Spiritual Warfare — Part Four: Dressing For Battle.

Spiritual Warfare — Part Four
Dressing For Battle

Today's Three-minute Bible Study
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Title: Spiritual Warfare — Part Four: Dressing For Battle. ------------------- Date: 3/17/2002
Keywords: "equip" "evil" "nakedness" "shame"
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Passage: Ephesians 6:12-17*

12. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

13. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

14. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

15. and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16. and in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

17. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Questions

1. Make a list of all the items mentioned as part of the armor of God. (Helpful hint. To gird your loins means basically the same as wearing a belt to hold up your pants.)

2. List the "spiritual article" each of these warfare items relates to.

3. Attempt to explain why Paul might have chosen to connect the clothing or weapon item with the spiritual idea it is linked to.

4. Are you dressed out personally for spiritual warfare today? If not, what might you be missing?

Practical help

Paul wrote the letter to the church at Ephesus while a prisoner in Rome. Historians tell us that every day he was probably chained to Roman guards. Rather than be intimidated by this reality, he chose to see how God had given him spiritual armor to wear that would cover his weaknesses in the same way the soldier’s clothing and weapons were designed to protect him. You may feel that your situation is overwhelming and that your shame is beyond repair. If this is true, you need to clothe your spiritual nakedness right now. If this doesn’t make sense to you, first consider learning about Christianity by clicking here.

Notice how spiritual warfare is not about your strength, but about how God can equip and strengthen you. There is a huge difference between the idea that God is your strength and the idea that someday you will become strong on your own.

Finally, note that there are many articles that make up the full armor of God. There are many aspects you need to think about when attempting to overcome the pull of pornography on your life. Tomorrow we will look at a few of these spiritual items in more detail. In the meantime, work on the questions above. Have a great day!

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*"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission."