“Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness.”
Ephesians 6:14
Today we continue our exploration of the armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-18, considering what it means to put on the breastplate of righteousness. I love the way God gives us pictures to help us wrap our finite minds around infinite concepts of truth. I imagine a young Ephesian, new to the faith, maybe even a former soldier, listening to the letter Paul wrote and connecting with the idea of spiritual warfare and the need for armor. Now, here we are, thousands of years later and that same picture still has something amazing to teach us.
Close your eyes and think of a suit of armor. What do you picture? A knight? A samurai? Maybe a Roman soldier, since you know we’re talking about the armor of God? How about a modern infantryman or a member of the SWAT team? Armor may be one of the oldest inventions of mankind and while materials and styles have changed over the years, the basic components and their purpose, to protect, have stayed the same.
The breastplate is part of the torso armor, intended to protect the vital organs between the neck and the navel, most specifically, the heart.
Why is the Heart so Vulnerable?
In biological terms, we understand that the heart is a muscle which pumps blood carrying oxygen and nutrients to the rest of the body. Blood is the life force of the body and thus the heart is necessary to life.
In spiritual terms, we understand that the heart is the center of emotions, experience. The ancient Greeks also considered it to be the center of intellectual life. To speak of the heart was to speak of the soul, the very essence of a person.
Again, thinking in physical terms and using the picture Paul gave us of battle, we can understand that our middles are vulnerable to deadly attacks. I’m not an expert in war but I have seen enough battle based movies to know that a chest or stomach wound is going to be more effective than even a severed limb.
If what we do in life is dictated by our thoughts and feelings, it stands to reason that our hearts are vulnerable points of attack needing a great deal of protection.
Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life. (Proverbs 4:23, CSB)
How does Righteousness Protect the Heart?
In the same way a breastplate can be made of chain mail, iron, or even leather or wood, each with varying degress of effectiveness, so too can we use different techniques to protect our hearts.
Anger. Pride. Vanity. Indifference. Humor. Productivity. Work or hobbies. We put on these habits, attitudes, and behaviors, using them as a breastplate, keeping perceived dangers at arm’s length where it is less likely to hurt us.
Paul urges us instead to put on the breastplate of righteousness, a more effective defense against the spiritual battles we are engaged in.
Righteousness is best defined as “right” thinking. It comes from an Old English word meaning “ruled” as in a “straight line”. In other words, righteousness is aligning our hearts with God. Allowing our thoughts and emotions to be ruled by the direction of the Lord.
“The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.” Psalm 19:8
How do we “Put On” righteousness?
Righteousness is not something we can earn or achieve on our own. Isaiah 64:6 describes our best efforts at right thinking as dirty rags, and Paul writes in Romans,
“For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” – Romans 3:20-24
Armor does not go on automatically. We make the choice every day to be battle ready by setting our hearts and minds on the Lord, or to relax and hope the enemy is quiet.
“As we wear Christ’s breastplate of righteousness, we begin to develop a purity of heart that translates into actions. Wearing this breastplate creates a lifestyle of putting into practice what we believe in our hearts. As our lives become conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29), our choices become more righteous, and these godly choices also protect us from further temptation and deception (Proverbs 8:20; Psalm 23:3).” – Got Questions
Conclusion
If you’re looking to learn more about righteousness I highly recommend looking back at these great posts from Do Not Depart writers. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this thought from David Guzick,
“We are sometimes tempted to say to the devil, “Look at all I’ve done for the Lord.” But that is shaky ground, though sometimes it feels good. It is shaky because feelings and experiences change quickly. God’s righteousness isn’t. The breastplate of righteousness is your best defense against the sense of spiritual depression and gloom that comes against us.”
Blessed reading this article on Breast Pate of righteousness, may the LORD, bless you greatly than ever before and continue use you to equip and build many lives. Glory to God in Jesus name.