This morning we started a series on The Armor of God. What we're going to do now is go through the pieces of the armor over the next several weeks. We'll be studying these things intently, which will help us to keep these in their context.
In this discussion, we're going to talk about the loins girt about with truth.
Stand Firm
- Ephesians 6:14
Paul’s Knows Roman Soldiers
We have talked through verse 13 in the previous lesson. We talked about the armor, and how it is going to help us to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Going back to something that we didn't really talk about in our introduction is Paul's knowledge of the Roman soldier.
We know that Paul knew about the Roman soldiers.
- Paul is a Roman Citizen (Acts 16:37)
- Delivered by Soldiers to a Centurion (Acts 27:1)
- Acts 28:16
This is how the book of Acts ends. He's now in Roman custody. He's going to be there for roughly two years and he is in his own hired house. He is under what we would call house arrest. One thing is different, he doesn't have an electronic anklet attached to him. He has a Roman soldier attached to him.
He becomes intimately knowledgeable about the armor that these soldiers wear in their protection of him. Now, he's in his own hired house, he's not necessarily free to come and go as he pleases, but others are free to come and go as they please.
Paul has the ability to teach those who desire to come to him and learn.
Paul knows what he's talking about when he's going to use these pieces of armor in explaining how we can stand firm in the strength of our Lord.
And it starts off right here with our first line of defense and that being our loins girt about with truth, Ephesians 6:14.
Truth, our first line of defense
The word, truth, appears about, this specific word appears about 110 times in the Bible, and it is used in a couple of different ways.
You see some of the ways in which this word is used, and when it has a definite article, the truth, you know for certain that the gospel is under discussion. There's also another way that this word, truth, is used, and that can also be to simply speak of things that are real.
We live in a world today where there, are not a lot of people that believe in the reality of certain things. Namely, that there are only two genders. There, there are a great deal of people who seem to believe there's a vast majority, a vast number of genders besides male and female. They don't believe in reality. They don't believe in truth.
In that definition of the word.
- Proverbs 23:23
We should have knowledge in our minds. We should have knowledge as a part of our lives, but we should also have a firm grasp on reality. If we're going to stand firm in the Word of God, if we're going to stand in the power of God's might, then we need to have this reality as a part of our individual selves.
It's not possible for collective knowledge to work. What is collective knowledge?
Having Collective Truth is not Enough.
It's the idea that we together as a community have truth on our side and we collectively, not necessarily individually, but collectively agree about certain things.
Now we could argue that each of us as New Testament Christians do have a collective understanding of truth. We believe in the Word of God, we believe in the New Testament. But that's not good enough for me to trust what the collective believes if I'm going to stand before God as an individual to give an account of things that I have done myself in this life.
- 2 Corinthians 10:5
I will stand to give an account. This means I need to have some sort of account or knowledge of the truth myself.
Each Soldier must wear their own armor. It doesn't do any good to go out into battle, and someone else carries all of my protective gear for me. We need to have our own armor set upon each of us, securely in place.
Truth Underpins Our Faith
There were some who have studied various aspects of ancient armor and the belt, the girdle that would be put on first, it had closures and hooks and things like that, that the other pieces of the armor actually attach to.
So, we should attach truth to ourselves first, and attach other aspects of our armor to the truth that is to come.
- John 17:17
His Word is the reality we are to follow. His Word, the gospel is Truth.
- Romans 10:17
We need the Word of God in order to understand what the reality of our physical life, but also our spiritual life should be.
- John 14:6
The definite article of this verse shows that there is no other life, outside of Christ.
" I am The way, there is no other way, I am the truth, there is no other truth, I am the life, there is no other life outside of me. And you will not reach the Father unless you go through Jesus." — Robert Taylor.
It's essential that we have truth on our sides.
“Is there any significance in the Holy Spirit putting the truth at the very beginning of the list when he mentions the various pieces of armor? All other things are but useless appendages to a soldier without the girdle of truth.” –Wayne Coates.
When you think about the other pieces of armor that we're going to be adding, the breastplate of righteousness, the feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the spirit, the shield of faith, all of those things don't really make a whole lot of sense if there's nothing holding them all together.
In this case, it's the truth. Of God's Word, it's the reality that comes from God's Word. We need to recognize that established truth is settled.
Established Truth is Settled:
This is an idea that people are actively fighting against today. Truth can mean something now and decades later it can actually mean something else. That's not really true.
- Murder still violates God’s Law (Genesis 4)
Ever since Genesis chapter 4, you could say murder has been wrong as it's been written down by God. Is it still wrong today? Murder is, and always has been, wrong.
- Assembling on the First Day of the Week
- Hebrews 10:25
God wants the first. God wants the best. God expects us to come and worship Him on the first day of the week as we have examples given to us in the New Testament of doing those things until the Christian dispensation ends, which is only going to end in Jesus returning It's always going to be this way.
It's always going to be expected that we come together on the first day of the week in order to worship God and be acceptable in doing that.
- Psalm 25:5
- Ephesians 4:14
Why is it important that we are settled in truth? Paul says we can be tossed about by every wind of doctrine if we aren't settled in the reality of God's Word. And, also if we aren't settled ourselves that the Word is from God.
- Psalm 40:11
The request made by the Psalmist is that we are continually preserved in God's truth.
Attributes of Truth
If truth changes from one moment to the next and we can't have any sure footing in what truth is, how confidently are we going to be able to get through this life in a right relationship with God? There has to be something firm for us to place our feet upon, it is the Word of God, and it is the gospel.
Truth is Knowable!
- 2 John 1:1-4
Here John records for us in no uncertain terms that truth is knowledgeable. It is something that we can know, it is something that when we know it, can have an effect on us.
" Then Jesus said to those Jews which believed on him, If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed, and ye sh1all know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." — John 8:31,32
If we're here on this earth, and it's our desire as individuals to get to Heaven and have our sins forgiven and removed from our account before we stand before God, how do we do that? The only way for that to happen is if there is objective truth.
Has God communicated that truth to us? How we can have our sins removed and be in the right relationship with Him? He absolutely has.
Therefore, truth is knowable.
Truth is Teachable!
It doesn't do us any good, as we mentioned before if only certain ones have the ability to understand it.
- Acts 19:10, 20
Why did Paul spend two years in Ephesus teaching these people? What did he spend two years teaching them if it wasn't the truth of God's Word? And, with power and dominion, the Word of God prevailed.
- 1 Peter 5:11
I found it interesting in our Bible class we talked about 1 Peter 5:11, talking about God and how all grace is through Him. It uses the word dominion there in 1st Peter 5:11 concerning God. That's the same word that's translated mightily here in Acts 19:20.
The truth is teachable. Since it is teachable, we who are Christians, have an obligation to teach others the truth in which we stand.
- 2 Timothy 4:2
You have truth on your side. You know it. You have the ability to know it. And since you have the ability to know it, you now, as a New Testament Christian, have a responsibility to teach it.
Truth is Resolute!
- Galatians 1:6-9
Two different Greek words are used there, both translated as; another.
The idea is, it's, truth is resolved in the mind of God. It is not going to change. The truth of the reality of Jesus establishing His kingdom is not going to change. The truth that we find in the New Testament from the words of Jesus and the inspired apostles on how to gain access into the kingdom that Jesus said he was going to establish is not going to change.
No matter how much we may want it to change, no matter how many more people we believe will be saved if we allow other ways into God's kingdom, we cannot. Because the truth is resolute. It is resolved. It is settled.
Truth is Rejectable
There are some ingredients that you have to have that make up the proper girdle of truth. You have to have an appropriate hearing. You have to be believing in what it is that you hear, and then you have to follow that up with conviction or obeying.
Elements to Make up a Proper Girdle of Truth:
- Hearing
- Believing
- Obeying
At any one of those points, you can stop. At any one of those points, you can stop hearing the Word of God, you can stop believing the Word of God, and unfortunately, you can stop obeying the Word of God at any time.
Which means you have the ability to reject the truth that comes from God. God has created us, as free moral agents. We have the ability to choose when presented with a decision to go this way or to go that way. Where are we going to go? How do we make that decision? What are the factors that lead us to that decision? We have the ability to choose, You and I do, on whether or not we believe the truth that is teachable. That is understandable. That is not ever going to change, or we can choose to throw it aside and go our own way.
We may reject the truth of God's Word. But according to Paul, that doesn't remove us from our responsibility to it.
- Romans 2:2
- Romans 1:18
They refused the truth of God's word.
They refused the righteousness of God and they went out to establish their own righteousness, which was not righteousness. But it was created in their own minds.
And because of all of that, God gave them over. It says three times in Romans chapter one, God gave them up. God allowed them to do things that He did not want them to do, all because He gave them the ability to reject truth. He did not prevent them, which is how I know that we have free moral agency. We have the ability to choose because God does not stop us from making the wrong choice. He allows it.
Which is why we need to be careful concerning the choices we make.
We get to Romans chapter 2, and those that were Jews that are being written to there in Romans, they carried somewhat of a chip on their shoulder, thinking that they were better than those Gentiles. And Paul says you're not.
- Romans 2:1
There were some there in Rome who wanted to judge these Gentiles very harshly for throwing away the truth of God's Word and following after worldliness. And yet, Paul says you're guilty of doing the same thing, and you can't cast judgment on these people. Because you're going to be judged by the same truth as they are.
This girdle of truth that we are supposed to put on, that Paul is encouraging these Ephesian Christians to put on, holds our entire spiritual well-being within it. It all starts right here. If we get the truth wrong and we try and put on the rest of the armor, It's not going to work.
God's truth is resolved. It's settled. It's not going to change. Which means we have to be willing to change.
Questions to ponder:
- Will you walk “…uprightly according to the truth…” (Galatians 2:14)?
- Will you turn your ears away from the truth (2 Timothy 4:4)?
- Will you err concerning the truth (2 Timothy 2:18)?
- Will you hold the truth in unrighteousness (Romans 1:18)?
- Will you lie against the truth (James 3:14)?
- Will you resist the truth (2 Timothy 3:8)?
- Will you be destitute of the truth (1 Timothy 6:5)?
Ephesus plays a somewhat of a significant role in our New Testament, because of all these things connecting. There are some who are going to hear it, and they're going to turn away from the truth.
The truth is important. The reality of God's Word and what He wants for us is important for us to know. It is also important for us to accept.
What Will You Do With The Truth of God’s Word?
The truth is important. The reality of God's Word and what He wants for us is important for us to know. It is also important for us to accept.
One final question for you this evening. What will you do with the truth of God's Word? Maybe you're one here this evening, a member of the body of Christ.
But as we mentioned this morning concerning falling on the field of battle, maybe you just put the rest of your pieces of armor on, but you left off the loins girt about with truth. The rest of the armor isn't going to do us good if we don't have a foundation to attach them to.
Maybe you're one who's not a member of the body of Christ and has followed after man-made ways of getting into God's kingdom. I would encourage you to consider the things that you read. Consider the things that you study. Find out, out of God's word, how we are to be pleasing to Him.
Having heard the word, are you willing to believe it? Are you willing to repent of your sins and confess your faith in Jesus and to be buried in water to have your sins forgiven, ushered or added to His kingdom by God Himself, Acts 2:47.
If we can assist you in any way, we encourage you to contact us.
