The Whole Armour of God Part 2

V. “...and having on the breastplate of righteousness;” EPH 6:14. A. breastplate: A piece of armour for protecting the breast. B. righteousness: Justice, uprightness, rectitude; conformity of life to the requirements of the divine or moral law; virtue, integrity. C. That which protects the breast also protects the heart. 1. The heart of man is subject to emotional affectation and is a deceiver, and so is a poor determiner of right and wrong. JER 17:9; PRO 28:26. 2. Even after receiving a new heart in regeneration (EZE 11:19-20; 36:26-27), man must guard against the deceptions by and of the heart. HEB 3:12; JAM 1:26. 3. Well-intended converts to Christ and the gospel of His grace can be zealously affected by false emotional appeals to the heart. GAL 4:17. 4. The breastplate of Christ’s provided and imputed righteousness protects our hearts against the manipulative lies of Satan that promote righteousness by the law. GAL 3:21; 2CO 5:21; ROM 5:19; PHIL 3:9. 5. The breastplate of practical righteousness is an auxiliary to the knowledge of salvation by grace. a. It does so by uprightness and not making provision for the flesh to fulfil its lusts. ROM 13:14; ROM 8:3-5; GAL 5:16; 1JO 5:18. b. Practical righteousness guards against a condemned heart, and thus gives us a confident assurance before God. 1JO 3:18-21; 2:29; 3:7. 6. Without practical righteousness, our assumption of salvation by provided righteousness (grace) is ill-founded. EPH 2:8-10; 2TI 2:19; ROM 3:8; JUDE 1:4. a. Without practical righteousness, our confidence and assurance of God’s favor is thwarted. b. We will be as David in morose desperation yearning for the former joy of his salvation. PSA 51:11-12. c. Worse, we may be delivered to strong delusion and condemnation. 2TH 2:10-12. D. The breastplate must be made of the proper righteousness or Satan’s fiery darts will get through to the heart. 1. Pharisee righteousness which was hypocritical and extra-biblical is useless. MAT 5:20; 23:2-4; MAR 7:1-5. 2. Works-righteousness doctrine is Christ-denying bondage. ROM 10:4; GAL 3:10; 5:1. 3. Super-righteousness which binds one to extremes of duty, or assumes flawlessness is possible before the resurrection, is destructive. ECC 7:16. E. Consider the relationship of righteousness to the other pieces Paul notes. 1. Righteousness is not independent of truth. a. Righteousness cannot be defined apart from truth. If that were the case, it could be concluded that a lie or an error is right. Definitions of good and evil would be elastic and reversible. ISA 5:20; MAL 3:15. b. This implies that there must be an immutable standard of truth. The relationship of righteousness to Scripture will be examined further on. c. A breastplate of righteousness might protect some vital organs, but how would one know for sure that the breastplate was properly constructed and fitted without the truth? d. The carnal philosopher might say, “There is no such thing as absolute truth.” (an absolute statement---Is it true?). Thus, “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,” (ROM 1:22). e. He who would wear the breastplate of righteousness must first have his loins girded about with truth. Paul’s order in v. 14 is obvious, sensible, necessary. e. Righteousness without truth is like a jury trial verdict determined by a roulette wheel. Only by sheer accident would the verdict be just. 2. Righteousness is not independent of the gospel of peace. a. The gospel (good news / glad tidings) is that Christ made peace with God for us through His righteousness. COL 1:20; 2CO 5:21. (1) Trusting in His work of righteousness for us yields peace in the soul. MAT 11:28-30; ROM 7:24-25. (2) Liberated from the deceptions of the adversary about the purpose of practical righteousness (evidential instead of causative) we can boldly and joyfully press forward, working out our own salvation with fear and trembling. PHIL 2:12-13; GAL 2:20-21. b. Righteousness yields peace. ISA 32:17; MAT 6:33-34. c. Righteousness that does not yield peace is likely false or super- righteousness which demands more of self or others than does God Himself. COL 2:18-23; ECC 7:16. (1) This is likely to manifest itself in a lack of mercy or tolerance. LUK 18:9; MAT 23:23. (2) He that is not at peace with God or himself will also not be at peace with others. Remember King Saul. d. Of what value is the breastplate of righteousness if our unshod feet are wounded by the devil’s Lego pieces of Pharisee righteousness and inner turmoil which cripple us? 3. Righteousness is not independent of faith. a. Practical righteousness is impossible without faith. HEB 11:4, 6. b. As noted above, faith trusts in God’s work and promises rather than self- righteousness or works-righteousness. ROM 4:3-5; PHIL 3:8-9. c. Faith accepts one’s own failures and inadequacies as part of this life and looks to God’s covenant faithfulness for relief. 2SAM 23:5; ROM 8:33-34. d. Without a proper shield, a fiery dart of Satan might still get through our breastplate. c/w 1KI 22:34. (1) Harness in 1KI 22:34 is from the Hebrew shiryan (SRN H8302) which can mean “...a breastplate, coat of mail, habergeon, harness.” (2) It is rendered breastplate in ISA 59:17. (3) What of the man who is trusting more in his righteousness than God’s? Will not his soul be vexed by his failures? Or could he not just as easily slip into self-righteousness and pride? (4) What of the man who is striving to live righteously before God but is reluctant to trust Scripture’s promises in a difficult area of obedience? Is he any better than Israel at Canaan’s border or Peter facing social pressure? HEB 3:19; GAL 2:11-12. e. Jesus Christ augmented His righteousness with faith to defend Himself against Satan’s temptations. MAT 4:1-11. 4. Righteousness is not independent of (the hope of) salvation. a. The hope of salvation is great incentive for doing righteousness. 1JO 3:1-3. b. Righteousness yields assurance of eternal salvation. JOH 5:28-29; ROM 2:6-7. c. Christ’s righteousness was strengthened by hope of deliverance. ACT 2:26-28. d. Without the hope of salvation, righteousness seems pointless. 1CO 15:19, 30-32. e. If the breast is protected but not the head, millstones of doubt, desperation and defeat can still do us in. c/w JDG 9:53. f. Righteousness without the hope of salvation is like running a marathon with no finish line or medal. 5. Righteousness is not independent of the sword of the Spirit (Scripture). a. Scripture defines righteousness (PSA 119:128, 172). It is “...the word of righteousness...” (HEB 5:13). b. Righteousness not defined by Scripture may be a false righteousness which: (1) invites chastening due to ignorance of God’s will. LUK 12:48. (2) invites wrath due to wilful altering of Biblical morals. MAL 2:17. (3) invites wrath due to wilful trivializing of Biblical commands. MAT 5:19. (4) is a false bondage. COL 2:20-23; 1TI 4:1-3. (5) is only a form of godliness, a vain shew of piety. 2TI 3:5; MAT 23:5-7, 28. c. What are the chances of success of a warrior fighting a righteous cause without a weapon, or with a broken or fake weapon?