The Almighty's Assigned Armor

The Almighty’s Assigned Armor

Scripture records the biography of a young redheaded male.  He tended to sheep.  Thus, this young man’s profession was that of a shepherd.  While he cared for these sheep as his own, they belonged to his father.  This young man knew the duty and responsibility that accompanied his trade.  On one occasion, he slew a lion and, on another occasion, he killed a bear that attacked the flock.[1]  One day, a giant, who was a Philistine, challenged the flock of Israel.  No one dared to answer the challenge of the giant.  Until one day, this redheaded young man delivered some bread to his brothers, who were stationed in one of the camps of Israel.  Perturbed by the situation, this young man, by the name of David, sought audience with the king of Israel—Saul—concerning the matter and declared to Saul that he would kill the giant, whose name was Goliath.[2]  King Saul proceeded to give David his armor in order to fight Goliath.  I Samuel 17:38 & 39 states, “And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail.  And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him.”  Saul’s armor created one major problem for David.  David never fought with heavy amour so he was not capable of using it in battle, but God’s armor remains incomparable to Saul’s armor.

God’s armor contains life.  The smiths of Saul’s day designed and fitted Saul’s armor for Saul’s specifications but God’s armor comes already predesigned and fitted specifically for the believer.  Once it was crafted, Saul’s armor remained the same size but God’s armor is alive.  The Almighty’s Armor that the believer adorns themselves with actually grows and shrinks according to their spiritual condition.  For example, the Sword of the Spirit grows and becomes more powerful if the believer reads their Bible and memorizes it.  On the contrary, the Sword of the Spirit shrinks and becomes dull if the believer fails to read their Bible and/or memorize Scripture.  Thus, the Almighty’s armor contains life.  The source of the armor’s life is the Holy Ghost.[3]  The Holy Ghost gives life to the Almighty’s Armor because this armor exists as spiritual armor and not physical.

Paul wrote the majority of the New Testament so it fails to surprise the reader that Paul wrote the majority of what theologians know concerning spiritual warfare, including the Almighty’s armor to the believer.  Paul wrote in II Corinthians 10:4, “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds).”  God’s armor consists not of material but rather of spiritual forging.  The armor of God contains six different pieces:  the belt of truth; the breastplate of righteousness; feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; shield of faith; helmet of salvation; and the sword of the Spirit.[4]  Ephesians chapter six appears to only mention six weapons of the believer, but in reality prayer completes the armor mentioned.    Paul mentioned only six pieces of armor and he wrote concerning the necessity of the armor for the beliver.

Each piece of the Almighty’s armor contains a purpose.  The purpose of the armor remains that of aiding the believer in combat.  Not just any combat, but spiritual combat.  The majority of Christians cling to Ephesians 3:16 & 17a.[5]  They love the part of the verses that states, “…and having done all, to stand, stand therefore….”  The remainder of verse fourteen instructs the believer to adorn themselves with parts of the armor, but believers attempt to eliminate this from their minds possibly because they possess no desire to fight or because they are lazy and do not want to work in order to progress their relationship with the Almighty.  When believers fail to adorn themselves with the armor of God, they hang a flashing, neon sign above themselves for the enemy that  reads, “Easy prey.”  When the believer refuses to wear the armor they cannot quell the attacks of the enemy.  The believer’s main organs are wide open for harm.  They cannot obtain the mind of Christ because they are permitting the enemy to fill their head with unchristian thoughts.  The believer cannot stop the darts of the enemy because he/she never picked up their shield.  They cannot even fight because they lost or never picked up their sword from the Almighty’s armory.  Perhaps, as stated earlier, the believer refused to read their Bible and pray and, as a result, their shield of faith, which at one time covered their entire body, now will only protect them down to their forearm or wrist because it shrank.  The Almighty’s armor serves for the believer’s protection.  But, it is also a reflection of the believer’s spiritual walk.  The armor was never designed to be temporarily worn, but, on the contrary, God designed the armor to permanently be worn.  That is why the armor is alive and grows and shrinks with us.  It is not designed to be put off whenever the believer so chooses.  As a soldier, the believer is called to constant combat without hesitation or worry.  The believer should never worry about the durability of the armor he/she is wearing for several reasons.

First of all, Jesus Christ tested the armor Himself.  Christ became flesh partly to endure the same trials and temptations as the believer.[6]  Satan tempted Him with the big three tests—the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.[7]

Secondly, Christ gave the believer His armor because everything that Christ owns belongs to the believer as well.  Throughout the New Testament, the writers concluded that the believer co-exists with Christ.  In fact, everything that the believer possesses belongs to Christ.  The believer’s life remains hid in Christ.  Christ imputed His righteousness upon the believer.[8]  He shares His throne with the believer.[9]  Christ also shares His inheritance with His followers.[10]  The duty of the true believer remains that of abiding in Christ.  God’s design is that the believer abides so much in Christ that he/she inherits the characteristics of Christ.

The more one studies Scripture, the more one realizes that God never wanted a “better you,” God desires for the believer to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ.  Philippians 2:5 states, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”  God desires that the believer adopts the mind of Christ.  Also, the believer should develop of the love of Christ.[11]  The closer that one draws to God, the more one realizes that the believer owns and has nothing outside of Christ, and the same is true of the armor of God.  The believer’s armor is not his own armor but it is the armor of Christ.  As long as the believer abides in Christ, he maintains the armor.  However, once the believer departs from Christ, he/she no longer benefits from the armor because they laid it aside when the left Christ.[12]

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[1] I Samuel 17:36 “Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.”

[2] I Samuel 17:32 “And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”

[3] Zechariah 4:6 “Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.”

[4] Ephesians 6:14-17 “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:”

[5] Ephesian 6:13 “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  Stand therefore….” 

[6]  I Corinthians 10:13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

[7] I John 2:16 “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”

Note:  Matthew 4:3 recorded Christ’s temptation of the lust of the eye, Matthew 4:5 & 6 recorded Christ’s temptation of the lust of the flesh, and Matthew 4:8 & 9 recorded Christ’s temptation of the pride of life.

Matthew 4:3 “And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.”

Matthew 4:5 & 6 “Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.”

Matthew 4:8 & 9“Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.”

[8]  Isaiah 64:6 “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”

Romans 4:22-24 “And therefore it was imputed to him [Abraham] for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it as imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;”

[9] Ephesians 2:6 “And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:”

[10] Romans 8:17 “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”

[11]  II Timothy 1:13 “Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.”

[12] John 15:4-7 “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.  If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.  If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”