The Armor of God - An Introduction

Welcome to our series on the armor of God, where we’re giving you practical tips on how to put on or take up each piece of God’s armor! This first part will give an introduction to why we need the armor of God and what it is.

I’ve written individual posts detailing each piece of the armor and how to use them, too, along with a 1-page cheat sheet that briefly outlines action steps you can take today to put each piece on. They can all be easily accessed at the end of this post, so stick around!

Contents

Why Do We Need the Armor of God?

If you’re anything like me, you have probably come across the following scriptures on the armor of God and not thought much of it, or at most, thought about it and not known what to make of it.

“Therfore, 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. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.”
Ephesians 6:14-17

After all, it is highly figurative, and some of us (ahem, me) are very literal people. But I have decided that with all the craziness going on in the world and even within my own family, it’s time to figure out exactly what it means, so I can be an effective soldier in God’s army.

In the Lord’s Army

That’s right. As followers of Jesus, we have been conscripted into the Lord’s army. Faith in Christ puts us there. There’s no workaround. You accept the faith, you accept the fight. And, even though I’ve never been in the armed forces, I know that they don’t go into any kind of fight or battle unprepared or unprotected, and, luckily, we don’t have to either.

The good news is that these armor of God verses give us everything we need to be prepared and protected in every single battle we have to fight in this life.

And the great news is that we get to start every battle knowing that God has already won! Guys! Isn’t that awesome? It makes it a lot easier to have the courage to do something when you know you can’t lose! Ya’ know? If you need proof, check out this verse:

“But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over these people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.”1 John 4:4

Image of Roman soldier standing on a misty mountain in the early morning sunlight. Overlaid is the Ian Duguid quote "The choice is not whether you will be a Christian soldier or a Christian civilian but whether you will be a prepared Christian soldier or an unprepared one."

We Are at War

Yep. Not physical war, although that certainly is happening, too. What I’m talking about is spiritual war. It can’t be denied. The state of the world and people’s minds makes it obvious that Satan is attacking, and sadly, oftentimes winning. Even the Bible tells us that we are fighting a war of a spiritual nature.

The verse from 1 John quoted above talks about the Spirit of God and the spirit of the world, meaning there is indeed a lesser spirit at work in the world. And in perhaps one of the most famous scriptures on spiritual warfare, Paul tells us:

“A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against the strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.”Ephesians 6:12

Did you catch that? We are fighting against things in “the unseen world” and “in the heavenly places.” Pretty obvious that our enemies are not only “in this dark world.” That, my friends, is spiritual warfare – the battle between God’s army and the forces of darkness headed up by Satan.

So what do we do about it? Are we to sit back and say, “Oh, I’m just one weak and weary human. What could I do against such invisible and powerful foes?” NO! Instead, we must stop hiding from the devil and start “standing strong in the Lord’s mighty power!”

Standing strong in the Lord's mighty power means that we don't have to fight our battles alone! Click To Tweet

So how do we do that? Well, we do what the Bible tells us to do in the next verses.

“Therefore, put on the full armor of God so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.”Ephesians 6:13

Did you catch that? Not only does it say that we have been given armor to protect us in the battles ahead, but it also says that after the battle we will still be standing, not lying on the ground dead. Sure, we may be battered and bruised, but we will be standing, nonetheless.

What Are the 6 Pieces of the Armor of God?

Image of many pieces of Roman armor illustrating the armor of God.

The whole armor of God is broken down into 6 pieces in Ephesians 6:14-17. They are as follows (click for the detailed post on how to put each piece on):

What Does it All Mean?

It can be difficult to understand what each of these means to us in real life. I know until my church started a series on it, I never really got it. But now that things are being explained to me, I totally see how these pieces of “equipment” can help us fight the battles we face each and every day.

Obviously, the armor of God is metaphorical. However, each piece stands for something much more concrete that we can use to powerfully fight or ward off the attacks of the enemy, Satan.

It is my goal to unpack the scripture and explain not only what each of the pieces of God’s armor represents in a more tangible way, but also give practical tips on how to “put each piece on” and use them.

Update: Want to get started putting on the armor of God but don’t have time to read the whole series? Here‘s a printable cheat sheet to get you started today!

Catch ‘ya later!

This post/series is inspired/informed by the amazing pastors at Woodland Hills Family Church. Thanks, guys! Click here to hear the original sermons.

Follow Catching Courage!