WHAT IS THE ARMOR OF GOD?
by Jan Magiera

There have been many books written recently about spiritual warfare and the battle against all the principalities and powers of the Adversary. There also have been many people who have been delivered from long standing spiritual problems because of becoming aware of this spiritual battle. One of the elements which has not been emphasized to the same degree as the deliverance is that of maintaining and standing in the deliverance. The only way to do this is to replace the habit patterns of thinking in the mind with the new ones. Francis Frangipane in his book The Three Battlegrounds explains this:

“Many of our spiritual conflicts simply are not going to cease until the character of the Lord Jesus is formed in our hearts. The Father’s goal in deliverance is much more than simply seeing our burdens or the devil taken off our backs. Indeed, the specific purpose toward which God steers the working of all things in our lives is our conformity “to the image of His Son.”:[1]

Once the mind is cleansed and we receive deliverance, then we also need to fill up those areas with the Lord Jesus Christ. The key to this is laid out in Ephesians 6: 10.

Ephesians 6:10:

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

The power is HIS might and we need to be strengthened in the LORD. This passage in Ephesians 6:10-18 is the conclusion (it says finally, or in Aramaic, therefore) of the practical side of Ephesians. It is not an isolated passage about a soldier, but is a summary or synopsis of all that God has made available to us in our Lord Jesus Christ. It is how to be clothed with His power in practical application. And it is a way to determine what we need to do with what we have been given to be victorious in the wrestling against the principalities and powers on high. What is this armor? How is it a summary? How do we practically apply it? These are the questions that we will focus on in this paper.

Ephesians 6:12 says “put on the whole armor of God...” The key to understanding this passage is to separate out 1) what we are to do and 2) what God has already provided. The verbs “put on”, “take”, “gird up” are what we do. The nouns “the armor of God”, “truth”, “shield of faith”, etc. are what we have in the gift of holy spirit, the power base of all we are in Christ.

We have everything listed in Ephesians 6 already. In Luke 24:49, Jesus told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they would be clothed with power from on high. Then on the day of Pentecost, as Acts 2 describes, they were filled with holy spirit (they received the spiritual power) and then began to speak with other tongues. Once we are born again, we also receive the gift of holy spirit and are clothed on the inside with HIS power. This inner clothing is described in Galatians 3:27 as being “baptized into Christ.” There are other ways this inner clothing is described in the epistles: “inward man” (Romans 7: 22), “Christ in you” (Colossians 1:27), “measure of the gift of Christ” (Ephesians 4:7).

Ephesians 2 describes where the gift comes from.

Ephesians 2:8-10:

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Not of works, lest any man should boast,

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

There are no works about the gift. It is the gift of God and “not of yourselves”. The only work is in the putting on and standing and afterward walking in the works which God ordained for us to walk in.

We can understand more about what it means to “put on” by seeing what “put off” means. Put off means to strip off, strip away, plunder, “carry off as booty”. Ephesians 4:22 says “that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;” If you had just come home from working out at the gym, running five miles in the pouring rain, you would not take your clothes off carefully. You would “strip” them off as quickly as possible and probably somewhere close to the washing machine, whereupon you would turn the washing machine on hot and set the rinse cycle on at least 2. When the verb “put on” is used, however, it is the opposite picture of careful dressing as though you were going to the most important party of the year. Everything you are wearing matches everything else and you have it all laid out on the bed, having spent much thought, effort and time in the preparation. That is to “put on” - piece by piece carefully clothe yourself and watch all the details.

In order to clarify this further, let us look at the usages of to “put on”. The Greek word is enduo and the Aramaic word is lebesh. Both words can be literal, to put on clothes. There are also eight places where the usage of to put on is talking about putting on the new spiritual body we will have when Christ returns. Two verses refer to what we have been given in Christ, Luke 24:49 mentioned above and Gal. 3:27. The other uses have to do with what to put on in our minds. This usage is comparing the putting on of clothes to putting on things in your mind.

So what are we to put on in our minds?

Put on Christ

Romans 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Put on the New Man
Ephesians 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Colossians 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: (Aramaic has the imperative - put on)

Put on the armor of ...
Romans 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Ephesians 6:13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (Put on is only in Aramaic for “take unto you”; Greek is analambano)

Put on breastplate of...
Ephesians 6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; (Put on is only in Aramaic for “having on”)

I Thessalonians 5:8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. (Aramaic is passive participle = having put on)

Put on bowels of mercies...
Colossians 3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;

What we need to do here is separate the last two groups of verses from the rest. They are specific things that need to be put on in our minds and this will be seen later in discussion about the breastplate and helmet. The remaining verses state the same truth in different ways. The armor of light = the whole armor of God = the new man = the Lord Jesus Christ. God is light, so the armor of light is the same as the armor of God. The new man is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27.) Therefore the Lord Jesus Christ and the armor are also equivalent. These two are tied together in Romans 13.

Romans 13:12-14:

The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.

But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

The whole armor is the complete gift-wrapped package of all the power of Christ, the full measure of the stature of Christ. Since the power of Christ is the major topic of the epistles, this section in Ephesians 6:10-18 is not an isolated illustration, but is a summary of all that we have been given. Charles J. Ellicott puts it succinctly:

...if “to put on the armour of light” is to ”put on the Lord Jesus Christ,” it follows that the various parts of the defensive armour are the various parts of the image of the Lord Jesus Christ; hence they are properly His, and are through His gift appropriated by us. [2]

It is logical then that all of the parts of the armor further mentioned in the passage are also discussed fully in other places, especially in the epistles. This we will see is true as the various pieces of the armor are examined.

There are quite a few people who have seen that the armor must be equal to the Lord Jesus Christ. Armor is translated from the Greek word panoplia and the Aramaic word zaina. Panoply is our English word transcribed straight from the Greek and means 1) a full suit of armor, or 2) something forming a protective covering. Zaina is not only used of military weaponry and armor, but is also used more generically as equipment or instruments. Many people have written books describing the military analogy in this passage. One of the best and most detailed explanations is M. Lloyd Jones’ treatise on Ephesians (Volume 6). So I will not spend much time explaining the military image and comparing it to the many other passages about spiritual warfare. This paper is focusing on the practical application of what the armor is. So the point that is the most important here is not that it is armor, but that each piece is crucial to being fully prepared. A soldier would not consider leaving any part of his “panoply” at home or in his tent. He also needs to know what to do with what he has been given.

Now it is time to look at the six pieces of the armor. They are portrayed in an introversion as follows:

WHAT TO DO PIECE OF ARMOR

A Gird up your loins truth

B Put on breastplate of righteousness

C Bind as a shoe upon feet preparation of gospel of peace

C Take, hold shield of faith

B Set on helmet of salvation

A Take hold of sword of spirit

Keeping in mind that each one of these pieces of the armor has to do with the Lord Jesus Christ and his gift in us, let us examine the individual pieces. The titles of the sections are the Aramaic translation of each phrase in Ephesians 6.

Gird up your loins with truth

“Gird up your loins” is the wrapping of a girdle around the waist or hips in the picture of the soldier. The phrase is a Hebrew idiom meaning, “make the source of your strength or make ready for action.” I Peter 1:13 says to “gird up the loins of your minds.” It is available to make your mind strong just as your loins are strong. Loins are the focus of the strength of the body and also the source of reproduction.

Truth is the difficult part to understand in this piece of armor. In Aramaic, the word is qustha which comes from a verb that means to shoot straight as an arrow. This truth is not the common word, but has more to do with uprightness, reliability and integrity. This paints a beautiful picture, but there is more. The Greek word is aletheia and the meaning of truth as part of the armor begins to unfold when we look at a use of aletheia in the Septuagint in Isaiah 11:5. This passage is a prophecy about the Branch (Jesus Christ) that would come out of the house of Jesse, that he would be mighty in spirit and wisdom and righteousness.

Isaiah 11:5:

And righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness [aletheia] the girdle of His reins.

In the KJV, both the words “loins” and “reins” are representing the middle section of the body. The loins represent strength. Jesus Christ fulfilled this prophecy and made God’s faithfulness to His Word and to all His promises the source of his strength. Jesus literally believed that every prophecy that God had made regarding him would come to pass. He relied on God’s faithfulness to what He had said. So this piece of armor that God has given to us has to do with God’s utter reliability and integrity and faithfulness. Gird up your loins with truth means to make the source of your strength the utter faithfulness and reliability of God in his son Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 13:5 says “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever.” Jesus Christ is the faithful one and does not change. If he is the Savior yesterday, then he is the Savior today and tomorrow. His love is unchanging (John 13:1), his comfort is “everlasting consolation” (2 Thessalonians 2:16).

“He is unchangeable, immutable in regard to all that He IS, all he HAS, all He has DONE, all He has SAID....Yesterday He thought of us in His purposes of love; yesterday he communicated to us His grace; yesterday He bore with us in His kindness and patience. Ever THE SAME.”[3]

Now we can see how to practically apply this piece of the armor. One of the areas that we are challenged in the most is to doubt that we really are God’s sons and that He cares for us in every situation. Romans 8 says that we are sons of God and joint heirs with Christ. But the Adversary always wants to steal, kill and destroy. So he tries to steal our confidence and strength and reliance on our position as sons. I have often heard the verse quoted from Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me.” The emphasis that most people put in that verse is I CAN DO. The reality of life is that there are many times where we just plain do not have the strength to do what we have to do. The Aramaic translation puts the emphasis where it belongs. “ I find strength for everything in Christ who strengthens me.”

I remember when my twins were born and they were premature. One was 4 lbs. 11 oz. and the other was 5 lbs. when they were born six weeks early. They could only drink 2 ounces of milk at a time and it took about an hour to do that. They would try to nurse for ten minutes and get too tired to do more. They also needed to eat every two hours. So it was around the clock just trying to figure out how to feed them in those first few months. I know that physically there was no way that I had the strength to take care of them, but somehow every day I would find that strength. The Hebrew idiom of gird up your loins means “make the SOURCE of your strength.”

The practical application has to do with the spoken words of God and the Lord to us also. This can be seen in the words, the rhema to Mary by the angel when God told her she would have a son and his name would be called Jesus. The last words of the prophecy are : “for with God no word spoken [rhema] is void of power.” Mary’s response was “Behold, the handmaid of the Lord. Be it unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:37,38). That can be our response also when we are ministered to in healing or with prophecy or by revelation given directly to us. Gird up your loins with the arrow of truth and totally rely upon the faithfulness of God’s Word and the faithfulness of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Put on the breastplate of justification

A breastplate is a covering of the heart and chest area in the soldier. It was usually made of woven metal or at least coarse heavy cloth so that it would provide protection of the upper body, especially of the heart. Righteousness here is justification. We have been legally acquitted from blame, “just as if I’d never sinned.” I believe that this justification is the foundation for all the sonship rights that we have in Christ. Without the legal acquittal, we do not have the privilege of reconciliation, redemption, forgiveness or remission, or any other.

The Old Testament talks about the breastplate and sheds light on what it is. When God ordained Aaron as priest to the people of Israel in the wilderness, He designed a breastplate to be worn on the ephod of his garment. This breastplate was made of metal and had twelve precious stones in four rows on it. Each one of the stones represented one of the tribes of Israel. When the high priest went into the holy of holies once a year to make atonement for the sins of the people, he carried all of Israel on his heart on this breastplate. This was called the “breastplate of judgment” (Exodus 28:15). When the sacrifice was made by the high priest, the people were judged righteous before God.

Jesus Christ is the high priest who went into the holy of holies once for all and made atonement for the sins of all people. He accomplished this by his death and in payment of the penalty of sin. Because there did not have to be any more separation, God could tear the veil that separated the holy of holies from the people and allow free access to His presence because of the obedience of Jesus Christ. That is the foundation of all we have been given in the marvelous gift from God. This access now allows us to have the protective covering of all of the sonship rights. Ephesians 2:18 says “ For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.”.

Now we can see how this is applicable to wrestling against principalities and powers and wicked spirits from on high. Romans 8:15 says “ For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” Abba is the Aramaic word for father. What we call is Father, our father. Abba was the personal name for a father. If there was only one person speaking, he would say, Father, my father. God is MY father. Because he is my father, I can go to him in every situation. Later on in Romans 8, it says “If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.” God declared us justified and in that justification gave us complete access to him. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ. When we cry, Abba, my father, God hears our cry and declares that we are justified.

This covers any kind of condemnation and fear. An example of this was when we were on an outreach program in Germany. My husband and I had jobs packing the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper every night when the truck came in to deliver them. After packing we each would go on our bicycles and deliver papers to a certain route. In Germany, you cannot just throw the newspaper on the sidewalk in front of the house. It has to be put in the mailbox. So this required quite a bit of maneuvering with the bike to work it out so there would be the least amount of stopping and parking. One of the houses I had on my route was around a corner and down a long alley, all the way to the end of this dead end street. As I would near the block, the prickles would go up on the back of my neck and I would get very nervous and wary. It always seemed that just around the corner in the alley there was someone waiting to attack me. For several weeks, I just tried to ride in there as fast as possible to get the delivery over with. But the feeling continued and in fact kept getting stronger. Finally, I cried out to God to help me understand what was going on. He told me there was a spirit of fear who controlled that whole alley and that he was mad that I was coming in there. So after that every day I claimed the deliverance in the name of Jesus Christ and my position as a son of God to bind the spirit as long as I was there. It worked!!

The breastplate of justification covers the heart and protects. It also covers the kidneys, which is Hebrew thinking are called the kidneys. That is the seat of our emotions. What God has given to us in Christ is acquittal from blame and continued forgiveness and cleansing of our sins. An example of application of the protection and covering of our emotions is where divorce has shattered the family. I have known several couples where the one who felt abandoned or deserted had a great deal of bitterness and anger about the situation. They were open to attack by the spirit of accusation to pile all the blame on the person they feel had wronged them. The one who receives these accusations needs to put on the breastplate because the truth of the situation is that if the person has confessed their sin, the sin is cleansed and they are justified in God’s sight. The emotional upheaval in these types of life situations is a challenge to lead the emotions “captive to Christ” and to cover our hearts and emotions with God’s forgiveness in Christ.

Feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace

The part of this piece of armor that we do is bind as a shoe upon our feet. The sandals of a soldier covered not only the bottom of the feet but also were laced up the ankles and provided support for the calf and leg. This gave a firm platform for fighting in any battle. The binding is our job. What do we put on? The preparation of the gospel of peace is also difficult to understand here because we are remembering that every part of this armor has to do with the power base we have in our Lord Jesus Christ. The difficulty dissipates when we understand what the word preparation means.

In Aramaic, preparation is the word tiba which comes from the root, to be good. It can be translated goodness, willingness, preparation, readiness. Here I believe that the emphasis in more on goodness than on preparation. The Aramaic translation of Ephesians 2:10 says “For we are his own creation, who were created in Jesus the Messiah for good works, those which beforehand God had prepared that we should walk in them.” God has prepared the works for us to walk in. We do not manufacture the works, but only have our shoes on to walk in them.

This is further explained in understanding what is the gospel of peace. This gospel is the good news of the mystery of the one body of Christ, the good news that breaks down all barriers and brings peace between the Jews and Gentiles, between men and women. This is the good news that every member of the body of Christ is special and particular and has a function to perform. No person in the body is without purpose and each one is set in exactly the right place at the right time. The head of the body is Christ. The head energizes the whole body unto the building up of itself in love. We are members one of another.

Now we can see the practical application of this piece of armor. Attacks in the wrestling match that have to do with inferiority, rejection, self-righteousness, self-rejection all are handled by binding on our feet the GOODNESS of the mystery of the one body of Christ. We each have a special place, a special function and no one person is any less important or more important than any one else. That is the total goodness of God to provide us with such a wonderful place to function and to give.

This piece of armor is especially important for ministers and leaders. One of the biggest tricks of the enemy for leaders is that they take control and rulership in the sense of manipulating other people to follow them. Leaders already do have the ability naturally to motivate others to follow them, but this can be used detrimentally. One has only to look at a variety of ministries in our day and time and see this tendency. Jesus Christ said, that the greatest leader needed to be the greatest servant. He washed the disciples feet and showed them this by example. Basing the platform on which we stand on the unity of the body of Christ will negate the strategy of the Devil and allow the goodness of the plan that God wanted with the Lord Jesus Christ as head of the body to shine forth.

The first three pieces of armor are kept on all the time we are clothed or dressed as a soldier. The last three are taken up as needed in a confrontation or battle. We need to have the last three ready at all times there is an attack.

Take to you the shield of faith

This piece of the armor is to be taken. Take can mean receive, take or hold. In this case of the picture of the soldier it is to be taken and then utilized. If we let the shield go out of our hand or lay it down, we will be defenseless. The only way we can use the shield to protect against the fiery darts of the wicked one, is if we take it up and use it.

A shield is anything that blocks and protects. This shield quenches fire and fiery darts. So what is the shield? The shield in the Roman military was large and covered the whole body. It was about 6 feet tall and 2 - 3 feet wide. The inside was covered with fireproof material so that any fiery arrows landing on it would not burst into flame, but be quenched.

Faith here is not what we do, it is what we have. So it has to be a figure of speech, where faith takes the place of what we have faith in. This figure is called metonymy (of the effect.) [4] Faith or trust always is in something. It is the effect of something. This same usage is in Romans 1:5:

Romans 1:5 (Aramaic translation):

by whom we received grace and apostleship among all the Gentiles so that they might be obedient to the faith of his name.

Here faith represents the authority of the name of Jesus Christ. The faith of his name is the power to use the name of Jesus Christ. In Matthew 28:18, Jesus commissioned the disciples by saying “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go...” (NIV translation). And in Ephesians 1:20-23, it makes it clear that all things are under the feet of Christ and he is the head of everything. His name is greater than “every name that is named.” We are now part of the body of Christ so all things are under our feet also and we have the authority to use his name and the power behind that name.

Fiery darts are arrows that are lit with fire. In the Roman wars, what the enemy would do is rain down fiery arrows on the lines before and during the attack. They were designed to cause confusion and to prepare the way for the enemy to move in. The first important thing to know is that the attack is coming from the wicked one - not people (we wrestle not against flesh and blood) and the second is that the shield quenches the fire. The utilization of the power of the name of Jesus Christ with all the manifestations of the spirit renders null and void any kind of attack.

The first kind of attack comes in terms of confusion regarding our place in the body of Christ. Then other areas of attack are physical and emotional and have to do with relationships. Our health is challenged in every category. The practical application comes in believing we have the authority to receive direct revelation regarding any and every situation and the authority to use the name of Jesus Christ to command deliverance.

A great example was with the man who had been lame and was laid at the temple gate Beautiful in Acts 3. Peter said to him, “Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.” What Peter had was the authority to use the name of Jesus Christ.

We need the discernment to know whether things in our lives are being caused by devil spirits or our own thoughts. We need to be able to cast off the works of darkness. The only way to do that is to put on the light. The darkness never leaves the room until the light is turned on. The brighter the light is, the less corners of darkness remain. The Lord is our sun and shield and pours out his grace and victory (Psalm 84:9, 11). So put up the shield of faith because it quenches ALL the fiery darts of the wicked one.

Set (on your head) the helmet of redemption

Take means to set or wrap all around in Aramaic. A helmet is anything that covers the head. It is set on the head and protects one of the most vulnerable parts of our body. Another translation of helmet in Aramaic is a turban and in that translation, we can see the part that we are to do. We need to wrap our heads (minds) continually and around and around with the helmet of salvation.

What is this helmet? I Thessalonians 5:8 says that we are to put on “for an helmet, the hope of salvation.” Salvation in Thessalonians is the common word for salvation, but here in Ephesians, the Aramaic uses the word for redemption. I think this is key to understanding this particular piece of armor because what protects our minds is the hope, but it is a broader picture. Our redemption includes the deliverance from the sin nature right now AND in the future. Ephesians 1:13 says that we have holy spirit as a token of our inheritance “until the redemption of the purchased possession.”

Our redemption will be complete when we receive our new spiritual bodies and are “forever with the Lord.” In the meantime, the covering we need in everyday life is to be “redeemed from the curse of the law” in practical reality (Galatians 3:13). Ephesians 1:7 says that we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding” (NIV translation). That ongoing forgiveness and deliverance EVERYDAY is redemption.

The practical application of this piece of armor comes especially in times of death of dear ones and family There is no other comfort greater than to know that death does not have the ultimate victory and there will be a time when we will be able to say “O death where is they sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (I Corinthians 15:55). And when our physical bodies start to lose the strength of youth and show signs of decay and age, we can know that we will be raised in incorruption. This gives us the courage to continue to labor in the service of the Lord.

The hope of our redemption is an anchor so we are not discouraged. The Aramaic translation of Hebrews 6:19 about the hope is “that is for us as an anchor that holds our soul so that it is not shaken...” The word shaken is as in an earthquake. Life can certainly shake up things like an earthquake, but the hope brings a stability to our minds and “holds our soul”.

Take hold of the sword of the spirit

This piece of armor is explained right in the verse. The sword of the spirit is the word of God. The main point here is that it is a spiritual sword. The part we do is grasp hold or take hold of it. This means we have to read the Bible, study it, not just listen to what someone else says about it. The reason it is a spiritual sword is that the words that are written are words that bring life (John 6:63).

The written word is that which cuts and divides all the issues of life. It is a critic of the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12). One of the hardest things for people to do is to see inside themselves. The written word divides the inside from the outside in all three areas of life: body, soul and spirit. The entire subject of the written word is Christ. The written word gives us the description of all that we have in Christ.

Summary

The six pieces of the armor are set in an introversion. Now we can see the pattern and how it works. Girding loins with truth matches taking hold of the sword of the spirit. One is the living Word and the other is the written Word. The breastplate of righteousness is the protection of our hearts and the helmet of salvation is the protection of our heads. The goodness of the gospel of the mystery is balanced by the shield of faith.

All victory on an individual basis is accomplished as the body of Christ works together.

The practical application of the parts of the armor works in this fashion. If the Adversary is defeating us in a certain area of our life, we can go through all the pieces of the armor and determine which one we do not understand and which one we are not putting on. If we are putting on all of them, then we will be able to stand against ALL the wiles of the Devil. So it is logical that if we are being defeated, then we have not put on all the pieces. Remember the putting on has to be done with careful and thoughtful preparation as in going to a party. These principles also work not only for the individual, but also for the church as a unit. There is tremendous help here for counseling situations and deliverance ministry.

The last point to make regarding the armor of God that goes along with this careful “putting on” is that each piece needs to be put on with prayer. Ephesians 6:13 says, “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God..” and Ephesians 6:18 says, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.” The six parts of the armor are completed by the seventh element: prayer. Without prayer, even understanding every element of the armor, we will still be defeated. That is because prayer is what acknowledges that the armor comes from God and not from ourselves. Prayer is the catalyst that opens the way for God to energize the holy spirit in us and to provide the protection.

Putting on the armor of God is equal to putting on the Lord Jesus Christ and is equal to putting on the new man. This armor is an armor of light and with it in place, the works of darkness can be cast off. It is complete. There is no need of anything else. “We are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” “We are complete in Him” and all things are “under our feet” because we have the “power of HIS MIGHT”.

Appendix A

Translation from the Aramaic of Ephesians 6:10-18

Ephesians 6:10-18 10 From now on, my brothers, be strong in our Lord and in the immensity of his power 11 and put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the tactics of the Accuser, 12 because your struggle is not with flesh and blood, but with rulers and with authorities and with the possessors of this dark world and with the evil spirits that are under heaven. 13 Because of this, put on the whole armor of God, so that you will be able to engage the Evil [one] and, being prepared in everything, you will stand firm. 14 Therefore, stand and GIRD UP YOUR WAIST WITH TRUTHFULNESS and PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF JUSTIFICATION 15 and BIND [AS A SANDAL] ON YOUR FEET THE GOODNESS OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE. 16 And with these, take to you the shield of faith, by which you will be empowered with strength to quench all the fiery arrows of the Evil [one]. 17 And SET ON [YOUR HEAD] THE HELMET OF REDEMPTION and take hold of the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And with all prayers and with all petitions, pray at all times spiritually, and in prayer, be watchful in every season, praying continually and interceding for all the holy [ones],

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[1] Frangipane, Francis, The Three Battlegrounds, Cedar Rapids, IA: Arrow Publications, 1989, p.41.

[2] Ellicott, Charles, Layman’s Handy Bible Commentary on the Bible, Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1957, p. 228.

[3] Bullinger, E.W., Things to Come, January, 1914., Vol. 2, p. 2.

[4] Bullinger, E.W., Figures of Speech in the Bible, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1968, p. 565.