Armor of God: The Breastplate of Righteousness guards what has been given
I've been arguing in this series on the Armor of God that spiritual warfare and this Armor that Paul spoke of is not a set of outward actions or a focus on things outside of us, but rather it is a state of mind and spiritual discipline that is centered on Grace. So the foundation and beginning of spiritual warfare and is really an inward focus on what we have been given by Grace that equips us to fight the very real war we age against spiritual "world powers" (yep, Paul said this rather very surprising statement that each person in the body of Christ is fighting massively powerful and senior spiritual forces - see Daniel 10).
That's why it so important to understand Grace.
Grace is unmerited favor. To say we are under Grace, means therefore, God's love and blessings and acceptance are not based on anything we do or don't do, but only on what we receive, namely the Son and Messiah of God, Jesus. That it is unmerited means nothing you do can make you deserving of this Grace and likewise, Grace can not be demerited or taken away from us by anything we do either.
This may be basic stuff to even 'young' followers of Jesus but I am not talking on a doctrinal level but rather on an experiential and day to day level of living and walking with God. For sure, you can void grace (or fall from it), but only by refusing to receive it in the first place! That is, people fall from grace when they no longer believe that God's favor and blessings are unmerited.
That said, this post is about the second "piece" of armor in Paul's famous passage, the Breastplate of Righteousness. And you will see that it has everything to do with the Grace of God - the unmerited Gift of Righteousness.
What many have said is that this piece of armor has something to do with protecting our spiritual heart. By the way, the heart in the biblical sense is not distinct from the mind. Both wisdom and love, the heart and mind, the seat of emotion and intellect seem to be one; this is in contrast to Western thought which differentiates the two.
So the Breastplate of Righteousness is a piece of Armor that guards this heart.
We see in Proverbs that the heart is the wellspring of Life and that we should guard it above all else. And we remember the words of Jesus who said all manner of evil actions come and originate from dark thoughts wrought in the depths of our heart.
So this is therefore the crux of the matter - in spiritual warfare we must Guard our Hearts by Understanding the Unchanging Nature of the Righteousness that we are imputed with. In other words, the Breastplate of Righteous is "put on" figuratively by fully embracing in our thought life the Righteousness of God.
So to you - the follower of Yeshua - you are Righteous in Him. In fact the Bible goes further and says you so Righteous that you are His Righteousness! 2 Cor 5:21 says "For He who had not known sin made Himself to become sin in your place, that we would become the Righteousness of God in Him."
What does it mean to be Righteous anyways?
Someone may say - to be free from sin. But in the purely Biblical sense, "Righteousness" literally means to be worthy of an inheritance. That's why we are called Heirs of God in the Bible! And this places Jesus on the Cross as our Eternal Father dying that we may Inherit all that He is and has! In fact, the word Testament (think New Testament) is another word for "will" the document that bequeaths an inheritance to heirs. So that's what the New Testament is, literally, the Will of Yeshua with His boundless Inheritance Revealed to the mankind that they may know Him who is Life!
So why are so many of us so concerned that we are falling from Grace because we have sinned. Friends, we will always sin so long as we are in this body. Definitely our portion on this earth to grow continually in Victory over the flesh as Walk in the Spirit, but YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS CAN NOT BE DIMINISHED BY EVEN A HAIR'S BREADTH NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO OR DON'T DO!
So guard your heart from this guilt that is based on lies. You are Righteous and His Righteousness. Instead, put on the Breastplate of Righteousness and thank God for His Grace!
Good hunting.
That's why it so important to understand Grace.
Grace is unmerited favor. To say we are under Grace, means therefore, God's love and blessings and acceptance are not based on anything we do or don't do, but only on what we receive, namely the Son and Messiah of God, Jesus. That it is unmerited means nothing you do can make you deserving of this Grace and likewise, Grace can not be demerited or taken away from us by anything we do either.
This may be basic stuff to even 'young' followers of Jesus but I am not talking on a doctrinal level but rather on an experiential and day to day level of living and walking with God. For sure, you can void grace (or fall from it), but only by refusing to receive it in the first place! That is, people fall from grace when they no longer believe that God's favor and blessings are unmerited.
That said, this post is about the second "piece" of armor in Paul's famous passage, the Breastplate of Righteousness. And you will see that it has everything to do with the Grace of God - the unmerited Gift of Righteousness.
What many have said is that this piece of armor has something to do with protecting our spiritual heart. By the way, the heart in the biblical sense is not distinct from the mind. Both wisdom and love, the heart and mind, the seat of emotion and intellect seem to be one; this is in contrast to Western thought which differentiates the two.
So the Breastplate of Righteousness is a piece of Armor that guards this heart.
We see in Proverbs that the heart is the wellspring of Life and that we should guard it above all else. And we remember the words of Jesus who said all manner of evil actions come and originate from dark thoughts wrought in the depths of our heart.
So this is therefore the crux of the matter - in spiritual warfare we must Guard our Hearts by Understanding the Unchanging Nature of the Righteousness that we are imputed with. In other words, the Breastplate of Righteous is "put on" figuratively by fully embracing in our thought life the Righteousness of God.
So to you - the follower of Yeshua - you are Righteous in Him. In fact the Bible goes further and says you so Righteous that you are His Righteousness! 2 Cor 5:21 says "For He who had not known sin made Himself to become sin in your place, that we would become the Righteousness of God in Him."
What does it mean to be Righteous anyways?
Someone may say - to be free from sin. But in the purely Biblical sense, "Righteousness" literally means to be worthy of an inheritance. That's why we are called Heirs of God in the Bible! And this places Jesus on the Cross as our Eternal Father dying that we may Inherit all that He is and has! In fact, the word Testament (think New Testament) is another word for "will" the document that bequeaths an inheritance to heirs. So that's what the New Testament is, literally, the Will of Yeshua with His boundless Inheritance Revealed to the mankind that they may know Him who is Life!
So why are so many of us so concerned that we are falling from Grace because we have sinned. Friends, we will always sin so long as we are in this body. Definitely our portion on this earth to grow continually in Victory over the flesh as Walk in the Spirit, but YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS CAN NOT BE DIMINISHED BY EVEN A HAIR'S BREADTH NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO OR DON'T DO!
So guard your heart from this guilt that is based on lies. You are Righteous and His Righteousness. Instead, put on the Breastplate of Righteousness and thank God for His Grace!
Good hunting.
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