There was a time when I could not stand the idea of exercise. I was tired of being on cholesterol and blood pressure medicine, and finally got to the place where I became desperate enough to get healthy. One of the first things I chose to do was join a gym, hire a trainer, and sign up for a 5K because I thought that if I did not train for it, I would die. So, I began running twice a week while I trained at the gym three times a week. What I learned soon after I started running was how important it was to have the right shoes.
Because I grew up just outside of Philadelphia, we called anything that you could run around and play in: “sneakers.” Depending on where you grew up, you may know them as “tennis shoes.” Before I started running, I did not know that there were all types of “sneakers” depending on the kind of thing you liked to do. For those who like to run, you can pay to have your foot analyzed to determine if you need a neutral shoe (for those with a stable foot and normal or high arch). If you are a runner whose outer edge of your heel hits the ground first or Vis versa, then you might need to choose a more stable shoe. If you participate in track and field, you may need a shoe with spikes designed to be more lightweight. If you want a bit more cushion while running, there are cushioned running shoes. If you do not like the cushion and want to feel more of the ground while running, there is the minimalist running shoe. If you like running on trails, there is the trail running shoe. If you are an avid runner, and do not have the right shoes, you will develop pain in your knees, feet, thighs, etc.
Needless to say, wearing the right shoes are important if you are a runner. Wearing the right shoes while hiking is important if you hike. Wearing the right shoes doing anything is important. Wearing the right shoes as a soldier is especially important for combat readiness, and the third piece of equipment belonging to God’s armor that we are told to put on is the shoes of the gospel of peace.
What are the Shoes of Gospel Peace?
Most translations insert the word “shoe” to make sense of the Greek. Shoes are assumed and the way it is translated in the NASB is the most literal of all the versions: “...and having strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace” (v. 15). The English Standard Version translates the Greek in a way that really gets at the heart of the point that I believe Paul is attempting to make: “as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.” The question we need to answer is, for what purpose do the shoes of the gospel of peace serve?
The Roman soldier was fitted with a type of sandal that was heavier than what civilians wore. The sole of the sandal was made with several layers of leather that were about ¾ of an inch thick with hollow-headed hobnail spikes on the bottom of the sole. The sandals a soldier of Rome wore were not designed for running but did allow him to keep his footing while standing against his enemy. The shoes Paul had in mind are the type that allowed a soldier to establish himself so that the enemy would not push him back. Now with that in mind, consider Ephesians 6:10-13,
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
So, if the shoes Paul had in mind are the type that allowed a soldier to firm up his stance before the enemy, what does it mean to put on the shoes of the gospel of peace for the Christian? I have read in a number of commentaries that to put on the shoes of the gospel of peace is Paul’s way of saying that “believers should always be ready to share the gospel.”[1] I definitely believe that sharing the gospel is what Paul assumed would be the motive and desire of the Christian who has put on the full armor of God. After all, he was very much aware of Isaiah 52:7, which states: “How delightful on the mountains are the feet of one who brings good news, who announces peace and brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation, and says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns’” (Isa. 52:7). Jesus did say of His followers: “You are the salt of the earth.... You are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:13, 14). It is true that the only way people will hear of the gospel of Jesus Christ is if Christians everywhere tell them: “But how are they to preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things” (Rom. 10:15). However, is this the main point the apostle is making in Ephesians 6:15? I do not believe that it is.
The shoes of the gospel of peace are the good news of Jesus Christ, but the good news of Jesus Christ is not only that he died for our sins and rose from the grave for the salvation of our souls. The good news that we are to strap onto our feet, includes Jesus’ death and resurrection; but it much more than that! “How so?” you ask. For starters, you need to consider the context of the shoes of the gospel of peace within Ephesians 6:10-18. Does Paul mean that we are to put on the shoes of the gospel of peace so that we can be ready and prepared to tell people about Jesus (see also Matt. 28:19-20; 1 Pet. 3:15)? If he did mean this, don’t you think he would have written instead: “strap upon your feet the preparation so that you can make known the gospel of peace”? Instead, Paul tells us to put on the shoes of the gospel of peace so that we would be prepared... but prepared for what?
Remember that the shoes of the Gospel of peace belong to the armor of God, and by wearing them, they prepare us for something. What is it that they prepare us for? This is where the context of a particular passage is so important! The gospel shoes of peace prepare us to stand firm against the devil’s schemes, they prepare us to resist on the evil day, the shoes of the gospel of peace prepare us to stand firm in the strength of the Lord! I think the New Living Translation is helpful on this point: “For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.” What we are to strap onto our feet is the whole gospel and it is the shoes of the whole gospel that prepares us to stand firm as a Christian who has put on the full armor of God.
Why are the Shoes of the Gospel of Peace Needed?
Permit me answer why the shoes of the gospel of peace are needed and then I will unpack my answer for you. You must have the shoes of the gospel of peace securely fitted upon your feet because if you get the gospel wrong, your belt of truth and breastplate of righteousness will be compromised, and you will therefore be vulnerable when you stand before the enemy.
So, what is the gospel? It is the good news that Jesus Christ, as the perfectly righteous Son of God, lived a perfectly obedient life to the Law of God on our behalf. That He died for our sins, triumphantly conquered the grave through His resurrection on the third day, and now stands victoriously as creation’s redeemer.
Jesus is the Son of God
If you get Jesus wrong, you will get the gospel wrong. There is no room for error when it comes to who Jesus is in relationship to what it means to trust and believe in Him! As the Son of God, Jesus had no beginning, and He will have no end. He is not a creature like us because He was and forever is eternally begotten of the Father in the sense He existed with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Of Jesus, the scriptures testify: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind. And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it” (John 1:1–5).
Jesus was sent by the Father to become fully human while remaining fully God by immaculate conception through Mary while she was a virgin, through whom the Son of God was born: “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). He is the One of whom the prophets spoke: “For a Child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us... and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6). By being born of a virgin, He became the righteous descendant of David who bears the name: “The Lord Our Righteousness” (see Jer. 23:5-6). If Jesus is not fully God and if He did not become also fully human, then there would not have been a fully qualified and fully capable redeemer for mankind and the rest of creation.
Jesus is Our Redeemer
As the Son of God, Jesus was the only One qualified to save sinners and reverse the curse of sin over all creation. Jesus is the Kinsmen-redeemer who met the three requirements to redeem what was lost when Adam and Eve rebelled against God on behalf of all humanity. The three requirements a kinsmen-redeemer was required to meet were that he had to be related to Adam’s race, he had to be willing to redeem what was lost by Adam’s race, and he had to have the means to redeem what was lost, which was not only humanity but all of creation under Adam’s headship. The only qualified kinsmen-redeemer who could provide what was needed for redemption had to be One who was both fully God and fully human. This is why Jesus took on flesh to become our kinsmen redeemer, and as our Kinsmen Redeemer, God, “put all things in subjection under His feet, and made Him head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Eph. 1:22-23).
Jesus is our Triumphant King Who is making all things new!
The Bible says that Jesus is God’s “Yes” to all of His promises (2 Cor. 1:20), and His promises from Genesis through Revelation include not only the promise of redemption for sinful man, but the reversal of the curse of sin (Jer. 23:5-6; ), the defeat and destruction of the devil (Gen. 3:15; Rev. 20:1-10), and the resurrection and restoration of all things (2 Pet. 3:10-13). The gospel of peace that belongs to the armor of God is the gospel Peter wrote about to encourage suffering Christians to stand firm: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pet. 1:3–5). Jerry Bridges was absolutely correct when he wrote in his magnificent book, The Discipline of Grace: “The gospel is not only the most important message in all of history; it is the only essential message in all of history.[2]
Listen, when you stand in the shoes of the gospel of peace, you stand in the reality and truth of all that the gospel is, and when you have “strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace”, you stand firm in all that the gospel is for you as one who has been redeemed by the blood of the perfect Lamb of God! When we stand with the gospel of peace securely strapped to our feet, we can say with Job in the midst of great suffering: “Yet as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last, He will take His stand on the earth. ‘Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I will see God, whom I, on my part, shall behold for myself, and whom my eyes will see, and not another” (Job 19:25–27). When your feet are fitted with the gospel of the peace, you can respond to the uncertainties of life as the apostle Paul did: “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). When you put on the shoes of the gospel of peace, you can stand against the devil’s schemes knowing that because of Jesus, “The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will rejoice over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy” (Zeph. 3:17).
The gospel brings peace because not only does it promise our redemption, but it is the promise that Jesus is coming back and when He does, “He will judge between the nations, and will mediate for many peoples; and they will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning knives. Nation will not lift up a sword against nation, and never again will they learn war” (Isa. 2:4). The gospel brings peace because we have Jesus, we can stand in the promise of knowing that whether in life or death, we who are the redeemed, will enter into the presence of God, “with joyful shouting, and everlasting joy will be on our heads. We will obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away” (Isa. 51:11).
This is why the gospel is not something you leave and move onto deeper and better doctrines! You will never outgrow your need for the gospel. To take on the armor of God is to stand in the gospel, to walk in light of the gospel, to march to the drumbeat of the gospel, and to fight the fight of faith while standing in the reality and truth of all that the gospel is for you... the redeemed! This is why Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” (1 Cor. 16:13).
When you put on the shoes of the gospel of peace, you will be compelled to proclaim all that the gospel is to you to the world around you because of the peace that it brings in preparing you to stand firm in the evil day. So, I leave you with the following questions in light of my sermon today:
- What shoes are you standing in right now?
- Are you standing in the full gospel of peace, firmly secured around your feet?
- How tight are your laces and are they tight enough so that you will not lose your footing as you, “walking in a manor worthy of your calling” (4:1)?
- Who do you know that really needs to hear about the peace that you have in Jesus?
