Today’s Topic
I have been writing a series of blogs on Spiritual Warfare and if this is your first time visiting one of my blogs on this topic, I want to encourage you to read the previous blogs that I have written on this as they build off each other. Below you will find a link to each of the blogs in this series thus far.
The Belt of Truth
13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth…
Ephesians 6:13-14a NLT
In March I wrote a blog introducing The Whole Armor of God as we read in Ephesians 6:10-20. Paul writes of the importance of putting on the whole armor of God to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. This is when Paul begins to use the physical armor worn by Roman soldiers as imagery for spiritual armor to be used by believers. Most of this equipment/armor is used to defend, not to attack. Paul does not want us as the reader to focus on the precise function of each piece of armor, but on God’s gifts.
In verse 13 and the beginning of verse 14 Paul is laying the groundwork for the entirety of verses 14-17. Paul exhorts believers to “put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will be standing firm” (vs. 13 NLT). God’s armor gives believers the ability to resist the attacks of the devil in the time of evil when evil seems to prevail and to keep standing firm. Paul follows this with the first three words in vs. 14 being, “Stand your ground.” Soldiers are not sitting or laying down when the enemy comes, they are standing their ground and we are to do the same. Rick Renner of the author of Dressed to Kill: A Biblical Approach to Spiritual Warfare and Armor writes the following…
The Greek word for “stand” is that word stenai, meaning to stand upright. It is the image of one who is so confident that he is standing with his head held high and his shoulders thrown back. Paul obviously has the picture of a Roman soldier in mind - the kind of solder who is very proud to be a soldier.
This is precisely the picture the Holy Spirit is painting for us in this verse. When you have donned the full armor of God, you have every reason to stand up straight and be confident in God!
This leads us into the first piece of armor being the belt of truth. To be honest my first thought is that I would not think of a belt as being a piece of armor. How does a belt help protect me against all strategies of the devil? Again, Paul does not want us to focus on each piece of the armor in its precise function from a worldly perspective, rather he wants us to focus on God’s gifts meaning the spiritual significance of each piece of the armor. The whole armor of God is given to us as believers as a gift from God and we need to be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power in putting on all of God’s armor starting with the belt of truth.
The belt (also known as the loinbelt) for the Roman soldier was an extremely vital piece to wearing their whole armor. For the Roman soldier, the belt held all the pieces of his armor together! The Roman soldier’s shield was attached to the belt, his sword hung from the belt, his lance would rest upon the belt and it kept his breastplate made of brass in place otherwise it would be loose and freely moving about. The belt was essential for the Roman soldier otherwise he would not be able to stand his ground nor fight against the enemy. A Roman soldier without his belt was not an effective soldier and was unfit for battle. For a piece of armor that is barely visible it is indeed a vital piece to the whole armor of the Roman soldier.
So it is the same for the Christian, a Christian without the belt of truth is not an effective soldier of God and is unable to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. A Christian wearing the belt of truth carries the same vital importance as it did for the Roman soldier. So let us ask ourselves, what does the belt of truth mean for the Christian? The belt of truth for the Christian is being grounded in Christ and Scripture which provides protection and the ability to stand your ground. Simply put, the belt of truth is the written word of God. If we are to wear the whole armor of God then we must truly know and understand what it means to put on the belt of truth.
A Christian who wears the belt of truth means he or she believes in Jesus as their Lord and Savior and knows who He is and are thus grounded in Christ. Furthermore, a Christian who wears the belt of truth knows the Word of God being Scripture in which, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NLT). It is important for us as Christians to be engaged with the Word of God everyday as it helps us in many ways as Paul writes of in his letter to Timothy. We also read in John 14 where Jesus is talking to the disciple Thomas who is confused in not knowing where Jesus is going to in which we read, “Jesus told him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!’” (John 14:6-7 NLT). This strikes a new chord within me because I truly want to be grounded in Christ in knowing Him and the Scriptures so that I will be able to stand my ground.
Rick Renner writes more in regards to the significance of the belt of truth…
But if you lay aside your Bible (your ‘'loinbelt of truth’), in time you begin to lose your sense of righteousness. Lay aside that lointbelt of truth, and you will slowly begin to lose your sense of peace. Lay aside that loinbelt of truth, and you will feel the joy of your salvation begin to deplete. If you toss that loinbelt of truth out of your life, you will begin very quickly to lose your ability to believe God and to walk in faith.
You absolutely cannot function as a believer without the Word of God having an active and central role in your life. You may run on a little steam from the past for a while, but you won’t run very far.
If you remove the loinbelt - the Word of God - it will only be a matter of time until you begin to fall to pieces spiritually. Demonic assaults will break through that invisible barrier that used to protect you, and chaos will take over in your life.
I agree with Renner that if we are to put on the whole armor of God then it is fundamentally important that we are actively reading and studying the Word of God. I wrote of the importance of reading the Bible daily in a blog I wrote called Keep it Simple that you can read here. The faith practice of reading Scripture is like a muscle and it needs to be exercised daily. A daily Scripture life means drawing closer to God in coming to know and understand more of God’s character and His will in your life. This means that the belt of truth is tightly secure to our bodies meaning that none of the other pieces of God’s armor are at risk of falling off and will help us to stand firm when the enemy comes.
Scripture is true, reliable, authoritative, permanent, and powerful because it comes from God himself. Its message is coherent, and it is consistent in its testimony about Jesus Christ. Thus it has the power to bring salvation and elicit faith. It must not be abused, as the false teachers had been doing, but must be taught properly. As a consequence of inspiration, all Scripture is useful. Both the OT and the NT are together our guide and teacher in life. - Illustrated NLT Study Bible
In Isaiah 11 the kingdom of the Messiah is discussed in greater detail after first being introduced in Isaiah 9. Isaiah 11 we learn about a branch from David’s line that will continue David’s royal family line with the final fulfillment being Jesus, the Messiah. In verse 5 we read the following…
He will wear righteousness like a belt and truth like an undergarment.
Isaiah 11:5 NLT
My illustrated study Bible shares that by virtue of the righteous character of the Messiah, his reign will be characterized by justice, righteousness, and truth in contrast to the conditions of Jerusalem described in Isaiah 1:21. The conditions described in Isaiah 1 is that Jerusalem is unfaithful and is compared to becoming a prostitute because of her unfaithfulness in covenant with God. However, as Isaiah 11 shares Jesus will wear righteousness like a belt and truth like an undergarment. I wonder if Paul thought of this when writing of the belt in calling this piece of God’s armor as the belt of truth.
Jesus himself shows us what it looks like to put on the belt of truth. We read of this in the beginning of Jesus’ ministry particularly in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Specifically Matthew 4 and Luke 4 is where I will be drawing from for this part of the blog. In Matthew 4:1-11 we read of the temptation of Jesus where Satan tests the Messiah. Satan tested Jesus three times in order to lure him into sinning. However, Jesus stood firm and proved himself the obedient Son of God by defeating Satan in spiritual combat. This is where we see what the belt of truth looks like in combat in Jesus’ interaction with Satan. Each time Satan tempted Jesus, Jesus would respond by quoting Scripture!
In the three instances that Satan tempted Jesus in the beginning of his ministry, within one of these instances Satan quotes Scripture itself! We read the following in Luke 4…
Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect and guard you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”
Jesus responded, ‘The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’” When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came. - Luke 4:9-13 NLT
In Luke’s record of Jesus being tempted, Luke began with the first two temptations in which Satan did not use Scripture to test Jesus. However, after being repulsed twice by Scripture, the devil now himself quoted Scripture to Jesus in which he cited a passage that assures God’s people of his protection. It is rather alarming that Satan himself used Scripture to test Jesus, but he twisted Scripture in such a way that sounded correct in assuring God’s protection for Jesus (Christians in general), however Jesus knew better. Jesus refused to test God by presuming upon God’s protection and thus quoted Deuteronomy 6:16 which reads, “You must not test the Lord your God as you did when you complained at Massah.” This is when the people of Israel arrived to Rephidim, where they found no water (Exodus 17:1-7). Moses saw the people’s demand for water as testing the Lord which is where the name Massah (“testing”) comes from as the place was named. Interestingly enough Jesus also quoted Deuteronomy 6:13 when tempted by Satan in Matthew 4:10 and Luke 4:8. Jesus’ response to Satan’s first temptation comes from Deuteronomy 8:3.
Jesus equipped himself in putting on the belt of truth by knowing the Word of God! Jesus underwent temptation himself as a human in his time on earth and because of this Jesus is able to sympathize with the temptations we face and help us overcome them as he did. Jesus studied the Scriptures when he was a child and actively spent time with his Father. We read…
#1 When Jesus’ parents had fulfilled all the requirements of the law of the Lord, they returned home to Nazareth in Galilee. There the child grew up healthy and strong. He was filled with wisdom, and God’s favor was on him. - Luke 2:40-41
#2 When they couldn’t find him (Jesus), they went back to Jerusalem to search for him there. Three days later they finally discovered him in the Temple, sitting among the religious teachers, listening to them and asking questions. All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. - Luke 2:45-47
#3 Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people. - Luke 2:52
This points to the importance of reading and studying the Word of God on a daily basis. If we as Christians are to follow Christ we must also follow his example in spending time in God’s Word.
Logos and Rhema
Towards the beginning of this blog I posed the following question, “So let us ask ourselves, what does the belt of truth mean for the Christian?” and to which I shared the following response, “The belt of truth for the Christian is being grounded in Christ and Scripture which provides protection and the ability to stand your ground.” When I say Scripture I am also referring to the Word of God. There are two kinds of words from God. The first is Logos which is the the written Word of God and then there is rhema which is a spoken or revealed word from God. Renner speaks of this in his book and writes, “It is sensible to recognize that you will not always receive a rhema every time you would like to receive one. But you can always receive from the logos - the written Word, the Bible. When all else fails, your Bible will still be within an arm’s reach!”
In Paul’s writing about the belt of truth being a piece of God’s armor he likens the Word of God to a Roman soldier’s belt. Many of us who are Christians around the world struggle to read the Bible on a daily basis and for some perhaps even a weekly basis or more. To not be engaged in the Word of God on a regular basis is synonymous to not putting on the belt of truth. If we do not put on the belt of truth we will be unable to properly equip ourselves with the body armor of God’s righteousness, the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil, to take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (I will have a whole future blog on this that will tie into this blog) or have a place to rest the lance of prayer and supplication.
The logos - the written Word is of immeasurable value and is a vital part of a Christian’s daily walk with the Lord. God has freely given us his Word being the belt of truth as the fundamental part in putting on the whole armor of God.
The Word
The apostle John makes an incredibly mind boggling statement in writing his Gospel. In John 1 he writes, “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it.” John 1:1-5 NLT. Here the Gospel opens with its central affirmation, that Jesus Christ, the Word (Logos), not only revealed God but was God.
John raises the curtain on his Gospel with a stunning description of Jesus Christ as “the Word” (Greek logos, 1:1). Both Greek and Jewish listeners in the first century would immediately recognize the profound meaning of this title. Greeks would have thought of the seminal forces that sustain the universe. Jewish minds would have thought back to God creating the world with his word (Genesis 1:3-28). In Jesus’ day, the Word of God took on creative personal attributes (Psalms 33:6, 9). Jews viewed God’s Word as personifying divine wisdom. Through Wisdom, God extends himself into the cosmos, creating the world (Proverbs 8:22-31).
In John’s drama, Jesus shares the same essence as God; the Son existed before time, and he was the agent of all creation. John anchors the divinity of Jesus in his ancient Jewish concept of Wisdom. The divine Wisdom that has existed from before time with God can now be known in Jesus Christ. In perhaps the most outrageous verse penned by an apostle, John writes that this Logos, this Wisdom, became flesh and lived among us as a human (John 1:14). What God is, the Logos is, and the Logos is Jesus Christ. - NLT Illustrated Study Bible
So how do we put on the belt of truth? We put on the belt of truth by engaging the Word of God everyday. Let me encourage you to take this faith practice seriously because the Word of God is significantly important in every Christian’s life. To not engage the Bible is to put ourselves at risk in the unseen battle of spiritual warfare. As Christian’s in God’s army, stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth so that you will be able to resist all strategies of the devil. Blessings
Book Recommendations on Spiritual Warfare
1. The Bible
2. The Devil Goes to Church: Combating the Everyday Attacks of Satan by David Butts
3. Rules of Engagement: Preparing Your Role in the Spiritual Battle by Derek Prince
4. Dressed to Kill: A Biblical Approach to Spiritual Warfare and Armor by Rick Renner