Ephesians 6:16-17 (NIV)
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Here Paul enumerates the next three elements of God’s spiritual armor. The shield of faith is a vital protection from the flaming arrows of the enemy. Faith is not a belief in something we want to happen that we kind of work up in ourselves. Nor is it, as the joke goes, believing something that you know isn’t true. Instead, a quick look through the “Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11 shows that true faith is receiving a promise from God and then acting on it in the calm and solid assurance that what God promises, He will do.
God has promised to provide everything needed for all His people to do what He has called them to do, and He has also promised that what He provides will be powerful and effective. This includes the ability to stand firm against every weapon of the enemy: temptation, fear, pride, self-reliance, and false wisdom that is designed to pull His people off the straight path. Standing firm, trusting that He will keep every promise He has made to us, enables every Christian to intercept the flaming arrows that the enemy hurls, shake them off, and keep advancing.
The helmet of salvation is a key element in the spiritual armor. Can you imagine a soldier going into a heated battle with no helmet? They would be easy prey that the enemy would quickly pick off and dispose of. And that is also true of everyone who tries to take on the enemy without true salvation. They will have been defeated before they even go into battle.
The sword of the Spirit is often touted by theologians as the only offensive part of the spiritual armor. But in truth, every part of the armor equips the spiritual warrior to not only stand against the enemy, but also to advance against him.
The sword of the Spirit, God’s eternal word, is a two-edged sword. It not only provides an active defense against the enemy (see Jesus’ masterful use of this weapon in His battle in the wilderness in Matthew 4:1-11), it is the only source of God’s promise which can inspire true faith, and which in turn will propel the warrior forward.
Again, each of these elements of spiritual armor is vital to possess and wear in the spiritual battles that God’s people must be engaged in daily. God provides it for everyone who is willing to fight, so that we can win, advance to capture new ground, and then stand firm.
Father, thank You for providing everything that we need to not only survive difficult times and spiritual challenges, but to thrive in them and to be victorious. This in itself is a promise that every one of us needs to receive by faith and act on so that it becomes real in our own lives. As Your people, we are constantly on the front lines in the battle for the souls of people, not just our own souls, and we must fight to win or we will lose, and people will remain the darkness of sin and death. If we fight in Your strength, in Your power, in Your armor, we will win. If we refuse to fight, if we turn away from the battle or refuse to put on Your armor, we will lose. It’s pretty much that simple. Help me, Lord, to prove faithful in this as in everything. Help me to win today in Your strength. Amen.