In Ephesians 6:16, we read about the fourth element of the spiritual armor of God, which is the shield of faith. Paul wrote that above all you should take the shield of faith, because with the shield of faith you shall quench every fiery dart of the wicked. What does the Bible say about the shield of faith? How do you take the shield of faith? What are the fiery darts of the wicked?
Above all, taking the shield of faith
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked (Ephesians 6:14-16)
When you have been made righteous in Jesus Christ and walk in obedience to the Word after the will of God, you shall walk by faith in the truth and in righteousness. You shall believe the Bible; the Word of God and do what the Word says and resist every lie and temptation of the devil. Because with the shield of faith, you shall quench every fiery dart of the devil.
The fiery darts of the wicked
The devil shoots daily his fiery darts at you and tries to hit you. He will do everything he can to enter your life, steal the words of God, and destroy you. The devil uses people and all kinds of natural means like television, (social) media, books, games, science, Eastern philosophy, education, etc. to accomplish his will and his mission and cause you to become apostate and leave the faith.
He even uses fellow believers and people, who are close to you, to accomplish his mission.
The devil is a liar and doesn’t have the best intentions for you, but the worst. He promises you the moon and stars, but if you believe his words and go his way and leave the words of God, you shall eventually find out that you have been deceived
At the beginning of the Bible, we already read about the devil’s tactics and how the devil tempted Adam and Eve with his deceiving words and wonderful promises.
The devil shot his fiery dart and hit the heart of man, causing man to doubt the words of God and leave His commandment.
All that God had given them was not enough, but they wanted more and that’s exactly what the devil promised them. But the promise of the devil eventually led to sin and death.
Since then, nothing has changed. The devil is still a liar and still speaks half-truths and doesn’t want the best, but the worst for mankind. He walks about seeking whom he can devour. His lies still lead to sin and death.
Only God speaks the truth and has the best intentions for mankind and His Word; His Truth leads to righteousness and eternal life.
The devil tempted Jesus to sin with his words
Jesus Christ knew that the Father has the best intentions for mankind and as the Firstborn of the new creation, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, walked by faith after the will of the Father.
Jesus trusted His Father and stayed obedient to the Father even unto His death and didn’t bow for the lies of the devil. Jesus stayed awake and the shield of faith quenched all the fiery darts of the wicked.
After Jesus was baptized in water and the Holy Spirit descended, Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit to the wilderness. During 40 days, the devil tried to tempt Jesus to sin. But the fiery darts of the devil, which were the words of the devil, found no place in His life (Read also: ‘I will give you the riches of the world‘).
The words of the devil didn’t cause Jesus to doubt the words of His Father, because Jesus knew the Father. Jesus was familiar with the words and the will of His Father and stayed obedient to His will and resisted the devil and so the devil left Jesus for a while.
The devil tried to tempt Jesus to sin through people and situations
Because after 40 days, when Jesus returned from the wilderness to preach and bring the Kingdom of God to the people and call them to repentance, the devil tried to tempt Jesus constantly, through the words and behavior of people.
But Jesus wasn’t tempted, nor by the words of the devil, nor by the words of people, nor by the behavior of people, nor by the situations.
Jesus stayed loyal to the words of His Father and walked in righteousness after the Spirit by faith, whereby Jesus was untouchable and the devil had nothing against Him and could not touch Him (John 14:30).
The devil wanted to take the place of God in His life, just like He had done with Adam, but the fear and love of Jesus Christ for His Father was so great and strong, that this love resisted everything and so He suffered the agony in obedience to the Father (Read also: ‘The suffering and mocking of Jesus Christ‘)
The devil thought he had defeated Jesus by his works, but through the love and obedience to God, the Father, Jesus defeated the devil by His work and rose as Victor from the dead (Read also: ‘The head of the devil bruised, because the heel of Jesus was bruised’).
Without faith, it is impossible to please God
But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).
Jesus pleased His Father through the faith He walked in. Through His words and works, which derived from the faith in His Father, Jesus brought the Kingdom of God to the people and established the Kingdom of God on earth (Read also: ‘Have faith in God‘).
Jesus didn’t walk after the flesh and wasn’t led by His senses, but Jesus walked by faith and was led by the words of God and the Holy Spirit. His faith and His faithfulness caused resistance and anger in many people, but they were not able to touch Him until God’s appointed time.
As born again believers, who are sons of God (males and females), we should also please God and that’s only possible by faith. Because without faith it is impossible to please God.
- By faith, we believe that God is the Creator of the heaven and the earth and all there is within (a.o. Genesis 1:1, Hebrew 11:3)
- By faith, we believe that His Word of God is the truth and stands forever (a.o. Psalms 119:89, 160, John 17:17).
- By faith, we receive the promise of the Holy Spirit (a.o. Luke 24:49, Galatians 3:14-22)
- By faith in God and the words of God, we believe that through regeneration in Christ, we are no longer sinners, but are justified and have been made righteous and holy (Romans 9:30; 10:4-6, Galatians 2:16, Galatians 2:16, Galatians 3, Ephesians 2:8, Philippians 3:9, 2 Timothy 3:15, 1 Peter 1:5)
- By faith, we know that we are children of God (a.o. Romans 8:16, Galatians 3:26)
- By faith, we have entered the Kingdom of God (a.o. Colossians 1:13-14)
- By faith, we know that we have access to the Father and we may come boldly before His throne (a.o. Romans 5:1-2, Ephesians 2:18; 3:12, Hebrews 4:16, 10:22)
- By faith, we shall live after the will of God (a.o. Hebrews 10:36, 1 Peter 4:2, 1 John 2:17)
- By faith, we shall be doers of the Word (a.o. Romans 2:13, James 1:22)
- By faith, we shall establish the law (a.o. Romans 3:31)
- By faith in God the Father and the Name of Jesus Christ we shall represent, preach and bring the Kingdom of God on this earth (Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15-18, Luke 24:47-48)
- By faith, we shall live and inherit the Kingdom of God during and after our life on earth (Habakkuk 2:4, Matthew 25:34, Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, Hebrew 6:12; 9:15; 10:38, Revelation 21:7)
Above all take the shield of faith
It is written, above all take the shield of faith. Because without faith, you don’t believe in the words of God and don’t believe that you are justified and are no longer a sinner. Without faith, you shall not walk in the truth of God and shall not obey and do the words of God in your life and you shall not preach the gospel of peace and therefore without faith all the other elements of the spiritual armor shall be useless.
Only by faith, you believe in the Word; Jesus Christ, and believe that you have been made righteousness and therefore you shall walk in righteousness in the truth after the will of God in His commandments and speak His truth.
All the works you do shall come forth from your faith in Him.
But if you say that you believe and that you have faith, but don’t have the works, which should derive from the faith, then your faith is dead and worthless (James 2:14-26).
There are two ways in life; the way of faith and the way of unbelief. You can either believe in the words of God and walk by faith after the Spirit or believe in the words of the world and walk by sight after the flesh (1 Corinthians 5:7)
The devil tried to tempt Jesus first with his words, then the devil used people and situations to tempt Jesus to sin, but Jesus persevered in His faith in God.
The wicked shoots fiery darts at you
When you are born again in Christ and have become a new creation in Him, you belong to Him and have become an enemy of the devil. You are in spiritual warfare and the devil shall constantly shoot his fiery darts at you and tempt you to sin, so that you become disobedient to the words of God and leave the faith.
He shall try to mislead and tempt you with his words, so that you shall doubt the words of God and His Truth.
He shall use all kinds of means to form your mind after his will and take possession of your heart, so that you become disobedient to the words of God and believe his words instead and yield to his words and walk after his words.
And if the devil doesn’t succeed to tempt you with his words, he shall shoot his fiery darts through means of situations at you, to tempt you to sin.
He shall cause problems, difficulties, and/or persecution, so that you will leave the words of God and leave His way and become unfaithful to Him and follow the words of the world and go the way of the world instead.
He shall tempt you in the flesh with all kinds of carnal lusts and desires, like power, riches, women, or men and as long as you stay carnal and walk after the flesh, he shall succeed and gain his victory.
The shield of faith quenches all the fiery darts
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth Him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith (1 John 5:1-4)
Only by your love and faith in God and Jesus Christ; the Word and your walk after the Spirit, you shall be able to resist the devil and with the shield of faith quench every fiery dart of the devil and stand, so that you (eventually) be victorious and be an overcomer, just like Jesus.
Many prophets in the Old Covenant got into trouble and were persecuted because of their faith in God and their faithfulness to the words of God and ended up in captivity or were killed, just like the many disciples of Jesus Christ in the New Covenant, who were killed because of their faith in Jesus Christ and their loyalty to God the Father.
They all had one thing in common and that was their love for God and Jesus Christ; the Word. They followed Jesus Christ and obeyed His commandments and walked after the will of God and didn’t compromise, but they persevered by faith and held on to the Word.
With the shield of faith, they quenched all the fiery darts of the devil and finished their fight of faith.
According to the standards of the world, they were losers, but according to the standards of God, they were victorious in Jesus Christ. Because they didn’t bow to the devil and his lies, but they discerned his words and works and didn’t allow his fiery darts to harm them and cause separation between them and God.
By faith in God and Jesus Christ, they stayed untouchable and became victorious and overcame the world and the ruler of this world; the devil (Hebrews 11:35-40).
‘Be the salt of the earth’
