PUT ON THE FULL ARMOR OF GOD: endusasthe (2PAMM) ten panoplian tou theou:  (Eph 4:24; Romans 13:14; Colossians 3:10)   (Eph 6:13; Romans 13:12; 2 Corinthians 6:7; 10:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:8) 

Paul gives further explanation of what has to be done in order to be strong enough to meet spiritual enemies, especially the devil. It's not your armor that you are to put on but the armor God supplies. Another necessity in victorious warfare is to know the enemy. Don't try to fight your spiritual struggles based on human ingenuity or inherent personal strength. You don't stand a chance against the schemes of the invisible, powerful, crafty foe the devil. Spiritual warfare demands spiritual armor which can only be the "armor of God", the accoutrement He provides and which is even modeled on what He Himself wears as described by the prophet  Isaiah....

Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, and faithfulness the belt about His waist. (Isaiah 11:5 ) (Comment: compare this OT description to the picture of the Resurrected Lord Jesus Christ in Rev 1:13 where John saw "one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His breast with a golden girdle.")

And He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head; and He put on garments of vengeance for clothing, And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle. (Isaiah 59:17)

Put on (also in Eph 6:14) (1746) (enduo) from en = in + dúo = to sink, go in or under, to put on) means literally to clothe or dress someone and to put on as a garment, to cause to get into a garment (eg, Lu 15:22 where the father says "quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him...").

The aorist imperative is a command to do put on the armor now. Don't delay. There is a sense of urgency in the aorist imperative. Just do it like the Nike commercial says. The middle voice conveys the idea that it is your choice to do it. You put on yourself this armor. You make the choice to initiate the putting on of God's armor and then you participate in the benefits of having it on. Not one is going to put it on you. God is not going to force you to put it on. His command and His good and acceptable and perfect will is for you to put it on, but it still comes down to a choice you must make. It has to do with surrendering your will to His will. Saying no to self (self sufficiency, self confidence, etc) and saying yes to God, obeying Him out of love, as a son or daughter would their Abba, their Daddy.

Note also that this garment is unusual because it has to be put on from the inside! Ultimately this "new self" is Christ Himself (Ro 13:14) Legalism is putting them on the outside. You may look good in the pew or the pulpit but you won't be able to stand firm in the moment of temptation! Knowing the truth is not enough. You have to eat it, digest it, be renewed in your mind by it so that your futile thinking is taught, reproved, corrected and trained in the direction of righteousness then you are transformed from inside out by the Spirit.

The basic necessity for the believer is to depend on the Lord and put on the armor—and leave it on. We are gullible and vulnerable if we think that merely knowing the facts in Ephesians 6:10-18 will protect us. The armor is an absolute requirement for daily victorious living. And even the battles seem to wane, we cannot become apathetic or forget that we are in spiritual warfare everyday for the rest of our life until the day we die!

Luke 24:49 "And behold, I am sending forth the Promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power (dunamis) from on high." (Comment: The Power, the Promise is His Spirit, Who God had promised in the description of the New Covenant in the Old Testament, [Ezekiel 36:27 "I will put My Spirit within you"], promised again in Acts 1:8 and realized in Acts 2:4 at Pentecost and then in every believer thereafter as described in Romans 8:9, Ephesians 1:13; 1:14])

THE ARMOR OF LIGHT

Romans 13:12 The night is almost gone, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside (middle voice = you yourself initiate this action and participate in the effect) the deeds of darkness and put on (clothe yourself = middle voice = you yourself initiate this action and participate in the effect) the armor of light. (See notes)

CHRIST HIMSELF AS OUR GARMENT

Galatians 3:27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. (Comment: This putting on refers to salvation, at which time the Spirit replaced our filthy rags of sin with the righteousness of Christ - this is now and forever our new position before God. He sees us in Christ's righteousness - the theologians refer to this as positional truth = past tense salvation = justification).

Romans 13:14 But put on (our practice = present tense salvation = progressive sanctification - put Him on each morning and every moment of the day - aorist imperative [middle voice = you initiate the action and participate in the result = put Him yourself]) the Lord Jesus Christ, and make (present imperative = with the negative means to stop an action already in progress! You know what I am talking about!) no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. (See notes) (Comment: As you study the pieces of armor, you can see that ultimately putting each of them on is equivalent to clothing one's self with Christ - truth, righteousness, peace, faith

THE NEW SELF

Ephesians 4:24 and put on (not a command - aorist tense) the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. (Comment: As discussed in the notes there is debate between excellent commentators, some favoring this putting on as indicative of positional truth and others favoring it as calling for this to be our practice - progressive sanctification or present tense salvation).

Colossians 3:10 and have put on (past tense salvation = positional sanctification = our position now and forever in Christ - see our practice in Col 3:12) the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One Who created him (See notes)

Colossians 3:12  And so, as those who have been chosen of God (cf notes Eph 1:5), holy and beloved, put on (present tense salvation  = progressive sanctification = our practice - a command be clothed [middle voice = clothe yourself] now = aorist imperative) a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (See notes)

THE BREASTPLATE OF FAITH AND LOVE

1 Thessalonians 5:8 But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on (at the time of our new birth = justification = our position = past tense salvation) the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.

IMPERISHABLE, IMMORTAL GARMENTS

1 Corinthians 15:53 For this perishable must put on (glorification = future tense salvation) the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "Death is swallowed up in victory.

What a "wardrobe" God has made available for believers! We're the "best dressed" folks in the world and most of us don't even know it!

And the best is yet to come for John describes our new...

GARMENTS OF FINE LINEN, WHITE AND CLEAN...

Revelation 19:14 And the armies (this is us, those redeemed by the blood of the Lamb) which are in heaven, clothed (enduo) in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him (the Lamb = Faithful and True = the Word of God) on white horses. (Comment: This incredible historical event will occur at the end of the 7 year period, Daniel's Seventieth Week, and marks the defeat of the antichrist and his armies and the inception of Messiah's Millennial Reign)

Full armor of God - genitive of source or origin indicating that God provides the armor. So we need not only Divine armor but that equipment in its completeness and with no part missing or in disrepair.

Paul frequently pictures the Christian as a soldier in his writings - see Ro 6:13, 23, Ro 13:12, 2Cor 10:4, 1Thes 5:8, 1Ti 1:18, 1Ti 6:12, 2Ti 2:3-4, 4:7). It is not surprising that Paul would draw the analogy of the Christian life with that of a soldier, for it was to a soldier that he was chained while in prison.

Wiersbe writes that...

Paul emphasizes the fact that the full armor is necessary if we are to defeat Satan. The area in our life that we leave unguarded is sure to be the very place that Satan attacks. On October 17, 1586, Sir Philip Sidney was killed at the Battle of Zutphen, because he was not wearing his full armor. He saw that Sir William Pelham was not wearing leg armor, so Sidney removed his. He was struck in the leg and died from the wound. I cannot stress enough the importance of complete protection. (Wiersbe, W: Strategy of Satan: How to Detect and Defeat Him)

Full armor (3833) (panoplia from pás = all, every + hoplon = weapon, originally any tool or implement for preparing a thing, became used in the plural for weapons of warfare) is literally wholly armed and refers to the complete set of instruments used in offensive and defensive war. The literal meaning referred to the full preparation of a foot soldier for offense and defense - the complete suit of armor. Certainly Paul could claim knowledge of the Roman soldier’s armor, being chained to one for some three years.

This armor is of God both is the sense that it is from Him, and in the sense that it is His actual armor Isaiah recording that the Messiah also wears this armor (Isaiah 59:17). It is His armor that Messiah now shares with every person who places their faith in Him. Truths such as these explain why Paul can exclaim...

But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer (we continually -present tense- super-conquer) through Him who loved us. (We win the supreme victory through Him Who loved us. See note Romans 8:37) (Comment: Stedman writes "If we barely manage to win our way to heaven by the skin of our teeth, we could be said to be a conqueror, but a "more than conqueror" is someone who takes the worst that life can throw at him and uses that to become victorious. "More than conqueror" is one who, by the grace and the gift of God, and in the strength of God within him, actually takes the very things that are designed to destroy him, and they become stepping stones instead of stumbling blocks. That is being "more than conquerors." William Newell adds that "loved us" is past tense and "It is this past tense gospel the devil hates . . . Let a preacher be continually saying, ‘God loves you, Christ loves you,’ and he and his congregation will by and by be losing sight of both their sinnerhood and of the substitutionary atonement of the cross, where the love of God and of Christ was once for all and supremely set forth.")

God has supplied the complete armor, but He expects the Christian to put it on. We need the divine equipment in its completeness, without the lack of any single part. God has not sent us out into battle without everything we need at our disposal. However, there is no armor for the back -- we are expected to face our foe!

This Greek word gives us our English word, panoply, which refers to a full suit of armor; ceremonial attire; something forming a protective covering; a magnificent or impressive array; display of all appropriate appurtenances.

Expositor's writes that...

The soldier must be protected from head to foot and the panoplia is made up of all the various hopla (hoplon = singular) or pieces of armor, both defensive and offensive. Polybius has left a detailed description of the heavily armed Roman infantryman or hoplite. Paul may have drawn his picture "live" from the soldier he was chained to in his house arrest, though it is not altogether certain that such a custodian would have been in full battle dress. (Gaebelein, F, Editor: Expositor's Bible Commentary 6-Volume New Testament. Zondervan Publishing)

TDNT writes that...

The soldier's equipment remains much the same for centuries but with minor variations, e.g., in the size of shields or the weight of armor. The Roman legionary carries a lance or spear, a shield, javelins, helmet, and breastplate of coat of mail. In the OT we read of shields, helmets, armor, shoes, spears, bows and arrows, and slings...  The word is used only figuratively in the NT. (Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W.  Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Eerdmans)

Other than the use here and in Ephesians 6:13, there is only one other NT use...

Luke 11:22 but when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied, and distributes his plunder.

How does the believer put on the full armor of God? One of the most important ways is to hide God's Word in our heart (Ps 119:9-11) as if our very life depended upon it because our spiritual vitality does. Toward the close of World War II, Allied forces were mopping up against remaining Nazi resistance. One particular unit was assigned a crucial mission in Berlin. Each soldier had to memorize a map detailing all of Berlin's important military sites -- and they had to do it in a single night! In just a few hours, each soldier in the unit had committed the map to memory. The mission was a success. Several years later, the Army conducted an experiment to see if that original feat could be duplicated. They offered a similar unit an extra week's furlough--an attractive incentive--if they could carry out a comparable mission without a hitch. But the second unit could not match the success of the first. What made the difference? The lives of the men were not at stake. Surviving in battle was a greater motivation than a week's vacation. Christians are engaged in spiritual warfare. Our road map, our plan of strategy against Satan's military strongholds, is the Bible. The more we read it, the more of it we memorize, and the more thoroughly we know it, the more effective we will be for God. We must approach God's Word as if our lives depended on it--because they do. That's real motivation!

Thy Word is like an armory,
Where soldiers may repair,
And find, for life's long battle-day,
All needful weapons there. --Hodder

If your life depended on knowing the Bible, how long would you last?

How important is the full armor? Here's an illustration...

Bull Moose - Recently National Geographic ran an article about the Alaskan bull moose. The males of the species battle for dominance during the fall breeding season, literally going head-to-head with antlers crunching together as they collide. Often the antlers, their only weapon are broken. That ensures defeat. The heftiest moose, with the largest and strongest antlers, triumphs. Therefore, the battle fought in the fall is really won during the summer, when the moose eat continually. The one that consumes the best diet for growing antlers and gaining weight will be the heavyweight in the fight. Those that eat inadequately sport weaker antlers and less bulk. There is a lesson here for us. Spiritual battles await. Satan will choose a season to attack. Will we be victorious, or will we fall? Much depends on what we do now—before the wars begin. The bull-moose principle: Enduring faith, strength, and wisdom for trials are best developed before they’re needed. (Craig Brian Larson - Bible.org)

SO THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO STAND FIRM AGAINST: pros to dunasthai (PPN) humas stenai (AAN) pros:  (13; Luke 14:29-31; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Hebrews 7:25; Jude 1:24) 

So that (4314) (pros) introduces a purpose clause. Expositor's Greek NT adds that

"the general sense of direction (is) conveyed by the flexible preposition pros... In this short sentence it expresses mental direction, aim or object, and local direction, against."

Will be able (1410) (dunamai - see study of related word dunamis) means to have power by virtue of inherent ability and resources. 

Paul uses the present tense and thus is saying that we are to continually be provided with this Divine enablement. No power outages or shorted circuits (because of willful sin for example) are allowed if we are to win each battle. Dunamis is God's omnipotent, omnipresent, inherent ability to perform what He calls us to do -- in this case to stand firm when the battle is raging all around us!

Note the passive voice indicates that this enabling is an internal enablement provided by an outside source, the Spirit of God (see notes on "surpassing greatness of His power" - Ephesians 1:19; "strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man" - Ephesians 3:16; "Him Who is able to do...according to the power that works within us" - Ephesians 3:20 ; "be filled filled [controlled] with the Spirit" - Ephesians 5:16). What does that mean practically? It simply means that we have to be willing to let God enable us. We have to be willing to let Him have His way rather than us having our way. We have to be willing to allow His Spirit to strengthen and control us at every moment during the battle. And thus strengthened in our inner man, we can make the choice to take a stand, to hold firmly to our position, to resist the temptation to doubt, to fear, to gratify, etc, etc. We are more than conquerors through Christ Who loved us on Calvary and will love us eternally. With such assurance and empowerment we can stand firm against every assault to the praise of the glory of His grace which He so richly lavishes upon us.

Notice that Paul uses dunamai three times in this short treatise on spiritual warfare and each time it is in the passive voice indicating an external source of enablement to which the believer must be willing to yield and receive from the Holy Spirit!  (See notes Ephesians 6:11, 6:13; 6:16) In other words, attitudes such as self confidence, self sufficiency and self assurance, etc, have to be cast off like filthy garments of unrighteousness if we are to receive the necessary divine empowerment God graciously makes available.

To stand firm against - to hold a watch post, to stand and hold out in a critical position on a battlefield.  This phrase belongs to the soldier's language and conveys the idea of standing one's ground, as opposed to taking flight. Note that stand is a key word in warfare (see notes Ephesians 6:11; 6:13; 6:14 - in verse 14 note that resist is a derivative of the Greek word for stand)

John Stott quotes Simpson writing that...

The tactics of intimidation and insinuation alternate in Satan’s plan of campaign. He plays both the bully and the beguiler. Force and fraud form his chief offensive against the camp of the saints.

Wayne Barber writes that...

Stand firm (2476) (histemi) means to stand. In context it conveys the idea of digging in (the Roman sandals had spikes for this purpose). It was a military term for holding one's position. Hold your ground. Don't give an inch of territory to the enemy. That is the picture.

From a practical standpoint one stands firm by living the obedient, Scripture–dominated, Spirit–empowered life - the Spirit in such a state is not quenched or grieved and strengthens the obedient believer to stand firm.

The greatest weapon we have in warfare is not what we say to the devil but how we live the ''Christ life''. Obey, surrender, submit for this is your greatest weapon. It's not binding but it's bowing, saying ''yes'' to Jesus and committing to do His Word...at the moment He says it...then at that moment you become a fortress against the devil.

We must live in light of the fact that just as much as "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life," so it is true that "Satan hates you and has a terrible plan for your life" - we do have an enemy who wishes us nothing but evil

Using the metaphor of a battle, in the military sense to stand firm meant to hold a watch post or to stand and hold a critical position on a battlefield while under attack! The intent of Paul's exhortation is not unlike that of our Lord to the embattled church at Thyatira, whom He commanded, “hold fast until I come” (Rev 2:25). The believer needs to be strengthened in the inner man, letting our mind be affected by the truth, and letting the Spirit of Christ motivate us (Ezekiel 36:27, see note Philippians 2:12) and live His life through you. Stand firm by being in His word, obeying His word, repenting quickly and returning to your first Love. If you are disobedient you are deceived and a deceived person doesn't even know it! Furthermore when you are deceived you are primed for defeat! That is how good the Deceiver is. Remember his territory is the darkness, this present world system, and even though believers have been transferred out of darkness and into God's marvelous light, we can still choose to place ourselves under his domain by willing disobedience.

THE SCHEMES OF THE DEVIL:  tas methodeias tou diabolou:  (Eph 4:14; Mark 13:22; 2 Corinthians 2:11; 4:4; 11:3,13-15; 2 Thessalonians 2:9-11; 1 Peter 5:8; 2 Peter 2:1-3; Revelation 2:24; 12:9; 13:11-15; 19:20; 20:2,3,7,8) 

Schemes of the devil - Here we encounter the commander in chief of the invisible army arrayed against us. He is our sworn, mortal enemy. This is not a video game or a fairy tale but a very real war with a very real, deceptive foe.

Earlier Paul had warned about the devil's schemes to disrupt the unity of the body writing that...

As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming (See note Ephesians 4:14)

Against (4314) (pros) expresses direction - toward, on the side of, in the direction of. It can serve as a marker of closeness of relation or proximity. Pros is most commonly translated...against (21), before (10), toward (9). The picture is that of the believer facing these schemes.

The schemes of the devil - Note Paul's use of the definite article in Greek ("the") which defines these as specific schemes, not just general schemes. It suggests that the devil and his minions have specific schemes, "tailor made" for each person, for he is aware of the sin that so easily entangles each of us! Note that these schemes involve shrewdly devious and intriguing  methods that entail following an orderly, technical procedure in the handling of a subject. Schemes is used to describe a wild animal cunningly stalking and unexpectedly pouncing on prey (cp 1Pe 5:8). Satan’s schemes to destroy us and do us harm are built around stealth and deception but as Paul writes to the Corinthians

"we are not ignorant of his schemes." (2Corinthians 2:11) (Comment: Here schemes is not methodeia but noema [from nous = mind] and refers to the content of thinking and reasoning.)

Samuel Rutherford  reminds us that...

Satan is only God’s master fencer to teach us to use our weapons.

Schemes  (3180) (methodeia from methodeuo = to work by method in turn from meta = with, after + hodos = a way) refers to an orderly, logical, effective arrangement, usually in steps followed to achieve an end. It describes deliberate planning or a systematic approach and can have a positive or negative connotation. The negative meaning of methodeia implies the use of clever methods or strategies to attain the desired end. The Scripture always uses methodeia with a negative connotation.

Methodeia has  reference to planned, subtle, systematized error.  Error organizes. It has its systems and its logic. Be alert! Be mature!  Satan’s scheming, crafty actions and artful designs  have ‘method’ and purpose, for his aim is to mislead the immature who are not grounded on apostolic doctrine. Behind the evil men and women who seek to expound false teaching, there is also a supernatural evil power who seeks to deceive unwary saints with his "devilish" cunning.