Every war reminds us that this world knows very little peace. This world has seen over 250 wars since World War II ended only 75 years ago, and God only knows where we are heading in this present crisis. War is rooted in the fallen nature of mankind. In fact, war is found in every human heart. Only the grace of God restrains us from the impulses that ignite a war on a large scale. War is a temporary judgement from God, when He hands nations over to each other.
Last time we learned from Ephesians 6:10-12 that there is a war of even greater proportion than all the wars that we see and hear of. It is a war led by Satan, the arch-rebel against God. He leads an army of spiritual authorities, rulers, cosmic powers – spiritual forces of evil in this world, PRIMARILY against the work of God. His ultimate agenda is to root out the bride of Christ, the church. In pursuit of this he conducts a scorched earth policy. In this he acts like king Herod, who when he heard that that a King would be born, eliminated all baby boys at that time[1]. Satan does not have insight as to who the members of the church of Jesus are. There are many who have not yet responded to the gospel call, and so, in anticipation of that, he conducts this scorched earth policy to eliminate God’s people. In countries where he has the leaders in his absolute control[2], the church is non-existent at face value, but thankfully not to God, who keeps His underground church alive (Revelation 12). Satan has been doing this for a long time. He and his demonic team is expert at subduing the work of God.
Don’t take your Christian freedoms for granted.
We are called to
engage and resist Satan and his invisible host of evil.
But how do you fight this invisible and formidable enemy? Certainly not with conventional guns and bombs. We must now proceed to
take a good look at the battle gear – the full armour of God!
FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLES REGARDING THE ARMOUR
“… put on the full
armour of God, so that you can take your stand
against the devil’s schemes”. Previously we have learned that we need to be strong, not in ourselves,
but in the Lord. We are called to put on the WHOLE armour OF God.
At the time of his writing Paul was a prisoner in Rome[3]. He was constantly surrounded by Roman soldiers. The image of a Roman soldier helps him to make his analogy to the Christian’s armour. Paul details six main pieces of the Roman soldier's armour: the belt, the breastplate, the boots, the shield, the helmet, and the sword. These pieces illustrate the various uses of the Christian soldier's armour. These six pieces protect the Christian soldier fully against Satan’s methods.
Please note that 5 parts of the armour are defensive. Only the last part of the
Christian’s armour is offensive: the
Word of God.
1. THE BELT OF TRUTH
BUCKLED AROUND YOUR WAIST
Men and also soldiers in those days wore long loose garments. This is not very practical when you have to move rapidly. So they had a belt. They would pull up their long garment and fasten it by means of the belt. The belt held everything in place. So we see that the belt is a foundational garment. Paul thinks of this belt as ‘truth’. Truth is foundational. Truth is that which holds everything together. Without truth in our inner being, in our society, in the church, in politics, in the nation, in the world, everything hangs loose and causes us eventually to stumble. Such is the profundity of the picture here before us.
Satan’s most basic strategy is to distort and dilute the truth. He wants people to believe that there is no such thing as absolute truth. He has worked hard in this modern world to make us believe that it is not politically correct to hold to absolute convictions. For this reason, Satan is the father of atheism – there is no God! In this world which he controls itis wrong to say that Jesus Christ is the only Saviour of the world.
Since the 19th century he persuaded many, in the name of science to say that it is wrong to say that God created the world.
In the 20th century it became wrong to question certain sexual inclinations.
In the 21st century it became wrong to say that there are only 2 genders, and countries like Canada have made it now a punishable crime to persuade people otherwise.
The very existence of absolute truth has been questioned. It is very common now, in response to the question, “what is truth?” - to find people saying, “truth is what is right for me”. What are they ultimately saying? They are saying, “Ultimately, I am the final measure of truth”. Can you see what that sort of reasoning leads to? The world becomes ‘me-centered’.
The biblical
worldview is God-centered. Truth is rooted in outside of me. Historic
Christianity has always understood
that God determines truth. At the
center of the Christian faith is a God who has spoken truthfully through
prophets, apostles, and who has finally
spoken through His Son! (Hebr.
1:1-3). The truth about truth is that truth does not change, because truth
is rooted in the God who is perfect.
James 1:17 says, “God does not
change like the shifting shadows”.
Saul once tried to
convince Samuel that God might be changing His mind about a few things.
Samuel's answer is clear: "He who is the glory of Israel does not lie
or change His mind; for He is not a man, that He should change His mind."
(1 Sam 15:29)
God's plans do not
need to be changed or revised like ours. The Bible needs no revision. “Forever O LORD, your word is firmly fixed
in the heavens.” (Ps. 119:89). The
Word of God is perfect (Ps. 19:7),
authoritative, reliable and a sufficient source of wisdom and guidance for all
generations living in this broken world. So, let
God be true and every man a liar (Rom.
3:4)!
Ever since the beginning of creation, Satan, the deceiver, the father of all lies, the devil, has sought to discredit God and His absolute truth. In the garden of Eden he tempted Eve with the subtle question: “Has God really said?” ... as if to imply that God could be wrong, or that God wasn’t clear in His command, or as if God could possible change his mind.
Do you see the results of such subtle reasoning? If God were double minded, or changeable, then we must be prepared to say that truth can also change. It is imperative that we must hold on to the nature of eternal truth as it is proclaimed in the Bible. In order to stand against Satan, we desperately need this foundational standard of truth hidden in our heart and manifested in our lives!
How does TRUTH defeat the enemy?
Truth opposes and defeats Satan's essential nature and designs. Jesus says this about Satan,
"He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." Jn. 8:44.
Speaking truth is like switching on light. When
the light is switched on, the darkness vanishes. Whenever truth prevails,
Satan’s power is eclipsed. Can you now see why as Christians we can give the
devil a foothold by lying? Can you see why lying is so frequently mentioned
among the list of contemptible sins that weaken the body and the cause of
Christ? Truth is foundational. Make sure that your life is built on and around
the truth of God’s Word.
The
soldier’s breastplate (Gr. thorax),
refers to the armour covering the body from the neck down to the lower abdomen,
front and back. The breastplate covers the vital and vulnerable organs (heart,
lungs, bowels etc.) of the Roman soldier.
We must apply this now to the Christian’s soldiers’ armour - the
breastplate of righteousness. From
a biblical perspective, the heart and the bowels, kidneys are seen as the seat of the emotions – our
personality, who we are. Feelings and emotions are God-given, and as such we
need to thank Him for these. However, we must constantly remember that our
feelings and emotions often waver between the godly and ungodly realm. If we
keep our feelings and emotions Christ- centred, Satan will not find a way into
your personality. But as soon as we let them range freely, we become
vulnerable. Remember then that
Satan
seeks to attack us in our inner being - in the realm of our desires, emotions,
feelings. The antidote to this satanic
attack is to put on the breastplate of righteousness.
The
word righteousness
needs to be understood. It refers to the character or quality of being
‘right and just’, hence it has to do
with integrity. An important question arises at this point. Are we able to
resist Satan by our own inherent righteousness? This needs very careful
consideration! We will now consider the twin concepts of ‘imputed righteousness’ and ‘imparted
righteousness’.
1. Imputed righteousness: For this battle much more than our own moral righteousness or integrity is needed. We have repeatedly stressed the fact, that it is the armour of God which is needed to stand and withstand against Satan. So, we cannot presume upon our own righteousness. We need “the righteousness that comes from God”. We don’t have to search the Scriptures for long before we find this concept. The letter to the Romans is filled with it. It is one of the great themes of Romans: see Romans 1:17, 3:21, 22 and Romans 4 where the imputed righteousness of God to Abraham is discussed. It is a righteousness from God. It is also sometimes called an alien righteousness because it is given or imputed to us from the outside.
We find the same idea in Philippians 3 where the apostle Paul argues that “we should put no confidence in the flesh” (3:3) i.e. we should not be ‘self–righteous’. It isn’t as if Paul had no reason to boast. After all, he had great credentials (Phil. 3:4b – 6). He had every reason to be humanly confident and self- righteous. But he rejects such a false basis of confidence and self-righteousness. Listen to what he says in Phil. 3:8,9: “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.”
Here’s the vital point: It is that righteousness of Christ which is given (imputed/credited) to us, which alone helps us to withstand Satan and his evil forces. Our own righteousness does not impress Satan. Our own claims of righteousness cause Satan to laugh, for the truth is that, “no one is righteous – not even one” (Rom.3:10). But Satan has no answer to the righteousness which we receive from Christ. Here is a great theological truth which needs to be firmly grasped. We need to begin the battle here, by understanding and applying the imputed righteousness of Christ. This is what guards our inner life and our whole person. This is the breastplate of righteousness. This does not mean that we must deny our responsibility to act righteously.
2. We need to use our imparted righteousness: We cannot stop at imputed righteousness. We begin there, but we do not end there. We are righteous in Christ – thank God. But we must act righteously too! It is the flip side of the coin! God does not only declare me righteous in Christ, He has also given me the power to live a righteous life through faith in Christ (2Peter 1:3ff). By the help of the indwelling Holy Spirit I am able to resist Satan by choosing not to sin.
CONCLUSION
1.
We have learned
that standing on the truth destroys
Satan’s work.
2. We have learned that we must stand on our imputed righteousness and use our imparted righteousness in order to resist Satan.
Satan has no answer to these parts of the Christian’s armour.
We are very vulnerable in the realm of truth and righteousness.
Make sure therefore that you understand HOW to stand against Satan’s schemes or methods
Be radically committed to the truth as it is in Jesus, according to His written Word.
Be sure to stand in His righteousness alone.
Live out that righteousness.
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