The Armor of God...

[MA2444]

What is the Armor of God and how do you put it on?

I heard in one Pastors message that he uses what hw calls, prophetic gestures, as if he is pretending to put it on in the natural. He puts it on every day with gestures. I don't think I agree with Him. There are some principles involved which must be met I Believe. First I'll post the passage which identifies the Armor of God for reference.

Ephesians 6:10-20
10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.
12 For we[d] 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.
13 Therefore, 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. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.
15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.[e]
16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.[f]
17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.[g]
19 And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike.
20 I am in chains now, still preaching this message as God’s ambassador. So pray that I will keep on speaking boldly for him, as I should..../NLT

What do you think about the Armor of God? How do you put it on? Do you ever take it off? Does it ever come off?

 

[MA2444]

Ok I suppose I should take each verse and state what I think it interprets to for me.

v10 admonishes us to remember to be strong in the Lord, we re in Christ. AND in the power of His might, that's quite a distinction there!

v11 tells us to put all of the armor on, not just our favorite pieces! So we can stand up to the strategies and tricks of the enemy!

v12 Because we are not fighting people but evil spirits! All manner of evil spirits and demons. This takes some preparation on our part!

v13 So we need ALL the Armor on so will be standing firm after the battle.

14 Stand your ground because you have the truth and wear it as a belt, always! We get truth from The word of God and scriptures as well as from the Holy Spirit. Embrace it.

v15 You have to have a good pair of boots for your feet! Those come from spending time in the word learning the message!

v16 You cant stop bullets and arrows without a shield. Our faith is our shield. Faith is sort of the opposite of fear and worry. When someone tries to sow doubt into you you can hold up your shield of faith and say, I know better than that, I have read it for myself! And those arrows will be deflected!

v17 Your knowledge of your Salvation is your Helmet! You know you're saved, the Holy Spirit tells you so and you hear Him. You have taken up the sword of the Spirit when you open yourself to believing the word of God. For the sword carries the sharp edge of Truth.

v18 is the one that some people miss, and perhaps the most important one! We have a Hotline direct to the Throne Room of God which always works but you do need to familiarize yourself with it and how it works! Spend time with it iow. After all, scripture does say, Pray without Ceasing!

v19 You Armor up so that you may boldly proclaim the truths of God and His mysterious plan which turns out to be very Good News for us all!

v20 We are ambassadors of God and He has equipped us to do His work for Him. He has given us Armor and equipment to fight the battle with, but it isnt something that just magically covers you! You have to pick it up and put it on! It requires you training and doing the things which He said

Like for instance, reading the word of God. That is your training Manual, your Field Manual! Have you ever read the whole thing? How often do you read it? Once a week on Sunday in church to look up a verse or three? The Field Manual say to search the scriptures' daily. If you dont, uh-oh you have no sword of the spirit You might even lose your helmet which is the knoeledge of your salvation, and perhaps you lose the belt because if you don't spend time in the Field Manual then you wont know the complete truth so that might make your shield be thin (Faith)?

But if you do read and pray and obey the Lord in what His word says then the Armor is put on automatically in response to the state of your soul and heart. Of which is soo much based on the word of God. And remember! That's not just His written word but His spoken word (Remas and the still small voice of the Lord inside of you) also.

That's my take on it.

 

[Wrangler]

What do you think about the Armor of God? How do you put it on? Do you ever take it off? Does it ever come off?

After my mother died, my uncle’s 2nd wife revealed the evil in her by saying some of the most hateful things anyone ever said to me AFTER pretending to care about me. It angered me more than anything ever angered me.

I told this horrible story to many people at the time. One friend said I should not let anyone have the power to get to me like that! Recognizing we are not response creatures but can chose how to react is how one puts on the Armor of God.

 

[MA2444]

After my mother died, my uncle’s 2nd wife revealed the evil in her by saying some of the most hateful things anyone ever said to me AFTER pretending to care about me. It angered me more than anything ever angered me.

I told this horrible story to many people at the time. One friend said I should not let anyone have the power to get to me like that! Recognizing we are not response creatures but can chose how to react is how one puts on the Armor of God.

Whoa, sorry to hear that Brother.

But your right, we choose how to react like you say. I've caught myself in a decision of response and told myself, I don't want to be that guy! And I simply let it go and it drifted away...I've experience rage going away like that. Oh I knew the good revenge, it would be so sweet and they cant stop it! Wait, no, I don't want to be that guy!

Good on ya Brother!

 

[Windmill Charge]

What do you think about the Armor of God?

As you've said it is not a set of items to put on but a series of ideas, of concepts that one learns, studies and adopts so that they affect how one lives.

Paul uses the image of a roman soldier. They were highly trained professionals.
He is saying that we the ordinary are pew filling christian need to be well trained professionals Christians, knowing What and Why we beleave.

 

[doctrox]

What do you think about the Armor of God? How do you put it on? Do you ever take it off? Does it ever come off?

Worthy OP!

If we were actually "geared up" and moving in the authority that the King has provided for us, we wouldn't be patronizing forums like this (but only to witness to the truly lost)!

The armor never comes off.

 

[MA2444]

Worthy OP!

If we were actually "geared up" and moving in the authority that the King has provided for us, we wouldn't be patronizing forums like this (but only to witness to the truly lost)!

The armor never comes off.

I disagree with you Brother that the armor never comes off. If that were true then no one could ever backslide. If that were true Jesus wouldnt have told us to endure to the end. If that were true then scripture wouldnt say pick up your cross daily.

We need daily spiritual discipline. Your own post seems to indicate this with the statement if we were actually geared up...implying that we're not, or your not, right? So we must put it on every day with intention and purpose.

The belt of truth is our starting point it supports all of the armor outfit. Like yesterday a gay sympathizer was trying to get me to accept gays and trannys in some sort of christian love as we ought...Now if a fellow wasnt wearing his belt of truth he might fall for it. It sounds good. WHo dont want to love people? It's an obligation to us believers so I should love them by accepting them,,,and my belt of truth reminded me that to accept them is to come into agreement with them, and one can not be in agreement with God and trannys too or we come into agreement with the evil spirit behind the gays. SO, no thank you. No agreement. I think I hurt his feelings. But truth is not fluid, it is absolute. If I would have let that guy sway my thinking, there goes my belt of truth, it fell off. And the belt supports the rest of the armor, it is the foundation of the armor suit so the rest of the pieces of armor wouldnt be very long until they fell off!



So we need to put the armor on every day. The belt of truth is the foundation and it is the scriptural truths so we read His word every morning. Is your faith telling you that it never comes off? Faith is like a muscle so needs exercised every day.

Warriors dont sit around in their armor between battles doing nothing. They sharpen their swords and check or repair their shields (Faith) and so forth.

 

[Behold]

The Armor of God.......is God's.

So, this means its Spiritual.

And that means, its based on Revelation KNOWLEDGE., which is the "knowledge of God".

What is the most important part of the Armor?
Its the HELMET.

"The Helmet of Salvation".

What is that?
That is the correct understanding of Salvation, as God understands it.
So, the believer born again, has to come to the revelation that is GOD's perspective, regarding what it means to have become a "new Creation".

Reader......How do you know if you dont have God's knowledge as He understands Salvation, which means you are not wearing the Helmet of Salvation, and you are in fact.. still a Christian diaper baby, = confused... Hebrews 6:1 (spiritual infant), even tho you may be saved 40 yrs. ?

1.) You'll believe you can lose your Salvation.

2.) you'll believe that Jesus only died for your past sin...only.....and when you read "Jesus is the ONE TIME... ETERNAL Sacrifice for sin""... .. then That verse will be a mystery to you, because your broken faith will keep you from the revelation of that word "ETERNAL"....

 

[doctrox]

The Armor of God.......is God's.

So, this means its Spiritual.

Yes.

I disagree with you Brother that the armor never comes off. If that were true then no one could ever backslide.

Wearing armor doesn't necessarily prevent you from backsliding. Even the most skilled "armored up" soldier isn't 100% successful, 100% of the time.

If that were true Jesus wouldnt have told us to endure to the end. If that were true then scripture wouldnt say pick up your cross daily.

Again, no soldier is 100% perfect - not in this fallen world.

We need daily spiritual discipline.

...to say the least.

Your own post seems to indicate this with the statement if we were actually geared up...implying that we're not, or your not, right?

That's correct. The majority haven't a clue about what being geared up is about. IOW, they have no idea about how to conduct successful spiritual warfare, about how to engage the enemy and WIN.

So we must put it on every day with intention and purpose.

Rather, wearing the armor is the default position - which is why I said it's a no-brainer.

The belt of truth is our starting point it supports all of the armor outfit. Like yesterday a gay sympathizer was trying to get me to accept gays and trannys in some sort of christian love as we ought...Now if a fellow wasnt wearing his belt of truth he might fall for it. It sounds good. WHo dont want to love people? It's an obligation to us believers so I should love them by accepting them,,,and my belt of truth reminded me that to accept them is to come into agreement with them, and one can not be in agreement with God and trannys too or we come into agreement with the evil spirit behind the gays. SO, no thank you. No agreement. I think I hurt his feelings. But truth is not fluid, it is absolute. If I would have let that guy sway my thinking, there goes my belt of truth, it fell off. And the belt supports the rest of the armor, it is the foundation of the armor suit so the rest of the pieces of armor wouldnt be very long until they fell off!

Rather, if your intention is to to "win" every encounter, then the belt, like the rest of the armor, never comes off.

So we need to put the armor on every day.

Rather, one should never be without it. And Scripture never makes allowance for not wearing it.

...every morning...exercised every day.

Rather, 24/7/365.

Warriors dont sit around in their armor between battles doing nothing.

Rather, followers of Jesus Christ are never to be found "doing nothing."

They sharpen their swords and check or repair their shields (Faith) and so forth.

Yeah, but prepared to battle in an instant.

One hand was working; but the other hand was "armored up" ready:

They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon. For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me. (Jer. 4:17-18)

and

Those that lapped to drink were deemed "armored up" ready (they kept an eye in lookout mode); those that bowed down to drink were not (they did not have their eyes in lookout mode):

...and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink. And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand. (Judges 7)

When it comes to "soldiering," there is no such thing as a day off (or even a minute off) for a follower of Jesus Christ.

 

[ShineTheLight]

Paul uses the image of a roman soldier.

Actually, no he doesn't. He says soldier, but he doesn't say that it's a roman one.

See this video. Starting from 5:26.

Rather, wearing the armor is the default position - which is why I said it's a no-brainer.


Rather, if your intention is to to "win" every encounter, then the belt, like the rest of the armor, never comes off.


Rather, one should never be without it. And Scripture never makes allowance for not wearing it.

These are flat out wrong. A person (in the faith) could have parts of the armor on, or they don't any of it on at all.

In the Parable of the Sower in Matthew, Mark, and Luke it says how the things of the world/earth will get people who are participating in the communion of/with Christ. Those who receive the seed in the right places are doing what 2 Timothy 2:4 says. Those who receive the seed in the wrong places are not. Then there's the passage about being a doer of the word and not hearers only, I think you know that one.

 

[Verily]

You can mix them up a bit

2Cr 10:4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds)

Ephes 6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

1Thes 1:58 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love;

Ephes 6:17a And take the helmet of salvation,

1Thes 1:58... and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

Ephes 6:17b...and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Ephes 6:15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

Ephes 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

 

[Windmill Charge]

He says soldier, but he doesn't say that it's a roman one.

The age was dominated by Rome, what other soldier would he have in mind?
The defeated Jewish soldiers or the defeated Greek hoplite, Egyptian soldiers. Using a beaten soldier as an example is very poor tactics if one is trying to inspire followers.