The Breastplate of RighteousnessIs the Breastplate of Righteousness really what you have thought it to be?
As The Apostle Paul looked day after day at the soldiers holding him in prison he was able to see how their breastplate symbolized the protection the Christian believer needed.
We today so often equate the breastplate as protection from Satan's fiery darts, when in fact it is not an actual or imaginary breastplate that protects us, it is a life-style of righteous living.
Our life-style of righteous living serves the same purpose for us as the actual breastplate of armor served the roman soldier.
The breastplate covered the body of the roman soldier from the neck to the thighs. It was used to protect the heart.
The believer's heart is to be focused upon the Lord Jesus Christ and His righteousness, and that focus must be protected. The sign of the Christian soldier is righteousness.
When a man is saved, God imputes the righteousness of Jesus Christ to him; or to say it another way, God counts him righteous (Galatians 2:15-16). However, it is not enough to stand in the righteousness of Christ. The Christian soldier must protect his heart.
He protects his heart by living righteously, that is, with Integrity, holiness and purity of life, with sincerity and piety. Righteousness keeps the heart from ever being wounded and losing its focus.
The Christian soldier is to strive after the very righteousness of Jesus Christ and to live righteously in this present world. When a man is clothed in righteousness he is impregnable.
Satan often attacks our hearts - the seat of our emotions, self-worth, and trust. ... God's righteousness is the breastplate that protects our hearts and ensures his approval. ... He approves of us because he loves us and sent his Son to die for us.
The breastplate defended the vital parts of the body; and the idea given here by Paul may be, that integrity of life, and righteousness of character, is as necessary to defend us from the assaults of Satan.
It was the incorruptible integrity of Job, and, in a higher sense, of Jesus himself, that saved them from the temptations of the devil. ... And it is just as true now that no one can successfully meet the power of Satan’s temptation unless he is righteous.
A lack of sufficient of integrity or some defect of character will leave a man exposed to the assaults of the enemy. A point of corruption in integrity or character flaw will be that unguarded point of attack by Satan or his demons.
Many a minister of the gospel has been attacked and has fallen because they have not had a breastplate of righteousness, a righteous life-style for protection. We need a righteousness which God alone can give-the righteousness of God our Savior-to make us perfectly invulnerable to all the arrows of Satan or his demons.
It is important to know that it is God who supplies righteousness for His people and it is God who executes vengeance on His enemies. God does not need us to fight his fights for Him; our job is to grow more and more like Him by learning to walk daily in the righteousness He provides for us.
Just as a soldier’s breastplate protected his heart, chest and inner vital organs from an enemy’s attacks, so holy and righteous living (Rom. 6:13; 14:17) guards a believer’s heart against the assaults of the devil.
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