I have a visceral reaction to anyone asking me to put on some spiritual armor for a political campaign. It raises more than a red flag.
The Apostles (specifically Paul, Ephesians 6:10-18) asked us to put on such armor in defense of our personal faith - and only in a personal defense of our faith so that we may stay in grace and pray "with all perseverance and supplication." This claim by Cruz is nothing more than a perversion of scriptural directives - and I do not use that term lightly. As I have posted, I am a member since 2006 and this Cruz campaign has gotten me motivated to post.
I’m going to type the complete passage in question. Please show me anywhere that it says it is only for the defense of our personal faith. What I see is that it is to be used against all of the devil’s schemes. To say it only applies to personal spirituality means denying that the devil schemes in any other way - he doesn’t scheme in families, in communities, in the media, in politics, in the mafia and other lawless ways, etc. I just don’t see that anywhere in Scripture. Instead, I see a Satan in Scripture who uses EVERY area of life to attack us - wherever he can get a foothold, and as soon as we say he would NEVER attack us in one area of our life we can be sure that will be the area in which he takes us captive (if we don’t bring our armor into that area of life):
Here’s the passage:
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of the dark world and against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you maay be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm, then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions, with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert alnd always kleep on praying for all the saints.”
Ephesians 6:10-18