A Calling Upon Your Clothing

As Christians we are called of God to be warriors and all warriors need armor. Ephesians 6:10-24 instructs us to put on the whole armor of God.

• Helmet of Salvation

  • Helmets absorbs blunt-force trauma to prevent concussions, and protecting against direct impacts like sword strikes or low-velocity projectiles during battle. Keeping our Helmet of Salvation on allows us to deflect mind battles and tricks. If we take off our Helmet of Salvation and allow the Devil to influence us we aught to fall into his traps he sets for us like anxiety and depression. Social Media is one of the biggest traps set out for us Christians because Matthew 6:22-23 reminds us how important our eyes are. “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.“ “But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!“ Even the small things we watch, read, or listen to effects our walk with God. What are the little things you are letting slip into your day to day walk?

• Breastplate of Righteousness

  • Breastplates protect a soldier's vital organs from arrows, spears, and melee strikes. Made of hardened metal or leather, they deflect blows and absorb impact to prevent severe trauma. Spiritually, the breastplate of righteousness guards our hearts against the accusations, temptations, and lies of the enemy. How might we keep our Breastplate of Righteousness? Proverbs 4:23 “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.“ 1 John 3:7 “Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.“ Living righteously doesn't earn salvation, but it reflects the new life God has given us. So by living in his Righteousness that he has called us, we deflect the traps the enemy has set for us.

• Belt of Truth

  • Battle belts provide soldiers, law enforcement, and operators with quick, intuitive access to critical, first-line gear. Also, belts in general serves purpose as to hold all of your clothing together! John 8:32 “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.“1 John 3:19 “And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.“ Truth holds all of the little things in place, if we have not truth we have no foundation. As Christians we build our lives on Jesus and the Bible, we are not as those without hope. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.“ “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.“The quick first-line gear that we are to equip our belts with is the Word of God. Psalm 119:11 “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.“God instructs us to keep His Word in our hearts so we may use it in our time of need. Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.“

• Shield of Faith

  • Shields protect warriors by intercepting blows and deflecting projectiles. Beyond passive defense, they are highly offensive tools used to bash enemies, break opponent guards, and create openings. When locked together, they form defensive walls to protect units in formation. Ephesians 6:16 “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” Our faith is strong enough to extinguish the fiery darts that the enemy tries to throw at us and when us Christians band together we ““lock”” our faith together we protect those who have fallen or have mistakenly dropped their swords.

• Sword of The Spirit

  • Swords were versatile, secondary weapons used to slash, stab, and disarm enemies in close-quarters. When the Devil is in you ear and is fighting you, call upon the name of the Lord, seek God’s word and in Him you shall find solace. Hebrew 4:12 “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.“ Colossians 3:16 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. I also want to take the time to mention that it is NOT God’s will for us to have friendly fire, we are all apart of the Bride of Christ and we must treat our brethren as such. Ephesians 4:29 “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.“

• Sandals of The Gospel of Peace

  • Sandals serve practical purposes like providing ventilation and traction. With The Gospel of Peace we are to be prepared for wherver the Lord sends us, to be prepared to share the Gospel, to have Peace wherever we go. Colossians 1:20 “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.“ Through the cross we have peace everlasting and the ability to tread across many mountains and valleys.

Another form of clothing the Bible calls us to put on is the New Man. Colossians 3:10-17 instructs is on these. “And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:“ “Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.“ “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;“ “Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.“ “And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.“ “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.“ “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.“ “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.“ Paul writes to the church of Colossae teaching them the clothing of the new man and what we are the “put on” when we become a new Christian.

I wanted remind us of this form of clothing because often times we seem to lose the “New” part as our Salvation becomes more experienced but we ought not to forget where we have come from and how to continually put on the new man. We ought not to fall into the habits of the old man but to continually pursue after righteousness.