In a similar vein to "Bob's Question", and the forthcoming publication of my SVS Paper on my blog, I'm sharing today a long-form piece on the Armour of God. I make much of William Gurnall's position (in his epic "The Christian in Complete Armour"), but hope that overall this is something of use to readers, whether as a piece of interesting writing, or a contribution to their understanding of the passage in question or the crucial issue of Spiritual Warfare. This is considerably lengthy, at just under 3,000 words! Enjoy...
The Armour of God - thoughts, reading, and research
The main place we read/hear about the armour of God is of course the famous passage from Ephesians 6:10-18, which I reproduce here for reference;
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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. Therefore put on the full armour 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. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people” Eph. 6:10-18, NIV
There are two key elements to this passage. The first is clearly the purpose of the Armour of God, and the second are the parts of the Armour. I will deal first with the purpose, which will then equip us to consider the parts.
The Purpose of the Armour of God
Verse 10 offers a very clear clue about the ultimate purpose of the Armour of God, and indeed a key part of living as a Christian. Paul has spent the letter to the Ephesians telling the church in Ephesus (or, possible, a collection of churches in Asia Minor) how grateful he is for “the grace of God which has brought into being a united church in which Jews and Gentiles together find their true place (2:11-22)”, and expanding and expounding on the meaning and truth of that. Because the Grace of God in the gathering of the church is so amazing, Paul exhorts his readers/listeners to respond to that. To put it in more modern words, church is not about getting together but about taking the kingdom out of the building and into the city.
The Armour of God is the necessary equipping for Christians in order to be able to do just that. In Vineyard terms, this is what we need to “do the stuff”. Tom Wright offers a really helpful summary of the purpose of the Armour thusly;
“What we have in the present passage, and what I believe is required again and again as Christians face the daily and yearly battle for the kingdom, is a sober, realistic assessment both of the struggle we are engaged in and of the weapons at our disposal”
Verse 11 is also very clear. Firstly its worth picking up on the fact that we should “put on the full armour of God
” (my emphasis in bold). This is not some half-hearted thing, some vague course or away-day, but a complete and total outfit for advancing the kingdom of God. For John Calvin, this is an amazing example of God’s massive equipping grace; “We ought to be prepared on all sides, so as to want nothing. The Lord offers to us arms for repelling every kind of attack”. We have a complete set of tools, weapons and armour for the job.
The aforementioned full set of armour, emphasised as being a necessary totality, has an explicit purpose. Paul says that it is “so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes”. We can spend hours discussing what it means to be engaged in spiritual warfare, and the Lausanne Covenant of 1974 affirms (From a normative evangelical perspective) this; “we believe that we are engaged in constant spiritual warfare with the principalities of evil, who are seeking to overthrow the Church and frustrate its task of world evangelisation”. We obviously need to be careful that we don’t become obsessed with spiritual warfare to the detriment of evangelism and compassion, just as much as getting the balance right is important in every area of the work of the church!
It’s worth noting two separate parts of the purpose revealed here. Paul calls us to ‘take a stand’, which implies something bold, clear and uncompromising. That is a key element of Christian living, knowing what we are talking about. John Wimber puts this pretty clearly in his well known “Power Evangelism”, “Proclamation of a faulty gospel will produce faulty or, at best, weak Christians”. Wimber was pretty clear on what the Gospel of the Kingdom was - and being clear and taking a stand is key. Why? Because we stand against the devil! Paul makes it clear that the Devil is working, and scheming. He has a plan. Verse 12 confirms and expands it, making it clear that behind every struggle there is a plan from the forces of evil. Paul is matter of fact about this, in a way that should turn our eyes away from dwelling unnecessarily on the spiritual realm, and instead get on with advancing the Kingdom, for the sake of the King and his Gospel.
And this, as verse 13 kicks off, is why we should put on the full armour of God. So that we can stand for the Gospel, stand against the Devil and his schemes, and engage in spiritual warfare in a biblical and powerful way.
The Parts of the Armour of God
One can find (As a cursory Google image search will show) a myriad of cut-out-and-keep sunday school aids to the Armour of God. This is encouraging, as an understanding of the different part of the Armour of God is a great way of equipping and undergirding new Christians of any age. The spectacular truths of what Paul reveals in this list are kingdom essentials for biblical living, and crucial for faithfully fighting the good fight and winning the world for Jesus.
So what are the components of the Armour of God?
The Belt of Truth
The Breastplate of Righteousness
The Boots of the Gospel of Peace
The Shield of Faith
The Helmet of Salvation
The Sword of the Spirit
The Belt of Truth
The usage of the image of a belt is an interesting one. In a suit of armour, the belt is the part that holds everything together, without it a suit of armour is not going to be very affective. Tom Wright challenges us to “never give up on the sheer truth of the gospel”
, which is big deal. With the truth of the Gospel behind us (And evident in us!) we can go forward confidently. One summary of the Gospel comes from the well known Christian writer and speaker Mark Greene, who once said, “The Gospel is not an invitation to a leisure time pursuit but to a whole life adventure in co-operating with the Lord of the Universe in bringing his rule to every square metre of his earth”. On the level of how that works regarding the individual, a helpful summary is that, by the Gospel, Christians can be involved in seeing people change and enter the kingdom of God by the forgiveness of sins that Jesus bought at the Cross to live the life that he demonstrates and inaugurates with his resurrection. That Gospel, as the way in which Jesus brings the Kingdom of God to bear on the individual, is the truth that binds our armour together.
The Breastplate of Righteousness
The breastplate is crucial too, and here Paul calls it ‘righteousness’. This obviously relate to the Pauline language of justification that flows throughout the bits of the New Testament that he wrote, and underpins Jesus’ Gospel. Tom Wright summarizes this well; “the fundamental justice, and goodness of God, and the status that Christians have of already being ‘in the right’ before him, is like a breastplate protecting us against frontal attack”. In recent years there has been great debate about what ‘justification’ means (And, perhaps, how it works), but here in Ephesians Paul is arguably being very clear that he is talking about righteousness. Ralph Martin, in his commentary on this verse, makes an interesting observation that “Pauls’ reference to righteousness [is] following the prophetic sense of vindication and action which redresses all wrong”. This righteousness, this justification, is not some ethereal theological concept but a present reality that reflects the pronouncement of God’s grace (the vindication) on the individual and the resulting (expected) changed and transformed life (the action). In Vineyard speak, the breastplate of righteousness is the manifestation of the recognition that individual has been saved by Jesus into the kingdom of God, and sent out to share that fact with others.
The Boots of the Gospel of Peace
A brief note on context and history is valuable here. Paul is describing boots, but he may well have had in mind greaves, which are like glorified football shinguards, worn by Roman soldiers to protect their legs. These were worn to protect oneself as you walked through a battle. As Calvin puts it, “we must be shod with the gospel, if we would pass unhurt through the world”. Paul is prescribing here the perfect remedy to any damage we might sustain in this world as Christians. The Gospel is what will heal us and protect us, and standing firm on it and in it is essential.
We, as Christians, need to literally and continually listen to, read, meditate, proclaim, pray and live out the Gospel in our lives. This will lead us into peace - surely echoing that peace which passes all understanding, as well as living in peace with our fellow Christians, even whilst we are armed and armoured for battle in the world. We can, then, joyfully agree with William Gurnall that “the revelation of Christ, and the grace of God through him, is without compare the best news and the joyfullest tidings, that poor sinners can here”, and dwell on and in that truth as we live for Jesus.
The Shield of Faith
When we consider the shield, we immediately think about the sword. Paul writes that we have both - offensive and defensive weapons, parts of our equipment which can be wielded in a range of ways. The shield can be used to hide behind, or to push forward. To guard ourself, or to protect someone else. The shield is an active piece of armour. It is thus fitting that Paul gives that image to faith. This is, again, a very specific faith. Tom Wright puts it clearly and simply, “belief in Jesus as the risen Lord, and utter loyalty to this Jesus, will protect you”. This is a simple but big thing. This faith, this truth, is a source of great protection. Practically speaking, faith can help us engage, grapple and deal with a myriad of things. From Doubt to Despair, adverse circumstances or temptation, personal tragedy or pride and arrogance. Faith defends us from these things, and refocuses us on what is important; the King, and the proclamation and advance of his Kingdom.
The Helmet of Salvation
We’ve talked about the faith, the truth, and the stand that Christians must be aware of. Here Paul turns to what that means, our salvation. Our salvation is to be understood as the reality of that truth, grounded in the certainty of the Gospel. It is worth noting, with Ralph Martin, that this is drawn from “Isaiah 59:17 where Yahweh wears this on His head as He goes forth to vindicate his oppressed people”. This is a biblical image with prophetic precedent. The imagery in that Old Testament text (Alluding to God preparing to do battle for his people) is similar to this part of Ephesians. Martin thinks that wearing this helmet is to take our full inheritance in the Gospel, “availing oneself of all that Christ in his saving work offers”. For those of us in the Vineyard movement, standing on the shoulders of giants (the twin influences of Scripture and the Spirit) we know that this means our authority to join in with what the Father is doing, and to go forth and advance his kingdom.
Our salvation is secure, and in this knowledge we can advance in demonstrating that to the world around us.
The Sword of the Spirit
Swords are powerful things, weapons used throughout history. And that is what Paul is talking about here. Paul challenges us to take up the sword of the Spirit. The sword we are to take up is the same sword that the Holy Spirit wields. And this sword, unequivocally, is the Word of God, the Bible. We can see here the first piece of armour in this list that is an actual, extant thing. Paul knew that the Bible would be formed, that he was writing scripture, and so he could talk of it in terms of something that the Spirit wielded. Tom Wright disagrees with this idea, thinking it refers more specifically to the word of the Gospel, the message which saves, but it seems more reasonable to agree with John Calvin when he says “if the word of God shall have its efficacy upon us through faith, we shall be mroe than sufficiently armed for both opposing the enemy and for putting him to flight”.
Whether the Gospel itself (Wright’s view) or the whole of Scripture (Calvin’s view, arguably more convincing here), Christians are called to be equipped with the Word of God. It is called the sword of the Spirit because it reflects the words spoken by God. Practically, wielding the word of God in Spiritual Warfare as we live our lives, is going to look at lot like Jesus in Luke 4:1-13, where he quotes scripture at the Devil even as he is “full of the Spirit”. That is how we defeat the enemy, with the powerful words of God, empowered and impressed upon us by the Holy Spirit. Referring back to what Paul repeatedly says about standing firm, it might be helpful to hear William Gurnall again, as he says Scripture is “the one foundation where our faith is built”, and also that (like a sword) the Bible is “of general and constant use among soldiers, and also that weapon with which they not only defend themselves, but do the greatest execution on their enemies”.
Prayer
Paul closes this section with an encouragement to pray. Its interesting that Paul doesnt assign this vital excercise to a piece of armour - and this is perhaps because it is an exercise. Prayer is the way in which we exercise our faith, shore up our salvation, drive forward the Gospel, become people of peace, and live comfortably in the Word of God. Prayer is the training ground for the Christian warrior - and the crucial part of the moves and maneuvers on the battlefield of this world. Paul makes it clear that prayer should flow through our whole lives, and for the whole church.
Closing Thoughts
The Armour of God is an amazing image for the way in which God equips his people to advance his kingdom. We can take the military metaphor too far, but we cannot escape from the fact that there are certain things that matter seriously for the fully equipped Christian. We are given this armour to continue in the defeat of the Devil, and advance the kingdom. We are to wear it whilst standing firm, both on the Gospel and in defiance of the Devil’s schemes. This armour, these kingdom essentials, include truth, righteousness, the Gospel of Peace, Faith, Salvation and the Word of God. As well as these (Paul uses his trademark ‘and’) we need to be people who pray. The Armour of God, seen here in this little passage from Ephesians but echoing images from Isaiah and the ministry of Jesus, is a wonderful picture of the fully equipped and active Christian.
Bibliography
Ralph P. Martin, “Ephesians”, from “The New Bible Commentary Revised”, (IVP, Leicester, 1970)
Tom Wright, “Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters” (SPCK, London, 2004)
John Calvin, “Ephesians”, from Calvins Commentaries Volume XXI, (BakerBooks, Grand Rapids, 2009)
William Gurnall, “The Christian in Complete Armour”, (Banner of Truth, Edinburgh, 1974)
John Wimber, “Power Evangelism”, (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1992)
Tom Creedy, “Spiritual Warfare?”, (http://admiralcreedy.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/spiritual-warfare.html, 2011)
Kurt Willems, “Pursuing and Undoing the Powers, a Study of Ephesians 6:10-18”, (http://www.patheos.com/blogs/thepangeablog/articles/unpublished-papers/pursuing-and-undoing-the-powers-a-study-of-ephesians-6-10-18/#_ftnref)
Bibles Used
NIV (2011) online via biblegateway.com
ESV Study Bible
No comments:
Post a Comment
Hey! Thanks for commenting. I'll try to moderate it as soon as possible