Truth and Righteousness

Introduction

What’s up guys? how’s everyone doing this morning?

For those of you that don’t know me, my name is Nick Bilotta. I am the Youth Pastor at Emmanuel Church in Bloomington, IN.

You know, this is a pretty cool moment for me to get up here and teach you guys because when I was your age I sat in the exact same spot you guys are sitting right now. I grew up going to New Life Church, Pastor Mike and Michael were my Pastors, Pastor Jake was my youth pastor, and I grew up going to this camp every single summer since I was in 3rd grade! So as someone who has been in your position before, let me just say you guys are in a special place right now. I would not be in the position I’m in and standing up here ready to teach you this morning without many of the leaders here at camp this week, and without the incredible things that God does here at Highland Lakes Camp. So again, as someone who has been in the exact same position as you guys and someone who has seen some of the awesome things God can do through people at this camp, let me ask you that whenever someone is up here teaching you this week, to sit up a little straighter, lean in a little closer, and tune your ears in to God’s Word.

Let me pray and then will get started with our lesson this morning: Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this wonderful morning you’ve given us. We thank you for the opportunity to get to be at a place like this where everything we do centers around you and your word is magnified. I pray that you be with me right now as I’m about to bring forth your Word and I pray for each and every one of these teenagers in the room right now that you would open their hearts and they would be ready to receive your Word. Most importantly, we want to praise you and thank you for your Son Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross for our sins and for His resurrection. We love you and we thank you for who you are. In Jesus name, Amen.

Maybe illustration (it’s hard to find the truth/context matters/Gen Z Middle school teacher slang)

One thing about me that many of you might not know, is on top of being a Youth Pastor at Emmanuel, I’m also a teacher. Specifically, a 6th grade teacher. Any 6th graders in here? Nice! I remember when I first got asked to teach this session and I remember being so pumped up because I love middle schoolers. I’ve spent a lot of time with kids your age. And in my many many hours that I’ve spent with middle schoolers there’s one thing I’ve noticed. I understand you guys… I know your whole language. Rizz, Sigma, ohio, skibiddi, bussin, fanum tax. Now let me tell you, I wasn’t always like this. I remember when I first started teaching 6th grade and I would hear those words all the time. I had no idea what they meant. Mind you, I’m only 23, I’m not even that old and even I didn’t understand. If I didn’t know any better in my classroom, I would’ve thought I was surrounded by students who didn’t even speak english. But it wasn’t until I started talking to my students and they were explaining the background and the context to all these words that I really understood what they meant and how to use them in a sentence. Once I understood the background and context it made so much more sense in understanding my students.

Well guys, we should look at the Bible in a similar way to my story. We have to look at the context and the background of what’s going on in the bible to best understand it. Just like how in my classroom I wasn’t really able to understand my students until I learned the context of what was going on.

So as we get ready to start our lesson this morning and continue looking at the whole armor of God, I want to backtrack a little bit and review to make sure we really understand the background and context of what is going on here in Ephesians. As I mentioned before, It’s really important as people who read the Bible that we go back and understand the context of what is going on. Without the proper context we might not fully understand what’s being said and we might miss the truth. So to make sure we don’t miss the truth of what’s going on in Ephesians, lets go back to the very beginning of Ephesians and look at Ephesians 1:1 it says

Ephesians 1:1 ESV

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:

So we can see right here from the start, that this book of the Bible is a letter written by Paul. If you remember from the Bible, we first learn about this guy named Paul back in the book of Acts. The book of Acts talks all about what the Christians did after Jesus ascended into Heaven. We find out in Acts that the guy who wrote this book Paul used to be called Saul and he would persecute Christians until Jesus appeared to him one day while he was on the road to Damascus. After that experience, we know Saul changes his life and becomes a Christian and later has his name changed to Paul. So at this point in Paul’s life he had been traveling around to different areas of the world sharing the gospel for many years. One of the places he spent time in was a city called Ephesus and we see here that’s who he’s writing to: the saints in Ephesus. Saints is just another word for Christians. So we now know that Paul was writing to the Ephesians or the Christians living in Ephesus.

We know based on geography that the city of Ephesus was a coastal city off the Aegean sea in Asia Minor. Nowadays this would be in the modern day country of Turkey. And we know that at the time that Paul wrote this letter to the Ephesians, Ephesus was controlled by the Roman Empire. Now, it’s pretty significant that Ephesus is a coastal city because back when this book was written people couldn’t just drive a car or fly on a private jet to get from place to place. If Ephesus is located by water how do you thing most people traveled there? By boat! And a lot of what boats were used for back then was for trade. So because Ephesus was a big coastal city people would come there from all over the world to trade different goods. Well people wouldn’t just trade goods, a lot of times people would also trade different ideas, cultures, and beliefs. Because of the wide variety of ideas and beliefs that would spread around Ephesus, there was a lot of stuff going on that was sinful like idol worship and sorcery. Now that we know a little bit more about Ephesus, it’s going to be really important to remember all this as we read what Paul is writing to the Christians living there because it will help us understand what he’s saying better.

The book of Ephesians is a really unique one because Paul spends the first half of it, in chapters 1-3 talking about different Christian truths like how God raised his son Jesus from the dead and how we as christians are saved through our faith. In the second half of Ephesians, chapters 4-6, which is where were going to be focusing on today, Paul talks about how we can apply and live out those truths in our lives.

Outline

This morning, were going to be picking up talking about the armor of God which is towards the very end of the book of Ephesians and were going to be specifically looking at two distinct parts of the armor. The belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness. If you’re taking notes in your journal this morning, I’d encourage you to write down our outline for this morning.

The Truth (Ephesians 6:14A, Ephesians 2:1-2, 2 Timothy 3:16, & John 14:6)

Righteousness (Ephesians 6:14B, Romans 3:10-12, & Romans 3:21-26)

As we look at these two pieces of the armor of God, were going to really examine what does it mean to put on the belt of truth and breastplate of righteousness.

Sermon

As we pick up with our scripture for today, please turn with me to Ephesians chapter 6 and were going to start in verse 10 but were really going to be focusing on verse 14. Beginning in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 10 it says

Ephesians 6:10–14 ESV

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 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. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

We first see here in Paul’s writing to the Christians in Ephesus, that he’s telling them to lean into the strength of God and to put on the whole armor of God. They should do this so that they are ready to do battle against evil. When Paul writes about this evil he tells us that we are doing battle with the Devil himself. And when we think about who we are doing battle with it’s really important to note what kind of armor Paul tells us to put on. Who’s armor does he say it is? Put on the whole armor of… God! It’s God’s armor! Paul’s not telling the reader to go forge their own armor. Paul is telling Christians that we need God’s very own armor to go to batttle against evil.

Remember when I talked to you guys a little bit about the city of Ephesus? (Pause). Remember when I mentioned the city of Ephesus was under the control of the Roman empire? If you read through this passage, you’ll notice that the picture Paul is painting with this armor is that of a Roman soldier. Well because the city of Ephesus was under Roman control, everybody that Paul was writing to would understand the picture he’s making because they’ve all seen Roman armor. For all of us living in the year 2025, we don’t really see people wearing armor like that anymore. In fact, in my 2025 brain the first thing I think of when I hear armor is diamond armor from Minecraft. That is not the picture Paul is trying to make here so we need to make sure we really understand what Paul is getting at here because it will help us better understand what he’s saying. As we look a little closer, we’re going to look at two pieces of the armor today.

Truth

The first armor we see Paul make mention of is the belt of truth. For Roman soldiers, the belt is an important first piece of armor because a Roman soldier’s belt held everything else into place. A Roman soldier’s belt also provided stability as well. Now for us Christians Paul writes that we should wear the belt of truth. We know now from Roman soldiers, that this first and central piece of armor is critical in making sure everything else is held together but that leads us to the question now… what is truth? Well that would depend on who you ask.

Let’s start by asking this question to someone of the world, and when I say someone of the world, what am I talking about? Well at the beginning of Ephesians, Paul explains this idea of the world. In Ephesians 2 verses 1 through 2 Paul tells the christians that they were once of the world. He says

Ephesians 2:1–2 ESV

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—

Here Paul is saying that people of the world are people that don’t follow God and live in their sin. In fact, we were once these people until we turned to faith in Jesus.

So if we talk to these kinds of people about truth, they would most likely tell you about this idea called Relativism. Relativism is one of those big words you might hear that you have no idea what it means but once someone starts explaining it or if they say it in a different way you would understand. Well this idea of relativism has been around for thousands of years. This is not a new idea but sometimes it can be worded a little different. Relativism is basically the idea that truth is relative or in other words truth is different for every person. Has anyone ever heard someone say “What is true for you may not be true for me?” especially with social media nowadays you might see stuff like this everywhere. Well this idea of relativism is a lie. In fact, it’s a really popular lie in the world right now. And the reason why the idea of relativism doesn’t work is because if anything can be truth, well really nothing can be truth. How are you able to tell right from wrong if everybody in the world has there own sense of what’s right and wrong?

You guys aren’t quite old enough to drive yet but have any of you started to take an interest in driving? How many of you feel like you have a basic sense of how rules work on the road? Alright lets test that knowledge. Everybody, red light means what? Stop. Ok. Green light means? Go. Good! Wow I think you guys are all ready to get your license now. Well picture this, your driving in the car with your parents or someone in your family and you pull up to a red light. Well what if one day everybody driving their cars decided that they were going to follow their own sense of “truth” when it comes to driving. How do you think that would go? Not well. In fact, it would be madness. There would be car crashes, people would be speeding, there would be no regard for what is right and wrong. Well guys that picture… this is how that idea of relativism works. It can sound really great at first, but when you really think about it. It just doesn’t work.

So if we know this is what the world would say truth is, do we really think that’s the truth Paul is talking about here in Ephesians?

Let’s ask this same question “What is truth?” but this time let’s ask that to God. 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us this. It says

2 Timothy 3:16 ESV

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

So here we can see that all scripture is breathed out by God. Everything in this book is God’s Word and everything in it is true. In fact, the Bible is more than just true, it’s the standard of truth for all people. God has already decided that His word is absolute truth.

So if everything in here is what God says, let’s look at another verse that will help us understand what God says truth is. Take a look at John 14:6. Here Jesus tells one of his disciples this

John 14:6 ESV

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

We already know that God’s word is absolute truth and is the standard for everyone but Jesus takes that a step further and says he is the way, the truth, and the life. Well if we just said God’s word is truth, how can Jesus also be the truth? Jesus is the the truth because he is the perfect son of God and he embodies the truth because he cannot sin. He is God’s truth and standard for truth lived out here on earth and because of that he is our example of truth.

Now we know, when Paul talks about wearing the belt of truth he’s talking about the truth of God’s word. The world is going to lie to us and tell us there is no truth but we as Christians know the embodiment of that truth is Jesus. Just like the belt on a Roman soldiers armor serves as a piece to secure and stabilize the rest of the armor, Jesus serves as the foundation and stability for the rest of the armor.

Righteousness

As we shift to the next piece of God’s armor, were going to be focusing on the breastplate of righteousness.

Before we can really examine this we need to figure out what righteousness is. Righteousness is kind of one of those big church words we might hear that we might know what it means but we don’t know how to explain it. Righteousness is simply the state of being morally right and justified by God. Essentially, in order to be righteous, we have to be right with God. Well that doesn’t sound too hard right? I can be right with God. You know for me, I pray, I read my bible, I go to church, I grew up going to Youth Group, I went to church camp. I do all these good things and love God so that has to make me right with him? Well we just saw that God’s word is the truth so why don’t we look to the truth to see what God says. Look at Romans 3:10. Romans 3:10 says

Romans 3:10–12 ESV

as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

Hmm, well if this is the truth from God’s word, how can Paul be telling us to put on the breastplate of righteousness, if God’s truth is saying that no one is righteous? Well lets look back at God’s truth and dig a little deeper. Look at Romans 3:21-26.

Romans 3:21–26 ESV

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Here in this section of Romans, we can see that for us to be righteous or to be in right standing with God, we have to have faith in Jesus. It tells us in this passage in verse 23 that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We also read before that in Ephesians 3:10 that none of us is righteous. But this passage goes on to tell us that Jesus is our justifier. Our sins make us unrighteous but He is the one who makes us righteous before God. Despite our sins and unrighteousness Jesus makes us right because Jesus lived a sinless life and took our sin punishment by dying on the cross for our sins. It’s through Jesus and what he’s done for us that we can put on the breastplate of righteousness. And because of what Jesus has done to make us righteous, we can strive to live like Him and follow God’s word.

Just like how for a Roman soldier, the breastplate would protect their vital organs from being pierced. In God’s armor, the breastplate of righteousness protects our hearts which is vital for us spiritually. As humans, our hearts are susceptible to sin because of our sin nature and can be pierced by the attacks of Satan. So it’s important that we put on the breastplate of righteousness and live a life that reflects God’s word and character so that Satan can’t pierce our hearts.

Conclusion

So how does all this apply to us now as middle school students? Just because we live in a different age than the original audience of this passage, the same truths still apply. One of the things that makes the Bible, God’s word, so unique and powerful is that it stands the test of time. All the same stuff the early Christians battled with back then like the Christians in Ephesus, is the same stuff we battle now. Sin runs rampant in our world just like it did 2,000 years ago. And so as middle school students today, we need to first understand that there is a very real enemy out there named Satan that wants to see God’s kingdom destroyed. He wants to lie to you and deceive you so that you won’t be part of God’s kingdom and Paul recognizes this. That’s why he writes this passage and equips Christians with God’s very own armor so that we can be protected from Satan. We can’t fight Satan alone with our own logic, we’re imperfect people, it’s in our own nature. We must stand behind God and use His word.

The next thing we need to understand is that truth is real. We live in a world that loves to preach about so called “truth”. That everyone can find their own truth and make their own decisions about right and wrong but we know that is so far from the real truth. Guys, the real truth is right here in God’s word. Everything in this book is true and it’s the standard for truth. The standard for truth is not what people say at school, not what people say on your sports teams, not what people say on Tik Tok or instagram. We should live our lives according to God’s truth.

Lastly, we need to understand that because of Jesus, his sinless life, and what he did on the cross, we are made righteous. And because we are made righteous through Jesus we should strive to live a life of righteousness. Obeying God’s commands, modeling our life after Jesus, and ultimately following the truth of God’s Word.

Thought of the Day

All this leads me to our thought of the day and if your taking notes I’d encourage you to write it down. Our thought of the day is: In this battle, I will be rooted in God’s truth and remain in the righteousness of God. I’ll say that again for those of you writing that down. (Repeat Thought of the Day). (Repeat all together).