Alba 7-16-2023
THE ARMOR OF GOD: RIGHTEOUSNESS
Ephesians 6:14
Dr. Bradford Reaves, minister with Crossway Christian Fellowship in Hagerstown, Maryland, told how when he was a police officer, he wore a piece of body armor every day.
It was heavy, bulky, and hot, but it provided protection and assurance that a bullet would not hit a vital organ. He was in a K9 unit and he and his dog were often given the task of tracking high-risk and heavily armed fugitives.
When that was the case, he said he put on an extra piece of body armor that would provide even greater protection against higher caliber bullets. He said the point being: He NEVER went to work without wearing body armor, period.
Ephesians 6:11 tells us to “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Then a list of spiritual armor available to us is given.
Ephesians 6:14 says that the first armor that gives us protection against Satan's and his lies is the belt of truth. That verse also lists the second piece of armor that protects us. It says that we can stand against the devil, “having put on the breastplate of righteousness.”
Greek word for righteousness simply means the correct, proper, just, pure, noble, and honorable pattern for living.
In other words, righteousness is the way a person ought to be. When people turn away from God’s righteousness, the effects are far-reaching. That’s why II Chronicles 7:14 says, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
As Proverbs 14:34 says, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” Righteousness is like a breastplate, essential for spiritual warfare in same way the breastplate for the soldier was absolutely essential.
The breastplate covered the most vulnerable parts of the body, and was the soldier’s primary form of protection for his vital organs, including his heart and lungs. The devil does his best to damage our heart relationship with God.
The Roman soldier's breastplate would be made of thick linen, chain mail, animal horns, or even metal. It was cumbersome and could slow the soldier down, but it was also absolutely necessary. It was fitted with loops or buckles that attached it to the belt. If that belt was loosened, the breastplate would slip off.
So the breastplate needed a good solid belt to keep it in place. In the same way, righteousness needs a good hold on the belt of truth, or else what is right and what is wrong is up for grabs.
People will say that all religions are basically the same because they all believe in love and goodness. So, if you live up to your religious convictions, no matter what they are, you can be considered righteous. There is a problem with that though.
While various religions may agree on some general points, they do differ on some rather important matters. Things like creation, sin, heaven, hell, God, salvation. Just little things like that. Little things that are very important!
Most people like to think that over-all they are pretty good people. They may not use the term “righteous” for themselves but they can become somewhat self-righteous in thinking how good they are.
Such was the Pharisee who looked at a tax collector and thanked God that he was not like that other man. But Jesus said that the humble tax collector's prayer was heard, and the prideful Pharisee's was not. It is easy to become Pharisaical, like a Pharisee.
Today, to call someone a Pharisee is an unfavorable description of a person. But in the New Testament times Pharisees were looked upon as the example of how to be moral and religious.
But Jesus said to His disciples and to a group of ordinary people, “Unless your righteousness goes way far beyond that of these guys, there’s no way at all you can be considered a Kingdom person.” (See Matthew 5:20)
He didn’t say you have to be “close” to that good. He used exhaustive words to say you have to be far more righteous than that. Simply put, righteousness means “being good enough for heaven”.
We all often do enough good things causing to us think that it makes us look pretty good, righteous even. The problem is that our righteousness is no better than Monopoly money.
Imagine playing a game of Monopoly and winning! Then taking those winnings to the store and trying to buy your groceries with that money. They would call it funny money. As good as it was when playing the game, it loses its value when trying to use it in the real marketplace.
The problem that you and I have is not that we don’t have righteousness. The problem is that we don’t have the right kind of righteousness.
Think of going through the check out at Walmart and trying to pay with rupees from India. You won’t be able to purchase the items in your cart – because you have the wrong kind of currency.
You could have sacks full of rupees in the car – and it won’t buy you anything. You don’t need more – you need a different kind. And that’s the problem you and I have. We don’t have the right kind of righteousness.
It has never been that we needed just a little bit more righteousness. That we had some righteousness and God came along and made up the difference, and topped off what we already had. And kind of tipped the scales in our favor.
It’s always been that we have a kind of currency that He doesn’t even accept. It’s not that we have some but not enough – it’s that we have nothing to put on the table. We somehow think we’re going to pay our sin debt, but all we have to offer is counterfeit.
Isaiah 64:6 tells us that, “We are all like an unclean thing,
And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.” Filthy rags, that's all we have to offer.
That’s not just our sins! Even our righteous acts aren’t enough. If we try to appear before the King dressed in our own behavior, our own good deeds, our own righteousness, all He will see is filthy rags.
The standard for righteousness is God Himself. Besides Him, there is none righteous in the entire world. God is always right and we are not.
So any righteousness built on anything we have done ourselves does not offer the same protection as what is found in the armor of God.
Our own armor has a lot of holes and it makes us vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy. When he shoots his firey darts of temptation, one of his arrows will pierce through, damaging our heart.
There is only one way that our righteousness can far exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees and make us right with God. It is available only through Jesus Christ. II Corinthians 5:21 says that God “made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
This righteousness is God’s gift to us based on what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross of Calvary.
The apostle Peter writes in 1 Peter 3:18 “Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, (the NIV says, “the righteous for the unrighteous”) that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.”
We are made right with God through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. The hymn by Edward Mote says it well, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness”.
Jesus lived a sinless life and was innocent when He was crucified. He lived a perfect righteousness. He died an innocent death and was raised to an endless life. It is Christ’s righteousness that made Him an acceptable sacrifice for sin.
Romans 5:19 says, “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.”
And Romans 3:21-23 says, “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
It doesn't matter who you are, you are a sinner. And the only way to access God's righteousness is through Jesus.
When God says, “Not Guilty!”, it is not because we have been good, but because God exchanges our sin for Jesus' righteousness. God accounts or transfers the righteousness of Christ to those who trust in Him.
It is when we yield to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, God places on us His righteousness. Our sins are put on the account of Jesus, and His righteousness is put on our account. So then, when we stand before God, it is the righteousness of Jesus that He sees.
For example: If I look through a piece of red glass, everything is red. If I look through a piece of blue glass, everything is blue. If I look through a piece of yellow glass, everything is yellow, and so on.
When we in obedient faith yield to Jesus as our Savior, God looks at us through the filter of the Lord Jesus Christ. He sees us dressed in the pure holiness of His Son. So either Jesus becomes your righteousness, or you remain in your sins and pay for them yourself. And it is not a pretty picture. We are given a choice.
Romans 10:3 Speaks of the apostle Paul's desire for Israel to be saved but he says, “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.” In essence Israel was saying, “There must be another way.” But Jesus is the ONLY WAY!
Remember, righteousness is being made right with God. We can not do enough good things to be righteousness on our own. The only way we gain true righteousness is through Jesus. Nothing more and nothing less.
The apostle Paul came to realize that he could not measure up to the righteousness of God on his own. In Philippians 3:7-9 he says, “7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.”
It is the righteousness of Christ that makes us right with God. And notice the words in our text, Ephesians 6:14. It says “HAVING put on the breastplate of righteousness”. It is an action in the past. If we are in Christ, we have already put on the breastplate of righteousness.
So first, it means that we have the righteousness of God as a result of what Jesus had done for us on the cross.
But the second thing is; His righteousness makes us want to do the right things and live in a right manner making us able, by the Spirit, to live righteously.
What happens if we sin after becoming a Christian? The answer is given in 1 John 1:9 where it says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
The breastplate of righteousness will guard our heart against the attacks of the wicked one. Remember it is not a self righteous breastplate full of holes, but this armor is the breastplate of the righteousness of God!
The reason Jesus came was to provide for us a protective vest of righteousness. He paid the price with His blood that He might protect us with a shield that sin could not penetrate.
Remember we are in a spiritual war!! The only way we can loose is if we take off the armor of God. The enemy always seeks to demoralize, discourage and cause us to doubt.
It is in Christ Jesus that we are made right. And as His people, He calls us to live righteously. The Lord has given us a new heart, we need to protect it! Doing what is right will protect us from the attacks of the devil.
The breastplate of righteousness is the only protection that is effective against the attacks the devil throws at our hearts.
When things get tough and you are tempted, it is good to look again to the One who fought the battle against the devil and won. Remember His righteousness and trust Him to protect you.
An older lady was telling a friend the secret of her victorious Christian life. She said, “You see when devil knocks, I let Jesus answer!”
Live in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Put on the armor of God.
CLOSE:
Sunrise was dawning when Los Angeles motorcycle police officer Bob Vernon saw a red pickup truck speed through a stop sign. He turned on his emergency lights and radioed that he was in pursuit. The pickup pulled over, and the officer approached.
The officer said, ’Good morning, sir, may I see your--’ "He never finished the sentence. The driver shoved a gun toward the police officer's chest and fired from just inches away. The cop was knocked seven feet away.
A few seconds later, the officer stood up, pulled his service revolver, and fired twice. The first bullet went through the open window and smashed the windshield. The second tore through the door and ripped into the driver’s left leg. "’Don’t shoot’ the driver screamed.
What saved the police officer's life was dozens of layers of Kevlar, the super strong fabric used for bulletproof vests.
Only three-eighths of an inch thick, Kevlar can stop bullets cold. And when we choose to live righteously, it will stop the devil cold.
“Put on the whole armor of God.”
