In the great book of Ephesians and in chapter 6, Apostle Paul gave a vivid description of protective armour, which every believer should put on. He was able to summarise the kingdom- life standard that we have been translated into in Christ into a tangible entity we all can relate to, the armour . Just like a soldier cannot think of taking off his armour at the war front, no more can believers dare take off this kingdom-life standard for armour. The armour is to be our lifestyle in order to live victoriously in the midst of the battle we are in.
In the book of Exodus, chapter 38, God also gave Moses details of the attire of the office of the High Priest. On the mitre on the head of the High Priest was the inscription: “Holines…
Paul’s vivid description of the Christian armour, which they are to put on as a lifestyle described in full what Aaron’s priestly garment was a shadow of. Additionally, we have the gospel of peace as a sandal that believers must be shod with to fulfil the great commission by our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
We have the helmet of salvation, which is the same as the mitre on which was inscribed holiness unto the LORD on the head of Aaron. Our salvation cannot be devoid of holiness, believers cannot be different from their Head, the One who has saved them, even our Lord Jesus Christ. Holiness guarantees our eternal salvation. The book of Romans in chapter 12 admonishes believers to be renewed in their minds and not to be conformed to the standard of the world. This is our chief armour. When we are holy, the Prince of this world will have nothing in us, and we can exercise our authority and dominion over him. A believer who gets careless with his mind and who does not keep his heart with all diligence by the word of God toys with his eternal destiny. Holiness is to become our lifestyle as true believer for by this we become God’s peculiar treasure on earth.
Next, we have the sword of the Spirit, but interestingly not in the hand of the believer but out of his mouth. The sword of the Spirit is the word of God, meaning our mouth is to declare continually the word of God and to be used in prayer and in giving of thanks. Believers cannot afford to be careless with words for words have power of life and death. Our lifestyle should be one that “orders his conversation aright” declaring words of grace seasoned with salt (word of the covenant) to give life to everything that hears it.
Then we have the breastplate of righteousness, same with the breastplate of judgement (discretion, right action, right thoughts, good decisions). It is righteousness to do things that God will do and wants us to do. It is righteousness also for us to enjoy what God has made available unto us in Christ, but we must remain steadfast and rooted in Christ to freely enjoy what has been given us despite the opposition of the devil and his cohorts. The LORD has set a table before me, in the presence of my enemies we read in Psalm 23. Our righteous living opens us to this.
An important part of our Godly armour is the shield of faith with which we quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. Faith is active. It is declaring and affirming what we believe as true. Most believers hold as truth their present travail and experiences, but the word of God is the truth. We must separate truth from experiences. Truth is what God is, what He has given, and what God has declared. There has been such a great debate on truth, facts, reality, and experiences, but these are not the truth. If we have this understanding, we will see the truth as the One that sets us free from entanglement (the darts, deceit) of the wicked. For God so loved the world and gave His only Begotten Son that whosoever believe in Him will not perish but have everlasting life (John 3: 16). God gave His word, and great is the company that publishes (declares) it (Psalm 68: 11). God has given us His great and precious promises that by them, we might be partakers of His divine nature (2 Peter 1: 4). Truth is what God is and what He has given us because God is Truth, just as God is Love. Truth is what holds everything together, all our Godly armour. It is part of our armour, the Girdle of Truth, to girt up our loins with.
Not the least in our Godly armour is the gospel of peace, which we are to shod our feet with. Everywhere we go to, we carry peace with us, the peace of the gospel, healing the sick, manifesting the fruit of the Spirit, setting the captives free from the bondage of the wicked one, binding the broken hearted, making known the savour of the knowledge of Christ and making disciples out of every nation. We are known as children of God when we walk in peace and establish the dominion, the superiority of the kingdom of God everywhere we go. Have we not read that the whole creation is awaiting the manifestation of sons of God? Peace is our lifestyle which unfortunately most believers are not living out yet. Hence, there’s no manifestation. Man is always waiting for a mighty descent of the move of God, whereas God is waiting for His people to live out what He has given them, so He can move with them. What have I not done to my vineyard God asked in Isaiah chapter 5 verse 4, that it should yield grapes instead of wild grapes. God expects us to be knights in shining armour.
We are God’s children and should not become strange children because of our unbecoming lifestyles. The bible declared in the epistle of John; 1 John chapter 4 verse 17: “As He is in heaven, so are we in this world.” This is not what we are going to be, but what we are already. It is left to us to begin to live it out as our lifestyle, depicted as God’s armour in Ephesians chapter 6. A lifestyle of holiness, of righteousness (not only as a standard of living but enjoying also what is ours in Christ fully), faith, living by the truth and declaring the truth continually, and a lifestyle of peace. This lifestyle should be our first nature that we cannot do without or put off. No reasonable soldier puts off his armour in battle, believers cannot afford to put off these lifestyle, which is their armour against all fiery darts and accusation of the wicked. We are enjoined in Romans chapter 13: 14: “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” Our lifestyle is our armour. We have to live like Christ, and we couch this lifestyle with prayer: praying always with all types of prayer in the Spirit and being vigilant. We have to be vigilant as we are prayerful to keep intact a lifestyle that becomes those who have been saved. God is waiting for a mighty move of a great company of His children who will live out Christ, and He on His part will give more grace. It’s time to put on our armour, a lifestyle of holiness, righteousness, faith, truth, and peace. As Apostles Paul clearly speaks in 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 7: “By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left.”, such should be our manner of lifestyle.
