Put On The Full Armor of God

The Solution to Our Problem

2Co 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

God's answer to our sinfulness is not reformation of the old, but the creation of a new individual born of the Spirit of God. Ephesians 4:23-24 tells us to be renewed in the spirit of our mind and to "put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."

Our new life begins when we, by faith, receive Jesus as Lord and Savior. Once saved we are to begin the process of "putting off the old" and "putting on the new."

Christians can think that if they are really Christians, then they shouldn't have to struggle with various temptations. But all Christians have to learn how to bring Christ's victories into their everyday life; it is a process and it takes time.

Notice the behaviors of Christians in Ephesians 4. Paul tells them to stop: lying, anger, stealing, giving in to the Devil, corrupt communication, grieving the Holy Spirit, bitterness, wrath, clamor, evil speaking, and all malice. Paul tells born-again Christians to stop doing the old things and start behaving like the people of God they really are. The "putting on" is our part in the eternal purposes of God.

To Be New, We Have To Put On The New!

Eph 4:22-24
That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

The new man is created after God in righteousness and true holiness. If you are a born-again Christian then you are a new creation of God. You were born of God and the Holy Spirit resides within you.

We learn how to change our behavior and we learn how to renew our thinking by submitting our mind and heart to the Word of God. The Word of God possesses the power of God and as we submit to the Word of God, the Holy Spirit strengthens us for godly living.

To be created after God means down from or according to. You are no longer a natural man but a new man with a new identity in Christ.

We have a new identity and a new nature, we are created after God in righteousness and true holiness! 2 Peter 1:2-3 tells us that we are partakers (partners, associates) of the Divine Nature.

I know what you are thinking-If I have a new nature then why do I act the way I act? Why do I struggle in so many areas of life? The answer is this- You are not in heaven and you continue to live in a physical body.

God could have translated you directly into heaven the very second you were born-again, but He has given you a life to live on earth, a demon possessed, sin infected world where you will face every kind of opposition, and every kind of resistance to the reality of what Christ has accomplished in and for you.

Our Victory Over Evil Proves The Power of The Cross

Salvation is not lived in the abstract. The people of God show their Salvation to be real by walking out their redemptive victories over a real Devil, over a world that is really opposed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and over a fleshly nature that really opposes their love of God!

The Lord chose to leave you in a body that wants its own way, and with a mind that naturally opposes Him. He then tells us to manage our bodies and renew our minds to serve Him.

Our victory over inward sin shows the work of Christ to be more powerful than sin. And also, we show the principalities and powers in heavenly places the great wisdom of God in sending His Son to redeem a people.

God has dealt with evil through Christ Jesus and He won! We, His people, show the evidence of God's victory by overcoming our own fleshly, human nature. Our victory shows all creation His wisdom and goodness. And this is our supreme and high calling, to bring God glory by putting on display the victory of His Son over all the works of the Devil.

Jesus has defeated sin, defeated the Devil, and defeated the world for you. Your life as a Christian is use the Armor that God gives, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the Devil!

The Gospel Joins Us To Christ

  • We are joined to Christ in His death.
  • We are joined to Christ in His burial.
  • We are joined to Christ in His resurrection.

The Cross is My Victory Over the Guilt and Penalty of Sin!

Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin, Hebrews 9:24. Our sin is atoned for by our union with Jesus Christ in His death and burial. Death is the penalty mandated by law for sin. Jesus paid the penalty of death, and His burial is the proof of His death. Because we are joined to Christ in His death and burial, God counts us as having died and then buried. Because death and burial have been imputed to me, I have no more guilt. Death is the penalty and once one has died, there is no more guilt or penalty for sin. The cross is my place of death sets me free from the guilt and penalty of sin.

But I need more than death and burial, I need to live!

Our New Identity is in the Resurrected Christ

Romans 6:1-11
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection:
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

I am Joined to the Resurrected Christ

The above portion of scripture tells me (verse 5,7,11) that I am joined to Christ in His resurrection! I have been given new life through the resurrection of Christ. Verse 11 tells me - just as Christ is dead to sin (through death and burial) I am also dead to sin. And just as Christ has risen from the dead, and is now alive to God (sin having been dealt with), I have also risen from the dead and am alive to God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Dead To Sin, Alive To God-Reckon It So

Now for an important principle-The resurrection of Jesus Christ is proof that I can live an overcoming Christian life. We are joined to the One who has overcome all the power of the Devil. This is God's wisdom and God's power, to us, for overcoming evil.

He has given us a new identity by joining us to the resurrected Christ. We are no longer joined to the earthly Adam, but we are joined to Jesus Christ who gives us new life through His Spirit. I literally have the resurrection power of Jesus Christ within me through the indwelling Holy Spirit.

The Spirit of Jesus (the Holy Spirit) births His people, and through the new birth, enables them. They are joined the Christ, and therefore qualitatively different, than before their conversion.

The above scripture (Rom 6:11) tells me to "reckon it so", which means to add it up and come to the conclusion that it is true! My title deed to the new man is the resurrected Christ.

The proof of Jesus' victory over sin is His resurrection; death could not hold Him. He now invites me to join Him in His victory over sin and His life to God. Being now joined to the resurrected Christ I am free to live unto God through the life and power of Jesus Christ the Lord!

Gal 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

1Peter 1:3
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Armor of God is a Bible study that teaches the Christian how to put on the new man by using the weapons of God, listed in Ephesians 6:10-18, and applying them at heart level. The thoughts, emotions, desires, priorities, and ambitions are brought into agreement with the Word of God. In this way we put on the new and put off the old.

The Armor of God

1. Loins Girt With Truth
2. Breastplate of Righteousness
3. Feet Shod With the Preparation of the Gospel of Peace
4. Shield of Faith
5. Helmet of salvation
6. Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God
7. All prayer and supplication

God bless you as you walk through this study, may the Lord bring you new freedom as you use the weapons He has provided.

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Scripture

Eph 4:22-24
Amplified Version Strip yourselves of your former nature, put off and discard your old unrenewed self,  which characterized your previous manner of life and becomes corrupt through lusts and desires that spring from delusion. And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind, having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude. And put on the new nature, the regenerate self, created in God's image,(Godlike) in true righteousness and holiness.

Rom 6:14
Sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

2Cor 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Rom 12:1-2
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Col 3:9-13
Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; 10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: 11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. 12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

1Tim 4:1-9
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; 3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. 4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: 5 For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. 6 If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained. 7 But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. 8 For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. 9 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.

Eph 5:1-4
Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; 2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. 3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;