Most of us have heard about elements of the ‘armor of God’ but we may never have looked deeply into each individual piece of the armor. The armor of God isn’t a literal outfit of armor but a practical applications of the gospel to our lives. It really has to do with our obedience and our appreciation of the gospel in our lives. You remember the old hymn says, “Put on the gospel armor, / Each piece put on with prayer,” and that’s what we’re trying to do in this series.
It may seem odd to us that we need to put on armor of any type as we live in a society where we don’t have to suit up for battle, but we can often forget that a spiritual battle wages around us every day, and if we don’t put on our armor, we leave ourselves and our families in a vulnerable position on the spiritual battlefield.
Paul pictures the believer in the heat of battle. The air is thick with flaming arrows that had been dipped in pitch and set on fire. It’s a life and death situation. How will he survive? Paul’s answer is (Eph. 6:16), “In addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” He means, “the shield, which is faith.” When the enemy attacks, believers are to trust in God and His sure promises to block and quench the flaming arrows.
