{"id":7335,"date":"2021-07-06T00:00:31","date_gmt":"2021-07-05T14:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/?p=7335"},"modified":"2021-07-07T07:36:58","modified_gmt":"2021-07-06T21:36:58","slug":"shield-helmet-and-sword","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/2021\/07\/06\/shield-helmet-and-sword\/","title":{"rendered":"Shield, Helmet, and Sword"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ephesians 6:16-17\u00a016<\/sup>in everything by taking up the shield of faith, with which you have power to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one;<\/span> 17<\/sup>and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Verse 16 gives another instrumental participle that answers how to stand (verse 14). Each of the actions related to the armor of God require faith that is evident in obedience. This is the “work” God has prepared for us as his people (see 2:10). The shield of faith<\/em> is crucial for protection against the deceiving attacks of the devil and the forces of evil. Because of the movies, we can picture in our mind flaming arrows<\/em> falling from the sky. When they land, they not only can injure or kill, but they can also destroy by fire. Satan’s attacks upon believers can be like a spark of fire that can spread and consume us, our loved ones, and our way of life. Faith has an object. We can put our faith in God and find ready protection against the temptations that come our way (1 Corinthians 10:13). The Holy Spirit is God’s gift of protection and can strengthen our convictions and gives us a strong mind to withstand the deception of evil. Our part must be to take up our faith and not doubt. We know to whom we can turn when we need help.<\/p>\n

The second command of the list of armor is given in verse 17 (the first command is “stand” in verse 14). The imperative verb\u00a0take<\/em> (dexasthe<\/em>) has the sense of receiving something that has been offered. God offers us the gear we need to have spiritual victory over evil. We must take up the gear and do something with it. The armor of God does no good just sitting around.<\/p>\n

Two key items are listed in verse 17 that we need to take up and use in our battle against the forces of evil. The\u00a0helmet of\u00a0salvation<\/i> provides the overall assurance that we are children of God. Like football helmets today, we can be identified by what is on our head. The head is also the most critical part of the body. The brain houses the mind or consciousness, which is what determines our behavior and worldview. Paul may not have known all the physiology of the head, but his choice of armor for the head is significant because it indicates that our thinking has been fundamentally changed by our relationship with God in Christ.<\/p>\n

The second armor is the\u00a0sword of the Spirit<\/em>. A sword is a weapon of defense and offense. It is what a soldier uses to fight. A good soldier will learn to use his sword with effectiveness through much training. The sword believers have to use is the word<\/em> (hr<\/em>\u0113ma)\u00a0<\/i>of God<\/em>. The sword is empowered by the Holy Spirit who teaches us the words God has spoken. What these words are is unstated but the word is broad and can include many forms of communication. God speaks to us in many ways: through Scripture, the ministers listed in 4:11, various events, dreams, and our own consciences. The Holy Spirit reminds us of God’s communication and helps us apply these teachings to our lives. Often when faced with temptation or an onslaught of evil attacks, the Holy Spirit will bring a word, phrase, or Scripture text to our minds, and we can find strength from it. The sword of God’s words is crucial to our spiritual victory.<\/p>\n

For older posts, click\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Ephesians 6:16-17\u00a016in everything by taking up the shield of faith, with which you have power to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one; 17and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Verse 16 gives another instrumental participle that answers how to stand (verse […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotions","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7335"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7359,"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7335\/revisions\/7359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}