Paul Issues A Call To Arms – Part 1:  The Armor of God

In these verses, Paul clearly states that our battles are not against humans (flesh and blood) but against spiritual beings and forces.  In order to win this battle, you MUST put on the WHOLE armor or God. 

Ephesians 6: 10-20

10.  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

 11.  Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

 12.  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

 13.  Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

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

 15.  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

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

 17.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

 18.  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

 20.  For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

These things should be a part of your everyday life: 

TRUTH-  knowing what God’s word says instead of taking someone else’s rendering at face value.  Read it, meditate on it, memorize it.. That way, when false doctrines are presented to you, you’ll know they’re false.

RIGHTEOUSNESS-  being obedient to what God says in His word

PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE-  .  Again… Read it, meditate on it,  memorize it.  Be prepared whether it’s for a debate, answering questions, witnessing, or encouraging others.  You need to be able to quickly pull an answer and scripture off the top of your head, so to speak.  If you’re not studied up, you can’t do this and you’re liable to miss an opportunity to share God’s word.  Most people don’t carry their bible with them wherever they go so they can look up scripture, but even those that do could find that the precious time it takes to look up scripture sometimes also allows for missed opportunities, especially when witnessing to people.  That’s why it’s best to know it by heart.

FAITH-  KNOW what you believe, and don’t waiver.  Stand up for it.  Believe and know that God can handle any situation.  Don’t doubt Him because this opens doors and provides opportunities for the devil and those under him, spirit or non, to cause you a lot of unnecessary problems.

SALVATION-  In order to have authority over spirits and win battles, you must be a born again Christian.  Otherwise, your words will have no credibility with them.  When the Holy Spirit draws you to be saved, you’ll know it without doubt, because it’s almost indescribable.  Then you get on your knees (as a form of respect and reverence) and confess that He is Lord, repent of your sins, and ask Him to come into your heart and life and He touches you and you feel yet another indescribable feeling.  Sprinkling, blessing, baptizing with water…none of these causes you to be “SAVED”.  If one of these has been done to you, YOU ARE NOT SAVED UNLESS you have done the other too… confessed that He is Lord, repented of your sins, and asked Him into your heart and life.  Baptism is a symbol.  It’s an outward representation that identifies your death to sin (death of the “old” man) and your new birth in Christ (birth of the “new” man)  with the death and resurrection of Christ. Baptism means nothing without the Holy Spirit and people who don’t confess, repent, and ask Jesus into their heart and life don’t have the Holy Spirit living inside them.  Don’t agree with me?  The way of salvation is in His word….. (ALSO there are a few verses below about repentance, confession, baptism, and the Holy Sprit that relate to what I said here.)

Romans 10

9.  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

 10.  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

 11.  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

 12.  For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

 13.  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Mark 1

14.  Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,

 15.  And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

Luke 12

8.  Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God:

 9.  But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.

 10.  And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven.

2 Peter 3

9.  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Romans 6

3.  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

 4.  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

 5.  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

 6.  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

 7.  For he that is dead is freed from sin.

 8.  Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:

 9.  Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.

 10.  For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.

 11.  Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 8

8.  So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

 9.  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

 10.  And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

 11.  But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

SWORD OF THE SPIRIT-  The word of God.  Use it. 

Hebrews 4

PRAYER-  prayer is important in your relationship with God.  You should consult God on everything through prayer, no matter how small the problem seems.

Matthew 21

22.  And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

PERSEVERANCE-  to remain constant in your faith and service to God.

SUPPLICATION-  making your requests known to God through prayer.

UTTERANCE-  allowing the Holy Spirit to speak through you

None of us are perfect, and we all need to change things in our lives.  We all fall short, but we can try our best to do what’s right and live for God in the proper manner.  A good relationship with Him is where it begins…a two-way relationship, not a one sided one where we don’t “do” but expect God to do things for us and answer our prayers.  It doesn’t work that way.

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