By: Dale Weckbacher
2 Corinthians 6:7
We faithfully preach
the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in
the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense.
(NLT)
I have previously written about the spiritual battle we as
Christians find ourselves in and the need to use the spiritual weaponry God has
provided for us (Ephesians 6:10-20).
Each of the implements of the armor of God represents something we as
believers possess that empower us for victory in spiritual warfare. 2 Corinthians 6:7 provides instruction on
utilizing these weapons for both attack (offense) and defense. Let us now take a moment to look at the
entire armor of God and how each of the weapons helps us balance offense in
defense in spiritual warfare.
1)
The sword and shield (Ephesians 6:16) –
Typically a Roman soldier would hold his sword in his right hand and a shield
in his left. The shield would typically
be used to deflect the arrows of the enemy shot at him from a distance, most
likely from the walls of the city they were attacking. The sword was what the soldier would use in
close hand-to-hand combat. Today we
observe Christianity under attack in the media, social media, through the court
system, and even by politicians. What
these attacks have in common is that they are a blanket attack coming at us
from a distance. The root purpose of
these attacks stem from the enemy (Satan) knowing he was totally defeated by
Jesus at the cross (1 Corinthians 15:54-57) seeking to take as many people with
him to hell. This constant barrage of
attacks against our faith could cause us to lose our faith but with the shield
of faith in our left hand, we have all we need to deflect these attacks not
because our faith is so strong but because our faith is backed up by God and the
other implements of the armor.
2)
Belt of truth and the breastplate of
righteousness (Ephesians 6:14) – Today we have the completed canon of Scripture
available to us. While some contend this
canon of scripture is the work of men and not something we should consider the
Word of God, (1)
evidence exists validating the Bible’s validity. This evidence consists of internal evidence
with scripture saying thirty-eight hundred times either “God said” or “Thus
says the Lord.” (2) While this internal evidence is compelling,
it is the text itself touting its validity.
We therefore must turn to the external evidence to see if it supports
these internal statements. Among this
external evidence we discover.
a.
Amazing continuity – While the Bible is a
compilation of many works spanning 1600 years, it has a message of continuity
about who God is that makes it read like a single book. (2)
b.
Revelation of God’s love for humanity (2) – Unlike many religious writings, the Bible
does not reveal a God detached from humanity hurling judgment upon
humanity. Instead it reveals a loving
God who even when his creation disobeyed him, promised a savior to bring
redemption (Genesis 3:15).
c.
Reveals God’s cure for sin (2) – From Genesis 3:15
the Bible unveils God’s plan of redemption with the revelation of God’s law,
the formation of the nation of Israel from which Messiah would be born, the
Gospels telling of the ministry of Messiah on earth, the book of Acts recording
early church history, the epistles providing instructions to the church, and
the Book of Revelation revealing what will occur when the Lord returns the second
time to establish His Kingdom on earth.
d.
Consistency of ethics and morals (2) – Even though the
Bible spans 1600 years and is written by 40 authors, its morality and ethics is
consistent unlike the current divisiveness of our culture today.
e.
Fulfillment of prophecy (2)
– God’s plans are not secret and he always reveals them at the right time. The Bible represents a progression of God’s
revelation through his prophets and servants (Amos 3:7). The test of these revelations is in if they
are fulfilled (Deuteronomy 29:29). The
Bible has an amazing record of fulfilled prophecies concerning Messiah, the
future kingdom on earth (much of which is yet to be fulfilled), and the
restoration of Israel which occurred in 1948.
f.
Reveals minute details of God that go beyond our
human comprehension (2)
– Not only does the Bible speak of events on earth but it pulls back the
curtain revealing the God of heaven.
While this revelation goes beyond our human comprehension, prophets like
Isaiah and John tried to reveal these things through the written word (Isaiah6, Revelation 4).
3)
Gospel shoes and salvation helmet (Ephesians6:15,17) – A soldier must advance to engage the enemy offensively and not just
stay in one place in a posture of defense.
For this reason, a soldier must wear some form of foot protection. In spiritual warfare, this protection is the
message of the Gospel which the soldier takes with Him wherever he goes. The defensive nature of this implement of
armor is that the soldier can advance in battle with the knowledge his position
in the army is secure and that his general, God himself, will never leave him
or her defenseless. The helmet of
salvation is there to guard against any doubts of the security of our salvation
that the enemy may attempt to plant in the soldier’s head. Satan uses our past as a weapon attempting to
bring doubt into our thinking causing us to doubt our forgiveness of past sins
by reminding us of them. The helmet of
salvation reminds us that Jesus finished work on the cross has forgiven all of our
sins.
4)
The sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17) – Fully
protected with the defensive implements of armor, the spiritual warrior can now
advance using his or her sword, the Word of God, to defeat the enemy. Therefore, we who choose to engage in
spiritual warfare against Satan must become proficient in our knowledge of
God’s Word (2 Timothy 2:15). Spiritual
warriors must regularly sit at the feet of their Lord like Mary and not become
obsessed with the duties of their work like Martha (Luke 10:38-42).
Jesus said it well when he pointed out that the harvest is
ripe but the harvesters are few (Matthew 9:37).
Our world desperately needs Jesus and there is a shortage of those
willing to enter the fray of spiritual battle.
However, let us not enter the battle without first putting on the armor
of God and properly learning to balance the defensive and offensive use of its
implements.
1. Barron, Alexander J. Why the Bible Is Not
the Word of God. www.huffingtonpost.com. [Online] The Huffington Post,
July 2, 2016. [Cited: July 9, 2017.] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alexander-j-barron/why-the-bible-is-not-the-_b_7717552.html.
2. Bible.org. 4.
The Bible: The Written Word of God. https://bible.org. [Online]
Bible.org. [Cited: July 9, 2017.]
https://bible.org/seriespage/4-bible-written-word-god.
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