The Victory Won

Today's Sunday School lesson: The Whole Armor of God
Ephesians 6:11-17: "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

We like the war imagery in Christianity. It paints a good picture of the tasks we are called to perform; we sing songs about it, teach lessons on how to prepare for it, etc. The struggle between right and wrong, good and evil, is an eternal principle. And though it is not incorrect, and is often very effective in conveying a specific concept, I wonder if sometimes we get a little misled by the comparisons of ourselves to soldiers in the battle against the forces of evil. That is a war that I believe we are not qualified to fight, nor is there a need. The battle has been won; victory prevailed. Indeed, Christ, "fought the fight, the victory won" (Hymns #200). He has triumphed over sin, He paid the price, He paved the way for man to be delivered from the jaws of hell and the chains of Satan. The war between good and evil was won. The battle now is for the souls of men, we must decide which side we will be on. In whom will we place our loyalties? We know the winner, Satan must know that he cannot triumph and achieve glory, honor, and power, so what now? "He seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself" (2 Nephi 2:27). We know who will win, has won; the question is, will we stay on His side.

Keeping that in mind, that we are not fighting the actual battle against evil, but rather a battle for the souls of men, specifically to stay on the side of good, the armor we are given makes so much sense. Nearly everything is defensive. The protections against sin and human weaknesses are vital to staying on the Lord's side. We cannot afford to distance ourselves from Him and suffer spiritual death by taking off our armor and allowing the fiery darts of the adersary to strike us in places where we are vulnerable. We MUST stay on the Lord's side, His is the winning team. So much on the defense may seem a bit odd if we were trying to defeat sin in all the world, but that is not our purpose, Christ did that 2000+ years ago. We couldn't even if we tried, but we must fully use our armor to protect us from the second death caused by sin.

It's also interesting that the one "offensive" tool we are given is the "sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." This one weapon to fight with is the way we spread the good news of the gospel to all nations and people. In the battle for men's souls the offensive weapon we need is a way to help everyone else get on werf's armor. Through the word of God, shared with the Spirit, we can arm others so that they too may be protected from the temptations that fall upon mankind. Only through Christ can men be saved, He has won the victory; the offensive tool enables us to spread this good news and help them come unto Him. He won the war, we must fight each day the battle to stay on His side, and do all we can to bring others over to the winning team. When I think of that I just want to shout. Hurray! Alleluia!