also mean to put on our Lord Jesus Christ (Isaiah 59:16, 17; Romans 13, 14) in our daily living.

At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave a parable concerning the two men who built houses (Matthew 7:24 - 27). The foolish man's house collapsed, but the wise man's house stood. The difference between those two houses was not the tests to which they were subjected, because each house was subjected to the same test: the wind, the rain, the storm, and the flood. The difference was the foundation on which they were built. If we make Jesus as our foundation, by putting on Jesus who is our whole armor of God, we shall be protected from the crown of our head to the soles of our feet.

We shall now look at these six pieces of equipment that God has provided for us, not only for our protection but also enable us to walk in victory. Notice that the last piece of equipment (the Sword of the Spirit) is both a defensive and a weapon of attack.

The Girdle of Truth

The first item of equipment is the girdle of truth. A Roman legionary (or soldier) would need a girdle (or belt) as part of his equipment because in those days, men's clothing (as well as women's) was usually a loose garment that came at least to the knees. It the case of the Roman legionary, it was a kind of tunic. When a Roman legionary was required to do something active, such as fight or use his weapons, he would need to take care of that loose garment. If he did not, its flaps and folds would hinder his movements and prevent him from using the rest of his equipment effectively.

Notice that the Bible speaks about "gird up the loin" (1 Peter 1:13). Paul said the girdle for us is truth. I believe that does not mean abstract, theological Biblical truth, but truth in daily living. It means honesty, sincerity, openness and frankness.

As religious people, we are often encumbered with much sham and hypocrisy. Many things we say and do are not really what we meant, but we say them only because they sound good. We are full of religious cliches and insincerities. These are things we do, not to please God or because we really want to do that, but to please other people. We even pray in an artificial kind of voice in the Church! Or our prayer may sound good but it is not real. It is but a religious act! We can fool people but we can't fool God!

Jesus called religious people, like the Pharisees, hypocrites. The Greek word for a "hypocrite" is an "actor". In those days an actor put on a mask to cover his face so as to make him looked like the part he was called ot play. Basically, what religious people do is to put on the appropriate mask (according to their denomination) and cover up what they really are. Every Christian denomination has its own type of mask - they have the Baptist mask, Pentecostal mask, and Methodist mask and so on. They behave differently in Church and each person puts on his mask, but outside th Church they are all the same.

I believe religious hypocrisy like what has been described above, is a loose hanging garment for the Christian "soldier". It gets in our way; it prevents us from doing the kind of things that God wants us to do. It prevents us from being effective Christians. It also prevents us from using the other five items of equipment. Therefore, first of all we have to put on the girdle of truth.

The Breastplate of Righteousness

The breastplate of the Roman soldier protects, above all else, one absolutely vital organ of the human body - the heart. The Bible indicates that the heart is of supreme importance in our lives:

"Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of lives" (Proverbs 4:23, NKJV).

The breastplate of righteousness is for the protection of the heart. But, what is meant by righteousness?

Paul said, "But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation" (1 Thess. 5:8, emphasis added).

It is interesting to notice that Paul described the breastplate from another point of view which he called: "The breastplate of faith and love".


Put the above passage together with "The breastplate of righteousness" (Eph. 6:14) we understand the kind of righteousness that Paul had in mind. It is not the righteousness of works, or religious law, but it is the righteousness that comes only by faith. He made it clear in his epistle to the Philippians:

"... that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith" (Phil. 3:9, emphasis added).

It is clear that the breastplate only protects the righteousness that come only by faith in Christ. In other words, we must put on a breastplate that is not our own righteousness but the righteousness of Christ.

Paul said, "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteouness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:21).

All true Christians, by faith, have become the righteousness of God. That is the only kind of breastplate that can adequately protect our hearts and our lives. This kind of righteousness, Paul emphasized, comes only through faith. Therefore, it is a breastplate of faith and love. There is no other way to achieve this kind of righteousness.

Faith working through love

When we talk about the breastplate of faith and love we also need to understand that faith is the essential element for this breastplate.

Paul said, "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love" (Gal. 5:6).

I believe what Paul essentially saying was: "No kind of outward ceremony or ritual, in itself, would help us in our Christian walk. The one essential thing, without which we cannot succed in the Christian life, is faith - the kind of faith that works through love. It is not a passive or theoretical faith. It is an active faith that works only through love".

The shoes of the preparation of the Gospel of Peace

Shoes speak of providing mobility or availability to your Commander, the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is said that Roman soldiers slept with their boots on so that they were, at all times, ready to be called for action. The shoes are called the preparation of the Gospel of peace because believers are expected to share the Gospel of peace at all times,

As Christians, we are obligated to have an intelligent understanding of the Gospel message. Many Christians claim to be saved and born again, but they cannot give an intelligent account of how they were saved or how someone else can be saved. I believe "preparation" includes study the Scripture, memorization of Scripture, and the ability to communicate intelligently the Gospel message.

Why did Paul call the Gospel as the Gospel of peace? I believe it is a Gospel that produces peace of heart and mind in those who believe it and obey it. There is one thing very certain about peace. we can only transmit peace to others if we have peace ourselves. We cannot transmit something that we do not experience. We can talk about it, we can theorize it, but we cannot transmit it. In other words, we need to live the Gospel and let people see our lives in the Gospel! We, ourselves must become the Gospel message! People may not be interested to read the Bible but very often you and I are the only "Bible" they ever read. Therefore, our lives must be the mirror of God's Word so that we can communicate the Gospel message to the world effectively.

The Shield of Faith

It is said the Roman soldiers used a long rectangular type of shield. When a soldier held it in front of him, no part of his body could be reached or touched by the enemy. The shield protected him completely. That is the kind of faith that Paul was talking about when he referred it as shield. When we go out against Satan and if we begin to cause him any trouble you can be sure that he will counter attack. First and foremost he may counter attack us, ourselves. We need to have a shield large enough to cover up our minds, our bodies, our finances, our jobs and any other areas within his reach. And if he can't attack us, he will attack those closest to us. The first thing he will do is to attack our wives and our children. Our shield must be big enough to protect everything that God has made us responsible - our own persons, our families and everything that God has committed to us.

Notice that faith is mentioned twice in this list of defensive armor. The breastplate is faith and love; the shield is the shield of faith. We must understand that faith can be used in different areas of need. The breastplate is faith for our own personal righteousness which comes from the righteousness of Christ. But the shield of faith is for the protection of ourselves and of all those whom God has committed to us. It is a shield that covers everything. We have to hold out that shield of faith for full protection.

The Helmet of Salvation

The word "salvation" in Ephesians 6:17 is "soterion" in Greek which means rescue, deliverance and protection. The helmet in this sense, is a means of protection for the head where the mind is. We are talking now about a helmet that protects our mind. Because the mind is the battle field, it is obvious that we need to be particularly careful to protect our own mind. If we are wounded in the head there is no way we can use the rest of the equipment!

Let us consider again what Paul said to the Thessalonians: "But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation" (1 Thess. 5:8, emphasis added).


So we see, in one verse of Scripture, Paul told us that the protection for the mind is hope, but the protection for the heart is faith.

Connection between faith and hope

Notice that there is a connection between faith and hope.

The writer of Hebrews said, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, ..." (Heb. 11:1).

Faith is the underlying basic reality on which hope is built. When we have valid faith, then we have valid hope. When we do not have valid faith, we may not have valid hope, either. Hope may be mere wishful thinking. But when we have a real foundation of faith, we can build a valid hope, which is the protection of our minds.

What is hope then? I believe hope is a consistent expectation of good based on the promises of God's Word. In a sense, it is a continuous trust on God's provisions and promises. In other words, we have to cultivate an optimistic attitude towards the Word of God and live by it. Our mind is protected when we have this optimistic attitude that always see the best from God and with this attitude we are unlikely to give in to depression, doubt and self-pity. We become more rational in our thinking.

Optimism is the helmet and while we keep it on, our mind is protected against Satan's subtle attack, against fear, doubt, discouragement, mistrust and so on.


Relation between hope and salvation


Paul said, "We are saved by hope: ....." (Romans 8:24)

What Paul said was essentially: No hope, no salvation. Therefore hope is an essential part of our salvation experience. But it does not mean that when you don't have this type of hope you are a lost soul. In Greek, the word "saved" is "sozo" - meaning being preserved, delivered and protected.

I believe the real mystery and secret of the Gospel is: "... Christ in you, the hope of glory" (1 Col. 1:27).


If Christ is in you, you have hope. If you do not have hope, it is just as if Christ is not in you. You are not a lost soul, but you are not living in the full experience of salvation.


The writer of Hebrews said, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful" (Heb. 10:23).


Keep on hoping. Do not give up hope for it is the protection of your mind.


The Sword of the Spirit


One thing that distinguishes the sword from the other five items of equipment we have looked at is that, the sword is the only item that is not purely defensive. the sword is also a weapon of attack, which we are going to look at it in my next message. Without the sword we have no way to drive the Devil off. If we put on all the other items of equipment, we may be able to prevent the Devil from actually wounding us, but we cannot drive him from our presence. The only thing that can do that is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Eph. 6:17).


The Bible compares God's Word to the sword because God's Word is sharper than any two-edged sword and pierces and penetrates the inner most area of the human personality (Heb. 4:12).


John had a vision of Jesus in His Glory as the Lord of the Church. One of the things that he saw was a sword coming out of the mouth of Jesus:


"He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength" (Rev. 1:16).


The sharp double-edged sword is the Word of God coming out of the mouth of Jesus.


When Jesus was tempted three times by Satan in the wilderness, the only weapon He used against Him was the Sword of the Spirit, or the Word of God (Matthew 4:1-11).


Jesus did not answer the Devil with theology or religious affiliation; He went straight to the Word of God. He said, "It is written ... It is written ... It is written ..." After the third thrust of that sharp double-edged sword, Satan backed off; he had had enough. You and I are given the privilege of using the same weapon.