“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” (Ephesians 1:10-12).
The warfare of the believer is as real as any other war. But we need to learn that believers do not have the strength within themselves to fight this battle; it is the Lord who gives us the strength, and apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15:5). We are to be strong in the power of His might.
Paul tells us to “Put on the whole armor of God.” As Christians we are in a spiritual battle, and this battle is not with other people; it is against principalities, powers, authorities and dominions, which I believe are the various rankings of evil spirits.
The real battle lies in the realm of the spirit, and thus the weapons of our warfare must be spiritual weapons. This is a spiritual battle that cannot be fought with physical weapons; we must arm ourselves with spiritual weapons.
As we arm ourselves with these spiritual weapons, the first bit of armament that we put on is the truth, because Satan is always coming at us with his lies. Jesus said, “The Devil is the father of all lies” (John 8:44). He tries to lie to you about the nature of God, about the character of God and about God’s attitude toward you. He tries to lie to you about God’s attitude towards sin. Satan says, “Oh, it really doesn’t matter, you can get by with it, God will not judge you, God will forgive you” and so forth. Causing you to use the grace of God as a cloak for lasciviousness, deceiving yourself. It is important that we be armed with the truth.
Secondly, we put on the breastplate of righteousness. This is a commitment in our heart to do what is right before God. We have got to have this as a commitment in our life, to do the right thing. To have that determination that we are going to live a right kind of life no matter what happens. Righteousness is actually doing the right actions towards those people we interact with each day. Unrighteousness is not doing the right thing toward those we interact with each day. We have got to have that as a basic foundation for our life. We should be determined to do our best as God enables us to do the right thing.
Next comes the gospel of peace. It is God’s desire that we live in peace with Him and with each other. But this is not the case, because we live in a world that is filled with strife. In marriage relationships, many homes are so filled with strife and the atmosphere is so tense that you could cut it with a knife, as we are failing to obey the scriptures in submitting to each other in love. We are trying to dominate and rule over each other, and there is no love involved. We argue over the most ridiculous things and we won’t give in. Even when we know we are wrong.
Many times, in a tense situation, the whole issue can be diffused by just one person saying, “Hey, let’s not argue like this.” It diffuses the whole thing; suddenly the strife is gone. Why do we find that so hard to do? To admit to being wrong, or to admit that the other person is possibly right. Help us Lord.
The shield of faith is that faith and confidence in God that He will guide as we go through this life. Satan is constantly attacking us, and this shield of faith will stop all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Our faith in God’s ability and God’s power will give us all that we need to stand against these attacks of the enemy. This strong faith in God will keep us from getting all bent out of shape when things do not go our way, “Knowing that all things work for the good of those that love God and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).
The helmet of salvation gives me the confidence in my mind that I am a child of God. Satan is always pointing to Christians and saying, “Hey, look at what you did, and you call yourself a Christian.” He is the accuser of all Christians (Revelation 12:10). Two of Satan’s most dangerous tools are discouragement and doubt. He is always pointing to our failures, sins, problems, poor health and whatever else is negative in our lives to make us lose confidence in the love of God for us. Thank God we have been saved through Jesus Christ from that tyranny of a life mastered by Satan and the flesh. We have been saved in order that we might walk in fellowship with God through the Spirit.
The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. The Bible is a tremendous defense against sin. David wrote, “I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You” (Psalm 119:11). John said, “I write unto you young men, because you are strong, because you have overcome the wicked one because His Word abides in you” (1 John 2:14). The power of God’s word within our mind and heart is the greatest defense that we can have against sin in this spiritual battle that we are in.
And last, but not least, prayer. What a powerful spiritual weapon prayer is. Prayer is often the deciding factor in this spiritual battle that all Christians are in. You or I can go around the world in a matter of a few minutes with our prayers. Praying for the pastors, evangelist, and missionaries that are in every part of this evil world proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ.
Paul wrote, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). Can you say that you have fought the good fight and kept the faith?