The Whole Armour of God, Our Breastplate Part II

“Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,” Ephesians 6:14

So what exactly is the breastplate of righteousness? It is to be worn by those who believe that Jesus died on the cross for their sins, and that His death was sufficient for God to declare us righteous in His sight. The doctrinal definition of this is justification by faith alone, which follows the teaching of Ephesians 2:8: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.”  The teaching of justification of faith alone is central to the whole counsel of God and is the very buckle of the belt of truth upon which the breastplate of righteousness is anchored. As for any other teaching: “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”(Gal. 1:8)  Not too surprisingly, the Apostle Paul’s mention of ‘an angel from heaven’ is a reference to our adversary the Devil. “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” (2 Cor. 11:14) As a result of Satan’s presence as an angel, he has led many astray. Many were led into entirely false religions, cults and sects; while others within the church, through the teaching of false doctrines, have led people astray. For example, during the early Christian church, there were Jews that said that Gentile believers had to be circumcised to be saved. Since then, many false teachers have come along and taught men that they were required to do one thing or another to be saved; such as being baptized; giving intellectual assent to the teaching; or physically going forward during an altar call or raising a hand. Charles Grandison Finney, who was said to be a poster boy for modern evangelism, did not believe that grace was even necessary for salvation as long as there was intellectual assent. As a result, he refuted what was written in Ephesians 2:8.  

Why is this doctrine important? If we understand that our salvation comes by faith alone, and that through grace, then we have complete assurance in our salvation because it does not depend on anything that we have done or will do. God is immutable, which means He changes not (Jas. 1:17); and Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. (Heb. 13:8) That is the glory and wonder of the righteousness that we possess in Him. We have His assurance so that we can stand when the accuser comes up against us.  “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.” (Rev. 12:10) One day that old serpent, Satan, will be cast down forevermore, however, until that time comes, he accuses us before God, day and night. However, Christ’s righteousness is our breastplate, and Jesus, at this moment, is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us. “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the righthand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.”(Rom. 8:34)

Not only does Satan accuse us before God, he accuses us inwardly, using our own minds and consciences to come against us. However, if we know that we have confessed our sins, then he “…is faithful and just toforgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) We can stand on His Word and His righteousness. Nonetheless, there are times when we are beset with self-doubt; thinking that we are not good enough, or having fallen into sin, we believe that Jesus has rejected us and will not hear our cry. It is then we must remember the breastplate. “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,  By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” (Heb. 10:19-22) The same is true when others, even those we love the most, continue to accuse us of things that we have asked them and God to forgive us, but our loved ones have not shown us mercy. In such cases, we can inwardly rejoice in our Savior, and as Stephen in Acts 7:60, “And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” Such is the grace and mercy that God the Father and Jesus Christ has shown to us, so we should likewise extend to others the same grace; turning our cheek. In the meantime, let us make sure that our breastplate of righteousness is firmly fastened as we walk in full assurance of  our blessed salvation.

“The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.” Ps. 28:7