The armor of God: gospel of peace
[[Eph 6:15]] KJV And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
[[Num 6:26]] KJV The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
[[Isa 26:3]] KJV Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
[[Isa 53:5]] KJV But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
[[Joh 14:27]] KJV Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
[[Joh 16:33]] KJV These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
[[Rom 8:6]] KJV For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
[[Rom 5:1]] KJV Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
[[Phi 4:7]] KJV And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
[[Jas 3:18]] KJV And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
[[Psa 85:7-13/KJV]]
7 Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation.
8 I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.
9 Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.
10 Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
11 Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
12 Yea, the LORD shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase.
13 Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.
In the natural when we think of what makes for a great warrior many things come to mind; a cunning mind, heightened perception and awareness, strength, skill, experience but seldom do we consider the feet. Yet without a solid footing none of the rest can be effective.
The shield walls of Rome made strength from several men combined into one fighting unit, and to be effective the shield wall had to be able to repel enemy forces running into it at a full run. If it broke then it lost its combined strength and became just individual men fighting; which removed its advantage.
So the soldier’s footing against a wave of their enemies onslaught was of vital importance. The romans response to this need was to place what amounts to cleats in their sandals.
In this way Paul compares our footing in our redeemed life to be set by the gospel of peace. I find it interesting that the very prince of peace Jesus said he did not come to bring peace but a sword. It is important to understand how both are 100 % true; else we will develop a wrong way of acting toward God and man.
Jesus said my peace I give to you not as the world gives…and in this lays the answer to our seeming conflict. Jesus brings men into a peace and oneness with God, and by doing so he brings them into life for God is life. However He will never make peace with death or its allies of sin, separation, and self-sufficiency, but instead he brings the sword against it.
In the world what is called peace is when men divide lands, resources, and people among their recognized established sovereignty. Neither YHWH nor his anointed will ever recognize that death has sovereignty over any of His creation or men. He will make no peace with death in those who are deceived by bondage to it or in those that are his.
The peace Yeshua has given us is peace with God. He has taken away in his own body those things which bound us to death and passed through death and the grave and we were in him by our faith when the Spirit of God pulled Him out of death and made him alive. It is by Yeshua’s obedience that we have been redeemed to peace and by that redemption we are given the grace of YHWH’s life’s breath abiding in us and that life purges every shadow of death from those who put full reliance in him and by that grace the assured hope of his glory in us…for we have been made one with our Elohim.
Some think YHWH stands above our lives judging if we are doing what is right or wrong, but by Yeshua he has gotten into the waters of mankind to save those who are drowning. When a man is drowning and he has struggled for a while to no avail panic sets in. When this happens they are an enemy to both themselves and anyone who would attempt to rescue them. So if YHWH knocks you out, drags you to shore and violently pumps your chest while trying to breathe life into you….don’t think He doesn’t love you.
In Philippians 2: 12 Paul says to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling many people quote this verse to say God expects you to work for salvation, but I warn you to depend on anything from you is carnal and the carnal man is enmity with God. However let’s let Paul finish his own thought for verse thirteen tells us for it is God which works in you both to will and to do what is good and pleasing to Him.
To conclude if you want to stand in Messiah believe on YHWH, trust in Yeshua’s redemption, and depend on the Spirit/breath/life of God to live for you and through you….this is the gospel of peace.
The armor of God: shield of faith
Romans 10:17 - So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
James 2:19 - Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
Hebrews 11:6 - But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Matthew 21:22 - And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
Mark 11:22-24 - And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. (Read More...)
Ephesians 2:8-9 - For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: (Read More...)
Luke 1:37 - For with God nothing shall be impossible.
Hebrews 11:1 - Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1 - 13:25 - Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Read More...)
Ephesians 2:8 - For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:
1 Corinthians 2:5 - That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
Proverbs 3:5-6 - Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. (Read More...)
James 2:24 - Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
James 2:14-26 - What [doth it] profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? (Read More...)
2 Corinthians 5:7 - (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
Psalms 46:10 - Be still, and know that I [am] God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
“You are saved by grace through faith” has any phrase from Gods word been more kidnapped, abused, used for a sick wicked lust and left dead in a ditch for the dogs than this.
The idea of being saved has been made little more than a get out of hell free card. Gone is the power of God driving out everything that would cause harm or separate us from Him such as sin, unbelief, unforgiveness, or worldliness; replaced with we just have to endure till one day He makes it better after all we are just like the world just forgiven.
Grace has been changed to God overlooking our weakness and assuring us He loves us while we continue to kill ourselves and those around us; when in truth it is the gift of God himself living in us sharing his life, power, to will and to DO in us.
Then there is the subject of this post: faith. It has been taught as something that we develop in order to get God to act which is both silly and idolatrous. It has been taught that we learn Gods word and apply it to what we need because God has to honor his word…again idolatry.
The creator, regardless of love for you, is never at the rule or desire or desperation of the creation.
Faith is not simply belief that God can or will do what he says, but faith has full assurance that He is and has done His word. The result of our unwavering dependence and reliance that what He says is what He is doing is seen in our actions by which we see His actions.
At a modern marriage festival it is a tradition for the bride and groom after they have entered into a contract of marriage and before (presumably) they consummate the marriage to have a dance. Our faith is like this dance.
The groom and bride cannot both lead this dance; this struggle would be more wrestling than dancing. The groom cannot lead a bride who refuses to move her feet, so if she is waiting on Him to move first neither one moves. To see the groom move requires us to move at his leading.
The word amen means so be it or so it is and this same word is translated as faith. The word also carries the idea of a nursing Father along with to render firm, to trust, to be permanent, quiet, certain, establish. So the picture painted in the Hebrew is the safe assurance of an infant in the arms of a loving Father.
Since our Father can create the universe with the sound of his words who can take us out of his hands…He can be trusted. Our trust in Him can defeat every device of those who would try.
