The Weapons of Our Warfare

Are we equipped with all the weapons of God so that evil forces cannot touch us? Are we safe with all the armour that God provides? ‘Soldiers of Christ arise and put your armour on, strong in the strength which God supplies through His eternal Son’, says the old hymn. The apostle Paul speaks of putting the whole armour of God in Ephesians 6:10-20.

We must have the belt of truth. If we compromise and fail to speak the truth that our Lord Jesus would speak, the devil will take full advantage to bring destruction and evil. I confess it challenges me to speak truth when I know it might bring conflict in relationships with others.

We are told to have the protective breastplate of righteousness. To me that means the assurance that my sins are fully forgiven by Jesus and that He paid the price for them at the cross. How often I have reminded others of this reassuring verse and stood on it in faith for myself, ‘If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness’ (1 John 1:9).

We are to have our feet fitted with the readiness to share the gospel of peace in Jesus. We are also to have a shield of faith to ward off the fiery arrows from the evil one who wants to destroy our faith. And we are to have a helmet of salvation on our heads.

All the pieces of armour referred to speak of our unshakeable confidence in Jesus being our Lord and Saviour and they are our protection from danger. But there are times when we need to do more than stand strong. We need to confront the enemy of our souls with the weapons God gives to us. As David did, when Goliath threatened to annihilate the army of Israel, we need to proclaim our spiritual authority. David boldly proclaimed that he came against Goliath in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of angel armies. He knew he was called to be God’s representative (1 Samuel 17).

We are now in the position of taking ‘the sword of the Spirit, the word of God’ to fight against the powers of darkness. We come against these powers in the name of Jesus, the name above all names, the King of kings and Lord of lords. David represented God Almighty, and we represent our Lord Jesus.

The word of God gives us weapons of repentance of sins, forgiveness of others, praise and worship, thanksgiving, prayers of intercession, an attitude of humility and willingness to learn, giving and receiving love with our brothers and sisters, to name a few. Reading the Bible every day reminds us how to follow Jesus and keeps us on the right track, always revealing fresh inspiration from the Holy Spirit.