Ephesians 6:10-18 "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take a stand against the devil's schemes. 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. 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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep praying for the Saints."
In the armor, the belt was the undergarment closest to the heart, but the the breastplate was relied upon to shelter the heart. It's not hard to see the spiritual implications. In Matthew Henry's Commentary he says "The righteousness of Christ implanted in us is our breast-plate to fortify the heart against the attacks which Satan makes against us". Righteousness fortifies our hearts. It shields our heart, the center of our emotions, against the enemy.
When we ask Christ to come into our lives and believe that He died on the cross in payment for our sins, in that moment He takes our sins away and clothes us in His righteousness. It is completely undeserved, but because of the price He paid, we can be righteous through Him. This is one of my all time favorite things about the gospel!!! Ready? Because God is perfectly holy and sinless, He cannot be in relationship with sinners. BUT when God looks down on us, He never sees our filth, our bad choices, our sins from the past, from today, or the ones we have yet to commit. He sees Jesus. We are covered by Jesus. Clothed in His righteousness. That's how we can have an intimate relationship with the Father. All because Jesus covers us.
There are times that I look back with such regret at the choices I made. And on occasion Satan loves to bring those sins right back into the spotlight. I used to let the weight of it all really bring me to a place of defeat, until I read about how Jesus covers me.
Isaiah 61:19 "I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels."
Galatians 3:27 "for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ."
1 Corinthians 15:54 "When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
Zechariah 3:4 "The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you”.
God is so good to me. Now when I am reminded of all the times I failed, I picture myself as things truly are. Because of Jesus, I get to stand before the Lord in a bright, white, beautiful robe. Nothing I do is righteous, nothing at all, clothing myself in Jesus is how I put on the breastplate of righteousness. So the next time Satan comes at me with, "Rachel, remember when..." I can say "Yes, but remember when Christ in His great love and grace covered that with His precious blood and perfect righteousness." What's up now?!
Taking it just a step further, to be righteous is to be morally right, justifiable, upright, virtuous and to perfectly observe the law. Only Jesus accomplished all those things without fault. But, because I love Jesus and want to please Him, I am trying my best (with His strength and guidance) to be righteous too. Not only does it please Him when we strive to do His will, it keeps us from harm, protects us from the consequences of sin and enables us to be a light in this dark world. win. win. win. Doing what is right shields us from many of Satan's accusations and attacks, we can extinguish the arrows before they even hit us!
I can't get over how good and gracious God has been to me, despite myself and my sin. It is astounding what depths He has gone to to have a relationship with me. I know, that no matter what your past or even your present looks like right now, there is an abundance of love, complete forgiveness, and a bright, beautiful white robe all ready for you. Just ask. Let's all be sure to protect our hearts, let's put on the Breastplate of righteousness and stand firm.
Proverbs 4:23 "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."
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