Put on the panoply of God, that ye may be able to stand against the artifices of the devil
The letter to the Ephesians ends with a call to get dressed for battle. Two questions follow: whose armour is it, and why does the verse warn about the devil's tricks and not his strength?
Why the Conflict Meets Us Here
The armour comes at the end of the letter. Writers tie that to its subject: the higher the ground, the harder the attack.
The enemy contests the highest position hardest. Where we are most clearly Christian, he will oppose us with all his power... When Israel reached Canaan, the land God had given them, that was exactly where they had to fight. They had to fight to possess what God had already made theirs. So we must remember what this conflict is about. We will hardly feel it unless we are set on possessing what is already ours.
Tricks, Not Raw Power
The verse does not tell us to stand against the devil's might. Writers press that difference, and they trace it back to the cross.
We have to stand, not so much against the devil's strength — Christ dealt with that — as against his tricks. The truth is that the cross made him a defeated enemy for us, and we always have the right to treat him that way... His tricks are what we should always fear most. To resist them we need to put on the full armour of God.
Open attack is easier to survive than a friendly approach. One writer shows this from Israel's history: a walled city did not frighten them, but crafty neighbours beat them.
Many people can stand his roar, yet his tricks beat them. Israel could look calmly at the high walls of Jericho, because they knew God was with them. But the crafty Gibeonites, a neighbouring people who fooled them, beat them completely. How treacherous our poor hearts are! We cannot trust them!
How to Spot a Trick
A trick works by looking harmless, so the problem is spotting it. One writer offers a simple test.
A trick is something that looks fair and innocent, and yet lures the soul away from the path of obedience. How often the devil tries to lead those who have the truth into a side-path. At the start it turns away so slightly that objecting to it would seem fussy. Each of us can ask one simple question that exposes every trick: "If I follow this course, where will it lead me?"
Armour of God — His, and for Him
The words "of God" mean more than good quality. Every piece is a gift from God, meant to be used for Him.
God gives this armour to the Christian, so that he may be for God in the very place where the devil's tricks are at work. Not one piece of it is against God, not one piece stands between the soul and Him. God puts Himself behind the armour, as if He said, "I am here behind the armour with you." It comes from Him, to be used for Him.
This also explains why no shop sells it. It is not equipment strapped on from outside.
But there is a full suit of armour that He Himself made. It can resist every weapon the enemy's craft has forged against us. No part of it is like the gear made to stop physical weapons. You cannot buy it in a shop and put it on like a coat or a hat. It is all shaped in the soul, and is spiritual in nature, and no weapon of the enemy can pierce any part of it.
"Put On" — and "Whole"
Two words in the command carry weight. The first is a duty, and it does not happen by itself.
The armour has to be "put on". Being Christians does not mean we have put it on. The armour is provided for us as Christians, but it remains with us to put it on. It is not enough to look at the armour, or to admire it, or to be able to describe it.
The second word rules out picking and choosing, because a gap is exactly what the enemy is looking for.
It is no good having part of it on and another part missing. Satan will be quick to notice the gap, and we cannot be rightly for God if we are not for Him in every way.
Dressed Before the Day Comes
Put the armour on in advance. Do not scramble for it once the attack lands.
But there are times when the enemy makes special attacks on God's people. He wants to rob them of particular truths. Such attacks make an evil day for the people of God. To meet them we need to have on the whole armour of God. It is too late to be putting on the armour in the middle of the struggle.
Summary
- Contested — the ground most worth holding is the ground under attack. The fight is to possess what God has already made ours.
- Craft — the verse warns about trickery, not force. The cross broke his strength, so his side-paths beat believers, not his roar.
- Given — every piece comes from God, and He stands behind it with us. It grows in the soul; no shop sells it.
- Whole — one missing piece leaves one place exposed, and Satan finds it fast. Admiring the armour is not wearing it.
- Early — put it on before the evil day, because nobody dresses for battle once the fighting has started.