Armor Of God

So from this verse you learn that the readers of this letter were Christians but Paul still says that they need to put on the armor. This tells me that you don’t automatically have the armor put on you when you become Christian. So let us look at these verses.
Ephesians 6:10-17
10. In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides].
11. Put on God's whole armor [the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which God supplies], that you may be able successfully to stand up against [all] the strategies and the deceits of the devil.
12. For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.
13. Therefore put on God's complete armor, that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day [of danger], and, having done all [the crisis demands], to stand [firmly in your place].
14. Stand therefore [hold your ground], having tightened the belt of truth around your loins and having put on the breastplate of integrity and of moral rectitude and right standing with God,
15. And having shod your feet in preparation [to face the enemy with the firm-footed stability, the promptness, and the readiness produced by the good news] of the Gospel of peace.
16. Lift up over all the [covering] shield of saving faith, upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked [one].
17. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword that the Spirit wields, which is the Word of God.

Before I talk about the armor I will comment on the first three verses (10-13).
In the beginning Paul edifies them by saying: Be strong in the Lord, in his might and power. What does this tell us? It tells us that we need His power to resist the enemy. We cannot resist the enemy in our own power, but we need to use His power and when we equip ourselves with the Armor of God, we have his power.
The devil is not stupid; he has many strategies and deceits against us.
Many times we might say that he or she is my enemy, but people are not your enemy. Sometimes we might think; if only my wife could be different, or my mother. But your mother or your wife is not your enemy, but it can be spirits behind their actions that want to break your relationship. And it can even be an evil spirit behind your action too. So how can we get your mother or man or wife to be different? To yell at them and tell them how bad they are? No, you should pray for them. It can even be that the change needs to start with you. You need to put on the armor before you can help them.
Verse 13 talks about when we stand our ground and put on the armor we can win over the enemy. The enemy often tells us that we can’t win over our sin, or over sickness etc. But this is a lie from the enemy, because you can win total victory if you are obedient to the Word and put on the Armor of God.
Let’s look at the armor:

1. The truth as a belt
The belt of the armor helps you to keep your clothes on.
I remember one time I was doing a teaching in a church, and when I went up to the pulpit my belt broke. The pants I used were very loose so I almost lost my pants. During my speech I needed to hold my pants with one hand so they wouldn’t fall down. I can tell you that it was very disturbing.
To know the truth is very important because lies are the enemy’s only weapon. He deceives us with lies. Lies create disturbances, but the truth puts things in the right order and position. The truth (belt) will keep your armor together, if you don’t know the truth, the whole armor will fall apart. Jesus said that if you know the truth the truth will set you free.

2. The breast plate of integrity/righteousness
The breast plate is a very important part of your armor, because it is where your heart is. If the enemy hits you in your heart you are dead. The enemy tries to hit our hearts in many ways, but one way is to tell us that we are not righteous and that God doesn’t love us anymore. You know, religiosity kills, and it kills your spiritual life with God. Religion tells you your own works counts, and if you follow the religious rules you are righteous. If you have thoughts like: I am not good enough for God, God is not satisfied with me. Or it can be self-righteousness like: I read my Bible everyday, pray and do a lot of good works; now God will love me more. If you think like this, your spiritual life will surely die.

In the Amplified Bible it is actually translated as integrity. What is integrity? Integrity is to not lie about a thing, or say to other people what they should not do and do it yourself. You need to be real and not false. If you’re not real with God, God cannot help you. You need to have integrity in your life and with God to be protected from the enemy. Integrity is not to be perfect, but you are open and say sorry when you have erred. You cannot say that you have no sin, when you do and keep the protection. John tells us what integrity is:
1 John 1:6-10
6. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
7. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
8. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.10. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us.

3. Shod your Feet
When we have shoes on our feet we can move quickly and effectively. The Romans had nails under their feet, so they would have a good grip. When you get an opportunity to tell about the gospel of peace it is very important for you to be prepared to take that challenge. Another thing, we come with the gospel of peace, not with a gospel that judges people. Too many Christian make mistakes when it comes to this. They come with judgment and war instead of peace.

4. The Shield of Faith
Our shield protects us against the fiery darts of the enemy. The shield on a Roman solider covered the whole body, and they were totally protected by it, so the fiery darts from the enemy could not hit them. Faith is about trusting God and his truth. Faith is not a feeling, but a choice we make; we choose to believe that God’s word is the truth. The more we see the truth about God, the more faith we will have, and the enemy can’t harm us. By keeping your thoughts on God, His character and on His word, this will help you win victory in every circumstance.

5. The helmet of salvation
The helmet protects your head where all of your thoughts are. It is mainly in our minds that the attacks happen and it is here that the enemy is able to feed us his lies. Know your authority in Christ and let not the enemy come into your mind by his lies. Salvation means more than just being saved, it also means; delivered it means; to protect, to keep whole, to be set free. So God wishes to set you free from the lies of the enemy.

6. Sword that the Spirit wields
The sword on the armor is the only weapon we can use to attack. The sword is the Word of God and the Word of God is the truth, and the truth will set us free and deliver us from the lies of the enemy. There is enormous power in the word. When Jesus spoke the word, the will of God always happened. He needed only to speak one word and it happened.

Do it in prayer!
It is in prayer that we can use the armor, and when we pray we have a close relationship with God and we are protected. Prayer is communication with God. It is about having a relationship with God like a friend. He is actually your best friend, and remember too that you can also talk to him in that way.