7 by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
by [through] the armor of righteousness [weapons provided by righteousness]
Paul changed to a different preposition here from “in” to “through.” Now he switched to the means by which his team handled problems in their lives.
The “righteousness” here is God’s righteousness. “Armor” is military imagery, a weapon to counter attacks in ministry. Christians need divine protection from Satan’s weapons of warfare (2 Co 10:3-5; Eph 6:12). They need to equip themselves with offensive weapons (Eph 6:14-18).
on the right hand and on the left,
“Right” and “left” means God’s armor guards the believer from attacks from any quarter.
PRINCIPLE:
Christians in ministry need to be outfitted with God’s weaponry.
APPLICATION:
Conduct in ministry rests on the armor of divine righteousness. God offers His armory to Christians. He can arm believers no matter what assault may come their way, either from the right or left; that is from any problem that may come our way. Believers have weapons for every and any situation (Eph 6:10-20).
