Putting on the Amor of God

One of the most famous passages from the book of Ephesians is Paul’s invitation to them to put on the armor of God to protect them from the adversary.  He wrote, “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”  Wiles is a word for beguiling behavior; Paul’s message was that to overcome Satan’s deceiving tactics we need strong protection.  He gave six specific items of protection that should be worn along with their spiritual meaning: (1) loins girt about with truth, (2) the breastplate of righteousness, (3) feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, (4) the shield of faith, (5) the helmet of salvation, and (6) the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:11-17).  What is a bit ironic is that at this time when Paul was writing this epistle he was imprisoned in Rome—he could not put on any physical armor to defend himself against his enemies (who likely wore these very pieces of armor).  Paul’s focus, though, was on the spiritual.  He knew that the more important fight was “not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness.”  We need spiritual armor to fight against the wickedness all around us.      

            The Lord quoted Paul in the Doctrine and Covenants and named all six of these same items in 27:15-18, clearly emphasizing their importance for us in our day.  This phrase is also in both books of scriptures: “That ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”  We need this armor in order to be able to withstand and to stand.  We must withstand the onslaught of evil from the world (that’s the protection part), but we are not only just passive defenders—we must stand and fight for good.  Of the six items, five are defensive: the loins, breastplate, shoes, shield, and helmet are all needed for protection.  But these are insufficient without the key sixth offensive item: the sword of the Spirit.  In Paul’s account he described the sword as the Spirit and “the word of God”; in the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord elaborated on this saying, “the sword of my Spirit, which I will pour out upon you, and my word which I reveal unto you.”  This broadens what the sword is; it includes the Holy Ghost but it is also all of the words of the Lord that we have in the scriptures and living prophets.  Together these strengthen us so that we can stand in the battle and fight for that which is good  With the Holy Ghost, the scriptures, and the words of the prophets, we have the knowledge that allows us to move forward confidently in a spiritually dangerous world.  As the Savior taught in the Olivet discourse, when we treasure up His word, we will be able to protect ourselves in the last days and not be deceived (JSM 1:37).