Us having to do the putting on brings us back to the principle that we can’t do these things without Jesus. And, He won’t do them without us. John 15:5 (NIV) I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, HE will bear much fruit; apart from ME you can do nothing. It is going to be a collaborative effort (a relationship with Jesus).

Wouldn’t it be nice to have an instruction manual called “Armor of God Installation Procedures.” Instead the Bible just says: “Put on the full armor of God.” This is the kind of thing you find all over the Bible. Just do it! Our response is usually, how? The Bible always assumes that we are reading and studying all of it. If reading all of it is not true, we are in a lot of trouble. We will end up putting on the full armor of God in the wrong places.

The Bible builds on itself; it is totally interdependent on all of the rest that has been written up to that point. Even though it was all written over a long period of time by numerous people under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, it functions like God’s creation. If we kill off the honey bee, all kinds of things are going to stop working correctly because it breaks the natural flow of interdependency. Fruit trees and vegetable plants don’t pollinated; and, we don’t get the food we need. The creation is interdependent; the Bible is interdependent. Why? They both came into existence by the same Author/Creator.

2 Tim 2:15 (AKJV) Study to show yourself approved to God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. James 4:2b (NIV) You do not have, because you do not ask God. So, how are we going to put the full armor of God on? By submitting to God. And how are we going to submit to God? One part of it is going to be through allowing Jesus to expose us to His Word. In 2 Timothy 2:15 Jesus is talking about us being skillful in His Word. Study is part of how to “do what it takes” for Jesus to develop Biblical skills in us; however, it isn’t all of it. Let’s go over the procedures required for “doing what it takes” to become skillful in the Word of God.

We are going to have to desire, study, pray, believe, love, and obey in order to:

• Get knowledge (what Jesus, through the Bible, is saying),
• Get understanding (what Jesus and the Bible mean),
• Get wisdom (knowing what Jesus and the Bible are trying to do to us),
• Get willing (submitting ourselves to what Jesus and the Bible are trying to do to us) and,
• Get the Jesus-life (yielding our lives to the empowerment and transformation by the Bible through Jesus’ Spirit).

“Doing what it takes” is the major process of Preventative Spiritual Warfare. We have to take the various elements of the full armor of God and then go to Scriptures in other places in the Bible that explain what they are, how they work, how to get them on, and how to go about using them skillfully. So, the problem with understanding the words: “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes” is that this statement is only possible as we learn Biblical truths.

We have a tendency to read the Bible and then look to ourselves to figure out how to obey it. We look for some kind of instructions that tell US how WE are to “put on the full armor of God.” We figure that when Jesus says, “put on the full armor of God,” He is telling US to put it on. He said put it on; so, that is what we try to do. And, He does want us to put it on; but, He doesn’t want us using human effort.

• He wants us DESIRING to put it on.
• He wants us STUDYING how to put it on.
• He wants us PRAYING and asking Him to empower us to put it on.
• He wants us looking to Him for faith so we can BELIEVE we have it on.
• He wants us allowing God’s LOVE to be WHY we are putting it on.
• And, He wants us taking FAITH-ACTION by living on the basis of the fact that we have it on.

All the instructions, commands, and requirements of the Bible take a relationship with Jesus to fulfill them. We can’t just read the Bible and then use our human effort, understanding, and skills to do spiritual things. THE BIBLE DOESN’T WORK THAT WAY! Obedience or faith-action requires that we take the knowledge, understanding, wisdom, and power of Jesus to obey the Bible. He has to lead you into “doing what it takes” to “put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”