The purpose of the armor of God is to stand against the wiles of the devil and withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Because you don’t wrestle against flesh and blood (people), but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. What does Ephesians 6:11-13 mean?
We are living in the evil day
When we look around us, we see that we live in the evil day. The faithfulness to God and the love for God decreases and the ungodliness (wickedness) increases. But this already happened in the days of the apostles.
In the days of the apostles the devil also went about stealing, seeking whom he could tempt with his lies and doctrines, renouncing God, and destroying people (John 10:10, 1 Peter 5:8). Because that was the mission of the devil and that is still the mission of the devil. Since his nature and will have not changed.
Although the message in many churches have been changed by people, the truth of God and His Word never changes.
As the day of Jesus’ return is approaching, the devil becomes grimmer, because he knows that his end is near.
The devil knows what his final destination and the final destinations of all the adversaries of God will be. That’s why the devil victimizes as many people as possible and take them with him into the eternal lake of fire.
How does the devil victimize people? By tempting people in the flesh and letting their flesh reign as king in their lives. Because as long as the flesh reigns as king in the lives of people, people shall obey and serve the devil instead of God. (Read also: ‘The power of the devil is powered by sin’)
The Bible (the Word of God) teaches how you can stand against the wiles of the devil and stand in the evil day, and that’s by putting on the whole armor of God.
How do you put on the armor of God?
You put on the armor of God by putting on Christ. What does this mean? When you are baptized and born again in Christ, you have put on Christ and are clothed with the spiritual armor of God, which is also your priestly garment. This change in the spiritual realm shall become visible in the natural realm. You shall put off the old man, who has the nature of the devil, and put on the new man, who is created after the image of God.
For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Galatians 3:26-27)
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God (Romans 6:12-13).
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 (Romans 13:12-14).
When you become born again, you are transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of God. You are no longer a servant of the kingdom of darkness and don’t serve the devil anymore. Therefore you shall no longer put your members as weapons of unrighteousness (weapons of darkness) unto sin.
Instead, you have become a servant of the Kingdom of God and you shall serve God. Therefore you shall put your members as weapons of righteousness (weapons of the light) unto God. (Read also: ‘The armor of light’ and ‘The armor of darkness‘)
How do you wear the armor of God?
As long as you stay in Jesus Christ; the Word, you are clothed with the spiritual armor of God. You are saved in Him by His blood (helmet of salvation), you have been made righteous in Him. Therefore you shall do works of righteousness (breastplate of righteousness), you shall walk in the truth of the Word and speak the truth (loins girt with the truth), you shall walk by faith in the Word, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked (shield of faith).
With and through the Word of God, which is your spiritual Sword (the Sword of the Spirit), you divide asunder your soul and spirit and tear down every stronghold of the devil in your mind and around you.
You shall preach and bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people (feed shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace).
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, watching with all perseverance and supplication for all saints, that utterance may be given to them. So that they will make known the mystery of the gospel and speak boldly as they ought to speak. That’s the purpose of the armor of God and how you wear the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-20).
You don’t put on and put off the spiritual armor of God, but you’re always clothed with the spiritual armor of God. Leastwise, as long as you stay in Christ and walk after the Spirit. Because when you leave Christ and trust and rely upon your flesh, it won’t be long before the devil deceives you with his lies.
Without the spiritual armor of God, you are not able to stand against the wiles of the devil and you shall not be able to stand in the evil day. Why do you have to withstand the temptations of the devil and be able to stand in the evil day? So that you will stay obedient to God and His Word and don’t become disobedient to God and His Word and sin.
The devil will try everything he can to keep you away from the Word, to steal the Word from your heart, and to make you enter sideways, which will lead you to destruction. He shall do everything he can to keep you in his power so that you stay disobedient to God and His Word.
The devil can tempt you to sin, but can’t make you sin
Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:20-21)
Unfortunately, not many Christians study the Word for themselves. Therefore, they don’t know the true meaning of the cross, who they are in Christ, and what authority they have received as the new creation in Him. They stay ignorant and through the lies of the devil, they stay in the bondage of sin and death. They don’t know how to be redeemed from sin. They stay the old man and live as slaves of the devil, sometimes even until the day that they die.
But the truth is, that you have been given in Jesus Christ all authority in heaven and on earth to establish the Kingdom of God on earth and withstand the wiles of the devil.
The power of Jesus Christ is greater than the power of the devil.
The devil can tempt you to sin, but the devil can’t force you to sin.
Jesus was the Firstborn of the new creation, and loved God so much and knew His Father so well, that when the devil tried to tempt Jesus with promises from God’s Word, He didn’t give in to his temptations. (Read also: ‘I will give you the riches of the earth’).
Jesus was tempted by the devil all the time. Therefore Jesus is able to enter experientially into a fellow feeling with our infirmities because He was tempted and tested in all points just as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15-16)
You are the one, who decides to follow the example of Adam (the old man) or to follow the example of Jesus (the new man).
You decide whose words you believe and who you will serve: Jesus, who reigns in the spirit or the devil, who reigns in the flesh. There is only one, who can reign in your life and you decide, who it’s gonna be. (Read also: ‘Whose slave are you?’)
The old man blames it on the devil
The old man never wants to take responsibility for their actions, mistakes, or failures, but always blames others Many people blame the devil for their sins, but that’s not right. Because it’s not a secret, that we have an adversary; the devil, but a fact, because the Word has revealed it. That the devil tries to tempt people should not be a surprise either, because the Word has also made that known to us.
The Word kept nothing hidden but has revealed everything what people need to know about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the way of salvation, and to live holy lives unto God. But because many Christians don’t read and study the Bible and don’t know the Word they stay ignorant. Through their lack of knowledge of God’s Word and their ignorance the devil and his army can continue their destructive works in the lives of people without any interference
The devil works in the flesh and the Word says, among others, that the temptations come forth through the desires of the flesh (James 1:13-15).
Therefore, as long as the flesh reigns as king in the lives of people and the people stay carnal and walk after the flesh, the temptations shall always be present.
As long as people listen to their carnal lusts and obey their lusts, they shall walk in sin.
Is the devil responsible for that? No, since after the coming of Jesus Christ and after His death and resurrection, people have a choice, and have received authority and power to lay down the old man (the flesh) and put on the new man (spirit) and walk as sons of God after the Spirit.
People decide, through their will, to obey the devil and give in to the temptations, which will bring forth sin and eventually death or to not obey the devil.
The people can blame the devil, or even blame God, but the truth is that no one is responsible than the people themselves.
That’s why, it’s important to repent and become born again, so that your spirit will be raised from the dead and you become a new creation. As soon as you become a new creation it’s time to renew your mind with the Word of God, so that you will get to know the Word and the Truth and shall obey the Word. You shall become a doer of the Word and walk in faith after the Spirit in the will of God and are clothed with the spiritual armor of God and be untouchable.
‘Be the salt of the earth’
