Bullet Proofing Your Life
(Accessing the Righteousness of Christ)
Ephesians 6:10-18
Open your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 6.
Introduction: Sunrise was dawning when Los Angeles motorcycle police officer Bob Vernon saw a red pickup truck speed through a stop sign. ¡§This guy must be late to work,¡¨ he thought to himself. He turned on his emergency lights and radioed that he was in pursuit. The pickup pulled over, and the officer approached. Meanwhile in the truck, the driver thought, ¡§The cops already know!¡¨ He was scared. He rested his hand on the same gun he had used a few moments before to rob a twenty-four-hour market. The sack of stolen money was beside him on the seat. The officer said, ¡§Good morning, sir, may I see your¡X¡§ He never finished the sentence. The driver shoved his gun toward the policeman’s chest and fired from just inches away.
The cop was knocked flat seven feet away. A few seconds later, to the shock of the criminal, 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 thief screamed, throwing the gun and sack of money out the pickup window.
What saved the policeman’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. A bulletproof vest can save your life¡K
This is week three in our study of the Eight Essential Exercises for Building a Better Body. Over the past two weeks we¡¦ve considered what exercises are necessary to build a healthy body of relationships. We all live life in the context of relationships and when we are willing to put on the Armor of God, we build those relationships up into healthy, God-honoring relationships.
We¡¦ve considered the fact that the only place we can truly find the strength needed to make our relationships work is in Christ alone. Paul tells us to ¡§Be strong in the Lord.¡¨ And any attempt on our part to make our relationships work, or to make anything work in a way that glorifies God, will fall miserably short. We can only succeed if we find our strength in the Lord. Thus, we need to allocate strength.
We¡¦ve also considered the truth that integrity is necessary to give our relationships the support and protection we need. Without integrity our relationships are open to attack by the enemy. Without integrity our relationships will be like a ship without an accurate navigational system and they will be shipwrecked. Without integrity our relationships will not last, they will not finish well. The best way we can support our relationships is to strap the belt of truth around us and to make certain that our relationships are marked by integrity.
Today I want to consider the place that righteousness plays in our relationships. However, I¡¦m going to come at this from a bit of a different angle than I have the last two weeks. Over the past two weeks we¡¦ve look at how finding strength in God and being people of integrity will directly affect our relationships. But today I want to consider our righteousness before God and take and indirect approach to looking at how it will affect our human relationships. You see, until our relationship with God is on track and healthy, all of our other relationships will suffer.
„h We cannot be right others until we are right with God!
„h We cannot be right with our spouse if we are not right with our Lord.
„h We cannot be right with our co-workers if we are not right with our Savior.
„h We cannot be right with our friends until we are right with our Maker
Read with me from Ephesians 6:10-18
Ep. 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
Ep. 6:11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil¡¦s schemes.
Ep. 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Ep. 6:13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Ep. 6:14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled round your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
Ep. 6:15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
Ep. 6:16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Ep. 6:17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Ep. 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
Paul, in describing the tools available to the believer, is using the analogy of the armor worn by a Roman soldier. We¡¦ve already seen that he said to buckle the belt of truth around your waist, giving true support to your relationships. The next item he mentions is the Breastplate of Righteousness.
The soldier in Paul¡¦s day wore a vest made of small metal plates that were woven together by leather straps. The vest provided protection against blows from the enemy. It protected the vital organs of the heart and lungs. Without such a vest the soldier had a very short life expectancy in battle.
The closest equivalent we have today would be the Kevlar vest worn by police officers that protect them from bullets. As we¡¦ve already seen, a bulletproof vest can save your life.
Wrapping that vest of protection around your vital organs keeps you alive. That¡¦s the type of protection the Apostle Paul is talking about when he says to put on the breastplate of righteousness.
That breastplate provides a protection for you and for your relationships that cannot be penetrated because, it is a protection that comes from the righteousness of Christ. Why is it that protection from Christ is so dependable? It is so effective because Christ has already won the war. When he died upon the cross, was buried for three days, and rose again, he defeated our enemy Satan. The devil lost the war in the resurrection of Christ. He is still a dangerous enemy, but he is a defeated enemy. And when we will wrap ourselves in the righteousness of Christ we allow his righteousness to defend us against the attacks of the devil, protecting us and protecting our relationships.
I. Why Do I Need to Access Righteousness?
Perhaps, before we explore the ¡§why¡¨ of accessing righteousness, we should take a brief look at what righteousness is. Righteousness, according to Webster¡¦s Dictionary, is
1: acting in accord with divine or moral law: free from guilt or sin 2 a: morally right or justifiable.
This is a pretty straightforward definition of righteousness. Yet it is also a definition that, when we apply it to our lives, leaves all of us wanting. And that is the primary reason we need to access righteousness is that we don¡¦t have any.
A. We have no righteousness on our own.
How many of us, in our daily lives have a natural tendency to act in accord with divine or moral laws? Most of us don¡¦t it¡¦s not natural for us.
How many of us can say that, on our own, we are free from guilt or sin? The answer is that none of us can say that. In Romans 3:23, the Apostle Paul makes it very clear that none of us can lay a claim to righteousness. ¡§For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.¡¨ If righteousness is being free from sin or guilt, and if all have sinned and fallen short of God¡¦s glory, then no-one can lay a claim to righteousness in their actions, their thoughts, their attitudes, etc. To put it plainly, we are not righteous.
That is why we need to access the righteousness of Christ. We need to take His righteousness and make it our own.
Think about the fact that all of our relationships are made up of people that have no righteousness on their own. Every relationship you are involved in has two people who have sinned, are guilty and lack righteousness. That¡¦s a tough starting point for any relationship. Since we don¡¦t have any righteousness on our own and since we are in relationships with people that don¡¦t have any righteousness on their own, doesn¡¦t it make sense that we need to access the righteousness of Christ in order to improve our standing with each other in our relationships?
Beyond that, since we have no righteousness in and of ourselves, we have no standing before the God of the universe. In our lack of righteousness, our guilt, we are separated from God and have no access to him. However when we access the righteousness of Christ, his righteousness is given to us.
Getting a hold of the righteousness of Christ can seem a bit complex. To understand it fully, we need to understand two different words.
„h Imputed¡XWhen I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, His righteousness is imputed to me. Imputed means: To assign as a characteristic, To charge; to ascribe; to attribute. What this means is that, when you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, God looks at you and sees the righteousness of His Son on you, and not your true behavior or standing. God doesn¡¦t turn a blind eye to sin, but when you accept Christ and the sacrifice He made on your behalf, God forgives you and assigns the characteristic of righteousness to you, though you have not been righteous in thought or action.
„h Imparted ¡V The next word we need to consider is the word ¡§imparted.¡¨ When we access the righteousness of Christ, when we ask the Holy Spirit to make us holy and sanctify us, to change our character and when we consciously choose to be like Christ he imparts his righteousness to us. Impart means: To bestow a share or portion of; to give, grant. When we access the righteousness of Christ he actually gives it to us. Our actions and attitudes change because we become righteous. We are changed. Not on our own, or with our own strength, because we can¡¦t make that change. But in the power of the Holy Spirit we are made righteous. We put on the breastplate of righteousness and are made holy.
Folks, accessing the righteousness of Christ, allowing him to give you his righteousness and power to live a righteous life will make a difference in every relationship you live within.
The first reason we need to put on that righteousness of God is that we don¡¦t have any on our own. But, tot only does accessing the righteousness of Christ make it possible for us to stand as clean and acceptable before God, it also provides protection in our lives and relationships in two very practical ways.
B. It Offers Protection from Pride.
Let¡¦s be honest, people without righteousness have no reason for pride. However, being the frail humans we are, we tend to find ways of being prideful in all of our relationships.
„h Putting on the breastplate of righteousness protects me from spiritual cockiness and arrogance.
„h Putting on the breastplate of righteousness protects me from esteeming myself better than others.
„h Putting on the breastplate of righteousness protects me from self-confidence (rather than Christ-confidence), and from self-righteousness.
Satan is extremely clever at slipping in this deception on believers. Some are especially susceptible to it. And often, when we have been drawn into it, we don¡¦t recognize it in ourselves. We may think that we are being ¡§spiritual¡¨ when we are really only being arrogant! If Satan can deceive us here, we are greatly hindered in our effectiveness for the Lord. And our relationships, with God and with others, are at risk when pride enters the picture. But accessing the righteousness of Christ protects us from that pride. It reminds us that we have no righteousness. It reinforces that any right thing we do in any of our relationships comes from the power of the Holy Spirit working within us.
C. It Offers Protection from Condemnation.
Guilt destroys a lot of relationships too. Many times, if our relationships aren¡¦t shredded by pride, they are pulled apart by guilt. The Breastplate of Righteousness protects me from overwhelming vague feelings of condemnation and guilt (as a result of past sins). Without the breastplate of righteousness we can be paralyzed by feelings of unworthiness, worthlessness, hopelessness, and discouragement because of past failures. Without it we can feel so undeserving that we don¡¦t expect anything from the Lord. And we expect that others can¡¦t or won¡¦t love and accept us either.
Again, Satan knows that many Christians are susceptible to defeat at this point. It¡¦s easy to make them feel so guilty and unworthy that they feel they can be of no use to the Lord. Great damage has been done by the enemy with this weapon on God¡¦s people.
The Breastplate of Righteousness keeps the effective spiritual warrior balanced between these two ungodly extremes. The exercise of accessing the righteousness of Christ protects our relationships from pride and from condemnation and it puts us in a right standing before the Lord. And without that foundation, no relationship can truly last.
Not only must we consider the why of accessing righteousness, we need to take just a moment and consider the how of accessing the righteousness of Christ.
III. How Do I Access Righteousness?
„h Perhaps we live in such a complex world that we cannot wrap our brains around the idea of simplicity.
„h Perhaps debt has become such a part of our lives that we think in terms of monthly payments rather than in terms of a debt being paid in full once and for all.
„h Perhaps our the fact that we are routinely lied to by the legal system, the government, the media and the people we live and work with has destroyed our faith and trust so much that don¡¦t believe a transaction of any value can ever be completed without a contract signed in blood.
Whatever the case, most people, not matter what they may have learned about God, cannot believe that he would freely give us forgiveness for our sins and throw in the righteousness of Christ to boot. We just can¡¦t believe, in faith, that God wants to give us anything at all.
And that lack of trust, that disbelief, that cynicism we carry around with us prevents us from receiving and using the gracious, free gift of righteousness that God wants to give us.
We need to understand that there is nothing we can do to achieve the righteousness of Christ. No amount of acting right, doing right, saying the right things will ever make you righteous. You can¡¦t become righteous by being good or saying and thinking the right things.
„h You can¡¦t do anything to become righteous because righteousness is not achieved, rather it is received.
„h And we receive the righteousness of Christ when we ask, in faith, for God to give it to us.
Yes, it¡¦s that simple. Yes, it¡¦s that free. Yes, it¡¦s real and you don¡¦t sign a contract or make monthly payments. You don¡¦t have to worry about God not coming through on his end of the bargain. He already has. 2000 years ago he sent his one and only Son to die on a cross, not just forgive us of sin, but to provide us with righteousness.
When we ask God to send his Holy Spirit and fill us and give us the righteousness of Christ he does just that.
¡§Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
Or if he asks for a fish will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!¡¨ Matthew 7:7-11
When we go to our Father, in real faith, and ask him for the righteousness of Christ, when we are willing to surrender completely to him and allow His Holy Spirit to take control he will give us true righteousness, not just imputed, but imparted.
He will not simply see us as righteous, he will make us righteous. When we ask God to give us the Holy Spirit and to make us righteous, he will actually give us power and strength that we have not previously had and he will give us a desire to do what is right that we have not had previously and our actions will actually be different. We¡¦re not merely seen as righteous, we are righteous because we are allowing the Holy Spirit to act within us and through us.
How do we access the righteousness of Christ that will make us right with God and will protect us and our relationships from pride and condemnation? We access that righteousness by humbly coming before God and asking, in faith, for him to fill us with his Holy Spirit and to give us that righteousness.
Application: In order for our relationships with other people to work, we must first of all be in a right relationship with God, the author of all relationships. When we are not right on a horizontal plane, we will not be right on a vertical plane.
How then do we get right with God, and as a result begin to get right with others. We begin by practicing the exercise of accessing the righteousness of Christ.
Why?
„h Because we are not righteous or holy on our own. ¡§There is no one righteous, not even one.¡¨ (Romans 3:10)
„h Because it will protect us from pride. When we get to thinking too much of ourselves it wrecks our relationships. Acknowledging that we have to get our righteousness from a source outside of ourselves keeps us humble before God and man.
„h Because it protects us from condemnation. The world wants to condemn us and the enemy wants to condemn us. Yet when we are wrapped up in the righteousness of Christ, when our character has been changed and we have been made righteous, the past is no longer an issue. We are free from condemnation.
Being right with God, being protected from pride and being protected from condemnation puts us right with ourselves and allows our relationships with others to be right!
How do we access that righteousness?
„h We access the righteousness of Christ by humbly approaching him in faith, and asking him to make us righteous. And when we¡¦ll ask in faith and when we¡¦ll submit ourselves to him he¡¦ll fill us with His Holy Spirit and make us righteous. We can¡¦t achieve it, but we can receive it, all we need do is ask!
So what can you do about it right now? Let me encourage you to step out in faith and ask God for the strength and power to live a righteous life. Ask him to fill you with his Holy Spirit, to sanctify you, so that not only your position before God is righteous, but so that your practice, your life before God and man is righteous.
When you ask for his Spirit, his righteousness, he promises to give it to us and more. This morning, step out in faith and access the righteousness of Christ. Make sure that you are right with God so that you can be right with man!
