When Samuel anointed young David to be the next king of Israel the Holy Spirit anointed him with power. …And David lived happily ever after. Right? Where did we get the idea that those who walk with God enjoy easy lives? Not from the Bible. David is one of countless biblical examples of godly people the enemy targeted after being commissioned by God.
David’s battles began early. As a youth he defeated Goliath. After that victory he led armies against the Philistines. He spent years fleeing King Saul’s murderous pursuit. When enemies burned his city and kidnapped families, his own men talked of stoning him. No, the life of faith is lived on a battleground, not a playground.
If you’re facing battles, you’re in good company. Hebrews 11 provides a quick list of examples. We battle the world, the flesh, and the spiritual forces of evil. To walk in victory, we need our spiritual armor.
Are You Winning Your Daily Battles?
Ephesians 6 uses a Roman soldier’s physical armor to describe our spiritual armor. Let’s look at the breastplate of righteousness.
I enjoy reading mysteries and suspense novels. When a bad guy wants to kill, he doesn’t aim at the victim’s big toe. He targets the heart. Our spiritual enemy does the same.
Have you ever felt condemned, dirty, guilty, soiled? How effective are you when you accept those accusations? How motivated are any of us to boldly live our faith when we believe we’re walking around with spiritual bad breath and greasy hair?
The breastplate of righteousness reminds us we have the righteousness of Christ.
What is the breastplate and how do we receive this righteousness?
Wearing the breastplate of righteousness means enjoying right standing with God. The scripture says faith in Christ’s finished work provides right standing with God or biblical righteousness.
- “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation” (Romans 10:9-10 NASB 1995 emphasis added on these scriptures).
. - “He [God] made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB 1995).
- “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NASB 1995).
- “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT).
Measuring our righteousness by anything other than faith in Christ is a false scale. Any righteousness other than Christ’s is as “filthy rags” to God (Isaiah 64:6).
Does that mean our behavior doesn’t matter? Not at all. But our behavior is the tip of the iceberg.
A healthy person may stumble in their walk with God. But a spiritually dead heart can’t even stand before God. A healthy heart wants to please God.
The accuser’s taunts cast doubt on God’s provision. Thoughts like, “I’ll never change; I’m just a dirty sinner” call God a liar and undercut our ability to resist the devil’s temptations and accusations.
Walking around in the rags of self-righteousness and condemnation sidelines us from our calling. Weak and ineffective warriors feel powerless to resist sin and bring hope to a dying world. What would happen if we chose to wear the breastplate of righteousness each day and faced our battles as super conquerors (Romans 8:31-39)? Maybe we’d change the world.
Strength Finder
At spiritual birth, God gave us everything we need to please Him starting with a new nature and identity. A person’s standing with God is based on a pass/fail system. We are either in Christ or we’re not. Ephesians 5:8 (NASB 1995) says “for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light.”
Like a newborn comes fully equipped with all the organs and parts he needs, so God gave us all we need to spiritually thrive when we were born again. To enjoy this birthright, we must protect our vital organs from the enemy’s temptations and accusations with the breastplate of righteousness. Whose righteousness did you put on today?
Give Yourself a Break and Little Faith, Big God offer spiritual insights on our relationship with God. Little Strength, Big God focuses on spiritual help to fight our battles.
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Debbie this is so good and so needed all the time! I don’t think we can ever be reminded too much of these truths. Living into our true, new identity in Christ changes everything.
Thanks, Ann. There are so many voices telling us otherwise. We need to know the truth.
Just cannot hear this message enough! Thanks, Debbie.
Isn’t that the truth!! Thanks, Paula.
This post reminded me of Revelation 12:11, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” The enemy always tries to muddy our testimony. I am so grateful for His righteousness, in which we stand.
Great verse! Thanks, Joanne.
Thank you for writing and sharing this Debbie. I love your insights and the truth you give us! Thank you for your encouragement.
We need to renew our minds daily! Thanks, C.J.
And this is the bottom line, Debbie, “We are either in Christ or we’re not.” All our righteousness is through Christ alone.
Amen!! What a blessed gift. Thanks, Lisa!
What a great reminder, “Whose righteousness did you put on today?” I am soooooo grateful for the righteousness of God. What a gift. Thanks Debbie.
Me too, Sylvia! Me too.
Comment *Boy I love this Debbie! And am loving studying about David and the parallels! Thank you!
Thanks, Stephanie! The life of David provides so many good lessons on life.
We are so blessed by God’s grace, mercy, and love. When I think that Jesus died for me, so unworthy am I, it’s humbling. And that’s not all, as His people, we are granted that breatplate of righteous (His other protection). What an awesome and loving God we serve!
Amen! We are blessed. Thanks, Katherine.
I’m so glad I know that God is with me in every battle. The depth of His grace, love and mercy is unimaginable. Thanks Debbie
I am too, Yvonne. What a comfort.
We were on similar wave lengths this week! He has already won the victory! Amen!
Amen! And I think I read your post on spiritual warfare, but I’m not sure it took my comment. Sometimes it won’t take it on sites or it shows up multiple times!