Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace… – Ephesians 6:14-15

This morning, and as I begin to get my thoughts sorted out in preparation for next Tuesday’s Bible Study with the guys, I want to pause where we are and reflect on the journey to this point.

We have just finished Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus. The book turned out to be a beautiful exposition on Christian faith and a most enjoyable read.

Paul had penned the previous book, Galatians, while establishing the church in Ephesus. He was concerned that the Galatians were missing the entire point of freedom in Christ, and the bulk of the letter reveals his deep frustration. He wrote Ephesians, however, from his prison cell in Rome. The letter is encouraging, loving, affirming and presented in a tone that indicates Paul knows he will not be seeing them again.

“Ephesians,” my friend Monty said in an insightful observation, “is the book I would recommend reading if someone were to ask, ‘What is this Christianity you talk about?'”

The Armor of God:

Then, as he wraps up his letter in Chapter Six, Paul pauses to acknowledge the challenges the Ephesians face as followers of Jesus in a hostile environment. If we are going to stand, he says – and stand we must – here is the equipment we are going to need. He describes (and prescribes) what he – surrounded by soldiers in the beating heart of the Roman Empire – calls “The whole armor of God.”

As we talked about this crucial application of spiritual principles to our day to day lives, two things stood out to me:

First: the armor includes more items than typically taught. Then: the critical importance of “the belt of truth.”

You can see I have added prayer, staying alert and courage to the traditional six.

• Belt of truth
• Breastplate of righteousness
• Shoes of the gospel of peace
• Shield of faith
• Helmet of salvation
• Sword of the Spirit
• Prayer
• Staying alert
• Courage

The Belt of Truth

This post is too short to write about all nine. But I will point out why I believe Paul anchored his list with “the belt of truth.” The belt holds the armor together. If the belt fails then – essentially – your pants fall down and everything else goes with it!

Ultimately, what we construct in life has to stand on the truth. The structural integrity of the armor, our faith, our family, our convictions, our arguments, our leadership, our very lives… it all depends on the belt of truth. We can apply this to so much. If we are not grounded in truth then eventually our pants fall down and everything else goes with it.

Truth, Jesus pointed out, is what sets us free. And evil personified, the scriptures also teach us, lies all the time. “When he lies,” Jesus pointed out, “he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (read John 8:42-47).

This walk through the scriptures continues to be quite the journey. More reflections to come – DEREK