Woman to Woman: The Armor of God Part 3: The Breastplate of Righteousness

"Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest,"

~Ephesians 6:14

A couple weeks ago we kicked off a new series on spiritual warfare and the armor of God. So far we have looked at what spiritual warfare is, who we are actually fighting against, and have begun to take a look at the actual armor itself by studying the belt of truth. Today we continue our study by taking a look at our next peace of armor, the breastplate of righteousness.

Of this piece of armor Priscilla Shirer writes,

"Continuing with Paul’s analogy of the Roman soldier’s armor, after the soldier is fitted with his belt, he would then put on his metal shield (or breastplate) that is worn from his neck/shoulders down to cover his midsection to help protect the vital organs. Since the breastplate was usually made from bronze, the weight of it would put too much strain on the neck and shoulders. So, to help distribute and balance the weight from the breastplate, it would hook onto the soldier’s belt."

She goes on to say,

"For us as Christians, when we gird ourselves with the belt of truth, the Word of God is our foundation and our standard of living. Then, when we put on our breastplate of righteousness, we are aligning our beliefs and our life to our foundation and standard of living. We are aligning our daily living with righteousness or righteous living with the truth of God and the expectations of God found in the Word of God. The breastplate of the soldier’s uniform offers protection for vital organs. One strike of the enemy to the most vital organ, the heart, and the soldier is fatally wounded. As Christians, it is vitally important for us to protect our heart. The heart is the centerpiece of our soul and that is why the enemy is after our heart. By making the daily decision to put on the breastplate of righteousness, we are placing a blockade between the enemy and the area he most commonly targets—the heart."

We read in Proverbs 4:23, "Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life."

This is precisely why it is so important for us to daily put on our breastplate of righteousness. Our hearts carry such power to determine the course of our lives. This is why we are warned of the pre-salvation heart, "The heart is more deceitful than anything else" (Jeremiah 17:9). Even post-salvation we still have our fallenness to do battle with and still have to take our thoughts captive and submit our hearts to the Lord's ways.

Putting on the breastplate of righteousness is key in our ability to do so.

If we want to wage victorious war against the enemy, if we want to come out on the other side of spiritual warfare stronger in the Lord than we were before, the key is not mere behavior modification, but true heart transformation. And the key to protecting the heart transformation that God is bringing about in us is to make sure that we daily have our breastplate of righteousness squarely in place.

God's righteous ways are not meant to steal our fun and freedom. Rather, because they are what's best for us, they preserve, protect, and promote what the Lord is doing in us and guard our hearts and minds against the attacks of the enemy.

You may be wondering what it means to put on the breastplate of righteousness or how we go about doing that.

Great question!

Putting on the breastplate of righteousness looks like walking by the Spirit - "I say, then, walk by the Spirit and you will certainly not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I am warning you about these things—as I warned you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." (Galatians 5:16-23)

Putting on the breastplate of righteousness means being in relationship with the Spirit and seeking to walk in the righteous ways of Christ. And it means remembering that Jesus' perfect righteousness has already been attributed to your account - and acting like that is true by standing in the glorious grace of Christ.

So put on your breastplate of righteousness today!

Reflection Questions:

1) Prior to this study, did you understand what the breastplate of righteousness was and what it does?

2) What stood out to you from today's study?

3) In what ways do you need to put your breastplate of righteousness in place?