This Month's Newsletter

Ephesians 6:14b (NKJV)¹⁴having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

A romans soldiers breastplate was quite a piece of armor. It was made from two solid pieces that joined at the neck and slid down over the head to protect the wearers vital organs, specifically the heart. It protected both from the front and back. Most were made from pounded metal and made to exactly fit the upper torso of the soldier. Some were even custom make to perfection.

Soldiers considered protecting the heart area to be the of the utmost importance. In the same way God’s word says "Guard your heart above all else."The heart is the center of our Christian being spiritually speaking. So our spiritual breastplate of righteousness must cover and protect us as well. Our breastplate is made up of the facts of our complete righteousness in Christ. It is our best protection against the enemies accusations and lies about our worthiness to stand as a redeemed child of God.

Of course it is true that we have no righteousness of our own to speak of, but our right standing with God is settled in the finished word of Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV)²¹For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Always remember that because of your position in Christ, you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Jesus has removed all sin and guilt and no condemnation has any right to speak to you.

Romans 8:1-2 (NKJV)¹There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. ²For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

The problem is we must believe this for it to be true in our life. Once we do--Satan’s accusations will bounce off our armor breastplate and fall away into nothing.

So you may be wondering; "just how does Satan try to penetrate thought our breastplate of righteousness?" Quite simply he lies! He tries to draw your attention to sins in your life, both past and present. If he is successful in getting you to focus on your own shortcoming then he can penetrate your breastplate with condemnation, unbelief, and discouragement. He’s constantly accusing us trying to undermine our faith and get us to compromise our position in Christ. When we listen to his lies and accusations over a period of time he will wear us out.

Finally, if we being to believe that God will our accept our sincere repentance and then he will have us. Friend don’t let him do it. Remember Paul warned the Ephesians to; "give no place to the devil." The reason is because he is not satisfied with just taking you out, he wants your whole family. He wants your spouse, children, grand children, their spouses, everyone that you are in contact with. So you can’t afford to give him just the slightest bit of room in your life. You must rebuke those thoughts instantly and give him no room to work. Some people have asked me over the years; "pastor how long do you have to rebuke those thoughts?” and my answer is always the same; "until they go away." Remember and please don’t forget to not give in to him just a little bit, because he’ll take more from you than you want to give.

If he can penetrate your breastplate with ideas of unworthiness you’ll live your life under a cloud of it. All the joy will be removed from your Christian experience and you’ll begin to wonder if it’s all worth it or not. When those thoughts come rebuke them out-loud with these thoughts. We have been made righteous by what Jesus did for us and not what we do. We must learn to forsake our own efforts to justify ourselves and realize that Jesus and him alone was the only person who has ever been qualified to fulfill all of God’s requirements of the law and holiness.

So with that being said we must believe that God imputes Christ’s righteousness on us and makes us righteous "IN CHIRST."

Now don’t forget that God expects us to live a righteous life by continually saying no to the sinful desires of the flesh. Giving in to sinful desires will once again give Satan a foothold opportunity to work in our life.(Read Eph. 4:17-32) But if we live righteously and quickly confess our sins and repent the breastplate of obedience is once again made strong. Our job is only to embrace the truth and obey God at his word. Then our heart will be protected and we will be prepared at any battle.

Continued Next Month