The Vulnerable Soldier, 05: The Shield of Faith (Eph. 6:16)

Posted on 2025-10-27 by thelittleman

In preparation for this study that I began several years ago, we looked at three foundational elements of Ephesians 6:10-13:

1) The Enemy: sin, Satan and his minions (NOT people)
2) The Fight: for the believer, this requires a defensive stance (NOT going out looking for trouble)
3) The Whole Armor of God: including every element (NOT just a few favorites)

Paul challenges us to “take up the whole armor of God, that [we] may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm” (Eph. 6:13). This study considers a great “What If?” question:

“What if a person takes up the whole armor of God, except one piece?”

So far we’ve studied what it would look like to take up the whole armor…

In this post, we’re looking at the next piece or armor in line: What if a person takes up the whole armor of God, except The Shield of Faith?

The Shield of Faith

We get this term from Ephesians 6:16, which says:

In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.

As with the other pieces of armor in this list, we don’t want to get too hung up on the imagery (esp. since Paul also calls faith a “breastplate” in 1Thess 5:8), but a little background information on Roman shields can prove helpful in illustrating Paul’s thinking.

Thureos (θυρεός)

Although we’re prone to imagine the shield of faith as the small round shield often depicted in Sunday School pictures, Paul likely imagined something far larger. The thureos or “door” was a tall shield made of layered wood covered in leather and built to stop projectiles. The leather could be soaked in water whenever “fiery darts” or arrows were expected.

A Roman soldier carrying the Thureos shield (AI generated image)
Thureos
Roman soldiers carrying their thureos shields in a testudo or "tortoise" formation (AI generated image)
Testudo

Testudo

Roman soldiers could interlock these tall, door-like shields to form a wall of defense, a maneuver known as the testudo (‘tortoise’) formation.” I’m sure you’ve seen that done in the movies.

Putting these two idea together in context of the verse, we can see that a believer’s faith should be his indispensable, first line of defense. It’s purely a defensive weapon that protects from the enemy’s attacks “in all circumstances,” even those barrages of Satan’s “fiery darts.” It’s also a defense that can become stronger in numbers, just as the “tortoise” allusion illustrates.

“Saving Faith” vs. “Working Faith”

Key to this discussion, of course, is the question: “What kind of faith is Paul talking about here?” There are many nuances to this word in Scripture, and yet the root itself remains constant, pistis (Πίστις), a word encompassing belief, trust, and faithfulness. Here are some of the important nuances:

Because Paul writes to believers who already wear ‘the helmet of salvation,’ the faith he describes here is not saving faith but living, operative faith — faith that breeds hope, reliance, and resilience. It’s the kind that endures trials and is refined like gold (1 Peter 1:6–7).

The Vulnerable Soldier without the Shield of Faith

With these descriptions and nuances in mind, we’ll now look at the Vulnerable Soldier who takes up every piece of armor except his shield. I’ll do so with 2 shades of meaning from the above study: both a hopeful reliance on God and a resilience that fuels endurance.

Truth

  • The soldier who maintains good doctrine and personal integrity but lacks a hopeful reliance on God is one who unintentionally focuses on “head knowledge” over “heart knowledge.” He hasn’t let this doctrine sink in and become personal. His intentions may be solid, but the longer he persists in this vein, the further from God he’ll move. Doctrine will be nothing more practical to him than words on a page.
  • The solder who maintains good doctrine and personal integrity but lacks the resilience that fuels endurance is Christendom’s next burnout victim. The Word or the ministry consumes him (wonderful!), yet he never takes time to get away and rest, as Jesus did (Mark 1:35; Mark 4:35-41; Matthew 11:28-30).

Goodness

  • The soldier who maintains goodness ought also to live out Hebrews 10:38, “The righteous shall live by faith.” When he doesn’t, and he lacks that hopeful reliance on God, then whatever “goodness” he claims is self-made and filthy (Is. 64:6). Eventually, his facade of goodness will crumble.
  • The soldier who wears the breastplate of righteousness but lacks the resilience that leads to endurance is the soldier who eventually “grows weary in well doing” (Gal 6:9; 2Thess 3:13). He hits his limit. He feels like his lifetime of good behavior hasn’t been worth it, and he faces the potential of a mighty, mighty fall.

Evangelism

  • The soldier who is always ready to share the Gospel of peace yet lacks a hopeful reliance on God in other areas of life is the “fire insurance” kind of evangelist. He’s fully persuaded that God can save his mortal soul, but whether God can handle his finances, relationships, and job is another matter.
  • The soldier who is always ready to share the Gospel of peace yet lacks the resilience that leads to endurance is the sad, statistical majority—he’s the pastor who’s out of the ministry in 5 years or less. He’s the missionary who leaves the field after a single term. He’s the one who “puts his hand to plough” and looks back. (Luke 9:62)

Salvation

  • We already know this soldier wears the helmet of salvation, but when this solder lacks a hopeful reliance on God, he’s nothing more than a baby in Christ, no matter how long he’s been saved. There’s no maturity, and whatever He knew about “the God Who Saves” has been forgotten. The God he supposedly worships now is man-made, weak, ineffective.
  • The soldier who wears the helmet of salvation but lacks the resilience that leads to endurance is the one who’s forgotten the Holy Spirit. He will always struggle with fear and doubt, due to his inability to repent from sin, to put off the old and put on the new. He is blinded to God’s indwelling power, and he unwittingly rejects Philippians 1:6, thinking that spiritual endurance is up to him and him alone.

The Scriptures

  • The soldier who carries “the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God” yet lacks a hopeful reliance on God is the Christian liberal. He doesn’t trust the Book. He listens to the skeptics, the textual critics, or “the careless proof-texters,” and he doubts the Word he claims to love. He might also be the fella who clings so closely to one Authorized translation that He forgets that God is multi-lingual and capable of preserving and spreading His Word as He sees fit.
  • The soldier who carries the Word but lacks the resilience that leads to endurance is the soldier whose “sword” has gone rusty—or perhaps just dusty. He banks on the studies he did in college or the verses he memorized as a youth. He has the Word, but he rarely reads it for himself. This is the Christian coaster, and a person can only coast so long before he crashes.

The Soldier with the Shield of Faith

I hope this study has highlighted the importance of faith in the Christian life. It’s a hopeful faith that keeps us grounded in the Word of God. It’s a reliant faith that trusts God as almighty and sovereign. It’s a resilient faith that enables us to live in Christ’s strength and endure.

Take up that shield of faith, Brother or Sister. It’s time to extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one!

©2025 E.T.

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