WHAT THEN IS THE WHOLE AMOUR OF GOD?

Thank God the Holy Spirit did not leave this to our imagination but clearly stated them in Ephesians 6:14 17, truth, righteousness, readiness to preach/live the gospel, faith, salvation and the word of God. By and large, they are not any different from the weapons of our warfare which the Holy Spirit by apostle Paul talked about in 2 Corinthians 10:4 where He says For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds. Do not get thrown by the reference to these in Ephesians as amour and in 2 Corinthians as weapons, take a cue firstly from the underlying message that we ‘wrestle not against flesh and blood’ and ‘the weapons of our warfare are not carnal’ in the two passages. Secondly, take another cue from how the ‘weapons’ and ‘whole amour’ work in the life of the believer (as will be further explained in the write up on how to put on and use the armor and the weapons) and you will see that they are the same.

The armor/weapons we have been provided are not compared to any man made weapon in capability and most importantly how they work. It is very important that you have this settled in your mind if indeed you will gain mastery in following the path of victory in your life’s battles, battles that are not avoidable once you are a believer. I say this without mincing words, notwithstanding the industry already built today around ‘spiritual warfare’ which deals ill strategies and all manner of phony ‘weaponry’ to the hapless, all which have no basis or foundation in scripture. The truth about the warfare we are engaged in and how we successfully wage it can be seen and known if only the believer will be a student of the Holy Spirit, studying under His tutorship and comparing scripture with scripture, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).

Now then, looking at these six things, the whole amour of God in Ephesians 6:14-17, I would have thought truth and the word of God meant the same thing and that faith, salvation, righteousness, preparation of the gospel of peace are also embedded in God’s word. While this is true and a fact, looking at the context within which they are used here and comparing scripture with scripture, we get a better understanding of what the Holy Spirit is pointing at.

Righteousness refers to the believers’ understanding of our present state or status of right standing with God, a gift given unto us when we accepted Christ as our savior (Romans 5:16,17). This status which was freely given to us is the only basis we have for our relationship with God and access to all the benefits we have in Him (Romans 5:1). Until a believer accepts this and lives by it, there is no way he will survive Satan’s condemnation and shortchanging, experience peace with God and walk in the confidence of his salvation and all that comes with it. The status is not earned by works, cannot be bought by money, it is given based on obedience to the gospel and maintained by same.

Readiness to preach/live the gospel (preparation of the gospel of peace) refers to the knowing of and accepting this sacrosanct duty of every believer in this life, a duty for which we must give account to God (2 Corinthians 5:10) in the after-life. The believer will not be in compliance to this requirement until he understands that this is God’s command and expectation, it is not optional. If this is observed by all believers for instance, there will be no cases of people claiming to be saved and yet continuing to live their lives in envy, malice, hatred, immorality, foul mouthedness, lying, deceitfulness, drunkenness, cheating, secret cult membership, consulting spiritulists/mediums and any other form of godlessness just like they were living before getting saved (1 Corinthians 6:5-11). It was from these things that the believer repented unto salvation and must be ready to live and preach the new life into which he has been born. The repentance of the believer at salvation is the turning away from these things to embrace the readiness to preach/live the gospel for which reason Jesus gave the life of God to the believer’s spirit through re-creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). If you embrace this truth as a believer, you will not continue living a disorderly and ungodly life, claiming that you are serving God ‘in your heart’ or ‘your own way’ and should not be ‘judged’ by anyone. Anybody who carries on this way is either not born again or is but has slid into error and thereby fallen short of this amour and far from victory over the kingdom of darkness, irrespective of the prayer formula he/she adopts in attempts to defeat the enemy.

Faith here refers to the holding on to the conviction of and always acting on the truth, against any other principle, knowledge, wisdom, creed or belief. For example Jesus said And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name….. they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover (Mark 16:17-18) therefore the believer is expected to hold on to this as true and act on it as often as there is opportunity irrespective of any other opinion. The same applies to every other provision God made for the Church under the new covenant.

Salvation here refers to living in the consciousness of our being born again (John 3:3,5, 1 Peter 1:3). Our salvation brought us into Christ and gave us access to all these privileges we have in God. If you are born again, you have access by the Holy Spirit who now indwells you. If you are not born again, you have no access to the privileges, you are not a part of the God’s kingdom, church membership notwithstanding, you have not even started as far as the contention for what God has to offer you is concerned, you are but meat to the enemy.

The word of God here refers to God’s word to the believer at every instance including both His written word (what the bible says to you regarding your life in Christ) and His spoken word (in day to day guidance and leading through the Holy Spirit in all the affairs of life). You must identify, accept and live by the fact that as a believer, you take the cue for everything you do from God’s word and His guidance on all life’s issues. For example, while the unsaved are seeking for how to kill their enemies, praying for them to die, you remember what Jesus said in Matthew 5:44-46 and you pray for their salvation and God’s redemption upon their lives because first and foremost your real enemies are not human beings but fallen spirits (demons) referred to as principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness in high places. When you follow God’s leadership through His word (written and spoken), you will then realize that all the efforts of Satan to limit you are undone by God and you make progress, because God’s blessing (power) for doing His word comes upon your life, strengthens, protects you and keeps Satan defeated in all that has to do with your life.

It is concluded therefore that the beginning of victory over the kingdom of darkness is knowing the whole armor of God (His word/expectations) and making a conscious decision to live life in total obedience and conformity with them. Jesus said in Mark 8:34b Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. This is the price we have to pay. We must jettison our own ways or ways learnt from others but are not of God and follow God’s ways. We have been bought with a price, we no longer belong to ourselves (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

We will examine how to put on the whole amour of God in another post but in the meantime Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all (1 Timothy 4:15).​


Pastor Gboye Omolayo is the Resident Pastor of Church@Allen, Allen TX, USA. He is a prolific writer and preacher who believes the efficacy of the word of God and the potency of the works of the Holy Spirit are still available to the Church today, as were at the Church’s infancy. He is the publisher of this blog.