The armour of God

The Gospel of Peace, Feet Shod

Ephesians 6:15 · The whole armour of God · Ephesians 6:10-18

The feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, in Ephesians 6:15, are what give a soldier of Christ his footing. Like the hobnailed sandals of the Roman soldier that gripped the ground and let him stand firm, the gospel of peace steadies a believer so he cannot be knocked down, and makes him ready to carry good news wherever he goes. That peace is Christ, who is our peace, and who first made peace between us and God.

And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;Ephesians 6:15 (KJV)

The soldier's sandals: what Paul actually pictured

The Roman soldier's footwear was not an afterthought. His heavy sandals had thick soles studded underneath with iron hobnails, like the cleats of an athlete, made to bite into rough or slippery ground. On this footing an army could march for days and, more importantly, could plant itself and hold a line against a charge without sliding backward. A soldier who lost his footing lost the fight.

Paul writes of the feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. The word he chooses points both to readiness and to firmness. The gospel gives a believer solid ground to stand on and, at the same time, makes him ready to move, to carry the message. Both meanings matter. This is the one piece of the armour that is not only for defense; the shod foot both holds its ground and goes out.

What the gospel of peace represents

The good news Paul preaches is called, here, the gospel of peace, and that is its heart. The message of Christ is first of all news of peace made: the war between a holy God and rebellious people ended, not by our surrender under threat, but by God himself reconciling us through the cross. Where there was enmity, there is now peace with God, given freely to all who trust his Son.

This peace is what the believer stands on. It is not a peaceful feeling that comes and goes with our circumstances, but a settled peace with God that does not move because it rests on what Christ has already done. To have your feet shod with it is to have your whole footing rooted in the finished work of the gospel, so that whatever storm comes, you are standing on ground that cannot be shaken out from under you.

It helps to be precise about the word peace here, because it can be badly misheard. Paul is not promising a life without conflict; he is announcing the end of the deepest conflict of all, the estrangement between a holy God and a guilty creature. That war is over for everyone in Christ, and it is over permanently, because it was ended by God's own initiative and not by our fragile efforts to keep a ceasefire. From that settled peace with God flows, in time, a peace of God that steadies the heart even while outward battles rage. The first is the root and the second is the fruit, and the fruit only grows where the root is sure.

Why we need it: the enemy wants us off our feet

Much of the enemy's strategy is simply to knock the believer down and keep him down. He wants us anxious, unsettled, forever off balance, so that we spend our strength trying to keep from falling rather than standing and advancing. A soul with no firm footing is easily toppled by fear, by trouble, by the sudden shock of grief or loss.

The gospel of peace is the answer to this because it gives an anchor outside our shifting circumstances. When the ground of feelings and outcomes gives way, peace with God does not. And there is more: the same gospel that steadies us is meant to move us outward. A believer who is secure in Christ is freed from self-protection and made ready to bring the good news to others. The enemy fears nothing more than a Christian who cannot be knocked over and who will not stay quiet.

There is a reason the feet, of all things, are singled out. Feet decide whether you stand your ground or turn and run, and whether you go forward or stay where it is safe. The enemy is content to leave a fearful believer standing still, occupied entirely with his own survival. Firm footing changes that. A Christian who is no longer fighting to keep his own balance has attention and courage to spare, and can spend them on others. So this piece is quietly offensive as well as defensive, for secure feet become sent feet.

How to put it on and use it

You put on this footwear by grounding yourself, again and again, in the gospel itself, until the peace it announces is the floor you stand on rather than a mood you wait for. Preach it to yourself in the morning: that you are reconciled to God, that the war is over, that your standing does not rise and fall with your performance. Let that settle your feet before the day's troubles arrive.

And then walk in it. The prophet Isaiah once marveled at the beauty of the feet that carry such news across the mountains.

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!Isaiah 52:7 (KJV)

The believer whose feet are shod with peace is meant to be one of those beautiful feet, ready to bring the good tidings to a neighbor, a friend, a stranger. So the piece is used both ways: you stand firm on the peace you have received, and you go and carry it to people who have none. Readiness to share the gospel is itself part of the armour; a Christian at rest in Christ and ready to speak is a Christian on sure footing.

This readiness is not the same as having every answer polished and rehearsed. The preparation Paul names is closer to a settledness of heart, a willingness to speak because you have found something real and steadying to offer. You do not need to win an argument; you need only to have found firm ground and to be ready to show another where it is. Many of the most fruitful witnesses in the world are simply people at peace, who cannot be shaken and are glad to say why.

How it is found in Christ

The gospel of peace is not finally a doctrine to master but a person to trust. Paul teaches that peace with God comes by only one road, through the Lord Jesus and what he accomplished.

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:Romans 5:1 (KJV)

We are justified by faith, and so we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who made the peace, by his cross, and Paul says elsewhere that he does not merely give peace but is our peace. The ground you stand on, then, is not an idea about reconciliation but the Reconciler himself. To have your feet shod with the gospel of peace is to plant your whole weight on Christ, who ended the war, and to carry his name to the world with feet made ready by his own good news.

And there is a beautiful symmetry to this piece. The peace you stand on is the very peace you carry, so that defense and mission become one motion. You are not asked to manufacture good news to share; you are asked to walk on the ground you already stand on, and to point others to it. The same Christ who steadies your feet is the message on your lips, and the more securely you rest in him, the more freely you can bring him to a world with no peace of its own.

A note for all traditions: the armour of God is not a magic ritual or a formula of words, and the battle is not a spectacle. Paul writes soberly to ordinary believers about standing firm in Christ against real temptation, deception, and discouragement. Every piece is his gift and points back to him. The one Lord of the whole armour is Jesus Christ, and the strength to stand is his, not ours.

Related: The breastplate of righteousness · The helmet of salvation · The whole armour of God · Spiritual warfare · Who is Jesus?