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Ephesians 6:15 tells us that after we girt our loins with the TRUTH, and after we don the Breastplate
of Righteousness, (God's, not ours) we are commanded to put on our foot gear.
We are not told to shod our
feet with the Gospel of Peace....
Rather we are told to shod our feet with the "preparation
of" the gospel of peace.
Those are two completely different things. Those who teach we should shod our feet with the gospel of peace often
misrepresent what this is and preach an unscriptural gospel of peace love and unity at the expense of contending for
the faith. The Bible does not teach that and Jesus never taught it. In fact, he said he didn't come to bring peace but
a sword...
When he comes the second time, he'll bring peace... after he soundly defeats all his enemies.
So what in the world
does it mean to shod our feet with the "preparation of..." the gospel of peace?
Here it is in a nutshell:
Always
"be prepared" to tell the good news of man's peace with God.
Are you always prepared to share Christ? Do you carry
tracts in your pocket, purse and car? Have you ever written out your five minute testimony of what God has done
for you? Have you ever tried turning your own testimony into a witnessing tract?
Don't be so full of personal pride in your testimony that you say it won't fit onto one sheet of paper--of
course it will. God has done so much for all of us we could easily fill up a book or several books telling those things.
But we can all condense our conversion experience and the difference Christ has made in our lives onto a gospel
tract. I have done it. And you can too.
If we are not always prepared to tell the good news of
man's peace with God, there is a serious gap in our armour.
That is the messages the angels were broadcasting the very night Christ was born.
Glory to God! Peace on earth! Good Will to men!
The "peace" on earth they were referring to, was only available through Christ who was
born that night--only through the gospel which is the telling of his death, his burial and his resurrection, can
we hope to have peace with God. The death burial and resurrection of Christ will also ultimately bring peace to
the earth.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4) is the gospel.
The good will the angels referred to, was referring to the demonstration of the love of God in allowing
mankind (who had been a natural enemy of God ever since the fall) to come close to Him and have peace with Him--through
the blood of Jesus' cross (Colossians 1:20-22).
Shodding our feet with the preparation of the gospel
of peace is part of our victory--It is a crucial part of our armour against a foe much stronger than we can ever
be apart from Christ and the supernatural weapons he gives us.
No wonder the enemy fights so hard against this truth. There are those who shamelessly
ridicule soul winners as spiritually deficient, undeveloped and the lowest, most pathetic of all among the Body
of Christ.
But soul winning is a critical part of successful spiritual warfare and personal victory when under
any kind of enemy attack.
The scriptures say he that winneth souls "is wise." It is no coincidence
that soul winning is listed among the top 3 pieces of the
Armour of God. God arms us strategically. He is out to give us
the greatest advantage possible.
By following his instructions, we not only get an edge over enemy manuevers--we WIN.
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