The battle in the twenty-first century is a spiritual and cultural battle for the hearts and minds of the next generation! It is a war of ideas and requires spiritual weapons with which to wage it! Dr. Elizabeth Youmans

Shoes and a Shield

As we discussed in the previous blog the armor of God is mentioned is in the sixth chapter of the book of Ephesians. I found a christian website (bibleinfo.com) that detailed each of the six items of the spiritual armor and explained how each one can be used by modern day christians. Last week we examined the first two articles of armor: the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness. This week we’ll look at the shoes and the shield and see if they adequately protect christians who are doing spiritual battle.

Shoes of the gospel

Soldiers marching into battle must have comfortable shoes. As soldiers of Christ, we must put on “gospel shoes” that will allow us to march wherever our Lord leads. Satan will try to place obstacles in our path, but in Jesus’ strength we can walk forward, following our Lord, obeying Him, and advancing the gospel.

 

 

This is the actual photo used in the article. Look at those shoes! Do they look comfortable to you? Would you march into battle wearing these?

But on a serious note, the author says that christians must put on their “gospel shoes” but he left out a word from the Ephesians passage. If you are familiar with the passage, perhaps you know what’s missing. If so, say it out loud.

If you said “peace”, you’re right. The verse says, ^“and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” Have to wonder why the author left out that word. Perhaps because it just didn’t fit his narrative. Here’s how his narration  would be if we included the word “peace”.

Soldiers marching into battle must have comfortable shoes of peace. As soldiers of Christ, we must put on “gospel of peace shoes” that will allow us to march wherever our Lord leads. Satan will try to place obstacles in our path, but in Jesus’ strength we can walk forward, following our Lord, obeying Him, and advancing the “gospel of peace”.

It really doesn’t make sense to say that you are marching into battle wearing shoes of peace, does it? Perhaps that’s why he left the word out. Also, it should be noted here that Ephesians 6 is the only place in the entire bible that references a “gospel of peace”. It’s not mentioned in any of the four gospels.  In fact, the author of the book of Matthew recorded that Jesus himself said, “Don’t think that I came to bring peace on the earth, I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” There is no such “gospel of peace”.

So now what? No gospel of peace, no shoes… no marching off to war? One could only hope!

Shield of faith

The next article of the full armor of god is a shield of faith. Bibleinfo.com says this about it:

In listing the different pieces of the armor of God, Paul Ephesians says, “Above all, . . . [take] the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one”. When Satan attacks with doubts, the shield of faith turns aside the blow. When temptations come, faith keeps us steadfast in following Jesus. This faith is not something that comes from within us. It is God’s gift to us.  You use the shield of faith to turn aside everything Satan hurls at you.

For the sake of this argument let’s replace the supernatural phrase “when satan attacks with doubts” with a more accurate one, “when science proves the bible wrong”. When we make that replacement we have a more viable and accurate statement as in, “When science proves the bible wrong the shield of faith turns aside the blow”. You’ll notice that satan is always getting the blame for temptations and doubt. And why not? It’s easier to blame an invisible (i.e. fictitious) enemy than to face the truths that science gives us. Let’s see how faith turns aside the “blows of doubt” created by science.

When science proves the bible wrong the shield of faith turns aside the blow.

• Fact: The world was not created in six days. Christian reply: But I have faith that God’s word is true, so a six-day creation story must be true. Attack blocked.
• Fact: The world is around  4 billion years old. Christian reply: But I have faith that God’s word is true and since the earth was created in six days the obvious (biblical) conclusion is that the earth is only about 6,000 years old. Attack blocked.
• Fact: There was never a Garden of Eden or Adam and Eve. Christian reply: I have faith that God’s word is true, so a story about the Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden must be true. Besides, without the fall of man there would be no need for a savior and our whole theology is based on that. Attack blocked.
• Fact: There never was a worldwide flood. Christian reply: I have faith that God’s word is true, so the story of Noah and the flood must be true. Why do you think we have rainbows? Attack Blocked.
• Fact: The bible is nowhere near inerrant. Christian reply: I have faith that the bible is 100% true, because it says it is. Attack blocked.

You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free

Earlier in the bibleinfo.com article the Author wrote about the “great truths of the bible”. So, let’s take a look at those “great truths” and see if they are objective truths (i.e. true for everyone, everywhere) or if they must be taken by faith.

The great truths of the Bible?

1. The love of God. Must be taken by Faith only.
2. Salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Must be taken by Faith only.
3. The Second Coming. Jesus was supposed to return in the lifetime of his disciples. It’s been 2,000 years. He’s not coming. This must absolutely be taken by Faith only.
4. Forgiveness of sin. Must be taken by Faith only.
5. Grace and power to live for Jesus. Must be taken by Faith only.
6. These truths set us free from Satan’s lies. None of these “great truths” are actual truths and therefore cannot set us free from anything.

The great irony of the shield of faith is that it does more damage to believers than it does to protect them. When christians hold on to and defend an ancient document that was written in the infancy of humanity  they lose credibility.

Think about it! Would you respect someone who as adult is still living their live based on the nursery rhymes they learned in their childhood? For them, Mother Goose, Humpty Dumpty and Little Bo-Peep would be real and to not believe in Mother Goose would be heresy. By defending the Genesis stories and other made up stories in the bible, christians are forcing their god into a tiny box and expecting others to do the same. It’s time for christians to grow up, put away their childish beliefs and let their god out of the box.

It’s the first step to knowing the truth and allowing it to set you free.

Coming next:

Next week we will examine the last two articles of the Full Armor of God; the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit (i.e. the bible.). In addition, we’ll learn that simply putting on the full armor is not sufficient to protect the believer. Something more is required. Wouldn’t ya know!

 

 

From Where I Stand

Dale Crum

mt.toll@comcast.net