Stand therefore, having girt about your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
The verse names the first two pieces of the armour, and a soldier puts both on before the fight starts. The quotes below use the older wording, "the loins girded," for what the ESV calls "the belt of truth" — a belt that braces the body for action.
One writer warns against reading "stand" here as a description of our place before God.
The true sense of these words supposes not only a settled position, but the soul in activity at the call of the Holy Spirit. Much harm has come from treating this passage as if it were about standing. It is something quite different. It is practical arming and conflict. It rests on the most blessed standing anywhere revealed in the New Testament, and it makes a fitting close to the letter that reveals that standing.
Another writer names the one place where no armour is needed, and what the belt grips here.
Before God our righteousness is perfect. It is Christ Himself, and we are the righteousness of God in Him. But we do not need armour there. We are sitting in the heavenly places: all is peace, all is perfect. But here we need armour, real practical armour, and first of all to have the loins girded with truth. The loins are the place of strength when they are properly girded, but they stand for the intimate affections and movements of the heart. If we let our hearts wander where they like, instead of staying in communion with God, Satan has an easy hold on us.
The picture behind the words comes from clothing and from soldiering at once.
Girding means applying truth to the soul. The word deals closely with the will and with the movements of the heart. This is arming for conflict in a most practical and effective way. But we must do it in the presence of God, before we meet the enemy. The soldier's belt holds the rest of his armour close to him, so he can march and is strong to fight... There is also a reference to an eastern custom. People there tied their long loose robes up around the waist, so the cloth would not get in the way while they travelled or worked.
Owning the truth and being held by it are two different things.
To know the truth and be set free by the truth is one thing; to have our loins girded with truth is another. It is the intimate dealing of truth with the soul, so that there is no laxity of heart or indulged will, but instead the affections and judgment braced up to Christ and the things of Christ.
Which is why a shelf of sound teaching is not by itself a defence.
Girding up the loins means getting ready for action. Truth is to set the limits of all we do. The truth is to govern us. God gives us the truth, but we must put it on... God's word is truth. But the truth in the Bible will not defend us. What defends us is truth applied in a practical way to all we do.
The second piece covers uprightness in daily life. Where it is missing, the enemy attacks.
The breastplate of righteousness is not divine righteousness. It is uprightness of heart before Him, a clear conscience in simple uprightness in what we are doing... There is no good conscience without it. If you do not have a good conscience, Satan soon knows you have a bad one. He will touch you on that point and play on it, for he is a master of tricks.
Yet the two kinds of righteousness are not rivals — one rests on the other.
The righteousness we have been speaking about is quite different from the righteousness of God. In that righteousness we stand accepted in Christ Jesus. He is our righteousness, complete and unchangeable in the presence of God — but not as a breastplate. All conflict is over there. Here we still need practical righteousness, so that we can fight our enemy the devil and win. Still, the righteousness of God which we are made in Christ Jesus is the foundation of the other.
Truth is named first because the second piece depends on it.
This armour is not like the armour people once wore on the battlefield. An armourer made that armour for them, and they put it on when they were about to fight. You put this armour on from the inside, like the feathers of a bird. It all has to do with our practical state. So if truth has not girded your loins, you will never wear the armour of righteousness, because this is practical righteousness.
- Standing first. The armour does not win a place before God. Those already sitting in the heavenly places wear it, to hold their ground against Satan.
- Belted inwardly. Truth grips the affections and the will, the way a belt gathers loose robes. We fasten it in God's presence, before the enemy appears.
- Worn, not shelved. Truth in the Bible defends no one; truth applied to our actual habits does.
- Covered outwardly. Practical righteousness guards the conscience. It grows out of the righteousness God has already made us in Christ.
- In that order. We put this armour on from the inside out: no truth within, no righteousness without, and no ground held when the enemy comes.
and shod your feet with [the] preparation of the glad tidings of peace
Paul's armour list runs from the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness down to the soldier's feet, and the piece there is odd: shoes made of a gospel. So does this mean telling others the good news, or standing firm in it yourself?
Where the ESV says "readiness," these writers quote the older rendering "preparation." Either way, the shoe is what keeps the soldier standing.
The feet of the soldier of Christ — that is, every believer — must be steadied and strengthened by the preparation the gospel of peace gives. Only then can he hold his ground in such a contest. In short, the believer must have "peace with God," which is the fruit of believing the gospel of peace. Only think of a soldier going into battle badly shod, or with torn boots, especially over stony or muddy ground! How can he hold his ground against the enemy with his feet blistered and wounded?
One writer rules out evangelism here. The believer is handed a place to stand, not a message to deliver.
"Your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace." Some insist this means going out to preach the gospel; it is nothing of the kind. It is the soul walking up and down in that blessed avenue "the gospel of peace" — day after day, in real life. You can go out and preach the gospel, and announce it, without being there yourself. God may even bless it. But when He speaks of the armour, He does not mean mere ability to go out and announce it. He means you yourself in the full, blessed, daily, hourly enjoyment of the gospel of peace.
Commentators differ on how far to press that. Another writer holds both together.
It is a wonderful privilege to carry with us wherever we go the message of the gospel of peace. God has given this privilege to all His saints; it is not the preacher's alone… This preparation is not only for speaking the word of the gospel of peace. It is also so that peace matching the gospel marks every step we take.
If peace with God is the shoe leather, the supply never runs out.
This does not mean preaching the gospel to others, Christian service or soul winning. Through the gospel we have perfect peace with God. We know that God is for us; who then can be against us? This perfect peace, in which we stand, is our preparation… Israel wandered over desert rocks and desert sands for forty years with shoes that did not wear out. We too travel through the wilderness with our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. That peace will last as long as God Himself… He cannot touch anyone who rests in the peace of God and trusts in the God of peace.
Shoes meet the road. Rough ground brings dirt, and it tempts us to take charge ourselves.
The peace of the gospel is to apply itself to all the circumstances of the way… And as the shoe would arm us against the defilement of the way, so it guards against its dust and dirt. Can anything better keep us from falling under the power of circumstances — and so inevitably being defiled by them — than the quiet assurance that our God and Father holds them in His hand? To be ruffled and disturbed by them throws us off balance. We then try our own methods of putting things right, and our methods grow less careful as unbelief gains on us.
The same shoes change how a believer meets what others do to him.
Selfishness will always be a quarrelsome thing; it says, I must maintain my rights. But the Christian carries peace, because he has peace within; he carries the spirit and character of Christ through the world… A man can walk untouched through everything they can bring against him; his feet are shod.
The image works because the soles are tender.
Our feet must have battle shoes on, for the soles of the feet are sensitive… We need something that protects us against sensitive feelings that can lead us into wrong paths and wrong company. That protection is "the preparation of the gospel of peace"… Let us watch that our shoes are always on our feet. Then we are not so easily hurt by the words, actions or inactions of our brothers and sisters in Christ, or of unbelievers.
- Peace received. The gospel of peace first settles the believer's standing with God. That peace is what the shoes are made of.
- Peace worn. Knowing the message is not enough. Most commentators press daily enjoyment of it, not preaching it.
- Peace applied. Shoes touch the ground, so this peace meets daily circumstances. It keeps a believer from grabbing control when things go wrong.
- Peace carried. Self demands its rights; a person at peace carries Christ's spirit through the world.
- Peace that holds. Feet are tender and the ground is rough, yet these shoes never wear out. That is how the soldier keeps his footing.
besides all [these], having taken the shield of faith with which ye will be able to quench all the inflamed darts of the wicked one.
The armour so far has covered truth, righteousness and peace; this verse adds a piece that goes over all the rest. What is this faith, and what are these burning arrows?
The pieces before this describe a state. This one has to be actively used.
The shield was the one defence the soldier could not do without. Without it, the rest of his armour could not protect him from missiles. It is the same in our spiritual warfare. We cannot enjoy truth, righteousness or peace unless faith is in active use.
The word "over" matters here.
This is to be "over all". Faith in God, faith in His promises, faith in His Word, simple childlike faith is to cover the head and the body like a great shield.
So what is this faith? One writer traces it back to God's own nature.
This means the confidence in God Himself which the soul has every right to hold, and is encouraged to hold. I say, in Himself, because it cannot be separated from the godly and righteous state that the earlier parts of the armour show. Yet it is a confidence that springs only from what God is known to be in His own nature and character.
Another writer sums it up in a motto for the shield.
It is the full assurance of the heart in the love of God, according to the revelation which He has given of Himself. "God for us" should be written across the Christian shield… Notice, this is more than the faith that simply receives God's testimony about Christ for salvation — though of course it rests on that.
Both words in the verse come from real warfare. Start with the arrows.
FIERY DARTS are darts tipped with material that catches fire in flight or on impact. They burn as well as pierce.
The shield is large, and soldiers used it side by side. The fire has a meaning of its own.
If you put down your shield in front of you, and the man next to you puts down his in front of him, and so on and so on, you have a wall. It is a position that cannot be broken. That seems to be the picture here. Notice that they are fiery darts, not just darts. In Scripture fire often pictures God in judgment: "our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:29).
The name of the defence tells you the nature of the attack.
Faith can quench nothing but its opposite, which is unbelief. All the darts of the Wicked One, fiery as they are, are of that kind… The cruellest wounds the soul can suffer are suggestions of unbelief. Outward trials are nothing next to a dart that is fiery in itself, and whose heat dries up the moisture of the spirit. It does this by cutting off our view of Him who is our only confidence and joy.
These attacks come in many forms.
Satan's darts are many and varied. They include subtle deceit, insinuation, flattery, intimidation, wrong teaching or wrong emphasis, lack of balance, working on the emotions, enticements to sin, and many more. Only an active, watchful confidence in the Lord will keep us ready to meet and quench these darts as we should.
One writer points to Job. The sharpest thrust came through his own wife.
His wife said to Job, "Curse God and die." That was a cruel thrust. But Job met it with the shield of faith, the very thing our verse describes: "Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?" (Job 2:9-10). And the fiery dart fell to the ground.
The Lord Himself used the same two weapons.
The two weapons the Lord used — the Shield of Faith and the Sword of the Spirit — we may use also. Indeed, we are told to take hold of them so that we may "extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one."
One writer adds a practical warning about the armour underneath.
You cannot hold up the shield of faith if you do not have the inside armour on. That means the belt of truth around your waist and the gospel of peace under your feet, enjoyed here and now. Then you have power to hold up the shield of faith.
- Placement. The shield goes over everything else. Without it, truth, righteousness and peace are not enough.
- Content. It is confidence in God Himself, sure that His favour never changes. That is more than the faith which first received Christ.
- Target. The burning arrows are suggestions of unbelief, aimed at cutting off your view of the God you trust.
- Reach. They come as flattery, intimidation, wrong teaching, enticement. So faith must be active and watchful, not occasional.
- Result. Job answered his wife, and the dart fell to the ground. The Lord used the same shield, and so may we.
Have also the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is God's word;
The armour ends with two pieces: a helmet to wear and a sword to use. Commentators press hard on why the sword comes last, and on which word counts as a sword at all.
Writers link the helmet to the settled knowledge of being saved, and warn what happens without it.
The helmet rests on the head. It covers the head, the place where we think. Assurance of salvation — past, present and future — is this helmet. As we wear it, and as it rules our mind and heart, the devil's tricks cannot land on us. We have a salvation that is secure... It is sad to see thousands of believers without the helmet of salvation. They have no assurance of salvation, so they are easy prey to the devil's tricks.
The picture comes from an older prophecy about Christ in armour, though He wears it for a different purpose.
This surely comes from the Old Testament prophecy which speaks of Christ putting on "righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head" (Isa. 59:17). But with Christ it is the righteousness He carries out in judgment. It is the salvation He brings as the deliverer of His people. With us it is the righteousness and salvation we have in Him.
The order of the pieces is not accidental. Everything that defends comes first; only then the weapon that attacks.
The helmet of salvation is the bold and joyful awareness of the full deliverance God has worked for us in Christ. This crowns the various parts of the armour already noticed. So what follows is not another means of defence — the defence is complete — but the weapon for attacking the enemy: the sword of the Spirit, God's word. How wise it is to place it last of all!... If we do not know this order in practice, we make the word a mere toy, or a whip for self, instead of the sword of the Spirit; we misuse it and it has no power.
The order carries a personal warning: do not swing a text that has never cut you.
Nothing is more dangerous than to use the word if it has not touched my conscience. I put myself in Satan's hands if I go beyond what I have from God, or beyond what my soul holds.
Notice the order inside the verse, and then whose sword this is.
The helmet comes before the sword: without this confidence, this assurance, we cannot even handle the sword of the Spirit. Without it Satan can use even the word of God to overthrow us. This word is called the sword of the Spirit, not of the understanding, but of the Spirit in us. It is the Spirit of God who alone can handle the sword of the word. It is the Spirit who recalls the suitable passage at the moment of temptation... We may reason about the things of God, but reasoning does nothing for us against the enemy. The Spirit must act in us and apply the word.
The verse does not say the word of God is the sword of the Spirit; it says take the Spirit's sword, which is the word of God. The distinction matters, because the enemy quotes Scripture too.
Satan knows how to use Scripture against the truth. A piece of Scripture taken out of its connection has kept many a saint in bondage, pressed him hard, and wounded him. That is not the sword of the Spirit. So the Word of God is not always the sword of the Spirit. But the sword of the Spirit must always and only be the Word of God.
The word used here is narrower than the whole Bible. It points to the fitting word for the moment.
The sword of the Spirit is "the word (literally, the saying) of God" — not the word of God in general, but the word that applies, the word spoken at the right time. It is not the whole Bible we are to bring to someone, but the word that fits his actual condition. This needs wisdom and the Spirit's guidance.
Jesus showed how the sword works when Satan tempted Him in the wilderness.
The Christian cannot "fight the good fight" by natural wisdom or powers of argument. In the wilderness our Lord defeated Satan by using the sword of the Spirit. Three times He quoted from Deuteronomy, and began each quotation with the words, "It is written." We need to know our Bibles to use our sword.
- Covered — The helmet is assurance of salvation. It guards the mind, and without it a believer is easy prey.
- Crowned — Assurance completes the defence. Nothing more is needed to guard you; the next piece is for attack.
- Cutting — God's word is the only weapon for attack. Let it cut your own conscience first, before you use it on anyone else.
- Carried — The sword belongs to the Spirit, not to your own reasoning. He brings the fitting passage to mind when temptation comes.
- Correct — Satan can use a verse pulled out of its context. Only the fitting word, in season, is the Spirit's sword — as Jesus showed when He said, "It is written."