As we go to war each day against Satan and his schemes, according to Ephesians 6:10-20, we must choose to take up the whole armor of God. When we take up the armor that God supplies for us, we will be able to stand against our enemy. We cannot stand against Satan based on our own strength; as we take up God’s armor, we must be strong in the power that He supplies.
Our enemy, Satan, is a liar. As Jesus says in John 8:44, “He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Satan’s goal is to deceive us. In Revelation 12:9, Satan is identified as “the deceiver of the whole world.” One way that Satan does that is by disguising himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). Paul feared that Satan would deceive the Corinthians, stating, “But 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” (2 Corinthians 11:3).
That is why it is so important for us to “stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth” (Ephesians 6:14). Looking earlier in the letter, in order to stand against the Satan’s deceptions, we must be willing to hear the word of truth (Ephesians 1:13) and bear the fruit of light which consists of all that is good, right, and true (Ephesians 5:9). We must realize that “the truth is in Jesus” (Ephesians 4:21). As Jesus said, “I am the truth” (John 14:6). Coming from heaven and dwelling among men, Jesus was “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). God’s word, as it is recorded in Scripture, is truth (John 17:17). In our spiritual warfare, in order to stand firm against our enemy and fasten on the belt of truth, we must be willing to listen to the words of Jesus. Regardless of what a religious group might believe or what a preacher might say, we must submit ourselves to the truth of what the word of God teaches.
We can know the truth; when we know the truth, it will set us free (John 8:32). But Satan does not want that for us. Satan does not want us to believe, receive, know, or obey the truth. Satan wants nothing more than to trick and deceive us. Satan is going to do the best that he can to pervert, twist, and confuse the divine words of Scripture in our hearts. That is what he has always done and what he will always do. In order to stand against Satan, as we take up the whole armor of God, we must put on the belt of truth by standing strong in the words of our Savior as they are recorded in the Bible.
-Tyler Alverson
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