ICEA – “Church At Study”

“SUBJECTIVE TRUTH (Ps. 51:6)…MEANING SINCERITY,
INTEGRITY,  UPRIGHTNESS, HONESTY AND SIMILAR WORDS…
ARE GREAT WEAPONS AGAINST THE DEVIL’S WILES!
UNDERSTANDING THIS WILL KEEP YOU FROM
MANY AVENUES OF DECEIT THE ENEMY
WANTS TO TAKE YOU DOWN!”

SINCERITY: OUR GREAT WEAPON (Eph. 6:14)

SINCERITY is one of the greatest weapons we have against our enemy — Satan! Not only does the word TRUTH, in Ephesians 6:14 refer to having knowledge of the word of God, but (a little known fact is) the GREATER MEANING refers to the Christians’ SINCERITY and moral conduct.

Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with
TRUTH and having on the breastplate of righteousness.
(Eph. 6:14)

The biblical meaning of SINCERITY is…real; not feigned; pure; honest; without blame; truthfulness and integrity…having lack of deceit and trickery. This is not mainstream teaching on this verse, but it appears that this is what the Apostle Paul intended. Here are some different translations to try to prove this point:

AMPLIFIED BIBLE:
So stand firm and hold your ground, having
tightened the wide band of truth (personal integrity, moral courage)
around your waist and having put on the breastplate of
righteousness (an upright heart).

The Amplified Bible uses the actual words “personal integrity” and “moral courage” as phrases similar to the word TRUTH.

WYCLIFFE BIBLE:
Therefore stand ye, and be girded about your loins
in soothfastness [Therefore stand ye, girded about your loins in
soothfastness], and clothed with the habergeon of rightwiseness.

The Wycliffe Bible has translated the word “truth” as “soothfastness.” The origin of “soothfastness” is Old English. It means truthful, trustworthy, honest, righteous, sincere, genuine, and just.

The study above seems to shed more light on the meaning of “truth” found in Ephesians 6:14. The author of this article suggests verse 14 declares not so much a working knowledge and execution of the word of God, but readers are to be clothed or “girded” with the qualities aforementioned!

A BIBLE FOOTNOTE ON EPHESIANS 6:14

The footnote in the Ryrie Bible referring to Ephesians 6:14 reads:
Truth holds everything together and refers to the believer’s integrity.
Breastplate of righteousness. Righteousness practiced by the believer to protect the chest and heart from Satan.

OTHER BIBLICAL REFERENCES REFERRING TO
SUBJECTIVE TRUTH

Well-known teacher and author, John MacArthur refers to our verse and chapter of “truth” under consideration (Eph. 6:14) as an “attitude of truthfulness.” He distinguishes this truth from other definitions of truth (found in the Bible) which refer to one having an understanding of biblical knowledge. You may read his article by clicking on the following text:  http://www.gty.org/resources/bible-qna/BQ040612/how-do-believers-gird-themselves-with-truthfulness  or visit “Grace to You” website at: http://www.gty.org.

Henry Alford: Truth — not truth objective, which is rather the “word of God” below, ver. 17, but: ‘truthfulness,’ subjective truth: to be understood however as based upon the faith and standing of a Christian. (The New Testament for English Readers Online).
(The New Testament for English Readers: Containing the Authorized Version. By Henry Alford.)

THE SINCERITY OF NATHANAEL

Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him,
Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
(John 1:47)

We understand the type of man Nathanael had matured into, by studying Jesus’ statement, that Nathanael was “…a man without deceit.” Nathanael had somehow become uncontaminated by the evils of his day. He did not allow his surroundings to negatively shape his being and his character. He was not a conformist. He had a heart of gold. His eye was single and he was full of light (Matt. 6:22-23). Thank God the psalmist said…IN HIS HASTE…that all men are liars (Ps. 116:11). There are men, like Nathanael, who are not liars, neither practice deceit and craft. Nathanael was an honest and sincere man when it came to his relationships with others.

THE SINCERITY OF PAUL

For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience,
that in simplicity and godly SINCERITY, not with fleshly
wisdom, but by the grace of God,  we have had
our conversation in the world, and
more abundantly to you-ward.
(II Cor. 1:12)

This verse seems clear. It appears straight-forward. Paul used the words “our” rejoicing. While writing…Paul reflected on the history of his life and the life of those leaders who ministered to the Corinthians. They could rejoice because they had clear conscience. Their record among the Corinthians was sincerity. Their record among unbelievers and unsaved was sincerity, as well. What a testimony! What moral conduct! Not much for Satan to work with!

TRUTH – AS THE WORD OF GOD

If we are looking in context of Ephesian 6:10-18 for an objective and offensive working knowledge of TRUTH (the Word of God)…against Satan; you will find it in verse 17. It reads:

And take…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Our Lord Jesus used “the Sword” to confront and defeat Satan early in His ministry by proclaiming to him…”It is written…!” This is the definition of TRUTH that many are familiar with today, which is fighting Satan with the Word of God.

It is true that Christians need to know the word of God while engaging with satanic attacks! The author is not attempting to minimize this great offensive weapon of truth. Nevertheless, the focus of this article defines truth (from Eph. 6:14) as the Christians’ sincerity and moral character. Moral character is such an integral part of the Christians amour that almost the entirety of this article is devoted to extracting the meaning from this one verse.

FINAL THOUGHT

Anything other than biblical sincerity will leave the child of God vulnerable. The belt that is supposed to be girded is loose. The enemy knows that this part of our armor is lacking and he will attack this vulnerability. We must not allow ourselves to yield to compromising situations or the demons who do Satan’s bidding will seek to overthrow and eventually defeat us with fatal blows.

PRAYER

“Lord, may we come to see the importance of sincerity and moral character as weapons, tightly fastened…used in our struggle against the powers of darkness. Help us…also…to strive lawfully, that in the end, we may be victorious, having withstood every opponent. In Jesus name. Amen!”

HOMEWORK

Do a Bible search on the words “sincere” and “sincerity”.