How a computer firewall can be an analogy for having the armor of Christ

[livingwordunity]

Today, I realized how computers and firewalls can be an analogy for us and our spiritual life.

Computers have a firewall to protect from malicious attacks by hackers. If a computer has no firewall a hacker with malicious intent can hack in and turn the computer into a slave, often without the user even being aware that this has happened to his computer.

The computer and firewall is analogous to us having the armor of Christ. If we don't have the armor of Christ, an evil spirit or demon can "hack" in and make us a slave to their agenda, possibly without us having a clue that this has happened to us. I believe that's why there are so many who act as mouth pieces for doctrines of demons such as so-called "same-sex marriage" and "abortion rights". They didn't have a firewall (the armor of Christ), so they were left wide open for getting hacked.

[SgtSchultz]

Except that a firewall can be breached. In fact, many often are - including enterprise-strength ones.

[Bill Martin]

Originally Posted by SgtSchultz

Except that a firewall can be breached. In fact, many often are - including enterprise-strength ones.

They sure do, but most of the time, a computer will be taken over by a trojan--a program that looks like something you want to download. You download what you are fooled into thinking is a good program but end up with malware taking over your computer.

Likewise, we can let something that looks attractive and enticing, but contains "malware" or mortal sin take us over. Like many things in computer security, a firewall is usually breached because the user does something stupid and lets something bad in, not because the firewall itself is faulty. We click through warnings, ignore popups and alerts, and proceed anyway. How many times do we do this to our spiritual firewall? I know I do it way too often.

The best firewall in the world will not stop its user from allowing stuff through that he shouldn't. The armor of God won't protect us from abusing free will if we really want to.

[SgtSchultz]

Originally Posted by Bill Martin

They sure do, but most of the time, a computer will be taken over by a trojan--a program that looks like something you want to download. You download what you are fooled into thinking is a good program but end up with malware taking over your computer.

Likewise, we can let something that looks attractive and enticing, but contains "malware" or mortal sin take us over. Like many things in computer security, a firewall is usually breached because the user does something stupid and lets something bad in, not because the firewall itself is faulty. We click through warnings, ignore popups and alerts, and proceed anyway. How many times do we do this to our spiritual firewall? I know I do it way too often.

The best firewall in the world will not stop its user from allowing stuff through that he shouldn't. The armor of God won't protect us from abusing free will if we really want to.

Hmm, I like your analogy comparing temptation to sin to downloading malware! With regards to most home/personal users' problems, they do, in fact, act as the agants who bring problems on themselves. It's not usually hackers targeting them directly. This is just like how most people don't wake up and say "I think I'll go look for some sins to commit today! Where can I find some, and which ones will I do?"

What about hackers though? A bank's firewall can be breached by hackers even though the bank's IT people didn't download malware or do anything they're supposed to not do. They are human, ergo not perfect. Firewalls are human, meaning they're not 100% effective.

How about we say a Christ-grade firewall? The only one that always works 100% and is not susceptible to user error.