Pray for All Believers in Christ Together Taking Up the Same Armor–The “belt of Truth”

When the battle comes to us, we are commanded only to “stand” our ground together. We are to have prepared each other beforehand by arming ourselves for the battle. The first item mentioned is “truth.” We are to have fastened the "truth" securely all around us… The "truth" which holds us together as a Body, and which holds our armor together, goes far beyond never telling a lie. It is a sincere mind and a character which continually listens to God's truth and rejects even the thought of speaking on its own, without God directing, or of being deceptive. It is this truth as a frame of mind that we are to fasten all around ourselves before battle…

This series started with a single verse–only half a sentence–that appears to tell me that I should pray for all of the believers in Christ within the circle of my life, however broadly my life history, present circumstances and the moving of the Holy Spirit may define that circle:

Ephesians 6:18 (WEB)

I am to pray as the Spirit directs and not deny or refuse to pray for anyone who is placed upon my mind or heart. I am not to give up on anyone, or to conclude that they are too unimportant, are no longer important to me, have fallen so low as to lose God’s love, or have hurt me so badly that God now permits me to think of them as unsaved or nonexistent when the facts are otherwise.

The reason I should not refuse to pray for any believer is that the command to keep praying is not given to me for myself alone, it is given to the whole Body of Christ for the good of the whole Body. It is not just about me. The Body must act in unity, together. And God chooses who belongs to the Body, I do not.

I then discussed verses 10 and 11, which state the purpose for the commands regarding spiritual armor and prayer:

Ephesians 6:10-11 (WEB)

We, together, are to be strong in the Lord, relying on his might instead of our own. This is something we can only do properly when we are standing together–the command is addressed to plural you (“you all”), not just to me alone.

We are to do this by, together, putting on the whole armor of God. The original text indicates, through its choice of plural number and verb voice, that putting on the armor is something we must help each other do. It is not something I can do properly on my own.

We must do this, and do it together, so that we will be able to stand up to the lies and intimidation of our real enemy, the devil.

Then, in the last installment, I went through verses 12 and13, Paul’s explanation of why this is so important. We are fighting not just the devil himself, but a whole army of spiritual forces that drive the evil in the world system and that are fighting to destroy us by deceiving and intimidating us the join the world in its evil. No human I may think is my enemy, whether outside or inside the Church, is my real enemy. The devil and his spiritual forces of evil are my real enemy, and I will lose if I try to stand up to them on my own. We will win only when we stand together and help to keep each other armed with the armor of God. And if we do this, ultimate victory is assured.

With that introduction, verses 14 through 16 deal with the armor itself:

Ephesians 6:14-16 (WEB)

Verses 14 through 16 name most of the pieces that are usually identified the armor God tells us each, individually, to put on ourselves “daily.” But, as I’ve already said, the whole passage is stated in the plural, and is telling us to do something we must do together. And it is interesting that the command stated in verse 14, the only infected verb in this long sentence, does not command us to “put on” anything. Instead, this sentence only commands us to “stand.”

This is a very simple command, especially when read with the explanation in verses 12 and 13. We are to stand firm together, to hold our position against the attacks of the spiritual army of the enemy. We are particularly to rely on each other to hold firm in the “evil day,” when the enemy’s attacks are the fiercest.

The remainder of verses 14 through 16 uses participles to speak of things that should already have been done, and items we should already have helped each other put on, when the enemy’s attack comes and we must stand firm together.

Before the enemy’s attack comes, we are to have the “truth” fastened around ourselves like a belt. In fact, the Greek text does not contain a separate noun that means “belt.” The concept of a belt or binding that holds clothing–or other things–together or in place is inherent in the verb used (perizōnnumi), which, in its broadest reading, simply means to “gird all around.” Before the enemy’s attack comes, we are to have fastened “truth” securely all around us. It is what holds all of our armor, and our lives, together under attack.

“Truth” (alētheia) is also a simple word with a very broad meaning. Of course, it means, objectively, that which is in agreement with the actual state of affairs, as opposed to an outright lie, a half-truth, or a statement (or thought or belief) that is “true as far as it goes” but omits some information with an intent to deceive (and, yes, deceiving myself counts) or manipulate. “Truth” also refers to Jesus himself, who is the Truth, John 14:6, in whom we are to be living together at all times. The Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of truth,” who guides us into “all the truth,” as we rely on him to do so. John 16:13. And the word of God is truth, the truth that sets us apart to God and empowers us to live together as set apart to him. John 17:17.

But there is more than this to “truth.” Jesus called the Holy Spirit the “Spirit of truth” because he never speaks on his own initiative but speaks only what he hears the Father saying. The Holy Spirit thus illustrates the second, subjective, lexical meaning of the Greek word. As stated in Thayer’s lexicon, this is “truth as a personal excellence; that candor of mind which is free from affectation, pretence, simulation, falsehood, deceit,” that is “sincerity of mind and integrity of character, or a mode of life in harmony with divine truth.” The “truth” which holds us together as a Body, and which holds our armor together, goes far beyond never telling a lie. It is a sincere mind and a character which continually listens to God’s truth and rejects even the thought of speaking on its own, without God directing, or of being deceptive.

It is this truth as a frame of mind that we are to fasten all around ourselves before battle, to hold everything together–because if we accept the idea of deceiving ourselves or each other, we will fall apart when the battle is fierce.

Email me: Ian Johnson.