Unleash Your Divine Potential: Discovering the Spiritual Significance of the Belt and Boots as the Armor of God

Written by: Josh Hellman | Published: May 20, 2023

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In one of our other articles, Helmet of Salvation, we talked about the importance of continuing to believe in Christ’s death and resurrection as where our salvation comes from because of the attacks Satan tries to level us with.  In this article we want to focus on a couple other of the pieces of the armor of God Paul mentions in Ephesians 6, the belt of truth and the Gospel boots.

How do we continue to put on the other pieces of armor?  How do we thwart the plans the enemy has for our lives?  How do we know how to walk in the Spirit and continue in the process of sanctification?  We need the word of God to keep us grounded in His promises and to keep us focused on the mission at hand.  The belt of truth is important because it holds our robes or clothes together so we don’t trip in our walk with God.  Anyone knows trying to run a race with baggy clothing which drapes over our feet can be a hindrance so having something which keeps them held up can be a big benefit.

This is how God’s truth is manifest in our lives.  When we struggle and our clothes begin to fall, or our lives begin to unravel, we use the belt of truth, or God’s truth, to tuck those clothes back in and continue in our walks.  God’s truth is how we stay grounded, it is the foundation of our faith.  Knowing Christ died for us and that it was by His actions and love we are saved helps us understand no amount of our works can overcome His power.  Knowing we are made righteous through His death and resurrection helps us understand our mistakes don’t keep us from His holiness and helps us understand the grace He has for us.  Knowing the promises and truth God has given us helps us to have faith to continue to plow forward into the battles against His and our enemies no matter the cost.

The truth of God helps to keep us from stumbling and gives us the power to defend ourselves with the other pieces of armor.  How can you swing the sword of the Spirit if you don’t know and believe the truth behind the Spirit and His effectiveness?  How can you step into your calling if you don’t believe the truth of God’s promises when trials come your way?  Sure people often do walk without God’s truth into callings but they can be void of the Spirit and any fruit which would accompany Him.  There are plenty of churches and ministries which purport to be for God but work out of misguidance of cultural standards because of how they were raised instead of letting the Scriptures and God direct them.  I don’t mean parents are always in the wrong but what I mean is we often don’t question if something is a truth of God or something we were taught and continue to hold onto even in the face of Scripture.  There is a difference between healthy questions to build your faith and make it your own and falling away because you want to follow your own path.

We need to be able to question dogma and stigmas to increase our capacities for the growth God has in our lives.  There was a time with my early faith days I was taught cessationism which is the belief the spiritual gifts have passed away.  After enough discussion and reading of Scripture I found that to be false but if I never had a healthy testing of my own beliefs I would never have come to the point I’m at now.  We stick to our beliefs but we question and ask what is the truth of the Scripture and what does it actually say not what can I read out of the text to back up my own belief.

The other part of the armor which goes hand in hand with the belt is the Gospel boots.  I don’t know why but when I used to think of the Gospel boots I pictured something that would be representative of Uggs or typically think of medieval armor like knights.  Roman armor was more like the leather ones that would strap up the legs almost up to the knees.  This was meant to keep the soldiers light enough to move quickly but still give them some sort of defense.  We often think of armor as defensive but armor is meant to protect you as you move forward into the battle-lines.  They are just as offensive in nature as defensive.  You aren’t properly using your armor if you are sitting back in the tents eating olives and drinking wine.

If we don’t know the truth it’s hard to strap on our Gospel boots, after all they are both Scripture based.  The Gospel is the good news of God and we cannot walk well let alone go into battle without them.  How can I speak the Gospel if I don’t know what Christ says about our faith?  How can I know the promises of God if I don’t continue to read them?  How can I be saved if I don’t know how God said to be saved?  We will have a very hard time trying to convince others or present the Gospel to others if we don’t even know what the truth of the Gospel is.

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Isaiah 55:10-11

There’s another article we’ve written called In The Beginning Was The Word in which we talk about how to get into the word of God.  It’s important to continue reading and getting a healthy diet of the Bible.  It will help us in our struggles and embolden us when we face various trials.  It will also give us a more holistic perspective in our daily lives as we try to live for Christ in whatever we do.