Perseverance in the Christian life isn’t easy, but it is a necessity. As Paul commands believers to stand, he doesn’t leave us without an explanation as to how to do so. Twice in Ephesians 6:10-13, he tells us, in essence, to put on the whole armor of God, and he expounds on what that means in the verses that follow twice repeating the commands to put on and to take. In doing so, Paul details what makes up God’s armor. It is worthy of consideration to look at each piece of God’s armor and contemplate how that piece of the armor is effective in our spiritual battle. Additionally, it is worth contemplating the nature of the armor as God’s armor. When we read about God’s armor, our first thoughts should be to consider the armor to be spiritual in nature. This is based on the nature of the struggle being spiritual (Eph 5:12) and the nature of God as Spirit (Jn 4:24). We might also think of the armor as being merely sourced in God, that He as the giver of good gifts, gives us the armor that we need for our spiritual struggle; however, Paul encourages us to think a bit deeper about God than merely as the source of the armor. He wants us to see God as the owner of the armor, who, in a sense, is lending his armor to us for the spiritual battle. In Eph 6:14-17, Paul alludes to several Old Testament passages from which he derives the concepts of the individual pieces of the armor. Having one’s loins girded with truth comes from Isaiah 11:5, but in that passage, Isaiah is speaking of the Messiah, the root of Jesse on whom the Spirit of the Lord will rest. Similarly, the breastplate of righteousness is an allusion to Isaiah 59:17 which speaks of God’s defending justice in the nation of Israel; in fact, He is said to wear the helmet of salvation (Eph 5:17) in the same verse. In other words, in a way, we are borrowing God’s armor for the battle. This may be what Paul means when he says that we are strengthened by his might, but he certainly means it to increase our confidence in the battle. Since we have God’s armor to wear and to help us stand; let’s do everything we can to prepare ourselves and to stand. We can because we have God’s strength to help. –Pastor Rory |
Sunday at Liberty
9AM: Josh De Leon–Storm Chasing–Job 32-37
10AM: Pastor Rory Martin–Ephesians 6:10-24–Perseverance in Christ, 2 (sermon notes)
5:30PM: Potluck
6:20PM: Pastor Rory Martin–Isaiah 59:9-20–God’s Armor
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