Ephesians 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

The Faith That Saves Is The Faith You Live

The Christian only becomes a Christian by the action of the Holy Spirit. We enter our salvation by FAITH in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not our works that save us, not our ability to keep the Law or to be moral in an amoral world. The Bible is very clear:

Romans 3:28 (ESV): “For we hold that ONE IS JUSTIFIED BY FAITH APART FROM THE WORKS OF THE LAW”.

Galatians 2:16 (NIV): “…know that a person is NOT JUSTIFIED BY THE WORKS OF THE LAW, but BY FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST…”.

Romans 4:3 (ESV): “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, and it was counted to him as righteousness”.

Salvation is of FAITH, not of WORKS. But it is FAITH in JESUS, FAITH in God, FAITH in the God of the Scripture.

But once you call upon Jesus in faith, God the Holy Spirit causes you to be BORN AGAIN (John 3:3-7; 1 Peter 1:23). You are called “a NEW CREATURE, old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). You are not part of this world anymore. You are not enslaved to sin nor to Satan. You are “a Child of God by faith” (John 1:12; Galatians 3:26). You will be hated by the world, not loved (John 15:18). The world and Satan hated Jesus. The world and Satan will hate YOU.

Christian, you were born to be a warrior. Warriors expect to be deployed, and to be attacked.

It is your destiny to be assaulted, and your calling to attack the darkness. When Jesus told you to “turn the other cheek” (Matthew 5:39), He was not telling you to ACQUIESCE to the darkness, to false narratives, to the lies of Satan. Jesus was telling us that our attack must not be flesh on flesh, for “we wrestle not against flesh and blood” (Ephesians 6:12). We cannot battle the darkness with darkness, and cannot defeat the fires of hell with more fire.

Christian, we must not accept, agree, or comply with something quietly, often without protest or enthusiasm. We must not give in or yield to demands to be “tolerant”. God is intolerant of evil, so much so that He gave His only Son to secure salvation for us.

We must not hide and quiver behind Church walls while Goliath bellows curses at us and our God. We who are saved were born to be warriors, to stand with David saying to Satan and all the damned:

1 Samuel 17:45 I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.

There are many who claim to be Christian, but who never wrestle the darkness. The Apostle Paul, afflicted and hated by even his family for following Christ, tells us:

Philippians 3:16-20 … let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. 17 Brethren, BE FOLLOWERS TOGETHER OF ME, and MARK THEM WHICH WALK SO as ye have us for an {example}. 18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that THEY ARE ENEMIES OF THE CROSS OF CHRIST: 19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who MIND EARTHLY THINGS.) 20 For our {citizenship} is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ

You may be saved, and never raise the shield of faith, never put on the armor of God. Yet you will never receive a crown, an award from the Master. You will never hear “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord” (Matthew 25:21). You may not even be saved if you will not stand up with your Lord in battle. The servant who hid his talent rather than stand on faith was “cast into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30). There is that possibility, dear friend. A faith that hides, that puts it’s light under a bushel, may not be saving faith.

If you would do a work for God, you must have faith. You will be attacked. When Nehemiah led the children of Israel back to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls, he faced opposition at every turn. We are told (Nehemiah 4:18) “For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded”. Did you think when God brought you into His family that there would be no battle? The Church, like Nehemiah’s builders, had to work together, for Satan stands ready to destroy the Kingdom of God.

The faith that saved you is the faith you now use to battle the darkness. “Above all, TAKING the SHIELD OF FAITH”.

Let’s Break Down The Metaphor

Ephesians 6:16 Above all, TAKING {analambanō} the SHIELD of faith …

Word Study: As the Apostle speaks of the Armor of the Christian, we have so far discussed the Belt of Truth, the Breastplate of Righteousness, and the Boots created by the Gospel. Each of these things are something we wear. But as we come to the Shield of Faith, we are not to WEAR it, but to TAKE it. This is the Greek analambanō, which means “to take up or raise”. The shield of faith does not hold itself up. It is something that YOU must ACTIVELY LIFT UP.

You are saved by faith. You are protected in battle by LIFTING UP that same faith, and HIDING BEHIND it.

Describing The Shield: The Roman Shield, called a SCUTUM, was a very large and slightly curved rectangular shield. It was made of wood covered with leather, but at its center had a large metal plate called a boss that you grasped. While holding the shield, your hand was protected from arrows, lances and swords. The Scutum was about 3.5 feet tall, and 3 feet wide. It’s curve caused arrows to deflect rather than embed in the shield.

Roman soldiers in battle quickly learned that when the enemy began to fire arrows at them, the arrows could either hit straight on or rain down, injuring or killing them. The soldiers would close ranks and come shoulder to shoulder into what they called the TESTUDO or Tortoise Formation. Those on the outside would hold their shields forward. Those on the inside would hold their shields over the heads of themselves and their companions. This formed a group of men who were like a living tank. As they moved forward under the cover of the shields, they could cut down and trample the enemy.

The Roman warriors knew that the battle was not just an individual act, but if they were going to survive they needed to each ACTIVELY lift their shields, and move to attack the enemy. In the same way the Church must realize we EACH must LIFT OUR SHIELD, and move forward with one accord to defeat the enemy!

The Shield of faith is not just for YOU, but for your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. If you straggle, if you are lazy and will not lift your shield and work with the Kingdom, you are hurting more than just yourself! You must lift up this Shield to be effective.

The Shield is door shaped and large. It was big enough to cover a man from attack. Saving Faith is found through Jesus. Our Lord described Himself as “The DOOR of the sheep”:

John 10:7-9 (KJV) Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I AM THE DOOR OF THE SHEEP. 8 All that ever came before Me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I AM THE DOOR: by Me if any man ENTER IN, he SHALL BE SAVED, and shall go in and out, and FIND PASTURE.

A DOOR can only be opened if you come to it. Jesus is the Door. We come to Him. We focus on Him. Not only our inabilities, but His ability.

We enter into salvation through Jesus Christ our Door. But once we are saved, we continue to come to Jesus. When we follow Jesus, doing as He has commanded, He protects us. The Scripture says:

Psalm 5:11-12 (KJV) But let all those that PUT THEIR TRUST IN THEE REJOICE: let them ever shout for joy, because THOU DEFENDEST THEM: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. 12 For thou, LORD, WILT BLESS THE RIGHTEOUS; with favor wilt thou COMPASS HIM AS WITH A SHIELD.

Our faith must be in Jesus, not in ourselves. We must continually lift HIM up. We must continually HOLD HIM above us, relying upon HIS WORK. Faith in Christ, like the Scutum, will protect the whole person. You will inevitably misstep, and Satan will fire his darts at you. How can you protect yourself? By your works? No, but by CHRIST’S WORKS.

1 John 1:6-10 (NKJV) If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and WALK IN DARKNESS, WE LIE and do not practice the truth. 7 But if WALK IN THE LIGHT AS HE IS IN THE LIGHT, we have FELLOWSHIP WITH ONE ANOTHER, and the BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST HIS SON CLEANSES US FROM ALL SIN. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we CONFESS OUR SINS, HE IS FAITHFUL AND JUST TO FORGIVE US OUR SINS and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us.

Pelagianism: There was a false doctrine that crept into the Church through a monk called Pelagius. Pelagius taught that people were born good, and had the power of the free will to achieve moral perfection. Pelagianism taught that people are born innocent, and over time became sinners. He taught that salvation is earned by our own merit and moral choice. Pelagianism puts faith in a human agent rather than in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a man made shield that will not hold up under battle. And this type of thing is still in the Church today.

We are not saved by our own hand, but by God’s hand. Those who are genuinely saved will rely over and over again on the finished work of Christ. Those genuinely saved will rely on the teachings of the Bible. Those genuinely saved will pray, seeking God’s face.

Faith Has It’s Confidence In God, Not In Myself

Faith is not just something that you had the day you were saved. Faith is a persistent trust and confidence in God. The Just do not just get SAVED BY FAITH. The Bible tells us:

Romans 1:17 (NKJV) For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH” (in Jesus, in God’s Promises)

Preach This: We are “JUSTIFIED by faith”, that is, we are made right with God by faith in Christ (Romans 5:1-2). But once saved, “BY FAITH YOU STAND” (2 Corinthians 1:24). As we go through this life, “WE WALK BY FAITH, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). The Bible teaches that “our HEARTS ARE PURIFIED BY FAITH” (Acts 15:9).

It is the quality of the shield that protects us when Satan fires his darts at us. If the shield is man made, it will burn rather than protect. But if it is God made, it will hold.

When Joseph was tempted by Potiphar’s evil wife, what was his response?

Genesis 39:9 How then can I do this great wickedness, and SIN AGAINST GOD?

When unjustly accused of sin, Job looked toward God:

Job 27:3-5 (NKJV) As long as my breath [is] in me, And the breath of God in my nostrils, 4 MY LIPS WILL NOT SPEAK WICKEDNESS, NOR MY TONGUE UTTER DECEIT. … Till I die I WILL NOT PUT AWAY MY INTEGRITY FROM ME.

C.H. Spurgeon wrote:

“You will say, how then are we to know whether our faith is a right faith and our shield a strong one? One test of it is, it must be all of one piece. A shield that is made of three or four pieces in this case will be of no use. So your faith must be all of one piece. It must be faith in the finished work of Christ, you must have no confidence in yourself or in any man, but rest wholly and entirely upon Christ, else your shield will be of no use. Then your faith must be of heaven’s forging or your shield will certainly fail you. You must have the faith of God’s elect which is of the operation of the Holy Spirit who works it in the soul of man. Then you must see to it that your faith is that which rests only upon the truth, for if there be any error or false notion in the fashioning of it, that shall be a joint in it which the spear can pierce. You must take care that your faith is agreeable to God’s Word, that you depend upon true and real promises, upon the sure word of testimony and not upon the fictions and fancies and dreams of men. And above all, you must mind that your faith is fixed in the person of Christ, for nothing but a faith in Christ’s divine person as “God over all, blessed for ever,””

Jesus tells us about the Kingdom of God, and that relatively few will enter this Kingdom. Our Lord Jesus – incarnate of Mary – “came unto His own, but His own would not receive Him” (John 1:11). He professed by His lips and His works that He was the Messiah. Yet religion examined Him, the Elders of Judaism ignored every sign that He showed through His miracles. Jesus came “to the Jew first” (Romans 1:16; 2:10). A few came. His Apostles were Jewish. But in the end of the day, relatively few knew Jesus. The Jewish crowd told Pilate, “His blood be on us, and on our children” (Matthew 27:25). Oh, that His Blood would be on us and on our children by faith in Him. But their cry was faithless, and “without faith, it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6).

Jesus wept over Jerusalem (Luke 13:34-35). He knew that her destruction was near because of unbelief. I believe that God weeps over every person that holds on to their broken lives in pride rather than surrender to Jesus. We read in:

Luke 19:41-44 (NKJV) as Jesus drew near, HE SAW THE CITY AND WEPT OVER IT, 42 saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things [that make] for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 “For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, 44 “and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because YOU DID NOT KNOW THE TIMES OF YOUR VISITATION.”

God came to Israel, and Israel largely rejected God. God became incarnate, became flesh, and Israel rejected knowing Him. Someone asked Jesus a question:

Luke 13:23 (LSB) “Lord, are there JUST A FEW
who are BEING SAVED?”

That is really a GOOD QUESTION! Jesus was asked many stupid questions, but this is a God inspired question. “Lord, are there just a FEW who are BEING SAVED?” Let’s focus first on that phrase:

Being Saved (Present Passive Participle sōzō)

The day you met Jesus and received Him as Lord and Savior, you were SAVED. But salvation is not a one and done thing. Once you are SAVED, you become “the workmanship of God” (Ephesians 2:10). Salvation is an ONGOING COVENANT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. You’re not just SAVED and done. The day you are saved starts a journey. A journey between yourself and God, between yourself and the Lord Jesus Christ. What the person said in Luke 13:23 is repeated throughout the New Testament:

In reference to the growth of the early Church: Acts 2:47 (NASB20) {Believers were} praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were BEING SAVED.

In reference to the Preaching of the Cross: 1 Corinthians 1:18 (NASB20) For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are BEING SAVED it is the power of God.

In comparison between those who are saved, and to those who have rejected the Lord Jesus: 2 Corinthians 2:15-16 (NASB20) For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are BEING SAVED and among those who are perishing: to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life.

Let’s go back to this person who asked Jesus, (Luke 13:23 LSB) “Lord, are there JUST A FEW who are BEING SAVED?”. Listen to Jesus’ reply:

Luke 13:24-29 (NKJV) Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for MANY, I say to you, WILL SEEK TO ENTER AND WILL NOT BE ABLE. 25 “When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I DO NOT KNOW YOU, WHERE YOU ARE FROM,’ 26 “then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ 27 “But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all YOU WORKERS OF INIQUITY.’ 28 “There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. 29 “They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God.

You cannot lift up the shield of faith, if you never had
Biblical faith in the first place!

What is the “NARROW GATE” that Jesus speaks of? It is a relationship with Him. Who are those who are shut out of the Kingdom of God? It is recorded in

Matthew 7:13-14 (NKJV) Enter by the narrow gate; for wide [is] the gate and broad [is] the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 “Because narrow [is] the gate and difficult [is] the way which leads to life, and THERE ARE FEW WHO FIND IT.

People chase after religion. They attend Church. They may tithe, or give to the poor. But do they walk with Jesus? If you walk with Jesus day by day, when the fiery darts of Satan come your way, you LIFT UP JESUS. You go to Him in prayer. You seek His face in the scripture. I am not talking about a works salvation. I am talking about a COVENANT RELATIONSHIP where you give your life to Jesus. Not just to go to Heaven. But to go through each day on this earth.

When Satan shoots his fiery darts, where do you run? What do you raised up? A doctor? A professional man? Do you worry, and fret, and let what you are going through ruin your day? Or do you pray? Do you invite the Jesus Who loved you and gave Himself for you into the matter. Do you turn to the Word of God, finding comfort in its pages? Or do you try and handle it yourself?

Only through Jesus Christ can you “be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked”. Every trial that comes your way gives you an opportunity to draw closer to Him Who loves you so. Christ is sufficient. When the wicked fire at you, do as David did, trusting that:

Psalm 18:2 (ESV) The LORD is my Rock and my Fortress and my Deliverer, my God, my Rock, in whom I take refuge, MY SHIELD, and the horn of my salvation, my Stronghold.

Amen!