Perspective: Spiritual Armaments

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Spiritual Armaments

Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Ephesians 6:11-12 (NRSV)

Ready yourselves, ready yourselves
Let us shine the light of Jesus in the darkest night
Ready yourselves, ready yourselves
May the powers of darkness tremble as our praises rise

From "Until the Whole World Hears" by Casting Crowns

St. Paul uses some militant imagery toward the end of his letter to the church in Ephesus to describe the struggles that followers of Jesus Christ face in the world.  He uses this militant imagery in a rather interesting way, because, as he points out, the battle we face is not the type we generally associate with such images.  He writes that "our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."

If we follow Christ, then people are not our enemies.  Jesus teaches us that to love God is to love our neighbors as well,¹ and He teaches us to love not only the neighbors we consider friendly but also those we would consider our enemies.²  Since we tend not to love someone we would regard as an enemy, He is basically telling us not to regard other people as our enemies.  Our enemies are not people but rather the insidious, invisible forces that oppress people and pit people against one another.  These evil forces include both the things that torment us individually and also the demonic systems of injustice at work in the world.

The battle we face is spiritual in nature, and for spiritual battles we need spiritual armaments.  Paul instructs us to "take up the whole armor of God, so that [we] may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm."  He goes on to describe the types of armaments we will need for battle.³

The Greek word Paul uses to describe our spiritual armaments, which is translated into English as the whole armor, is panoplia, which was originally the name for a complete set of armaments used by ancient Grecian soldiers.⁴  We typically associate armor with protection, but not all of the armaments Paul describes are defensive in nature.  That said, I wonder if maybe we should be speaking of the "armaments of God" as opposed to the "armor of God."  Perhaps Paul is suggesting that, as followers of Christ, we are not meant to remain on the defensive in our battle against the forces of evil.

Four of the armaments Paul lists are defensive: truth which is compared to a belt about the waist, righteousness which is compared to a breastplate, salvation which is compared to a helmet, and faith which is compared to a shield that can be used to deflect whatever is hurled at us.

The other two armaments on Paul's list enable us to go on the offensive.  For mobility, Paul encourages us to clad our feet with whatever will prepare us to transport the Good News of God's peace.  For a weapon, Paul instructs us to arm ourselves with the "the word of God" which he calls "sword of the Spirit."  I believe that the "sword" of which Paul speaks is not the Bible itself but rather any prophetic message from God given by the Holy Spirit, of which the Bible contains many.  We fight through prophecy and not through violence.  We fight against fear with a Gospel of hope and peace, and we fight against systems of injustice with prophetic messages of liberation.

Jesus once said, "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword."⁵  If you thought that following Jesus would make your life easier, think again.  Following Jesus means loving all people, and loving all people puts us into conflict with the forces that oppress people.  We need not fear the battle, for God offers us what we need to fight.


Notes:

1. Matthew 22:37-40
2. Matthew 5:43-48
3. Ephesians 6:13-17 (NRSV)
4. Mirriam-Webster Dictionary: "Panoply"
5. Matthew 10:34 (NRSV)

The image of the Spartan warrior is public domain.