Righteous Protection || Underneath the Armor || Week 2

We are in a six-week series that I’m calling: “Underneath the Armor.” We’ll look deeper at the armor of God shown in Ephesians 6:13-17. Each week, I will discuss a different armor piece, what it represents, and how the themes are shown throughout the Bible. I’ll break down the original Greek words Paul wrote so we can understand them as clearly as possible. Let’s begin by reading the Armor of God scripture and highlight what we will discuss today. It’s Ephesians 6:13-17, which says: 

13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so that you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 

14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of righteousness. 

15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. 

16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. 

17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God

The body armor of God’s righteousness sounds magical and significant. It’s a full-body protective material that defends us against the world’s wrongs. That’s the first thing I think of when I look at this piece of armor. What do you think? 

The body armor in most translations is a breastplate. Breastplate is the Greek word thórax (tho’-rax), which means breastplate. We find this word five times in the New Testament. A breastplate was a piece of armor that protected the chest and extended down to the hips. This exact word has a figurative definition, too. The breastplate protects the heart and its emotions or desires as they bear our decisions. It protects the essence of who we are and our emotions/desires (which I’ll use interchangeably) in our decision-making process. Remember this because we’ll use the figurative definition in today’s blog. 

Righteousness, found 92 times in the New Testament, is the Greek word dikaiosuné (dik-ah-yos-oo’-nay), which means righteousness or justice. It’s the divine approval. It’s God’s acknowledgment of what he deems right and approves. We gain this righteousness when we lean on and follow the faith that God gives to us, which resides in our hearts. Let’s put all this together. 

The body armor of righteousness is God’s approval of what we do that protects our hearts and emotions through our decision-making process. Let me say it differently: As we make decisions, the body armor of righteousness is worn to protect our hearts and emotions.

What does the Bible have to say about this? Let’s start with Matthew 5:6. Jesus shares the Sermon on the Mount and talks about the Beatitudes here. 

6 God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied. 

God blesses those who depend on God’s righteousness. Those people will be satisfied. Let’s build on this. 

Philippians 3:7-11 says this: 

7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 

8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ

9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 

10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 

11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!

What did Paul think was valuable? His own confidence in his efforts. When he compares himself to others, he lists these descriptors: 

• He’s circumcised.
• He’s an Israelite from the tribe of Benjamin.
• He was a Pharisee.

Why is this important to us? Paul says that these descriptors of himself were more important to him than anything else. The titles he could claim about his worldly status set his value of importance and confidence over being a Christian. He says his status now has no value because of what Christ has done for him. Your status has no value because of what Christ has done for you. That’s the core of our message today. 

Paul gave up everything to know Christ and his resurrection power. He gave up his family, friends, and freedom. Does this sound familiar to you? It should. Genesis 12:1 says: 

1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. 

Paul is following the same plan that Abraham was told to follow. For Paul, it’s not the Promised Land. It’s the promise to go out and make disciples of all nations. This promise is also the same that we’re encouraged to follow when we become adults. “Go out. Travel. Move to a new city. Explore a new land that you’re not used to.” God had a plan for Abraham, which turned out for good. God had a plan for Paul, which turned out for good. Therefore, God has a plan for us which will turn out for good. Abraham and Paul weren’t perfect people. I could list a lot of faults they had that were recorded in Scripture, just as I could list out my faults. Yet, God still used them to do good work for the benefit of the Kingdom of God. God will also use us to do good works; we must be willing. 

Our willingness must include sacrifices. Life is about sacrifices. For God, we must sacrifice our worldly values and living practices for a more Christ-like way of doing things. For Paul and Abraham, it was leaving family, friends, their home, their surroundings, and their things to do what God called them to do. For us, it may mean cutting off a toxic family member who hinders our progress in life or puts us down repeatedly. It may mean ending that relationship with our significant other or best friend because they are a bad influence on us or are forcing us to do ungodly things. It may mean selling or downgrading technology that removes temptations that could cause us to sin. Life includes sacrifices. 

Whatever is needed to change or whatever you need to give up is worth more than anything if it means becoming one with Christ. Will it be easy? No. Will it be comfortable? Not at all. There will be moments of grief, heartache, anger, and frustration. We’re becoming re-born in this process. Last time I checked, there’s pain associated with giving birth. We are putting away the old self. We’re closing the book on that. We’re packing those memories away. We’re selling off what won’t benefit our new life. Some of those things were good for you. We can hold on to those good moments but won’t stay there. Our new life begins when we make the decision to follow God. We wear body armor to protect us from those things that might pull us back into our old selves. We’re being protected from the temptations that could affect our decision-making process. When we do this, God exchanges our sins and shortcomings for his complete righteousness. 

Speaking of sin, hear what Paul says in Romans 3:5: 

5 “But,” some might say, “our sinfulness serves a good purpose, for it helps people see how righteous God is. Isn’t it unfair, then, for him to punish us? (This is merely a human point of view.) 

How many of you have this belief? Our sin helps us see how good God is. Why would God then use it to punish us? It’s such a common perspective that Paul names this as a human point of view. What’s the godly perspective? Let’s build on this with Romans 5:8, which says: 

8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 

God doesn’t show us our sins to punish us. He does it out of love. He sent his son to die, a death we would have suffered due to our sinful nature. This happens so that we have a direct relationship with God. It’s not unfair, then, for God to show us where we get wrong because he provided the ultimate solution to get it right. Suppose we’re still intentionally sinning while knowing, understanding, and comprehending what God did for us. In that case, it’s like we’re slapping God in the face. God wants us to spend eternity with him. Sending Jesus to die for us was the only way to make that happen. He didn’t do it because we were so good. He did it because he loves us. A loving relationship requires cooperation and commitment. The church is the bride of Jesus. If we’re not treating our significant other properly, then we need to check our relationship status. 

Checking in with ourselves can go like what James 2:14-16 says, 

14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? 

15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 

16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well” – but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?

What good is it to say you have faith but don’t show it through your actions? What good is it that you claim to be a hard worker but don’t show it at your job? What good is it that you say you’re a loving spouse but treat your significant other like trash? It’s not. It doesn’t help anything. It makes us liars. It makes us two-faced. It makes us into a being God didn’t create us to be.

If we say we are something, let’s live into it. This doesn’t mean we live a life where our inner critic calls us a fool, a loser, stupid, ugly, and not good enough. Those voices that you hear calling you those names are not from God. God calls us his beloved, his chosen people, and his children. I went through a whole series of titles we can claim as Christians. These are the things we need to live our lives with. Knowing Jesus isn’t enough. Understanding the teachings of Christianity on an intellectual level isn’t enough. True faith in God transforms how we act and our thoughts. If how we treat others doesn’t change when we claim to be a Christian, we haven’t correctly digested the truths we claim to believe in and live out the principles the Bible teaches. 

What do I want you to walk away with? 

• The devil attacks the heart more times than not. The spiritual warfare we walk through attacks our emotions, identity, and trust in God and with others.
• God’s righteousness (his justice and approval) protects our hearts as we make all decisions. He approves of us, his chosen people. How do we know this? He sent his Son to die for us – because he loves us. Not because we do good things or because we’re perfect people, but because he loves us.

God loves you, and so do I. That’s it for the discussion of the body armor. Next week, we’ll pick up our discussion on the shoes of peace. Remember the Gospel discussion from Week 1? We’ll go deeper with it in that blog. Until then, stay blessed.