What is the shield of faith (Ephesians 6:16)?

What, then, are we to understand by the shield of faith? Faith in God as unchangeable in His grace and love — a confidence in Him, answering to what He is to us in Christ Jesus. 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 emblazoned on the christian shield. This is more than the faith, observe, that simply receives God's testimony concerning Christ for salvation, though founded on that, of course. It is a deep and blessed work of God's spirit in the soul, whereby the blessed consciousness that He is for us, and that His favour is unchangeable, is maintained in the heart. This is the invulnerable shield of faith; it covers the whole man, it is over all. While this shield is raised, no arrow of Satan can possibly reach us. They all fall pointless to the ground. What a mercy, O my soul! What a provision of grace, to be shielded from the poisoned shafts of the foe! How dreadful to be stung in the heart, in the conscience, in the ways, by the fiend of hell! Blessed Lord! impress our souls with the importance of these words, "Above all." "Above all taking the shield of faith." Does the apostle elevate this grace "above all" the other graces, as well as "over all" the others? Enough, however, to mark its unspeakable importance. Still meditate, O my soul, on the character and uses of thy shield, and take a still wider view of what the Spirit has taught us.

The shield of faith. This is to be "over all" (not above all" as in the Authorized Version). Faith in God, faith in His promises, faith in His Word, simple child-like faith is to cover the head and the body like a great shield. It is the exercise of an unwavering confidence in God. The fiery darts will thus be quenched. These "fiery darts" are indeed terrible weapons. The fire speaks of the wrath of God, of judgment, at least, from Him, and it is with this that the enemy would assail us. He is, we must remember, the accuser. His aim, as already said, is to bring distance in some sense between our souls and God. How great a necessity, therefore, to maintain this happy confidence in Him, which, while it does not excuse failure in the least, yet, in utter weakness, finds all its confidence in Him who has undertaken for us. "All the fiery darts of the wicked one" can thus be "quenched" by the "shield of faith" (F. W. Grant).

Verse 16 introduces another and quite as necessary a part of the divine armour, but, doubtless, justly put subsequent to what we have seen. "Above [or, beside] all, having taken up the shield of faith with which ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one." This means that confidence in God Himself which the soul is entitled and encouraged to cherish: I say, in Himself, because, though inseparable from the godly and righteous state the previous portions of the panoply intimate, it is a confidence springing only from what God is known to be in His own nature and character. All the envenomed efforts of the wicked one are futile where God is thus known in the power of the Holy Ghost ungrieved within us; all his darts not only fail to produce despair and distrust, but they are extinguished by the shield of faith.

But there is more (ver. 17): "and receive the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God." The shield of faith is more general confidence; the helmet of salvation is rather the bold and joyful consciousness of the full deliverance God has wrought for us in Christ. This crowns the various parts of the armour already noticed, and is therefore followed, not by further means of defence (for it is complete), but by the instrument of offensive energy against the adversary, the sword of the Spirit, even God's word. How wisely it is thus placed in the last place of all, will be apparent to the instructed mind! Indeed, if there be not this order known practically, the word is made a mere toy of, or perhaps a scourge for self, rather than to have the character of the sword of the Spirit; it is misused and powerless. Handled in the Spirit, what deliverance it works! What disabling of adversaries and what a detector of Satan! It is for conflict.

But, together with all this, a piece of defensive armour is needed over all the rest, that we may be able to stand in spite of all the wiles of the enemy — an armour, however, which is practically maintained in its soundness by the use of the preceding ones, so that, if the latter is essential, the others have the first place in practice. This is the shield, faith; that is to say, full and entire trust in God, the consciousness of grace and of His favour maintained in the heart. Here faith is not simply the reception of God's testimony (although it is founded on that testimony), but the present assurance of the heart with regard to that which God is for us, founded, as we have just said, on the testimony which He has given of Himself — trust in His love and in His faithfulness, as well as in His power. "If our hearts condemn us not, then have we confidence towards God." The work of the Spirit in us is to inspire this confidence. When it exists, all the attacks of the enemy, who seeks to make us believe that the goodness of God is not so sure all his efforts to destroy or to weaken in our hearts this confidence in God and to hide Him from us, prove fruitless. His arrows fall to the ground without reaching us. We stand fast in the consciousness that God is for us: our communion is not interrupted. The fiery darts of the enemy are not the desires of the flesh, but spiritual attacks.

Verse 16. "Above all taking the shield of faith," etc. Hitherto we have had to do rather with that which constitutes the believer's standing and readiness for the contest he is called to wage, than with the positive energies which are called forth into active exercise by means of this spiritual conflict. Troth, righteousness, and peace, are words which are more expressive of quality and condition than of action. But the man who stands in grace, is to maintain that ground against all comers. In addition, therefore, to the defensive armour, which protects his person, he is to take and use such weapons as God gives to His children, that they may not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate. Of these, the first mentioned, and, in one sense, the most important, is the shield of faith. This is to be held firmly and warily over the believer's person. For as the shield was that essential defence, without which the other armour would be insufficient to protect the soldier from the effects of missiles, so, also, in our spiritual warfare, neither truth, nor righteousness, nor peace, can be effectively enjoyed without an active exercise of faith.

It is to enable us to quench the fiery darts of the Wicked One that we need this shield of faith. Without it, we are vulnerable by any of these; while with it, we may quench them all. The name of the prescribed defence, as has been well observed, declares the nature of the assault. Faith can quench nothing but its opposite, which is unbelief. All the darts of the Wicked One, fiery as they are, belong to this description. Since God saves and comforts us in Christ by means of truth, Satan seeks to work for us destruction and misery by acting on the evil heart of unbelief. All his varied machinations, as the "Wicked One," conduce to this. If sinful thoughts arise, or acts of sin are perpetrated, his object in inciting us to evil is to defile our conscience, and so to take away our peace. The most cruel wounds which can be inflicted on the soul are suggestions of unbelief. External trials are as nothing in comparison with that which is not only fiery in its nature, but the heat of which dries up the moisture of the spirit by interrupting our view of Him who is our only confidence and joy.

These darts are flung at us from diverse quarters, from above as well as from beneath. By positive temptation and betrayal into sin; by false applications of Divine truth to the conscience; by covert insinuations, tending to weaken in our minds our reverential interest in the word of God as such. By these, and many other similar means, the adversary endeavours to sap the strength of the new and inner man, and to wither the plant of righteousness which God has planted. Against all such attempts our sole, but effectual, defence is faith. None of his efforts are of any power against that. For faith finds in Christ an answer to every doubt that Satan can infuse into the soul, and hears in the voice of our Advocate an effective refutation of every charge which can be urged against us by the accuser. Hence to those who are elsewhere warned by the Spirit against the vigilance and ceaseless activity of the adversary, the word is still, "whom resist, steadfast in the faith" (1 Peter 5:9). That Wicked One touches not those who keep themselves, through faith, in conscious fellowship with God (Isa. 59:19; 1 John 5:18). His darts are quenched, and utterly extinguished, when met by a simple reference to the name of Jesus. If therefore we would walk in peace, we must bear with us this shield of faith. Having its rest in God, faith brings His strength within the heart of the believer. God thus becomes Himself the Buckler of the soul that trusts in Him. He has made Himself in Christ our everlasting Refuge and Defence. He is mightier on our side, in the power of His finished love, than Satan can be against us, in the restless malice of his hate. Doctrinal knowledge is no shield. Faith is; and, when it works, it brings the heart to an implicit dependence upon God. It is by faith that we are made strong out of weakness (Heb. 11:34), and know that we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.

(V. 16). 4. The Shield of Faith. However necessary it is to have the thoughts and affections held in order by the girdle of truth, and our conduct preserved in righteousness by the breastplate, and to be walking in peace through this world, something else is needed for the conflict. We need “above all”, or “over all”, the shield of faith to protect us from the fiery darts of the enemy. Here faith is not the reception of God's testimony concerning Christ by which we are saved, but the daily faith and trust in God which gives us the assurance that God is for us. In the pressure of the manifold trials that come upon us, whether from circumstances, ill-health, bereavement, or in connection with the many difficulties that constantly arise among the people of God, the enemy may seek to cloud our souls with the horrible suggestion that after all God is indifferent and not for us. On that dark night when the disciples had to face the storm on the lake, and the waves beat into the ship, Jesus was with them, though asleep as one indifferent to their danger. This was a test for faith. Alas! unprotected by the shield of faith, a fiery dart pierced their armour, and the terrible thought arose that, after all, the Lord did not care for them, for they awoke Him and said, “Carest Thou not that we perish?” (Mark 4:37-38).

A fiery dart is not a sudden desire to gratify some lust which arises from the flesh within; it is rather a diabolical suggestion from without that would raise a doubt as to the goodness of God. Satan hurled a fiery dart at Job when, in his terrible trial, his wife suggested that he should “curse God, and die.” Job quenched this fiery dart with the shield of faith, for he said, “Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:9-10). The devil still uses the trying circumstances of life in his endeavour to shake our confidence in God and to drive us from God. Faith uses these very circumstances to draw nearer to God and thus triumphs over the devil. Again, Satan may seek to instill some abominable thought into the mind, some infidel suggestion that burns into the soul and darkens the mind. Such thoughts are not quenched by human reasonings, or by falling back on “feelings” or “experiences”, but by simple faith in God and His word.

"The shield of faith" (v.16) is to be used as an over-all protection, ready to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one, from whatever direction they come. Faith is able for this, but only because it acts on the truth of the Word of God. Satan's darts are many and varied such as subtle deceit, insinuation, flattery, intimidation, wrong teaching or emphasis, lack of balance, working on the emotions, enticements to sin, and many more. An active, watchful confidence in the Lord alone will keep us prepared to properly meet and quench these darts. "I believe God" is a wonderful protection for every believer, for such faith depends on the truth of His Word.

The body is thus perfectly provided for, but still we have need of the shield of faith "over all," as we should read. This is that practical confidence in God which should never fail us at all times, even in the midst of the sense of failure and the need of self-judgment. Let the armor be fitted to us as it may, there is always room for some apprehension, if we simply think about ourselves, that after all, somewhere we may have left opportunity for the enemy; but the shield of faith covers all the armor. Whatever we may imagine with regard to this, and with the consciousness of our feebleness at all times, the confidence in God, which should never slacken with us, is our security and rest; only we must remember that the putting on of the armor comes first. There must be honest endeavor to have all right in this way. We must not try to shield a body evidently exposed, with a cover of this kind, but when we have all apparently right, we have need still of that practical confidence which, let us notice here, has for its object specially to "quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one." These "fiery darts" are indeed terrible weapons. The fire speaks of the wrath of God, of judgment, at least, from Him, and it is with this that the enemy would assail us. He is, we must remember, the accuser. His aim, as already said, is to bring distance in some sense between our souls and God. How great a necessity, therefore, to maintain this happy confidence in Him, which, while it does not excuse failure in the least, yet, in utter weakness, finds all its confidence in Him who has undertaken for us. "All the fiery darts of the wicked one" can thus be "quenched" by the "shield of faith." Besides this, we are to have the "helmet of salvation," not, as in Thessalonians, the "hope of salvation." There it is the world with which we are in conflict. Here it is the consciousness of a salvation already attained, which sustains us against the enemy. This is not a hope. It is a realized certainty. This may well give us complete possession of ourselves in the peril of conflict. The helmet covers the head. We are preserved by it from blows which would rob us of what we rightly call "presence of mind." It is this presence of mind in the midst of perils which is the best kind of courage, and the salvation of God is that which may well secure it for us.

Another piece, and another kind of armour, is now introduced — the shield of faith. It is for defensive warfare. It defends the soul from the assaults of the enemy. The first three parts, as we have seen, relate to the spiritual condition of the Christian's own soul, and to his walk. But a piece of defensive armour is needed to cover these. Each of them is constantly the aim of Satan's attacks; hence the need of the shield, that his venomous efforts may be ineffectual. "Above all," or, over all; or, added to all the rest, "taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked."

"Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one." Now we come to outside armour. One does not like to leave the inside armour; it is so important and blessed, but the shield of faith covered it all. And what is this faith? It is simple, unwavering, childlike confidence in Himself. Have you got it? Simple, unfailing childlike confidence in Him outside; inside all the preparation of the gospel of peace. The outside covering is the shield of faith "wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one." Whatever fiery dart he may bring, there is the childlike confidence in God Himself. This will turn aside every attack, but you cannot hold up the shield of faith if you have not the inside armour. It is no use talking about childlike confidence in God if you have not the inside armour on, the loins girt about with truth, the gospel of peace under the feet, in blessed present enjoyment. Then you have power to hold up the shield of faith.