Every Christian is called by God to love the truth. We are not simply called to love true things such as 2+2=4 or that the sun produces light, or that the grass is green because they exist as such. We are called to love the truth because every fact exists as God’s truth realized. When we acknowledge the truth, we are speaking the language of heaven.
In the Scriptures, the Apostle Paul teaches the church of Ephesus to gird their loins with the belt of truth. He is using the image of a Roman soldier to depict what the Christian life is supposed to look like. Why does he use such militaristic language? As a Christians, we have always existed as spiritual warriors for God and are in a fight for our lives.
What do I mean by this? We are not called to exist as a sort of mercenary whose weapons are physical or carnal, to use the older language. As Christians, we are called to be spiritual warriors depending on the Lord Jesus Christ. We are called to take up our spiritual weapons which are the Word, which is the sword of the Spirit, prayer, and worship.
Why are we called to live in this manner? We have an enemy. The church has regularly considered her perpetual foes to be the Devil, the World, and the Flesh. As it is the case, according to Scripture every Christian has a duty to enter spiritual warfare with one goal in mind: victory.
The Apostle Paul teaches this spiritual reality in militaristic language in 2 Corinthians 10 which I will quote in full for your benefit. “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5 ESV) This is the Christian life.
Christians have been called to proclaim the mystery of Christ as presented to us in the New Testament. We are called to withstand every fiery dart that the Enemy and his devils aim at us and our homes. We are looking to stand just as Christ withstood Satan when He was tempted. We are following His example, but even more than that, we are resting in His victory already secured by His perfect life and His sacrificial death.
But the very first step needed today to enter into this spiritual battle rightly is to be aware that we are in a battle. The ancient world used to refer this readiness by the phrase “having your loins girt.” In the ancient world, you would don a tunic which made it difficult to run to enemies or from them, or even to lift heavy objects. So, what you would do was hike up your ankle length tunic, pull it forward, pull it back, take the two ends and tie it up in the front. To have your loins girt was to be ready for action. Our modern parallel would be the phrase “roll up your sleeves.” The Apostle Paul calls believers to gird up their loins with truth. This means according, to one modern translation, that we must “stay dressed for action.” (Luke 12:35 ESV; same Greek phrase as Paul)
The only way a Christian can stand ready for action against the wiles of the devil is to be bound in the truth of God. Many Christians are not doing this today. For some, the truth of the Scriptures is allowed a seat at the table of the heart, but is easily outvoted by the other board members known as comfort, tradition, selfishness, lust, laziness, self-righteousness and a host of other voices all vying for their place as king. To have our “loins girt about with truth” (Eph. 6:14 KJV) means that God’s truth alone is our greatest guide and authority. It is God’s truth alone which makes us fit to stand against Satan’s wiles. Nothing else will do.
Today if you’ve exchanged God’s voice for your own, or your families, or even a church, or guru, or horoscope, or actors, or even your feelings – you have girded yourself with a lie. And it is the lies we believe that most hinder our walk with God and render us ineffective.
What are some lies that we are binding ourselves with today? What is the great lie that woos your heart? The belt of truth supports us by binding us to the objective truth of the gospel (Christ has been raised for the forgiveness of sins) and the subjective truth of the gospel (Christ has been raised for the forgiveness of MY sins). You must make this gospel your own. Have you?