Body Armor of God's Righteousness

Good morning & Welcome to New Hope!

We’re in this series titled One Enemy, based in about putting on the full armor of God.

And what we must realize is that we are in a battle for our lives. Better said, we are in a battle for our very soul. Because whether we can see it or not, there is a spiritual battle going on around us.

Last week we read Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News.

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.

Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.

God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.

For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart.

For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.

His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus

And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts.

So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.

The breastplate of righteousness

The armor is made by God; We have to put on the Armor; He won’t put it on for us

Before we ever get to righteousness we must first be sure to have the truth. So we have the belt of truth firmly in place, and then we can put on the breastplate.

The Roman soldier’s breastplate was a very important piece of equipment. It covered and protected some of the most vital organs - lungs, liver, & heart. Without wearing this piece of armor the soldier was very vulnerable to a fatal would by spear, arrow, or sword resulting in most certain death.

Yes, the breastplate protects the physical heart, but in a more deeper level the heart represents

Righteousness

No one is righteous - not even one. No one is seeing God.

For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

It is not by our own righteousness or by any amount of good works that we are made right with God. It is only because of the work God did through his only son, Jesus, that we could be forgiven; made right; complete; whole; without blemish in God’s sight. When God sees us, he sees Jesus in us, therefore he sees the righteousness of Jesus in us when we align oursleves with him.

I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness.

Search me, O God, and know my heart

Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ.

1. Righteous before God in position because of Jesus

Sanctification - Become in practice what you already are in position.

2. We are also called to practice and pursue living righteously

So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.

But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.