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The Shield of Faith
The Apostle Paul, in Ephesians 6:10-17, presents a military metaphor
using the Roman soldier's uniform to
teach the principles of defense in the spiritual realm. In verse 16 he
uses the shield of faith.
Ephesians 6:16 in addition to all,
taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish
all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
The Roman soldier’s shield covered most of the body. The shield was
constructed of a double thickness of planks joined together with glue.
The shield’s outer surface was then wrapped with canvas and
covered with calfskin. Along the top and bottom edges, the shield had an
ornamental metal rim made of iron which protected the shield from being
damaged when set on the ground. The rim also helped
ward off the cutting strokes of enemy swords in combat. The shield was
fitted with an iron boss in order that it might deflect the more
destructive blows of stones, long javelins, and fire missiles.
God issues every believer a shield that far surpasses that of the Roman
soldier – “the shield of faith.” This shield protects the believer in
every exigency of life. Faith removes dependence on self and substitutes
dependence upon the one who is the source of joy and strength, the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Believers must hold up to the devil not merely their subjective faith,
but the Word of God, the pertinent passage of scripture, the objective
content of faith. Of course, they must believe it with their whole heart, rely on its truth and power.
The believer must remember that even with all of his power, all of his
devices, Satan has no weapon powerful enough to destroy or penetrate the
shield of faith. His blazing arrows fall harmlessly to the ground
The Apostle Paul doesn’t mention what, if anything, might be written on
the shield of faith God issues the believer. I like to think we might
find on it our Lord’s desires, His two objectives for the entire human race: Believe
in Me – Think Like Me.
The classification of objects of faith is very important to the believer:
The first object of faith is the Lord Jesus Christ — Acts 16:31a
Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved – Believe in Me.
This is faith decision: a one-shot decision, a tiny little bit of faith
in Jesus Christ that secures eternal salvation.
After salvation, the Word of God, the thinking of Christ, becomes the
object of faith. This is faith perception: the consistent decisions we
must make after we are saved to take in the Word of God, and most
importantly, to believe it; to make Christ’s thinking our thinking -
Philippians 2:5 You should think in the same way Christ Jesus does.
(NIrV) -
Think Like Me.
Everything that any human being can ever do in relationship to God is
based on His grace. The only thing we can do to appropriate His grace
that is compatible with His grace is to exercise faith.
The efficacy of faith always lies in its object and is related to either
the living Word, the person of Jesus Christ, or the written Word, the
thinking of Jesus Christ.
Copyright © 2018 - 2022 Raymond L. Cowan
Last modified: 10/18/2022
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