This passage is the familiar "armor of God" passage. When I learned about this passage in Sunday school, I never really gave any thought to why the author chose the pieces of armor that he did. For example, I figured the author had a list of things to convey and just randomly assigned armor pieces to it. Now, as an adult, I realize the purpose that is behind the pairings and I felt the need to cover that here:
1) The belt of truth - I was teaching a Sunday school class when this one came to me. Belts keep you from being caught with your pants around your ankles. Metaphorically - that phrase means it keeps you from being caught unprepared. So then, what is truth? Christ told Pilate that the reason He came into the world was to testify to the truth. There are many more passages in the Bible regarding truth. My paraphrase - study the Bible, know what you believe... that way you don't get caught with your pants around your ankles.
2) The breastplate of righteousness - The breastplate protects the heart. 1 Peter 3:16 speaks to this... "keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander." If you live a righteous life, the false accusations don't make it through the protection.
3) Feet fitted with readiness ... from the Gospel of Peace - This one is particularly interesting to me. We have a gospel that preaches peace and goodwill. If we remembered that, we would be ready to share, ready to go, ready to act.
4) Shield of Faith - The Bible actually goes on to say that the shield of faith "extinguish[es] all the flaming arrows of the evil one." This verse acknowledges Satan's role in trying to undermine our belief in God. In the garden of Eden, he asked Eve "did God really say?" Del Tackett called this the "hiss of the snake". If we have faith - if we truly believe in the power and person of God, the accusations of the devil fall short.
5) The Helmet of Salvation - This one protects the mind. I think this one lends itself to the song we sing in Children's Church - "oh be careful little eyes what you see". Our minds are constantly bombarded with thoughts, sights, ideas, etc. that aren't necessarily in line with God's plan. How do we keep our mind clean? Salvation - offered through the redeeming blood of our Lord.
6) The Sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God - Christ demonstrated this best for us in his temptation in the dessert. When Satan threw Bible verses at Him, He was prepared. And, 2 Corinthians 10:5 reminds us that "we demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God..." Finally, Revelation 19:11-15 reminds us that Christ's name is "the Word of God" and out of his mouth comes a sword.
I'm sure someone else has written a better analysis of this, but these are my thoughts on a Tuesday night.
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