Breastplate of Righteousness

Ephesians 6:14 NASB95

14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

The Breastplate…

Covers the most vulnerable part of a soldier’s body

Typically made from metal… either a plate OR woven chain… either of which were HEAVY

Soldiers could often times get by with a blow to the arm / thigh / shoulder… but not to the vital areas.

And what is this breastplate? RIGHTEOUSNESS!!

It’s what protects us from the arrows, spears, and swords of SATAN!

Look back in verse 12…

What is he trying to do to us?

Destroy our faith / Try to make us wicked… sinful… unforgiving… unkind…

So we put on righteousness. But what kind?

Righteousness is something that’s GIVEN to us:

Romans 5:19… says that in Christ we are MADE… righteous

Phil 3:8-9… says that righteousness… “comes FROM God… through faith in Christ”

This Idea has been coined the phrase: “Imputed Righteousness” But this is NOT the kind of righteousness Paul is talking about in Ephesians 6.

Righteousness is something that’s PUT ON:

This is called: “Imparted Righteousness”

Imputed & Imparted:

So IMPUTED righteousness is God’s declaration that we are righteous / holy / blameless in His sight. That it’s not of our own doing, but OUR righteousness belongs to Christ.

IMPARTED righteousness is our RESPONSE to God, in which we are all commanded to demonstrate righteous behavior

What does this mean?

It means that when you became a Christian… and you were lifted up from the water… you became a new creature (thats Ephesians 4)

It means that you are NOW… CAPABLE and RESPONSIBLE to work out the righteousness that’s been given to you

Phil 2:12 “work out your salvation with fear and trembling;”

It means that we every day we live we DISPLAY the righteousness of God in our lives!

So why do I need a breastplate… of righteousness?

#1 To guard your heart… against deceit

#2 To guard your mission… against defeat

#3 To guard your life… against death

#1 To guard your heart… against deceit

There are many things we guard in our lives

Families / Homes / Prized Possessions / Time

You may take self-defense classes to better guard yourself

We set up anti-virus… computer hackers

We set up parental controls… protect our children

We set up passwords… guard our privacy

Why do all these things? To protect what we value!!

I value my privacy, health, kids!

What about our heart? Doesn’t it need protection too?

Prov 4:23 “23 Watch over your heart with all diligence”

What does the Bible say about Guarding your heart?

Our hearts are who we truly are.

Scripture uses the words heart, mind, spirit, and soul interchangeably.

The Hebrew word means “the inner person”, the center of thought and emotion, the conscience, the mind, and our understanding.

Our hearts are who we are.

Prov 23:7 “7 For as he thinks within himself, so he is. ”

Our hearts are easily deceived.

In Noahs day, the Gen 6:5, says that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.

Because their defense was down, their hearts were PIERCED by sin!

We must guard our hearts.

We can’t guard it with anything we can create or do… it’s open for attack

Put on the breastplate of righteousness

It serves as our protection… and without it our hearts will be decieved

#2 To guard your mission… against defeat

How many of you have ever been at work? Let’s say it’s a really long day. And you’re tired… you don’t want to be there. Can anyone relate?

How easy is it? On day like that.. to get distracted?

By a phone… by doodling on a notepad… by playing solitare on the computer screen! You get what I’m saying?

Your mission is to be there for your employer. To do a good job, to not be distracted, fulfill what your required to do.

But what about in a spiritual sense? What ARE we required to do?

To Assemble

To Worship

To Pray

To Hear

To Walk

To Love

To Repent… and the list goes on!

And personally I think the biggest mission of the Church is evangelism!

To be Soul-winners for Christ!

We talk to people on a daily basis that are going to Hell and we have an opportunity to share GOOD NEWS with them!

But what happens, when there’s chinks in our armor?

What happens when we let our guard down?

What happens when we decide righteousness isn’t all that important to me anymore?

What’ll happen is, you may go into battle feeling like you’re ready to fight for the Lord… but your not!…

If your HEART isn’t protected then it will become corrupt!

But if your MISSION isn’t protected?

Assemble together? Nah not too important

Teach my kids at home? Ehh they get enough teaching at school

Pray to God? You know I just don’t feel like it!

And this concept has plagued the church since it began in Acts 2.

“I’ll love the Lord and accept His grace… but I wont go to war for him.”

“I won’t put on my armor, I wont protect my heart and my mission… you know what? It’s been a long day God I don’t have time for this.”

Children of God practice righteousness

1 John 3:10 “10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.”

#3 To guard your life… against death

The breastplate… covers your vital organs.

Without it… you’ll die on the battlefield.

In a real sense that’s what’s at stake. Death.

We may look at physical death as the worst thing imaginable, but spiritual death is infinitely worse.

Mat 10:28 “28 “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Mat 13:49-50 “49 “So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, 50 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

2 Thes 1:8-9 “8 He will punish those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,”

Jude 1:7 “7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.”

Guarding Your heart… protecting your God-given mission… will lead to everlasting life with God.

I read those verse so that we know whats at STAKE when we cruise through life unprotected.

1 Peter 5:8 “8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

Conclusion

If there’s a weakness in your armor 

If there are sins unconfessed, unrepented, you’re vulnerable.

Following Christ is more than just being committed and devoted to the cause…

It starts with commitment… but it demands righteousness

Notice as we close, how Paul uses righteousness elsewhere in Ephesians

Eph 4:24 “24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”

Our new body comes with the capabinlity and responsiblilty to live “RIGHTEOUSLY”

Eph 5:8-10 “8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light 9 (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), 10 trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.”

Righteousness is a walk

“Put on”

Galatians 3:26-27 “26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”