The Christian Soldier’s Footwear (Eph. 6:15)

This sermon was preached on Sunday, 25/9/2011

and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace

(Eph. 6:15)

Paul continues with his picture of the Christian soldier. Having described first the necessity of understanding truth and applying it personally, and secondly the necessity of imputed and imparted righteousness, for Christian living, he them mentions a third detail, which he explains under the figure of shoes. This third detail is the readiness or preparation of the gospel of peace.

When we think of shoes, what ideas come to mind? They enable us to keep our balance, they provide protection as we move, and they enable us to move more quickly. The Roman soldier’s sandal met these requirements. On the sole of the sandal there were studs, which helped him to keep his balance; these studs also gave protection from enemy traps (which were spikes of wood or metal hidden just below the surface of the ground); and they helped him march quickly from place to place.

Before we look more closely at this part of the armour, I want to make another point. It would be easy to read this verse as saying that the Christian soldier is here being urged to pass on to others the gospel of peace. No doubt it is important for believers to be doing so. But that is not what Paul has in mind. He is not saying that we are being prepared to pass on the gospel; rather he is saying that the gospel prepares Christians to defend against the enemy. A Roman soldier had always to be ready for a sudden change in the enemy’s tactics. Each Christian has to be ready as well because he does not know when the devil will change his tactics.

Paul mentions something here which may seem contradictory when he says that in order to fight a successful war we must have an awareness of peace. This peace is not with our enemy but with our Commander, but it is a reminder that we were once at enmity with him. Yet Paul is not referring only to a cessation of enmity; he is also referring to an experience of peace in our hearts; he is not only referring to our Christian standing before God, he is also referring to a Christian’s sense of security. The first aspect concerns the removal of hostility, which occurs at conversion; the second concerns the confident sense of God’s favour, which should be our ongoing experience. The first is reconciliation between God and us; the second is assurance. Paul is saying that the preparation we need to fight the devil is an understanding that we are reconciled with God and are enjoying the assurance of his favour.

This twofold meaning to this piece of armour is similar to the way Paul has referred to the two previous pieces. The belt of truth is an understanding of biblical doctrine and a truthful, sincere character; the breastplate of righteousness is both Christ’s imputed righteousness and the Holy Spirit’s imparted righteousness. This is a reminder that often we have to have a twofold perspective on divine blessings: our continued experience comes out of a fixed, divinely-given reality. Our sincerity comes out of a true assimilation of God’s fixed Word; our practical righteousness comes out of being given the unchanging righteousness of Christ as our standing; and our enjoyment of divine peace comes out of the permanent state of being reconciled to God.

It is worth reminding ourselves that the New Testament has several ways of describing salvation. Many of these ways overlap with one another, which means that no particular way should be regarded as the only one. For example, one way is redemption, which indicates that slaves of sin had to be purchased by Christ’s death. Another way is propitiation, which indicates that God’s wrath against sinners for their sins had to be placated by Christ’s death. A third way is reconciliation, which indicates that there is alienation between God and sinners which had to be removed by Christ’s death before peace could exist.

Objective peace – the reality of reconciliation

The need of reconciliation is brought about when two or more parties disagree. When that happens, each party may be in the wrong or one party may have done nothing wrong. Nevertheless there is a need for reconciliation even when one party is innocent. The innocent party may not have any ill will against the other; nevertheless his name has been slandered and he needs to do something about it. Usually it is the erring party who has to takes steps to bring about restoration of the relationship.

In the dispute between God and sinners it was sinners who caused the breakdown of the original harmony when they sinned in Adam, and they make the breakdown worse by continually engaging in more and more sin. Instead of being friends, God and humans are now opposed to one another. Humans are not only sinners who have broken God’s commands; they have also become his enemies, willing enemies in fact: ‘And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds’ (Col. 1:21). This is how God saw them: ‘For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life’ (Rom. 5:10). Because they had rebelled against God, they were under his wrath: even Christians ‘were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind’ (Eph. 2:3).

Although sinners had brought about the alienation, it was God who took the initiative in removing the barrier and in restoring the relationship between him and sinners. This he did by sending his Son to bear the penalty for the sins of his people, and so to make peace between God and them. Of course, their entrance into this state of peace does not happen until they believe in Jesus. When they do, there is a cessation of hostilities between God and them and a commencement of a never-ending state of friendship. As Paul puts it in Romans 5:1: ‘Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.’

It should be straightforward to see how an appreciation of reconciliation gives stability and strength to a Christian facing the attacks of the enemy. The devil can attack with a variety of arrows. On one occasion, he may attempt to depress us by mentioning our sins past or present; on another occasion he may tempt us to pride by praising the quality of our Christian lives. The defence against these suggestions is that we only stand on what Christ has done, for his reconciling work is our hope. Aware that we are now at peace with God, a state that can never be altered, we possess stability under the most fierce of attacks.

Possessing this shoe helps us deal the devil a blow. Recall that on the Roman soldier’s shoe there were studs for protection against the sharp traps of the enemy. These studs broke the traps. So with the Christian. The devil’s most subtle traps are smashed to bits by the studs on our shoe. Satan’s power cannot overcome the strength possessed by one who knows that God has been reconciled to him and he to God.

Think often on the reality of reconciliation. Remind yourself of what the prophet says in Isaiah 53:5: ‘But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.’

Subjective peace – enjoying the peace of God

But the divine peace that prepares us to withstand the devil’s temptations is not confined to the status of reconciliation. In addition, there is an enjoyment of divine peace in the believer’s heart that also enables him to resist the devil. How does the Christian obtain and maintain this sense of peace?

Paul, as a rule, reminds his readers of the source of peace in the introduction of each of his letters. He wishes that they all would know grace and peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

But this is not only a New Testament experience, because peace was promised to his people by God in the Aaronic blessing of Numbers 6:24-26: ‘The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.’ It was the desire of the psalmist in Psalm 85:8 to receive words of peace from God: ‘Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints; but let them not turn back to folly.’

Jesus, as he comes near the end of his three years of instructing his disciples, gives to them a wonderful legacy: ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid’ (John 14:27). Paul also reminds the Galatian believers that subjective peace is a product of the work of the Holy Spirit, it is an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22).

So it is clear that the Christian must obtain this inner peace from God. Indeed the verses referred to in the above paragraphs indicate that peace can be sought from each person of the Trinity in particular. From the Father we can know the peace of pardon, from the Son we can know the peace of his presence as we grow in experimental knowledge of him, and we can know these distinct blessings by the work of the Spirit. Of course, the blessings from each divine person are not limited to the above examples. There are countless ways in which we can receive peace from the Triune God.

Having said that God is the source of peace, does this mean that believers have any responsibility in maintaining this sense of peace? The Bible stresses that they have, and in particular it calls attention to their minds, to what they think about. It reminds them that to ‘set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace’ (Rom. 8:6).

Meditation on God is the best way of maintaining an enjoyment of peace. Isaiah declares about God, ‘You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you’ (Isa. 26:3). There is a promise of peace to those who meditate on God, on his glorious attributes and on his great deeds. Thinking of God’s power reduces in size the obstacles in our path; thinking of God’s wisdom helps remove concern about our inability to understand what is happening; thinking of God’s love reminds us that he is committed to bless his people.

Paul told the Philippians how they could enjoy the presence of the God of peace: ‘Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you’ (Phil. 4:8-9).

Prayer for one another by believers is an important means of maintaining this sense of divine peace in their souls. Psalm 122 is an example of how the people of God valued the presence of divinely-given peace. Paul prays for peace in a comprehensive way in 2 Thessalonians 3:16: ‘Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.’ Paul instructed the Philippians that they were ‘not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God’. The consequence would be that ‘the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus’ (Phil. 4:6-7).

Obedience to God’s commandments is another way of maintaining this awareness of peace: ‘Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea’ (Isa. 48:18). The obvious implication is that disobedience by a believer removes God’s peace from his soul.

Again I would suggest that it is straightforward to see how maintaining this possession of divine peace in their souls enables believers to overcome the devil. He usually attacks them through their minds by making sinful suggestions to them. It is obvious that when their minds are focussed on God, on prayer to him and obedience to his requirements, it is more difficult for the devil to defeat them. That is not to say that he will not try persistently.

The psalmist expresses confidence concerning those who feed their souls on God’s Word: ‘Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble’ (Ps. 119:165). The apostle John says something similar: ‘I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one’ (1 John 2:14). It is possible for believers to withstand the devil’s onslaughts and not be overthrown by him.