Warrior of The Word - Ephesians 6:14b - Breastplate of Righteousness

 

Ephesians 6:14

Stand therefore, 

having your loins girt about with truth, 

and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

    The breastplate is the part of the armor that covers our chest area; both the left side and the right side. Our upper back is also covered. The righteousness of Christ covers us completely, especially our heart. 

    Isaiah 59:1-15 tells us how sin separates us from God, and how no one was found to intercede on our behalf, so God sent Himself to intercede for us. Isaiah 59:16-18 tells us how God will do this. 

    Verse 16: His own arm brought salvation and His own righteousness sustained Him (Isaiah 51:5)

Verse 17: He put on righteousness like a breastplate (2 Corinthians 6:7) and the helmet of salvation on His head (Psalm 140:7). He put on garments of vengeance (Revelation 19:13) and wrapped Himself in a cloak of zeal (Titus 2:14).

    Verse 18: He will repay each one according to their deeds (Revelation 22:12): 

        *Fury to His enemies: Deuteronomy 32:41-43 & Revelation 20:7-15

        *Retribution to His foes: Romans 12:19 & Revelation 19:19-21

        *Recompense to the islands/coastlands: Isaiah 42:4 

    Isaiah 59:19-21 tells us that:

    Verse 19: The Redeemer will be driven by The Breath of The Lord (The Holy Spirit will be with Him). Ezekiel 36:27 & John 14:16, 17

    Verse 20: The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression. Romans 11:26 & Ezekiel 18:30

    Verse 21: The Redeemer will give us His Spirit and His Words will not depart from our mouths, nor from the mouths of our seed (those who believe The Word we have shared with/spoken to them). Deuteronomy 32:14

    Every piece of our armor is Jesus Christ. We are covered from head to toe in The Word of God. Who is there to fear now? No one. Where Jesus goes, we go. Yes, we follow His lead, but we also walk beside Him and under His flag we ride. 

    That Breastplate is neither made of iron or leather, but every stitch is The Word. By faith in The Name of The Lord Jesus Christ, the Breastplate is applied to us. To put on the armor is to believe that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD. 

    He is our Breastplate. He not only lives in our hearts by faith, but covers our hearts with His righteousness, His justification. It is the 'judicial approval of God' on His people. For we have been judged according to His Word and we have been found not guilty because the blood of God's Lamb has been applied to our sins and washed them away. Woo-hoo! Praise The LORD! We are free! 

    No longer does guilt and shame thrive in our hearts, tearing us down and binding us up in them; for Christ has come into our hearts, tearing down the strongholds that kept us bound and afraid. Delivering us from evil and giving us Himself. God's most Perfect and Good Gift which He promised to give anyone who believes in His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. 

    This Gift is our Breastplate. The Lord Is My Righteousness and He covers me with Himself because I believe that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD. 

The Color of Worship - White

Revelation 3:5

Like them, he who overcomes will be dressed in white. And I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and His angels. 

Romans 13:14

Instead, clothe yourselves with The Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.

CHRIST OUR COVERING

    White is the color of righteousness, for Christ Jesus is our righteousness. We are made right with God through the atoning power of the blood of God's Lamb. And when we believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, we are taking upon ourselves Hisself. We are choosing to be His own people. Therefore, His righteousness is the white spiritual covering with which we are covered. 

    Galatians 3:27

For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

    Colossians 3:9-11

Do not lie to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices, and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is in all. 

    Ephesians 4:17-32 speaks of how we are to be changed once the covering of Christ is upon us. For the purpose of this study, we go to verse 24 (Amplified Bible) "And put on the new self [the regenerated and renewed nature], created in God’s image, [godlike] in the righteousness and holiness of The Truth [living in a way that expresses to God your gratitude for your salvation]."

CHANGED FROM GLORY TO GLORY

    2 Corinthians 3:18

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of The Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from The Lord, Who is The Spirit. 

    2 Corinthians 4:6

For God, Who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His Light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

    Romans 12:2

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

    1 John 3:2

Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is.

    

A Crucified Life - - Lives A Righteous Life

 

2 Corinthians 5:21

God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 1343

Righteousness: justice, judicial approval
From the Greek word 'dikaiosuné' (pronounced dik-ah-yos-oo'-nay): the divine approval of God, what is approved in His eyes, divine verdict.

DEAD TO SIN

We read Romans 6:1-14 which speaks of being alive in Christ, looking at verse 4:

We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life.

    Sin was on the cross. It was laid across the shoulders of the Lamb of God. He became the scapegoat on which all the sins of the world were placed. By design. Everything God does is done by design and on purpose with purpose. 

    Sin was not alone on the cross. The means by which sin could be cured is also on the cross. The blood of Jesus Christ stained the cross completely. From the cross beam on top to the cross post which was pulleyed into the ground where it stood, drawing every eye to it. But not every heart. Not all who see see clearly; we must view the cross through the eyes of faith in order to see our Savior and not just a mere Teacher or Prophet.

ALIVE IN CHRIST

1 Peter 2:24

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. "By His stripes you are healed."

Romans 8:11

And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.

    When Paul writes that he dies daily, he means not only that he faced death on a daily basis for putting his faith in Christ into action, but that he daily submitted and surrendered to the Word of God.

     Like Daniel, Paul put God first in every decision after he believed in Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. And like Daniel, Paul would not back down when the going got tough. Both were arrested, tried and jailed. 

    Daniel was released after having spent one night in jail (the lions' den). Having survived the lion pit, Daniel's God was given the glory for what He had accomplished in Daniel's testimony.         Paul was arrested, tried and traveled to Rome under arrest. Every town he went through, a group of believers was established by God's Word being shared with anyone who would listen to the gospel Paul preached. 

    Then, as now, God gets the glory every time. We are the righteousness of God in Christ because Jesus Christ is our Salvation, our Hope, our Redeemer, our Righteousness.

    Jeremiah 23:6

In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is His name by which He will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.

    Who is Judah? The people of praise who praise God.

    Who is Israel? The people of God who live according to God's Word.

    Who is God's Word? Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God. 

    

LIVING RIGHTEOUS

Jesus Messiah - Chris Tomlin

Stricken, Smitten And Afflicted - Fernando Ortega

God Really Loves Us - Crowder & Dante Bowe

Heart of God - Zach Williams

No Longer Slaves - Jonathan and Melissa Helser

Me On Your Mind - Matthew West

Jesus Paid It All - Kim Walker-Smith

Make Room - Community Music