The Shield of Faith

In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; ¹⁷ and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, ¹⁸ praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. 

Ephesians 6:16-18

I took a two day pause on the armor of God to pray for and demonstrate thankfulness for our teaching Brothers and Sisters, a group of people who need the protection of being fully armored up all day long, every day.

Today, let’s dive back into our exploration of the armor of God by examining the shield of faith.

Ephesians 6:16 tells us that the shield of faith allows us to extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.

What kind of darts does the evil one throw?

We already know from our discussion of the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, and shoes of the gospel of peace that the devil stands all day and night making accusations against us to God (Revelation 12:10).

One type of dart he throws is accusation. The devil accuses us before God and also accuses us to our faces, through hard thoughts that slip into our minds and through the words and actions of others.

Another type of dart the devil throws is temptation. Second Corinthians 11:3 tells us that “I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” We also know that the devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness (Mark 1:13).

A third type of dart he throws is falsehood. John 8:44 tells us that the devil is father of lies and speaks in lies. We know that he lied to Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1-4) and that he masquerades as an angel of light, disguising his darkness (2 Corinthians 11:14).

There are more fiery darts than we have time to look at today. If it’s harmful to us, you can bet the devil will throw it.

How then do we defend ourselves from the devil’s accusation, temptation, and falsehood?

With the shield of faith – the trust that God is real even though we can’t see Him, that Jesus is God’s Son and was born, died, and resurrected for our salvation even though we didn’t witness it firsthand, that Jesus is making a place in Heaven with His Father for those who put their faith in Him and will one day return for His people.

Sweet friends, our faith, our trust in God’s sovereignty and goodness, shields us from the attacks of the devil. And as with physical suits of armor, each piece of armor we put on increases our protection. The shield of faith keeps the enemy’s attacks from hitting us. The belt of truth helps us recognize the enemy’s lies so we see the dart coming. The breastplate of righteousness gives us confidence in Christ so we have the strength to raise our shield. The shoes of the gospel of peace give us the ability to stand firm and to move in protection for others.

Beloved, I hope you are learning as much about God’s perfect design to protect us as I am during this study of the armor of God.

Today, let us reflect on how the shield of faith protects us from the fiery darts of the evil one. Tomorrow we’ll examine the shield of faith even more closely.

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