4. Preparing to Put on the Armor of God
"Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand" (Ephesians 6:11-13). If you have never worn it, you might not realize that the body armor used by members of the military, law enforcement personnel, and others can be extremely hot to wear and is not usually worn over jackets or other outer clothing – "suiting up" often involves "suiting down" first! More importantly, there are some things that must be avoided that will destroy or damage modern body armor, as we will see.
Now it's interesting that in studying the spiritual armor God gives us, we tend to only look at the armor we are told to put on. We even may have memorized the descriptions of the various items of armor the apostle Paul mentions in both Ephesians 6 and 1 Thessalonians 5:8 – the breastplate of righteousness, the sword of the spirit, and so on, but Paul makes it clear that certain things should be taken off in preparation to putting on the armor.
Notice what he wrote specifically: "… let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light" (Romans 13:12). Paul makes it very clear that the "putting off" is just as important as the "putting on," and that the one should proceed the other. So what kind of things do we "put off" or "put away"? In Ephesians Paul reminds us of some specific examples regarding what to put off:
"You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;…Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body…Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice" (Ephesians 4:22, 25, 31). James (James 1:21), Peter ( 1 Peter 2:1) and other biblical writers also give examples of things we must put off before we can put on the armor God wishes to give us, and it is vital to understand why. It is precisely those things that we are told to "put off" or "put away" from us that will short circuit the various parts of the armor we are given.
Take a single example. Ephesians 6:14 lists the "belt" of truth and it doesn't take much thought to realize how the application of truth protects us, both doctrinally and practically; yet that protection is completely undermined if we do not first put off "falsehood and speak truthfully…" (Ephesians 4:25).
Virtually every part of the armor we are given will only work if we first put off that which would weaken or destroy it. It's a principle everyone who wears physical body armor knows well. Certain things such as water, dirt, ultraviolet light, various chemicals, etc., will destroy the ability of body armor to protect its wearer and must be avoided or quickly removed.
As warriors of the Way, before we put on the armor we are given, we must put off the harmful spiritual things that would destroy it. That's a fundamental aspect of our training we must never forget.