THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

Over the last several weeks we have looked at the armor of God, as the Apostle Paul described it in Ephesians 6:10-20. Today we look briefly at “the breastplate of righteousness.”

“Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness” (Ephesians 6:14, ESV). 

The breastplate was central to the Roman soldier’s armor. Breastplates were often made of bronze and provided protection for the torso, which contains vital organs. Without adequate protection, all the organs, and especially the heart, would be vulnerable in battle but with the breastplate, what could be a killing blow by the enemy would not be fatal.

A question that arises when talking about the breastplate of righteousness is: “Why do I need the breastplate if I have been made righteous at salvation?” This is a good question and deserves our attention.

At salvation God did more than just forgive our sins; He did that, but He also “imputed” or credited to our account the righteousness of Jesus Christ. “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21, NKJV). This is the righteousness that is credited to us when we are saved and it is the righteousness of Christ through which God now views us.

But if we have already been made righteous, why would Paul insist that we put on the breastplate of righteousness? When Paul gave this instruction, I believe he was saying that not only does righteousness mean that we are “in right standing with God” but it also means that it can become a key part of our protective spiritual armor.

When Paul speaks of the breastplate of righteousness, he is expanding our understanding of the importance of righteousness. Many of us understand what happens at salvation—that our sins are forgiven; that we are justified before God and made righteous in His eyes; that we become joint-heirs with Jesus. What many of us have missed (me included for a long time) is that as we grow in righteousness, it becomes a protective barrier, the breastplate of righteousness that we have “put on.”

The righteousness of the breastplate is no different from what is credited to us at salvation. The breastplate of righteousness is the spiritual outcome of those who “hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be satisfied [filled]” (Matthew 5:6).

The enemy knows that he cannot take your salvation away but he is able to cause a lot of trouble for you as you live your life for Christ. The devil does that by conducting an all-out war to try to keep you from living the life that God has planned for you. He wants to disrupt all the plans that God has for you and keep you from reaching the potential that He has destined for you. The enemy often does this by deceiving us into thinking that it’s okay to engage in questionable activities.

The righteousness of Jesus Christ is within us. It’s our responsibility to see that it is encouraged and nourished by the Word of God so that it expands and surrounds us with the armor of protection that we need.

I love the way Tony Evans finishes his chapter on the breastplate of righteousness in his excellent book Victory in Spiritual Warfare.

“Wearing the breastplate of righteousness involves walking securely in your imputed righteousness by virtue of the cross, coming clean with God in your practice of righteousness, and feeding your spirit with the Word of God so that the Spirit will produce the natural outgrowth of right living within you.” (Victory in Spiritual Warfare, p. 76)

With the increasing ferocity of the attacks of the enemy on the Church and on mankind in general, I believe it is important that we have a good understanding of righteousness and its benefits.

Speaking about the end times, Jesus said, “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast” (Luke 12:35, ESV).

Both of these two images suggest being prepared. Tying up one's garment around the waist is a picture of constant readiness to move quickly. The image of lamps burning adds to the sense of watchfulness. Even in the dark hours of the night, you must be ready. Watch at all times and “put on the whole armor of God.”

BUCKLE UP FOR ACTION

“Stand therefore [hold your ground], having tightened the belt of truth around your loins” (Ephesians 6:14, Amplified Bible).

It was said of the Roman soldier that if you saw him walking down the street you could tell whether he was on or off duty. An on-duty soldier’s belt was tightened and all his fighting equipment was in place. An off-duty soldier would have loosened his belt, leaving it sagging. I think there’s a message for us in this. Both Jesus and Paul repeatedly told us to be alert, awake, watchful—because at no time in the Christian life should we should have a sagging, sloppy belt!

In introducing his teaching on the armor in Ephesians 6:10, Paul challenges us to be strong in the strength of the Lord and then to “put on’” the armor. The armor of God will allow us to stand against the attacks and deceptions of the devil.

Paul makes it very clear that we are at war! Every follower of Jesus is at war with the devil. Our war is not with the group far across town whose doctrine is different from ours; it’s not with the nasty-spirited pastor who condemns everybody and everything that varies from what he believes. No, Paul makes it plain that our war is with the spiritual forces of evil. Because of this dangerous warfare, in Ephesians 6:13 he repeats his command that we put on the whole armor of God so that as the world around us get increasingly evil, we will stand firm.

In the next four verses Paul describes the various pieces of the armor and gives brief explanations of some of the pieces and what they do. We gain additional understanding of the value and purpose of the armor by knowing that Paul is writing from a world dominated by Rome and its armies. Paul was no stranger to the Roman soldier’s equipment. In fact, he wrote the letter to the Ephesian church while he was imprisoned and was constantly under the supervision of a Roman soldier.

Look at the first part of verse 14 again: “Stand therefore [hold your ground], having tightened the belt of truth around your loins.”

First, let’s try to understand what Paul was referring to when he spoke of the belt of truth, or the girdle of truth as some translations speaks of it.

For a Roman soldier the belt was not actually a piece of his armor; however, it was extremely important that it be in place because it was essential to his being ready for action. The belt was not a good-looking accessory that added pizazz to his wardrobe but it was an important foundational piece that held everything in place and prepared the soldier to go into battle.

The belt allowed the soldier to tuck his flowing garments up so that he could move quickly and freely without tripping over his clothes. The soldier’s sword was fastened on the belt and it also assisted in holding the breastplate in place.

I think it is fair to say that as the belt was the foundation of the Roman soldier’s armor, so the “belt of truth” is the foundation of the “armor of God” for every follower of Jesus Christ.

So what is the “truth” that Paul says should be “tightly belted around our whole life”?

I’m not going to try to give a theological explanation of what scholars view as truth. Instead, let me give you two scriptures to consider and then we’ll briefly talk about “the belt of truth” and how it applies to us.

“For the law was given through Moses: grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

I know it’s important that we have a good understanding of doctrine, and what’s right and wrong in how we conduct our lives. We need to have a good, God-centered view of many things so that we stay out of error. But the foundational issue is that we must be tightly attached to the truth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; that He gave Himself as a sacrifice for our sin; and that He arose from the grave in triumph over death and hell. If we have not embraced the truth of Jesus Christ, then we are not wearing the belt of truth. Jesus Christ is the essence of all truth for those who are His followers.

Unfortunately, a lot of Christians have a sagging belt of truth because they don’t take time to tighten it by fellowshipping with Him on a frequent (daily, I hope) basis. The fundamental way that our belt of truth is kept tight is by frequent personal communication with Him through prayer and through the Word. A sagging belt of truth means we are off duty in maintaining our relationship with Him and living the Christian life.

Now that we understand what the belt of truth is, we understand why it is foundational to our effective use of all the armor of God. So, buckle up!

WHAT TO DO WITH DIRTY CLOTHES!

Imagine what it would be like to be the pastor of an apparently successful church and receive a letter from the founder of Christianity that reads, in part, like this:

“I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive—but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God.  Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. . . . Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with evil. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. All who are victorious will be clothed in white” (Revelation 3:1-6, NLT).

At the time this letter was written, the city of Sardis had seen its best days and was in decline. Sardis had a reputation for being an apathetic city that loved its luxury and immorality. It was still a wealthy city, situated at the juncture of several important trade routes. The combination of wealth and pleasure-loving gave the city a notorious reputation for decadence.

The love of soft living and the lack of discipline were historical problems for Sardis. Situated on a mesa surrounded by cliffs, it seemed to be a city safe from attacking enemies. At about 550 B.C., Cyrus of Persia attacked the city but could not find a way to capture it. One of his soldiers studied the problem carefully and one day observed a defender accidentally drop a piece of equipment over the wall and down the cliff. The enemy soldier watched as the defender climbed down a hidden trail and retrieved the dropped item. The Persian soldier marked the location of the secret trail and that night he led a detachment of Persian soldiers up the trail and into the city.

When the Persians got to the top and came to the city walls, they found the city totally unguarded. The people of Sardis were so overly confident in their natural defenses that they felt no need to keep a diligent watch. No one was on guard and the city was easily captured!

Jesus, the founder of Christianity, said of the church at Sardis, “You have the reputation of being alive but you are dead.” This was a church full of activity; in fact, the calendar was loaded with activities and it was really a happening place. But the broken heart of the Savior said, “You are dead!” He then went on to say, “I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of My God.” In other words, “What you are doing, the way you are living, is not pleasing to Me or to My Father.”

Jesus’ challenge to His church in Sardis was, “Wake up! Strengthen what little remains. Go back to what you heard (were taught and believed at first); hold to it firmly.” The church was as lax in its vigilance as the defenders of the city were, and in their arrogance they were wide open to spiritual attack.

Because Sardis was an affluent town, apparently many of the Christians were enamored by the prosperity and began to hunger after it, drifting away from the teaching of Scripture toward a materialistic mindset.

Jesus telling them to wake up implies that this church had gone to sleep; they were not alert and awake, but were pretending to be so with all their activities and the desire to be accepted by the culture. “Strengthen what little remains” implies that the church had begun with a life of faithful service but over time had become so attracted to the world around them that their life in Him was being impeded.

But not everyone in Sardis had been infected by the culture that surrounded it. In verse 4 Jesus says, “Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes.”

What did He mean by “who have not soiled their clothes”? These are people who have put on the whole armor of God and are living their lives according to the teachings of the Word of God. They have kept their attention and their affection upon God and His Kingdom and not on the cultural kingdom that surrounds them. These are born-again, Spirit-filled people who understand that they are sojourners here on earth; they understand that this world is not their home. They are hardworking, compassionate, God-fearing people whose primary love is the Lord and His work and they have not been seduced and soiled by our materialistic, carnal culture.

Thank the Lord that dirty clothes can be washed. The word repentance to a Christian is not an unnecessary word; it is not a word to be cast off or thought of as having no place in the life of a New Testament believer. John, the writer of the book of Revelation, also wrote this to the churches in Asia Minor: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

If our garments get soiled, He’ll make them clean again. We just have to ask!

THE ARMOR OF GOD

A few weeks ago my weekly blog was centered on the Apostle Paul’s concluding statement to the Ephesian church, which he begins with a challenge to “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might” (Ephesians 6:10).

Today we look at Paul’s following exhortation: “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11).Interestingly, Paul repeats the exhortation just two verses later: “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm” (verse 13). I believe the repetition underscores the importance of what he is saying.

But the question arises, why is Paul so strident about our need for the whole armor of God? Let me offer several personal observations about why I believe he is so intense about this.

First, human nature tends toward comparison shopping. For example, when we buy a car, most of us take the approach that we need to look around and see what we can afford and what we’ll be comfortable with. We do the same type of thing in many other areas of life. We pick one or two items out of many that are available to us.

We must not take the comparison shopping approach when it comes to the armor of God but, unfortunately, some try to do that. They become “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” people and they pretty much ignore a lot of the other parts of the armor. Others become “shield of faith” people; still others are “breastplate of righteousness” folks who have little or nothing to do with anyone else. Comparison shopping is not an acceptable approach to the armor of God. Paul adamantly says, “Put it all on—all of it!”

Secondly, the reason this statement follows Paul’s statement about our need to “be strong in the Lord” is that no one can adequately handle the armor of God in his own strength. We have to lay aside the “John Wayne attitude” that we can do this on our own—because we can’t. Anyone who is foolish enough to think he can use the sword of the Spirit or the shield of faith without the strength of the Lord is bound for defeat. We are talking about God’s armor and to put it on and use it properly, we must have His strength. If we don’t get our strength from the Lord then the armor of God is useless to us.

Thirdly, when Paul uses the phrases, “Put on the whole armor” and “Take up the whole armor,” he is clearly telling us that this is going to require an effort on our part; it’s going to require time and discipline on our part to get it done. “Put on” means “to hide in, to be clothed with,” so the word picture here is that we should consciously put on each piece of the armor just as we would clothing.

I know some Bible teachers say that every day we should go through the process of “putting on the armor” by literally acting out the putting on of each part and verbally asserting that it is in place. I believe we need to do that just once and then remind ourselves regularly that each piece is in place. In so doing we are also reminding ourselves of the value and purpose of each piece of God’s armor. The armor does not fall off as long as we remain in regular communion with Him and it doesn’t fall off when we sleep.

Another very important reason Paul emphasized taking up all the armor is that unless we take up the whole armor of God, we are leaving ourselves vulnerable. Those who take up just two or three pieces of the armor have left themselves exposed to the wounding effect of the enemy’s persistent attacks on the exposed areas.

Paul finishes verse 11 by asserting, “. . . that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.”

“To stand against.” The words as Paul uses them mean “to be set, to take a position and hold it.” This is precisely what James was teaching when He said, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). The word resist means “to stand against, to oppose, to set one’s self against.”

“The schemes of the devil.” The word schemes means the deceptions that the devil will use to try to entice us into error or bad behavior. This is an extremely important point of understanding for us to get hold of. When the disciples asked Jesus about the the signs of His coming and of the end of days, He said, “Take heed that no one deceives you” (Matthew 24:4, Mark 13:5 and Luke 21:8, NKJV).

We need the complete armor of God so that as the days become increasingly evil, we will stand strong for the Lord.