Ephesians 6:16-17 NLT
[16]”In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.
[17] Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
The final three pieces of armour work together, our shield, sword, and helmet, which form the protective armour over our minds. The enemy attacks our minds through which he can influence our responses. Every part of our defence against the enemy originates in our minds to cover and secure us before we fall for his ploys.
Faith in the truthfulness of God’s Word is like the Roman soldier’s shield that covers our front from head to toe. From whichever direction the darts, arrows, and missiles come, and at whichever part they are aimed, we simply manoeuvre our shield to cover our vulnerable part.
Faith always functions in tandem with God’s promises. The Holy Spirit activates the truth by reminding us of the promises we have secured in our hearts through thought and practice.
How does this work? If we are tempted to doubt our salvation, for example, the Holy Spirit activates Scripture that assures us that we have been saved and will stay secure as long as we hold on to God’s truth.
If our righteousness, in response to Jesus’ righteousness in us, has been soiled by sin, the Holy Spirit calls us back to righteousness through confession and forgiveness.
If we have lost our peace, the Holy Spirit, through the Word, shows us how to recover our peace by indentifying the place where we lost peace and enabling us to restore fellowship with God.
If the devil tries to upend us by manipulating God’s Word or by casting a slur on God’s character, we can deflect those arrows with the unfailing faithfulness of God’s promises.
All of these “activities” inside us go on in our minds first. The temptations and their counter responses happen in our thoughts, and are then translated into appropriate responses. If we believe the devil, we fall. If we believe God’s Word, we stand.
How important it is for us, then, to “reign in life” over sin and death by reading, believing and acting on God’s Word. Without the Word and confidence in the Holy Spirit, we have no hope of overcoming in this war between life and death.
Romans 5:17 NIV
[17] “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness, reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!”
To be concluded…