Lesson 16: Shoes of the Readiness for the Gospel of Peace, part 5

Ephesians 6:15 - …and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.

Another thought about this peace is that we have an assurance of salvation and are no longer afraid of death. We are forgiven, and our walk with Jesus is secure for all eternity. Therefore, no matter what happens we can keep on standing. We are at peace with God!

Our shoes are meant for standing, not for running. The Roman soldier facing a very large enemy could not run away – he had to stay and fight to the death. We, however, never need to fight “to the death” because death has no more hold on us. Jesus provided our shoes of the Gospel of Peace with His blood, which can never be defeated.

When Satan stabs you from behind with “remember what you did?” we dig in more deeply with our peace shoes into the turf of God’s Word and reply, “It is written…” just as Jesus did (Matthew 4). Our “it is written” is 1 John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”


Micah 7:18-19 tells us God throws our sins into the deepest sea when He forgives.
Hebrews 8:12 says He never again remembers what He has forgiven.
Isaiah 43:25 says the same – what He blots out He will never again remember.

Therefore, our responsibility is the same as Paul’s words in Philippians 3:13 - …But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead…”

Colossians 1:22 - He has now reconciled [you] in His body of flesh by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him.
Jude 1:24 - Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy…

This is what Paul is trying to get through to us! Every single Christian is given the armor of God for one reason and one reason alone, to do battle against the enemy of our souls. The devil knows this. So, here is what he does. Since he cannot take away the armor of God, he simply gets us to compromise and not use the armor of God, by getting us to doubt this wonderful Biblical truth that we have with God! All this peace! Yes, we are going to stumble, yes, we are going to make mistakes, here and there, as we learn to be a powerful soldier for Christ. But those mistakes or sins are abandoned, forgotten, obliterated by God, and remembered no more! All God sees in us now is a blameless, faultless, beautiful child that belongs to Him - so get up and fight! These are the shoes we need to put on every day! Do not listen to the accuser who is trying to put you back under a false bondage.

Hold up your Bible and say, "Get your belt on...in other words...read your Bible!