The Armour of God

¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. ¹¹Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. ¹²For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. ¹³Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

¹⁴ Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; ¹⁷and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, ¹⁸praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.

Every Christian is in a battle. Each of us, as part of the body of Christ, will find ourselves under attack. After all, we have taken on the name of Christ as Christians and through baptism, we have openly declared our allegiance to Christ. Our enemy, the devil, hates the Lord Jesus Christ and because of our union with Him, Satan hates us as well. The Scripture says that all who seek to live a godly life in Christ Jesus shall be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:12). In other words, there is opposition from evil forces toward each of us – some more, some less, depending on our level of influence and accountability in the body of Christ. God wants us to be victorious and not to be defeated in this spiritual war zone.

Ephesians 6:12 clearly indicates that the conflict with Satan is spiritual, and therefore no tangible weapons can be effectively employed against him. Being a believer doesn’t give us immunity from the assaults from the enemy but it does give us access to the power of the Father – power to defend us as well as reverse what’s been done to us. Paul wrote Ephesians not only to draw attention to the spiritual battle that exists in the invisible, unseen realm but largely for the purpose of unveiling the strength inherent in each person who is in a relationship with God through Christ. Effective spiritual warfare is God-centered. There are three areas of battle that we as Christians war against:

Our sinful nature (Romans 8:5-11)
The world system set up against God (1 John 2:15)
Our enemy, Satan, and his demons (Ephesians 6:12)

We do suffer the consequences of poor choices when we give in to the dictates of our sinful nature, but there can also be a lack of faithfulness on our part to obey the Lord. Some things happen to us that are orchestrated by unseen demonic influence so, if we want to be victorious over our struggles in the physical world, we have to learn to fight against these spiritual invisible forces coming against us. That is why it is absolutely critical that we know, understand and utilize the Armour of God so that we do not fight in defeat but in expectation of victory.

The full armor of God that Christians are called to put on comprises the following:

Click onto the individual armour for more details. These are the tools God has given us, through which we can be spiritually victorious. Daily putting on the Armor of God is essential for spiritual resilience. It’s not just a one-time action but a continuous practice of faith and trust in God’s protection and guidance.