Tuesday, May 15, 2018 – Ephesians 6:16

The Armor of God, Pt. 19

The Shield of Faith, Pt. 3

Applied Faith

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtVPpeYmy7Y

Grace Fellowship Church

Pastor/Teacher, Jim Rickard

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

www.GraceDoctrine.org

Stand in Warfare – Eph 6:10-20.

3. The Equipment, vs. 13-17.  

Eph 6:16; Rom 3:27; 4:13f; 10:8; 16:26; 1 Tim 6:12; James 2:14-26

Vs. 16

Eph 6:16, “In addition to all (the first three pieces of armor), taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one.”

Heb 11:6, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

Taking our example from the OT visible heroes, to be an invisible hero in the Church Age, we need to understand how we build and apply faith in our lives according to the following designations of faith in the NT:

• The Word of faith, Rom 10:8, (faith is found in the Word of God).
• The law of faith, Rom 3:27, (not of human works, but trusting in God and His Word).
• The obedience of faith, Rom 16:26; 1:5.
• The righteousness which is by faith, Rom 4:13f.
• The life of faith, Gal 2:20.
• The walk in faith, 2 Cor 5:7.
• The prayer offered in faith, James 5:15.
• The work produced by faith, 1 Thes 1:3.
• The battle of faith, 1 Tim 6:12; Eph 6:16.
• The end result of faith, 1 Peter 1:9.

Each of these always occurs within the glorious framework of Christ’s redemptive work.

1 Tim 6:12, “Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

Faith is also that which justifies, Rom 3:22; Gal 3:22-23, and “to believe” or “to begin to believe” are equal to being a Christian, Rom 13:11; 1 Cor 3:5; 15:2, which is the normative expression of the Christian. In other words, the one who has faith is doing what the Father calls for and is demonstrating the Christian way of life. On the other hand, the one who lacks in faith is not, and scarcely can call themselves a Christian, because it is not Christ who they are trusting in, but something or someone else.

The Christian, who has faith, is also one who is doing things for Christ in faith. This was the message of James in his book where he complements Paul’s teaching on justification by faith, Rom 3:28; 5:1; Gal 2:16; 3:11, 24; Cf. James 2 :14-26. Whereas Paul tried to prevent someone from basing salvation upon works, James tells us that works must follow as the fruit of faith and as proof of salvation. He cautioned against a “faith” that rests upon an intellectual assent to the truth but lacks a life yielded and obedient to God. He was fighting the influx of Gnosticism that continues today, in both an organized and unorganized way. I say unorganized, in that some “grace” believers rest on their laurels of having believed in Jesus Christ for salvation and then live as they like in the world, Satan’s cosmic system. They do not continue in faith with Divine good production in their lives. Yet, the “Christian” is one who not only believed in Christ for salvation, but continues to trust in Him for every aspect of their life. Their works, done by faith and in faith, demonstrate the faith they had at salvation, which continues in their daily walk with Him.

Therefore, faith described as a shield, is not just the subjective attitude, but an objective, Divinely given reality in the life of the believer, 1 Cor 13:13; 1 Thes 5:8. All the attacks of Satan are hurled back by the fellowship the believer has in faith with God.

1 Cor 13:13, “But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

1 Thes 5:8, “But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.”

1 John 5:4, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”

1 Peter 5:9, “But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.”

Psa 5:12, “For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O LORD, You surround him with favor as with a shield.”

Therefore, the shield that the Christian soldier uses inside the Angelic Conflict is faith, a present faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for victory over sin and Satan’s cosmic system.

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