Spiritual Warfare Part 4 | Breastplate of righteousness

Eph 6:14b “Stand therefore . . . having put on the breastplate of righteousness”

When people become believers, they begin a conflict with the devil, not that Satan had not targeted them before, for he is most able to shake unbelievers. As 2 Cor 4:4 stages, “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” The devil is crafty and keeps them from seeing the holiness of God and their own unholiness. They do not know that it is the devil who is doing it, and so they welcome being god in their own eyes and they welcome freedom they think they have, not knowing that they are slaves to the devil, at peace with him and at war with God.

But now that they have believers, the conflict begins. They have been moved from the domain of Satan to the kingdom of Christ Himself, at peace with God and at war with Satan. 1Jn 5:19, Acts 26:18, Col 1:13. Satan wants vengeance for having his slaves stolen from his kingdom, as he would see it, and he is not an insignificant foe. He is so strong that the Son of Man Himself had to come. In our own armour, we will fail immediately. But we do not stand alone or in our own strength and armour. We stand wearing the whole armour of God.

Last week we looked at the BELT OF TRUTH, the word of God—to encircle ourselves, to fasten on ourselves the word of God by reading, meditating, and loving the word of God. Paul is not saying that we become masters of every aspect of scripture to be able to stand. The first audience did not even have access to the whole writings. But we must grasp the core message of scripture and the major doctrines, most notably the gospel and what Christ has done for us and the peace we now have with God. Ch 1, Para 7 of the confession reads: “All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all; yet those things which are necessary to be known, believed and observed for salvation, are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of ordinary means, may attain to a sufficient understanding of them.” Psalm 19:7 tells us that the word of God makes wise the simple. When you have the armour on, the devil knows that he does not have power over you.

Today we look at the BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. The breastplate is the piece of armour, the steel plate, that wraps around the torso of the soldiers, protecting their vital organs. The battle we fight is against spiritual forces and the breastplate is righteousness. It protects our joy and stability as Christians. Let us attempt to understand what the breastplate of righteousness is, for then we will know how to put it on and how it is so effective in protecting us.

Bible scholars have understood RIGHTEOUSNESS in two different ways. 1. Subjective option (our personal righteousness, that comes from sanctification, that is progressively becoming more and more like Jesus). John Calvin took this position. 2. Objective option. The righteousness that comes from Jesus as we read in Phil 3:9 “and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.” Charles Spurgeon and Martyn Lloyd-Jones took this position.

In order to make a case for the objective position, we will look at the three arguments used by those who take the subjective position.

#1 BOTH ARE TRUE. To stand against the devil, we need our own righteousness as well as Christ’s righteousness. 1 Tim 6:10-11 ( For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils . . . But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.) and Eph 4: 26-27 (Be angry and do not sin . . . and give no opportunity to the devil.)

HOWEVER, the passage in Ephesians 6 about spiritual warfare is not about our strength or progress. The armour spoken of here is something we are to be able to take up within a moment’s notice, whether we are young in the faith or old. Personal righteousness waxes and wanes. It is for this that we need protection against the devil, for he attacks when we are the weakest. It is when we fall and trip and fail, that he attacks. We need Christ’s objective righteousness.

#2. BASED ON EPH 4:24. Earlier in the same epistle, Paul wrote: “ and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness,” giving clear instruction to put on righteousness. So by the rule of context, it has been argued that the righteousness that is the breastplate is also personal righteousness. This argument is not convincing as the putting on here is very different. In Eph 4, we had to put it on in response to justification. Here it is to stand against the devil. The closer context is more significant than the wider context. We stand in the strength of His might.

HOWEVER, when we look at the metaphor, while it is clear that Paul has the Roman soldier in mind, he is also drawing from the picture of the divine warrior in Isaiah 59. Isa 59:17 reads: “He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head.” God, looking down at the sins of the world, clothes Himself in righteousness. This is God’s armour. It comes from Him and is given to us. God is the primary warrior in the battle against the devil. He is doing the fighting. We are simply putting on the armour, and in this case, God’s righteousness given to us in Christ.

#3. PAUL CANNOT BE TELLING CHRISTIANS WHO ARE COVERED BY THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST TO PUT IT ON AGAIN. This sounds like a solid argument.

HOWEVER, what do we do when we come to the helmet of salvation? They would say that by ‘salvation’ what is meant is the meditating on salvation and the resting upon it. This is exactly the same with righteousness too. We believe and rest on Christ’s finished work on the cross—to know that our sins have been paid for, that the perfect record of Christ’s life has been credited to us. Knowing this protects our most vital spiritual organs—our heart, will, emotions, and so on. When we are assured of our peace of God, the devil cannot take away our assurance. In those moments, of resting in the righteousness of Christ, the devil cannot distract and tempt us. It is so important not to rely on our own personal righteousness in times of temptation. When he attacks us we are weak and we need to cling to what is strong and objective—the perfect righteousness of Jesus.

The breastplate of righteousness is one piece of armour that the devil hates more than any other, because it is the piece that reminds him of why he has no claim on us any more, because as John 14:30 tells us, he has no claim on Jesus (. . . for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me), who was perfectly righteous, and therefore it applies also to all those who are clothed with His righteousness.

Closing with this passage from Zac 3:1-5: Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments.

Indeed, we are burning sticks that the Lord has plucked from the fire. He has taken away our filthy rags and put a turban on our head.