Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed, and with your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition.-Ephesians 6:10-18 (Berean Study Bible)
When we put on the armor, we need to be aware that we don’t create it. God did. He gave us the armor with which we fight.
Ephesians 6:10 says to "be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power." This is not our strength. We take His power, and I believe that power comes from the verses describing the armor we put on.
We are not fighting a battle that can be seen, but one that is unseen, everyday, all around us. We are not fighting against people, but against forces we cannot see. And the armor of God is not a physical armor that we can see either. It is something that has already been paid for with the blood of Jesus.
The first piece of armor is the belt of truth. What does that piece of armor do? What is truth?
In John 1:17, and John 14:6, Jesus is called the truth. During Jesus' trial, he told Pilate that he had come to testify to the truth.
The Greek word for truth is alétheia.
Strong's Concordance defines truth as "truth, but not merely truth as spoken; truth of idea, reality, sincerity, truth in the moral sphere, divine truth revealed to man, straightforwardness."*
Helps Word Studies says this about truth:
[In ancient Greek culture, 225 (alḗtheia) was synonymous for "reality" as the opposite of illusion, i.e. fact.]*
Jesus is reality. He is the truth.
Let’s look at some scriptures that talk about truth.
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.-John 1:17
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.-John 14:6
And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you do know Him, for He abides with you and will be in you.-John 14:16-17
However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come.- John 16:13
“You say that I am a king,” Jesus answered. “For this reason I was born and have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice.”-John 18:37
So, Jesus is the truth. He also said that we who are Believers, who are a part of His body, would have the Spirit of truth, which is the Holy Spirit, who lives in us.
The belt of truth we find in Jesus is what holds it all together. It is the first piece of armor in the armor of God. Everything else hangs upon that piece.
*Strong’s Concordance. “225. Alétheia.” Bible Hub, https://biblehub.com/greek/225.htm, June 18 2020.
*HELPS Word Studies. “225. Alétheia.” Bible Hub, https://biblehub.com/greek/225.htm, June 18 2020.
*All scripture quotations are from the Berean Study Bible, unless otherwise stated.
