Put on Christ as the Constituents of God’s Armour: have our Loins Girded with Truth

Christ is the constituents of God’s armour seen in Ephesians 6:10-20, and this armour is for the entire Body of Christ, for we fight the battle in the Body, not on our own; we need to stand, having girded our loins with truth, that is, with the Christ whom we experience and express in our daily living. Amen!

In Ephesians 4, we see that Christ, the Head, gave some gifts to the Body; some of the gifts have a greater capacity and are able to perfect others, but all the members of the Body are gifts to the Body.

The gifted persons given by Christ to the Body used to be captives of Satan, but He defeated Satan, took his captives and made them His captives, and He gave them as gifts to the Body.

Each and every believer in Christ is a gift to the Body of Christ, and each and every believer has a particular function in the Body for the building up of the Body.

However, each believer needs the perfecting from the gifted persons so that they may function in the Body for the building up. Unless the gifted members perfect all the believers, there’s no way for the believers to build up the Body.

The Body of Christ is built up directly by the perfected members of the Body of Christ. We all need to grow in life unto maturity, enjoying the Lord and allowing Him to grow in us, and we also need to be open to the perfecting of the gifted persons so that we may function even as they do, yet in our measure.

We need to be perfected by the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers to be the sent ones, those who speak for God, those who preach the gospel, and those who shepherd and teach others with the riches in God’s word.

When we allow the Lord to grow in us and also perfect us through the gifted persons in the Body, we will grow up into Christ, the Head, in all things, and we will function out from Him with what comes from Him.

Just as the members of our physical body are both growing in life and perfected in their function as we grow and develop, and they are all under the control and direction of the head, so it is in the Body of Christ.

In the Body of Christ, we all take Christ as our Head, we submit to Him, and we grow into the Head in all things. Then, out from the Head comes the supply for us to function in our measure, even as the Head directs. How beautiful! In this way, the Body builds itself up in love.

This is for the corporate expression of Christ. Now we want to see the side of dominion, how God wants to gain a corporate warrior standing for His interests on the earth today.

As the Body of Christ, we Put on Christ as the Constituents of God’s Armour and Fight the Spiritual Warfare in the Body

In Ephesians 6:10-20 we see the armour of God with all its constituents; Paul charges us to put on the whole armour of God so that we may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil (v. 11).

If we look at the constituents of the armour of God, we will realise that the reality of all these is Christ; Christ is the constituents of God’s armour.

We need to put on Christ as the constituents of God’s armour.

Satan is the enemy of God, and he has a kingdom; he and his kingdom fight against God’s kingdom, trying to deceive, destroy, and usurp the believers in Christ, and doing his utmost to hinder the fulfilment of God’s purpose.

Satan is a liar and the father of it; he wants to steal our enjoyment of Christ, kill our function, and destroy everything we are about (John 10:10a).

We need to realise that Satan is a really terrible person, but we believers in Christ are in the Body – we are members of the Body, and as the Body we put on the whole armour of God.

The armour of God is not for any individual person to put on by himself, for the warrior Paul speaks of in Ephesians 6 is a corporate person, the church as the Body of Christ.

We as the Body of Christ corporately put on Christ as the constituents of God’s armour. We need to be in the Body, be built up with the saints in the church, and remain in the Body so that together, as the Body, we may put on the whole armour of God.

Only the corporate warrior can wear the whole armour of God – no individual believer can do this.

Christ as the constituents of God’s armour is for our protection in the spiritual warfare. We need to put on the whole armour of God so that we may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil.

One way that the enemy attacks us is with fear; Satan is a murderer from the beginning, and all thoughts of death are from Satan. He wants us to think or desire to die; he is the source of any suicidal thoughts.

He is insidious and pernicious, and in the story of Job, we see that he made Job think of death. Even his wife told him to curse God and die. Oh Lord!

Any thought of death or that we’re better off dead is from Satan. The Lord came so that we may have life and may have it abundantly, and He is in us as our life. All notions of suicide, death wishes, and premature death are temptations from Satan.

Today, among the young ones, there are such thoughts, for Satan tempts man, deceives man, and his calling card is fear. He wants to put fear in us and cause us to fear.

This is why we need to put on Christ as the constituents of God’s armour, standing in the Body and being one with the Lord to stand against the enemy’s attacks.

May we see that the whole armour of God is for the entire Body of Christ as the corporate warrior, not for any individual member of the Body (Eph. 6:10-13; James 4:7; cf. Rom. 13:12-14; Deut. 32:30).

We fight the spiritual warfare in the Body, not as individuals. When we fight the enemy in ourselves and by ourselves, we are easily defeated; however, when we fight the battle in the Body, we are victorious in the Body, standing in the victory of the Head, Christ.

One man chases a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight; when we are in the Body, the enemy is chased away.

In Ephesians chapter 2, we sit with Christ in the heavenlies to participate in all His accomplishments (v. 6).

In Ephesians 4 and 5, we walk in His Body on the earth to fulfil God’s eternal purpose (4:1, 17; 5:2, 8, 15). In chapter 6, we stand in His power in the heavenlies to fight against God’s enemy (Eph. 6:11, 13-14; cf. 1 John 5:4, 18; John 3:6b).

1 John 5:4 says that everything that has been begotten of God overcomes the world; this “everything” refers to our spirit, which has been regenerated by God.

Our spirit overcomes the world. Faith is in our spirit; doubts are in our mind. When we exercise our spirit of faith, we are one with the Lord and we stand in the Body, and we overcome the world.

May we remain in our spirit today. May we hide in the high tower of our spirit, not coming out of our spirit.

May we learn to daily turn to our spirit, live in our spirit, and do all things in the mingled spirit so that we may stand one with the Lord in the Body and put on Christ as the constituents of God’s armour in our experience.

Lord Jesus, we exercise our spirit to put on Christ as the constituents of God’s armour today! Hallelujah, Christ is the reality of all the constituents of the armour of God for spiritual warfare! Amen, Lord, we put You on today to be fully covered and protected in spiritual warfare. Praise the Lord, the whole armour of God is for the entire Body of Christ as the corporate warrior. We exercise our spirit, Lord, to be in the Body and remain in the Body, one with the Head and one with all the members of the Body. We want to fight the spiritual warfare in the Body, not as individuals. Amen, Lord, we praise You that we are seated with Christ in the heavenlies to participate in all His accomplishments! Hallelujah, we walk in the Body of Christ on the earth to fulfil God’s eternal purpose! Amen, Lord, we stand in Your power in the heavenlies to fight against God’s enemy! Oh Lord, we put on the whole armour of God so that we may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil!

Having our Loins Girded with Truth – Christ Himself Experienced and Lived out by Us

The first item of Christ as the constituents of God’s armour presented in Ephesians 6 is truth – we need to stand, having girded our loins with truth (Eph. 6:14).

To gird our loins is to have our whole being strengthened. Our whole being needs to be strengthened with truth; this strengthening is not for sitting but for standing.

When our being is strengthened and girded with truth, we are able to stand.

What is truth? What does truth refer to? According to the way truth is used in Ephesians 4 (see vv. 15, 21, 22-24), it refers to God in Christ as reality in our daily living.

Truth is not just the truth in the Bible outside of us; truth refers to God realised and experienced by us in our daily living. Truth is Christ Himself lived out by us (John 14:6; 8:31-32, 36).

To have our loins girded with truth is for us to live Christ and express Christ in our daily living. Our living of Christ, our expressing Christ in our daily living, strengthens our whole living for spiritual warfare.

However, if our daily living is loose, if we do not exercise our spirit to live one spirit with the Lord during the day, we will not be able to stand against the powers of darkness.

In order for us believers in Christ to stand in spiritual warfare, our daily living must be strengthened and girded with truth; we need to have God Himself expressed through us.

God Himself expressed is the principle of our daily walk, the standard of our daily living, and the pattern of our life.

Those believers in Christ who exercise their spirit to contact the Lord and live Christ have their loins girded with truth; they are able to face attack and opposition.

But if God is not expressed in our daily life, if we don’t live Christ in our daily walk, we will not have a girdle about our loins; we will not have the strength to stand against the enemy. When opposition and controversy arise, we will not have the power to face this. Oh Lord!

The truth with which we are girded is actually the Christ whom we experience.

If we look at Paul’s living and walk, we realise that he was conformed to the pattern of Christ, and therefore, he had the strength to face all opposition and adverse circumstances (Eph. 4:20-21; Phil. 1:19-21).

Paul testified that to him, to live was Christ. He lived Christ; this is truth girding his loins, and he was able to stand. At the same time, he remained in the Body, being in close fellowship and dependence on the members of the Body of Christ.

On one hand, we personally need to live Christ in our daily life so that we may be girded with truth and therefore be able to stand. On the other hand, we need to remain in the Body, being properly related to the other members of the Body of Christ.

Our daily living needs to be conformed to the pattern of Christ so that we may express Him in our living. Then, we will have the strength to face all opposition and deal with adverse circumstances.

This kind of living will enable us to stand in the day of spiritual warfare. If we look at our daily living, we may be quite exposed by the Lord concerning our lack of living Christ.

May the Lord have mercy on us and grant us the grace to deny ourselves and allow the cross to operate in us so that it will be no longer us who lives but Christ who lives in us (Gal. 2:20).

May we not be introspective or self-analysing in this matter but simply be before the Lord concerning our daily living.

As we learn to put on the whole armour of God by taking Christ as the constituents of God’s armour in our experience, we need to stand, having girded our loins with truth, that is, we need to live Christ and express Him. May we bring this to the Lord in our personal time with Him and tell Him,

Lord Jesus, we want to stand, having girded our loins with truth. Amen, Lord, we exercise our spirit to take Christ as the constituents of God’s armour and, in particular, we take You as our life today. Live in us today. Be expressed through us. May we be girded with truth by having Christ live in us today. Oh Lord, what about our daily living? What about our living before those at work and our living at home? Live in us, dear Lord. May our daily living be according to the principle of the truth. May God Himself be expressed through us. Conform us to Your image and be expressed through us. Oh Lord, may our living of Christ and our expressing Christ be the truth that girds our loins. Save us from having a loose daily living. Save us from not living Christ. May our daily living be conformed to the pattern of Christ so that we may have the strength to face all opposition and adverse circumstances! Amen, Lord, we want to enjoy, experience, and express You today!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ed Marks in the message for this week, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 344, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (2) (2024 December Training), week 24 (msg. 12), The Giver of Gifts and the Constituents of God’s Armor.
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