Ephesians 6:16-17

Day 60

“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.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:16-17

The Shield of Faith
Faith dominates the opening three chapters of Ephesians.  There, Paul described the nature of saving faith, believing in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.  Paul pointed to the particular beauty of the Gospel that God maximizes the praise of His glory through His Son when sinners believe in Christ.  In addition to saving faith, the New Testament also affirms daily faith.  This faith sustains us in our daily walk with God.  We can trust God to provide for our needs and to grant us sufficient strength to fulfill His calling on our lives.  The devil’s deception surely includes our doubts due to our insufficiency.  The devil certainly wants believers to question whether God cares.  The devil cast doubts on us to try to convince us that even if God cares, maybe He isn’t big enough or strong enough to help us in our needs.  The adversary shoots flaming arrows at believers.  We are called to stand firm with our shields up.  The specific protection is the shield of faith.  May this be a reminder that God is enough.  He cares.  He knows about our struggles.  He is big enough to help us.  “Protection from attack is an expression of the Lord’s love and care for his people.  Faith, trust, or confidence in God’s loving care is the effective defensive protection that will keep believers safe from attack.” (PNTC, Campbell)

The Helmet of Salvation
The helmet serves the soldier by protecting the head, the core source of thinking.  We must protect our mind from the accusations that fly at us from the adversary.  The scripture provides us with the truth about God and what He has done.  However, even if a person knows all of the theological answers to the most difficult questions, they may still struggle with their own confidence in their relationship with God.  Knowing theological facts doesn’t mean confidence in personal relationship.  I can read a book about flying an airplane but that wouldn’t make me competent to suddenly take the controls at DFW airport.  However, a student pilot who has spent time actually flying the airplane will have great confidence that their knowledge and their experience provide them with the necessary tools to take off, fly, and land successfully.  We have the bible and we can read it.  However, salvation moves beyond just awareness of spiritual truths.  Salvation brings us into proper relationship with God.  We cannot believe unless we know.  Knowledge is necessary for salvation.  However, knowledge is not sufficient for salvation.  Salvation combines knowledge with faith.  Once we believe, we are saved.  The helmet of salvation protects the mind of the believer.  The adversary, called the accuser in some texts, loves to go after our confidence in our relationship with God.  Doubts come to us, especially in difficult moments.  “If God loves me, why am I suffering?”  “If I’m saved, why do I struggle with this sin?”  “If I’m saved, why don’t I have more joy?”  The helmet of salvation functions as a protection against these invading thoughts.  Salvation is the work of God and is not dependent on our own efforts.  We cannot get ourselves saved.  We cannot get ourselves unsaved.  We hear the message of Jesus Christ.  We believe in Him.  Salvation now becomes our reality.  Salvation cannot be undone.  The helmet of salvation protects the mind against such doubts.  We must preach the Gospel to ourselves and one another all the time.  God saved us not based on our own goodness, but by His mighty power.  God keeps us in relationship to Him not on the basis of our own ability, but by His powerful work within us.  The devil tells terrible lies to the world.  The lies most often told to the lost world, “You’re fine.”  “God would never judge you.”  “You’re a good person.”  “You will definitely go to heaven, if there is such a place.”  “Everyone goes to heaven.”  “Even if some don’t go to heaven, you’re better than most.”  These lies dominate the culture at large today and keep unbelievers in a state of false security. For the believer, the lies from the adversary take a radically different form.  “You’re never going to be good enough to go to heaven.”  “You can’t possibly think God loves you based on all of the things you’ve done in your past.”  “Look at the really good Christians around you.  You will never measure up.”  “You should just give up and quit trying.  God is tired of your failures.”  The helmet of salvation proclaims in thunderous and resounding defense, “God loves His Son and since you are in Christ, so He loves you too.”  “God keeps those who are His own.”  “The love of God never fails.”  Believers, we must guard our minds with the truth of the Gospel.

The Sword of the Spirit
Though swords often function offensively, here the use could include a defensive approach.  We are called to stand firm.  We are not to advance on the enemy, but we are to remain steadfast in our faith.  Consider the defensive use of scripture by Jesus.  “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”...  (Matthew 4:1-11)  Three times the devil assaulted Christ with terrible lies. All three times Jesus responded with scripture.  If Jesus relied on the scripture to defend Himself against the schemes of the devil, then we also need the scriptures to defend ourselves against the wicked schemes of the devil. Knowing the scriptures provides us a necessary tool in our call to stand firm.  Therefore, we read, study, preach, teach, memorize, and apply the Bible.  It must be our daily bread.  

Suggested Prayer:  God, protect our hearts and minds.  We trust in You and in Your eternal salvation that You have brought about in Christ.  We trust Your Word to guide and protect us.  We confess that the battle is too great for us, but in the power of Your strength, help us to employ the tools you’ve provided.  Help me to use the weapons of spiritual warfare to silence and disarm the adversary, the devil.  We pray this in the strong and mighty name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Ephesians