WEEK NINE
SPIRITUAL WARFARE – PART 3
“The Breastplate”
Ephesians 6:14
There are six pieces of spiritual armor which we have been given as believers, each of which represents different aspects of the person or work of our Lord. The first three of these were given to us at conversion. We simply need to call into remembrance that which has happened to us in Christ. The first of these pieces is the “Belt of Truth” which is the assurance that Jesus Christ is (ultimate reality). He is fixed and certain. He is true. And when we come to believe in Him, we met the One who is the reason for all things. This is a stabilizing influence in our lives. And as we call this into remembrance, it gives us the right perspective and the true view of reality. Confusion and distortion are wiped out when the belt is in place.
The second piece of the armor is also in Ephesians 6:14, the “Breastplate of Righteousness”. This too, is something that was given to me at conversion and is very important that I bring into my remembrance on a daily basis.
Let’s begin our study of this aspect of the armor by laying out our definition of righteousness. What does it mean to be righteous? It means being in the right; having right standing before God; being acquitted; forgiven; fully measuring up to God’s requirement of me; being “worth something” before God; existing in the state of right relationship with God; being an object of God’s love. All of these statements help define what is meant by the believer being righteousness. The focus here isn’t acting righteous but being righteous. Acting righteously is the subject of Ephesians 4:1 – 6:9. Being righteous is another subject and has to do with my standing with God. God has done something for me in Christ which I could not do myself. He has given me the gift of righteousness, the gift of worth. All of this is because of what Jesus Christ did 2000 years ago when He died, was buried and rose again.
Since righteousness is a gift, we can summarize the “Breastplate of Righteousness” by saying:
- It is not attainable by obedience to the law. Romans 3:20, “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
- It is not attainable by fleshly effort. Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
- It is not attainable by works. Romans 4:4-5, “Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who works not, but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.”
- It is attainable only by faith in Jesus Christ. Romans 3:28, “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.”
- The basis of this gift is the death of Christ. 2 Cor. 5:21, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
Ephesians 1:6-7, “…to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace…”
Colossians 1:21-22, “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight…”
Righteousness is a gift of God, that was given to me the moment I was born again! And this gift is a vital part of the spiritual armor God has given me to equip me in warfare against the devil. I must remember that it is mine, and that when I came to Jesus initially, I didn’t come on my own works or merit. Neither did my unrighteousness prevent me from coming to God. I came just as I was, and God accepted me in Christ. And it’s the same way now. God still accepts me on that basis. At this very moment I do not stand on my own righteousness, and I never will. God loves me as much now as He ever has or ever will, apart from my performance, or lack of it. Why? Because He does! He has simply chosen to do so and has carried out His plan to love me in Christ.
Notice that this righteousness is called the “breastplate” of righteousness. The breastplate was that piece of armor that protected the Roman soldier’s heart and inward parts. And so, the breastplate of righteousness protects my heart, my inner man, and my emotions. It protects me from Satan’s attacks of false guilt or condemnation. Through the breastplate, I’m kept from the plague of feeling God is always angry at me, or blaming me, or expecting much more out of me than I’m giving Him. It helps me to realize that I am not perfect, and God accepts me that way. And this gift of the breastplate also provides tremendous assurance and confidence. I have a definite sense of worth. I, Dale Lewis, am worth something. It was good that I was created because I know that God loves me (see Psalm 139:13-18).
Condemnation vs. Conviction
Satan, however, is the accuser of the brethren and is constantly attacking us with lies which rob us of the joy of this truth. False guilt, or condemnation, is his main weapon. It’s false guilt because it is not aimed at real sin that I’ve committed but aimed at me personally. The attempt is to get me to focus on myself – my failures and my inadequacy – instead of God’s love, acceptance, and mercy. And the way Satan does this is to point out to me all that I’m not doing. This is in direct contrast to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. When I’ve actually sinned, the Holy Spirit will point out specifically what I’ve done. The focus isn’t upon me at all, but upon my sin. And there is a hope that when I confess the sin, then fellowship with God will be restored. Conviction is specific, aimed at sin, and produces hope. False guilt is very general, it is aimed at me as being worthless and produces despair of ever being able to do anything about it.
One of the common patterns of false guilt in my life has been because of “sins of omission”. Many times, I would set up a standard for my own behavior that was greater than God had set up for me. And then I’d feel guilty when I couldn’t live up to it. This is false guilt because God didn’t command me – I did. So, when I failed, it wasn’t failing God, I was failing my own standard. The resulting guilty feelings weren’t legitimate. For example, suppose I’d set a standard of every night playing with my kids for a half hour when I arrived home. And when it wasn’t possible to do it one evening, I slumped into feeling guilty. True or false guilt? Well, that would be false guilt because it was my standard, not God’s. Nowhere in His Word does He tell me to spend a half an hour per night with my kids. Of course, God’s answer to condemnation or false guilt is the “Breastplate of Righteousness”. He loves, accepts and forgives me in Christ. And there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).
God is now merciful to my unrighteousness. He doesn’t overlook sin when it occurs but is merciful as I confess it to Him (Hebrews 8:12). And God is not desirous that I feel or carry around any guilt feelings. He is my Father, not my judge, all because of the cross.
Positive Commendations
We can see from the life of the Apostle Paul how he used the “Breastplate of Righteousness”. First of all, there were many positive things in his life which he might have been tempted to depend upon for his own righteousness. We will call these positive commendations. He lists some of them in Philippians 3:4-6, “…though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning (zeal) persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.” But even more than these things, there were his many achievements as a Christian. He’d cast out demons, healed the sick, raised the dead, led many people to Christ, founded many growing churches, had an apostolic calling and authority, experienced powerful personal revelations from God, supported himself in ministry, and suffered much for the cause of the gospel.
But it is interesting to notice that he totally rejected these credentials and accomplishments as having anything to do with his righteousness or standing before God. This is what he said in Philippians 3:8-9, “But indeed I 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 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.”
Negative Condemnations
Also, there were some negative areas of Paul’s life which would tend to condemn him before God. We’ll call these things negative condemnations. Things Paul also had to deal with by using the “Breastplate of Righteousness”. He was suspect as an apostle (not being one of the twelve); he was not personally impressive (2 Cor. 10:10); had a disfiguring physical ailment (Gal. 4:13-15); and had worked very hard yet was rejected by many in the churches, especially Corinth. But probably more than any of these, he had to deal with hangovers from the guilt of the past. Why? Because Paul had been a persecutor of the church! It’s easy to imagine Paul preaching in many different cities and running into family members of those he’d put to death. That would be very difficult to deal with, yet he did, by remembering who he was in Christ. 1 Cor. 15:9-10, “For I am the least of the apostles, and am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”
So Paul was able to reject his positive commendations as a basis for righteousness, and also was able to face his past and attacks upon his own person, all because of the “Breastplate of Righteousness”.
And as long as I’m seeking to stand on my own righteousness, I’m in trouble. My heart is vulnerable. I seek to prove my worth by being more zealous, dedicated, or sacrificial than anyone else. When I’m rejected or misunderstood, I need to explain myself and carefully defend my own actions and motives. No one must think badly of me. And if I sin or stumble, I have to go through a bunch of steps to “get back” with God, instead of relying on the finished work of the cross. But the good news of the gospel is that I’m free from guilt in Christ.
The story is told of Richard Foster, a Christian author. One day he realized that he’d “stood on his rights” many times in his life and was determined to make sure it was dealt with. So, he made a long list over a period of days of every incident in his whole life in which he could remember doing that. After compiling the list, he went to a close friend to show it to him. His friend then read the list carefully and did something which was a very powerful expression of forgiveness. He tore the list up into hundreds of tiny pieces! That is what God has done for us in Christ, “…having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14).
The accusations will come. The attacks will come. Expect them. And then let us “put on the whole armor of God” that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
GROWTH OPPORTUNITY QUESTIONS
WEEK NINE
Spiritual Warfare: Part 3
- As a result of the teaching on “The Breastplate of Righteousness” be prepared to discuss:
- Summarize righteousness and write how to explain it to a ten-year old.
- Write specifically how having on the “breastplate of righteousness” effects my concept of God.
- List some specific ways in which I’ve been plagued by “false guilt” or condemnation.
- List how I’ve been tempted to use “positive commendations” to commend myself to God.
- List some “negative condemnations” which have sought to condemn and discourage me before God.
- How does the “breastplate of righteousness” protect us?
Master Plan of Evangelism
Chapter 4
- What was the process which resulted in Jesus’ followers knowing “the love of God for a lost world”? What does that say to me about what must change me?
- Jesus denied Himself in what ways?
- The disciples were to give as freely as they had received (Matthew 10:8). If I were to do that, what specifically would be some of the things which would happen?
- How would the Holy Spirit prepare the disciples “way for ministry”?
- How were the disciples to experience the Spirit’s infilling?
- “…we cannot give something away which we do not possess ourselves.” (pg 68)
- What does this mean to me?
- If I were to practice this in ministry, what would or would not happen?
Chapter 5
- How did Jesus use prayer, scripture, and soul winning to teach His disciples?
- Give examples of how I can teach naturally in my home?
- Compare “The Principle in Focus” to “The Principle Applied Today” (pg 76).
- The key point which Coleman makes to me is _______.
- In comparing the sentence “we are the exhibit” on page 76 to 1 Cor. 11:1, what does that say to me about my ministry?
- “…knowledge unapplied to living can become a stumbling stone to further truth” (pg 77). What does that say to me about my own learning, worship attendance, and Bible study?