Greetings,
The human torso is an
extremely vulnerable part of the body. It contains organs like the heart, the
lungs, the spleen, the pancreas, the stomach and the small and large
intestines. These are known as vital organs because they are classified as bodily
organs essential for life. When soldiers go to war, they have to accept that
protecting the torso is vitally important.
In
order to protect our vital organs we wear armor that covers the front and back
of our torso. Today, people wear things like bullet proof vests or flak jackets.
In the old world, soldiers wore breast plates. Breastplates protected their
vital organs in order to reduce the chance that the soldier would take a fatal
blow. Many injuries will heal, but if a vital organ is destroyed, a soldier's odds
of living to fight another day are drastically reduced.
If
we are Christian then we are at war. This is not a natural war against natural
enemies but a spiritual war against spiritual enemies (Ephesians 6:12). There
is a battle being waged between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of
light, and it is inescapable. As God's children we are the soldiers of heaven.
For this reason God has given us spiritual armor so that we can continue to
stand in the face of constant spiritual warfare.
"Wherefore
take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the
evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins
girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of
righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the
gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be
able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of
salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Praying
always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto
with all perseverance and supplication for all saints" (Ephesians 6:13-18)
Just
like soldiers wear breastplates in the natural, we are to wear a breastplate in
the spirit. It is called the breastplate of righteousness. We put on
this breastplate by speaking it over ourselves. This is accomplished by praying
out loud according to the above scripture. When we do this our spirit man will
literally take up a piece of spiritual armor. In my experience, the armor of God
should be taken up daily. When I fail to do this, I often suffer
unnecessarily in one way or another.
The
question I am going to answer this week is: why is it a breastplate of
righteousness? Why isn't it a breastplate of might or a breastplate of love? In
order to understand this question we have to first define what righteousness
is. The word translated righteousness in this passage comes from the Greek word
dikaiosynē (Strong's 1343). In a broad sense this
simply means to be found in a condition that is acceptable unto God. This topic
is horrendously misunderstood by many Christians.
What does it really mean to be
righteous? Does it means that we don't lie? Does it mean that we stop
fornicating and stealing, or does it mean that we stop thinking inappropriate
or hateful thoughts? What if our issue happens to fall into a "gray
area" of the Bible—meaning
the Bible doesn't provide us with clear and straightforward instruction? On
what level of personal conduct do we actually begin to live
"righteously"?
There is no level of personal
conduct that enables us to be counted righteous in the sight of an Almighty
God. The Bible is very clear on this issue.
"But we are all as
an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and
we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us
away" (Isaiah 64:6)
The
Hebrew verbiage translated" filthy rags" actually makes reference to
a woman's menstrual rag. This is the word picture that the prophet uses to
illustrate our attempts at acting righteous before God. Having said this,
having righteousness (or right standing) before God becomes an issue of
identity. This means that just like I can't change the fact that I'm half Puerto-Rican and half Haitian (because that
is my identity), Christians cannot change the fact that when they are in Christ
they are righteous. When we are born again
we receive a new identity in Christ. Let me illustrate this.
"That
no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who
of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness,
and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that
glorieth, let him glory in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 1:29-31)
This
passage begins by declaring that no flesh should glory in God's presence. This
is because our own righteousness is similar to menstrual rags in God's sight.
However, things are different for those that are "in Christ Jesus." To
be in Christ means to have received salvation by grace through faith (Ephesians
2:8-9). Once an individual is found "in Christ" the righteousness of
Jesus becomes their righteousness because they are in Him! The Bible clearly
says that Jesus is made unto us righteousness by a work of God. It is only through
Him that we can have right standing with God. This leads us into the following
passage.
"And
be found in him,
not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of
God by faith" (Philippians
3:9)
Our
righteousness becomes an identity issue the moment we are found in Christ. Our
righteousness is of God by faith. This is why we can wear it like armor.
However, I'm sure you will agree that this doesn't mean that Christians can't
do unrighteous things. So how does this make any sense? Think about it like
this. Even though I'm half Puerto-Rican and half Haitian, no one can stop me
from adopting Chinese culture. This doesn't make me Chinese. In a similar way,
the unrighteous acts of Christians do not nullify the work of Christ at Calvary
(Galatians 2:21). Although Christians can do unrighteous things, it doesn't
make us unrighteous in God's sight. It simply means that we must be cleansed of
our unrighteous works through the act of repentance (1 John 1:9).
For example, if I roll in the mud I do not
become mud. I am simply covered in mud and I must shower to wash the mud off of
me. At no point does the mud alter my identity. In the same way, just because
Christians can commit unrighteous acts, it does not make them unrighteous.
I am convinced that one of the
biggest barriers to intimacy with Jesus and a walk of power in His kingdom is the problem of sin consciousness. Some
Christians receive Christ and then go the rest of their lives considering
themselves "unworthy," "filthy," and "no good
sinners." They ride this roller coaster of sin consciousness always focusing
on how they can never be good enough. This breaks my heart.
It's true that our flesh isn't
good enough, but the moment that we are found in Christ we are made "good
enough" by His work. This means that I need to respond to Him according to
what He has done, as opposed to responding to Him according to what I've done.
I don't come to Christ as a sinner. I already did that. Now that I am "in
Him," I come to Him as one who is worthy, dearly beloved, accepted,
righteous, blessed, blameless, etc. If I sin and commit acts of unrighteousness
I repent, but I don't need to allow the fact that I am imperfect to hinder my
intimacy with God.
This is why I have no fear of
praying for miracles, signs, and wonders. This is why I don't waste my time
getting jealous of what other Christians receive from God. This is why I enjoy
glorious prayer times in the deep presence of God. Furthermore, this is why sin
has little appeal to me. My mind is so renewed to the work that Jesus did for
me, sin is a small nuisance in my daily life. It is not something that requires
all of my strength and energy to avoid.
When a soldier's vital organs
are injured, they are impaled. When Satan defeats us by convincing us that we
do not have right standing with God, we are impaled as well. This is why we
must always wear the breastplate of righteousness. When the accuser comes, the
breastplate will ensure that the finished work of Jesus continues to speak
louder to us than any of his lies and accusations. If there is sin in your
life: REPENT and GET IT OUT! This will keep us in a place where we are able to
effectively stand against the devil and his attacks.
"For he hath made him to be
sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him." (2 Corinthians 5:21)
