When Paul penned his famous passage on the armor of God in Ephesians 6, was he borrowing imagery from a Roman soldier’s kit and gear? Hardly. That would have been a disastrous way to appeal to Christians oppressed by Rome.
The real inspiration for Paul’s analogy is more scripturally consistent. In describing the believers’ armor, the Hebrew of Hebrews was simply speaking in his mother tongue: the Old Testament.
God has made us a kingdom of priests. Christ makes it clear by example that our priestly duty is to be on the offensive against Satan’s kingdom.
To fight, you want an armor suited for your needs. This is a war of the priesthood. God’s priests need a priestly armor.
Purchase Pastor Brito’s newest book!
Author of The Trinitarian Father, published by Covenant Media Foundation.
This series of pastoral essays are a call to see the world through Trinitarian eyes. As the great Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck, explains:
“…the doctrine of the Trinity is of incalculable importance for the Christian religion. The entire Christian belief system, all of special revelation, stands or falls with the confession of God’s Trinity. It is the core of the Christian faith, the root of all its dogmas, and the basic content of the new covenant.
With this in mind, my hope through these essays is to offer a pastoral exhortation to think Trinitarianly about the Church, Family, and Culture. These essays are not meant to be technical discussions of the Trinity but rather practical applications grounded in the God who is Three and One.
May these essays provide a theological framework for pastors and parishioners to grow into a robust Trinitarian faith.
It is but a booklet, some twenty-five pages. Still, each page will delight the Christian pipe smoker, enlighten his heathen fellow-enthusiast, crush the ambitions of the heathen teetotaler, and soften the heart of the Christian abstainer. All four of these good things are guaranteed to happen if you but promise to go onto your porch tomorrow with your pad or another device, light your pipe, and Tolle Lege.
Uri has contributed to this book, Failed Church.
Recommended Reading:
Of the making of books about marriage and the family, there is no end. The family is in trouble today―and has been since the sin of our first parents. But the rescue of the family requires more than just good advice, helpful as that can be. It requires more than just a focus on the family. It requires that the family be brought into the church of Jesus Christ. In The Church-Friendly Family, Randy Booth and Rich Lusk set marriage and family in the context of the church, showing how putting the church first enables the family to bear a rich harvest in culture, education, missions, and more.