Use the Sword 101

Study 5

Breastplate of Righteousness

Last study week learned about the Belt of Truth.
This week we will look at the next piece of armor, which is the Breastplate of Righteousness.

  • Eph 6:14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,


    • As with the Belt of Truth, the Breastplate of Righteousness is another piece of armor that you put on and it alone, as it is on your body protects you.
    So what is the Breastplate of Righteousness anyway?

    Breastplate
    1) the breast, the part of the body from the neck to the navel, where the ribs end
    2) a breastplate or corset consisting of two parts and protecting the body on both sides from the neck to the middle

    Greek Word: thorax
    Usage Notes: primarily, "the breast," denotes "a breastplate or corselet," consisting of two parts and protecting the body on both sides, from the neck to the middle.

    Righteousness
    1) in a broad sense: state of him who is as he ought to be, righteousness, the condition acceptable to God
    1a) the doctrine concerning the way in which man may attain a state approved of God
    1b) integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking feeling, and acting
    2) in a narrower sense, justice or the virtue which gives each his due

    We in ourselves are not righteous; we are all sinners before God.
    Because of our unrighteousness, we need someway to be able to approach God, because God cannot be in the presence of sin.

  • Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
    And your sins have hidden His face from you,
    So that He will not hear.


    • We as Christians acknowledge our sins and how it separates us from God.
    Remember Adam after he ate from the forbidden tree?

  • Gen 3:9-10 9 Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?" 10 So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself."


    • Adam knew that he had sinned and that God is a Holy God who cannot be in sins presence, so Adam hid himself from God.
    But Adam could not hide from God just as we can't.

  • Psalms 139:6-8 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it. 7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.


  • Psalms 139:3 You comprehend my path and my lying down,
    And are acquainted with all my ways.


    • No we can't hide our sins from God, he knows all things. God even knows what we are going to do before we do it. So if we are such sinful people, then why would God want anything to do with us?
    For me personally I can't understand God's love, no matter how much I try.
    But then we don't have to understand or comprehend it; we just have to believe it!

  • Mark 16:16 "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.


    • God never said you have to understand it, just believe it!

  • Job 37:5 God thunders marvelously with His voice;
    He does great things which we cannot comprehend.


  • Eph 3:18-19 (NLT) 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.


    • So what does all of this have to do with the Breastplate of Righteousness?
    When satan attacks us, one of the things he likes to point out to us is, how much of a sinner we are. He also likes to remind us that God does not like sin (and he should know first hand). But what he chooses not to tell you is about Jesus' righteousness.
    That's right, the breastplate of righteousness we wear as believers is Jesus Christ!

  • Romans 4:24-25 (NLT) 24 It was for us, too, assuring us that God will also declare us to be righteous if we believe in God, who brought Jesus our Lord back from the dead. 25 He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised from the dead to make us right with God.


  • 1 John 2:1-2 1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.


    • But there are some who think that they are self-righteous. These people are the ones who say, "I can't wait to get to heaven, I have a few questions to ask God."
    These people condone their sin and/or blame God for their sins.

  • 1 John 1:10 (NLT) If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.


    • Those who are self-righteous put themselves above God, but then that's the same thing Satan tried to do.

  • Isaiah 14:13-14 13 For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.'


    • Bu the truth is:

  • Isaiah 14:15-17 (NLT) 15 But instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead, down to its lowest depths. 16 Everyone there will stare at you and ask, 'Can this be the one who shook the earth and the kingdoms of the world? 17 Is this the one who destroyed the world and made it into a wilderness? Is this the king who demolished the world's greatest cities and had no mercy on his prisoners?'


    • Sounds like a bully doesn't it? They appear to be big and bad, but in reality they are nothing more then loudmouthed and overbearing persons who think they can control anyone.
    The sad thing is, just as bullies try to control others, satan does the same thing. In fact he has control over many hundreds of thousands of people right at this moment.
    But then that's the difference between God and satan. God has given us a free will, whereas satan wants to control everyone and take all of us to hell with him.
    We as humans don't like to be controlled; we always speak of freedom here In the USA, as do others in the world.
    But what the world does not realize is that they are not free, but they are slaves to their sin.

  • Romans 6:17-18 17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.


    • "Wait a minute, I thought you where talking about freedom here, but it says that I am a slave to either sin or righteousness. Where is the freedom?"

    The freedom here is the choice. You can either choose to serve sin or the Lord.

    "But that's not much of a choice, don't I have any other choices?"

    Yes and no. Yes because you can choose to be happy or you can choose to be miserable. No, because they are really the same choice.
    We all want to be happy, and will search many ways to make ourselves happy by looking to the things of this world for happiness. But we all find that there is only emptiness in the world and the more we try and fulfill our happiness with worldly things, the more miserable we become. Think of all the rich, famous musicians or actors who had it all. Good looks, fame, fortune, others wanting to be like them, you can go on and on with the worldly things they had, but they were still empty inside so they take their own lives, because they never searched in the right place for happiness. And that right place is their creator, GOD!

    Now on the other hand, I know personally what it's like to have nothing, but still be happy and content. I also know what it's like to have things and be content.
    You see, my joy and contentment is not in what I have or don't have, but it's in the Lord. I know no matter what's going on in my life, Jesus is always with me, and that's the joy and peace I have. Not in my own righteousness (Which I have none of) but in the righteousness of Jesus Christ protecting me.

    That's what the Breastplate of Righteousness is all about, Jesus Christ putting that warmth in your heart, that gut feeling of what is right and wrong, and the ability to do the right thing.

  • 1 John 3:7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.


    • We as Christian may appear to be self-righteous in the world's eyes because we flee from sin and don't practice it. But the truth is we are righteous, because our Savior has made us righteous through the work that He did on the cross.
    It all comes down to believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and in the work that Jesus did on the cross. Just like we read earlier in Romans.

  • Romans 4:24-25 (NLT) 24 It was for us, too, assuring us that God will also declare us to be righteous if we believe in God, who brought Jesus our Lord back from the dead. 25 He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised from the dead to make us right with God.


    • But I believe, that that make me a Christian?
    If you are unsure, the test is what you speak out with your mouth.
    Do you confess your sins to the Lord?

  • 1 John 1:9 (NLT) But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.


    • Are you ashamed of Jesus?

  • Matt 10:32-33 32 "Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 "But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.


    • Are you still living the same lifestyle as you used to?

  • 2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.


    • So what do I do?

  • Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.


    • Very simply confess and believe in Jesus Christ.
    Yea but Jesus wont accept me, I have mess up to much.

  • Mark 2:17 When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."


    • We are all sinners saved by the grace of God through His Son Jesus Christ. Just believe that and confess it and you will be saved. No matter what you have done!

    Just pray this prayer from your heart and be saved.

    Jesus, I admit I am a sinner. I ask You to please forgive me for my sins. I believe you died on the cross for me and rose again. Please change my life and make me a new creation, may my old ways of living pass away and may I live for You since You died for me. Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit and may I share You with others. I ask this in Your name Jesus. AMEN!

    If you just prayed that prayer from your heart, you are now a Christian. Welcome to the family of God.
    You have also put on the Breastplate of Righteousness. That's right. You are now righteous in God's eyes because of His Son Jesus.

    So next time you are attacked with being to much of a sinner. Just remember the Breastplate of Righteousness, and where it knowing that Jesus is your righteousness!

    Next week will be the sandals or shoes of peace

    May God watch over you and bless you in your ways as you follow the path laid before you.
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