Index To Holiness and Overcoming Sin
The Armour of God
Paul's words in the book of Ephesians are, doubtless, very familiar to most Christians.
(10) Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. (11) Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. (12) For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (13) Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. (14) Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, (15) and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; (16) in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. (17) And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (18) With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints. (Ephesians 6:10-18 NASB)
Although I am sure these verses have given children in Sunday School much to do cutting up bits of cardboard to make suits of armour, etc. they are meant to be taken very seriously. However, Paul's words have given rise to the concept of aggressive 'spiritual warfare' in which Christians are seen as an offensive army marching across the land, slaying demons left, right, and center with "the sword of the spirit". The parts of armour are seen as some kind of coded checklist we have to refer to before battle. What we need to do is pay attention to the fact that some of what Paul said was paraphrased from the book of Isaiah that speaks of the Redeemer as being a figure clad in armour... And He saw that there was no man, and was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him. He put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle. (Isaiah 59:16-17 NASB)
In other words, Paul was simply highlighting the weapons we will need to survive deadly spiritual battles. We also have to remember that, like all other Biblical texts, these verses do not stand-alone but were part and parcel of the surrounding message. In this case, the "armour" verses were the culmination of a particular message to the Ephesians. Reading them in context will give us a clearer picture of what the apostle meant. See Context Is Crucial The Book of Ephesians
The short six chapters of Ephesians were not written to solve problems in the church, deal with personal issues, or even teach. Unlike Romans in which the 'case for Christianity' was developed gradually, Paul did not put forth any theological concepts. In other words, Ephesians was a very general letter written to a church that quite obviously already had a good understanding of faith and salvation. Ephesians can be roughly divided down the middle. The first three chapters of the book are doctrinal - devoted to a gradual unfolding of God's plan. In them, Paul outlined the basic facts of the gospel, telling them that believing Jews and Gentiles now had redemption and the forgiveness of sins and had obtained a new life and inheritance in Christ. However, that new life brought responsibility. In the next three chapters Paul exhorted believers to walk worthy of their vocation then touched on various areas to which the Gospel was to be applied such as marriage, the relationship between children and parents, and between slave and master. It is only after all this that Paul comes to the 'armour verses'. He closed the letter by telling the Ephesians that because they lived in a hostile environment surrounded by numerous scheming and powerful foes they should be strong in the Lord. The also needed to be aware of the weapons they had been given to stand against these spiritual forces of evil. In his words they needed to... "Put on the full armor of God" so that they would be able to "stand firm against the schemes of the devil". As he went on to say, For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:11-12 NASB)
A Defensive War
Virtually all the weapons mentioned are defensive weapons. In fact, Paul emphasizes that we put on the full armour of God so that we may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. (Ephesians 6:13). As said by David Guzik in his New Testament commentary (Emphasis Added) Instead of picturing the army of the church seeking out and attacking some kind of demonic fortress, we are to have the idea that Jesus illustrated in His ministry. Jesus didn't patrol around, looking for demons to conquer... Instead, Jesus knew what God the Father wanted Him to do, He set about doing it, and He dealt with satanic opposition when it arose. When satanic opposition raised itself, Jesus stood against it and was not moved. So the idea is that God has given us a call, a mission, a course to fulfill. Satan will do his best to stop it. When he attacks and intimidates, we are to stand. It is plain that this is Paul's emphasis in Ephesians 6:11 and 13. We love an energetic church that advances the Kingdom of God so vigorously that it shakes the councils of hell, but we don't let principalities and powers set our agenda. We do the Lord's work and stand against every hint of spiritual opposition.
Paul tells us to stand in this largely defensive war because we already occupy the high ground that was won for us on a hill outside Jerusalem some 2000 years ago. The victory is ours through our Lord Jesus Christ but we are not home free. We have to hold on to what He has given us. And this is where the armour comes in. The question does arise as to why are believers are so opposed by the forces of evil. In a study of the spiritual warfare in Ephesians 6:10-20, Bob Deffinbaugh says, Chapter 2 provides a significant reason for the spiritual war. As unbelievers, we were under the power and control of Satan, even though we did not know it. But when we came to faith in Christ by His grace, we were delivered from his "kingdom of darkness" and made citizens in the "kingdom of light." Our salvation caused us no longer to be the enemies of God, but at the same time resulted in us becoming the enemies of Satan. No wonder he so aggressively attacks Christians. They were once his subjects. [01]
The rulers of the kingdom we used to belong to are not going to allow us to relinquish our citizenship without a fight, and they will use any and all means at their disposal to ensure that we do not do so. If you have noticed every section of the armour is connected with the gospel and the lifestyle it demands. We do not need to have a string of letters after our names, have amazing spiritual experiences, or witness extraordinary signs and wonders. In order to stand successfully we need several things - truth, righteousness, a firm foundation in the gospel, faith, salvation, the word, prayer. In short, unless we know, and live the Gospel, we do not stand a chance of survival - the enemy will undermine the ground under our very feet. It's as simple as that. Plus Prayer
Finally, verse 18 says With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, (Ephesians 6:18 NASB)
Prayer was not particularly included in the armour verses but all the armour in the world would be ineffective without the help of Him who can keep us. Therefore constant persevering prayer in all situations is necessary. As Bible commentator Alfred Barnes once said.. No matter how complete the armor; no matter how skilled we may be in the science of war; no matter how courageous we may be, we may be certain that without prayer we shall be defeated. God alone can give the victory; and when the Christian soldier goes forth armed completely for the spiritual conflict, if he looks to God by prayer, he may be sure of a triumph. This prayer is not to be intermittent. It is to be always. In every temptation and spiritual conflict we are to pray;
End Notes
[01] Bob Deffinbaugh. Spiritual Warfare (Ephesians 6:10-20) http://bible.org/seriespage/spiritual-warfare-ephesians-610-20 | 
