In our lives, we have different shoes for different occasions. Speaking in generalities, a football player wears cleats, a cowboy wears boots, a runner wears running shoes, a lawyer wears dress shoes, a basketball player wears high-top sneakers, and a surfer wears flip flops. The shoes that we wear depend on where we are and what we are doing. As Christians, as we wage war daily against Satan and his demons by putting on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-20), we are to constantly wear only one type of shoe; these are shoes that we are to never take off. Possibly alluding to the words of Isaiah 52:7, Paul wrote the following: “as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace” (Ephesians 6:15).
The word “gospel” literally means “good news.” The good news of Jesus, which is rooted in His death, burial, and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-4), must be preached (2 Timothy 2:8), believed (Mark 1:15), received (1 Corinthians 15:1), and obeyed (Romans 10:16). When the gospel is accepted (2 Corinthians 11:4), it is able to bring about peace between sinful humanity and God; as Paul says in Romans 5:1, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Speaking of Jesus, earlier in Ephesians, Paul wrote, “He Himself is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14).
Within the gospel of peace, we the find readiness and preparation that we need to stand firm against our enemy. When a preacher stands up to proclaim the word of God, he must prepare through diligent study. When athletes compete, if they want to perform well, they must prepare by going to practice. When students take tests in school, the students must prepare by going back and making sure that they know the material that was covered in class. The gospel of peace is more than capable of preparing us to stand up against the devil on a daily basis. Are we allowing the gospel of peace to prepare us for battle against Satan through study, prayer, meditation, and faithful living? Are we growing in the readiness that is supplied by the gospel of peace? If any of us do not feel that we are being properly prepared by the good news of Jesus, it cannot be the gospel’s fault; the fault must be our own.
As we allow the gospel of peace to prepare us to resist Satan, we cannot simply keep it to ourselves. We must commit ourselves to sharing the gospel of peace with others. We have not truly been prepared by the good news of Jesus if we are not actively sharing it with others. When the Christians in Jerusalem were scattered because of persecution, they “went about preaching the word” (Acts 8:4). Even in very difficult circumstances, they had been so prepared by the gospel message that they could not keep it to themselves. We must realize that “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4). We should be doing what is necessary to prepare ourselves to reach those who are living under our enemy’s reign.
We go to battle everyday against our enemy, the devil. God has given us all that we need to stand against our adversary when we take up His armor. As we have now discussed the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, and shoes of the readiness of the gospel of peace, I look forward to continuing to study the armor of God together in upcoming weeks. Let’s go out and be victorious over Satan through trusting in God, relying on His power, and taking up His armor.
-Tyler Alverson
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