Wear shoes of peace on your march for spiritual endurance

“…and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;” Ephesians 6:15 (NKJV)

An old military saying is that, “a soldier is only as good as his shoes.” Those of us who have served in the military know the pain and suffering that can result from a pair of shoes that do not fit well, are poorly made, or have worn out. Before we look at the spiritual significance of “shoes of peace,” we  see two reasons why a Roman soldier’s shoes were so critical in warfare even though we don’t usually considered them offensive or defensive weapons in a suit of armor. They are mentioned in this Bible passage as an essential part of the soldier’s overall complement of armor.

Soldiers need good shoes for long marches. One of the hallmarks of a Roman legion was its ability to move quickly as a fighting unit over vast distances and immediately jump into battle. Historians note that 4,000-5,000 Roman infantry could march 18-20 miles each day for several days in a row with full armor, weapons, and packs. When pressed for speed, they could cover 30 miles in one day. Solid, comfortable shoes were necessary to move quickly and endure a long march before engaging an enemy in battle.

A soldier also needs good shoes during the heat of a battle. The illustration above shows the metal spikes or hobnails embedded in the soles of sandals worn by Roman soldiers that gave them firm footing during a fight on uneven ground or when the battlefield became slippery. When fighting an hours-long battle, constantly engaged in a life-or-death struggle, the Roman soldier had to stay upright, stand with feet firmly planted, and not fall down. If he slipped or stumbled, he could become a casualty of war.

The second half of Ephesians 6:15 likens the soldier’s shoes to the “preparation of the gospel of peace.” The application of the good news that is peace can be readily seen in the metaphor of the soldier’s shoes for endurance and steadfastness. This good news of peace could be the gospel message of salvation, but I believe it is speaking here of that calm, inner peace that brings long-term endurance in life. This inner peace with God that comes from assurance of eternal salvation is what will keep us in our long march of life. The word “preparation” is an indication that the gospel of peace is actively and eagerly put on with a readiness of mind. Before the march and before the battle, a prepared soldier will lace his shoes of peace with anticipation, knowing that they will secure him in whatever comes his way.

Paul exhorted Timothy to endure suffering and affliction like a good soldier in his lifetime of pastoral ministry: “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” (II Timothy 2:3) The Christian life is no picnic under a shade tree or a stroll through flowery meadows. We need endurance “But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” (II Timothy 4:5)

The apostle also urges us to stand on solid footing that comes from two things:

First and foremost, our valuable equipment for battle comes from God Himself and the peace from Him that will keep us standing upright: “For now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord.” (I Thessalonians 3:8) Second, the apostle urges us to count on the faith, that body of doctrine grounded in the New Testament apostles and prophets, that will help us stand in times of frantic spiritual battles. “Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.” (I Corinthians 16:13)

Stay Alert!

Put on your armor!

March on!

“…the breastplate of righteousness.”

“Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness.” Ephesians 6:14

“…by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,” II Corinthians 6:7

Understanding figurative references in the Bible requires a bit of study. In the case of Ephesians 6:14 and II Corinthians 6:7 it is easy to see that the Apostle Paul used a military metaphor comparing a believer’s “righteousness” to a soldier’s armored “breastplate.” In these two verses the Greek term thorax is the word for “breast” and the translators rightly concluded from the context of the whole armor of God that Paul referred to the metal armor that covered a soldier’s torso. Whatever the design, whether mesh, small “scales,” plates, or a solid “heroic curiass,” the metal breastplate protected the fighter’s vital organs from arrows, spears, and swords.

How is righteousness like a soldier’s breastplate? Recall that Ephesians 6 began by telling us that we are engaged in spiritual warfare. So how does righteousness protect the believer like spiritual armor? Moreover, what does the Scripture consider our vital spiritual organ(s)?

Ancient peoples had a primitive understanding of the general placement and importance in the body of physical, anatomical organs. They knew that organs in the core of the body had to be protected at all costs to preserve life. They didn’t understand exactly how they functioned or how they depended on other organs. So, to explain the vitality of physical life, they thought of the heart and what they called the bowels (KJV) as the organs that made physical life possible.

According to Strong’s Concordance, the heart was the center of all physical and spiritual life; it was the home of the soul or mind, the fountain and seat of the thoughts, desires, affections, purposes, and the seat of intelligence, will and character.

Strong’s also points out that bowels were regarded by the Greeks as the seat of the more violent passions, such as anger and love; but by the Hebrews, as the seat of the tenderer affections, esp. kindness, benevolence, compassion.

The heart is the most vital “spiritual organ” in the believer’s life: “…that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:9-10

The apostle’s metaphor brings us to two important conclusions:

First, that our most vital spiritual organ must be protected at all cost. “Keep [guard] your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)

Second, righteousness is our spiritual body armor. Only God’s righteousness that comes by faith can protect us from spiritual attacks. The arrows, spears, and swords of the enemy cannot harm us when God’s righteousness guards our heart. “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the 

righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;” Romans 3:21-22

Stay alert! Put on your armor! March on!

The Belt of Truth

“Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth…” Ephesians 6:14a (NKJV)

The Roman soldier girded his waist with what is called in Latin a balteus. This piece of equipment served three vital functions— practical, identifying, and ornamental. It was practical because when worn over a chain mail or solid breastplate, it helped relieve the heavy weight of the armor on the soldier’s shoulders. Rings on the belt kept the soldier’s dagger (pugio) within easy reach. Second, Roman law said that only soldiers could wear a balteus. It immediately identified them as soldiers because they were required to wear it at all times, even when not in uniform. Finally, the belt and the straps hanging in front displayed the metallic emblems, badges, seals, and tokens from the soldier’s various assignments, service accomplishments, and battle campaigns.

The Holy Spirit is the inward mark of the believer–He is bound to the Christian with a permanent seal that cannot be broken or removed. (II Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; 4:30) The indwelling Holy Spirit is the source of all outward spiritual evidence (fruit).

Truth is one outward mark of the Christian—it is a daily emblem or badge to the world that we belong to Christ because the “Spirit of truth” (John 14:17) is in us. In the book of Ephesians, where the Apostle Paul speaks about the belt of truth, he also mentions how we are to walk like the new men that we are because we are saved. “…but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up [mature] in all things into Him who is the head—Christ” (4:15) “Therefore, putting away lying, ‘Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,’” (4:25) Like the balteus belts worn by Roman soldiers that identified them as military men, truth should be our characteristic mark wherever we go and whatever we do.

The Apostle John began his third epistle with an observation that nothing made him happier than knowing that his readers had God’s truth inside them (they were saved and the Holy Spirit of truth was in them) and that they were walking (living) in that truth. “For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in [the] truth.” (III John 3-4)

As we put on our daily armor in preparation for battle, let’s purpose in our minds to make truth our outward identification and badge! “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind…” (I Peter 1:13a) Especially in a day when truth is mocked and under attack, some might notice that our lives are identified by truth and ask us why that is. (I Peter 3:15)

Stay alert!   Grab your weapons!   March on!   SPEAK THE TRUTH!

The Whole Armor of God

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”  Ephesians 6:11-13 (NKJV)

Soldiers, this lesson is essential for our basic training in the use of our spiritual weapons—we must use the whole armor of God in our warfare!

This series will look at the spiritual weapons available to us to fight against our adversary: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (I Peter 5:8)

The term used by modern armies is “full-spectrum warfare” because it seeks to wisely draw from the full range of weapons available for a specific attack by the enemy. Our enemy is a wily, scheming, deceitful foe. We must make full use of the defensive and offensive arsenal which the Holy Spirit has already given us. It is He who will show us when and how to use those weapons.

Be alert! Grab your weapons! March on!

“an ambassador in chains”                  Ephesians 6:20

“…praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” Ephesians 6:18-20

As we have seen in our study of Roman centurions, the New Testament mentions five centurions and points out the good qualities of four of them. Thus it would be wrong to say that all Roman soldiers were violent, cruel, crude, or without compassion. When it comes to Praetorian Guard soldiers, we need to separate their general historical reputation for ruthless brutality from individual soldiers we read about in the New Testament.

We know about the Pretorian Guard from secular Roman writings. They were an elite unit of several thousand soldiers headquartered in a castra or fortress in the middle of Rome. They were not “ordinary” Roman soldiers. They were like today’s SEAL/Delta Force chosen from among the bravest and most skilled warriors in the legions. Praetorians had a reputation in historical writings for being violent, corrupt, greedy, and immoral. They were also the Emperor’s closest bodyguards whom he used to enforce his decrees in Rome and surrounding areas. Their political power often exceeded that of the Emperor and not a few of Rome’s rulers were assassinated by their own bodyguards and replaced by men of the Praetorians’ choosing.

Accounts of Praetorians in the Book of Acts and the Epistles surprise us when they demonstrate the power of God at work in the hard hearts of Rome’s toughest soldiers. Centurion Julius, who escorted the Apostle Paul and other prisoners by ship to Rome, delivered Paul to the commander of the Praetorian cohort who assumed custody for the prisoners. Whether Julius recommended it or because Governor Felix commanded it, (Acts 27:43a; 24:23) Paul received favorable treatment from Praetorian soldiers during his two years of imprisonment. Paul had continuous contact with soldiers during those two years. He had his own living quarters and was allowed visitors. (28:16, 30) Secular historians (Tacitus, Seneca) describe how non-violent prisoners, in loose confinement and allowed to move around and have visitors, were chained to soldiers who took shifts so they knew the prisoner’s whereabouts at all times. Paul’s two years chained to guards under “house arrest” were very productive for the Gospel!

The Apostle Paul wrote four prison epistles while chained to a guard. Imagine being a tough soldier “forced” to listen to Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon as Paul wrote the inspired texts and possibly discussed them with his many visitors before sending copies to the recipients! Paul, God’s evangelist to the Gentiles, would have spoken freely and openly of the grace of God with any soldier so close to him. We know from two verses in Philippians that Paul’s time in prison was fruitful. People in unlikely places came to know Jesus as their Savior:

“All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar’s household.” (Philippians 1:13)

“So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places;”  (4:22)