5 MYTHS ABOUT THE ARMOR OF GOD by Iain M. Duguid for Core Christianity
GNN Note – Well, we know Myth #1 is absolutely true!!
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Myth #1: Life is a picnic.
Even though all the evidence is to the contrary, we often seem to believe that life here on earth is—or at least ought to be—easy. In reality, however, life is hard—often very, very hard. That is, of course, exactly what the Bible leads us to expect. According to the Bible, the Christian life is not a picnic but a battle, an armed struggle against a powerful adversary. To engage in that battle properly, we need a spiritual makeover in which our flimsy, inadequate natural attire—the spiritual equivalent of a t-shirt and flip-flops—is replaced by suitable armor and weaponry. Without that armor and weaponry, we will be unprepared for what faces us.
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Myth #2: The armor of God is only for “super Christians.”
There are not two separate classes of Christians: Christian soldiers and Christian civilians. There are only prepared and unprepared Christian soldiers. An unprepared soldier of flesh and blood will not be able to stand against the scale of the spiritual forces ranged against him or her in the midst of what Paul calls “this present darkness” (Eph. 6:12). In many respects, the dark world in which we live is Satan’s playground. There are tempting sights, sounds, and tastes in this world that dazzle and allure us into sin. There is much that seems desirable to our eyes and many powerful temptations that find a ready ally in our flesh. Earthly objects are very real to us, while heavenly realities often seem ethereal and intangible. Satan also has centuries of experience as a tempter, knowing exactly which temptations are most likely to draw our individual human nature into sin, whether giving ourselves to a particular form of excess or to a subtle self-exalting pride that flows from a belief in our own righteousness. The powerful combination of the world, the flesh, and the devil is inevitably overwhelming, left to ourselves. This is why in Ephesians 6 Paul doesn’t merely say, “Bring the armor of God along with you on the off chance that you might need it.” Rather, he says, “You will need it; so put it on.”
