The Christian In Complete Armour

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A r t i c l e t i t l e

The Christian In Complete Armour

by Samuel M. Buick
The struggle with modern man is by and large there is little understanding or appreciation of the past. We live in a fad oriented world in which only the latest and flashiest survive through slick marketing and promotional gigs to be devoured by consumers with ravenous appetites for what is currently popular. The difficulty with many in the current culture is that culture as a whole is in upheaval. Everything is changing at a rate which overwhelms the most stable of human beings. I for once cannot keep up to the latest happenings, and in order to even have on iota of inkling about what is going on in the world, I am reduced to listening to sound bites of news on my way to and fro from my home to the office. Sound bites distort fact and elaborate on what is unnecessary or sensational. Complex issues are distorted out of context and are torn away from their philosophical or historical moorings. Such is the case when one discusses the concept of the Christian in complete armour.

The idea of armour is a relative term in a relativistic age. In my military life I wore body armour as many police officers do today. I also learned to use armour piercing bullets, and I drove into combat in an armoured personnel carrier. When facing the heat of battle, the combat infantryman longs to hear the sounds of armour, or commonly known as tanks coming to his rescue. The concept of armour is very real to the modern soldier.

To the average Christian, perhaps more current examples of what we would consider armour should be considered. For instance, in baseball the catcher behind home plate wears protective gear such as a chest protector, similar to a breastplate in ancient armies. He also wears protective headgear, a helmet with a face guard, groin protection and shin guards as well as a throat protector. All these have similar counter parts to soldierly fashions from the past. The same can be said about hockey equipment. There we have the goal tender who wears chest and arm protectors, kidney and groin protection gear, goalie pads, padded pants, gloves and blocker and of course the stick. The similarities here would be very familiar with Canadians.

But you might ask what is the big deal about armour anyway. The simple fact is that we would acknowledge that our favourite sports heroes need that protective equipment in order to play and not be injured in the process. Such is the logic about the Christian in complete armour.

The prophet Isaiah prophesied about the coming Messiah in Isaiah 59:17. His words "For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak." Here we have a picture of Christ accomplishing what no other could do (see 42:13; 49:25; 52:10; Ex.15:3). It is Christ, God in the flesh who alone could defeat the works of the devil and render them powerless. This was accomplished through His life of obedience, ministry, death, resurrection and ascension. His holiness, his perfection was His breastplate, defeating the darts and projectiles of the evil one. The helmet of salvation was His pure heart and sound mind that enabled Him to obey the will of the Father. The garments of vengeance were flesh and blood so that He could be the perfect sacrifice, the perfect representative of the human race and become the atoning death that appeased the wrath of God over sin in the human race and the world. The cloak He wore was the symbol of the anointing of the Holy Spirit in all He said and did upon the earth during His ministry. Through these images we see what Christ accomplished through the armour of God.

So too we must put on the armour of God. According to Ephesians 6:10-17, we must wear the battle gear of a warrior of Christ. This new set of clothes consists first of all of the righteousness of Christ which is ours at salvation. In justification (Rom. 4:6-11; Phil. 3:9), the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us. The Lord exchanges our filthy rags for His righteousness, and when the Father sees us, He sees the blood of Jesus and then His righteousness is reckoned to us. It is not our own, but a gift from God to us through Christ Jesus. Only through Christ can we stand against the accusations of the devil (Rom. 8:31-34).

Ephesians 6:11 calls upon us to withstand (v.13,14) or to stand firm in the heat of the battle. We can only do this when we know who we are in Christ Jesus and in knowing the Holy Spirit is with us in the midst of every trial and tribulation. Of significance in the New Testament is that the language that we have just read in Isaiah referring to the Messiah is in the New Testament applied to Christians. As sons of God adopted in the family of God, we are to be warriors for Christ. We need to put on the righteousness of Christ, that is ask for God's grace each day for that day for our sanctification. We need to wear the belt of truth. The ancient soldiers supported and protected his lower abdomen, gathered his tunic together, and held his sword. Just as certain the soldier was and confident in the belt and sword, so should we be confident that we are protected through the truthfulness of God's Word. The apostle Paul has in mind here Christians developing Christ-like character (4:25; 5:9) which enables them over time to become more confident in Christ and overcome temptation.

Paul also reminds us of proper footwear, as in the Roman soldiers heavy duty sandals which gave him stability and protection in battle. It is somewhat ironic that the gospel of peace is that which prepares us to battle evil (2:14, 15,17). The shield of the Roman legionnaire was large enough to protect his whole body. It was made of wood, covered with animal hide and bound with iron at the top and bottom. When the shield was dipped in water before battle, it could extinguish fiery arrows as they hit the shield. So, is our faith in the midst of battle. The lies of the enemy are extinguished when they come against our faith which is a gift from God to us. The lies of the enemy cannot withstand the righteousness of God and who we are in Christ Jesus.

In Ephesians 6:17 Paul admonishes us to put on the helmet of salvation which he considers to be our present experience (2:8) with God and our future hope (1 Thes. 5:8). Our hope is in the faithfulness of a covenant keeping God who has promised to accomplish and finish what He has begun (Phil. 1:6).

The one offensive weapon we have as Christians is the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. The Roman sword was short and designed for hand to hand combat, and such is the spiritual battle. It is fought in tight corners and in such battles we must press into God and His Word, defeating the enemy with the Word of Truth.

All this talk of armour and battle is an urgent call for us to be a people of prayer. We cannot wage war apart from prayer. Prayer is our communion with God. It is through prayer and devotion that we grow in Christ and become more like him. We cannot be people of zeal without being people of character. Zeal without Christ-likeness is like being a bull in a china shop. We will stumble over things causing chaos and confusion. Real warfare is rooted in Christ, a life of prayer and through the grace that God provides for us.

Now, how about some armour plating...um...?

© 3 Sisters Communications 1999

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