13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, 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. – Ephesians 6:13 – 17

The commentary I’ve been reading on Ephesians provided some interesting thoughts on this passage. This passage shows us that to stand in Christ, repel the devil and deny our sin, we need to depend on God. 

In battle, the belt held everything in place, including the sword, and truth performs this crucial function in spiritual warfare. The breastplate warded off deadly thrusts of the sword, protecting the heart, and the breastplate of the righteousness we have in Jesus does this. 

The Roman solder’s war boot gave the feet traction and prevented them from sliding, meaning we are immovable in spiritual battle thanks to the peace we have in the gospel. 

The shield here was very much like a door, which would snuff out any flaming arrows fired. As the enemy launches repeated spiritual attacks, we are to trust God and His Word in faith to cool the flaming arrows. 

Skipping over the helmet, Paul finishes up with the only weapon that is primarily offensive – ‘the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.’ 

Lord, may we depend on You and trust in Your Word to stand in Christ in the spiritual battle of this world. 

David Lather – Creek Road Campus