Warrior for Christ

“Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.

Ephesians 6:13-14 (New Living Translation)

As believers, the enemy is always against us and waits/prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1Peter 5:8).  The preceding text states,

‘For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.’ Ephesians 6:12

The entire language here is taken from war and the thought is that the enemy has to be subdued despite their strength. Ultimately, safety and triumph can only be looked after when the enemy is slain.

Our spiritual war is perpetual. Because we have such an enemy to

contend with, we have to take on the whole armor of God, which when put to use, will make us invulnerable as well as immortal just as it says in the verse before, Ephesians 6:11 ‘Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.’

Having such an armor, we’ll not only be able to stand against the enemy with dignity, honor and liberty because Christ has set us free but also embarrass the enemy while continuing to stand firm on our faith and never taking off our armor, always prepared to fight against and repel any spiritual attack. After embarrassing the enemy in such a short span of time, we can head back victorious and stand with joy before the face of the Son of Man.

Now having been given our instructions, we are told to put on this whole armor of God, gird them close to our bodies and secure it by ‘truth’. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the ‘truth’ of God. Unless and until this truth is known and believed, no man can enter the realm of spiritual warfare with any advantage or prospect of success. By this we will know our strength, discover our enemies and know how and when do they attack us. We have to secure our armor by ‘truth’ which has to be taken sincerely as without this truth, all our knowledge of the divine truth will not be able to gird us against the enemy’s attacks.

As a breast-plate protects the heart and lungs which are

necessary for our existence, similarly a spiritual breast-plate protects man’s spiritual existence which will secure his spiritual life. And this spiritual breast-plate is made of the righteousness of integrity, holiness, sincerity of piety and spotless purity in which Christ will present us faultless before God through the merit of his own blood. 

Message for the week:

Paul says, “When the day of evil comes,” not “If the day of evil comes” because nothing is more certain than the conflict in the heavenly realm. We have to put on our armor of God which includes the Helmet of Salvation and the Breastplate of Righteousness girded close to our bodies and secured by the Belt of Truth. We attack the enemy with the Sword of the Spirit and defend ourselves with the Shield of (eternal) Faith.

Recite this short prayer with me, “Lord, You are our King who is righteous and eternally existent . You gave your life just for the forgiveness of our sins. I ask for forgiveness of my sins. Thank you for our hope in you to seek salvation. Help me to be an active warrior for Your Name and help me to maintain Your armor, never letting it to fall. In the name of Christ my Lord and Saviour I ask this small prayer.”

Amen