Breastplate of Righteousness
Sin is very deceptive and very destructive. It has a silent, destroying effect on our will and emotions. People that compromise with sin do not realize they are being changed, one day at a time, until they will be unable to respond to God. Listen to Proverbs.
Prov 1:24-33 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; 25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: 26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; 27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. 28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: 29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: 30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. 31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. 32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. 33 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
This portion of scripture tells us that there is a time for repentance, a time to listen to the Lord. Sin tells us there is no hurry to change and that we can change at a more convenient time.
Prov 29:1 He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.
Another name for Satan is the Destroyer. For this reason righteousness is much more than merely being good. Righteousness is protection, protection from the subtle effects of evil on our heart and life.
The Cost of Sin
Sin will take you farther than you ever wanted to go, keep you longer that you ever wanted to stay and cost you more than you ever wanted to pay.
Sin destroys lives and personalities.
I have worked with many people over the years that were unable to reverse the effects of sin on their minds and hearts. It is truly a sad state. Sin binds, it chokes, it steals, it distorts, it confuses. Sin effectively renders a person unable live in obedience to God.
I believe the most destructive trait of sin is it's ability to deaden the heart to the Spirit of God.
Sin makes one unresponsive to God.
Sin causes spiritual things to no longer be important. The Word is uninspiring, prayer seems meaningless, and God seems distant. Sin, if allowed to progress, will remove all desire to serve the Lord, it will deaden the heart to God. God can speak but sin stops the ear. God is willing to forgive and restore, but the heart deadened by habitual sin has lost all interest in serving God. This is the real danger of sin; it removes our desire to serve God and makes us unresponsive to the Holy Spirit.
Sin Lies
The person that lives in sin usually has the idea that they can repent and change their behavior any time they choose. This is the deceitful nature of sin. Sin does not tell the truth, it distorts the truth. The truth is that the day will come when that person will no longer be able to repent because sin has had it's full effect and left the heart in a hardened state. God has called many times but each time the person said no, and now the hardened heart and conscience can no longer hear or care what God says!
We cannot repent whenever we choose-there is a time of repentance; a time when our heart is soft and our heart is responsive. The time to turn is when we sense our need of God and His willingness to help us. We cannot say no to God indefinitely without inward hardening.
Hebrews 3:13 instructs us to exhort one another daily, while it is called Today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Prov 5:22 (NLT) An evil man is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him.
I am not saying that a person can become so evil that God will not forgive him. It is not a question of how evil one has become or how far one has fallen, but rather, the consequences of habitually saying no to God. There is no sin so sinful that Christ cannot atone. However, we cannot say no to the grace and mercy of God repeatedly without an effect on our heart. For this reason we are told to protect ourselves with the breastplate of righteousness.
What Is Righteousness
The Breastplate of Righteousness is one part of God's armor that we put on. Remember we are told to put on the full armor of God that we might be able to stand and withstand..... The Lord expects us to put on the protections He has provided for us; only by God's armor are we able to stand against darkness.
Justification and Sanctification
When we speak of righteousness we must remember that we are speaking of the righteousness of justification and the righteousness of sanctification. They are different in that justification is immediate, performed by God on our behalf, while sanctification is an ongoing work of the Holy Spirit within us. Forgiveness results in justification, obedience results in sanctification. Justification is also known as imputed righteousness, sanctification as imparted righteousness. Both are real, both are essential for salvation, both are gifts of God.
Justification, A Deliverance
Justification can be thought of as a deliverance. A deliverance by God from the guilt and power of sin. A deliverance because we have been delivered from the kingdom of darkness, and He has brought us into the Kingdom of his dear Son. God has purchased our freedom with his blood and has forgiven all our sins
Col.1:12-14 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Salvation is a deliverance from unrighteousness.
Remember, the result of forgiveness is righteousness! That which made us guilty, we are forgiven of. When we are forgiven we are made right with God. To be made right is a deliverance from not being right. We are delivered out of darkness into the light. This is something only God is able to do.
1 Corinthians 1:30-31 (NLT)30 God alone made it possible for you to be in Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made Christ to be wisdom itself. He is the one who made us acceptable to God. He made us pure and holy, and he gave himself to purchase our freedom. 31 As the Scriptures say, The person who wishes to boast should boast only of what the Lord has done.
Forgiveness is a removal of guilt and guiltiness, to a state of righteousness. This is called justification. Forgiveness results in justification
Romans 3:24-26 (NLT)24 Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins. 25 For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God’s anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us. God was being entirely fair and just when he did not punish those who sinned in former times. 26 And he is entirely fair and just in this present time when he declares sinners to be right in his sight because they believe in Jesus.
1 Timothy 2:5 (NKJV) 5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,
We accept, by faith, the work of Christ on our behalf. God said it was so, therefore we accept it, believe it and act on it. THIS IS THE FIRST STEP IN PUTTING ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
The Lord Makes Us Righteous Through Forgiveness!
We may not understand how God could accept us as righteous, unless we understand that He Himself makes us righteous through forgiveness. We are born into a new relationship with God. We died to our relationship with sin and darkness, through the death of Christ, and were resurrected with Christ into a new relationship with God. This is the heart of the Gospel and the Lord expects us to believe, accept and act on the truths of the gospel. This is the first step in putting on the Breastplate of Righteousness. God has made you righteous, reckon it to be so and continue on in your pursuit of Christ.
Romans 6:10-11 (NKJV) 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Imparted Righteousness = Sanctification
Imparted righteousness has to do with our behavior. Sanctification is is another word for imparted righteousness. It is the work of the Holy Spirit within us that produces a holy lifestyle.
Not dysfunctional living but holy living. Real integrity, real honesty, real faithfulness, real mercy, real humility, etc.. God is Holy and He tells His people to be Holy, they are to reflect the work of Christ within them. Listen to the scripture.
We are created for good works
2 Ephesians 2:10 (NIV) 10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
It is God's will that we learn to control the actions of our bodies.
Romans 12:1 (NLT) 1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask?
It is God's Will That We Be Holy
Hebrews 12:13-14 (GNB)13 Keep walking on straight paths, so that the lame foot may not be disabled, but instead be healed. 14 Try to be at peace with everyone, and try to live a holy life, because no one will see the Lord without it.
The Lord expects is to stop sinning because He gives us the power and ability to stop sinning!
Galatians 5:24-25 (NLT)24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 If we are living now by the Holy Spirit, let us follow the Holy Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
1 Corinthians 6:18 (NLT) 18 Run away from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.
1 Corinthians 10:13-14 (NIV) 13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. 14 Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.
IF YOU ARE A BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIAN, SIN HAS NO POWER OVER YOU.
Romans 7:4-6 (NLT) 4 So this is the point: The law no longer holds you in its power, because you died to its power when you died with Christ on the cross. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, you can produce good fruit, that is, good deeds for God. 5 When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced sinful deeds, resulting in death. 6 But now we have been released from the law, for we died with Christ, and we are no longer captive to its power. Now we can really serve God, not in the old way by obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way, by the Spirit.
Righteousness is more than just acting good or acting moral, it is actually loving goodness and being good at heart level. This is a work of the Holy Spirit.
I CAN DO ALL THE THINGS THAT A GOOD PERSON SHOULD DO, BUT HOW CAN MY GOODNESS BE MORE THAN SUPERFICIAL.
I can act like a meek person acts, but can I really be meek at heart level in the same way that Jesus was meek. I don't think so, this is why I need the work of the Holy Spirit to incline or make my heart righteous. If I am left to myself and my efforts alone, then I will most certainly fail. I desire to be good and am willing to work at being good, but without the grace of God working within me at heart level, my efforts, regardless of how sincere they are, will not produce the life that God desires. I cannot simply be a righteous person.
Sin is difficult for us because most try to stop sinning by stopping or changing the sinful behavior. But sinful behavior flows from our desires, what we want. It is as we judge and confront what we want, by the Word of God, that we are able to change at heart level.
The Lord expects me to overcome sin in my body, mind, and emotions. It is at this level that righteousness is worked out. Each of these areas, if not under control of the Holy Spirit, can lead me into the destructions of sin. God gives us a new heart and then tells us to put on the new man, meaning that we are to change our behavior to that which is consistent with a new heart. The Lord expects us to do what we ought to do. Every person, born of the Spirit, knows what they ought to do. The Holy Spirit, the Word, their conscience, and if they are fortunate, their Pastor tells them. The Scripture tells us to put on the new man and put off the old man. Listen to Ephesians 4:24; you must display a new nature BECAUSE you are a new person....
Ephesians 4:21-24 (NLT) 21 Since you have heard all about him and have learned the truth that is in Jesus, 22 throw off your old evil nature and your former way of life, which is rotten through and through, full of lust and deception. 23 Instead, there must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes. 24 You must display a new nature because you are a new person, created in God's likeness - righteous, holy, and true
The Lord Says We Are To Have A Change of Mind
Romans 12:2 (GNB) 2 Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God—what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect.
The above scriptures tell us the only way for us to change our lifestyles is to change our minds. If we do not change at this level than all other efforts will eventually fail. Also, it is the mind that is renewed by God. He certainly knows what we need to change and He says allow Me to have My way in your life and I will change your mind thereby equipping you to follow me. This is obviously a paraphrase but this is what God is saying to us.
I have taken time to discuss the mind because the mind is the arena of battle, this is where our fight against sin and for righteousness is won or lost. It is God's will that we win, and He has promised that we will win if we battle using His weapons. We lose by not putting on the full armor of God.
No person fails God by accident, no person fails over a technicality. If we fail, it is because we do not love God enough to change. Our failure is the result of habitually saying no to the Holy Spirit, no to the Word, no to our conscience, and yes to our own fleshly heart.
The scripture says to put on the full armor of God that we might stand and withstand! The Breastplate of Righteousness will protect us from the inward destructions of sin. Righteousness is ultimately about standing in the will of God, and withstanding the onslaughts of the Devil.
Ephesians 6:10-14 (GNB) 10 Finally, build up your strength in union with the Lord and by means of his mighty power. 11 Put on all the armour that God gives you, so that you will be able to stand up against the Devil's evil tricks. 12 For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age. 13 So put on God's armour now! Then when the evil day comes, you will be able to resist our enemy's attacks; and after fighting to the end, you will still hold your ground. 14 So stand ready, with truth as a belt tight round your waist, with righteousness as your breastplate,
The bottom line is to love God and His ways more than we love ourselves and our ways. If we do this then righteousness will be the result.