In Ephesians 6:11 Paul says, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the stratagems of the Devil.” To fight the spiritual warfare we need not only the power of the Lord but also the armor of God. Our weapons do not avail, but God’s armor, even the whole armor of God, does.
The whole armor of God is for the entire Body, not for any individual member of the Body. The church is a corporate warrior, and the believers together make up this unique warrior. Only the corporate warrior can wear the whole armor of God; no individual believer can wear it. Therefore, we must fight the spiritual warfare not individually but in the Body.
The charge to put on the whole armor of God is an imperative, a command. God has provided the armor for us, but He does not put it on for us. Rather, we ourselves must put on the armor God has provided. For this, we need to be empowered. Although God can empower us, we still must exercise our will to cooperate with Him. In the same principle, we must cooperate with God’s command to put on the armor.
We need to put on the armor of God so that we “may be able to stand.” In Ephesians 6 the word “stand” is crucial. To sit with Christ (2:6) is to participate in all His accomplishments; to walk in His Body (4:1, 17; 5:2, 8, 15) is to fulfill God’s eternal purpose; and to stand in His power is to fight against God’s enemy.
By putting on the whole armor of God we are able to stand against “the stratagems of the Devil.” These stratagems are the Devil’s evil plans. Not only does the Devil have an evil will, but he also has subtle stratagems to work out his will. Even now Satan is busily working and plotting to carry out his evil, subtle stratagems.
Ephesians 6:13 says, “Take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” In verse 11 we are told to put on the armor of God, and in verse 13 we are charged to take it up. The armor of God has been prepared and provided by God for us, but we need to take it up and put it on; that is, we need to use and apply God’s provision. Some items of the armor, such as the sword and the shield, we take up. But other items, such as the breastplate, the helmet, and the shoes, we put on. Whether we put on the whole armor of God or take it up, we must exercise our will in a strong way to apply God’s provision.
In verses 11 and 13 Paul specifically speaks of “the whole armor of God,” not just a part or some parts of it. In order to wage the spiritual warfare, we need the whole armor. This requires the Body of Christ, not only individual believers, to take it up. This armor is not for the believers as individuals; it is for the church corporately as the Body. Only the corporate warrior, the Body, can wear the whole armor of God.
By taking up the whole armor of God we shall be able “to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” To withstand is to stand against. In fighting, the most important thing is to stand. In this fighting we need to stand to the end. Having done all, we still must stand.
According to Ephesians 6, Christ is the armor that we put on for our protection. In verses 14 through 17 there are six aspects of Christ as the armor: the girdle of truth, or reality, the breastplate of righteousness, the firm foundation of the gospel of peace (the shoes), the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. Of these six aspects of Christ as our armor, only the sword is for offensive warfare. All the other items are for defense.
Ephesians 6:14 says, “Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth.” For us to gird our loins is to strengthen our entire being. For the purpose of standing, our whole being needs to be strengthened with truth.
Truth in 6:14 refers to God in Christ as reality in our living, that is, God realized and expressed by us as our living. This is actually Christ Himself lived out by us (John 14:6). Such truth, such reality, is the girdle which strengthens our being for spiritual warfare.
Home | First | Prev | Next