Weapons for Spiritual Warfare
“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. Stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” – Ephesians 6:13-18
Let’s look in depth at this list. Remember that these weapons are like any other, they are only useful in the well trained hands of a committed Marine. It does no good to simply have a sword laying around collecting dust. A real warrior keeps their sword sharp and their swordsmanship even sharper.
Belt of Truth
Even today the warrior on the battlefield wears a belt. Attached to this are all of the necessary items, canteens for water, ammunition clips, maybe a small pack for food and other things, a gas mask etc. The belt ties everything together. In the same way truth is essential to spiritual warfare. We must know the truth, believe the truth and have confidence in the truth to win the lifelong fight against Satan. The enemy's weapons are based on lies. We cannot defeat lies with lies, we must use the truth. We gain truth by asking the fundamental questions of faith. We gain truth by searching diligently for our own answers. Like the belt that holds the scabbard the truth of God's message is the support for all our other tools.
Breastplate of Righteousness (flack jacket of righteouness)
A breastplate is used to protect the heart. Today we call these bullet proof vests and flak jackets, so it could be the bullet proof vest of righteousness. The heart and the head are the most vulnerable points on the body. The breastplate is intended to protect our hearts. Scholars suggest Paul wrote the letter to the Ephesians in a hurry but I am sure that he spent a great of time chewing on this entire analogy. Lonely days making tents or lonely sleepless nights in prison would give him the chance to think deeply about the similarities between his early soldier days and the his later role as spiritual leader. I don’t believe that he simply rambled off a bunch of military analogies just to pump up the ‘NASCAR Dad’ demographic in Ephesus. I believe that he likened righteousness to a breastplate because righteousness protects our hearts.
When we engage the enemy but we refuse to protect our hearts we become vulnerable. Satan exploits this vulnerablity through the compromise of our personal moral standards and our acceptance of shortcuts in the fight. The shortcuts are temptations from Satan! Have you ever felt that if you could make Christianity just a little more palatable then surely a close friend would become a Christian? Maybe a few more drinks than usual at the bar, maybe meeting them at their favorite restaurant even if it is Hooters, or maybe even lying to them and treating your faith as just a minor part of your life, something to ‘keep the wife happy’ or ‘teach the kids.’ You convince yourself that you will be more serious when this friend is actually interested in becoming a Christian. We have all heard these lies and most of us have given way to the temptation to use them. We figure that there is a shortcut to winning hearts and fishing for men. We may even complain that God’s rules make His mission too hard to achieve.
There are no shortcuts. On the battlefield the same temptation exists. A vest is heavy and constricting. The Marine may say to themselves, wouldn’t I be a better warrior if I removed this burden? Couldn’t I shoot straighter without all this padding? We all see the failure in this logic. When we engage in battle we must protect ourselves. When we engage in spiritual battle we must protect our hearts and minds from temptation.
Do you have a sturdy pair of boots? Something that you rely on for hiking or camping? You put them on your feet and you don't work about what you might step on or in. With those boots on you are ready to do anywhere and do anything. The fact that the boots are on your feet give you peace of mind. When we concentrate our daily walk with God upon achieving peace we are ready for whatever may come. Therefore like our daily ritual of putting on our shoes for work each morning, so too we ready ourselves with peace in our hearts.
Shield of Faith (body armor of faith)
Our faith is our shield. Paul was certainly familiar with David’s psalm, ‘The Lord is my strength and my shield.’ (Psalm 28:7). Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Heb 11:1). Our breastplate of righteousness protects our hearts but it is our shield of faith that is the first line of defense.
On the modern battlefield the infantry no longer carry a shield. There is little beyond the bullet proof vest and a Kevlar helmet to stop enemy bullets. Instead we use armored vehicles to get close to the enemy. The modern armored vehicles are equipped with technology called ‘reactive armor’. The armor is actually a blanket of C4 explosive placed on the outer panels. The C4 charge is placed in such a way that it explodes away from the vehicle. This protects the vehicle from a projectile by causing a large explosion that slows or stops the round from penetrating the vehicle skin. It is effective at stopping many weapons. In fact there are several reports that the armor on the Abrahms tank is so strong that accidental friendly fire left several of our own tank rounds embedded in the armor of our own tanks. In other words our shield are so good we can’t even stop our own tanks!
For the infantry this type of armor instills confidence. The infantryman feels protected when inside that vehicle. Without this kind of confidence they are unwilling to trust anything but themselves. So too we must trust in our own faith to protect us. The flaming arrows of Satan may come like enemy fire but the armor of faith will hold firm.
When we take our stand against the devil we are sure to receive even greater temptations than we previously had. Flaming arrows of lust, envy, greed, laziness and selfishness seem to come with greater frequency. There is a temptation to run. Imagine that infantryman inside of the vehicle, the sounds of ricochet bullets on all sides. The temptation to get out and run is overwhelming. Can you really trust the armor to hold? You say to yourself, surely I will be able to survive better if I get out and run. It takes patience and strength of character to stay on the battlefield and hold your ground, when the bullets start flying. As Marines for God we must have the strength of character to rely on God’s shield, our faith. That is the moment when we understand Paul's command to, "stand your ground." Don't compromise, don't let your heart be overwhelmed by temptation. God will protect us, our faith is our shield.
Helmet of Salvation (Kevlar helmet of salvation)
Our hearts and our minds are inextricably linked. We cannot believe in our heart if we do not believe in our heads. Satan’s main weapon is deception. Deception is not an attack on our hearts but on our minds. He wants to turn our hearts from God by first leading our minds away from belief.
Paul also uses the breastplate and helmet analogy in his first letter to the church in Thessalonica, ‘But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate and the hope of salvation as a helmet. (1 Thess 5:8)” The helmet is hope and hope is based in our minds. We must believe that something can happen before we have any hope of it happening and it is the prospect that we will be saved from God’s wrath that provides us hope, through Jesus Christ.
The ‘helmet of salvation’ is the constant recollection of our salvation. When we remember and believe our salvation, we protect our minds from Satan’s lies. Paul wrote to the
"This is my rifle. there are many like it but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me, my rifle is useless. Without my rifle I am useless. I must fire my rifle true. I must shoot straighter than my enemy, who is trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me. I will. Before God I swear this creed: my rifle and myself are defenders of my country, we are the masters of my enemy, we are the saviors of my life. So be it, until there is no enemy, but peace. Amen." - Rifleman's Creed, Major General William H. Rupertus
No warrior can enter the battlefield without mastery of the offensive weapon. The standard issue weapon is the M-16 assault rifle (today there are many different versions for urban warfare). It fires a round just larger than a .22 caliber. The rifle has no special scope or defining characteristics. In fact it was originally created for the designer’s wife since it was light and gave very little kickback. Despite this very unassuming portrait, it is one of the most feared weapons on the planet. Every Marine is trained to use the M-16 to pinpoint accucracy. The rifle qualification requires hitting targets at 200, 300 and 500 yards. Every Marine can use the M-16 to deliver a 'headshot' at 500 yards (5 football fields or around ¼ mile).
The Marine of God must be this proficient in the use of the Bible. This is much more than Bible trivia. It is even more than the memorization of a few scriptures. Proficiency is a lifelong commitment to learn, grow and use the Bible in everyday life. The first few things a new Christian ought to learn is how to use the Bible to help their own heart. The Bible however doesn’t become a weapon in the war against evil until we can use it to help others around us. In order to do this we must have a repertoire of scriptures and Bible studies at our fingertips. Does that seem like a daunting task? It should. Consider learning Kung-Fu or an new language. How long would you plan to spend? When would you consider yourself proficient? It would take time and constant practice. We are required to be in the same state of training.
Far too often we become Christians then in our daily studies we lose the motivation to train for helping others. We either rely on the notes and references that others have given us or we rely on the training of others. The Bible is a sword. It divides soul and spirit. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart, we must be proficient to be ready to use it in an ever increasing number of situations.
Marines must re-qualify using a rifle annually. If you don't qualify you may be kicked out of the Marines. How would you stand up with your Bible proficiency today compared to your first year or two as a Christian. Are you more proficient, have you mastered your sword or has it grown rusty in its scabbard?
Summary
Paul understood the analogy between the spiritual fight and physical battle. How proficient are you in the tools of spiritual battle? Do you put on your armor every day or is it a burden? Do you practice your faith as a though training with a weapon? Would you put more glory in learning a martial art or pride fighting than in the discipline of faith? If so, why?
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