The Whole Armor of God (Part 1)
Ephesians 6: 13 - 20
For this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand your ground on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand. Stand firm therefore, by fastening the belt of truth around your waist, by putting on the breastplate of righteousness, by fitting your feet with the preparation that comes from the good news of peace, and in all of this, by taking up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With every prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and to this end be alert, with all perseverance and requests for all the saints. Pray for me also, that I may be given the message when I begin to speak – that I may confidently make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may be able to speak boldly as I ought to speak.
Today, we come to what is, perhaps, one of the most well-known passages in the New Testament; certainly this passage from the end of Ephesians is among the top four or five passages that people recognize and remember from Scripture. You’ve got the parable of the prodigal son, the last supper, the fruit of the spirit, and the whole armor of God.
I think one reason this is such a well known picture is that it is so compelling. There is something about the idea of putting armor on in preparation for a battle that resonates with people. At least, I know it resonates with little boys; I can’t tell you how often my boys, when they were younger, ran around the house dressed in cardboard armor waving stick or plastic swords at each other!
But even those of us who aren’t little boys (in truth or at heart!) I think can still relate strongly to this idea. There is a scene in the second of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies, The Two Towers, that really illustrates this idea well. The army of Orcs has camped outside of the fortress, Helm’s Deep. The people of Rohan are hopelessly outnumbered against this frighteningly overwhelming force, so King Theoden conscripts every able bodied man or boy in the fortress to help in the fight. And, as Gimli and Legolas comment, “Most have seen too many winters, or too few.”
Things look pretty hopeless, and even the mighty ranger Aragorn begins to lose hope. And then, as he is sitting on the steps of the fortress wrestling with despair, a young boy approaches him. This boy is about twelve years old and has no business being in the army, but nevertheless, he is armed and preparing to stand against this impossible foe. And he is terrified, so he looks to Aragorn for hope. In the face of this boy’s need, Aragorn comforts him, saying, “There is always hope,” speaking as much to himself as to the boy. Then, with renewed determination, he goes in to his chamber and begins to put on his armor, preparing himself to meet the foe that has arrayed itself against them.
That decision to go put on his armor is symbolic of his renewed hope. Rather than just laying down and giving in to despair, he stands against it, choosing to fight.
And I think that is the kind of picture that Paul is aiming for here at the end of Ephesians 6. In verse twelve, he showed us the overwhelming foe that stands against us, one that is vast and immensely powerful, one that we can’t possibly hope to stand against. If it had been available to him, I’m pretty sure Paul would have alluded to the image of the Orcs encamped outside of Helm’s Deep to illustrate this idea!
And just like the army at Helm’s Deep, we face a decision. We can look at our situation and we can chose to despair. We may not be facing an insurmountable army of Orcs; we may only stand against the discouragement of our own sinful behavior or the struggles of dealing with the sinfulness of others. But the choice remains the same. We can choose to lay down in defeat before the battle even begins. Or we can stand and put on our armor.
Paul’s exhortation, of course, is to get up, to put on the armor that God has provided for us. And then he spends the next several verses highlighting and describing each piece of this armor, which he calls the full armor of God.
The Armor
In these verses, Paul highlights six pieces of armor that were common, necessary equipment issued to and used by pretty much every Roman soldier in the first century. Each piece of armor had a specific purpose, both literally for the Roman soldiers that were likely in front of Paul as he was writing, providing him with constant inspiration, as well as symbolically. It seems to me that there is no other way to proceed than to simply go through each piece of armor as Paul lists them, so let’s jump in.
The first piece Paul highlights is the belt of truth[1]:
A Roman soldier’s belt had three basic purposes. First, it supported the breastplate that they wore; the strength of the belt took some of the weight of the breastplate off their shoulders, giving them greater freedom of movement. Second, the belt held their sword. Without the belt, they had nowhere to carry their primary weapon other than in their hand, which would have been an annoyance, at the very least. Third, and probably most importantly, the belt was a symbol of who the soldier was. Only a Roman soldier could wear a belt like this one; by putting on and wearing that belt, they were proclaiming their status as a member of the Roman army, with everything that such a status entailed.
I think Paul had all of these ideas in mind when he writes of the belt of truth. Truthfulness supports the righteousness of our lives and gives us freedom to move and to live as we should. As Albert Barnes says, “The [belt] kept all the parts of the armour in their proper place, and preserved firmness and consistency in the dress; and so truth might serve to give consistency and firmness to our conduct.”[2] Truthfulness in our lives supports our sword, which, as Paul tells us a few verses later, is the Word of God. In order to wield the truth of the Gospel, we must first have that truth as the support and foundation of our lives. Charles Spurgeon puts it this way: “A [belt] of sincerity... braces [a man] up to meet the father of lies.”[3] And finally, truth marks us as the children of God. The old song says, “They’ll know we are Christians by our love,” and that isn’t false. But in the ancient world, Christians were actually most well known for their truthfulness. Deception and deceit were commonplace in the Roman world, but a Christian always told the truth, to the point that Christians became known as people of the truth.
I think it is important to note that Paul puts such an emphasis on truthfulness in our lives. It is an essential part of our armor, and it is the piece that he lists first. More than that, it is the mark, the symbol of who we are as children of God.
The second part of the armor that Paul lists is the breastplate of righteousness[4]:
There were several different styles of breastplates that the Roman army employed. The one pictured above is a replica of one of the more common ones, called the lorica segmentata. But no matter what the style, they all served the same basic purpose: to protect the soldier’s vital organs. With such a breastplate on, most blows from the enemy would not hurt you. Taking a blow to the chest might bruise you, but you could keep fighting; with this breastplate protecting you, it was much more difficult for the enemy to strike a blow that would take you out of the fight. Conversely, without that breastplate on, pretty much any blow that landed would be debilitating, if not fatal. Without their breastplate, the soldier was at a serious disadvantage.
So, basically Paul is telling us here that righteousness is our greatest protection in the battle that is our Christian life. When we are living righteous lives, the enemy’s blows can not harm us; they can make us uncomfortable or cause us pain, but they can’t take us out of the fight. Conversely, when we are living unrighteously, we are wide open to his attacks and almost any blow from him will take us down.
I like the way Adam Clarke puts this: “As the breast-plate defends the heart and lungs, and all those vital [organs]; so this righteousness, this life of God in the soul of man, defends every thing on which the man's spiritual existence depends.”[5]
The third piece of armor that Paul mentions is the sandals of the gospel of peace. This bit of the armor is a bit different from the other pieces that Paul has mentioned so far. Scholars disagree on the meaning of the word Paul uses in verse 14. It could refer to greaves, which were essentially metal shin guards like these[6]:
Anyone who plays soccer knows how important shin guards can be! These greaves protected the lower legs in the same way that the breastplate protected the upper body. If an enemy managed to land a blow on your legs, you might get a bruise, but you could continue fighting; without the greaves, a blow landing on your lower legs would likely break your leg, completely debilitating you.
Other scholars believe that Paul’s word refers to the sandals a Roman soldier wore, which looked like these[7]:
The sandals of Roman soldiers were actually quite renowned in the ancient world. As you can see in the picture above, their soles were covered with iron nails, much like modern day cleats. These nails made the sandals extremely durable and they also gave the soldier wearing them great traction, so he could move quickly, whenever he needed to.
But regardless of which piece of the armor Paul specifically had in mind here, the idea is essentially the same. The greaves and the sandals protected the soldier’s lower legs and feet, and they allowed him freedom of movement. What I find interesting here is that Paul connects this piece of armor with our readiness or preparation. The verse says, fitting your feet with the preparation that comes from the good news of peace. Barnes says that the soldier’s footwear had three basic functions: to make them ready for the march, to keep their feet firm – to give them solid footing – and to be a part of their protection[8]. And a Christian’s preparation ought to do the same things. We ought to always be ready to go out in the service of the Gospel, wherever and whenever God calls us to go. We must always stand firm on the truth of the Gospel. And we must rest in the protection that the Gospel provides.
The fourth part of our armor is the shield of faith[9]:
The shield that Paul most likely had in mind was the one used by Roman legionaries, like the replicas pictured above. These shields were made of wood covered with thick layers of oiled leather and surrounded by brass. This shield served two purposes. First, it was designed to fit together with the shields of the soldiers standing on either side, forming an impenetrable wall of shields. This shield wall was an idea that the Greeks came up with and the Romans perfected it; it was one of the reasons that the Roman legions were so formidable in battle. The front line held their shields together in this wall while the second line thrust their swords or spears through the wall. Thus, they could strike at their enemies without exposing themselves to attack. Second, these shields were covered with thick leather because of flaming arrows. Many armies would wrap the tips of their arrows in cloth that had been soaked in oil or tar; they would light the cloth on fire and then shoot them, and when they struck, the burning oil would splatter, igniting everything around it. So, these shields were made with a thick layer of leather, which meant when these flaming arrows struck the shield, they would sink into the leather and the fire would be extinguished.
I think Paul’s symbolic point here is fairly clear. Just as the shield protected the soldier’s body, both from enemies near at hand and from those shooting at a distance, so faith protects all of the Christian’s spiritual life. As Barnes says, “As long as the soldier had his shield, he felt secure; and as long as a Christian has faith, he is safe. It comes to his aid in every attack that is made on him, no matter from what quarter... and it secures the protection which the Christian needs”[10]
Fifth, we have the helmet of salvation[11]:
The physical purpose of the helmet is rather obvious: it protects the head and neck from attack. What the breastplate does for the body, what the greaves do for the legs, the helmet does for the head. But many Roman helmets were also decorated with various emblems and charms, which were designed to invoke supernatural protection. They believed these charms would ensure that whoever was wearing the helmet would be safe in battle, because the gods would come to his aid and protect him.
So, Paul is saying here that salvation, or, as he puts it in 1 Thessalonians 5:8, our hope of salvation, is both protection for our mind and the source of our assurance of ultimate victory. When we wear the salvation of Christ Jesus, we are assured of coming safely through every battle. Of course, that doesn’t mean we will always come through unscathed. We may suffer hardships; in fact, Scripture tells us in several other places that we can expect to suffer in many ways, because we are followers of Jesus. But whatever happens, we can be confident that Jesus is always with us and that He is working in every circumstance, whether good or bad, both to glorify His name and to give us all that we need. That is the assurance, the protection, that the helmet of salvation offers us, when we wear it into battle.
And finally, Paul tells us to take up the sword of the spirit[12]:
This sword, called a gladius, was the primary weapon of the Roman soldier; it was with swords like the one pictured above that Rome conquered the world. Every Roman soldier had one. They all trained with it extensively and knew how to use it well. And they kept it with them always, that they might always be prepared in every circumstance, no matter what happened or what they were called on to do.
Paul says that our sword is the Word of God, and the parallels are, again, fairly obvious. God has given us His Word to strike out against the deceptions of the enemy, just as Jesus used Scripture to fend off Satan’s attacks when He was tempted in the wilderness. Thus, we must know His Word intimately; we must study it and know it so that we can use it effectively. And we must carry His Word with us always, that we might be prepared in every circumstance. When I first wrote this message, about twenty years ago, I was thinking here primarily of Scripture memorization, since always carrying around a physical Bible didn’t seem very practical. Now, with the advent of smartphones, having access to the actual, entire Word of God is often as easy as opening an app on our phones, though I would suggest that memorizing His Word, filling our minds and our hearts with Scripture, is still the best way to have access to the sword God has given us.
Final Thoughts
So these are the pieces of armor Paul tells us that God has provided for us. There are several other ideas that I want to highlight from this passage, but since this post already feels long enough, I’m going to put those off until our next Musings. For now, I’d like to leave you with one final thought.
In our Christian lives, we all face the choice that Aragon faced at Helm’s Deep. The foe we stand against might not be a raging horde of Orcs bent on the destruction of all Men. But we do stand against an enemy that seeks our destruction, an enemy that is insurmountable if we face him in our own strength, an enemy that comes at us in so many different ways, at every hour of the day and night, hitting us when we are weakest, hitting us where we are most vulnerable.
And in this battle we face, we all must choose. Will we bow down to despair and give up or will we put on the whole armor that God has provided for us?
When you phrase it like that, the choice seems rather cut and dry, doesn’t it? Either put on the armor or lay down in defeat. Chances are, most of you reading this today are feeling like you haven’t yet laid down in defeat; at least I hope that is true!
But one thing you have to understand is that not giving in to despair does not automatically mean you have your armor on. Because really, there is a third choice: we can stand against this unbelievably powerful foe in our own strength, armed with only our own power, our own skills and our own abilities. Or perhaps we’ve put on a few of the pieces of the armor that God has provided, but we’re not fully protected by the whole armor.
Paul knew the enemy we face; he faced off against this foe his entire life. And, speaking with God’s inspiration, he advised us to put on the whole armor of God.
I would encourage you to examine your own life today. What choice have you made in this battle? Perhaps you haven’t given up, haven’t given in to despair, but you continue to face defeat in your Chrisitan life. Perhaps you continue to stumble into a particular sin or you grow weary of doing all that you know you should. Maybe you find yourself easily angered when others treat you unfairly or you know your Christian walk just isn’t what it ought to be.
If that describes where you are in your Christian life today, you might want to consider the third alternative. Perhaps you are standing in your own strength, only partially protected by some of God’s armor. Paul says, take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to stand your ground on the evil day. Don’t delay; arm yourself with all of God’s armor, all of the protection that He intended for your life. Then, you will be equipped and ready to stand.
[1] Picture taken from https://hotteenagerpenpals.weebly.com/jan-febmrc-2018/belt-of-truth\
[2] Commentary on Ephesians 6:14. Albert Barnes’ New Testament Commentary, accessed in The Power Bible software.
[3] Ephesians 6:14. Spurgeon’s Devotional Commentary, accessed in The Power Bible software
[4] Picture taken from: https://www.romanobritain.org/8-military/mil_roman_soldier_curiass.php
[5] Adam Clarke’s Commentary on Ephesians 6:14, accessed electronically in the PowerBible CD program.
[6] Picture taken from: https://x-legio.com/en/wiki/ocrea
[7] Picture taken from: https://www.romanobritain.org/8-military/mil_roman_soldier_footwear.php
[8] Commentary on Ephesians 6:15. Albert Barnes’ New Testament Commentary, accessed in The Power Bible software.
[9] Picture taken from: https://history-making.com/product/roman-imperial-scutum-square-type/
[10] Commentary on Ephesians 6:16. Albert Barnes’ New Testament Commentary, accessed in The Power Bible software.
[11] Picture taken from: https://www.thecollector.com/ancient-roman-helmets-types-and-characteristics/
[12] Picture taken from: https://www.historynet.com/roman-gladius-sword/