1. 7 Breastplate of Righteousness
Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.
Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness (Ephesians )
Spiritual Warfare

2. 7 Breastplate of Righteousness
[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 Cor 5.21 NASB)
Spiritual Warfare

3. 7 Breastplate of Righteousness
Review
We’re in mortal conflict with the evil one, Satan (the Accuser/ Prosecutor) and his spiritual army.
The good news of Jesus is our body armor, to resist him, especially in the “evil day”.
Spiritual Warfare

4. 7 Breastplate of Righteousness
Review
The armor is the “package”
we get when we become Christians.
We have it, but we must “put it on”,
put it to work.
Spiritual Warfare

5. Know the truth and live by it,
7 Breastplate of Righteousness
Put the belt of truth on
Know the truth and live by it,
not feelings.
Be thinkers! Start thinking about politics and sex and appearance and money through the Word of God. (Tim Keller)
Spiritual Warfare

6. 7 Breastplate of Righteousness
This piece of armor stretched from neck to abdomen, protecting the vital organs.
Spiritually, it covers the seat of our emotions (in the ancient world, the bowels), how you feel about yourself, your source of confidence.
Spiritual Warfare

7. Two ways translators approach the term “of righteousness”.
7 Breastplate of Righteousness
Two ways translators approach the term “of righteousness”.
Spiritual Warfare

8. 7 Breastplate of Righteousness
1) your personal integrity
eg stand firm… having put on
the breastplate of righteousness
(an upright heart) (Amplified).
This is your sincerity, lack of hypocrisy, living a life of,
what you see is what you get.
Spiritual Warfare

9. 7 Breastplate of Righteousness
1) your personal integrity
Your self-righteousness lets you lift up your head,
I’ve got it all (mostly) together. I’m nice, I smile, I’m pretty friendly, compassionate.
Spiritual Warfare

10. 7 Breastplate of Righteousness
1) your personal integrity
What will Satan the Accuser do?
Savage you.
You’re a loser, you’re a failure, a fraud. Look how you give in to temptation. Look how you set standards then don’t meet them. His goal: find your weak spot – best, a blatant sin – and crush you so you never fight again.
Spiritual Warfare

11. 7 Breastplate of Righteousness
1) your personal integrity
Your emotions:
fear, guilt, shame and hiddenness.
Result: paralysis.
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12. 7 Breastplate of Righteousness
1) your personal integrity
He attacks all of us.
Truth is, the closer you get to Jesus and more spiritual you get, the less godly you feel.
Paul: [in his prime] I’m the least-er
of the saints (Eph 3.8)
[in old age] I’m the worst sinner (1 Tim 1.15)
Spiritual Warfare

13. 7 Breastplate of Righteousness
1) your personal integrity
We lose confidence, why am I such a coward? So selfish? So susceptible to temptation? So unmotivated?
Satan piles on, to make you
a permanent casualty.
Spiritual Warfare

14. 2) Jesus’ righteousness, not yours
7 Breastplate of Righteousness
2) Jesus’ righteousness, not yours
Paul would win any contest with us
for personal integrity.
Spiritual Warfare

15. 2) Jesus’ righteousness, not yours
7 Breastplate of Righteousness
2) Jesus’ righteousness, not yours
…circumcised when I was eight days old… a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! …a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. ...so zealous I harshly persecuted the church …as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault. (Phil 3.5-6)
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16. 2) Jesus’ righteousness, not yours
7 Breastplate of Righteousness
2) Jesus’ righteousness, not yours
His flaw: lust.
the law ... showed me my sin. I'd never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires [including lust] within me!
(Roman 7.7-8)
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17. This separates Christianity from every other religion or philosophy.
7 Breastplate of Righteousness
The Great Exchange
This separates Christianity from every other religion or philosophy.
The gospel is that Jesus lived the life you should have lived and died the death you should have died, in your place, so God can receive you not for your record and sake but for his record and sake. Tim Keller
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18. What Paul did, and we must do: consider our own righteousness
7 Breastplate of Righteousness
The Great Exchange
What Paul did, and we must do: consider our own righteousness
as barnyard manure.
Spiritual Warfare

19. 7 Breastplate of Righteousness
The Great Exchange
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.
Spiritual Warfare

20. 7 Breastplate of Righteousness
The Great Exchange
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. (Phil )
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21. 7 Breastplate of Righteousness
The Great Exchange
He gave up trying to look good,
do good, be good and put his faith
in Jesus’ righteousness.
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22. 7 Breastplate of Righteousness
The Great Exchange
When Jesus is your righteousness,
you depend on him. God treats you
as if you lived the life Jesus did.
Tell the Accuser, Jesus is my righteousness. I depend on him, not myself. I’m accepted in the Beloved.
Spiritual Warfare

23. 7 Breastplate of Righteousness
The Great Exchange
The breastplate of righteousness is what Jesus did for you – a perfect life of obedience, a sacrificial death for sins. He gave his righteousness
to you in exchange.
[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 Cor 5.21 NASB)
Spiritual Warfare

24. 7 Breastplate of Righteousness
The Great Exchange
His resurrection guaranteed the exchange.
[Jesus] was handed over to die because
of our sins, and he was raised to life
to make us right with God.
(Rom 4.25)
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25. 7 Breastplate of Righteousness
Cornerstone
My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus' name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
Spiritual Warfare

26. 7 Breastplate of Righteousness
Your emotions
Your emotions: awe of Jesus (Gal. 2.20), peace (Rom 5.1) contentment (Phil 4.12), walking in the light (1 Jn 1.7), a willing spirit, what can I do for you, Lord; obedience from the heart
(Rom 6.17)
Result: Passion (1 Cor 15.10)
Spiritual Warfare

27. Help one another to live in this righteousness:
7 Breastplate of Righteousness
Help one another to live in this righteousness:
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. James 5.16
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28. 7 Breastplate of Righteousness
And you?
Living by your own righteousness?
Emotions of fear, guilt, shame, hiding?
Paralyzed?
Living by Jesus’ righteousness?
Emotions of awe, peace, contentment, walking in the light, a willing spirit, heart obedience?
Passion?
Spiritual Warfare

29. 7 Breastplate of Righteousness
And ROOTS?
Imagine a family of courageous warriors, depending on Jesus, passionate for him, helping each other stay in the fight.
Spiritual Warfare