Truth Belt

 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth. (6:14)

In this passage of Scripture, Ephesians 6:10-18, Paul mentions six pieces of God’s armor. Each piece is necessary for the spiritual struggle and engagement which the Enemy brings against us. And, each spiritual tool is related to a certain piece of a fighting soldier’s actual equipment. I find that the actual tool, such as truth or righteousness, is more important than its identification with a region of the body or direct correspondence with an equivalent piece of soldier’s armor, but there are correspondences between the piece of physical armor and the spiritual weapon that do surface and should be noted. The first is a belt of truth.

Why a truth belt? Because we are dealing with an Enemy who lies to, and about, God’s people, individually and as a group. The Enemy does not tell the truth, attacks and hate the truth, and is motivated to deceive, manipulate and keep us from God’s truth. He is not capable of telling the truth. I’ll repeat this from an earlier reference: In describing Satan’s speech habits, Jesus said in John 8:44, “When he speaks, he speaks his native language, which is lying.”  (NIV) The well-known, deceptive encounter with the lying Enemy in the Garden of Eden left Adam and Eve with befuddled, bad decisions, and eventually led to their banishment.

What are the kinds of lies that the Enemy brings against the believer in spiritual struggles? I think it’s safe to say that most readers can relate to at least one of the following, and perhaps several. Here’s a short list:

“Your past is so raunchy, God could never use you.”

“If I were you, I would be way too embarrassed to go to church. People there know you, and your past. They will laugh their heads off if they see you among the so-called people of God.”

“You just had a thought like that?! And call yourself a follower of Jesus Christ! I’m sure he is so excited to have you on the team, you big loser!”

“God doesn’t love you. If he did, he wouldn’t have let that happen to you. Everybody knows that!”

“Your marriage is beyond repair. Tough break. It happens a lot.”

“Jesus resurrected from the dead?! Give me a break! You are now officially delusional.”

“Jesus called himself Lord? He was delusional!”

“Jesus was God?! How could a simple man from an obscure village in Israel be God! You aren’t thinking clearly. (I see that a lot, and one of my big jobs is to try to help people think straight.)”

“You aren’t good enough for God, or good enough to be among the people of God.”

“Your children have left God’s care and there is no way they are ever coming back. Their confusion is too deep; their disdain for the things of God is too embedded now; their friends who are going a different direction have too strong a pull on them, much more than you ever had. Hard reality, huh? Sorry about that. It’s a real shame.”

“For the so-called people of God, there is: no hope. No salvation. No eternity. No chance of fixing things that are broken. No way you can be certain about the things that you hear others talk about as certainties. It’s a shame you have believed a bunch of lies.” (I have found that this last sentence is a particular one that the Enemy uses over and over. He, the Ultimate Liar, repeatedly tells the Body of Christ and genuine seekers of Jesus, that they have believed the lies. I find it very ironic that the Liar is lying about lying.)

 “Hell? There is no hell! Think about it: why would a loving God allow anyone to go to such a place? It was a concept invented by the church to keep people in line. You got nothing to worry about. Just enjoy yourself; besides, if you don’t look out for old number one, who’s going to, you know what I’m saying?”

“You think there’s a real Enemy opposing the ‘people of God’? Oh, come on, get serious! The way God talks about himself as ‘all this’ and ‘all that’, he couldn’t possibly allow an Enemy to exist. Someone is telling you something that is not true.” (There the Enemy goes again; proclaiming, laughably, about truth.)

“The cross? It had no effect, no meaning whatsoever for anything of importance. Don’t let anyone tell you it did. But I will give you this—must have been pretty rough treatment on the poor guy who was justly executed for his crimes against humanity. They wouldn’t have killed him if he wasn’t guilty. You can be sure of that. Oh, you say he wasn’t guilty of any wrong? Well, obviously they are keeping the truth from you.”

“Sure, you can do that. No one is watching. Or, if they were, they wouldn’t really care. After all, life is hard, and you need a little extra enjoyment. Everyone knows that and can’t blame you for it.”

“Sure you can do that. No one will ever find out. Your secret is definitely safe with me, I can assure you.”

“Your church took a stand on that issue? Seriously?! I guess you all enjoy judging people! No wonder people are not interested in joining you! You bunch of weirdos!”

And on it goes. This is why the people of God need to hear the message of truth, live in intentional and ongoing fellowship with fellow believers, meditate on the truth, and resist untruth, however it surfaces. This is why the people of God need to stand firm, resisting the Enemy and his strategic advances. He does not refrain from lying. He persistently looks for times when our defenses are down, and our resolve is low. When we feel sorry for ourselves, and want to justify bad behavior, but maybe we are unsure how to do that, he obliges with lying instructions. An approving nudge from the Enemy, and off we go down the wrong path.

The truth response is identified with a belt, or a tie around the midsection. Soldiers used these for tying up or wrapping up their garments when they needed to flee. Or as a place to attach weapons. It was a simple device for keeping their uniform and garments in order.

It’s probably easy to think of a belt as an insignificant piece of a soldier’s attire. However, if it helps to keep things in order so that the soldier can do his job, it does have great value.

So it is with the believer. Knowing, holding, and acting on the truth enables us to do our job. To stand firm in the face of spiritual assault. Without it, we do not have any guideposts that will help us.

Speaking of truth on a deep level, Jesus said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32). Built on truth, we are free to make right decisions, resist the Enemy, and stand our ground.

“Father, thank you for equipping us with truth. Let the truth be our response as the battle rages around us, and as Satan speaks his native language, trying to influence us to a bad outcome. We are thankful that your truth sets us free!”