Ephesians 6:15
And, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
Standing Firm
Part of standing firm in our faith comes just before Paul mentions putting on the shoes of the gospel of peace where he says that we must stand firm with the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness (Eph. 6:14). So, the shoes will do us no good if we don’t first put on the breastplate and belt because these will help us stand firm. Take away one part of the full armor of God (Eph. 6:10-17) and we’re not fully dressed for combat against an overwhelming, invisible enemy. If you have the shoes of the gospel of peace on your feet, you’re better able to stand firm. But what are the sandals or shoes of the gospel of peace?
The Gospel of Peace
The shoes represent taking the gospel into the whole world (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 1:8), but it also represents what we stand for because if we don’t stand for something, we’ll fall for anything. Part of the meaning of the gospel of peace that we put on our feet is that we have peace now with God through Jesus’ death (Rom. 5:1), and this gospel is uncompromising: by Christ alone can we be saved (Acts 4:12). With that peace, we have passed from judgment or condemnation (Rom. 8:1) to eternal life, and we won’t have to stand before Christ as our Judge at the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev. 20:12-15) but will stand before Him to receive the rewards from our service for Him while on Earth. The gospel is a message of God making peace with sinners who previously had the wrath of God on them by their disbelief (John 3:36b). God placed His wrath on Jesus so we could have His peace, and the peace that Jesus gives remains with us permanently and isn’t anything like what the world calls peace, which can be fleeting and temporary (John 14:27).
Beautiful Feet
If we have the gospel of peace on our feet, then we are walking into the lost world to bring the good news of this peace to others. No wonder Isaiah wrote about how blessed those are whose feet bring good news to those who need it (Isaiah 52:7). Paul tied in preaching the gospel to the lost with this very same verse in Romans 10:15 where he quoted Isaiah, so we have support elsewhere in Scripture that the shoes or sandals of peace of the gospel of Christ means that it’s to be taken into all the world. If we had a cure for cancer, wouldn’t we feel compelled to share it? Yet we have something far better than a temporary cure because someone who’s cured of something will surely die again, but those who believe in Christ have eternal life (John 3:16). It would be criminal negligence not to share such a cure. We have knowledge of the cure for eternal death with us, and that is the gospel of peace. So, put on the sandals or shoes of the gospel of peace every day to seek the lost. Your feet will be happy feet, or blessed feet, because sharing the gospel, or soul-winning in particular, is one of the greatest joys there is.
A Closing Prayer
Great God in heaven, please set divine appointments for me today and every day where I’ll have a chance to point people to Christ and take the gospel with me wherever my feet will carry me today, and I pray for this in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
Amen
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