The Full Armor of God – Engaging in Spiritual Warfare

The full armor of God is necessary for anyone engaging in or wishing to engage in spiritual warfare.

As earlier established in a previous post on spiritual warfare, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. But they are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4). In other words, they are not physical weapons but spiritual because the battle is spiritual in nature. I also established the reason why we are in a battle and how God has won the war already. 

Engaging in Spiritual Warfare – What do I need?

1. Realize your situation: This is the first step. Realization. Realize you are in a battle and you need to fight and defend yourself from God’s arch enemy, the devil.
2. Take stock: That is, conduct an assessment. Remember Jesus said, no one will build a house without first counting the cost. By taking stock, you count the cost of engaging in spiritual warfare. One of the associated costs is making sure you’re on God’s side. This is non-negotiable if you want to win. Because you and God are a formidable team.
3. Know what you have: If you don’t know what you have, there’s no way you can wholly leverage them. You must know that the armor of God is at your disposal. And the armor consists of both defensive and offensive weapons.
4. Put on the whole armor of God: This is the next step after determining what is at your disposal. You kit up, ready for battle against the enemy of your soul.
5. Fight valiantly: Fight valiantly, not retreating or backing down from the enemy until you win. Your victory is assured in Jesus name. Amen.

What Is the Full Armor of God?

The full #armorofGod is what will help you to withstand in the evil day. It comprises of 5 defensive and 1 offensive weapon. #teacupclub #bloggersRT Click To Tweet

The full armor of God is what will help you to withstand in the evil day. It comprises of 5 defensive and 1 offensive weapon. And it is described in the Bible passage below.

Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, (Ephesians 6:13 – 18 ESV)

The sword of the spirit is the only offensive weapon mentioned in the above passage, and it is quite potent too!

We will examine the full armor of God in greater detail below. But know that putting on the full armor of God will shield you from the fiery darts of the wicked and help you launch targeted attacks at the wicked.

Components of the Full Armor of God

As stated in the preceding section, the full armor of God has several components. We will now examine them one after the other.

1. Belt of Truth

We are to fasten the belt of truth. It is worthy of note that this is the first part of the armor that is mentioned.

What is the belt of truth?

Jesus is the belt of truth, He is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6).

Anything besides Jesus is falsehood. Believing in Jesus will set you free from all lies and deceptions of the devil.

“….and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32 ESV)

Putting on the belt of truth means believing above all else, the truth of God’s word. And giving Jesus Lordship over your life. It means accepting the truth of God’s word as final concerning your situation.

Jesus is the belt of truth, He is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). #teacupclub #bloggersRT Click To Tweethttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mnJ46hCnSw&t=30s

2. Breastplate of righteousness

Putting on the breastplate of righteousness means being in right standing with God and man.

It means being upright in heart and not unjust in any way, additionally, it means having hatred for sin and wickedness.

You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” (Hebrews 1:9 ESV)

Based on the above scripture, you can’t love both righteousness and wickedness. You love one and hate the other. So, a love for righteousness is a hatred for wickedness.

Righteousness is by faith not by works

Such righteousness can only be obtained through faith in God.

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:17 ESV)

Righteousness is a breastplate because it’s meant to shield the chest region during a battle.

It’s meant to guard your heart.

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. (Proverbs 4:23 ESV)

Your heart must be pure, that’s why it’s a breastplate.

Remember Jesus said it is what comes out of a man that defiles a man not what goes in.

Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.” (Mathew 15:17 – 20 ESV)

That’s why you need the breastplate of righteousness to be able to engage in spiritual warfare. Remember the psalmist said;

If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: (Psalm 66:18 ESV)

3. Put on the shoes of readiness for the gospel of peace

To put on the shoes of readiness for the gospel of peace means to be ready to preach the gospel.

preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. (2 Timothy 4:2 ESV)

Embrace evangelism and be readily available for it.

The reason God sent his only begotten son to die for all mankind is that he doesn’t want anyone to perish.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 ESV)

Therefore, one way to command heaven’s attention is to pay attention to evangelism.

4. Take on the shield of faith

Take on the shield of faith so you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the wicked.

Recall I stated in my previous post on how to pray, that faith is a vital key. It’s a vital key for unlocking the heavens and making impossibility possible including quenching the darts of the wicked.

I won’t talk much on faith here, as I spoke about it in the post titled how to pray and receive answers. You can click the link to read the post.

But one thing to note is that faith is a defense that can be used to shield yourself from the wicked.

Through faith, our elders of old stopped the mouth of lions and obtained a good report.

Below scripture is an example of what can be achieved through faith.

³³ Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, ³⁴ Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. (Hebrews 11:33-34)

Finally, it is impossible to please God without faith and if He is not pleased, how can He fight for you?

5. Take on the helmet of salvation

Literally speaking, a helmet protects the head. An important body part during a war. If the head is hit, the effects can be devastating. So spiritually, you’re to take on the helmet of salvation.

Salvation is not found in any name other than the name of Jesus.

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Act 4:12)

To engage in spiritual warfare and win, your name must be in the Lamb’s book of life. That is what qualifies you for God’s help in any battle you may be facing.

I urge you to take that decision today if you haven’t done so already. If you don’t know how, here’s how to have your name entered in the Lambs book of life.

If you did say the prayers, send me an email at thekingsdiadems at gmail dot com as I would like to pray along with you. I look forward to hearing from you.

6. Sword of the Spirit – the word of God

The sword of the Spirit is the only offensive weapon listed as part of the whole armor of God in Ephesians 6: 13-18. It is pretty straightforward; the sword of the Spirit is the word of God. And to use it, you would imitate Jesus Christ’s reaction when the devil tempted Him in the wilderness.

Below is an example of how Jesus used the sword of the Spirit;

³ And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. ⁴ And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. (Luke 4:3-4 KJV)

In other words, he quoted the written word of God and by so doing, He overcame the temptation.

Similarly, you would look for scriptures relevant to the area in which you are facing challenges. And memorize them, and wage warfare with them.

Your victory is assured in Jesus name. Amen

Fight valiantly after putting on the full armor of God.

This is the final step after you have put on the whole armor of God, fight valiantly. No retreat, no surrender until victory is yours.

And you shall be victorious in Jesus name. Amen

Conclusion

I congratulate you for reading to the end. I have said so many things in this post, and I will try to summarize them here.

To engage in spiritual warfare, you need to put on the whole armor of God as described in Ephesians 6:13-18. I have tried my best to go into further detail about what each armor represents and their relevance. Most importantly, note that anyone wanting to engage in spiritual warfare and win must be on the Lord’s side.

If you want o give your life to Christ and have God fight your battles for you, please read this post. And send me an email at thekingsdiadems at gmail dot com so that I can pray for you.

Don’t forget to share, like, and comment below this post if you’ve been blessed by it.

Till I come your way next time, remember you are a royal diadem, Beautiful in God’s Hands.