In 2003, a class action lawsuit was filed against Second Chance Body Armor. Second Chance manufactures bulletproof vests for police officers and security personnel. Hundreds of police departments throughout the country use their products.
Apparently, several police officers had been killed recently even though they were wearing the vest. Following some independent field tests on several of their vests it was discovered that there was a flaw with some of their products and it wouldn't actually stop a bullet that was fired at it.
A concerned police officer’s group decided to sue the manufacturer for misrepresenting the quality of its product. The lawsuit alleged that the company withheld information about known defects in its bulletproof vests and sold them anyway. Trying to maintain its image as being a caring and compassionate business the company responded by participating in a voluntary replacement program for anyone who had purchased one of the potentially lethal vests at no cost to the user. (So if you had a vest and you hadn’t been shot and killed yet, they were willing to give you another one.)
Along with its replacement program the company had on its website an apology for any inconvenience that their faulty vests may have caused anyone. (Sorry if you were shot and killed)
The attorney General spearheaded the class action lawsuit - which Second Chance lost. Upon receiving the terms of the settlement, it promptly filed for bankruptcy to avoid having to actually pay out any claims. However, in 2013 they lost their bankruptcy appeal and were forced to pay $750 per claim. Not much help to those who had died.
Today we are going to discover the next piece of our spiritual armor. Let’s read Ephesians 6:14. “Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.”
Reviewing from last week, we discovered that to stand your ground meant to hold your head up and your shoulders back. We must never let the enemy catch us with our head hung in defeat. We also discovered that the belt of truth was the written word of God. Although the belt was the only part of the armor not made of metal, and although it seemed to be the least significant, the belt actually played an important role. It was a place to rest the heavy shield and the spear. It was a secure location to place the sword. It held the body armor in place. Without the belt, the armor would fall apart. Without the truth of God’s Word, our lives would fall apart. The rest of the armor is rendered useless without the belt of truth, God’s Word. The belt o truth is the only part of the armor we can actually hold because it is the written word of God.
Now we will look at the body armor of righteousness. As Paul is considering the Roman soldier at his side, his eyes fall to the shiny body armor. As I said last week, these were two huge metal pieces joined together by solid brass rings at the top of the shoulders. This armor weighed in excess of 40 pounds. It covered the soldier from his shoulders down to his knees.
Their armor was very elaborate in design. Mostly made of brass, it could be shined to reflect the rays of the sun in a dazzling fashion. Not only is this armor a defensive weapon but also an offensive weapon. We can only imagine the sight of an entire legion of soldiers marching across the land, reflecting the sun’s rays back into the eyes of their enemy.
Remember, our enemy has many names. One of them is the devil. His name in Greek meant one who strikes repeatedly until finally penetrating the mind. He doesn’t come at us from all sides but rather by a direct path into our thought process. We must build a roadblock across that road and we do so by thinking on thoughts that are pleasing to God. It is on this road to your mind that Satan will attack your righteousness and bring doubt and accusations into your life. So let’s first understand what righteousness is and where it comes from.
Righteousness. It is the act of doing what is in agreement with God’s standards, which leads to the state of being in the proper relationship with God. It is on this statement that Satan attacks.
I assure you that not every action I take on any given day is in complete agreement with God’s standards. And neither are your actions. We all sin. We all fall short of his standards. Because of this, Satan will attack your armor of righteousness and begin throwing accusations. “You can’t do that and be in a proper relationship with God. What you said was not pleasing to God so you have to be the worst Christian ever. I can’t believe you thought that. That proves you’re not a Christian.” Have you entertained those thoughts or am I the only one?
Satan constantly hits us with these types of accusations. His goal is to put holes in our armor of righteousness and make us vulnerable to more of his attacks. And it will work if you are wearing Second Chance Body Armor.
Like our story at the beginning, Satan wants to convince us that the only way we can achieve righteousness with God is by giving ourselves a second chance. We begin to try to earn our proper relationship with God. We read his word more for a while. We start going to church more for a while. We start giving more for a while. We become super religious, sitting in judgment against those who don’t agree with us, thinking how proud God must be of our stance. Bu we keep messing up. And we begin giving up as our armor is riddled with guilt. We soon discover that, like the victims of Second Chance Body Armor, our man-made armor of righteousness does not work. The reason it fails is because our armor of righteousness is not man-made but spiritually made.
Here are three very important scriptures that will begin patching any holes in your armor of righteousness. These are coming from the belt of truth holding your armor in place. You need to read them, meditate on them, and, if you are really struggling, memorize them. Then when Satan attacks your right standing with God, you are prepared.
Romans 3:21-22 “But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him (righteous) without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.”
Three things here. God has provided a way for us to be in right standing with him no matter what we do. We are no longer under the strict requirements of the law given to Moses. We have been set free from all penalties associated with the law. We have the freedom to follow the law due to our love for God and not out of fear. Therefore, when we stumble and fail we do not lose our right standing with God. You can throw that back in the face of the devil.
The only requirement is our faith in Jesus. Faith is not only believing but also allowing your actions to show your beliefs by following his teachings. Grab your belt of truth, the Word of God, and study what Jesus taught. Look at his life and his interactions with others. Discover ways that you can reflect his teachings more in your life.
And remember this is an open invitation to anyone who comes to believe. Set aside your prejudices and opinions about others. Set a course of spreading the good news about Jesus with love, kindness, and compassion.
Grab a hold of this. It’s not your righteousness that makes the difference. 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God (righteous) through Christ.”
Since the time of Adam when God killed innocent animals to cover the nude bodies of Adam and Eve, the need for innocent blood to cover sin was paramount. So Jesus willingly went to the cross and offered his blood to cover man’s sin forever more. Our right standing with God was accomplished on the cross. We do not need to add to it nor can we add to it. When the devil says “You’re not good enough.” throw this back in his face. “I don’t have to be. Jesus took care of that.”
So that leads to this question. “If I am in right standing with God, why do I feel so defeated?” Two reasons why. You’ve allowed yourself to listen to the lies of the enemy and you have removed the belt of truth from your armor. Satan has called you unworthy and, since you have no truth to fight him with, you feel unworthy. Satan has called you unrighteous and, since you have no truth to fight him with, you feel unrighteous. Any demoralizing statement you believe about yourself is from the enemy. Believe it long enough and you will become it.
But let’s look at this third verse. Romans 5:17 “For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.”
Righteousness is a gift. A gift is freely given. You can’t truly earn a gift. It’s given out of love. You have on the armor of righteousness. You shine with the glow of Christ. The enemy can see you coming and bringing light into the darkness that he inhabits. You should have your head held high and your shoulders thrown back.
When we grasp the meaning of righteousness and how we obtain it, it should affect out lives. Read 1 John 5:14-15 “And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.”
When we are wearing our armor of righteousness, we can pray with confidence. That means we can pray with an air of openness and boldness. We no longer cower before God. We can stand before God with our head held high and our shoulders back.
We can also be assured that He hears our prayers. When our petitions are made before him, we have a confidence that He listens and decides on the outcome of our petitions.
And we have the confidence of knowing that if our petitions are in line with what pleases him, they will be granted. And if our petitions are not granted, we, much like Paul, can be assured that it’s because He has greater plans for our lives and ministries than we can imagine.
People who not have their armor of righteousness in place will begin believing the lies of Satan. They will believe that God doesn’t hear their prayers. That God doesn’t care about their needs. That God has forsaken them. Reality is they don’t understand the meaning of righteousness and are not wearing the belt of truth to keep the armor in place.
There is a story in the Book of Acts. Peter and John are going to the temple one afternoon. As they approach the gate to the temple, they see a crippled beggar being placed beside the gate. This man was well known because he was there everyday since he was born a cripple. He was not a stranger to Peter and John.
As they were about to enter the gate, he asked them for money. They looked at him but today it was different. They were staring at him, almost a glare. Something was stirring inside of them. The crippled got anxious, expecting money. But what he got was so much better. Acts 3:6 “But Peter said, ‘I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!’” And the crippled man did.
This is the results of understanding righteousness. It gives us a confidence to follow God’s lead through the Holy Spirit. It gives us a confidence to do God’s work. It will make your prayers for others more powerful. When you encounter those who have been beaten down and crippled by the world, you can tell them to look at you and give them what you have and that is the Lord Jesus.
We know that an armor is more of a defensive weapon. It was used to protect the body from blows of the enemy’s weapons. The body armor was designed to deflect arrows from afar and knives in hand-to-hand combat. It is our understanding of righteousness that will deflect the flaming arrows of accusation fired at us from Satan and the face-to-face confrontations that we have with him on a daily bases.
But the armor of righteousness is also an offensive weapon. It shines with the glory of God because it is a gift from him. Our own righteousness is nothing more than filthy rags. But his is glorious brass designed to shine, not only in the spiritual realm but also in the physical. People should notice you righteousness reflecting the love, mercy, grace, and kindness of God.
We must be constantly shining our armor of righteousness with the Word of God. And the more it shines the more gorgeous we become to the eyes of God and more blinding to the enemy.
