Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Truth to Learn
We Christians need protective armor for our spiritual battles.
Behind the Words
“Put on” is translated from the verb enduō, which is made up of en, meaning “in” and the verb duo, meaning “to sink.” Thus we see that enduō, literally means “to sink in;” that is “to get into” or “to put on” a garment or an outfit. It is expressed here in the middle voice, indicating something that we are to do to ourselves (not done to us by someone else).
“Whole armor” is from the Greek word panoplia. This word is made up of a form of pas, meaning “all” or “every” and hoplon, meaning “an implement, a tool, or a weapon.” We see that panoplia literally means “every tool” or “all the weapons.”
The words “be able” are from the Greek word dunamai, meaning “to have the ability or the authority to do something.”
“Wiles” is from methodeia which, as you can see, is the source of our English word “method.” Methodeia refers to “following an orderly procedure or process.” It is expressed here in the plural indicating that Satan has more than one method.
The word “devil” is translated from the Greek word diabolos, which is from the verb diaballō, meaning “to falsely accuse.” Thus, diabolos is “a false accuser.”
Meaning Explained
In yesterday’s verse Paul told us to be strengthened in God and in the power of His strength. He told us to do this because, whether we like it or not, we are at war. In today’s verse, he tells us who we are at war with and what we are to do about it. We are at war with the false accuser, Satan.
Because we are God’s soldiers and we are at war, Paul tells us that we need to be prepared for battle. In order to be prepared, we need to have all the weapons available to us and we need to use them in the appropriate way. As we said in Behind the Words, the word panoplia refers to all the “weapons,” and yet the translators translated it as “the whole armor.” The reason for this is that all but one of the weapons described are defensive weapons; that is, protective armor.
We need this armor in order to be able to take a stand against Satan and his minions. We need to do battle against all of his methods. So, the obvious question is, “What are the methods that Satan uses?” Nowhere in Scripture are we ever given a specific list, but here are some of them: he opposes God’s workers (Zechariah 3:1), he perverts God’s word (Matthew 4:6), he hinders God’s servants (1Thessalonians 2:18), he blinds people’s minds from knowing the truth (2Corinthians 4:4), and he snares the righteous (1Timothy 3:7).
Yesterday we used a sports analogy talking about the final pep-talk a coach gives his team just before the big game. However, no self-respecting coach would give such a pep-talk and then send his team out on the field without the proper protective gear. Without the protective “armor,” a football player or a soldier would be slaughtered, no matter how skilled and prepared they might be. We are no different in this battle.
Application
Fighting spiritual warfare without the proper protective equipment is a sure-fire recipe for defeat. We need to be prepared and protected before we go into battle. Pay attention as Paul describes our armor in the next few verses.
In God's service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2012 Will Krause. All rights reserved.