Tighten your belts!
All the
defensive parts of the armor were girded close to their bodies of
the soldiers using an ornamented belt. In the same way, Christian
warriors wearing the armor of God should bind salvation, faith,
righteousness and peace unto themselves using the
Truth.
The Word
of God is the Truth.
"Dedicate them to yourself by
means of the truth; your word is truth." (Joh 17:17)
Jesus is
the Word.
"The Word became a human
being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us.
We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father's only
Son." (Joh 1:14)
Therefore, the Truth is
always a Person.
"Jesus answered him, "I am
the Way, the Truth, and the Life;
no one goes to the Father except by me." (Joh 14:6)
By Truth alone do we discover who our enemies are,
and how they come on to attack us.
By Truth alone do we know where our
strength lies. With Truth alone will
we prevail.
We are to gird ourselves
with Truth against all false religions
and against the various winds of doctrine of cunning devils that
are aiming to deceive us. Truth should
always be near and close to us. Truth
will keep us close to God and strengthen us against the assaults
and attacks of Satan.
The Truth will set
you free.
So Jesus said to those
who believed in him, "If you obey my teaching, you are really my
disciples; you will know the truth, and the truth will set you
free." (Joh 8:31-32)
The Truth is the
judge of your heart.
The word of God is alive and
active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It cuts all the way
through, to where soul and spirit meet, to where joints and marrow
come together. It judges the desires and thoughts of the heart.
(Heb 4:12)
The belt
was also used to protect the sensitive reproductive organs of the
soldiers. Only by having the Truth will you
be fruitful in ministry and able to multiply
spiritually.
"I am the vine, and you are
the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will bear much
fruit; for you can do nothing without me." (Joh 15:5)
The belt
also protected the legs of the soldiers. Without the
Truth you will lose your ability to move freely
in the Spirit and will always be dependant on
others.
"As a matter of fact, my
friends, I could not talk to you as I talk to people who have the
Spirit; I had to talk to you as though you belonged to this world,
as children in the Christian faith. I had to feed you milk, not
solid food, because you were not ready for it. And even now you are
not ready for it, because you still live as the people of this
world live." (1Co 3:1-3)
We must
become proficient in working with the Truth.
"It is true that we live in
the world, but we do not fight from worldly motives. The weapons we
use in our fight are not the world's weapons but God's powerful
weapons, which we use to destroy strongholds. We destroy false
arguments; we pull down every proud obstacle that is raised against
the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive and make it
obey Christ." (2Co 10:3-5)
The belt of truth, just like the rest of the armor of
God,
is Christ himself. He is the Way, the Truth and the
Life.
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