THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
By: Norm Rasmussen
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... Having put on the breastplate of righteousness, -- Ephesians 6:14
Is it your and my righteousness that saves you and I, or is it God's righteousness?
Are you aware that no one can become righteous enough by their own attempts to satisfy God's demands of being holy and righteous?
Are you aware that God freely gives born again Christians HIS righteousness so that they can fully meet God's demands of being holy and righteous? More about this later ...
In Ephesians 6:14 believers are admonished (exhorted) to put on “the breastplate of righteousness,” as protection against satanic attacks. At the time the Bible was written, the breastplate was perhaps the most important piece of armament for a Roman soldier to put on and keep on in battle. It protected his heart area, and other vital organs. What significance does the “breastplate of righteousness” have for believers now? It is perhaps best understood in this manner:
Project yourself into the future. Imagine standing before God on the Judgment Day. You will enter the place of Judgment with one of these two garments.
1) Your filthy robe of unrighteous rags.
2) Christ’s spotless robe of righteousness.
Either you will have your filthy unrighteous robe of rags covering you, or you will have Christ’s spotless robe of righteousness covering you -- there is no third robe God will allow you to wear on the Judgment Day. And ... it will be your choice of which robe you will be wearing: God gives each of us that choice right now.
How do we describe your or my “filthy robe of rags?” Our robe of filthy, sin-saturated rags is our own perceived holiness – our own perceived righteousness - we bring or attempt to present to God, based on our “religious doing good.” This was what we ignorantly (or pridefully) did during our lifetime on earth to try to help make ourselves “good enough” to be allowed to spend eternity in heaven with God.
How do we describe Christ’s “spotless robe of righteousness?” Christ’s “spotless robe of righteousness” is given to those who will receive it, free of charge. It was made available to each and every sinner because of the Cross of Calvary. The Bible says that Christ took the punishment for my and your sins on the cross, and in exchange, He gave you and me His righteousness – His holiness. It’s called the Great Godly Garment Exchange. Saying it a little differently … on the Cross when Christ died for your and my sins, you and I handed Him our filthy robe of rags to take to the grave with Him, and He handed you and I His perfect, spotless, holy “robe of righteousness” to wear for all eternity after He resurrected from the grave. Among other things, it’s the only acceptable wedding garment that will enable us to participate in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Here is Biblical proof (Highlighting and bolding mine, for important focused emphasis):
But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousness is like filthy rags; (Isaiah 64:6 NKJV)
As it is written, “There is none righteousness, no, not one;” (Romans 3:10 NKJV)
Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:20-23 NKJV)
“I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law ["Law" meaning: Trying to obey the 10 commandments and trying to rely on the animal sacrifices that were only a temporary means God gave the Jewish people to cover their sins] then Christ died in vain. (Galatians 2:21 NKJV)
And not being weak in faith (speaking of Abraham), he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore "it was accounted to him for righteousness."
Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.
Therefore, having been justified by faith, [Editor's note: "Faith" in WHAT? Faith that God has imputed His righteousness to us who trust what is written in His Word concerning what righteousness is capable of saving us: Our righteousness (which is as filthy rags compared to God's), or God's righteousness imputed to us?] we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, (Romans 4:19-25; 5:1 NKJV).
But indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. (Philippians 3:8-9 NKJV)
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For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV)
Jesus did more than just take the punishment for all of your and my sin; the above scripture states that Jesus literally became my sin and your sin, and by faith because God says so, we became the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
An exchange of unimaginable portions happened when Jesus died on the cross, was buried, and then resurrected. He took our ugly, sinful rag of unrighteousness (unrighteous robe made of unholy sin-saturated rags) into the grave and left it there, and gave us God's holy robe of righteousness when He resurrected three days later! Talk about Good News!
Here are God’s very own words to us on the matter:
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. (Isaiah 61:10)
Probably the clearest picture God gives us about the importance of this “robe of righteousness” God gives each of us who understand what REALLY saves us (That being Christ’s righteousness imputed to the believer and never our own righteousness; explaining in part why it’s the grace of God that saves us), let’s read in the book of Matthew, starting in Chapter 22:1-5. Jesus is teaching a parable:
And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.
“Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.”’
“But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.”
Then starting with verse 8 again, it reads:
“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’
“So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.
“But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.
“So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.
“Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
“For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Many are called to be a part of the “Marriage Super of the Lamb” -- the eternal celebration with God, the Godly angels, and the redeemed saints. But only a chosen few of the masses who lived and died on Earth will have the wisdom to wear the right apparel – the right covering - when they step inside that “wedding banquet hall.”
What is the “right” apparel to wear there?: Christ’s robe of righteousness. Your and my rag of unrighteousness just isn’t acceptable. Our own raggedy wedding unrighteous apparel … our own raggedy, sin-saturated, unrighteous wedding garments … will never be acceptable to God.
CONCLUSION
Here is the simplest and best way I know how to help readers understand and gain a more clear understanding of what God wants us to know about righteousness:
Divide righteousness into two categories. On the left is your and my righteousness (as well as our holiness). On the right is God's righteousness (as well as God's holiness). As you read the Bible, especially the New Testament, when you come to the word "righteous" or "righteousness" (or holy or holiness)... ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you whether God is talking of your righteousness, or His righteousness (or holiness; same application). Satan delights in confusing us when we don't understand which category we are to put "righteousness" and/or "holiness" in. Hopefully that will now change for you.
God's righteousness is the most potent (important) righteousness obtainable, when speaking of effective spiritual warfare tactics. Yet our own righteousness (or in other words, our obedience to God's Word) also plays an important role in maximizing the effectiveness of utilizing our weapons of spiritual warfare. God has written that if we sin, it brings forth death ... [to one degree or another]. (See: Romans 6:23 & James 1:5). Applying that to waging effective spiritual warfare ... when we sin, it gives the devil the legal right to oppress us in some manner; of course, only as God allows him (thank God!). When we confess our sin to God, genuinely telling Him we're sorry for sinning, then asking His forgiveness, it immediately breaks Satan's legal right to oppress us in some manner as a direct result of that particular sin. Wise believers in Christ Jesus make it a discipline to have their sin-slates wiped clean frequently - daily (See: Matt. 6:12) - of any sin/s they have committed, known and unknown.
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-9)
Thus the less we sin, depending on which sin/s it might be, and the frequency of committing that sin/s - understandably- the less opportunity we give Satan to oppress us (not to even mention the fact that God will reward our efforts on the Judgment Day in putting sin to death during our lifetime). Refraining from sinning is a win-win situation. It pays huge dividends.
Sin is a very serious matter in the life of a Christian. It can remove God's favor off your life in a big way until dealt with. It can put a wedge between you and God that can greatly damage your prayer life, your faith, the effectiveness of the ministry God has called to you (hence; loss of eternal rewards).
If you think sin is no big deal in the life of a Christian, maybe you need to refresh you awareness of 1 Corinthians 5:5 (and the verses preceding it to understand what God is getting at). Then reread 1 Corinthians 11:27-30 and Acts 5:1-11.
God makes it very clear what the Christians responsibility is:
1 Peter 1:13-16: Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest tour hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you ALSO be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy”.
STRIVING TO STAY FREE FROM SIN PAYS HUGE DIVIDENDS!
No Christian can possibly do enough to EARN the righteousness that God gives to His disciples FREELY that qualifies them for heaven. It's too costly. But Christians CAN earn God's favor, and conquering major (to less major) sin in your learn certainly CAN earn God's favor.
Salvation (forgiveness for our sins so that we can qualify for Christ's imputed righteousness that qualifies us for heaven) is free. It's received by faith and grace. Neither can salvation be earned (nor is it really deserved, truth be known). It's too costly. However - rewards are not earned by faith and grace. They are earned through obedience to what pleases God. Elementary to most reading this I realize ... everything we need to know to please God is written in the New Testament Bible.
The wages of some sin are almost immediate. If I murder someone, God will forgive that sin as quickly as I confess it to Him, genuinely tell Him I'm sorry, and ask His forgiveness ... which He will grant. The early judge who sentences me to life in prison will not!
Sin has consequences. Some sin has more serious consequences than others. Don't ever forget it. Some times God delays consequences for our sin; other times He doesn't. He knows what is best at any given time in any given situation in our lives. Yet because many times God extends His mercy for us with executing judgment when we engage in one or more besetting sins, we can become deluded into believing that "Evidently God doesn't mind if I sin, so I'll keep committing it when temptation arises."
Here's a word to the wise. Pushing God's mercy regarding sin issues can find us in a heap of painful trouble. Prisons are full of people who believed that were exempt from God's "discipline" regarding their crime/s (sin).
God is intensely serious about us seeking to be righteous (holy). God wants us working with Him to break strongholds of sin in our life. God wants us to stop sinning period. Let us NEVER lose sight of that! Yet the truth of the matter is, none of us can obtain a degree of righteousness (holiness) on our own efforts that satisfy God's demands to be holy and righteousness enough to remain in His presence through eternity. He KNEW that before any of us were created. His solution? Give us HIS! Give us Christ's robe of righteousness.
Another truth of the matter IS: If we are truly a born again disciple of Jesus Christ ... we are as holy and righteous as we can possibly BE - the moment we became truly saved is when that happened. But that gives us no license to sin! BECAUSE God declares us as holy and righteous as we could possibly be the moment we became truly saved ... God THEN begins expecting us to start practicing holiness - practicing righteousness.
God clearly states in Romans chapter 6 and chapter 8 that sin (unrighteousness) is NOT to reign in His disciples. If you want to be one of the most miserable Christians you've ever met, continue to keep sinning as though it's no big deal with God. In fact, scripture gives ample evidence to support the fact that if a person keeps on sinning with no regard for the consequences ... they may not even make it to heaven after all is said and done!
So then ... Because God the Father has already declared followers of Jesus Christ fully righteous in Christ ... God EXPECTS them to WALK in righteous obedience to God's word (wisely applied), and the leading of the Holy Spirit. If they "miss the mark", there is forgiveness and restoration, though God's discipline may be experienced in the process. Yet God still EXPECTS His children to ever diligently keep striving to walk in righteous obedience to Him, no matter how many times they "miss the mark."
For a more in-depth reading on this subject of God's righteousness given to us FREELY at the Cross, which is the ONLY righteousness which will save us, versus our own righteousness that won't save us, BUT which we will be rewarded for both here in this life, but even more so in eternity, you can click: Here
Going in a little different direction ... Salvation consists of three parts: Justification, Sanctification, Glorification. Putting on “the breastplate of righteousness” addresses the first two parts of salvation, being Justification and Sanctification, which then qualifies us for the third part of salvation; Glorification (which is when we believers get our glorified bodies in the future).
Let us first address: Justification
1) Put on God’s “robe of righteousness.” What the Cross entitles believers to legally do is trade with God our “robe of rags” for “Christ’s robe of righteousness.”
But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God – and righteousness and sanctification and redemption – that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:30-31)
The righteousness that gets a person saved and keeps that person saved is what is referred to as the “imputed righteousness” Of God. The entire Chapter of Romans 4 addresses this topic. It ends by telling the reader what kind of righteousness God found acceptable in Abraham, which was Godly imputed righteousness. I’ll let the last few scriptures speak for themselves:
Now it was not written for his (Abraham’s) sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification. (Romans 4:23-25 NKJV)
In it’s most simplistic explanation, what does “justification” mean? It means:
Just-as-if-I-had-never-sinned!
Though I quoted this scripture passage earlier, it is profitable to give again: Romans 3:21-26 assures us that Jesus Christ is our "righteousness" and our "justifier":
But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God which is through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth to be a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Romans 5:1-2 settles the entire debate as to whether I must try to somehow be holy enough by my own human efforts before God will Save me and grant me free entrance into heaven. Again -- the point being -- there is absolutely no way you or I could possibly be holy enough to justify ourselves. Again ... God's justification is given to us totally free of charge ... by believing (or trusting, if you prefer; same thing) Him for it:
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1-2)
On the Judgment Day, when you stand before God and Judgment is pronounced, (For Christians, it will be rewards given out, by the way -- not punishment for sins) if you are wearing Christ’s robe of righteousness, God will look upon you as though you had never sinned. The robe of righteousness God gave you when you told Jesus Christ you were making Him your Lord and your God … that robe of righteousness God tells you to NEVER let the devil con you into taking it off or forgetting it’s priceless worth (hence Ephesians 6:14), God not only will refuse to see your sin underneath it … God even said the innocent blood of Jesus carried your sins into His sea of forgetfulness and God refuses to think about them ever again! (See: Hebrews 10:17 and Psalms 103:12). Because God will refuse to think about them ever again … God is telling us right now NOT to let the devil keep reminding us of past sins that God forgave when we confessed them to Him and received forgiveness for them as 1 John 1:9 promises God does – every time.
Furthermore, if you should go through a period of severe mental bombardment of doubt from Satan’s fiery darts and question whether you’ve lost your salvation or not (or whether you were truly saved in the first place), God wants you be absolutely confident of what really saved you in the first place, and what keeps you saved. When you prayed “the sinner’s prayer,” (if you prayed one) – that didn’t technically (legally) save you. If you responded to an invitation a TV preacher gave you to give your life to Christ, that technically (legally) didn’t save you. If you read a testimony on the Precious Testimonies website and the Holy Spirit gripped your heart and you knew you were a lost sinner and you needed a Savior to forgive you of all your sins and enable you to get to heaven and stay in heaven for eternity (Excluding the Millennium factor, when saints of God will rule with Jesus Christ) once you get there … that didn’t technically (legally) save you either. What legally saves you, and legally keeps you saved, is “Christ’s robe of righteousness” that He freely gave you when you asked Him to be your Savior and Lord. All the money in the world won’t buy that robe, and all the money in the world won’t allow you to keep that robe, nor any amount of religious activity - religious involvement - on your part. All your own self-efforts will not gain you that robe either. Faith by God’s grace is what gave it to you and faith by God’s grace is what will enable you to keep it on. Satan will try to constantly convince you otherwise, if you don’t allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to you what legally saves, and legally keeps you saved.
Having said all the above, let us ALWAYS remember … it is the grace of God that saves us, and nothing else! Salvation is all of God’s initiating and God's securing. Our part in Salvation is ongoing surrender and trust with appreciation and thanksgiving.
What follows once we have been saved is the Sanctification process of the Holy Spirit, were we begin to walk out our righteousness -- walk out our holiness -- which is proof of our obedience to God's Word (sometimes referred to as "works" or "spiritual works"). Faith in the completed work of Jesus Christ is what Saves us, and works of obedience is our evidence that we are genuinely striving to obey God.
God makes it perfectly clear that after faith comes visible proof -- visible proof to God and visible proof to those who know us personally that we are diligently seeking to please Him through our obedience to His New Covenant commands:
James 3:17 speaks of such: Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (dead faith, in other words, that wants forgiveness from God for one's sins, but does not want to pay the price of obedience to all of God's Word to show evidence that one's faith is truly alive and genuine.
Another way of explaining James 3:17 is stating it this way: Salvation is free. Walking out your Salvation in obedience to God's new covenant (New Testament) Word and God's will for you life once (or because) you have been saved . . . may seem to cost you everything!
Do everything in Christ you can to understand what I'm about to share: Satan is a “legalist,” primarily because He knows that the Bible is the book of God's law to not only the human race, but also to fallen angels. Legalism is a perversion from Satan to attempt to keep the human race from clearly understanding that Salvation comes only by trusting key promises in the New Covenant book of the law that apply to one's being saved. “Legalism” is one of Satan's favorite forms of spiritual, emotional bondage for the Christian. "Legalism" tries to convince a person that they must do more than simply put their trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross to get saved, and stay saved. Legalism wants to complicate the simplicity of salvation by grace, and grace alone.
Legalism delights in quoting James 3:17 to the unenlightened. Legalism is a spiritually deceptive perversion of James 3:17 ... the purposeful intention to twist the right understanding of what God wants us to understand about James 3:17. Our faith in the completed work of Jesus Christ on the cross is what gains and continues to secure our salvation. Our obedience to God's New Testament commands once (or because) we are saved is the evidence of our genuine faith -- evidence that we are truly saved - truly born again. This is what God wants us to understand and rest in regarding James 3:17
Faith in God's completed work on the cross saves us . . . Works proves our faith is genuine faith by our obedience to God's New Covenant commands because we are genuinely saved.
The devil wants to twist this above order by trying to get us to believe that to gain and keep our Salvation, we must work to gain it, and work to secure it. This is a total lie! There is no work involved at all. It's totally free!
Demonic "legalism" has different shades of color, but at the root of it is always a lie that tries to convince you and I that eternal Salvation is not really free at all, and that you and I must attempt to do something different, or do something more, than just believing it is ours, totally free of charge. [For better understanding of the bondage of spiritual "legalism," you can click on this link: Exposing The "Legalism" Monster].
Satan's lying “legalism” certainly doesn't produce the freedom and peace from spiritual bondage and slavery that God’s legal promises due. God’s legal promises are gifts of priceless worth! God's legal promises in His New Testament Word is what saves you, and keeps you saved, when you know that it is a robe you wear that Christ earned for you, given to you free of charge, because of His death, burial and resurrection, and all you have to do is trust Him for it! He'll give you the faith to do so, rest assured, if you're sincere with Him.
2): The second truth or part of Salvation is: Sanctification
(Here is a different link to the topic of Sanctification you may be interested in reading).
Sanctification is the spiritual process Christians engage in with the help of the “Godly Policeman” better known as the Holy Spirit, the one who God has given us to “work out or salvation on a daily basis,” and to help us “stop committing sin”. Scripture promises that once we are saved, and we sin, if we will confess our sin/s to God, and repent (purpose to try to stop committing that sin over and over again), God will forgive us. (See: 1 John 1:9). However, forgiveness is only HALF of the equation: His forgiveness seldom empowers you and I to stop giving into temptation the next time that very same temptation to sin comes knocking at our door again.
God essentially reminds us in Romans Chapter 6 that we are without excuse for sinning AFTER we turn our lives over to Jesus Christ … yet tells us not to let the devil beat us up with condemnation for our sinning on occasion in Romans 8:1, praise God.
Romans 8:5-13 separates the serious disciple of Christ from the half-hearted disciple of Christ:
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors – not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
Our cooperating with the Holy Spirit to put to death the sinful deeds of our fallen, sinful fleshly nature is the process of spiritual Sanctification. In Christ, we cannot be any more righteous, nor can we be any more sanctified. Yet until we get to heaven, or when Christ returns to earth at the end of this age and if we are alive down here at that time, we are to “walk out our salvation daily,” and doing that involves obedience to God’s Word daily. In so doing, we are proving to God that we appreciate and love Him enough to want to be pleasing to Him in everything we think, say and do. Our motive once we are saved should be because we genuinely want to please God ... not because we feel we have to.
Sin in a believer’s life is an individual issue with that person and God. God will chasten one person for allowing sin to continue, while he will allow another person to sin a sin or sins for years without bringing serious chastisement. Making absolute statements about the consequences of sin in the life of another Christian believer can bring us real close to the place where God warns: Judge not, least you be Judged. (See: Matthew 7:1). 1 Corinthians 4:5 also addresses this issue.
Aren’t you so thankful how God ends out Romans Chapter 8, because in paraphrased condensed form, it promises that nothing can separate us from God’s love. Because nothing can separate us from God’s love, including Satan, then it should be my love back to God that wants me to strive to walk in holiness and righteousness. Starting with verse 8:31:
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Every weapon God gives us in Ephesians 6:12-18 is a weapon of God’s love and grace, for our spiritual well-being. Let’s always be thankful for these weapons, and use them wisely. This Christian walk is hard enough as it is, so we need to use everything God has given us to remain as free as we can from the devil’s constant strategies to try to keep us as weak as he can as soldiers of the living God in the Army of Jesus Christ.
Every born again believer in Christ is an Ambassador of Christ (See: 2 Cor. 5:20). We are the chosen vessels of God to share Biblical truths to those who are ignorant of them. We are God’s chosen vessels to be shining lights in the midst of great spiritual darkness on this planet. Satan wants our bulbs to be so dim they can hardly be seen. God tells us to use His armor daily … because if we don’t, our spiritual bulbs will dim quickly.
There will be days when our candle will barely flicker. There will be other days when it will illuminate the darkness like a raging forest fire. It is hard work self-sustaining the brilliance of a raging forest fire day in and day out for most, but just knowing that it is a God-ordained, worthwhile goal will help us stay motivated to keep the fire stoked inside our heart!
3) The third truth or part of Salvation will be: Glorification
Glorification will happen in the future for the born again Christian. Exactly when this will happen is open to speculation, but the Bible gives us some exciting nuggets of insight regarding this event:
So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory, It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. (1 Corinthians 15:42-43)
Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed - in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruption must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." (1 Corinthians 15:51-54)
What a glorious time that will be, never to have to be concerned about sinning again! Thank you, Lord, for such a great salvation!
To learn about the other weapons of our warfare, click on the ones below you are interested in knowing more about:
4) Breastplate of righteousness
Back to main document: Why The Need For The Armor Of God?
Dear Reader - are you at peace with God? If not, you can be. Do you know what awaits you when you die? You can have the assurance from God that heaven will be your home, if you would like to be certain. You can even have that assurance RIGHT NOW! Either Jesus Christ died for your sins, or He didn't (He did!). Are you prepared to stand before God on the Judgment Day and tell Him that you didn't need the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross to have your sins forgiven and get in right-standing with God? We plead with you...please don't make such a tragic mistake.
To get to know God, to be at peace with God, to have your sins forgiven, to make certain heaven will be your home for eternity, to make certain that you are in right-standing with God right now ... please click here to help you understand the importance of being reconciled to God. What you do about being reconciled to God will determine where you will spend eternity, precious one. Your decision to be reconciled to God is the most important decision you'll ever make in this life, because in Christ, it is impossible to put a value on the worth of your soul in light of eternity.
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Remember: All that we do in this life comes back to our God-given purpose which is to serve and glorify God. The money and assets we accumulate, the fame and power we've attained or seek to attain - all of the things of this nature will one day pass away, but those lives of others we impact for Jesus Christ will last for eternity, and we will be rewarded for the part we helped play by impacting those lives ... for eternity. (Matthew 6:19-21 is our assurance)