by Jerry Senn
“Take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Ephesians 6:13).
What are we to make of this passage?
These “are not … actions to start doing. They are not instructions to do good things. Rather they are all ways of describing the impact of the gospel” on the Christian’s heart and life. The Christian armor is “the full armor of God which Jesus wore into battle with Satan.”
The devil wants us to abandon our faith in Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. He wants us to place our trust in our good works to sustain our relationship with Christ, and stop praising, celebrating, our victory over sin.
Paul uses the picture of the complete armor of a Roman soldier as an example of the Chrisitan’s armor. He amplifies the Lord as a warrior. Christ defeated the devil at the cross, so we are not in a campaign to attack the devil, but standing still in Christ’s victory. We are not saved by starting new battles with Satan, but by living in confident faith that Christ has conquered Satan on the cross.
We cannot defeat Satan but we can accept the work of Christ in his death, burial and resurrection for our salvation and also for our protection and safety. There’s no need to fear Satan while we’re dressed in his righteous armor. He already used it to conquer death, hell and the grave.
What is the essence of that armor? In Ephesians 6:14-17, we find these impactful words: “truth … righteousness … peace … faith … salvation … word of God.” These make up the nature of the believers’ armor. In each case we must “put on,” “take up,” “take,” them into our hearts with confidence in every encounter with Satan’s hateful lies designed to destroy our faith. (Excerpts: Richard Coekin, “Ephesians For You.”)
“Take every virtue, every grace, And fortify the whole.”