Sit, Walk and Stand based on Grace and His Finished Work (11)

Put on the Full Armor of God (4) – The Breastplate of Righteousness

The second piece of the armor of God is the breastplate of righteousness. “Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,…” (Ephesians 6:14 NKJ) This is another vital piece of the armor because it protects the chest where the heart is. Why is it important to protect the heart in the spiritual realm? The Bible tells us to “Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.” ( Proverbs 4:23 Amplified Bible). 1 John 3:20 also tells us : “For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.” (NKJ)

This means that another vulnerable area where the devil can attack us is our heart. He makes our hearts condemn us by telling us that we have sinned or have fallen short in certain areas of life and therefore do not deserve healing or blessings from God. The devil is the “accuser of the brethren” as Revelation 12:10 tells us. He is a master at accusing us with lies such as we are unholy because of our sins and we do not have right standing with God. Our hearts feel condemned and we feel unworthy to receive good things from God.

Paul says we have to put on the breastplate of righteousness to protect our hearts from the condemnation of the enemy. Whose righteousness is Paul referring to here? It is definitely not our own righteousness because Isaiah 64:6 says : “But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.” (NKJ) Romans 10:3 also says: “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.” (NKJ). In contrast, Paul declares boldly : “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJ). What Paul is declaring is that Christ’s death on the cross has made us the righteousness of God in Him. God does not see us as pathetic sinners anymore but He sees us in Christ and because Christ is righteous, we who are hidden in Him are righteous too! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

1 Corinthians 1:30 says that Christ has become our righteousness “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—” (NKJ). When we put on the breastplate of righteousness, we are putting on the consciousness of Jesus who has become our righteousness and who we are in Christ. We are now forever made righteous before God because we are now found in Christ “and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;” (Philippians 3:9 NKJ). This righteousness cannot be earned, it is a gift as what Paul tells us in Romans 5:17 “For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” (NKJ). We receive this gift by faith when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour “even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe…” (Romans 3:22 NKJ)

Why is righteousness used to protect the heart? When our hearts are established in righteousness, the Bible says “In righteousness you shall be established; You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; And from terror, for it shall not come near you” ( Isaiah 54:14 NKJ). When we are rooted in righteousness, the devil cannot oppress or terrorize us. Romans 5 :17 tells us “For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” (NKJ). Those who have received abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life! To reign in life means we reign over every situation and that includes the devil!

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Sit, Walk and Stand based on Grace and His Finished Work (10)

Put on the Full Armor of God (3) – The Belt of Truth

In Ephesians 6:10-18, Paul tells us to put on the whole armor of God that we may stand against the wiles of the devil. The pieces of the armor mentioned in this passage of scripture are the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit. At first glance, there appear to be 6 pieces of the armor here but Pastor Prince has preached in one of his sermons that there is a 7th piece (7 being the number for perfection, completeness and rest while 6 is the number for man). The 7th piece of the armor of God is found in verse 18 : “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit…” ( v 18) . Praying in tongues or in the Spirit as Paul says it here in verse 18 is the 7th piece of the armor! In today’s post, I shall share on the first piece of the armor which is the belt of truth.

“Roman soldiers wore a linen undergarment next to the skin, covered by a woolen one–piece tunic that came down to the knees. It was shaped like a “T” with a hole at the top for the head. It was sewn on two sides and generally had half sleeves. At times they were dyed, but most often they were the natural color of wool. The colored tunic was usually reserved for army commanders, the wealthy or those of the government status.

Over the tunic they placed a breastplate. At the bottom of the breastplate they wore a heavy belt made of connected bronze plates and leather with a buckle very similar to what we use today. This belt had one function. It served as the foundation on which the sword, dagger and metal apron were attached.

This belt was foundational for battle. In short, it supported the weapons that allowed the soldier to fight. " ( Source : http://www.realarmorofgod.com/armor-of-god.html )

The belt of truth is a very important piece of the armor because it holds the rest of the pieces in place. Paul beseeches us in verse 14 to “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, (KJV). Interestingly, 1 Peter 1:13 tells us “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;” (KJV) Where is the battleground? The battle is in our minds! Therefore Paul says we have to put on the belt of truth. What or in this case, who is truth? John 14:6 tells us “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (NKJ) Truth is a Person! Everything about our Christian life revolves around the Person of Jesus and His perfect and finished work on the cross.

When the devil attacks our minds with depressive and discouraging thoughts, we put on the belt of truth by filling our minds with the consciousness of Christ and what He has achieved for us on the cross. For example, when the devil puts condemning thoughts in our minds telling us that we do not deserve healing in our bodies, we put on the belt of truth by standing on the victory of His finished work and meditating on the truth of what the Bible says His finished work has accomplished for our condition. God’s Word tells us in 1 Peter 2:24 “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.” (NKJ)

When we put on the belt of the unchanging truth, we are putting on Christ Himself by filling our minds with the loveliness of Jesus, His finished work on the cross and what that has won for us. “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” (Romans 13:14 NKJ) Similarly, Philippians 4:8 tells us : “For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things [fix your minds on them].” ( Amplified Bible) I can only think of one who fits all these wonderful qualities and His name is Jesus!

Jesus is the Truth and He is unchanging. He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8) When our minds are plagued by doubts and defeating thoughts, we put on Jesus who is the solid, unchanging Rock.

“On Christ the solid Rock, I stand
All other ground is sinking sand.”

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Sit, Walk and Stand based on Grace and His Finished Work (9)

Put On the Full Armor of God (2)

In my previous posts, I have shared that our Christian walk begins from the position of sitting which is resting in the finished work of Jesus’ on the cross. I have also talked about how we can walk in unity, what it means to renew our minds and put on the new man, how to walk in love, walk as children of Light and what it means to walk in wisdom.

The third part of Ephesians talks about standing, more specifically standing against the wiles of the devil. Ephesians 6:10-18 tell us : "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, ^[a] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—" (NKJ)

In this passage, Paul is telling us in the evil day (note the singular, God gives us good dayS, the evil day, when it comes, is only for a short time), we have to put on the armor of God to stand against the devil because it is a spiritual warfare. What is spiritual warfare? 1 Peter 5:8 says : “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (NKJ). Revelation 12:10 tells us : “Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.” (NKJ)

The devil is a toothless lion who goes about roaring at us with lies, accusations and condemnation to steal our shalom by shifting our focus from God’s grace and His finished work to self effort and the law. That is why the apostle Paul beseeches us to stand against the wiles of the devil. Why stand and not attack? Moses told the people in Exodus 14:13 “And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.” (NKJ) Paul in Romans 5:1,2 say : “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.” (NLT)

We don’t have to fight, we just need to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord (Jesus) and what He has done for us. The fighting was done and won on the cross by Christ. We only need to stand on His victorious work. The devil is a defeated foe, he wants to pull us down from our position of victory by making us doubt God’s Word and condemning us with the law. That is why he is known in Revelation as the “accuser of the brethren”. He roars at us with the law and accuses us that we are not good enough for God’s blessings or we have not done enough to deserve His healing. But praise be to God! Christ has dealt with that on the cross for us : “having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” Colossians 2:14 (NKJ) Romans 8:1 declares : “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” (NKJ)

So let us stand firm against the wiles of the defeated foe. Our victory has already been secured by His finished work on the cross! Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord!

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Sit, Walk and Stand based on Grace and His Finished Work (8)

Put On the Full Armor of God (1)

Source : http://revivalcomics.com/archive/full08.php

"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, ^[a] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—" Ephesians 6:10-18 (NKJ)

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Wisdom of the world

Since I was on the topic of wisdom in my previous post, I found this comic strip by Brother Mick Mooney of Searching For Grace very appropriate (and of course hilarious :D) in illustrating how often in our daily lives we operate using worldly wisdom instead of His wisdom. Enjoy....

By Mick Mooney of Searching For Grace

The more you love Christ, the more you love his church – that is his people. I love the church, I really do. I had somewhat of a tough time uploading this comic, because I know it will probably offend some people I love and care for.

So then why did I upload it you might ask. Good question. I’m doing it for the very reason that I love the church. I just want brothers and sisters in Christ stop for a few minutes, and think about what is going on. God calls the wisdom of the world ‘foolishness’, so why are we using it for our model of church organisation and growth?

Until we stop to think, and actually give ourselves the permission to think about such questions, we can never learn from the Holy Spirit his way of Church organisation and growth. It won’t look like the world’s idea of wisdom, it won’t be founded on worldly principles, rules and laws. It won’t look anything like a worldly corporate business model, but it will work, I’m sure it will.

God created the entire universe by his Spirit. He holds the whole universe together by his Spirit. With the same Spirit he can build, unite and grow his people (that is the church), but we have to be willing to let him do it. If we keep trying to hold the church together by our amazing organisational skills, we’ll never experience the church being held together by God’s Spirit (that is by love, instead of structure).

Let’s all come to our Father as he desires, like children, and ask his for advice about this whole topic. He will guide us into all truth, and he will help us as we continue searching for grace.

Blue skies,

Mick

Sit, Walk and Stand Based on Grace and His Finished Work (7)

The last exhortation by Paul on how we should walk as children of God in Ephesians is “Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people),” Ephesians 5:15 (Amplified Bible). Paul goes on to say : “Making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil. Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is.” (v16,17 Amplified Bible)

In this post I shall share on :
d) Walk in Wisdom
Paul says we should walk as wise because the days are evil and therefore we should understand and grasp what God’s will is. In this context, I believe he is saying to live “purposefully and worthily and accurately” as wise people means we have to understand and grasp the will of God. What is the will of God? In the New Covenant, Hebrews 8 :10-12 tell us ever so clearly that God’s will is He will imprint His laws on our minds and engrave them on our hearts; He will be our God and we will be His people; all will know Him for He will be merciful and gracious toward our sins and He will remember our deeds and unrighteousness no more.

I believe that we cannot use human or worldly wisdom to understand the will of God as stated in Hebrew 8 :10-12. Romans 1:22 says that men “Professing to be wise, they became fools” (NKJ) To walk as wise and understand and grasp God’s will is when Jesus becomes our wisdom. 1 Corinthians 1:20-25 tell it like this : “ Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? ²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. ²² For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks^[b] foolishness, ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (NKJ)

To walk as wise is to totally rest in Jesus who is wisdom personified. Christ lives in us means wisdom is in us! That is why the Bible in 1 Corinthians 2:16 says “ For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.” (NKJ) When we rest in the revelation knowledge and reality that Christ is our wisdom and He indwells us, we will not rely on our own human wisdom but depend on the Holy Spirit to guide us and teach us in all things.”that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,” (Ephesians 1:17 NKJ) That is walking as wise people and we will then understand and grasp the will of God. A good example of this is we will give thanks in everything because it is the will of God in Christ Jesus for us. ( 1 Thessalonians 5:18 NKJ).

When we walk in true wisdom, we will know what He wants us to do or say in our circumstances because Hebrews 8 says He will imprint His laws in our minds and engrave them in our hearts. When Christ is our wisdom, we will know what God's will is for us in our specific situations. We will also know without a doubt that God is always for us because He is our God and we are His people. We will no longer live under the condemnation of sin because He has said that He will remember our deeds and unrighteousness NO MORE.

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