Having Put On (Ephesians 6:13-15)

Paul makes a distinction regarding the pieces of armour that he mentions. Three of them he describes as having been put on by the soldier and the other three are to be picked up by the soldier when needed, when an attack comes. Paul does not mean that the second trio only get picked up occasionally. But his distinction is important and can be explained in this way. The ones described as ‘having put on’ are those that believers receive immediately when they believe in Jesus for the first time, as hopefully we will see. These three pieces remain important for the rest of the Christian life and always accompany the use of the other three weapons. Indeed, the impression is that we cannot use the second three unless we are wearing the first three.

The evil day

In verse 12 Paul repeats the necessity of a believer standing against the wiles of the devil but he also adds when this is needed. The specific time is described as ‘the evil day’. What does Paul have in mind by the use of ‘day’ here? He could have used the term to describe a prolonged period of time or he could have used it to describe a shorter occasion or even a momentary one. No doubt, the evil day is when the enemy attacks, but does he attack all the time, or does he look for suitable occasions?

Take the period that Jesus was in the desert for forty days after his baptism. One account says that he was tempted for the forty days, but there is also an account of him facing three temptations at a particular time. Maybe the latter time was a more evil day. Whether it was or not, we know that it was an evil day when the devil tempted Jesus, but we know too that, after being resisted successfully by Jesus, the devil withdrew from Jesus’ presence and waited for another time to tempt him. Does that happen with Christians as well? Obviously, the devil knows that we are very different from Jesus because we are sinners. He also knows that we are capable of sinning grievously without his involvement. We cannot blame the devil for every sin we commit, although we also must bear in mind that he can use our sinful tendencies and interests if he wishes.

The illustration used by Paul points to the evil day being a specific occasion or time rather than a general situation. A Roman soldier on duty would have some pieces of armour on at all times, but there would be other pieces close by that he would need to take hold off only when under attack by an enemy. He would not have to have his helmet on, or to hold up his shield, or to grip his sword when he was not under attack from opponents.

In Paul’s illustration, the Christian only has on some of the six items, but then takes up the remaining three – the helmet, shield and sword – when the evil day comes. The items he has on are permanent, whereas the other three are close-by, but not in use by him until the attack comes. Having said that distinction about the devil’s assault, there is never an announcement given from him indicating the attack, so the believer has always to be ready for it. While he may be surprised at how the attack comes, he should not have to search for his armour.

The permanent items are the belt which the soldier used to tighten up his clothes, the breastplate that covered his body, and his sandals that would enable him to stand firm. So we can see that in his illustration Paul uses the belt, the breastplate and the shoes to indicate aspects that are always true of a believer whereas the helmet, shield and sword are used when attacked and they are used together, not consecutively.

On reading the Bible, one will find numerous references in it to spiritual warfare and the armour that is to be worn. There are mentions made in the Old Testament of God wearing armour as well as of the Messiah doing so (Isa. 59). In the New Testament, there are other passages which refer to pieces of armour, but use the same pieces in different ways. For example, Paul refers to the breastplate of peace and love (1 Thess. 5:19), which is different from the way he uses the breastplate in Ephesians 6. The obvious lesson is that the meaning should be found in the context.

The belt of truth

A soldier used the belt to hold together his loose garments so that they would not hinder his movements when a battle took place. Sometimes those garments if long would get in the way of his feet or movements, and if shorter they could affect his arms in some way and prevent him using his shield and sword. The belt was the best way of preventing those hindrances from occurring and it made it possible for him to wear and use the other pieces of armour in a suitable manner. A soldier would not have always regarded the belt as part of his armour, but he would have recognised that he could not wear and use the pieces of armour without having previously put on the belt.

Paul says that the equivalent of the belt is truth. What does Paul have in mind by truth because we know it can have two different meanings – external truth or internal truth? Each of the pieces in the spiritual armour are aspects of truth, but Paul distinguishes them here from what he means by truth. Often it is suggested that the truth here could refer to God’s truth as found in the Bible or it could refer to the truthfulness of a person in the sense of sincerity, with some suggesting that both are included (one author mentions that the two biggest problems facing the church are heresy and hypocrisy, and it is not difficult to see how each of them is an enemy of the truth).

Paul describes the gospel as the word of truth (Eph. 1:13). Jesus said that he was the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). He taught the truth according to the Word of God. In the Word of God is found a system of truth for all of life, whether in what we believe or in what we do. We need to apprehend the truth as it is presented in the gospel. There are many Bible verses that reveal truth in this sense. John 3:16 is one example as is John 6:37. In John 3:16, we have the origin of the gospel in the love of God the Father, the contents of the gospel in the giving of the Son by the Father, and the offer of the gospel to sinners from the Father, that they trust in Jesus for eternal life. John 6:37 informs us that everyone who comes to Jesus for forgiveness will not be refused it.

Gospel truth is the basis of the other weapons that are mentioned in this list by the apostles. Whenever we are under attack from the devil we should check if we have this belt of truth in place. We cannot be loosely attached to it even as a loosely-fitted belt would not have helped a Roman soldier defend his position.

The breastplate of righteousness

The function of the breastplate was to protect the soldier’s front and back. It is not accurate to say that the armour here does not cover the soldier’s back, although it is correct to affirm that he always has to face the foe and not turn and run away. What is illustrated by the breastplate?

There are two suggestions made, with one being the Christian’s own righteous behaviour and the other being the righteousness of Christ that is imputed to believers. The Christian’s own behavior would be a poor piece of armour on which to rely. I would say that both the illustration and the experience of believers point to the breastplate referring to the imputed righteousness of Christ. In the illustration, the soldier has the breastplate on – he is not seen without it. Similarly, a Christian is never seen without having on the righteousness of Christ. Moreover, in his experience, the Christian learns to value the permanence of the righteousness of Christ as compared to the instability of his own righteousness.

The doctrine of justification should be in our minds every day. I think it was Luther who often said to himself, ‘I am a justified man.’ He stated that he preached the doctrine to his people every week because they so easily forgot it amid all that was taking place in their lives. When the devil assaults us with his accusations, there is not much use in turning to our progress in sanctification as a means of defeating him, because our sanctification has many flaws. But our justification by God in imputing the righteousness of Jesus to us  is perfect.  

It is not possible to separate the truth of the gospel from the doctrine of justification. This doctrine describes the divine remedy for our condemnation by the law of God. We hear the account of the gospel, we respond to it by faith, and the God of heaven imputes to us the life of Jesus as our righteousness. That becomes our overall covering and it is permanent. No weapon of the devil can negate this reality even if he does at times cause us to forget it.

The sandals of peace

It was essential that a soldier defending a location had suitable footwear because he would not want to slide or slip. If he sensed that his sandals or shoes were not secure, he would not be ready for the fight. The sandals, Paul says, illustrate ‘the readiness given by the gospel of peace’. Again, there are two possible interpretations of what he means. One is that he is referring to a sense of peace that a believer can have at times, even when things are difficult. Yet that sense of peace is not constant, but fluctuates, and Paul is not suggesting that is what is meant by the sandals. The other interpretation of peace is that it refers to the state of peace with God, or the fact that believers are reconciled to God through the death of Christ, having been forgiven all their sins. This state does not change whether or not the devil attacks at a given time.

If justification is the opposite of condemnation, then peace or reconciliation is the opposite of the state of estrangement or alienation that sin caused us to be in, separated from God and experiencing his opposition. Reconciliation also has within its meaning the concept of restoration, in this case restoration to the family of God.

Application

Paul in these verses describes what we as believers are like day by day even if we are not facing a direct assault by the evil one. Having become true followers of Jesus, we have been given two permanent blessings, one connected to the life of Jesus and the other connected to his death. The one connected to his life is that which makes us righteous in God’s sight, the imputation of the life of Jesus to our account, resulting in as being regarded as righteous before the God of justice. The one connected to the death of Jesus is reconciliation with the God we had sinned against, because Jesus paid the penalty on our behalf, and God and his people can never be separated again, even by wounds believers might receive in the battle.

A practical application of the wearing of the breastplate is for us to remind ourselves of how the righteousness of Christ protects us. When the devil sends a dart towards us, what do we do? Do we imagine that we can stand without recalling how we are made right in the sight of God? At the same time, we are to remind ourselves that we are not fighting to achieve peace with the devil. Rather we fight because we have peace with God and are now reconciled to him forever. Nothing that happens in the battle can change the realities connected to the believer’s breastplate and sandals.