“10. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, 15. and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17. and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God…” (Eph. 6:10-14).
The first element in the armor of God that is available to us is the belt of truth. To be honest, it is probably the least exciting of the six to begin with. One would think that Paul would mention the sword first to grab the reader’s attention, but instead of that, he starts with the relatively lowly belt. Why would he do that? At first I wondered about that as well, but as I studied the verse I discovered some interesting facts about the belt. Since Paul was under house arrest at the time, his inspiration for the section of scripture might well have been fashioned from what he saw the guards wearing. It would not have been an entire suit of armor we recall seeing pictures of in books and movies, but rather a simpler, more functional outfit suited for everyday use.
The belt was an important part of the dress because it would carry the weapon of choice. It would also carry rope, other weapons, and even rations. In some instances, it was broader than normal and had strips of armor hanging from it to protect the lower extremities. It was a critical piece of clothing that would prevent the soldier’s tunic from “flapping” around as well. Some translations paint this last example more clearly with “having girded your loins with truth.” As we can see, the belt had more than one function. “That’s all fine and well, but how does it relate to ‘truth,’” you may ask. “Girding” was accomplished by tucking in the battle tunic into the belt in preparation for strenuous activity, so it relates to preparing ourselves for action with God’s truth.
The first thing we should do to defend ourselves against the attacks of the devil is to prepare ourselves spiritually. The devil will try to deliver fatal blows with his flaming arrows that are dipped in His evil lies and deception. He is, after all, the father of lies – John 8:44, “44. …He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” He will use the world, our friends, our family, and even errant churches as his minions in the effort to slay our righteousness. If we are not ready with the truth, we will not know what it is we are defending and when the attacks come as they surely will, we will not prevail. To secure this “belt of truth” around our waist we must come into contact with the source of all truth, the Bible, and the instrument of the truth, Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the antithesis of the devil in every regard, but none more so than when it comes to the truth. If the devil is the father of lies, Jesus is the gold standard for truth. He cannot even be called the father of it because that hardly captures the essence of the meaning. He is, by definition, truth itself. He is from where truth is born and the source of its power – John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Come to think of it, that belt represents something of incredibly high value as well. It is the symbol of our escape from the chains that held us captive to sin – John 8:32, “…and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
When we are girded with the truth of the Scriptures (John 17:17) we are not only prepared for the battle against the forces of evil but we are also assured that the ultimate victory will be ours. The fight against the enemy of truth is real and at times, brutal. We may sustain an injury or two in the battle, and we may become tired from the relentless attacks, but as long as we preserve in the truth, we will one day stand in victory over the corpse of lies and deceptions.
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