Bible Study
Welcome back to our study on the whole armor of God.
We have been studying from Ephesians 6:11-18…
“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints” Ephesians 6:11-18 NKJV
Our working description of the whole armor of God is: the complete set of Christian protective gear consisting of salvation, righteousness, trust (in the word), peace, faith and the spoken Word, worn always in order to withstand or resist the devil.
To put on the whole armor of God is to be continually conscious of, and unflinchingly committed to proclaiming who we are and what we have in Christ while living in this reality. The reality that we are born of God, we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, that the Word of God is our truth, that we have the peace that Jesus gives, and that all of God’s promises in Christ are yeah and amen (and we have them).
Putting on The Helmet of Salvation as discussed in Part 3, would mean that we are always conscious of the eternal deliverance Jesus got for us through the sacrifice of Himself. Deliverance from sin, death and the curse (including sickness and disease). A sacrifice that gained us sonship, eternal life, made us heirs of God, introduced us into God’s divine royalty, made us new creations, translated us from darkness into light, secured everlasting victory for us and took away all forms of condemnation.
Can you imagine what it means to be Born of God? !!! This sounds like a Victory Walk topic… I am looking forward to it…
The whole armor of God is not a combative gear.
It is important to mention that as we saw in Part 2, we are not in combat against the forces mentioned in Ephesians 6:11-18. No we are not! Rather, we are to stand in the victory that Christ already won for us. In our text, Apostle Paul’s focal admonition is to STAND not to FIGHT. Fighting would mean that we are to engage the enemy in a combat, Jesus already did that. We STAND in the victory that Jesus fought and won for us. That’s like being in the defensive instead of on the offensive.
‘To Stand’ as used in our text means to abide, establish, to continue in covenant, to hold up, to resist, to oppose.
Now, here is something worth considering; some theologians have noted that in the whole armor of God, there is no mention of the spear, to kill or to slaughter. Why is that so? What do you think? ……I would say; Jesus already did the killing. And He didn’t just trample over the enemy, no, He took over the authority the enemy once had (and gave it to us). According to Colossians 2:9-10, Jesus even took over headship of principalities and powers…..
“and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” Colossians 2:9-10 NKJV
But we are not entirely without a sword, the Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God and according to Hebrews 4:12, this sword is sharper than any two-edged sword…
“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Hebrews 4:12 NKJV
This is how we can be on the offensive. Halleluyah!!!
Today we proceed with the next component of the armor of God; the breastplate of righteousness.
The Breastplate of Righteousness
What is a breastplate?
A breastplate is the part of an armoury that covers the thoracic region of the body, that is, the chest region. So a breastplate functions to guard vital organs in the body including the heart, lungs, parts of the stomach, major blood vessels, etc..
This description of the breastplate brings to mind, Proverbs 4:23…..
“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.“
Proverbs 4:23 NLT
How do you guard your heart diligently?
1. Expose your heart to the right things…
“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”
Philippians 4:8 NKJV
The Word of God is true….
“But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.”
1 John 2:27 NLT
2. Protect your heart from the wrong things; wrong thoughts, wrong influences, etc…
3. Quieten every contrary voice.
“And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” ‘ John 10:4-5 NKJV
There are 3 things we see in John 10:4-5; Jesus knows His own sheep and they recognize His voice, Jesus leads His sheep and they follow Him, Jesus’ sheep do not follow the voice of a stranger.
If it happens that you are unsure of what voice you are hearing at any point in time, it’s probably best to not move/act. God will always bring clarity and ensure His message to you is completely and clearly delivered.
4. Cast all your cares upon the Lord.
”Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” I Peter 5:6-7 NKJV.
As we saw in our study on humility, the 2 drivers for humility are the fear of the Lord and love for mankind. To fear the Lord is to reverence Him, to put Him first, to keep our focus on Him instead of ourselves. It is easy to cast all our cares upon Him when we live this way.
What Is Righteousness?
Righteousness is generally defined as uprightness or being morally right. This is not how the Word of God defines righteousness.
Righteousness means justification (acquittal, of equitable statute, equity of character or act). It means being innocent, without sin, acqitted and discharged of sin or wrongdoing. So righteousness actually means that we are without sin, we have the nature of God- sinless. This becomes so real when we learn and accept that the righteousness available to us in Jesus Christ, is exactly the same as the righteousness of God. Second Corinthians 5:21, says we become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” II Corinthians 5:21 NKJV
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
Romans 5:1-2 NKJV
How do you become righteous?
From the Bible, we learn that righteousness is not gotten through works, or by merit or achievement. In fact, the Bible describes attempts by man to become righteous as ‘filthiness’ and ‘insubordination’…
“But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousness are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away. Isaiah 64:6 NKJV
“For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. Romans 10:3 NKJV
Just as we received salvation by faith, that is how we receive righteousness. The sacrifice of Jesus took away every sin, every guilt, every penalty and made as free and justified.
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” II Corinthians 5:21 NKJV
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
Romans 5:1-2 NKJV
“He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor; therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; and His own righteousness, it sustained Him. For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak.”
Isaiah 59:16-17 NKJV
Jesus took our sins upon Himself and in exchange made us righteous. God’s righteousness is available to us and we can receive this by faith from the moment we become born again.
“For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:10 NKJV
“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?— just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham” Galatians 3:1-7 NKJV
Righteousness is a gift from God and is available to every child of God. We receive this righteousness by faith, being totally submitted to God.
“For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:17 NKJV
Self-righteousness or righteousness by works or personal efforts is as filthy rags before God. But through Christ, we are righteous. We have right standing with God. We can approach God anytime without a sense of guilt or sin consciousness.
So what does the breastplate of righteousness in the whole armor of God mean? ..
We will pick it up from here next time, once again, thank you for joining me.
Till next time,
Stay Safe in The Word & Covenant.
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