Belt of truth

The first: the girdle of truth. Stand therefore having your loins girded about the truth. In Bible times it was called the girdle, but we would probably say a belt today, was fastened or buckled at your waist, around a short tunic, worn by the soldier. The belt supported the loins or the muscles of the lower back. And it serves as a foundation for much of the remaining armour. Both the breastplate and the sword was attached to the gird loins. So, the gird loins symbolized readiness to do battle. And the way you get ready to do battle is that you arm yourself with the truth; this is a girdle; this is a belt of truth. Truth brings together everything. Without truth you cannot fight against Satan. He is a liar from the beginning, and you got truth to bring to bear against him.

Now, that truth, if you are going to successfully fight against Satan, must penetrate your mind, but must also conquer your heart so that your whole being is subject to truth: your mind, your affections, your will, you want to walk in the way of truth. So, the way to fight Satan is first of all not to be ruled by your feelings, to be tossed to and fro against all kinds of doctrine, but to remember that Satan is a deceiver. He wants to trick you. And the only way you could withstand that, is to be straightforward walking in truth, in the truth of the Word of God. Jesus said that if you continue in my Word, you shall be my disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Satan has no truly effective weapons against truth. He may rave against you, he may send numerous demons to hound you, but if you trust in Christ, as the truth, as the veracity of God Most High, you will stand firm. Because your feet are planted on a rock that cannot be moved.

You see, this is where Satan is vulnerable. His kingdom depends on lies. And a lie, ultimately, cannot stand against truth. Truth will triumph, ultimately. So, know the truth, abide in Christ who is truth, and you will gain the victory over this deceptive Satan. Now, it is not always easy, because Satan always seems to be one step ahead of us, doesn’t he? You know, he seems to be thinking and knowing how to get us. I read a story recently of a farmer who has constantly having watermelons stolen by thieves. So, he came up with a brilliant idea to thwart the thieves. He poisoned one watermelon. And he put a sign in his watermelon-field that read: Warning! One of these watermelons has been poisoned. Next day there were no watermelon taken. Maybe for a week or two. And he thought well, my idea worked. And he relaxed. And one day, he came out to his field and there was a sign there that said: Warning! Two of these watermelons have been poisoned. He had to destroy the whole crop. See, Satan is one step ahead of you. Always trying to deceive, always trying to deal with you. You think you got him and next thing you know he is tempting you from another side. He comes as an angel of light, sometimes, and he comes as a roaring lion at other times. And the only way to defeat him is to come with truth.¹

Joel Beeke