Class Outline:

Wednesday April 20,2022

1. The armor of God.

 

 

ROM 3:21-26

But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; 26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

 

Faith in us has to be in something true. Faith in lies is folly and emptiness (vanity - Ecclesiastes). The righteousness of God was witnessed by the prophets in comparison with the law, but what they could only see a shadow of was the fullness of how Jesus Christ would propitiate the Father and redeem believers who would then be justified before God, right before God, forever.

 

Without faith in the truth, God’s righteousness would be meaningless to us, but with the truth, it is our ticket to eternal life with God, in time and eternity, and the very means by which we can live in freedom and power while surrounded by the schemes of the devil and the evil day.

 

I don’t think that at this time we need to do an in depth study of what is truth applied or righteousness lived. These doctrines touch every other. Just remember that truth is given as a gift from God’s word and the Holy Spirit within.

 

Without the truth on the earth, the offer of the gift of righteousness would mean nothing to mankind. The gospel is the truth concerning what Jesus Christ did in order to gift us with His righteousness, God’s righteousness.

 

4. Without the truth and the gospel and the faith to believe in them, God’s gift of righteousness would be meaningless to us.

 

All the pieces of the armor go together. It is a revelation that the divine life gives us strength and protection.

 

The gift of truth applied and the gift of righteousness lived are the belt and breastplate of God’s armor.

 

In Psa 85 righteousness looks down from heaven and truth springs from the earth. Lovingkindness and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. The psalm’s thesis is the restoration of the righteous from their folly. The discipline from the Lord has caused them to be revived of their relationship with God. They were fools for a time but when God restored them, truth sprang from the earth and righteousness looked down from heaven.

 

Applying to our passage, righteousness and truth are always meant to be together. Separate them and it will always result in folly.

 

PSA 85:10-11

Lovingkindness and truth have met together;

Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

11 Truth springs from the earth;

And righteousness looks down from heaven.

 

The gift of truth applied and the gift of righteousness lived are the belt and breastplate of God’s armor. Truth and righteousness are gifts from God, but for them to protect our souls from the schemes of the devil that are arrayed against the church, they have to be lived. The belt of truth is the truth known in your soul and obeyed by your will. The breastplate of righteousness is the righteousness of God known (as opposed to the righteousness of man) and that righteousness put into practice in every situation. The full armor of God is composed of gifts from God that are put into practice in real time by the believers who love them and consistently submit to them.

 

All the pieces of armor go together. For instance, righteousness needs to be understood to be lived. Therefore, truth gives righteousness its fuel.

 

3. Righteousness and truth go together. God gives His righteousness and man understands it and lives it by the truth.

 

2. Righteousness - living righteously or practical sanctification.

 

 

Paul returns to “stand firm” as a command and then moves into the pieces of the armor.

 

In our passage, we are called to live out the life worthy of our calling directly in the face of evil - the devil and his dark and wicked spirit kingdom.

 

The historian Polybius lists the equipment of the armor of the Roman legionary. Ephesians has some of these but omits the greaves and spears. When Paul uses the term “full armor,” it would have brought to mind for the Gentile readers in that area the entire suit of armor of the Roman soldier, which was familiar to them. Since Paul doesn’t list everything, we conclude that he is not concerned with the accurate and detailed description of armor. Added to this is Paul’s additional writing about the armor in which his descriptions vary. In 1TH 5:8 the armor is described by the triad, “faith, hope, and love,” and includes only a breastplate and a helmet. In ROM 13:12 it is described by the single divine word light, “put on the armor of light.” It seems much more likely then, that Paul is concerned with the metaphor of armor in general and interprets the pieces he selects with gifts from God that are designed to be lived out and form a certain kind of person and life.

 

ROM 13:12

The night is almost gone, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

 

EPH 5:7-10

Therefore do not be partakers with them; 8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), 10 trying to learn [proving or putting to the test] what is pleasing to the Lord.

 

Just like truth and righteousness, light, which is the life of Christ, must be known and lived. I would add, that over time of maturity, for that life to really be lived, it must be known, loved, and lived. And when that is true, we will possess the divine power to stand firm.

 

The idea that life is a battle and strength is victory is not unique to the New Testament. Contemporary with the early church around 50 A.D., the stoic Roman philosopher Seneca wrote “Life is a battle.” He wrote that the wise man could withstand every attack and not be injured. He even wrote about standing on unassailable ground. Epictetus, a Greek stoic philosopher, wrote about similar things just a few years after Seneca. As I said before, God’s fingers were and are in everything, even first-century stoic philosophy, but that does not mean that Paul stole from them or copied them. Paul’s revelation came directly from the Holy Spirit, while also knowing the world around him. Paul is writing about the armor of God while Seneca was writing about the armor of human reason, human virtue, and wise words. Stoicism is based on self-sufficiency, while Ephesians is based on the power of God.

 

The focus of Paul’s composition of exhortation began with life in the church (4:1-16), moved out to living the life of the new humanity in society (4:17-5:14), then back into the worship and household living of the community (5:15-6:9), and now out again to the Christian existence in the face of the powers of evil (6:10-20).

 

The pieces of the armor in EPH 6:13-17.

1. Truth - know, believe, and readily apply all revealed truth.

 

Our stance in our lives and conduct are to be firm on the foundation of Christ. We are not combative or contentious, but we are ready to stand firm against any falsehood or temptation. We are always ready to stand firm in the love of God for others, even our enemies, and to be joyful and confident in who we are in Christ. It’s worth noting where else Paul uses this same idea.

 

1TH 3:8; 2TH 2:15; GAL 5:1

stand firm in the Lord … stand firm and hold to the traditions … Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm

 

In 1 Corinthians, Paul speaks some who think they stand but are in danger of falling because they don’t know what it takes to stand. He exhorts them to stand firm in their faith.

 

So then, being strong and standing firm against sin, lies, false doctrines, false gospels, etc., are a major part of the spiritual life. As we saw in EPH 4:14 that we are not to be spiritual children tossed here and there by waves.

 

3. The pieces of the armor all refer to our application of God’s gifts in life. Truth is applied, righteousness and peace and faith and salvation are lived.

 

When we get to the sword we will see also that the Lord has a mouth that is like a sharp sword, which ties the sword to the word of God. All together, it is the Lord’s very armor that we are in possession of.

 

EPH 6:14-17

Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

 

2. The whole purpose of the armor is to stand firm (command), reiterated from “to stand firm” in vs. 11 and “resist” is vs. 13.

 

1. The armor of God is God’s armor (ISA 11:5; 52:7; 59:17). He has a breastplate of righteousness, a helmet of salvation, a belt of righteousness and faithfulness, and shoes of the gospel.