The Christian who wraps his soul in the objective truth of Scripture shapes his subjective heart for the wiles of war. He takes the divine word deep into his human center, for transformation and joy. He not only searches the Scriptures, but lets the Scriptures search him. He ingests God’s truth both to feed and to condition his soul, subjectively using the objective truth to shape his pliable affections. Slowly, one day at a time, over months and years, this wrapping makes him a vastly different person, far better equipped to both identify truth and embody it.

Given enough time, men and women of principle stand out. After waves of social pressure and the mounting cares of this life, such people are left standing, long after others around them have compromised and toppled.
I’m referring to Christians who don’t play favorites and aren’t partisans of this age. They don’t bend the truth or sweep respectable sins under the rug. Rather, they call Jesus “Lord,” and standing with two feet on his soil, they call “spade” and “evil” to all sides of error and unbelief. Such men and women refuse to cut moral corners, or presume that strategic wrongs can make others right. They shun small compromises and may not stand out at first. But give it time, and their truth and good will be conspicuous (1 Timothy 5:25).
When justice is at stake, such people are not partial to the rich, or the poor. They don’t pick a favorite group, or preferred person, and twist truth and righteousness to fit their darling. Bearing the name of their God, and the Messiah he sent, they judge with impartiality and decide with equity.
And in the spiritual conflict in which we’re engaged, they “stand against the [plural] schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11) that come from every side. They remember that our warfare is spiritual, not “against flesh and blood” (Ephesians 6:12) — and that this war cannot be fought with the weapons of the world.
If such men and women seem to be in short supply in some circles, we might ask, Where do such people come from?
God’s Armor and Ours
“God shows no partiality” is a striking refrain across Scripture, and particularly in the New Testament (Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11; Galatians 2:6; Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 3:25). The implication for God’s people is plain and explicit: do nothing from partiality (1 Timothy 5:21). This is James’s memorable teaching about rich and poor who come to worship: “show no partiality” (James 2:1). “If you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors” (James 2:9).
But all this truth and righteousness, precious as it is, remains downstream when we come to “the whole armor of God” — and what Paul lists first. Before we start reaching for God’s armor, we should know whose it is, and who wore it first.
Now, some of Scripture’s most magnificent passages can be lost on us through over-familiarity. Such chapters as Isaiah 53 and 1 Corinthians 13 are deservedly famous — and in that due emphasis and celebration, many of us need to move past our dulling acquaintance with them and see them with fresh eyes, and amazement.
The “armor of God” in Ephesians 6 is one of these stunning flourishes. This is Paul at his best, with dazzling Christian creativity, if we might call it that. In one powerfully rhetorical swath, he both pulls together Old Testament references to armor and presses them into Christian use (perhaps even against a Roman backdrop). This is instructive of the range of usages the apostles can make of the Hebrew Scriptures, not only as simple promise-fulfillment, but also illusions and types and patterns and artistic syntheses crafted to serve the holy designs of the authors and needs of their readers. Here the apostle is both poet and pastor.
Iain Duguid makes a compelling case that
each of the pieces of armor has a rich background in the Old Testament, where they describe God’s armor — the armor that God himself dons to rescue his people. The Old Testament, not the Roman legionary, provided Paul with his inspiration — and if we miss this background, we may misinterpret and misapply the various pieces of the armor.
So, we begin with the first — “the belt of truth,” which strictly speaking isn’t armor, defensive or offensive, but pre-armor or under-armor.
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Letter writing as a discipline helped Calvin consider his words and his calling, preserved his connection to the ministry in Geneva, and kept his friendships flourishing both in Strasbourg and beyond. While he remained in Strasbourg for a short time, it was because of his correspondences that his return to Geneva was smooth and his partnership with the Reformed ministries throughout Europe had yielded fruit—simply through the means of sincere words on paper.

Reading the mail of significant figures is a long-treasured practice, no matter the distance in time or difference in culture. Some of the most beloved letters among Reformed thinkers include those of John Calvin (1509–64). Calvin’s correspondence reveals his inward meditations; he utilized letter writing as a form of self-examination, in the context of both his friendships and his congregational affiliations.
One particular season of Calvin’s correspondence (the so-called Strasbourg years of 1538–41) allows us to examine Calvin’s theological development.
Calvin didn’t practice letter writing absent from theological implications. These implications can be identified in three particular contours—Calvin’s views on friendship, the church, and the unifying power of faith.
Friendship
While Calvin believed union with God brings an experiential knowledge of God, the nature of this union isn’t situated in some kind of personal monastery, isolated from others.
A perseverance rooted in regular correspondence was one way in which despondency, accrued through isolation, was blunted—particularly for him while ministering. The isolation felt during the Strasbourg years accentuated this facet of friendship for Calvin. He realized on a deeper level that to experience union with God is to be in union with God’s people.
Developing a deeper bond in Christian friendship and mutual union with God, therefore, is how one develops a greater sense of satisfaction in the circumstances of life. This stands in stark contrast to the worldly friendships devoid of the divine component, as Calvin expressed when he said that Christ “will no more allow his believers to be estranged from him than that his members be rent and torn asunder.”
Church
As a functional shepherd for the flock of Geneva (though in Strasbourg, and while William Farel was in Neuchâtel), Calvin contended he and Farel may, as a conduit of blessing, bind the people of Geneva to the pastors who were serving over their churches—with sincere and friendly affection. 
The fact that Calvin issued advice to the Geneva church in absentia reveals his mentality toward the church and the intimacy he felt for them, as well as the spiritual obligations of stewardship he felt for those churches. He was one who could instruct and appeal to them as an overseer from a distance.
He wrote with what may be considered brazen spiritual authority, “I require you, in the first place, by our Lord Jesus Christ, that so far as may be, you will first of all weigh the matter in your mind, and without any hastiness of judgment.”
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We have unfortunately been so influenced in our churches today by the singing of pop music, which is breathy and unsupported—the very opposite of lustily and with good courage. Christians today have been taught by pop culture that if you really mean it, you’ll close your eyes, scrunch your face, sway a little, and sing in a light sensual manner. Don’t sing like that. That’s not how God created us to sing. That way of singing comes from the sensuality of pop music, it is a kind of singing that embodies the passions of the flesh, not from a robust love for God’s truth. Worldly culture is attacking the church and the family, worldly music has weakened congregational singing. Sing aloud to God our strength. Sing heartily!

God commands us to teach and admonish one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, not as something optional, extra, or somehow disconnected from our mission to make disciples. No, as is clear from the broader context of Colossians 3, God commands us to sing, because singing is essential to discipleship.
On that basis, let us consider a few direct applications for your home and church.
1. Sing as Much as You Can
Singing is not optional. You can’t just say, well, singing is just not my thing. No, God commanded us to to sing because it is essential to our discipleship.
So sing as much as you can. In your home, sing before meals and after meals, make singing an emphasis in your times of family worship, sing before bed, sing in the car. Sing, sing sing. And our churches should be filled with congregational singing.
Be discerning in what you sing. Make sure that what you are singing accomplishes the goals of forming the kind of mature disciples mentioned here in Colossians 3 and all through the Scripture.
But once you have discerned what will help with the discipleship of your family or your church best, then sing! Singing ought to be a normal, regular occurrence in our homes and in our churches.
You might say, but I don’t know how to sing. I didn’t grow up singing, and I just don’t know how.
That leads to the next application.
2. Learn to Sing, and Teach Your Children to Sing
Singing is a skill, but it is a skill anyone can learn if you put a little effort into it.
What would you say if you were encouraging another Christian to faithfully read his Bible, and he said, “Well, I don’t know how to read. I didn’t grow up reading, so i just can’t read.” What would you say? Oh, OK. Well if you didn’t grow up reading, I guess we’ll just give you a pass on reading your Bible.
No! We would say, “Brother, that’s really too bad. I’m so sorry for you. So, now you need to learn how to read. God has commanded you to read his Word, so you need to do whatever it takes to learn the skills necessary to obey God’s command and feed your soul.”
The same is true for singing. Not having grown up singing is no excuse to disobey the command of the Lord. If you don’t know how to sing, then do whatever it takes to learn the skills necessary to obey God’s command and disciple your soul. Find another Christian who sings well and get help. There are all sorts of resources today to help you sing. Anyone can learn to sing, it just takes effort like any other skill.
And don’t make the same mistake for your own children.
Can you imagine a parent who said, “I’ll teach my children to read if they show an affinity for it”? Then why do we do the same with singing? God commanded his disciples to read the Word, and God commanded his disciples to sing the Word. Parents, make sure your children learn music. Get them into piano lessons. Enroll them in a good children’s choir. Raise up your children to be singers.
3. Get a Good Hymnal
I can’t stress this enough. There are certainly benefits to singing lyrics off of a screen, and I would never say it is wrong to do that.
But singing off a screen can never replace the benefits of a good hymnal. Much of the music illiteracy that plagues the church today is due to the decline of hymnals, where you can see the actual musical score.
You say, but I can’t read the musical score.
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