Satan's Stragegy to Disarm us of our Breastplate...

Chapter Seventeen:

In order to have this breastplate of righteousness, it must be built upon a sure foundation. Having a heart, that has been changed by God's sanctifying power, is that sure foundation, and our desire to become holy must be the very first brick that is laid upon it.  Being new creatures in Christ, we have developed a new attitude towards sin, the same attitude that God has towards it. Our innermost desire, what motivates us to press on despite any and all obstacles, is our commitment to become more like Christ.

When we walk and live in holiness, making it clear we intend to live godly in Christ Jesus, we have openly declared our allegiance to God alone. It is by our wearing our breastplate of righteousness, the righteousness that is given to us by way of Christ's atonement from our sins, that shows we are openly defiant against the ruler of this world, Satan. 

Satan hates that believers have the ability to walk holy before God and with God. Walking in holiness can bring peace to our troubled hearts, and the times of temptation that Satan so enjoys stirring up within us can be quickly brought to an end when we bring our thoughts and actions into line with God's Word. Satan sees the positive influence believers have on those around them, and this angers him greatly.   

                             

He watches believers live out their lives before the unrighteous. He sees a chosen people who are showing by the way they live that they don't have to be under his control. By watching us choosing to shun even the appearance of doing evil, those who don't know God see what it is like to live with a clear conscience, something many of them can never hope to achieve. Satan hates it when nonbelievers watch our godly conduct, as we have been given the ability, through Christ and prayer, to walk away from sin, rather than being  tied to it by its shackles. 

And they see that true followers of Christ are quick to mourn over those sins that they do commit. Unbelievers are repeatedly reminded that they lack the power to keep a tight reign over their corrupt hearts. But Satan doesn't just sit back and remain satisfied with those who still follow him. He has an all-consuming fury that drives him to try to bring all believers back under his control and so he goes after their armor, particularly the breastplate.  So, how does he try to disarm us of our breastplate of righteousness?  

Gurnall warns us that Satan will try to disarm us of our breastplate by trying to set up several traps, in the hope that we will fall into one of them. The first trap he tries to set is to convince us that by walking in holiness we are depriving ourselves of the pleasures of life. He'll try to convince us that by living a life of holiness and following God, we will be living a bleak, joyless life. Given how the world is so caught up in enjoying all types of pleasure, it can be easy to feel as if we are somehow missing out. 

However, if we look at the enticement of these pleasures, they are usually sought after as a way to make one's self feel better, to help escape the emptiness that one feels that is the result of living for self, and are temporary and fleeting in their ability to satisfy.  What Satan can't understand is the joy that comes from following God and being in His presence. Our developing a closer walk with God and becoming more like Christ has a joy that no pleasure in this world can replace. However, we need to be on guard as our desire to enjoy the carnal pleasures of this life, even if for a brief moment, has the potential to undermine the very strength of our breastplate.

The second trap is that Satan will try is to convince us that in living a righteous life we lose any chance of being prosperous. If you want to live a holy life, God will make you give up everything you own, all your wealth, even your place of position that you have worked so hard to attain is what this deceiver will say.  Satan's lie is that only by living in poverty do we show that we are truly God's children.  Sadly, some erroneous Christian prosperity teachings of the past few decades have not helped in defeating this lie, but have actually helped fuel it. 

Many believers have been convinced by false teachers within the Church that God does want them to live big, affluent lives and if they're not living that way, then it's evidence they don't have enough faith.  Both of these views are lies. God has no problem with our owning possessions, it's when our possessions own us that He finds fault. He gives wealth so that we can help others and promote the spread of the Gospel. He doesn't demand we live in poverty. As a loving Father, He wants to make sure our needs are met.  The difficulty comes when we feel we deserve or want more than we possess, which can lead to envy, jealousy, dissatisfaction and strife. 

The third trap that Satan will try to use is the fact that we will face persecution from the world if we insist on living holy, righteous lives. Christ warned us that if He suffered persecution then those who follow Him would also face persecution.  And we have seen it play out, not only in times past but in today's world, particularly in certain parts of the world. Satan tries to convince us that we will lose our friends, the respect of our neighbors and family if we take this Christian thing too far. Satan is fine if we keep our walk with Christ hidden away from the view of the public, and we're not very serious about it,  but he gets irate when we openly live it out in view of all to see.

And our challenging and encouraging others to develop a stronger walk with God is despicable in his eyes. He wants us to cower, to be afraid of sharing our faith with others and letting others see that they, too, can have a close walk with God.  Given many of us have a tendency to worry about what others think, he will try to use that to deter us from being open about our faith. He would rather we worry about what others think about us rather than our focusing solely upon God's opinion of us. He will try to use fear, worry and the concern about being persecuted to cause us to stumble .

The last trap that Gurnall brings to our attention is Satan's trying to get us to fall back on believing that our own good works, good deeds and clean living is what will actually get us into Heaven. He wants us to downplay the necessity of Christ's having to die for our sins. Be assured that Satan will do everything He can to try to get us to revert to walking by our own self-righteousness.  Satan loves it when we walk in self-righteousness, as it immediately makes our breastplate vulnerable.

Gurnall warns us, "This quarrel will never end as long as Satan is around to persecute those who live godly lives (Second Timothy 3:12). Our godliness is the target at which Satan levels his arrows. ...He considers it a triumph if he can strip away our armor and bribe us away from steadfastly holding to our holiness."  

We must also be sure to walk by unselfish motives. If we allow our carnal nature to raise its ugly head, even for an instant, our sense of self-righteousness can have us believing we have this grand breastplate because of our own, difficult hard work. Self congratulations and boasting soon follow the one that believes he has somehow contributed to his ability to walk holy before God and man.

Knowing that Satan desires to cause our breastplate to lose its strength and vitality, what is a believer to do?  We must determine to live a holy life, while being aware of Satan trying to set the aforementioned traps.  Knowing that his sole purpose is to destroy our walk with God and the positive influence we have for His Kingdom, we must make sure that our breastplate is kept securely attached and capable of deflecting any blows. If we ever need to remind ourselves as to what it means to walk holy, all we need to do is look at our finest example, Jesus. The Apostle Paul reminded us how we should walk when he said in First Corinthians 11:1, "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ." He knew that Christ is the example we must follow. 

Gurnall warns us, "Your holiness is what the devil wants to steal from you. He calls no gain victory until he makes a Christian lose his righteousness. And he will allow a man to have anything, or be anything, rather than be truly and powerfully holy. It is not your riches and worldly pleasures he covets, it is your holiness....And the lifeblood of holiness is what this hellish murderer hungers to drain from the Christian's heart...It is not the name but the new nature itself which brings this lion out of his den."   Do not allow Him to steal from you that which cost Christ His life to attain.   Your breastplate of righteousness is that important!