How To Put On And Step Out With The Whole Armor Of God

When the Bible speaks of putting on the whole armor of God, what does that mean? The second question we must ask is what is its purpose? Why do we need this armor? These are the questions that we are endeavoring to answer today. One gentleman wrote asking this second question using different words. He asked, ‘Is the Church an attacking force, or a fortress to be defended?’ He answered his own question by stating that the Bible declares that the weapons of the Christian pull down strongholds (2 Cor. 10:4). The gates of the stronghold of hell cannot hold out against a properly dressed believer. Why have we developed a defensive, fortress, holy huddle mentality? How do we change this nonbiblical mindset? For certain, we must change it if the Church is going to extend the Lordship of Christ over the darkness of Satan’s stronghold. Our actions are determined by our currently dominant thoughts. If we visualize the Church as a fortress, our strategy, our vision, and our measurements of success will reflect that perception. Is the Church a haven until Heaven, a refuge until the rapture?¹. Those are good questions. We are homing in today on this incredible armor that the Lord has provided for us. How To Put On and Step Out with the Whole Armor Of God. That’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

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Study these individual pieces of armor and maintain the spiritual attitudes that they represent.

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Question: How has your prayer life changed since you have practiced God’s Word and put on the whole armor of God? Share your story in the comments section below.

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We are currently teaching in the book of Ephesians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 45 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. He and his wife Sharon of 40 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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Podcast Notes

The Whole Armor of God: Overview

Ephesians 6:11–20 (ESV): — 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

It’s vital before we dive into the individual pieces of armor to pull back and look at the complete picture of what the Spirit of God is trying to communicate to us via the Apostle Paul.
That is why we read the entire passage, so you get a feel for the context under discussion.
Let’s see if we can grasp the flow here.
Start out by noting the word ‘stand:’ put on the whole armor of God, all the individual pieces described, that you may stand.
Look at how many times the word ‘stand’ appears in these ten verses.
You will find the word ‘stand’ referenced in verse 11, verse 13, and verse 14.
We put on the armor of God so we can stand.
We have this ‘armor putting on’ directive because of the enemy that we face, and we get dressed by putting on these individual pieces so that we can stand.
The question we should all be asking at this point is, ‘why are we having to stand?’ — or ‘what are we standing for?’
Or, what is all this standing about?
I said that several ways for effect.
We get a clue about this starting in verse eighteen: praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.
Let’s pull all of this together and get the picture: here you are — you’re a soldier, you’re getting dressed.
I hope you are not intending to fight without your armor.
You are going to engage the enemy; you are going to fight and withstand.
I hope you’re not going to the battle dressed in a ballerina outfit.
No, you need to be dressed for combat and conflict.
That means you look like a soldier, you’re outfitted as a soldier.
So, here you are, you have on your belt, the belt of truth.
You have put on the breastplate of righteousness.
Your shoes are on your feet — the gospel of peace size 9.5.
The shield of faith is in your left hand.
In the right hand, you have the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
To top it off, you have your helmet — the helmet of salvation.
You are dressed for battle — your armor is right and tight — you have it going on.
What’s the first activity a Christian soldier engages in after he gets dressed?
Well, it’s not for a photo op.
Verse eighteen tells us what our first is: prayer.
So then, this armor has a strong connection to the prayer life.
We are not getting dressed to be seen but to serve.
We are supposed to do something with this armor, like the opening illustration we shared.

The Whole Armor of God: God’s Clothes

There is something extraordinarily special about this armor — these individual pieces, the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the gospel of peace as shoes for your feet, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit.
Listen to this passage in Isaiah and get ready to shout.

Isaiah 59:15–19 (ESV) — 15 Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice. 16 He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him. 17 He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak. 18 According to their deeds, so will he repay, wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies; to the coastlands he will render repayment. 19 So they shall fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun; for he will come like a rushing stream, which the wind of the LORD drives.

This armor mentioned here in Ephesians six is no ordinary suit of clothes.
This is God’s wardrobe — this is what He wears.
When God said to put on the whole armor of God, He is inviting you into His closet and inviting you to wear his clothes.
Wow!
God put on the breastplate of righteousness, and he is saying to you, that you should wear it as well.
Put on the helmet of salvation — that’s God’s hat — the one he wears — He is saying put it on.
Here is the tremendous truth about God’s clothes.
One size fits all!
It doesn’t matter who you are, or who you may think you’re not.
If you have just got saved, don’t worry about it — get dressed — put on God’s clothes.

The Whole Armor of God: Definitions

Now it would help us define some words: let’s start in verse 11.

11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

There are four words that we want to look at, and know what they mean in verse eleven: the words ‘put on’, the word ‘whole’, stand, and schemes.
And, with that thought, here is the Definition of the Day.

The Whole Armor of God: The Words ‘Put On’

The first word we want to look at is the word ‘put on.’
This word means to dress, to put on apparel, to clothe.
The verb is an imperative meaning it’s a commandment and since we are talking about armor and battle here, this is a military command.
The response to which should be, ‘yes sir.’
This is a humbling thing really because it means that outside of this God armor, you are not that good in a fight.
You need this armor — you need to put it on. – you need to clothe yourself in these pieces.
So, if we said, ‘dress in the armor of God’, that would also be absolutely right on and just another way of saying the same thing.
This is the armor of God and with that thought, here is the Quote of the Day.

Others state that, considering the OT background of this term, it is difficult to escape the impression that this phrase also refers to the armor God wears. [AB, IB, Rob, St, TD, TNTC, WBC; NJB (note)]. The picture is that God gives parts of his own personal armor to the believer [TD]².

The Whole Armor of God: The Word ‘Whole’

The second word is the word ‘whole’ — put on the ‘whole armor of God.
The word ‘whole’ is the word ‘panopli’, from pan, “all,” and oplon, “armor” — so ‘all armor.’
In classical Greek, they used it [this word to describe the] full armor of a heavily-armed soldier³.
The word ‘whole is a vitally important word when we come to talk about these pieces of armor.
The scripture did not say to put on one or two pieces of this armor of God — it said put it ‘pan’ — put it all on – the whole of it or all of it.
Put on the whole armor, which shows that ‘all the armor’ works better than ‘some of the armor.’
It shows that it linked these individual pieces of armor to each another and that you need to put all of it on for the armor to yield its complete benefits in a believer’s life.
So, you need more than the sword of the Spirit and the shield of faith.
You may favor those particular pieces of armor — but you need all the armor in place, not just your favorites.
The helmet of salvation, however elementary you may think this piece is, must find its home on your head along with the sword and the shield.
The breastplate of righteousness must be firmly in place over your heart along with the helmet of salvation.
Your size 9.5 gospel shoes of peace [or whatever your size may be] must fit snugly on your feet.
I say snugly because you don’t want these shoes to come flying off your feet when you get into the thick of things.
It’s no fun being barefooted in the middle of a fight.
These pieces the Apostle Paul mentions form the ‘whole’ of the armor of God and they function as one.
Keeping the helmet of salvation in place requires the breastplate of righteousness or an understanding of what righteousness is.
I mean, you can get into some battles where the enemy will try to make you feel you are even a child of God.
The Shield of Faith is a spiritual attitude where you understand that your trust is in the Lord and in His Word.
But faith is not just a defensive shield — it can also be offensive for you see it’s part of using the Sword of the Spirit.
The Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God and we know that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
That’s Romans ten and verse seventeen.
So, we should understand what these pieces of armor are.
They are spiritual attitudes that a believer must maintain.
How do you maintain it?
You feed along these lines.
There is certainly value in studying these pieces individually — just ask any doctor.
They can study the human body by its individual parts.
We can study the heart — we can study the functioning of the lungs — we can study the liver, but that they all work together is what makes the human anatomy such a marvelous God creation.
The same principle with the armor of God — we can study the individual pieces, but it’s putting on the ‘whole armor that yields ultimate effectiveness.
Putting on the whole armor means that you are not lacking in the spiritual comprehension you need to having done all to stand – stand.

The Whole Armor of God: The Word ‘Stand’

Now, let’s look at the next vital word in verse eleven, which is the word ‘stand.’
Put on the whole armor of God that you may stand.
The Greek word ‘stand’ means to cause to be in place or position.
Implying that if you are missing individual pieces of armor, you could end up at the end of your battle out of place — that is, moved off of your position.
Standing is an essential Christian virtue.
It is a key ability in the realm of God.
Jesus’ followers are to stand firm, stand fast, stand mature, and having done all to stand, stand.
First, we have ‘standing firm.’

1 Corinthians 16:13–14 (ESV) — 13 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done in love.

Follow this verse up with Isaiah chapter seven.

Isaiah 7:9 (ESV) — 9 And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.’ ”

Standing firm is part of the faith life.
Next, we have standing fast.

1 Thessalonians 3:8 (ESV) — 8 For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord.

Our position against the enemy is one of standing against not cowering before.
We fear no devils.
We stand with our feet locked in the concrete of God’s Word.
Moving off our position in Christ is not even in our thinking.
Retreat is foreign to us because we have on the whole armor of God.
We occupy until He comes — we know this pleases Him.
And we say all of this, and speak in these terms with reverence and respect.

Romans 11:20 (ESV) — 20 That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear.

With Bible promises that the God who cannot lie has granted us, we latch onto those with the tenacity of a bulldog.
We refuse to let go — we refuse to tap out — we refuse to give in.
Jesus’ followers know this about Jesus’ words.

Mark 13:31 (ESV) — 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

We take this attitude to life’s fight and we win.
Next, we stand mature.

Colossians 4:12 (ESV) — 12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.

We stand mature, seasoned in the things of God.
Use has exercised our senses or, as the scriptures state, by ‘reason of use.’

Hebrews 5:14 (KJV 1900) — 14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

We chew on the strong meat of God’s Word — meditating on it day and night — working with the Word; establishing a solid rock foundation by putting His Word into operation and allowing His Word and His Spirit to gain our victory.
We are not just taxiing on the runway waiting to take off.
No, we are barreling down the runway because we own that piece of real estate in Christ Jesus.
Are you out there or have you gone home?
I’m serious — stop whimpering.
Quit complaining — put on your gospel suit of clothes — your armor, and stand.
Glory to God.
That’s standing.

The Whole Armor of God: The Word ‘Schemes’

The Greek for ‘schemes’ means wiles or stratagems.
It is where we get the English word method.
Method is a way of doing something, especially in a systematic way; implies an orderly, logical arrangement (usually in steps).
Rick Renner, in his book ‘Dressed to Kill,’ said the word method means simply ‘with a road.’
The enemy has no creative ability.
He cannot say as the Lord does ‘behold, I do a new thing.’

Isaiah 43:19 (ESV) — 19 Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

He has no way of doing anything new.
All he does is rehash the same trash he’s always been putting out.
He walks on a single broad road with His methods.
Because of this, we can say as the Apostle Paul said in Second Corinthians two.

2 Corinthians 2:8–11 (ESV) — 8 So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. 9 For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. 10 Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, 11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.

The word ignorant means to be uninformed, to be unaware, to not understand.
We are not ignorant because we have had plenty of time to see the same thing keep popping up repeatedly.
The word ‘designs’ means design, purpose, or intention ⁴
The word literally means ‘mind games.’
The church, the body of Christ, the individual believer in that body of Christ — speaking about you – is not ignorant of Satan’s mind games.
It’s mind games — that’s all he has.
Mind games whereby he tries to get you to lower your faith shield.
Mind games where he tries to talk you out of using your sword.
Mind games where he tells you that it is no use believing God because He won’t hear you.
It’s all lies because he is a liar and the father of them.
He is the head liar — the biggest one in the bunch.
Mind games, devices — we are not uninformed, we are aware, and we indeed understand because the Mighty Holy Spirit is at work in us giving us wisdom and revelation from heaven.
Again, the armor of God is spiritual attitudes that a Jesus believer must maintain.
We maintain them — we put on God’s clothes and we having done all to stand — we stand.
And, there is nothing the enemy can do about it — we win!

The Armor of God: Refuse to Relax

Let’s drop to verse thirteen as we get ready to close.

Ephesians 6:13 (ESV) — 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

The words ‘take up the whole of armor of God’ is a command given with military snap and curtness.
It’s a command to be obeyed at once and once for all.
The Christian is to take up and put on all the armor of God as a once-for-all act and keep that armor on during the entire course of his life, not relaxing the discipline necessary for the constant use of such protection.
The historian, Gibbon, relates how the relaxation of discipline and the disuse of exercise rendered soldiers less willing and less able to support the fatigue of the service. They complained about the weight of their armor and got permission to lay aside their cuirasses and helmets.⁵
We are not relaxing in this fight — we are refusing to complain about the way the Spirit of God is leading us.
He understands the path that I take.
God crafted this way — He laid out the path — He understood the journey, and He promised us no weapon formed against us will prosper, and that there was no temptation that we would face that we could not overcome.
And, He provided us a suit of clothes that He Himself has worn and proven — clothes out of His own closet, a powerful Mighty through God armor that simply gets the job done.
Because of that, we refuse to relax — we reject — we dismiss the thought of quitting, laying down or backing up.
No! — we will stand!
And having done all to stand, we continue to stand and win.

Now, Father God, in the precious Name of Jesus, thank you for this armor. Thank you for making them available to us to wear. We put them on because we know you are a God that cannot lie. These clothes get the job done — thank you for them right now. We wear them boldly; we wear them proudly — we are your church — your body and your hand in the earth. Thank for all of this in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

You guys have a great God week, and we will see you next time for another edition of Light on Life.

__________
References:

Are You Leaving Your Home Naked?

Discipleship Journal, Issue 32 (March/April 1986) (NavPress, 1986) ↩
Exegetical Summary of Ephesians ↩
Wuest ↩
William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 675. ↩
Wuest’s Word Studies in the Greek New Testament ↩

emeryhorvath.com

Equipping people to pursue God's glory

How To Put On And Step Out With The Whole Armor Of God

Podcast: Light on Life Season Ten Episode Seven

by Emery Horvath

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download |Subscribe in PlayerFM

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources:

We are currently teaching in the book of Ephesians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Podcast Notes

The Whole Armor of God: Overview

The Whole Armor of God: God’s Clothes

The Whole Armor of God: Definitions

The Whole Armor of God: The Words ‘Put On’

The Whole Armor of God: The Word ‘Whole’

The Whole Armor of God: The Word ‘Stand’

The Whole Armor of God: The Word ‘Schemes’

The Armor of God: Refuse to Relax

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download |Subscribe in PlayerFM

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources:

We are currently teaching in the book of Ephesians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Podcast Notes

The Whole Armor of God: Overview

The Whole Armor of God: God’s Clothes

The Whole Armor of God: Definitions

The Whole Armor of God: The Words ‘Put On’

The Whole Armor of God: The Word ‘Whole’

The Whole Armor of God: The Word ‘Stand’

The Whole Armor of God: The Word ‘Schemes’

The Armor of God: Refuse to Relax

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