Stand therefore, having the utility belt of truth buckled around your waist, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having fitted your feet with the preparation of the Good News of peace, above all, taking up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
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Ephesians 6:14-17 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world’s rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having the utility belt of truth buckled around your waist, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having fitted your feet with the preparation of the Good News of peace, above all, taking up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; with all prayer and requests, praying at all times in the Spirit, and being watchful to this end in all perseverance and requests for all the saints: on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in opening my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the Good News, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
Parallel Translations
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Stand therefore, having the utility belt of truth buckled around your waist, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
and having fitted your feet with the preparation of the Good News of peace,
above all, taking up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one.
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
-
Stonde therfore and youre loynes gyrd aboute with veritie havinge on the brest plate of rightewesnes
and shood with showes prepared by the gospell of peace.
Above all take to you the shelde of fayth wherwith ye maye quenche all the fyrie dartes of the wicked.
And take the helmet of salvacion and the swearde of the sprete which is the worde of God.
Show all 3 translations
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Stand therefore, and your loynes girded about with veritie, and hauing on the brest plate of righteousnesse,
And your feete shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace.
Aboue all, take the shielde of faith, wherewith ye may quench all the fierie dartes of the wicked,
And take the helmet of saluation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the worde of God.
Cross-references (42)
- Hebrews 4:12 (v17) For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both…
- Isaiah 59:17 (vv14, 17) He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head. He put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad…
- 1 Thessalonians 5:8 (vv14, 17) But since we belong to the day, let’s be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.
- Isaiah 52:7 (v15) How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news, who proclaims…
- Isaiah 11:5 (v14) Righteousness will be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his waist.
Show all 40 cross-references
- Romans 10:15 (v15) And how will they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Good News of peace,…
- 1 Peter 5:8-9 (v16) Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.…
- Revelation 19:15 (v17) Out of his mouth proceeds a sharp, double-edged sword, that with it he should strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He…
- Isaiah 49:2 (v17) He has made my mouth like a sharp sword. He has hidden me in the shadow of his hand. He has made me a polished shaft. He has kept me close…
- Luke 12:35 (v14) “Let your waist be dressed and your lamps burning.
- 1 John 5:4-5 (v16) For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world: your faith. Who is he who overcomes the…
- 2 Corinthians 6:7 (v14) in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
- Matthew 4:10-11 (v17) Then Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.’ ”…
- Revelation 2:16 (v17) Repent therefore, or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of my mouth.
- 1 Peter 1:13 (v14) Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober, and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of…
- Hosea 6:5 (v17) Therefore I have cut them to pieces with the prophets; I killed them with the words of my mouth. Your judgments are like a flash of…
- Proverbs 18:10 (v16) Yahweh’s name is a strong tower: the righteous run to him, and are safe.
- Psalms 56:3-4 (v16) When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. In God, I praise his word. In God, I put my trust. I will not be afraid. What can flesh do to…
- Revelation 12:11 (v17) They overcame him because of the Lamb’s blood, and because of the word of their testimony. They didn’t love their life, even to death.
- Matthew 4:4 (v17) But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of God’s mouth.’ ”
- Genesis 15:1 (v16) After these things Yahweh’s word came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great…
- Revelation 1:16 (v17) He had seven stars in his right hand. Out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining at its…
- 2 Corinthians 5:18-21 (v15) But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation; namely, that…
- Ephesians 5:9 (v14) for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth,
- Psalms 56:10-11 (v16) In God, I will praise his word. In Yahweh, I will praise his word. I have put my trust in God. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
- Matthew 4:7 (v17) Jesus said to him, “Again, it is written, ‘You shall not test the Lord, your God.’ ”
- 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (v16) Therefore we don’t faint, but though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which…
- Hebrews 11:24-34 (v16) By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to share ill treatment with…
- Habakkuk 3:19 (v15) Yahweh, the Lord, is my strength. He makes my feet like deer’s feet, and enables me to go in high places. For the music director, on my…
- Hebrews 12:5-6 (v17) You have forgotten the exhortation which reasons with you as with children, “My son, don’t take lightly the chastening of the Lord, nor…
- 2 Corinthians 1:24 (v16) We don’t control your faith, but are fellow workers with you for your joy. For you stand firm in faith.
- Hebrews 6:17-18 (v16) In this way God, being determined to show more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, interposed with an…
- Revelation 9:9 (v14) They had breastplates, like breastplates of iron. The sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, or of many horses rushing to war.
- Revelation 9:17 (v14) Thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those who sat on them, having breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the…
- 1 Samuel 17:5 (v17) He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he wore a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze.
- Hebrews 13:5-6 (v17) Be free from the love of money, content with such things as you have, for he has said, “I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any…
- 1 Thessalonians 5:19 (v16) Don’t quench the Spirit.
- Song of Solomon 7:1 (v15) How beautiful are your feet in sandals, prince’s daughter! Your rounded thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a skillful workman.
- Luke 15:22 (v15) “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe, and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand, and sandals on his feet.
- Psalms 120:4 (v16) Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.
40 distinct cross-references across this passage (42 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (22 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv14–17 14. Stand therefore. Now follows a description of the…
14. Stand therefore. Now follows a description of the arms which they were enjoined to wear. We must not, however, inquire very minutely into the meaning of each word; for an allusion to military customs is all that was intended. Nothing can be more idle than the extraordinary pains which some have taken to discover the reason why righteousness is made a breastplate, instead of a girdle. Paul’s design was to touch briefly on the most important points required in a Christian, and to adapt them to the comparison which he had already used.
Truth, which means sincerity of mind, is compared to a girdle. Now, a girdle was, in ancient times, one of the most important parts of military armor. Our attention is thus directed to the fountain of sincerity; for the purity of the gospel ought to remove from our minds all guile, and from our hearts all hypocrisy. Secondly, he recommends righteousness, and desires that it should be a breastplate for protecting the breast. Some imagine that this refers to a freely bestowed righteousness, or the imputation of righteousness, by which pardon of sin is obtained. But such matters ought not, I think, to have been mentioned on the present occasion; for the subject now under discussion is a blameless life. He enjoins us to be adorned, first, with integrity, and next with a devout and holy life.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v15 That the preparation of the Gospel may be as…
That the preparation of the Gospel may be as it were shoes to you: and it is very fitly called the Gospel of peace, for that, seeing we have to go to God through most dangerous ranks of enemies, this may encourage us to go on manfully, in that we know by the doctrine of the Gospel, that we take our journey to God, who is at peace with us.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv14–17 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with…
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
Ver. 14. Stand therefore] στητε, a military expression. A man may well say to the Christian soldier, as Simon in the ecclesiastical history did to the pillars, which he whipped before the earthquake, Stand fast, for ye shall be shaken.
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Your loins girt about] Here, if ever, "ungirt, unblest." He is a loose man that wants this girdle of sincerity.
The breastplate of righteousness] Inherent righteousness, 1Jn 3:7, that insureth election, 2Pe 1:10. The use of a breastplate is to keep the vital parts from being mortally wounded, that a man be not stricken down without recovery; so doth righteousness the soul. "Treasures of wickedness profit nothing; but righteousness delivereth from death," Pro 10:2. This is that aes triplex circa pectus, that privy armour of proof, that the saints have about their hearts, so that that "wicked one toucheth them not" with any deadly touch, 1Jn 5:18. It is well observed by some, that in all this panoply there is no mention of a back plate (as there is of a breastplate), because the Christian soldier should never flee, but be like Androclid, whom when one derided, because being lame he went to the wars, he answered merrily, he came to fight, and not to run away.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv14–17 Stand therefore: standing here (in a different sense from…
Stand therefore: standing here (in a different sense from what it was taken in before) seems to imply watchfulness, readiness for the combat, and keeping our places, both as to our general and particular callings: if soldiers leave their ranks they endanger themselves.
Having your loins girt about with truth: having exhorted to put on the whole armour of God, he descends to the particulars of it, both defensive and offensive. We need not be over curious in inquiring into the reason of the names here given to the several parts of a Christian’s armour, and the analogy between them and corporal arms, the apostle using these terms promiscuously, 1Th 5:8, and designing only to show that what bodily arms are to soldiers, that these spiritual arms might be to Christians; yet some reason may be given of these denominations. He begins with the furniture for the loins, the seat of strength, and alludes to the belt or military girdle, which was both for ornament and strength; and so is
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truth, understood either of the truth of doctrine, or rather, (because that comes in afterward under the title of the sword of the Spirit), of soundness, and sincerity of heart, than which nothing doth more beautify or adorn a Christian. He alludes to Isa 59:17; see 2Co 1:12; 1Ti 1:5,19.
And having on the breastplate of righteousness; righteousness of conversation, consisting both in a resolvedness for good, and repentance for evil done, which is as a breastplate (that piece of armour which covers the whole breast and belly) to a Christian; that resolvedness against sin fencing him against temptation, and the conscience of well-doing against the accusations of men and devils: see 1Co 4:3,4; 1Jo 3:7.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv14–17 Stand therefore,.... Keep your ground, do not desert the…
Stand therefore,.... Keep your ground, do not desert the army, the church of Christ, nor his cause; continue in the station in which you are placed, keep your post, be upon your watch, stand upon your guard:
having your loins girt about with truth; by which is meant the Gospel, and the several doctrines of it; see Eph 1:13; and to have the loins girt with it, shows, that it should be near and close to the saints, and never departed from; and that it is a means of keeping them close to God and Christ, and of strengthening them against the assaults and attacks of Satan; and is of great use in the Christians' spiritual conflict with their enemies; the girdle is a part of armour, and so considerable as sometimes to be put for the whole, Isa 5:27; and here it is mentioned in the first place:
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and having on the breastplate of righteousness; in allusion to Isa 59:17, meaning not works of righteousness done by men, though these are a fence when rightly used against the reproaches and charges of the enemy, as they were by Samuel, Sa1 12:3, but rather the graces of faith and love, Th1 5:8, though faith has another place in the Christian armour, afterwards mentioned; wherefore it seems best to understand this of the righteousness of Christ, which being imputed by God, and received by faith, is a guard against, and repels the accusations and charges of Satan, and is a security from all wrath and condemnation.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv14–17 Having your loins girt about - That ye may…
Having your loins girt about - That ye may be ready for every motion. With truth - Not only with the truths of the gospel, but with "truth in the inward parts;" for without this all our knowledge of divine truth will prove but a poor girdle "in the evil day." So our Lord is described, Isaiah xi, 5. And as a girded man is always ready to go on, so this seems to intimate an obedient heart, a ready will. Our Lord adds to the loins girded, the lights burning, Luke xii, 35; showing that watching and ready obedience are the inseparable companions of faith and love. And having on the breastplate of righteousness - The righteousness of a spotless purity, in which Christ will present us faultless before God, through the merit of his own blood. With this breastplate our Lord is described, Isaiah lix, 17. In the breast is the seat of conscience, which is guarded by righteousness. No armour for the back is mentioned. We are always to face our enemies.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv14–17 Verse 14. Stand therefore] Prepare yourselves for combat, having…
Verse 14. Stand therefore] Prepare yourselves for combat, having your loins girt about with truth. He had told them before to take the whole armour of God, Eph 6:13, and to put on this whole armour. Having got all the pieces of it together, and the defensive parts put on, they were then to gird them close to their bodies with the ζωμα or girdle, and instead of a fine ornamented belt, such as the ancient warriors used, they were to have truth. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the truth of God; unless this be known and conscientiously believed no man can enter the spiritual warfare with any advantage or prospect of success. By this alone we discover who our enemies are, and how they come on to attack us; and by this we know where our strength lies; and, as the truth is great, and must prevail, we are to gird ourselves with this against all false religion, and the various winds of doctrine by which cunning men and insidious devils lie in wait to deceive. Truth may be taken here for sincerity; for if a man be not conscious to himself that his heart is right before God, and that he makes no false pretences to religion, in vain does he enter the spiritual lists. This alone can give him confidence:-
---------------- Hic murus aheneus esto,
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Nil conscire sibi, nulla pallescere culpa.
Let this be my brazen wall; that no man can reproach me with a crime, and that I am conscious of my own integrity.
The breast-plate of righteousness] What the θωραξ or breast-plate was, see before. The word righteousness, δικαισυνη, we have often had occasion to note, is a word of very extensive import: it signifies the principle of righteousness; it signifies the practice of righteousness, or living a holy life; it signifies God's method of justifying sinners; and it signifies justification itself. Here it may imply a consciousness of justification through the blood of the cross; the principle of righteousness or true holiness implanted in the heart; and a holy life, a life regulated according to the testimonies of God. As the breast-plate defends the heart and lungs, and all those vital functionaries that are contained in what is called the region of the thorax; so this righteousness, this life of God in the soul of man, defends every thing on which the man's spiritual existence depends. While he possesses this principle, and acts from it, his spiritual and eternal life is secure.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv15–17 Eph 6:15. And your feet shod with the preparation…
Eph 6:15. And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace — Let peace with God, and, consequent thereon, peace of conscience and tranquillity of mind, in all circumstances and situations, (for which ample provision is made in the gospel,) arm you with confidence and resolution to proceed forward in all the ways of duty, however rough and difficult, through which you are called to pass, and enable you to receive with resignation and patience all the dispensations of that wise and gracious Providence, which is always watching over you for good, and is engaged to support you under your trials, to sanctify them to you, and in due time to deliver you out of them. In this way, and in no other, will you be enabled to pass through all difficulties unhurt, surmount all oppositions which obstruct your progress, to endure to the end, and finish your course with joy.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv14–17 Stand therefore - Resist every attack - as a…
Stand therefore - Resist every attack - as a soldier does in battle. In what way they were to do this, and how they were to be armed, the apostle proceeds to specify; and in doing it, gives a description of the ancient armor of a soldier.
Having your loins girt about - The “girdle, or sash,” was always with the ancients an important part of their dress, in war as well as in peace. They wore loose, flowing robes; and it became necessary to gird them up when they traveled, or ran, or labored. The girdle was often highly ornamented, and was the place where they carried their money, their sword, their pipe, their writing instruments, etc.; see the notes on Mat 5:38-41. The “girdle” seems sometimes to have been a cincture of iron or steel, and designed to keep every part of the armor in its place, and to gird the soldier on every side.
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With truth - It may not be easy to determine with entire accuracy the resemblance between the parts of the armor specified in this description, and the things with which they are compared, or to determine precisely why he compared truth to a girdle, and “righteousness” to a breast-plate, rather than why he should have chosen a different order, and compared righteousness to a girdle, etc. Perhaps in themselves there may have been no special reason for this arrangement, but the object may have been merely to specify the different parts of the armor of a soldier, and to compare them with the weapons which Christians were to use, though the comparison should be made somewhat at random. In some of the cases, however, we can see a particular significancy in the comparisons which are made; and it may not be improper to make suggestions of that kind as we go along. The idea here may be, that as the girdle was the bracer up, or support of the body, so truth is suited to brace us up, and to gird us for constancy and firmness. The girdle kept all the parts of the armor in their proper place, and preserved firmness and consistency in the dress; and so truth might serve to give consistency and firmness to our conduct. “Great,” says Grotius, “is the laxity of falsehood; truth binds the man.” Truth preserves a man from those lax views of morals, of duty and of religion, which leave him exposed to every assault. It makes the soul sincere, firm, constant, and always on its guard. A man who has no consistent views of truth, is just the man for the adversary successfully to assail.
And having on the breast-plate - The word rendered here as “breastplate” θώρἀξ thōrax denoted the “cuirass,” Lat.: lorica, or coat of mail; i. e., the armor that covered the body from the neck to the thighs, and consisted of two parts, one covering the front and the other the back. It was made of rings, or in the form of scales, or of plates, so fastened together that they, would be flexible, and yet guard the body from a sword, spear, or arrow. It is referred to in the Scriptures as a “coat of mail” 1Sa 17:5; an “habergeon” Neh 4:16, or as a “breast-plate.” We are told that Goliath’s coat of mail weighed five thousand shekels of brass, or nearly one hundred and sixty pounds. It was often formed of plates of brass, laid one upon another, like the scales of a fish. The following cuts will give an idea of this ancient piece of armor.
Of righteousness - Integrity, holiness, purity of life, sincerity of piety. The breast-plate defended the vital parts of the body; and the idea here may be that the integrity of life, and righteousness of character, is as necessary to defend us from the assaults of Satan, as the coat of mail was to preserve the heart from the arrows of an enemy. It was the incorruptible integrity of Job, and, in a higher sense, of the Redeemer himself, that saved them from the temptations of the devil. And it is as true now that no one can successfully meet the power of temptation unless he is righteous, as that a soldier could not defend himself against a foe without such a coat of mail. A want of integrity will leave a man exposed to the assaults of the enemy, just as a man would be whose coat of mail was defective, or some part of which was missing. The king of Israel was smitten by an arrow sent from a bow, drawn at a venture, “between the joints of his harness” or the “breast-plate” (margin), 1Ki 22:34; and many a man who thinks he has on the “Christian” armor is smitten in the same manner. There is some defect of character; some want of incorruptible integrity; some point that is unguarded - and that will be sure to be the point of attack by the foe. So David was tempted to commit the enormous crimes that stain his memory, and Peter to deny his Lord. So Judas was assailed, for the want of the armor of righteousness, through his avarice; and so, by some want of incorruptible integrity in a single point, many a minister of the gospel has been assailed and has fallen. It may be added here, that we need a righteousness which God alone can give; the righteousness of God our Saviour, to make us perfectly invulnerable to all the arrows of the foe.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv14–16 Your loins....with truth, both as to doctrine and a…
Your loins....with truth, both as to doctrine and a good life, keeping your baptismal promises. --- Having on the breastplate of justice, not only of the particular virtue of justice, but of all virtues in general. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv14–17 Stand--The repetition in Eph 6:11, Eph 6:14, shows that…
Stand--The repetition in Eph 6:11, Eph 6:14, shows that standing, that is, maintaining our ground, not yielding or fleeing, is the grand aim of the Christian soldier. Translate as Greek, "Having girt about your loins with truth," that is, with truthfulness, sincerity, a good conscience (Co2 1:12; Ti1 1:5, Ti1 1:18; Ti1 3:9). Truth is the band that girds up and keeps together the flowing robes, so as that the Christian soldier may be unencumbered for action. So the Passover was eaten with the loins girt, and the shoes on the feet (Exo 12:11; compare Isa 5:27; Luk 12:35). Faithfulness (Septuagint, "truth") is the girdle of Messiah (Isa 11:5) : so truth of His followers.
having on--Greek, "having put on."
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breastplate of righteousness-- (Isa 59:17), similarly of Messiah. "Righteousness" is here joined with "truth," as in Eph 5:9 : righteousness in works, truth in words [ESTIUS] (Jo1 3:7). Christ's righteousness inwrought in us by the Spirit. "Faith and love," that is, faith working righteousness by love, are "the breastplate" in Th1 5:8.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv14–17 14. Stand therefore—For what else should the soldier do?
14. Stand therefore—For what else should the soldier do?
Loins girt about—For long ages the girdle has been the Oriental regulator of the flowing dress. On the obelisks of Egypt and the bricks of Assyria the loins or waist are seen circled by the leathern or woven zone. Usually the sword or dagger is thereto suspended. Often the girdle was very richly ornamented; and that of one queen was contributed by the taxation of several wealthy cities. For the priest, or domestic, or soldier, the tightening of the girdle was the prelude to business.
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With truth—Not only the objective truth of the gospel, but an interior trueness and fidelity to the truth. Strict Christian verity tightly bound around us tones up for every Christian duty.
The breastplate—A coat of mail designed to protect the chest and the breast.
Righteousness—Integrity or rectitude of Christian character. Placed upon the breast, the residence of the conscience, it firmly guarded it from danger, and so symbolizes the perfect security of integrity of soul.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv14–17 14. Stand] See last note. Here, as throughout the…
14. Stand] See last note. Here, as throughout the passage, the tense of this verb is aorist. A decisive act of taking a conscious stand, or a succession of such acts, is implied.
having your loins girt] Lit., and far better, having girded your loins (R. V.). The girding is the own act, by grace, of the regenerate will.
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“Your loins”:—cp. Exo_12:11; Job_38:3; Job_40:7; Psa_18:39; Isa_11:5; Luk_12:35; 1Pe_1:13. The well-fastened girdle kept together the soldier’s dress and accoutrements, and added conscious vigour to his frame.
with truth] Lit., “in truth”; and the “in” may very possibly keep its direct meaning; for the girded body is within the girdle. But this meaning would be conveyed in English by “with.”
“Truth”:—not “the truth”; a phrase which would decisively mean “the true message of the Gospel.” The absence of the article leaves us free to explain the word of the sincerity, reality, and simplicity of the regenerate man. For this use of the word in St Paul see e.g. 1Co_5:8; 2Co_7:14; 2Co_11:10; above, ch. Eph_5:9; Php_1:18. The grasp on revealed Truth is indeed all-important, but it must be made “in truth,” in personal sincerity, if it is to avail in the spiritual struggle. And this meaning of the word well corresponds to the imagery. Unreality, whether in trust or self-surrender, is fatal to the coherence of the Christian life. Meanwhile it must be remembered that the “panoply” is “of God,” and that “truth” is here, accordingly, a supernatural grace, that simplicity of attitude and action towards God, His word and His will, which is a gift of regeneration alone.—In Isa_11:5 “righteousness” and “faithfulness” are Messiah’s girdle.
having on] Lit., and far better, having put on; the same verb as Eph_6:11. The tense is aorist. The believer is summoned to a decisive renewal of his exercise of grace.
the breastplate] Cp. Isa_59:17; 1Th_5:8. And see note above on Eph_6:11 for the apocryphal parallel.—The breastplate covers the heart. Here the heart in its figurative and spiritual sense (see on Eph_1:18, Eph_3:17) is in question; how to protect it and its action, in the great conflict.
righteousness] Cp. 2Co_6:7.—One leading explanation of this word here is Christ’s Righteousness as our Justification. According to this, the warrior is to oppose the Divine fact of Jehovah Tsidkenu (Jer_23:6; cp. Romans 3, 4; Philippians , 2) to the strategy of the Accuser (Rom_8:33-34). But this class of truth falls rather under the figures of the shoes and the shield (see below). Here (in view esp. of Isa_59:17, where “righteousness” is Jehovah’s breastplate), it is better to explain it of the believer’s personal righteousness, i.e. his loyalty in principle and action to the holy Law of God. For clear cases of this meaning of the word (the root-meaning with reference to all others) in St Paul, cp. Rom_6:13; Rom_14:17; 2Co_6:14; 2Co_9:9-10; above, Eph_4:24, Eph_5:9; Php_1:11; 1Ti_6:11; and see Tit_2:12.
The idea is closely kindred to that of “truth,” just considered. But it is strictly defined by the correlative idea of Law. The believer is armed at the heart against the Tempter by definite and supreme reverence for the Law, the revealed preceptive Will of God. So Daniel was armed (Daniel 1, 6), and the Three (Daniel 3).
Here, as under the word “truth,” remember that the armour is “of God.” See note on “truth,” above.
In 1Th_5:8 the breastplate is “faith and love.” There is no discrepancy in the difference. Loyalty to the Divine Law is inseparably connected with trust in the word of God and love of His will.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv14–17 (14) Your loins girt about with truth, and having…
(14) Your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness.—There is here an obvious reference to two passages of Isaiah (Isa_11:5; Isa_59:17), “Righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins,” “He put on righteousness as a breastplate.” Truth and righteousness are virtually identical, or, at least, inseparable. Hence they are compared to the strong belt, and the breastplate continuous with it, forming together the armour of the body. Perhaps “truth” is taken as the belt because it is the one bond both of society and of individual character. But it is in the two together that men stand “armed strong in honesty.” In 1Th_5:8, the metaphor is different and perhaps less exact. There the breastplate is the “breastplate of faith and love”—that which here is the shield.
(14-17) In this magnificent passage, while it would be unreasonable to look for formal and systematic exactness, it is clear that (as usual in St. Paul’s most figurative passages) there runs through the whole a distinct method of idea. Thus (1) the order in which the armour in enumerated is clearly the order in which the armour of the Roman soldier was actually put on. It nearly corresponds with the invariable order in which Homer describes over and over again the arming of his heroes. First the belt and the corselet, which met and together formed the body armour; then the sandals; next the shield, and after this (for the strap of the great shield could hardly pass over the helmet) the helmet itself; then the soldier was armed, and only had to take up the sword and spear. It is curious to note that St. Paul omits the spear (the pilum of the Roman soldier)—exactly that part of his equipment which, when on guard within, the soldier would not be likely to assume. (2) Again, since “to put on the armour of light” is to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ,” it follows that the various parts of the defensive armour are the various parts of the image of the Lord Jesus Christ; hence they are properly His, and are through His gift appropriated by us. Thus the “righteousness” is clearly the righteousness of Christ, realised in us (comp. Php_3:9); the sandals, which give firm footing, are the gospel of our peace in Him; the salvation is His salvation worked out in us. Only the sword is in no sense our own: it is the “Word of God” wielded by us, but in itself “living and powerful and sharp” (Heb_4:12).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv14–17 Stand therefore, having girt about your loins with truth.…
Stand therefore, having girt about your loins with truth. The "stand" in ver. 13 denotes the end of the conflict; this "stand" is at the beginning. Obviously there must be a firm stand at the beginning if there is to be at the end. In order to this, we must fasten the girdle round our loins viz, truth, here used in a comprehensive sense, denoting honesty; sincerity of profession in opposition to all sham, levity, hypocrisy; and likewise the element of "truth in Jesus", (Eph_5:21) the substance of the gospel revelation. We are to gird ourselves in truth, ejn ajlhqeia, establishing ourselves in that element, wrapping it round us; ejn ajlhqeia, literally, "girded in truth." And having put on the breastplate of righteousness. Comp. Eph_5:24, for at least one element of the righteousness righteousness wrought in us by the Holy Ghost after the image of Christ. But a more comprehensive use of the term is not excluded the whole righteousness that we derive from Christ righteousnessimputed and righteousness infused.
Vers. 14-17.
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The Divine panoply in its separate parts.
The spiritual equipment of the Christian is here described in detail the belt, the breastplate, the sandals, the shield, the helmet, and the sword.
I TRUTH IS THE BELT, AS RIGHTEOUSNESS IS THE BREASTPLATE. "Having your loins girt about with truth." As the belt or girdle kept the armor in its proper place, giving strength and buoyancy of action, so truth acts in relation to righteousness, faith, and peace. If truth were wanting, there could be none of these things, and nothing Christ-like or noble. The truth here does not mean truth of doctrine, as the Word of God is again referred to, nor even sincerity in the sense of truthfulness, but the truth subjectively apprehended, that is, the knowledge and belief of the truth. It is the conscious grasp of the truth which gives a Christian boundless confidence in his conflict with evil. Error, as a principle of life, dissolves strength and unnerves for the great fight with sin. Truth is our proper girdle, because we fight for a God of truth, (Tit_1:2) and against Satan the father of lies. (Joh_8:44) Without it we are spiritless,heartless, and weak.
II THE BREASTPLATE. "Having on the breastplate of righteousness." The Roman soldier wore it to protect his heart, the center of physical life. The breastplate of the Christian is here called "the righteousness," evidently in allusion to Isa_59:17, where Jehovah puts on "righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head." It can hardly mean moral rectitude, which, after all, would be but a poor guard against the reproaches of conscience or the assaults of Satan. This righteousness is that which the Apostle Paul desired for himself righteousness of God by faith". (Php_3:8, 9) It is emphatically the righteousness," so perfect that it satisfied every demand of Law, and is perfectly proof against all assaults from within or from without. Let us not show the bare breast of our righteousness to the tempter, but rather the righteousness of God himself, imputed to us and received by faith. This breastplate was purchased by Christ at a dear rate; none are his soldiers who have not put it on; without it, God himself will fight against you; if you have it, you are sure of ultimate triumph (Rom_8:31, Rom_8:32)
III SANDALS. "Having your feet shod with the preparedness of the gospel of peace." The legs of the Roman soldier were covered with greaves, and below these were the sandals, or caligae. Swiftness of foot was of great consequence in military movements. Christians are to show a readiness, a celerity, an alacrity of movement, in doing God"s will. This preparedness is the effect of the gospel of peace, which inspires us with severity and courage, and liberates us from those doubts which generate weakness. The unready warrior is liable to sudden and secret attacks. The Christian ought ever to be prepared to advance against the enemy, to obey his great Captain, to fight, to suffer, and to die in the cause of God and truth.
IV THE SHIELD. "Above all, taking the shield of faith." The shield covered the whole body, as well as the armor itself. Faith is a shield in the spiritual warfare. It is that faith of which Christ is the Object, at once "the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen;" that confidence which defends the understanding from error, the heart from weakness or despair, the will from revolt against Divine command. It is, in a word, "the victory that overcometh the world". (1Jn_5:4, 1Jn_5:5) Its special service is "to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Satan showers his burning arrows upon the soul of the Christian, either in the shape of blasphemous suggestions, or unholy thoughts, or dark despair; but faith makes the soul impenetrable to such destructive missiles, because it falls back upon the Divine Word, and apprehends the mercy of God, the merits of Christ, and the help of the Spirit.
V THE HELMET. "And take the helmet of salvation." The helmet protects the head, the most exposed part of the body, enables the soldier to hold it up without the fear of injury, and to look calmly round upon the enemy"s movements. Salvation, and not the mere hope of it, (1Th_5:8) is the helmet that covers the head, is our true defense against the devil. It will make you active in all duties, courageous in all conflicts, cheerful in all conditions, and constant to the end of life.
VI THE SWORD. "And the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." The other parts of the armor were defensive; this is both offensive and defensive.
1. The Word of God is a sword, because it pierces like a sword into the, (Heb_4:12) because it pierces through all disguises of error, because it lays bare the "wiles" of the devil. It was wielded by Christ himself in his great temptation. It is still the saint"s only weapon of offence. Whether the temptation is to atheism, to impiety, to despair, to unbelief, to covetousness, to pride, to hatred, or to worldliness, the legend, "It is written," stands clearly revealed on the handle of this sword.
2. It is the sword of the Spirit, because he is its Author, its Interpreter, and he who makes it effectual to the defeat of all enemies. T.C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv14–17 Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth,…
Eph_6:14
Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness.
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The duty of Christian soldiers
1. We must be of a valorous courageous mind against all our enemies.
(1) The Lord is with us, and will not fail us.
(2) We fight in His name and power, whereas our enemies fight in their own.
(3) Our battle is most just, and we fight in a just cause.
(4) We fight with enemies spoiled, whose weapons are blunted, whose power is limited.
2. We must be careful to abide in our place, where our Lord has set us.
(1) God has appointed to everyone his distinct place.
(2) Everyone shall be called to account for those duties which belong to his particular calling.
(3) The order wherein everyone is set, is the very beauty of the Church, and of the body of Christ; as the several places of several members are the grace of a natural body.
(4) The graces which God bestows on us (faith, love, obedience, patience, wisdom, etc.) ere best exercised and manifested in our particular callings.
(5) In our proper distinct places we have the Lords promise of protection, but not out of them.
3. We must be watchful, and stand upon our defence against our enemy.
4. We must persevere. (W. Gouge.)
The Christian standing upon the watch
How must the Christian stand upon his watch?
I. Constantly. The lamp of God in the tabernacle was to burn always (Exo_27:20; Exo_30:8); that is, always in the night, which sense is favoured by several other places. And I pray, what is our life in this world but a dark night of temptation? Take heed, Christian, that thy watch candle go not out in any part of this darksome time, lest thy enemy come upon thee in that hour. He can find thee, but not thou resist him in the dark; if once thy eye be shut in a spiritual slumber thou art a fair mark for his wrath; and know, thou canst not be long off thy watch, but the devil will hear of it.
II. Universally.
1. Watch thy whole man. The honest watchman walks the rounds, and compasseth the whole town. He doth not limit his care to this house or that. So do thou watch over thy whole man. A pore in thy body is a door wide enough to let in a disease, if God command; and any one faculty of thy soul, or member of thy body, to let in an enemy that may endanger thy spiritual welfare. Alas, how few set the watch round! some one faculty is not guarded, or member of the body not regarded. He that is scrupulous in one, you shall find him secure in other; may be thou settest a watch at the door of thy lips, that no impure communication offends the ears of men; but how is the Lords watch kept at the temple door of thy heart? (2Ch_23:6.) Is not that defiled with lust? Thou perhaps keepest thy hand out of thy neighbours purse, and foot from going on a thievish errand to thy neighbours house; but does not thy envious heart grudge him what God allows him?
2. Watch in everything. Let there be no word or work of thine over which thou art not watchful. Thou shalt be judged by them, even to thy idle words and thoughts; and wilt thou not have care of them?
III. Wisely.
1. Begin at the right end of your work, Christian, by placing your chief care about those main duties to God and man, in His law and gospel, in His worship, and in thy daily course, which when thou hast done, neglect not the circumstantials. Should a master, before he goes forth, charge a servant to look to his child, and trim his house up handsomely against he comes home, when he returns will he thank his servant for sweeping his house and making it trim, as he bid him, if he find his child, through his negligence, fallen into the fire, and by it killed or crippled? No, sure, he left his child with him as his chief charge, to which the other should have yielded, if both could not be done. There hath been a great zeal of late among us, about some circumstantials of worship; but who looks to the little child, the main duties of Christianity, I mean. Was there ever less love, charity, self-denial, heavenly-mindedness, or the power of holiness in any of its several walks, than in this sad age of ours? Alas! these, like the child, are in great danger of perishing in the fire of contention and division, which a perverse zeal in less things hath kindled among us.
2. Be sure thou art watchful more than ordinary over thyself in those things where thou findest thyself weakest, and hast been oftenest foiled. The weakest part of the city needs the strongest guard, and in our bodies the tenderest part is most observed and kept warmest. And I should think it were strange, if thy fabric of grace stands so strong and even that thou shouldst not soon perceive which side needs the shore most, by some inclination of it one way more than another. Thy body is not so firm, but thou findest this humour over-abound, and that part craze faster than another; and so mayest thou in thy soul. Well, take counsel in the thing, and what thou findest weakest, watch most carefully. (W. Gurnall, M. A.)
Stand firm
At the critical moment in the battle of Waterloo, when everything depended on the steadiness of the soldiery, courier after courier kept dashing into the presence of the Duke of Wellington, announcing that, unless the troops at an important point were immediately relieved or withdrawn, they must yield before the impetuous onsets of the French. By all of these the Duke sent back the same spirit stirring message, Stand firm! But we shall perish! remonstrated the officer. Stand firm! again answered the iron-hearted chieftain. Youll find us there! rejoined the other, as he fiercely galloped away. The result proved the truth of his reply, for every man of that doomed brigade fell, bravely fighting at his post.
Girt about with truth.
The girdle of truth
1.Different kinds of truth.
(1) Truth of judgment. When a mans judgment agrees with Gods Word which is the touchstone of truth.
(2) Truth of heart. When a man seeks to approve himself to God, the searcher of all hearts, and to be accepted of Him.
(3) Truth of speech. Agreement of the word of a mans mouth, both with his mind and also with what he utters.
(4) Truth of action. Plain, faithful, and honest dealing in all things.
2. The kind of truth here mentioned embraces each and all of these branches.
3. The fitness of the comparison of truth to a girdle.
(1) Truth is the best ornament to religion.
(2) The greatest strength.
4. Reasons for desiring truth.
(1) Its excellence.
(a) It makes us like God.
(b) It is a kind of perfection in all Christian graces.
(2) Its necessity. Without it, no other grace can be of any use.
(3) The benefit of truth. The least measure of grace, seasoned with it, is acceptable to God and so profitable to us.
5. The devil will try to wrest truth from us.
6. The more truth is opposed, the faster we should cling to it. Let us do with this and other pieces of spiritual armour, as men do with their cloaks, which cover their bodies; if the wind blow hard against them, they will so much the faster and closer hold their cloaks. Even so, the more Satan strives to deprive us of our spiritual robes, the more careful and steadfast ought we to be in keeping them. In particular, for this girdle of verity, it is so much the more highly to be accounted of by us, who are the Lords faithful soldiers, by how much the less reckoning is made thereof by the greater number of people. (William Gouge.)
The girdle
The girdle seems to have been intended for three purposes.
1. To bind the garments, which were of a loose and flowing description, and which would have hindered the warrior.
2. To give support to the loins, amid the fatigues of war or toil.
3. To defend the heart, etc. Toe military girdle was especially designed for this.
I. The nature and importance of the girdle. Now observe, it is truth which is recommended.
1. There must be doctrinal truth in the understanding and judgment, in opposition to error.
2. There is the experimental truth of the gospel, in opposition to mere formality in religion.
3. There is the truth of profession in opposition to temporizing neutrality.
4. There is the truth of sincerity, in opposition to guile and dissimulation.
II. Let us consider the means necessary to be employed in carrying out the recommendation of the text. If we would have our loins girt, etc.--
1. Let us take care to be enriched with the truths of Gods holy Word.
2. Let us keep prominently before us the Divine model of truth.
3. We must pray for the constant aid of the Spirit of truth. (J. Burns, D. D.)
Stand, girt about with truth
Stand. Being repeated from Eph_6:13, it demands attention. It is put in opposition--
1. To turning the back as a coward.
2. To breaking, as a disorderly soldier.
3. To rash impetuosity.
4. To an indolent lying down.
Girt about. Warriors had broad girdles, in which plates of iron, brass, or silver, were put for defence. With truth.
I. Of doctrine.
II. Of sincerity.
I. Show how the doctrines of truth strengthen the minds of believers against their enemies.
1. Sin is the worst of evils. This doctrine in the heart has led men--To abstain from the most alluring pleasures. Joseph. To refuse the greatest honours. Moses. To face the greatest dangers. The martyrs. To give up the most profitable pursuits. Zaccheus. To submit to the greatest trials (Mic_7:8-9).
2. Justification is freely by grace, through the redemption of Christ.
3. Christ has conquered all the enemies of His people.
4. God has promised to be with His people in, to carry them through all their trials, and to make them more than conquerors.
5. There is a state of eternal rest, happiness, and glory, prepared for Gods elect.
II. Show how the truth of sincerity strengthens the mind against enemies. As to our mistakes in life. I did wrong, but not designedly. As to our hypocrisy. I have hypocrisy, but I hate it. As to our love of Christ, though we have sinned against Him. Thou knowest that I love Thee. As to the slanders of our enemies. I bless God they are not true. Remarks:
1. Gods true doctrines are not indifferent, or merely speculative. Is it indifferent? Is it speculation, whether so and so?
2. An hypocritical formalist is the mere carcase of a Christian.
3. The benefit of hearing, like that of eating, is to be seen in our respective callings. (H. J. Foster.)
Christian truthfulness
The place thus assigned by the apostle to truth in the spiritual armour is one well deserving our notice. As the whole dress of the actual warrior, however well fitted for the fight, would be useless, nay, would but encumber him and lead to defeat, without the girdle which is to keep all together, so will it be with the spiritual warrior, if he be not girt about with truth. This one quality is necessary, in order for his Christian character to hold together and to be of any service in the work which it has to do. Let us to day mediate on this fact, and apply it to our own times and duties. It is obvious that the word truth, as here used, does not mean truth in the object, i.e., the truth of the gospel, the verities of redemption; but truth in the subject, i.e., that which we as commonly call truthfulness; a quality within the man himself. And this truthfulness, or being true, is predicated of him not in ordinary things only, but as he is a Christian--in those things which constitute him a Christian warrior. The girdle of the warriors panoply would naturally be a girdle fitted for warfare; of the strength, and material, and pattern, of the rest of his armour. We should not perhaps be far wrong, were we to call the whole system of many mens thoughts, an elaborate and skilful concealment of truth. The saying of the cunning diplomatist, that words were given us to conceal our thoughts, might be carried even further; we might add, and thoughts to conceal ourselves. There is within many a man a deep gulf down which he dares not look steadily; a chasm between his present and his future, over which he too often weaves a web of self-flatteries and conventionalities, false, and known to be false; and this continues for days and years, till like him who repeats anothers jest till he fancies it his own, the soul cheats itself into a kind of half-belief that the wretched fiction is true; he has firmly shut his eyes so long, that they refuse to open; and the man sits down self-deceived, with weaknesses ignored, sins forgotten, dangers unguarded against. And so time flits away, and the awful form of eternity grows nearer and larger, while the wretched man is playing with truth--priding himself on virtues he never possessed, congratulating himself on safety from faults into which he falls every day--an accomplished actor in a life, which at last God proves to him to be no stage, but a stern reality--no place for dressing up of images, but a discipline in the service of truth. O what shall such an one do, when first it is said to him by God, The world is no longer for thee, nor thou for the world; hitherto thou hast veiled thyself admirably--now thou must see thyself, and be seen, as thou art? Where shall he carry for propitiation the elaborate uselessness of a life--where the studied blindness of years of light--where the self-sought condemnation of misused providences and opportunities of amendment scorned? How shall he, racked with pain, or paralyzed with dread, or confused with the importunity of this worlds matters, call back that sweet Spirit of truth, which it has been the effort of his life to drive away? O my friends, let us be true, let us be true to ourselves! And in the endeavour, let us not forget how subtle a thing is self-deceit. Let me conclude by reminding you of the great motive to truth, which should be ever before us as Christians. We serve Him who is the Father of Lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Before Him all things are naked and open. No falsehood, be it ever so elaborately and skilfully devised, can escape Him; all such are not only seen through by Him now, but will be one day unsparingly laid bare at His tribunal, and forever put to shame. And further, Of His own will begat He us by the word of truth. It was the searching, probing Word of His truth which first laid open to us ourselves, and began our new life in the Spirit. In harmony with the word of that truth must our whole spiritual life be led. Our blessed Lord, whose we are by purchase of His blood, came into the world to bear witness to the truth; and every one of us is here for the same purpose. (Dean Alford.)
The girdle of truth
I. Now, here, the first thing which calls for our notice is the posture of the militant Christian--stand. We have the same word in the last verse, you will remember, but evidently not used in the same sense or in the same connection; for in that case the reference was evidently to the final perseverance of the Christian, standing victorious on the last field of temptation, standing unblameable amid the spotless purities of the heavenly state, standing in his lot of glory, honour, and immortality at the end of the days. But here the word is referred, not to a warfare finished, but to a warfare just beginning; and the apostle wants to show us how the soldier is to bear himself when he goes forth to fight under Christs banner against sin, the world, and the devil, and he begins by telling him to stand.
1. The expression is to be taken first, no doubt, as opposed to cowardice, to fainting, to a dishonourable and inglorious retreat. Whom resist, steadfast in the faith.
2. Again: this exhortation to stand, is opposed to all irregularity and disorder, and unwarranted license on the part of the Christian Soldier. If any man strive for the mastery, he will not be crowned unless he strive lawfully. There are fixed rules for this great conflict, and by them we must abide. Here, then, we have another rule for our Christian warfare. We must not only stand firm, but we must stand in our place, stand faithfully to the duties of that place. Let every man abide in the calling wherein he is called. It always betrays an impatience of soldierly discipline when we would rather be doing anybody elses work than our own.
3. And then, once more, we may interpret the meaning of the word stand as opposed to sloth, and negligence, and carnal security. Standing is the attitude of a man awake, watching, prepared for the coming of the enemy at even, at morning, or at cock crow, or at noonday. Every Christian soldier is a sentinel.
II. But I pass on to the second part of this military posture, in which we have also an important part of the soldiers defensive armour. Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth. The term, perhaps, is rather to be taken in reference to a deportment of undissembled uprightness and sincerity, an honest walk before God and rain, a nourishing of our souls daily with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. But here it is necessary to define what kind of sincerity the apostle is speaking of; for it must not be forgotten that there is a natural truthfulness and sincerity of character which may be put on by a man who never wore a piece of the Christian armour in his life, an open-hearted, noble frankness of disposition which would scorn the meanness of falsehood, and loathe the very semblance of deception. And, brethren, let me not be thought to speak disparagingly of this quality. As a natural quality, there is none more beautiful. But still it is a natural quality, and nothing more. If a spiritual direction be given to it, or if a spiritual principle be engrafted upon it, it may bring forth the fruit of evangelical sincerity. But at present it is a mere accident of the natural man; having neither the grace of God for its source, nor the glory of God for its aim. It is a girdle of ornament for the world, but not a belt of strength for the battle. What, then, is the girdle with which the apostle would have us bind up our loins? Why, it is the girdle of gospel integrity and uprightness; the simplicity of an eye single and a heart one for God; that Nathanael-like truthfulness of spirit, which will neither make excuse, nor seek excuse, but which bids us make a hearty, entire, unreserved surrender of ourselves to God and His service--our wills to obey, our hands to work, our life to glorify, our hearts to love, our lips to praise. Our rejoicing is this, says the apostle, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world. But the analogy of the Oriental girdle would make us look for some special use in this part of the Christian attire. The girdle was used for strength, and by means of it the loins were stayed, invigorated, and the soldier fitted either for fight or march. So, also, with the grace of Christian sincerity; it establishes, strengthens, settles the Christian in his whole course. It keeps the loose and vagrant arms of the soul fixed on one uniform and unvarying object, binding up the affections with unity of purpose and with a bond of strength. Brethren, a divided heart, like a divided kingdom, hath no strength in it. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. But then I have said that the girdle was a comely and graceful part of Oriental attire; and this would suggest the idea of Christian sincerity as having a place among the more attractive parts of the Christian character. And the Scripture supports this view. There is, perhaps, no spiritual grace upon which Heaven looks more approvingly; none to which more comprehensive promises are attached. Why was Caleb singled out for the honourable distinction of entering the promised land, but because he followed the Lord fully and with a perfect heart? Why has the name of Nathanael come down to us with such marked commendation, but that he was an Israelite indeed, in whose spirit there was no guile? And now, having seen the great importance of this part of the Christian armour, whenever through grace we have been enabled to put it on, let us endeavour to ascertain our own possession of this grace, by looking at some of its practical characteristics. Thus, if our loins be girt about with truth, there will be something of uniformity in our religious life. The conduct of a Christian man is one in all its parts. His life is a great unity. Another characteristic of this evangelical truth will be a great searching of heart in the ordering of our religious exercises; and will be seen in the honesty with which we search out what our own desires are, and endeavour to prove their conformity to the will of God. Too many of us, it is to be feared, speak to God with an untruthful, double heart. And, lastly, it will be a certain characteristic of our possessing this evangelical girdle, that we are really in earnest about the matter of our salvation. A sincere man must be an earnest man; earnest with God, earnest with himself. (D. Moore, M. A.)
The girdle of truth
Brace yourselves up with truth--for the energy and power of religion lies there. The word truth appears to me, here, to have three meanings. Reality--that is, sincerity of character; soundness and correctness of doctrine; and veracity of tongue and uprightness of life. Let me begin with reality. The real in everything is the true in everything. You must have great views of truth; you must have practical views of truth; you must have personal views of truth. The texture of the girdle must be of the whole truth of God. And what is the whole truth of God? Now, a that truth lies within the Godhead--in the Holy and Blessed Trinity--it is thus: God the Father, loving with an everlasting love, and electing by His grace, gives sinners to Jesus. Jesus, in equal love, dies to reconcile them to God, and purchases for them everlasting life. Then, ascending to heaven, Jesus gives them to the Holy Ghost, that He, sanctifying them, may make them fit for the heaven which Jesus has already given them. So truth lies encircled in the provinces and attributes of the Trinity. This, then, is Gods truth. Now, a very few words remain for mans truth to grow out of Gods truth. For this is the great argument of truth--truth in thought--truth in word--truth in act--that God is truth. For if you are not true, you are not like God. And if you are not like God, you will never dwell with God. Now, you must begin by being true to yourselves. You must neither affect what you do not feel, nor hide what you do. Neither stimulating nor dissimulating your love and your happiness. You must be a man who acts out a conviction on the spot. And you must keep the solemn engagements you have made--between God and your own heart--very sacredly. You must deal with your own conscience tenderly. And you must not hide from yourself, but confess the real state of your feelings. You must continually remind yourself whose you are--what you are--where you are going! And you must cherish the little sparks of Divine feeling--thoughts that come like threads from heaven; and purify your desires; and be always watching and tending She inner life. And to man the believer must be one who can afford to be a transparent man. Nothing concealed; nothing hollow; nothing false; nothing surface. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
The Christians girdle
An allusion is here made to the military belt, or girdle. It answered two ends. First, it prevented the other garments from being in the way; secondly, it braced and strengthened the loins, around which it was girt. In a word, it rendered all compact and firm. A sincere and hearty attachment to truth has a like effect upon the mind. The man possessed of it is at once decided in his choice, and in his measures. He knows what he has to do, and readily sets about it, without let or hindrance. A double-minded man, who is guided sometimes by principle, and sometimes by interest, is unstable and dilatory in all his ways. He has so many doubts and difficulties, and hopes, and fears, that he can no more move and act with spirit and alertness, than one encumbered with a long flowing vestment, in the folds of which the arms and feet are every moment entangled. The resolutions formed by such a one are weak and feeble, presently shaken and dissolved by every fresh consideration which comes across him. He does nothing, or what is worse than nothing, being generally, in the end, for want of strength and steadiness, carried away to do what he ought not to do. If he knows the truth, he is easily prevailed upon to forsake it for something else. The soldier of this cast will make but a despicable figure in the Christian camp. Above all things, therefore, keep the truth close to you, adhere immovably to it, and the truth shall make you free; free to speak, free to act, free--should there be occasion--to suffer. (Bishop Horne.)
Power and beauty of truthfulness
I have noticed in travelling, that when one with a face wrinkled and worn walks into the car, there is not a seat to spare for her; and I have noticed that if one comes in who is young and blooming, of radiant eye and most comely face, there is not one in the car who has not a seat for her. Beauty wins its way. And if it be so in the outward life, which is but a mere shadow of the inward, how much more is it so in the inward! And nothing is more beautiful than duty performed under adverse circumstances. Once let a person be known for that, and men will not willingly lay their hands on him to harm him. If, under all the circumstances of oppression which stir up turbulent streams of strife in our midst, men rendered good for evil, and were humble and benevolent, and did their work sincerely and beautifully and truthfully, they would win against the world, they would win against all hell.
Having on the breastplate of righteousness.--
The breastplate of righteousness
1.The righteousness which is here meant. A powerful work of Gods Spirit in the regenerate, whereby they endeavour to approve themselves unto God and man, by performing what Gods law requires.
2. The fit resemblance of righteousness to a breastplate. It guards the vital parts, and preserves a man from being mortally wounded or killed outright.
3. How righteousness is put on. By the right practice of true repentance.
4. The benefits of righteousness.
(1) It keeps us from being mortally wounded; for so long as we retain a true purpose and faithful endeavour answerable thereto, we shall never give ourselves over to commit sin.
(2) It brings great assurance of our effectual calling, and spiritual union with Christ, yea, even of our eternal election and salvation.
Application:
1. Learn we what is true righteousness, that we trust not to a counterfeit breastplate and be pierced through while we think ourselves safe.
2. Acquaint we ourselves with the use, end, beauty, benefit, and necessity of righteousness, that we may be the more desirous to get it if we have it not; or, if we have it, the more careful in keeping it fast on, and close to us.
3. Let a daily examination be made of our life past, that of all our former unrighteousness we may truly and soundly repent; and with the true evidences of our former righteousness, our conscience may be comforted in the day of trial.
4. Let there be a holy resolution for the time to come, to walk on in the way of righteousness, without turning to the right hand or to the left. For the better performance of this holy resolution--
(1) Put on righteousness with all the parts thereof.
(2) Remove all impediments at the first, and give no place to the devil.
(3) Wax not weary, but be constant. (William Gouge.)
The breastplate
I. The nature of the Christian warriors breastplate--Righteousness. Now that righteousness which is vital and saving, may be considered in three respects; there must be--
1. Relative righteousness.
2. Righteousness of principle.
3. The fruits of righteousness.
(1) There must be the yielding supreme homage, veneration, love, and obedience to God.
(2) There must be obedience to the law of equity, as it respects our fellow men.
II. The protection it affords. This righteousness is of essential and vital importance--
1. When exposed to the accusations of Satan.
2. This breastplate yields peace to the mind, by removing the condemnations of conscience.
3. This will preserve in the fiery trial of the last day.
III. How this breastplate of righteousness is to be obtained. Now, this is to be obtained by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. (J. Burns, D. D.)
The Christians breastplate
I. The figure employed. The skins of beasts were probably the earliest material used to protect the soldiers body These were soon abandoned for the coat-of-mail, of which there were various kinds. There was the Egyptian cuirass, or coat-of-mail, made of horizontal rows of metal plates, each about one inch in breadth, and fastened together by brass pins. There was the Hebrew Shiryon, or coat-of-mail, made of brass, fashioned with scales, or of leather covered with brazen scales. And there was the Greek and Roman cuirass, composed at first of pieces of horn, fastened like feathers upon linen shirts, but afterwards of metallic scales. Sometimes, too, the cuirass was composed of rings hooked into each other: and sometimes of two solid plates, one for the breast and the other for the back, and joined by bands over the shoulders. On the right side of the body the plates were united by hinges; and on the left they were fastened by means of buckles. Such was the ancient cuirass or coat-of-mail. It covered and protected the entire body of the warrior, from the neck to the thigh, and sometimes even to the knees. Thus it is a fit emblem of that which protects the Christian from all the attacks of his foes, whenever and from whatever quarter they may come.
II. The thing signified--Righteousness. Holy Scripture speaks of two kinds of righteousness.
1. A righteousness which is of the law.
(1) The laws of God must be perfectly obeyed, both in the letter and in the spirit.
(2) This obedience must be personally rendered by the man who would have the righteousness.
(3) This perfect personal obedience must be constant and life-long.
2. A righteousness which is by faith in Jesus Christ.
(1) Imputed.
(2) Inwrought.
Imputed righteousness is the basis of inwrought righteousness. Where the one is not the other cannot be. Until we have come to Christ, and are found in Him, holiness is impossible for us. Holiness of heart and life is the Christians breastplate.
III. How, or in what sense, righteousness is a breastplate to the Christian.
1. It is an evidence of his sonship, giving the Christian soldier confidence in his fight with all his spiritual foes.
2. It is a defence against the attacks of foes. (A. C. Price, B. A.)
The breastplate of righteousness
I. Now, first, what is the righteousness of which the apostle speaks? Certainly, it is not the righteousness of the law. Not but that this would be a very good covering, if we could obtain it. Neither, again, is the righteousness of which the apostle here speaks to be identified with evangelical righteousness, or that which is of God by faith, that which is the justifying cause of a sinners acceptance, and his title deed to a part in the Christian covenant. Observe, then, that the righteousness which constitutes the believers breastplate is the fruit of the Spirit, a principle of the renewed mind, one of those good and perfect gifts which come down from the Father of lights. This, indeed, would follow from the fact, that the armour of which it forms a part is the armour of God, and, therefore, could not be of human acquisition or contrivance. Still, that which only God can give we may improve when it is given; and that part of our defensive weapon which consists in the implanting of right dispositions in the heart, may, if kept bright by daily use, and strengthened by daily prayer, cause the light of our good works to shine before men, and to cast a spiritual radiance over the whole armour of God.
1. Now, in this view, we say, first, that the outward duties of religion form a part of the Christian breastplate.
2. But, further, this breastplate of righteousness is a breastplate of holy principles in the general conduct of life. As He that hath called you is holy, so be ye holy, in all manner of conversation. Most conspicuously, however, should this righteousness of the Christian shine forth among those of his own household.
3. Once more, by the breastplate of righteousness the apostle means a breastplate of holy affections. In this sense we have, in using the word in the Epistle to the Thessalonians, the putting on the breastplate of faith and love.
II. But I proceed to the second thing proposed, which was to show the necessity of the breastplate as a part of the Christians defensive covering. Thus, it is necessary as a protection to the more vital and endangered parts. The breastplate in the military equipment covered the immediate seat of life. It was not for an arm or an inferior member where a wound might be healed, but for a part of the body where a wound would be attended with fatal consequences. So, the righteousness which is here recommended to us by the apostle is to protect a vital part. It is to guard those entrances out of which proceed the issues of life. Observe, then, ye put on this breastplate, because the assaults of Satan are always directed against that which is the very life of the soul. Satan has no war with mere forms of godliness, no contest with those who are satisfied with a name to live, no care to disturb the peace of those who rest in the exemplariness of their conduct, and the rectitude of their lives. His war is with practical holiness. Again, the putting on of this breastplate is necessary as an acknowledged mark of our Christian profession; as something by which we are distinguished from the men of the world. Further, this breastplate is necessary to give us confidence in the hour of distress and danger. Such, brethren, may serve for a description of the Christians breastplate. The reason, perhaps, for its entering thus early into the apostles account of our spiritual armour, is, that every Christian soldier should be warned at the outset of the uncompromising strictness and holy nature of that service upon which he has entered; that he should be taught that no dexterity he might display, no wielding other weapons, no zeal he might discover in fighting the battles of the living God, would ever compensate for the want of that holiness both in heart and life, without which none shall behold the face of God. Brethren, God can pardon sin, but God cannot look upon sin--cannot look upon a man negligent of holy duties, uninfluenced by holy principles, an utter stranger to holy affections, and yet calling himself by the name of Christian. (D. Moore, M. A.)
The Christians breastplate
The breastplate, as its name imports, was a plate of iron, or brass, to secure the breast, and, consequently the heart, and other vital parts, contained within it. As an attachment to truth was denominated a girdle, so by a breastplate is represented a love of righteousness, a consciousness of integrity, in short, what we call a good conscience--a conscience void of offence, as the apostle elsewhere speaks, toward God and toward man. A good conscience, then, we say, is a breastplate; it gives a holy confidence in God, which breaks the force of such temptations as arise from the fears and terrors of the world, the malice, pride, and envy of mankind. It preserves the heart whole and sound, whatever of this kind may assail it. It is like a warm, comfortable house, into which a man retreats; where he finds good provision, and good company; and hears the storm without, beating upon it in vain. (Bishop Horne.)
The breastplate
The Grecian breastplate was a half-corslet, originally made of hemp twisted into small cords and closely woven together, but in the improvements of art was constructed of iron, brass, and other metals, rendered so hard as absolutely to defy any of the weapons of offensive warfare then known. Plutarch says that Zoilus an artificer, having made a present of two iron brigandines (breastplates) to Demetrius Poliorcetes, for an experiment of their hardness, caused an arrow to be shot out of an engine called a catapulta, placed about twenty-six paces off, which was so far from piercing the iron that it scarcely razed or made the least impression on it. The metal was usually highly polished, too, so as to reflect the light, and thus dazzle the eyes and strike terror to the heart of an enemy. Hence a classic writer, speaking of one arrayed in complete panoply, says, that -
Dressed in his glittering breastplate he appeared,
Frightful with scales of brass.
You perceive how fitly such a piece of armour illustrates the formidable and protective portion of the panoply with which the believer is here arrayed. Righteousness is the breastplate of the Christian soldier, and a sure defence is it against the wiles of the devil. (J. Leyburn, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv14–17 14–16. Stand therefore … girt. He next gives the…
14–16. Stand therefore … girt. He next gives the armor that must be worn. The Roman soldier wore a girdle, breast-plate, shoes with iron nails, a helmet to protect his head, and carried a great shield on his left arm which was thrown in front of his body. His weapon was the sword. It was with the sword, not the spear as other nations, that the Romans conquered the world. And these represent parts of the Christian's spiritual armor. About with truth. The girdle kept the armor in place and supported the sword. So truth holds the Christian armor and supports the sword of the Spirit. Breast-plate of righteousness. The breast-plate was over the lungs and heart. If Christ's righteousness is over our hearts they can hardly suffer harm.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On vv14–17
EPHESIANS
‘THE GIRDLE OF TRUTH’
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Eph 6:14
The general exhortation here points to the habitual attitude of the Christian soldier. However many conflicts he may have waged, he is still to be ever ready for fresh assaults, for in regard to them he may be quite sure that to-morrow will bring its own share of them, and that the evil day is never left behind so long as days still last. That general exhortation is followed by clauses which are sometimes said to be cotemporaneous with it, and to be definitions of the way in which it is to be accomplished, but they are much rather statements of what is to be done before the soldier takes his stand. He is to be fully equipped first: he is to take up his position second. We may note that, in all the list of his equipment, there is but one weapon of offence-the sword of the Spirit; all the rest are defensive weapons. The girdle, which is the first specified, is not properly a weapon at all, but it comes first because the belt keeps all the other parts of the armour in place, and gives agility to the wearer. Having girded your loins {R.V.} is better than having your loins girded {A.V.}, as bringing out more fully that the assumption of the belt is the soldier’s own doing.
I. We must be braced up if we are to fight.
Concentration and tension of power is an absolute necessity for any effort, no matter how poor may be the aims to which it is directed, and what is needed for the successful prosecution of the lowest transient successes will surely not be less indispensable in the highest forms of life. If a poor runner for a wreath of parsley or of laurel cannot hope to win the fading prize unless all his powers are strained to the uttermost, the Christian athlete has still more certainly to run, so as the racer has to do, ‘that he may obtain.’ Loose-flowing robes are caught by every thorn by the way, and a soul which is not girded up is sure to be hindered in its course. ‘This one thing I do’ is the secret of all successful doing, and obedience to the command of Jesus, ‘let your loins be girded about,’ is indispensable, if we would avoid polluting contact with evil. His other command associated with it will never be accomplished without it. The lamps will not be burning unless the loins are girt. The men who scatter their loves and thoughts over a wide space, and to whom the discipline which confines their energies within definite channels is distasteful, are destined to be failures in the struggle of life. It is better to have our lives running between narrow banks, and so to have a scour in the stream, than to have them spreading wide and shallow, with no driving force in all the useless expanse. Such concentration and bracing of oneself up is needful, if any of the rest of the great exhortations which follow are to be fulfilled.
It may be that Paul here has haunting his memory our Lord’s words which we have just quoted; and, in any case, he is in beautiful accord with his brother Peter, who begins all the exhortations of his epistle with the words, ‘Wherefore, girding up the loins of your mind, be sober, and set your minds perfectly upon the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.’ Peter, indeed, is not thinking of the soldier’s belt, but he is, no doubt, remembering many a time when, in the toils of the fishing-boat, he had to tighten his robes round his waist to prepare for tugging at the oar, and he feels that such concentration is needful if a Christian life is ever to be sober, and to have its hope set perfectly on Christ and His grace.
II. The girdle is to be truth.
The question immediately arises as to whether truth here means objective truth-the truth of the Gospel, or subjective truth, or, as we are accustomed to say, truthfulness. It would seem that the former signification is rather included in the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and it is best to regard the phrase ‘with {literally "in"} truth’ here as having its ordinary meaning, of which we may take as examples the phrases, ‘the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth’; ‘love rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth’; ‘whom I love in truth.’ Absolute sincerity and transparent truthfulness may well be regarded as the girdle which encloses and keeps secure every other Christian grace and virtue.
We do not need to go far to find a slight tinge of unreality marring the Christian life: we have only to scrutinise our own experiences to detect some tendency to affectation, to saying a little more than is quite true, even in our sincerest worship. And we cannot but recognise that in all Christian communities there is present an element of conventionalism in their prayers, and that often the public expression of religious emotions goes far beyond the realities of feeling in the worshippers. In fact, terrible as the acknowledgment may be, we shall be blind if we do not recognise that the average Christianity of this day suffers from nothing more than it does from the lack of this transparent sincerity, and of absolute correspondence between inward fact and outward expression. Types of Christianity which make much of emotion are, of course, specially exposed to such a danger, but those which make least of it are not exempt, and we all need to lay to heart, far more seriously than we ordinarily do, that God ‘desires truth in the outward parts.’ The sturdy English moralist who proclaimed ‘Clear your mind of cant’ as the first condition of attaining wisdom, was not so very far from Paul’s point of view in our text, but his exhortation covered but a small section of the Apostle’s.
This absolute sincerity is hard to attain, and still harder to retain. Hideous as the fact of posing or attitudinising in our religion may be, it is one that comes very easily to us all, and, when it comes, spreads fast and spoils everything. Just as the legionary’s armour was held in its place by the girdle, and if that worked loose or was carelessly fastened, the breastplate would be sure to get out of position, so all the subsequent graces largely depend for their vigorous exercise on the prime virtue of truthfulness. Righteousness and faith will be weakened by the fatal taint of insincerity, and, on the other hand, conscious truthfulness will give strength to the whole man. Braced up and concentrated, our powers for all service and for all conflict will be increased. ‘The bond of perfectness’ is, no doubt, ‘Love,’ but that perfect bond will not be worn by us, unless we have girded our loins with truthfulness.
It may be that in Paul’s memory there is floating Isaiah’s great vision of the ‘Branch’ out of the stock of Jesse, on whom the Spirit of the Lord was to rest, and on whom it was proclaimed that faithfulness {or as it is rendered in the Septuagint, by the same phrase which the Apostle here employs, ‘in truth’} was to be the girdle of his reins; but, at all events, that which the prophet saw to be in the ideal Messiah, the Apostle sees as essential to all the subjects of that King.
III. Our truthfulness is the work of God’s truth.
We have already pointed out that the expression in the text may either be taken as referring to the subjective quality of truthfulness, or to the objective truth of God as contained in the Gospel, but these two interpretations may be united, for the main factor in producing the former is the faithful use of the latter and an honest submission to its operation. The Psalmist of old had learned that the great safeguard against sin was the resolve, ‘Thy word have I hid in my heart.’ That word brings to bear the mightiest motives that can sway life. It moves by love, by fear, by hope: it proposes the loftiest aim, even to imitate God as dear children; it gives clear directions, and draws straight and plain the pilgrim’s path; it holds out the largest promises, and in a measure fulfils them, even in the narrowest and most troubled lives. If we have made God’s truth our own, and are faithfully applying it to the details of daily life and submitting our whole selves to its operation, we shall be truthful and shall instinctively shrink from all unreality. If we know the truth as it is in Jesus, and walk in it, that ‘truth will make us free,’ and if thus ‘we are in Him that is true, even in His Son, Jesus Christ,’ that truth abiding in us, and with us, for ever, will make us truthful. In a heart so occupied and filled there is no room for the make-believes which are but too apt to creep into religious experience. Such a soul will recoil with an instinct of abhorrence from all that savours of ostentation, and will feel that its truest treasure cannot be shown. It is our duty not to hide God’s righteousness within our hearts, but it is equally our duty to hide His word there. We have to seek to make manifest the ‘savour of His knowledge in every place,’ but we have also to remember that in our hearts there is a secret place, and that ‘not easily forgiven are they who draw back the curtains,’ and let a careless world look in. It is not for others to pry into the hidden mysteries of the fellowship of a soul with the indwelling Christ, however it may be the Christian duty to show to all and sundry the blessed and transforming effects of that fellowship.
But God’s truth must be received and its power submitted to, if it is to implant in us the supreme grace of perfect truthfulness. Our minds and hearts must be saturated with it by many an hour of solitary reflection, by meditation which will diffuse its aroma like a fragrant perfume through our characters, and by the habit of bringing all circumstances, moods, and desires to be tested by its infallible criterion, and by the unreluctant acceptance of its guidance at every moment of our lives. There are many of us who, in a real though terribly imperfect sense, hold the truth, but who know nothing, or next to nothing, of its power to make us truthful. If it is to be of any use to us, we must make it ours in a far deeper sense than it is ours now; for many of us the girdle has been but carelessly fastened and has worked loose, and because, by our own faults, we have not ‘abode in the truth,’ it has come to pass that there is ‘no truth in us.’ We have set before us in the text the one condition on which all Christian progress depends, and if by any slackness we loosen the girdle of truthfulness, and admit into our religious life any taint of unreality, if our prayers say just a little more than is quite true, and our penitence a little less, we shall speedily find that hypocrisy and trivial insincerity are separated by very narrow limits. God’s truth in the Gospel cleanses the inner man, but not without his own effort, and, therefore, we are commanded to ‘cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness, in the fear of the Lord.’
EPHESIANS
‘THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS’
Eph 6:14
There can be no doubt that in this whole context the Apostle has in mind the great passage in Isaiah 59 where the prophet, in a figure of extreme boldness, describes the Lord as arming Himself to deliver the oppressed faithful, and coming as a Redeemer to Zion. In that passage the Lord puts on righteousness as a breastplate-that is to say, God, in His manifestation of Himself for the deliverance of His people, comes forth as if arrayed in the glittering armour of righteousness. Paul does not shrink from applying the same metaphor to those who are to be ‘imitators of God as beloved children,’ and from urging upon them that, in their humble degree and lowly measure, they too are to be clothed in the bright armour of moral rectitude. This righteousness is manifested in character and in conduct, and as the breastplate guards the vital organs from assault, it will keep the heart unwounded.
We must note that Paul here gathers up the whole sum of Christian character and conduct into one word. All can be expressed, however diversified may be the manifestations, by the one sovereign term ‘righteousness,’ and that is not merely a hasty generalisation, or a too rapid synthesis. As all sin has one root and is genetically one, so all goodness is at bottom one. The germ of sin is living to oneself: the germ of goodness is living to God. Though the degrees of development of either opposite are infinite, and the forms of its expression innumerable, yet the root of each is one.
Paul thinks of righteousness as existent before the Christian soldier puts it on. In this thought we are not merely relying on the metaphor of our text, but bringing it into accord with the whole tone of New Testament teaching, which knows of only one way in which any soul that has been living to self, and therefore to sin, can attain to living to God, and therefore can be righteous. We must receive, if we are ever to possess, the righteousness which is of God, and which becomes ours through Jesus Christ. The righteousness which shines as a fair but unattainable vision before sinful men, has a real existence, and may be theirs. It is not to be self-elaborated, but to be received.
That existent righteousness is to be put on. Other places of Scripture figure it as the robe of righteousness; here it is conceived of as the breastplate, but the idea of assumption is the same. It is to be put on, primarily, by faith. It is given in Christ to simple belief. He that hath faith thereby has the righteousness which is through faith in Christ, for in his faith he has the one formative principle of reliance on God, which will gradually refine character and mould conduct into whatsoever things are lovely and of good report. That righteousness which faith receives is no mere forensic treating of the unjust as just, but whilst it does bring with it pardon and oblivion from past transgressions, it makes a man in the depths of his being righteous, however slowly it may afterwards transform his conduct. The faith which is a departure from all reliance on works of righteousness which we have done, and is a single-eyed reliance on the work of Jesus Christ, opens the heart in which it is planted to all the influences of that life which was in Jesus, that from Him it may be in us. If Christ be in us {and if He is not, we are none of His}, ‘the spirit is life because of righteousness,’ however the body may still be ‘dead because of sin.’
But the putting on of the breastplate requires effort as well as faith, and effort will be vigorous in the measure in which faith is vivid, but it should follow, not precede or supplant, faith. There is no more hopeless and weary advice than would be the exhortation of our text if it stood alone. It is a counsel of despair to tell a man to put on that breastplate, and to leave him in doubt where he is to find it, or whether he has to hammer it together by his own efforts before he can put it on. There is no more unprofitable expenditure of breath than the cry to men, Be good! Be good! Moral teaching without Gospel preaching is little better than a waste of breath.
This injunction is continuously imperative upon all Christian soldiers. They are on the march through the enemy’s country, and can never safely lay aside their armour. After all successes, and no less after all failures, we have still to arm ourselves for the fight, and it is to be remembered that the righteousness of which Paul speaks differs from common earthly moralities only as including and transcending them all. It is, alas, too true that Christian righteousness has been by Christians set forth as something fantastic and unreal, remote from ordinary life, and far too heavenly-minded to care for common virtues. Let us never forget that Jesus Himself has warned us, that except our righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, we shall in no wise enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The greater orbit encloses the lesser within itself.
The breastplate of righteousness is our defence against evil. The opposition to temptation is best carried on by the positive cultivation of good. A habit of righteous conduct is itself a defence against temptation. Untilled fields bear abundant weeds. The used tool does not rust, nor the running water gather scum. The robe of righteousness will guard the heart as effectually as a coat of mail. The positive employment with good weakens temptation, and arms us against evil. But so long as we are here our righteousness must be militant, and we must be content to live ever armed to meet the enemy which is always hanging round us, and watching for an opportunity to strike. The time will come when we shall put off the breastplate and put on the fine linen ‘clean and white,’ which is the heavenly and final form of the righteousness of Saints.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v17 (See Scofield "Rom 1:16").
salvation
(See Scofield "Rom 1:16").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v14 The individual pieces of the armor and their use:
The individual pieces of the armor and their use:
v. 14. Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness,
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v. 15. and your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace;
v. 16. above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the Wicked.
v. 17. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God;
v. 18. praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints
v. 19. and for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the Gospel,
v. 20. for which I am an ambassador in bonds; that there in I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
The battle of the Christians is not only a matter of having all the pieces of the divine panoply on and in their proper place, but also of making the proper use of them for defense and offense. The apostle addresses the warriors of the Lord: Stand, then, having girded your loins with truth. As soldiers that are ready to meet the onslaught of the enemy they shall stand upright, firm. Just as the ancient soldier held his clothes together about his loins with a girdle, in order to prevent their hindering his free use of his limbs, so the Christian, the soldier of God, puts on the girdle of truth, of moral purity, of the righteousness of life. Only he that is a Christian in deed and in truth will engage in the battle with all seriousness; only he will gather up the matters of every-day life and hold them together without hypocrisy, lest he be hindered in the great battle. As the soldiers of old wore a heavy breastplate to secure the chest with its vital organs against any disabling wound, so the Christians wear the breastplate of the righteousness of life, that they may do no one any wrong, but rather may be desirous of serving all and doing good, lest someone accuse their conscience that they have not lived righteously. Truth, righteousness, the free and open confession of the Gospel, these three things make a Christian ready for the warfare against the spirits of darkness. And another necessary point is not forgotten: And having shod your feet with the preparedness of the Gospel of peace. As the military sandal protected the feet of the ancient soldier against the rough spots in the road, and made it possible for him to move forward with a quick and certain step, so the Christians should always be ready and prepared to proclaim the Gospel of salvation in Christ. See Isa 52:7. In the midst of the fierce battle in which he is engaged, the Christian has peace with God, and is able to impart this peace to others as well. Rom 5:1. And this very message with which they have been entrusted gives to the Christians all the more cheerful courage for the continuation of the fight which Satan is waging for the possession of his soul.
The parts of the panoply mentioned till now are those of the protective armor, which here come into consideration only as they shelter the person of the individual Christian. But God’s armor includes also weapons of defense and of offense: in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith, with which you are able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the Evil One. Just as the warrior of old used a large shield to cover his whole person, to render him safe especially against the arrows and darts which the enemies might shoot, so saving faith in Christ Jesus as the Savior of the world renders the believer secure against all the fiery darts of the devil. The ancients sometimes made use of arrows and small spears that were impregnated with pitch or some other inflammatory material, set on fire before they were discharged, and inflicting ugly wounds. Thus the temptations of Satan will greatly harm the Christian in his faith and spiritual life, unless he meets them with the calm assurance of the forgiveness of sins through the mercy of God in Jesus Christ. Against this certainty all the ammunition of the devil is unable to make any headway.
And finally the apostle writes: And the helmet of salvation take, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. With the helmet the ancient soldier protected his head against cuts and strokes from above, while he, in turn, made use of a sword to thrust at the enemy and conquer him. The Christian has received from God the helmet of salvation, the certainty of final deliverance, the hope and expectation of the future life which is above in heaven, for whose sake we believe in Christ and suffer everything, without which we could not endure the strokes which are aimed at our head and are intended to take away our life. And with the sword of the Holy Spirit, with the Word of God, the Christians can overcome and definitely conquer all the spirits of evil. As Luther writes: "Here it is not enough that we defend ourselves against the devil with faith and hope as our shield and helmet, but we must also draw the sword and go for him with such insistence that he must fall back and flee, and we thus obtain the victory over him. " Since the Word of God is this weapon, it behooves us to make use of it at all times and to this end become acquainted with it both by means of public preaching and by earnest Bible study at home. Cursory reading must be supplemented by careful memorizing of proof-texts and strong passages. Only in this way shall we be able to make the proper use of the Word of God as a true weapon of offense at all times.
The apostle now adds a few words of prayer and intercession, with special reference to his own case: With all prayer and supplication praying at all times in the Spirit, and watching thereto in all perseverance and supplication, for all saints. Prayer also belongs to the armor of the Christians as a very essential part, since it accompanies all their doings. They are in constant communication with God, in petition, praise, giving of thanks. They have not only their own needs in mind, but make supplication for others as well. They pray not only in times of great crises in their lives, but at all times, being always in the fellowship of prayer with the Lord. In the Spirit they pray, for He it is that gives them power and guides their unlearned tongue to utter such words as will express their needs. Therefore the Christians are also constantly alert and vigilant; they do not permit a single opportunity to go by which might be a special hint to them to bring matters to the attention of the heavenly Father. Their supplication thus becomes an intercession as a matter of fact; they pray for all the saints, they remember all the believers in their daily prayer, especially in the Lord’s Prayer. They are persevering in their supplications, importuning the Lord with their ceaseless crying, as Jesus Himself taught them, Luk 11:5-13; Luk 18:1-8. Prayer and supplication map not be a lost art in many parts of the Christian Church, but it certainly seems to be lacking in fervor and in confident trust, to judge by the results.
Paul asks the prayers of the Ephesian Christians also for himself: And for me, that to me may be given utterance in opening my mouth, in boldness to make known the mystery of the Gospel, in behalf of which I am an ambassador in a chain, that in it I may speak boldly, as it is my duty to speak. Paul wanted the Christians to intercede for him that he might be given the right word at the right time, Mat 10:19, that he might open his mouth with all frankness, without fear of unpleasant consequences. For his one object was to make known the mystery of the Gospel, whose frank proclamation indeed calls for courage such as man cannot give to himself. In the interest, in the service of this Gospel he was a prisoner; but even in prison or as a prisoner he wished for opportunity to preach the Gospel committed to him, since he felt that obligation resting upon him, 1Co 9:16. It was not only the fact that he must speak, but especially the manner how he was to speak that concerned the apostle. Although he was an ambassador in chains, yet he felt the need of representing his Lord worthily: surely a shining example for all ministers of the Gospel.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv14, 17 Stand, therefore
Stand, therefore
The words "stand" represents successfully resisting or fighting something. See how you translated "stand firm" in Ephesians 6:13. "So resist evil" (See: Metaphor)
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the belt of truth
Truth holds everything together for a believer just as a belt holds the clothing of a soldier together. (See: Metaphor)
truth ... righteousness
We are to know the truth and act in ways that please God.
the breastplate of righteousness
Possible meanings are 1) the gift of righteousness covers a believer's heart just as a breastplate protects the chest of a soldier or 2) our living as God wants us, gives us a clear conscience that protects our hearts the way a breastplate protects a soldier's chest. (See: Metaphor)
Then as shoes for your feet, put on the readiness to proclaim the gospel of peace
Just as a soldier wears shoes to give him solid footing, the believer must have solid knowledge of the gospel of peace in order to be ready to proclaim it. (See: Metaphor)
In all circumstances take up the shield of faith
The believer must use the faith that God gives for protection when the devil attacks, just as a soldier uses a shield to protect him from enemy attacks. (See: Metaphor)
the flaming arrows of the evil one
The attacks of the devil against a believer are like flaming arrows shot at a soldier by an enemy. (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
true
righteous
preach
good news
peace
faith
Satan
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv14–17 6:14-17 Paul uses the physical armor worn by Roman…
6:14-17 Paul uses the physical armor worn by Roman soldiers as imagery for spiritual armor used by believers. Most of this equipment is to defend, not to attack. Paul’s focus is not on the precise functions of each piece but on God’s gifts. Grounding in Christ and Scripture provides protection and ability to stand your ground (cp. Jas 4:7; 1 Pet 5:8-9).
6:14 God’s righteousness: Either the righteousness God credits to those who believe in Christ, or the righteous way of life brought about by the transforming work of the Spirit of God in believers’ lives. The one implies the other.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.