The second piece of the armor that Gurnall discusses
is the breastplate , and the "metal" it is made of is righteousness
(Ephesians 6:14). Our righteousness must come from God alone as it is very easy
for us to feel righteous in our own right. In fact, Martin Luther said he scarcely ever preached a sermon without preaching
against the righteousness of man, and yet, he said, “I find that I still cannot
preach it down. Still men will boast in what they can do, and mistake the path
to heaven to be a road paved by their own merits, and not a way besprinkled by
the blood of the atonement of Jesus Christ.”
As you can see, it is so very
important that we not look at our own self righteousness and what we can do,
but to look at the righteousness that comes from Christ alone. Romans 3:10 tells us, "There is none righteous, no, not one." In God's eyes "...all our righteous acts are like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6). No matter how good we think we are, or what
pure lives we think we live, it is nothing more than filthy rags in the
sight of God.
Gurnall tells us that our righteousness from God is
two-fold, it is imputed and imparted.
Imputed righteousness refers to what Christ did for the believer, the
justification we have because of His sacrifice which allows us to stand
righteous before God. Imparted
righteousness, however, refers to the ongoing righteousness that we are told to
seek after, as Christ continues to work in us, as we walk with Him and grow to
be more like Him. As Gurnall points out,
"The righteousness therefore which is compared to the breastplate here is
the righteousness of sanctification imparted by Christ into the spirit of the
believer. This gift is a supernatural principle of life planted in the heart of
every child of God by the powerful operation of the Holy Spirit. It is the only
way we can perform what His Word requires us."
The purpose of the breastplate in war is to protect the
vital organs of the soldier, as a wound to the heart is more dangerous than to
another part of the body. The critical parts of a soldier, his soul and
conscience, are protected by righteousness and holiness. Gurnall tells us that
"Righteousness and holiness are God's protection to defend the believer's
conscience from all wounds inflicted by sin." This breastplate also gives
the soldier a sense of boldness as he ventures out to the front lines. Our
knowing we are in right standing with God gives us the courage we need in the
face of danger. Our righteousness is our breastplate, which symbolizes our ability to withstand the temptations of Satan to sin and
to become a righteous (holy, set apart) person for God. It's crucial that there be a strong alliance between
truth and holiness, and that this alliance must work together in order for the
breastplate to sufficiently protect us.
We must walk with truth and holiness
strongly linked to one another if our breastplate is to remain strong. We cannot pretend to be sincere and yet live
unholy lives. In order to reach the worthy end of all our actions, which is the
glory of God, we must walk in sincerity and do so by following the path His
Word sets before us. It is absolutely
necessary that every believer keeps on their breastplate of righteousness. If
we intend to be a Christian, we must keep the power of holiness and
righteousness in not only our lives, but in our conduct. "Holiness and
righteousness is the sincere man's path, mapped out by God Himself as the
causeway on which he is to travel, both to glory God and to be glorified in
Him. Anyone who tries to take a shortcut is opening himself up to pain and
defeat. If he finds a new way of glorifying God, which God has not charted,
then he must find a new heaven which God has not prepared!" warns Gurnall.
We can only maintain holiness
by living it out in our daily lives. We cannot allow negligence or presumptuous
sin to loosen our breastplate. In the early days of Christianity a believer was
set apart from worldly people by his consistent holy walk before God. We read
of Zacharias and Elisabeth being both righteous before God and walking
blameless before man (Luke 1:6). Acts
24:16 tells us of Paul's daily diligence, " So
I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man." It should
be our earnest desire to walk before God as they did, and follow their example
of walking before God and men in holiness and righteousness.
Our attitude
needs to be not our will, but God's will be done. If we are to be reliable
soldiers, God must know that if we are properly attired in the armor He
provides, that He can depend upon us to carry out His wishes. We can have no
personal ambitions and our sole purpose must be to find and do "...the
good and acceptable and perfect will of God." (Romans 12:2b). As Gurnall tells us, "It took the death of Christ
to restore to us the ability to walk in holiness. It was man's lost holiness
Christ came to recover. Neither God's Glory nor man's happiness could be
attained until this holiness was restored. As God is glorious in the holiness
of His own nature and works, so He is glorified by the holiness of His people's
hearts...When's man's carnal nature bows to the influence of
sin, can he give God glory and defy Him at the same time? If Christ's purpose
had been merely to forgive man but not to restore his holiness, man would have
unrestrained freedom to dishonor God," says Gurnall.
The Apostle
Paul brought a heavy charge against unholy persons in that "they are the
enemies of the cross of Christ." (Philippians 3:18). A loose Christian, if
indeed he can be called a true believer, denies the Lord that bought him and
gravitates to his old bondage from which Christ ransomed him. It is only if we
allow God to exchange our hearts of stone for hearts of flesh that we are made
righteous and have the right to wear His breastplate of righeousness. We need
to remember that we live in a holy temple, and we cannot act otherwise. As
believers we are considered being consecrated (dedicated) to God and we cannot
allow our sinful, natural state of carnality to rob us of the glory that God
wants to give us and to which we are indebted to Him. The Holy Spirit has set
us apart and in doing so gives us new life from God, and that life has to be
walked out in righteousness and holiness.
The Apostle
Paul blamed the Corinthians for living below their calling, like men of the
world, in corrupt passions. First Corinthians 3:3 explained their behavior,
"... for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions
among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?" We need
to look to God's Word for the food that we need to nourish the holiness that
God desires to reside within us, and must reside within us if we want our
breastplate to protect us.
If we truly want our breastplate to protect us, we
must walk in truth and holiness. When you
put on the breastplate of righteousness through faith in Christ, it symbolizes
that you are protected by the righteousness of Christ. But, protected from what? From the accusations
of Satan before God about your sin, your faithless life, your faults, your lack
of commitment. Satan is the “accuser of (the) brethren” (Revelation 12:10). In the next
chapter, we will look at how Satan tries to disarm us of our breastplate of
righteousness.
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