One of the staples of my religious past, was putting on the whole armour of God. Some of you know what I mean ~ part of our daily prayer preparation. This armour in Ephesians 6, was often taught, was a direct reference, to the armour of a Roman centurian.
But while it could be argued that this might be so, I now understand this in a whole different light. What we missed, it seems, in our desire to “press into Jesus” and not “give the devil a foothold” was this; Paul is directly referencing NOT roman soldiers, but the prophet Isaiah in chapter 59 of that book.
Here is what Isaiah said; The Lord’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save, but your sins have hid His face from you (Note; NOT God has hid Ahis face from you. THEREFORE when God saw that there was no one to stand in the gap as a mediator, He did it Himself by His arm and His righteousness (Jesus??).
THEN Isaiah says Isa 59:17 NKJ 17 For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, And was clad with zeal as a cloak.
Christ is our breastplate of righteousness.
Christ is our helmet of salvation.
Christ is our garment of vengeance
Christ is our cloak
All the other items related in the “whole armour of God’ passage is Christ. I no longer put these items on, or even put Christ on; I now walk calmly and confidently in the certainty that I am IN Christ, that Christ is in me and that the dualism of my religious past has melted into the ONE, the New Creation which is the eternal amalgamation of God and man.
YEEHAH!