Armed for spiritual warfare (2)
Let’s look at the next three pieces of spiritual armour God has provided for us to live victoriously:
(1) ‘Hold up the shield of faith.’ (Ephesians 6:16 NLT) To do what? ‘To stop the fiery arrows of the devil.’ (Ephesians 6:16 NLT) The devil uses flaming arrows for a purpose. It’s difficult to fight fires and also the enemy at the same time. So don’t let flaming arrows are a distraction. Instead let faith (focusing on God’s Word) snuff out the flames before the fires get started.
(2) ‘Put on salvation as your helmet.’ (Ephesians 6:17 NLT) This helmet protects your mind. When Satan whispers, ‘If you were really a Christian, you wouldn’t have…’, you repel his attacks by knowing your identity in Christ—a blood-bought, totally forgiven, seen-as-righteous, heaven-bound child of God.
(3) ‘Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.’ (Ephesians 6:17 NLT) ‘The Word of God’ referred to here isn’t logos (the written word) but rhéma, which means ‘utterance’. It calls for speaking God’s Word to defeat Satan, utilising the right Scripture at the right time to deal with the problem. That’s why Satan fights you so hard over Bible reading. Three times he attacked Jesus in the wilderness, and three times Jesus answered, ‘It is written.’ (Matthew 4:4–10 KJV) He counter-attacked against Satan with Scripture! The devil can out-argue you, but he has no defence against the Word of God. So, memorise the Scriptures and use them as a weapon to defeat him.