Ephesians 6: 11-18
11 Put on all the armor of God, for you to be able to stand against the wiles of the Devil, 12 because wrestling against flesh and blood is not to us, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world's rulers, of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenlies.13 Because of this, take up all of the armor of God that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having worked out all things, to stand. 14 Then stand firm, "having girded your loins about with truth" and having put "on the breastplate of righteousness," 15 and having shod the feet with the preparation of the "gospel of peace." 16 Above all, taking up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the darts of the evil one being kindled. 17 Also, take "the helmet of salvation," and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God; 18 through all prayer and petition, praying at all times in the Spirit, and watching to this same thing with all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints.
When you get up in the morning, what do you put on?
We stand on God's strength and his power and we pray in the Spirit and then we put on the whole armor of God!
1. We put on the breastplate of Righteousness
2. For our feet the preparation of the gospel of peace
3. Taking the shield of Faith with which we can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one.
4. Take the helmet of Salvation, or hope of our Salvation
5. The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God
6. We gird our loins with Truth. The girdle/belt holds everything together!
We are in a war, we are soldiers of the Lord. We have escaped being slaves of the devil and he is at war with our souls, trying to get us back into his service.
A soldier going to war without his armor is a very foolish warrior, he will mostlikely get himself killed. Even just taking part of the armor will leave him very vulnerable, therefore the scripures instruct us to put on the whole armor of God. It is God's armor for it is God who provides us with the armor and we need each piece. This war is a spiritual war, we cannot see our enemy, but he is out there ever ready to attack us or attack us when we least expect it.
The breastplate of Righteousness
What is the the purpose of the breastplate? It protects our vital organs; the heart, lungs, kidneys and such. What are our spiritual vitals? The heart, emotions and feelings, our personality. As christians what protect our vitals? Isn't it Justification by Faith? that's our garment of righteousness which Christ Jesus obtained for us by dying on the cross for our sins. Martin Luther said; I take my stand "I'm justified by faith"! That we are justified by faith, by what Christ did for us that protects us from all the devils attacks, accusations and lies. So make sure to put on Justification by faith each and every day!
For our feet the preparation of the Gospel of peace!
