The BattleSample

The Breastplate of Righteousness

By Amy Cook

From the metal breastplates of ancient Rome to modern-day bulletproof vests, warriors have always needed armor to protect their hearts. In the realm of spiritual warfare, God has provided His breastplate of righteousness to protect your heart from Satan’s favorite weapon—condemnation. The wounds of condemnation are self-inflicted, because condemnation springs from a guilty conscience. Satan will accuse you day and night until you finally agree with his accusations and swallow the poison of condemnation (Revelation 12:10). After your mind receives the poison, it makes its way to your heart and paralyzes you. You go from thinking that your behavior is bad to believing that you are bad. When you give in to condemnation, it’s easy to feel unrighteous and disqualified from God’s love and blessing even though God has declared you righteous. Once your own heart condemns you, it blocks the vital supply line of God’s grace, because you no longer have confidence to receive what you ask from Him (1 John 3:18–24). By taking off His breastplate of righteousness, you leave yourself exposed to enemy fire.

The word condemn means “to pronounce as hopeless; to give up as incurable.” A condemned criminal has already had a trial and been sentenced to death. There is no hope for rehabilitation or change. But there’s a tremendous difference between condemnation and conviction. Condemnation involves a general feeling of unworthiness with no way out, whereas conviction is clear and specific. Condemnation drives you away from God; conviction leads you back to Him. When the Holy Spirit convicts you, He opens your eyes to a specific sin and offers you the opportunity to repent and receive God’s cleansing power. However, when you continually refuse to repent, conviction becomes condemnation, which is never God’s desire.

The key to breaking this cycle of defeat is to stop focusing on your performance and begin focusing on what Jesus has already given you. When you made Jesus your Lord, you traded your righteousness—your right-standing with God—for His. Paul wrote, “Not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith (Philippians 3:9). 2 Corinthians 5:21 says that Jesus was made to be something He wasn’t—sinful—so that you could be made to be something you weren’t—righteous. Talk about an extreme makeover!

If you’re a battle-weary soldier, there’s great news. When you run to God in faith instead of running away from Him in shame, He’ll actually wash your conscience clean and give you a fresh start (Romans 10:10–11; Hebrews 9:14, 10:22). By His Spirit, God provides you with the antidote to the poison of condemnation: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1, KJV). When condemnation is cleared out of the way, you can “come boldly to the throne of grace … and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16, NKJV). The same way you received God’s breastplate of righteousness—by faith—is the same way you keep it on in the power of the Spirit.

Memory Verse

God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea. Psalm 46:1–2 (NIV)