The Armor of God: The Breastplate of Righteousness

When Paul the Apostle wrote his letter to the church at Ephesus, he was under house arrest and chained to a Roman soldier. He discussed the spiritual battle happening all around us on earth. He used the Roman soldier’s armor as a metaphor for the spiritual armor needed to defend against evil forces. When Paul looked at the Roman soldier's breastplate, it reminded him that a Christian needs the breastplate of righteousness to protect the heart and inner organs. He may have had two ideas in mind as he wrote.

1) The first point is the need for imputed righteousness. What does imputed mean? Imputed means credited to our account, like when God spoke to Abraham, our father in the faith, and told him he would be a father to many people, even though he was old and childless.

⁵He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” ⁶Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:5-6, Emphasis added).

Abraham trusted in God's word. How did God respond to Abraham's faith? Scripture says that righteousness was credited to his spiritual account (Genesis 15:5-6). Imputed righteousness puts us in right standing before God, allowing Him to dwell within us through His Spirit. Our right standing with the Lord is not based on our efforts; it is a gift given when we trust in Christ (Romans 4:1-8). God has been gracious and kind in dealing with us this way. He treats believers the same way He handled Abraham. The Lord imputes the righteousness of Christ to us as a gift when we believe in the substitutionary work of Jesus on the cross, bearing our sins in His body (1 Peter 2:24). When we believe, He credits righteousness — the righteousness of Christ — to our spiritual account.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).

When the enemy accuses you of what you have said and done wrong, we can respond that Jesus cried out from the cross, “It is finished” (John 19:30). The Greek word translated “finished” is an accounting term, meaning paid in full. Christ has paid my debt of sin. Nothing we do can add to the righteousness that Christ gives us when we trust in Him. It is not ninety-five percent of Jesus' work and five percent of ours. It is all of Jesus! Christ has fully paid the debt. The believer who understands what Christ has done for him can laugh at the enemy's futile attempt to claim that the believer is not good enough. Christ is our righteousness.

2) Paul might also be indicating that the breastplate of righteousness represents living a life of right conduct before God. If this is the interpretation Paul had in mind, he could have been concerned that the enemy's attacks might take hold in a believer's heart if they are not living with confession and repentance. We are to walk in the light as He is in the light.

⁷But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. ⁸If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:7-9).

Living in God's forgiveness requires a life of vulnerability before God and others. The enemy's darts of accusation and condemnation cannot stick or settle in the heart of someone living a life of obedience and integrity before God and their brothers and sisters in Christ. When we sin, we need to be open and vulnerable with God and agree with Him about it. Ask Him for forgiveness, and if you have hurt someone verbally or through actions, you must make things right with that person, including restitution in some cases. If so, don't delay in doing so. Keith Thomas.

This meditation is a shortened version of the more in-depth study: God’s POWERFUL Armor Protects You. The YouTube video is at the following link: https://youtu.be/yG2qWrWTbsQ