Ephesians 6:15
15 And [kai] your feet [pous] shod [hupodeo] with [en] the preparation [hetoimasia]
of the gospel [euaggelion] of peace; [eirene] KJV-Interlinear
15 and having shod your feet with
the preparation of the gospel of peace; NASB
Whole or complete armor, refers to the complete and
covered protection of a soldier in battle.
In these verses there are described six pieces of
armor in the spiritual battle dress of the believer.
Belt of truth;
Breastplate of righteousness;
Footwear of peace;
Shield of faith;
Helmet of salvation;
Sword of the Spirit.
Shod, ‘hupodeo,’ means to bind on, to put on. The feet are often used in the scriptures to
symbolize the persons walk or journey through life, or ones day to day
functions in ones coming and going activities.
And what are you to bind onto your feet, or better
stated, what are you to bind to your daily activities, or again, what are you
to bind to your journey through life?
You are to bind preparation to your life. Preparation, ‘hetoimasia,’ means to make
ready, to prepare, to make plans, to train, to practice.
Therefore you are to bind readiness, to your daily
activities for which you are to utilize throughout your entire life.
And what exactly is readiness?
The gospel of peace.
And is this a reference to the gospel of Christ or
of the gospel of salvation? No.
Since you have presumably already believed in
Christ and are therefore already saved, then you are not placing onto your feet
or activity of life, the gospel of salvation. Salvation is a one-time faith
expression by which you were saved when you believed in Christ.
And once saved, you no longer are concerned with
the principle of salvation for yourself, your focus now is spiritual growth for
spiritual maturity. And you learn and
use doctrine in order to grow up in your spiritual life.
Therefore, gospel, ‘euggelion,’ which means a good
message, a declaration, to declare.
And peace, ‘eirene,’ means to join, to prosper, to
quiet, to rest, to set at one again.
The combination of the gospel which is the good
news of the entire content of the Bible and the result of its being learned and
spiritual growth resulting from that learning, results in an inner peace of
spiritual maturity, which is the goal of growing up in the spiritual life.
Therefore, and thus far in this passage, you have
the belt of truth or the content of the scriptures, bound tightly to you, in
righteousness or in fellowship which is the place where you are to live your
life, and then having bound that doctrine in fellowship to your daily walk or
activities, you then possess an inner peace or a relaxed mental attitude.
This gives you poise and a calmness with which to
face the various and many assaults from evil and the world, from which these battle
dress articles provide you protection.
These clothing articles are worn on the outer pars
of the body as far as the soldier is concerned, but the soldier of Christ,
wears them within the soul. They are the inner fortress that protects against
the outer worldly cosmos which hammers away day and night, in its attempt to
derail your spiritual life and progress.
