Part 10 of Ephesians: Put on the Full Armor of God

Ephesians 6:10-18 (CSB)

10 Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens. 13 For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. 14 Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, 15 and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. 16 In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the word of God. 18 Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.

This week we are looking at another section of chapter 6 of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Over the past 9 weeks, we’ve carefully studied his instructions to these believers. He’s given them, and us, many important directives. Now we get to the part where he explains how we are to do these things. Verse 10 says, “Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength.” We can only follow God’s Word by being strengthened by the Lord.

How do we receive the Lord’s “vast strength”? How does He help us? Verse 11 tells us we are to, “Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil.” It isn’t easy to live out the mandates of Scripture. We live in a fallen world: the devil is real, our flesh is weak, and we must do battle against these “evil days” we live in, as Paul said earlier. The devil is going to try and prevent us from submitting to one another in the fear of Christ. He’s going to scheme and plot against us. In order to follow God's Word, we must be equipped with the armor of God.

Paul explains this further in verse 12, which says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.” This verse tells us that spiritual warfare is real. Evil spirits exist, and they are opposed to all of God’s ways. Because of this, you would think that the church would teach extensively on spiritual warfare, but it doesn’t. Some theologians even argue that Christians do not have authority over evil forces. While it’s true that we, on our own, do not have this authority, Jesus holds all authority over demons; therefore, in His name and by His power, demons can be driven out. As Luke 9:49 says, “John answered and said, ‘Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name; and we tried to prevent him, because he does not follow along with us.’” Apparently, even unbelievers can cast out demons if they are doing so in Jesus’ name.

We also see the formula of how this should be done in Acts 16:16-18, which says, “Once, as we were on our way to prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She made a large profit for her owners by fortune-telling. As she followed Paul and us she cried out, ‘These men, who are proclaiming to you a way of salvation, are the servants of the Most High God.’ She did this for many days. Paul was greatly annoyed. Turning to the spirit, he said, ‘I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!’ And it came out right away.”

In those verses, we clearly see that we can cast out demons in the name of Jesus Christ. As believers, we have the authority given to us by Jesus to call on His name and cast them out. I think it’s important to explain this truth as we look at putting on the armor of God. Putting on this armor isn’t the end of spiritual warfare: it is the starting place. Once equipped, then we are to stand and resist, and when necessary, rebuke the devil and his demons.

Not understanding this battle is part of the reason the body of Christ is not as strong as it should be. The devil certainly exists, and he is on the offensive. Therefore, we must engage in spiritual warfare, but we must not try and do so in our own power.

Paul tells us exactly what we are to do in order to battle the forces of evil: we must put on the full armor of God. To be effective, we need more than just the helmet of salvation; we need the full armor. But note, and forgive me if this is too obvious, but we must put this armor on. God gives us the armor, but we must put it on. What use is it to us if we don’t use it? As MacLaren writes, “If we go forth to war with evil, clothed and armed only with what we can provide, we shall surely be worsted in the fray. [But] if we go forth into the world of struggle from the secret place of the Most High, ‘no weapon that is formed against us shall prosper,’ and we shall be more than conquerors through Him that loved us.”

We have to take up the full armor. It is given to us, but we must put it on. It isn’t put on us. We have to perform the action of taking it up. If we haven’t taken up and put on the full armor, then we will not be able to resist evil. As we see next, verse 13 says, “For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.” Don’t try to take a stand if you haven’t put on the armor or aren’t prepared. You won’t stand if you’re not ready. The only way we can resist the devil is if we are ready. According to Strong’s Concordance, this word for resist is anthistémi and it means, “to set against, i.e. withstand.” It’s the same word that is used in James 4:7, which says, “Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

So, let’s look at this armor. In Ellicott’s Commentary he writes that “the order in which the armour in enumerated is clearly the order in which the armour of the Roman soldier was actually put on. It nearly corresponds with the invariable order in which Homer describes over and over again the arming of his heroes. First the belt and the corselet, which met and together formed the body armour; then the sandals; next the shield, and after this (for the strap of the great shield could hardly pass over the helmet) the helmet itself; then the soldier was armed, and only had to take up the sword and spear. It is curious to note that St. Paul omits the spear- exactly that part of his equipment which, when on guard within, the soldier would not be likely to assume.” And as we know from history that Paul was writing this letter of Ephesians while he was imprisoned, there was probably a Roman soldier nearby he could have glanced over at to see what he was wearing.

Verse 14 tells us, “Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest.” Just as there was an order in which a Roman soldier was dressed, I think there is a logical order to what we put on to make our stand. We must first put truth on, like a belt. We have to start from a foundation of the truth. More than knowing truth, we must wrap truth around our body. What is this truth? I think it is all the elementary teachings that Hebrews mentions. Hebrews 5:12 (NASB) says, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the actual words of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”

These “elementary principles” are the basic facts about God. We must first believe that God is greater than anyone else, and that Jesus is God and He died and rose from the dead. We must know these basic truths in order to mature in our faith. And more than that, we must apply them to our lives. As Hebrews 5:14 (NASB) says, “But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to distinguish between good and evil.” We have to learn to distinguish between good and evil. Otherwise, as Hebrews 3:13 warns, we are in danger of being deceived by sin. For in order to not be deceived, we first must be able to distinguish between good and evil. To do that, we must learn what is good. In other words, we must learn the truth and follow it.

This is logical because how will we know what things we are to take a stand against in this battle against evil if we don’t know the difference between good and evil? We must know the truth, so we can see clearly what we are to take a stand against.

Then, we are to wrap righteousness like armor on our chest. In the, Everyday with Jesus Devotional Bible, with devotions by Selwyn Hughes, he wrote that this righteousness we put on is not our righteousness, even though our moral actions are certainly an important part of this. The righteousness we are to put on first is Jesus’ righteousness. He said, “You see, the devil can find all kinds of flaws and blemishes in your righteousness, but he can find nothing wrong with the righteousness of Christ. That way to withstand an attack like this, then, is to put on the breastplate of righteousness. In other words, remind yourself and Satan that you stand not on your own merits but on Christ’s” (Holman, C. B. B., & Hughes, S. 2020. CSB Every Day with Jesus Daily Bible, p.337).

But in addition to the righteousness given to us by faith in Christ, we are to live righteously. If we are engaged in unrighteous behavior, that is going to seriously hinder our battle. In MacLaren’s Commentary on this section of scripture, he writes, “It is, alas, too true that Christian righteousness has been by Christians set forth as something fantastic and unreal, remote from ordinary life, and far too heavenly-minded to care for common virtues. Let us never forget that Jesus Himself has warned us, that except our righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, we shall in no wise enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The greater orbit encloses the lesser within itself.”

Our actions must line up with our confession of faith. It’s not enough to say we believe in the true doctrine of the righteousness of Jesus: we must put on this righteousness by faith and then live it out in practical actions, day in and day out. When we fail, we must ask the Lord for forgiveness and then try again. If we don’t, we will open ourselves up to attacks from the enemy.

This is what MacLaren says, as well. He writes, “The breastplate of righteousness is our defense against evil. The opposition to temptation is best carried on by the positive cultivation of good. A habit of righteous conduct is itself a defense against temptation. Untilled fields bear abundant weeds. The used tool does not rust, nor the running water gather scum. The robe of righteousness will guard the heart as effectually as a coat of mail. The positive employment with good weakens temptation, and arms us against evil. But so long as we are here our righteousness must be militant, and we must be content to live ever armed to meet the enemy which is always hanging round us, and watching for an opportunity to strike. The time will come when we shall put off the breastplate and put on the fine linen ‘clean and white,’ which is the heavenly and final form of the righteousness of Saints.”

Again, we must be wearing this armor if it is to do us any good. And the next pieces are the sandals for our feet. We are to have, as verse 15 says, “feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace.” This tells me we aren’t supposed to go looking for a fight. We aren’t putting on offensive weapons. So far, all these things have been for self-defense. These shoes are not shoes for war, they are shoes making us ready “for the gospel of peace.”

The Gospel message we are to be sharing is a gospel of peace, is it not? Even in Paul’s well-known verse about the ultimate destruction of Satan at the end of the world, Romans 16:20 says that “The God of peace will soon crush Satan.” And in this letter to the Ephesians, Paul mentions peace 7 different times: Jesus is our peace Who brought peace between all peoples, we are to walk in peace, be ready to share the good news of peace, which brings peace to all who receive it.

But we all know that this world does not always welcome that message of peace because the world is under the control of the devil. We are wearing this armor, we are told, so that we may withstand the schemes of the devil. That is why in verse 16 we are told: “In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”

In Ellicott’s Commentary, he says, “It is the faith of patience and endurance, the almost passive faith, trusting in God’s protection and submissive to His will, on which the darts of temptation, whether from fear, or from lust, or from doubt, fall harmless. The best commentary after all, on the words is found in Christian’s conflict with Apollyon in the Pilgrim’s Progress.”

If you’ve read Pilgrim’s Progress, you will understand Ellicott’s example. Apollyon represents the devil, and he throws a flaming dart at Christian who has a shield in his hand and easily catches the dart with the shield. We must have faith if we are to stand against the attacks of the devil. Faith, as we’ve been discovering, is not without action. Ellicott said, “almost passive faith” but not because he doesn’t think actions are tied to it. I think he’s emphasizing that it is a defensive, not an offensive faith. We still must prove our faith by our adherence to God’s will. This is easily understood, for when we have faith in God, then instead of dabbling in or embracing sin, we will strive to follow His commandments. If we don’t do that, then we open ourselves to the attacks of the devil. Without faith, proven by our good works and obedience to God, we will stray from God’s path and reap the consequences. Even following the Lord to the best of our ability, like Christian in the Pilgrim’s Progress, we will still face attacks from the enemy. But with the shield of faith, those attacks will lodge in the shield, and we will not be destroyed.

Which leads us to part one of verse 17, which says, “Take the helmet of salvation.” Since Paul has been writing this instruction to believers, I don’t think he’s saying that now, after you’ve put on truth, righteousness, peace, and faith, then put on the helmet of salvation. I think all the people who are putting on the armor are already believers. We’ve put on the truth of who Jesus is, we’ve received His righteousness, we are equipped with the Gospel message of peace, we have faith in Jesus and are proving that faith by submitting to His will. And now we are to take the helmet of salvation, but we are already Christians so what does Paul mean by this? I think 1 Thessalonians 5:8 gives us the clue to what he means by “helmet of salvation.”

In 1 Thessalonians 5:8, Paul says, “But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled and put on the armor of faith and love, and a helmet of the hope of salvation.” I think this helmet of salvation in Ephesians is also a helmet of the hope of salvation. That phrasing, “hope of salvation” makes me think of Psalm 51:12, which says, “Restore the joy of your salvation to me, and sustain me by giving me a willing spirit.” I think in the same way that David prayed that God would restore the joy of his salvation to him, we are to put on the helmet, which is the hopeful joy of our salvation. That means that we should hold on to the hope we have that one day all that is wrong in the world will be made right. That means that no matter what we face in this world, we have hope that Jesus is coming again and then we will forever be with Him. We have hope that God’s Kingdom will fully take over this evil world and Satan will be fully crushed, and God’s victory will be fully realized and established. That hope- that joy that we have in our salvation- means that because of the salvation that Jesus has given us through His death on the cross and our faith in Him, we do not need to be afraid of the enemy. When Satan attacks us, we should remind ourselves that we are a child of God. We do not battle on our own. We are clothed in the armor of God. We stand in authority, for Christ in us has given us authority to do battle in His name. We do not have to fear the devil. We can stand in that full armor, unafraid and ready to face whatever he throws at us. We stand, ready to do battle.

Which leads us to the next piece of armor: the first offensive weapon. The second half of verse 17 says, “and the sword of the Spirit—which is the word of God.” Now clothed with full armor, including the hope of our salvation, we are to take the sword of the Spirit. We are to fight, using the Word of God as our weapon.

I want to go back to The Pilgrim’s Progress example. Apollyon attacks again, and this time wounds Christian, but right before he would have been killed, John Bunyan, the author, writes, “Christian nimbly reached out his hand for his sword, and caught it, saying, ‘Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy; when I fall, I shall arise;’ (Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me. Micah 7:8) and with that, gave him a deadly thrust, which made him give back, as one that had received his mortal wound. Christian perceiving that, made at him again, saying, ‘Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through him that loved us.’ (Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Romans 8:37) and with that, Apollyon spread forth his dragon’s wings, and sped him away, (Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7) and Christian for a season saw him no more.”

Christian fought off Apollyon by quoting Scripture to him. Jesus, in real life, also answered Satan’s attempts at temptation by quoting scripture to him. We should do the same. When Satan attacks us, we must answer with the truth of Scripture. Then, led by the Holy Spirit, we can answer the attacks of world and the devil with the truth we find in God’s Word. Again, we must know God’s Word, so we can wield it in the battle. If we don’t know God’s Word, then we will crumble under the lies of the enemy.

Then, the one weapon that isn’t on the most people’s list of armor, but really should be included, is prayer. Verse 18 says, “Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.”

Prayer is our other weapon. And prayer is most effective when we are clothed in this armor. James 5:16 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.” Part of being clothed in the armor of God is we are to “take up righteousness like armor on our chest.” I’ve said it before, and I will keep saying it: If we better understood the power of prayer, we would never stop praying. Prayer is the most powerful weapon we have.

Our ultimate struggle is not against people, but against these spiritual forces of darkness. We have to recognize the true nature of the battle we are in and engage in effective spiritual warfare by being fully clothed in this armor. We then can wield the weapons of God’s Word and faith-filled prayer. Those two “tools” are the same “tools” that Jesus deployed during His suffering on the cross: He kept in constant prayer, and He recalled Scripture.

If we want to follow all these directives that God has given us in this letter, we must be constantly in prayer and in the Word of God. How, otherwise, will we live submitted to one another in the fear of Christ, or imitate Christ, put on the new self, be in unity with fellow believers, see the purpose in hardships, or do the good works God has prepared for us to do? We must put on the full of armor of God so we can stand against the enemy’s attacks.  

This armor is necessary, because whenever we attempt to obey God’s word, the devil tries to stop us. If you’ve ever decided to make changes in your life or even changes in your attitude- for example, if you’ve ever decided that you were going to be more patient with people- then you probably know how hard it is to follow through with these changes, because suddenly, the enemy tries really hard to prevent you.

As another example, it’s not easy to submit to one another in the fear of Christ. When you feel unappreciated, when the person you are trying to submit to doesn’t reciprocate -when things are unequal and unfair- it’s really difficult to not get bitter, hurt, or angry. That’s why this armor of God is so important. We need truth, so we can discern and reject the lies of the enemy. When our pride makes us want to resist, or we want our own way, we need righteousness like armor and our feet to be sandaled with peace. We need the hope of our salvation so we have faith that the Lord sees us and will reward us. We need to remember God’s Word, which is a sword, to be able to defeat those evil schemes. Then we can, in God’s power, submit to one another in the fear of Christ. Then we can lay aside our wants and desires, and serve others.

Paul concludes this letter with this passage on the armor of God because without God’s armor, we won’t be able to follow God’s Word. But, by giving us this armor through faith in Jesus, God has given us the ability and authority to resist and rebuke the devil and his demons. Luke 10:19 records Jesus saying, “Look, I have given you the authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy; nothing at all will harm you.” If you are a child of God, He has given you that same authority. Let us stand in that confidence, taking up the full armor He has given us, and do battle through God’s Word and prayer. Let us fight against the forces of darkness. Let us stand against the schemes of the devil and extinguish all his flaming arrows, led by the power of the Holy Spirit who lives inside of us and through the power of the Name of Jesus. Most of us probably won’t be casting demons out of people, but we all need to have this armor on in order to cast out of our minds all the bad attitudes, wrong ways of thinking, selfish desires, and lies the devil speaks to us.

But as Jesus adds in verse 20 of Luke 10, “However, don’t rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” That is why we are to do battle, isn’t it? We must battle against all these attacks so that we are not lead us astray and lose the hope of our salvation. We battle so we can resist sin and the devil. We battle because otherwise we could never follow these instructions we are given in this letter. And we battle, not only so we may be able to resist our fleshly desires in this evil day, but so that we can share this message of salvation with the world.

We are nearing the end of this letter, and next week, we will look at Paul’s concluding remarks. For now, let us pray for God’s strength to help us follow His Word, taking up the armor He has given us.

Pray: Heavenly Father, we first confess to You that we are in need of forgiveness. Please forgive us for failing to put on this armor You have given us. Please forgive us and help us by Your Holy Spirit to daily put on the full armor. Help us to reject the lies the enemy would throw at us. Help us stand strong in the truth of Who You are. Help us to follow all the directives You have given to us through Your Word. We look to Jesus Who is our strength and hope, and in His name we pray, amen.