Belt Of Truth

Ephesians 6:14
John 14:1-7
John 5:19-29
2 Corinthians 10:1-6
2 Timothy 3:16-17

We are at war.
Our enemy is real, and he will come after us in fierce attack mode.
But take heart, dear friend, because the story doesn’t end there.

In Ephesians 6:10-18, Paul speaks hope into our spirits, encouraging and equipping us for the spiritual battles we face every day on this side of heaven. He teaches us precisely which weapons we need in order to fight back successfully, from a stance of victory.

What Paul describes as the armor of God is the very armor God Himself possesses.
He has gifted it to us
so we might share in His strength and power
and be equipped for victory.

Today we’re going to focus on one foundational piece of armor, the belt of truth.

The belt of truth refers to the whole canon of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. It encompasses everything we are told about the way to heaven, God’s design for men and women, right and wrong, and more.

The belt of truth is God’s righteous, holy standard on all matters pertaining to life
and godliness.
It is unchanging,
relevant,
applicable,
sufficient,
and anything but relative.
When we know and embrace His truth, fully surrendering ourselves to the sufficiency of Christ, Jesus tells us in John 8:32, we are free.

Why the belt of truth? In Paul’s day, soldiers wore military uniforms in which every other piece of armor hinged on the belt. The belt served as the foundation and held everything else together and in place.

In the same way, truth is the foundational weapon with which we face the attacks of the enemy and emerge victorious. When we go to war against the father of lies, we fight with truth.

It is only by first knowing truth we can then access the other pieces of our armor (righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation).
It is only by first knowing truth we will be able to expose the lies of the enemy.

Jesus, for example, wielded the belt of truth successfully in His wilderness season of temptation. Each time Satan threw something at Jesus, a temptation, accusation, or other falsehood, Jesus fought back only ever with the truth of the Word.

Furthermore, our understanding of truth is not merely something we turn to when the going gets tough. It is a belt we must wrap around ourselves every single day of our lives, for as Paul points out in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, it is the Word of God which equips us to successfully live our day-to-day lives:

“All Scripture is breathed out by God
and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction,
and for training in righteousness,
that the man of God may be complete,
equipped for every good work.”

In an age of relativism, when fewer and fewer people are believing in absolute truth, we can know without a shadow of doubt absolute truth does exist. Truth lives within the pages of Scripture and is there, at the ready for us, whenever we need it.

Perhaps even more amazingly, we have a Helper with us every time we read truth, One Who will guide us into an ever-growing understanding, day by day:

“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you.
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
(John 14:25-26)

With the aid of our Helper, the truth of God’s word becomes a powerful weapon in our hands:

“For the word of God is living and active,
sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow,
and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
(Hebrews 4:12)

If we want to be overcomers in Christ,
victors in our every run-in with the schemes and attacks of Satan,
becoming students of the Word must be our starting place.

When we dive into the pages of Scripture, guided by the Holy Spirit,
we will be equipped to stand firm.