How to Put on the Breastplate of Righteousness

   All Christians are engaged in spiritual warfare, whether we like it or not, whether we acknowledge it or not. So, the question is not, should we engage in Spiritual warfare? Rather, the question is, will we be strong in the Lord or will we capitulate to the enemies of our souls and suffer defeat in our Christian walk?  
   Ephesians 6:14 says: Stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness…
   We always begin by strapping on the Truth. 
   What is Truth? 
   Jesus said God’s Word is Truth. Therefore, Truth is whatever God has to say about any given situation.
  After we strap on Truth, the enemy of our souls will seek to overthrow Believers through lies about their worthiness. The Rulers of the Darkness of this World will lie, lie, lie to us by telling us that we are not worthy enough to expect answers to our prayers, that we are not good enough to apply the promises in God’s Word to our own lives.
   The Breastplate of Righteousness, guards our hearts from the darkness and devastation of this lie with the knowledge that we are the Righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
   We do not go about seeking to establish our own righteousness—which is impossible to do anyway and leads to cruel legalism anytime we try—but rather, we submit to the righteousness Jesus purchased on the cross and freely gives to all who come to him by faith in his death, burial, and resurrection from the dead.
   What is the TRUTH here? It is true that we are all unworthy. 
   But we need not fear the fact that we are unworthy recipients of God’s love and favor, because He loves us in spite of our unworthiness. He proved it by providing a remedy for our unworthiness when he sent his son to die for our sins. 
   The Bible says that while we were yet sinners, yet unbelievers, yet enemies of God, and alienated from the life of God, while the whole world lay in that sad condition, God made the first move! 
   It is because of Jesus, that all who believe have been made worthy, and are now safely hidden in Christ.
   This means when our Creator looks at us, he sees us through the redemptive work of the Cross, through the shed blood of his Risen Son. We have been made righteous by what Jesus did, not by anything we can ever do.
  Will we sin after we are saved? Of course we will. That’s why it is important that we gain a working knowledge of the Bible, so that we can know what the expressed will of God is. And when we sin, which all do, even after we are born again, it is vital that we heed our God-given conscience and the conviction of the Holy Spirit to confess and forsake all known sin. 
   We have a great promise that when we confess known sin in our lives, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
   That is powerful. 
   So, allow the Breastplate of Righteousness to guard our hearts. Accept the righteousness freely given to us by our risen savior. Put it on. Walk in it…and by faith, stand in it.
  

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