Sword of the Spirit

Which is the word of God.

¹² For ^(B)the word of God is living and ^(C)active, ^(D)sharper than any ^(E)two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and ^(F)discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. - Hebrews 4:12

  

^(A)Beat your plowshares into swords,    and ^(B)your pruning hooks into spears;    let the weak say, “I am a warrior.” -Joel 3:10

I thought I'd splash out some verses at the beginning this time. The sword of the Spirit does both of those, it cuts like nothing else and causes the weak to say "I am a warrior."
Now if we take a look at the first passage, what we can see from it is that the word of God can cut anything and pierce anything even the smallest joints and your thoughts as well. I think it's a statement saying the word of God can pierce through anything but knowing God it is also saying no matter how small you think your sin is, no matter how little you turn away from Him there will always be a rebuking from the bible, there will always be something correcting you, because if you aren't perfect then you aren't worthy of being with God. Yet that is the amazing thing about Jesus, He gives us His righteousness, His perfectness which means that the word of God doesn't deem us unworthy but rather causes us to maintain our righteousness and see where we are failing. It also means that if we constantly read the Bible we can keep Satan away and stop Him entering our minds.
The second passage I wanted to share because of the last line and I think that really sums up the whole armour of  God, I think this really encompasses what the armour does, by wearing this we can stand in the army of God and cause the evil on to run.

God Bless

Helmet of Salvation

Well this is going to be a short one, I'm not sure why but this one seems to stump people a bit more than most of the other ones do and I agree with that. I don't whether it's because we have a hard time imagining a helmet as doing more than protecting our head or not, but I would like to think that's the main issue. What's interesting is Paul isn't the first to use this imagery linking a helmet and salvation in fact Isaiah 59:17 contains the same imagery which means that this salvation was put to the helmet for the sake of completing the armour although I can tell you why it really is. My assumption is that it is because salvation through Christ is a choice and one which whilst made with the heart begins very much as a mental decision to follow the truth that you know.
Well I've not entirely made my mind up on the whole matter, I think it will need some more mulling over and discussion with others but if I do ever find a decent answer which holds scripturally true then I will share it here and update this post as well, so keep your eyes peeled on the future.

God Bless

Shield of Faith

So then what is the shield of faith? Well according to Paul it extinguishes the flaming arrows of the evil one, it's certainly a part of equipment that we shall, or should, always have on us. It's our first defence against the attacks, it's in our faith in God and the truth of the Gospel that defends us most against the attacks of the enemy. In fact by extinguishing the arrows it stops the fire burning us and spreading, in a way our faith in Christ Jesus mitigates, if not stops, the attacks on us.
If we were to take the armour of the time, Roman armour, then we should take a gander at the Roman shield which is a big old thing. Well anyway, my point is along the lines that our faith doesn't just defend one part of our body but all of it and that we are so much stronger in fellowship. As in the box formation of Roman armies so can our faith be as we grow, and have fellowship, with other Christians.
It can only be assumed then that our faith and our righteousness are our defence against attacks and it brings forth a challenge in some ways to always be strong in our faith, to grow in our faith, to keep our righteousness at its best and to maintain fellowship with other Christians as much as we can.
Well that's it for a short look at the shield of faith, I feel it should have been longer, I don't know why but there's a nagging feeling of "something is missing" but I can't see what so if you read this and know me and know what's missing then please tell me.

God Bless

The Shoes on your Feet

Put on your feet shoes that are the readiness of the Gospel of Peace, or thereabouts is the third piece of equipment Paul tells us about. In many ways what we are being told to do through this is to constantly walk with the gospel of peace ready and always be ready due to the gospel of peace.
I thought about what the readiness of the gospel of peace might be and decided this is two fold, being ready in it and being ready with it. Being ready in the gospel of peace would entail being set with the gospel, knowing it and the fact that it is true and finally working in that knowledge, whilst being read with the gospel of peace is more about being prepared to evangelise and being prepared to go out with the gospel. I suppose it sums up in the fact we should be ready to move for the gospel of peace and that's a challenging aspect of the armour of God. In many ways we are prepared to confess our sins daily because we know we need to, we know the Truth of Christ, we have faith and salvation. Yet being ready to move for the Gospel, for God. That can be really daunting because you're stepping out with only God to catch you and He's not immediately tangible so we can get scared then. Despite this we have the armour of God to remind us daily that He is there, the armour is what defends from attacks, stops falls from hurting, gives us confidence to move forward in God. The shoes merely gives us the capacity to do so in Christ, in the gospel of peace.
Our shoes now a days aren't always on our feet but I'd expect when the letter to the churches in Ephesus was first written they were so really don't just have the readiness every now and again when we step outside or, in the spiritual sense, out into the battlefield but rather we should be constantly ready. I think the same applies for all the different parts of the armour of God, so be constantly equipped.

God Bless

Breastplate of righteousness

The breastplate is a needed part of any armour set, it's the major defence of the body and is second in defensive capabilities next to the shield, in fact I'd call it the second line of defense also the colours of your tabard which can accompany a breastplate can identify which army you are fighting for.

I would say all this relates to righteousness, which is to be right with God. Firstly we are defended through our righteousness from the attacks of Satan. We are told in the same passage as the breastplate of righteousness that the shield of faith will extinguish the flaming arrows of the enemy, well I believe that's true and whilst the shield of faith can do this, our righteousness can stop those extinguished arrows completely removing the pain they will bring us from coming to us. Yet as like a breastplate our righteousness should be tended to after each battle in so far as to keep ourselves right with God we should confess our sins to Him after every battle we have in this life. 

Also we are identified as a member of the army of Christ through our righteousness and salvation in Jesus Christ. As members of an army we don't fight alone, which is good since a breastplate doesn't have a back and so is, in some ways, designed for fighting as an army facing the opponent down. We should not fear Satan and his attacks but rather face him and challenge him so that he shall flee.

Belt of Truth

The Belt of Truth is in someways interesting because it comes first. Belts are rarely ever cared about when we put things on, unless you're really fashion conscious. I think it might come first because the belt is a support and completing part of an outfit, also the Truth is very important. The Truth that we hold as Christians is that of the Gospel and I'd agree that that is important enough to come first. The imagery of a belt is also quite interesting, not only does it bring to mind something which holds your trousers in place but also a belt can hold many things, sort of like a utility belt. I'd like to think the analogy holds true to an extent as well, since it is through the Gospel of Truth that we are equipped to face this world. This imagery is found elsewhere in the Bible and that is in Isaiah 11:5

⁵ Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
    and ^(A)faithfulness the belt of his loins.

 I found it quite interesting that righteousness and faithfulness were the elements attached to the belt as they easily attach to the Truth as well. In such a way that we are made righteous by the Truth, and Jesus, and our faith in the Truth. Some translations use swash of his loins instead but either way it is something that completes an outfit, connecting it all together and I think that is another bit of the imagery as the Truth really does complete our armour and is the connecting feature of all the other parts of the armour; salvation, righteousness, faith, the readiness of the gospel of faith and the sword of the Spirit. It's the Truth of the gospel that connects and lies under currennt through all the different aspects of the armour of God.
Bringing it back to Christ, Jesus tells that He is the way, the Truth and the life. He is the one that connects it all and is the one through whom we find Truth, whether it be Biblical truth or experiential truth, He is that Truth.

God Bless

The Armour of God Series

Ephesians 6:10-20

The armour of God is in my mind one of the more interesting bits of the Bible and probably worth a bit more study than most others because armour constantly changes, if you look at what the Romans wore compared to what we use as armour now a days and even compare them to the Ottomans who were around not long after. There is so much variation in armour as it changes to best defend the wearer, but then so do the weapons the enemy uses, so it has to change in durability and strength to be stronger than the weapons used against it. God's armour which I will discuss in the following blogs is the strongest armour we will ever receive and doesn't need to change, that's why we aren't wearing a bulletproof vest of righteousness or using a riotshield of faith. It single handedly will defend you from the dangers of this world and keep you safe, even if you sometimes don't feel it.

I'm going to try and delve into the armour of God during these next 6 posts, commenting on each one as I go. I hope you like it!

God Bless