Christians speak much of the armor of God: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:13-15). The armor of God prepares us “to withstand in the evil day” (v. 13) and “extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one” (v. 16).
Yet Christians forget that the Bible teaches that Satan has “armor in which he trusted” (Luke 11:22). Satan has a faith or a system of beliefs which protects from God. And he shares these beliefs with his spiritual children. Satan’s defense mechanisms range from bold proclamation of atheism (Psalm 10:4), to magical spells (Isa. 47:9), to misinterpreting the Bible for a sinful earthly advantage (Mark 10:7-13) and self-righteousness (Luke 18:10-13) before God. For his followers, for instance the Pharisees, it includes spiritual disciplines like prayer (Matt. 6:5) and fasting (v. 16), and reading and applying the Bible (Mark 12:24; Matt. 9:13).
The belt of lies, the breastplate of wickedness, shield of disbelief, and a heart of stone all defend Satan and his followers from comprehending their doom and repenting. Satan’s armor functions as an explanation of spiritual and earthly events that defends against the witness of nature, the conscience, the Spirit, and God’s Word.
Because the purpose of the armor is not truth but comfort through self-deception, there’s no need or possibility of a coherent or single system of spiritual disciplines, philosophy or theology as a whole because sin is irrational (Eccl. 9:3). The sound of one hand clapping or something coming from nothing comforts only those who reject God.
We are born wearing Satan’s armor (Gen. 8:21). We remove it by repenting of our sins and trusting in Jesus Christ as the ultimate means of safety in this life and in the life to come. We “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Rom. 13:14). Thus we exchange the habitual defenses of Satan for “the whole armor of God” (Eph. 6:11).
Yet once saved, we can still “present our members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness” (Rom. 6:13). The Greek word translated here as “instruments” can also be translated as weapons. Thus we can pick up the weapons and armor of the flesh (2 Cor. 10:4). We can use the good things of God to destroy rather than to build up and defend (2 Cor. 10:8). And thus Satan taught his disciples to pray (Matt. 6:5), fast (6:16), and to misuse the Bible
To overcome this fleshy tendency to take off the armor of God and to pick up the armor of Satan, we must approach the spiritual discipline with a posture of dependence on God (Rom. 6:13) and mercy towards our fellow man (Matt. 9:13). Our safety is never found in having done devotions, but because God sustained us in devotions. We pray not for earthly power, but for the strength to honor God. We love our fellow man in mercy not because he is loveable, but because we have been forgiven much (Luke 7:47).
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, teach us to put on the armor of God and to not put on the armor of evil one. Teach us to come to you alone for safety and keep us from being deceived. Forgive us for those times that we have defended our hearts from your Spirit and your Word with Satan’s armor. Help us to have mercy on our neighbor as you have had mercy on us. Amen.