Breastplate of Righteousness
User Rating: 5 / 5
- Details
- Category: Armor of God
- Hits: 6624
Breastplate of Righteousness
The Breastplate of Righteousness Protects
Eph 6:14
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
People under estimate the destructive power of sin. It is the wearing of the Breastplate of Righteousness that protects one from the ongoing temptations to sin. Sin is very deceptive, it is destructive, and it is cruel.
People who sin willfully do not anticipate the price they will pay for sin deadens ones heart to God. If sin is allowed to persist, it leaves the heart unresponsive to God. The ultimate goal of sin is complete and eternal separation from God. Where sin is willfully tolerated then it captures the heart and rules the mind. And, those who are ruled by sin do not understand they are being changed, one day at a time, until they can no longer respond to the Spirit of God.
The Breastplate of Righteousness Leads to Repentence!
There is a time for repentence. The Holy Spirit will draw us, He will convict our heart of our wrongdoing. If we have a respect for God and are led by the principle of righteousness then we will turn from our sin. This is the value of wearing the Breastplate of Righteousness.
Over the years, I have met with many people that were unable to reverse the effects of sin on their minds and hearts. It is truly a sad state. Sin binds, it chokes, it steals, it distorts, and it confuses. If a person will not wear the Breastplate of Righteousness, then their unrighteousness effectively renders them unable to live in fellowship with God.
The Breastplate of Righteousness Causes Responsiveness to God
Sin causes spiritual things to lose their importance while the heart protected by the Breastplate of Righteousness values sweet fellowship with the Lord. The Breastplate of Righteousness will cause one to love and respect the holiness of God.
The Breastplate of Righteousness Opens the Ear
Righteousness opens the ear to God but sin will not listen; God will speak but the ear deadened by sin cannot hear. God can shout but the sinful ear refuses to hear. In contrast, the heart protected by the Breastplate of Righteousness loves His voice and can hear the whispers of God. What a blessing, to walk in sweet fellowship with God, experiencing the peace that passes understanding.
God is willing to forgive and restore, but the heart deadened by habitual sin has lost all interest in serving God. This is the real danger of sin; it removes our desire to serve God and makes our heart unresponsive to the Holy Spirit.
Sin Deceives
The person who lives in sin usually has the idea that they can repent and change their behavior whenever they choose. This is really not true and this kind of thinking displays the deceitful nature of sin; sin distorts the truth. The truth is this - the person who refuses to turm from sin, the day will come when that person will no longer be able to repent because their sins have had their full effect. The heart is left in a hardened and unrepentant state. God has called many times, but each time the person refused to hear, and as a consequence, their unwilling heart became progressively hardened until it no longer hears and no longer cares what God says!
We cannot repent whenever we choose-there is a time of repentance; a time when our heart is soft and our heart is responsive. The time to turn is when we sense our need of God and His willingness to help us. We cannot say no to God indefinitely without inward hardening.
Hebrews 3:13 (KJV)
instructs us to exhort one another daily, while it is called Today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Prov 14:9 (KJV)
Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour.
Prov 5:22 (NLT)
An evil man is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him.
James 1:15 (KJV)
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
The Scripture does not teach that a person can become so evil that God will not forgive. It is not a question of how evil one has become or how far one has fallen, but rather, the consequences of habitually saying no to God. There is no sin so sinful that Christ cannot atone. However, we cannot say no to the Holy Spirit, indefinitely, without an adverse effect on our heart. Sin hardens and the Breastplate of Righteousness protects from hardness.
What Is the Breastplate of Righteousness
The Breastplate of Righteousness is godly living that proceeds from a heart of love. It is a heart attitude that puts God first and seeks to please Him; righeousness obeys God. Righteousness protects from the destructions of sin and is more than behavior, but is not separate from our behavior! We are created for righteousness, and we are created in righteousness, and the putting on the Breastplate of Righeousness is our responsibility, for the Lord commands us to "put it on".