The breastplate of righteousness is one of the most significant pieces of armor the Christian warrior is given, and one of the most misunderstood. Spiritual warfare is a loosing battle without the breastplate in place.
Ephesians 6:14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
The righteousness of God is a gift given to all His children. It is something we put on, not something we earn. Many Christians miss the simplicity of this and struggle with their identity as sons and daughters of God. Righteousness is who we are positionally because we are now sons and daughters by the blood of Christ. This lesson is to help us live it out practically so it produces the fruit of holiness in our lives.
Romans 6:18-19 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.
While the breastplate of righteousness is a free gift, we still need understanding of what it is, how to put it on, and the purpose it serves. Thank God we have an instruction manual called the Bible.
Thessalonians, in just a few words, gives us an important insight about the function and purpose of the helmet of salvation and the breastplate of righteousness. It tells us that the helmet has to do with hope, and the breastplate of righteousness has two parts.
1 Thessalonians 5:8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.
Many of us don’t realize that there are two parts to the breastplate of righteousness. I want to be clear, I am not referring to our imputed righteousness, I am talking about putting on “the new man,” submitting to our imputed righteousness so we can walk out our salvation with power and demonstration.
Without faith and love, the breastplate is not complete. Both components are needed to produce righteous fruit in our lives that lead us to holiness.
When we are living by faith and walking in love, it produces the works of righteousness, the fruits of the Spirit, leads us to holiness and confirms our identity as sons and daughters of God.
Positionally, we are all made righteous by the blood of Christ. Because of that marvelous gift we are able to approach God boldly to obtain mercy and find grace when we need it. However, as we submit to the righteousness Christ has provided, we grow and develop in the works of righteousness which produces the fruit holiness in our lives.
Romans 6:19-22 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.
Being a slave to faith and love produces the fruit of holiness in our lives.
Faith is not just a confession, but an act of obedience and an act of love. Faith and love without works are both incomplete. Becoming a slave to righteousness demonstrates our faith in God and our love for Him. Being a slave means that we always submit to the will of our master, laying aside our personal desires and plans and putting God’s desires and plans first, even when it is not always convenient.
No amount of religious activity will produce the holiness in our lives that we are all called unto. Complete submission to the will of the Father is the only thing that will produce holiness in our lives.
Galatians 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
It is only faith working through love that counts for anything. What we do is secondary to what we believe, because what we believe shapes what we do. Faith without works is dead. (James 2:17) But we need to know that love without works is dead also.
John 14:21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”
Our love for God is only expressed through the works and actions of keeping His commands. As we grow in understanding of His word and walk in the light of what we have learned, we are actively submitting to righteousness which sanctifies us and produces the fruit of holiness.
Our faith in God will never rise above our love for God. Obedience to God’s word is the greatest act of faith and the greatest expression of love for God and His people.
1 John 5:1-4 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
Our love for others will never rise above our love for God. Our love for people is best expressed by laying down our lives for God and keeping His word. The best thing we can do for our family, our friends, and the entire world is to lay down our life in complete surrender to the Lord.
Hebrews 11:8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.
Abraham’s love for God is what made him righteous in God’s sight. His love for God was shown through his obedience. Abraham obeyed when he didn’t understand. We tend to seek understanding before we obey. Understanding can wait, obedience cannot.
Romans 13:10-14 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
In the Old Testament the law must be fulfilled to be counted righteous. Love for God is what fulfills that law, not works. When we put on God’s armor, we are putting on Christ, the very nature of God. We are putting on love.
Colossians 3:12-14 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
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JC
Truth Pressure Ministries 