Clothed With His Righteousness

Clothed With His Righteousness

Ephesians 6:14-15
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

   The description of this spiritual armor is divided into two sections; armor to have with you and armor to take with you.  The breastplate is a piece of armor to have with you, in other words its armor to always have on.   The breastplate is a necessary piece of armor which protects the soldier’s vital organs.  A soldier in hostile territory would never want to find himself attacked by an enemy with his heart exposed to danger.  An arrow from a hidden source or a thrown spear from behind a cart and the soldier might not have time to get his shield up.  He would wear his breastplate to prevent damage to his heart.
   A Christian also needs to have his breastplate of righteousness with him at all times to prevent having an exposed heart vulnerable to an attack by the enemy.  And the only righteousness that will protect the Christian’s heart is the Righteousness of God.  A Christian who goes out into this unrighteous world without the protection of the Righteousness of God is asking for a major spiritual defeat.  We can no sooner battle against spiritual enemies in our own righteousness than a soldier can effectively fight unarmored.
   This righteousness is not something we earn.  We can’t live our lives well enough to earn anything.  This righteousness is received by faith in Jesus and it was He Who earned it on our behalf.  It gives us a standing and a position in God’s Kingdom.  We put on the breastplate of righteousness by placing our trust in Jesus by faith in His finished work on the cross.  Only then are you protected by this breastplate.
   Too often we try to protect our hearts by lesson learned from tests and trials we have gone through.  But experience will never protect our hearts in battle; because experiences and our memory of those experiences are not always reliable.  But when you have faith in Christ and in His finished work on the cross you will have protection that never changes and never fails.  The enemy can’t damage your heart when God’s throne is there.  He will not prevail over you when your strength is in God and His Word will guide you through the battle.
   The breastplate of righteousness is your best defense against the fear that can come against you.  It is the best defense against the anger that will cloud your judgment.  It is the best defense against the depression that might try to settle over your heart.  Knowing who you are in God’s eyes and where you stand with God can give you the protection you need to be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
   You have the belt of truth on.  Now the breastplate of righteousness protects your heart.  You’re well on your way to becoming a well-armed soldier for Christ.

II Timothy 2:15
 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.


            Stephen Cram                                                        March 25, 2012                    

Colossians 2:8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

Begin With the Truth

Begin with the Truth

Ephesians 6:14-15

14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 

15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

   Verse 13 ends with the word, “stand.”  Verse 14 begins with the same word.  Paul was urging us to equip ourselves to be able to stand against the wiles of the devil and his agents.  We can only stand when we are equipped with the spiritual protection (armor) God gives us in Jesus Christ.  Now he will tell us what to equip ourselves with. 

   Paul has been using the metaphor, (word picture,) of armor to give us the idea that we need to equip ourselves with spiritual armor for the battles we face.  And just as each piece of physical armor serves a purpose to protect the soldier in battle, each piece of symbolic armor, which I call spiritual armor, answers to a specific discipline in our Christian life that enables us to stand against spiritual attack.  

   Paul was under house arrest in Rome when he wrote this Epistle and was in the custody of Roman soldiers.  It’s easy for me to imagine him looking at the guards as he was writing and making his word analogy about how a soldier’s armor could be used as an example of how God has equipped the believer with spiritual armor.  If my research is correct, the order Paul uses in describing the armor is the order that the soldier would have put the pieces of armor on. 

   Paul begins with the belt.  "Having girded your waist with truth."  Strictly speaking, the belt is not actually a piece of armor, but before the armor can be put on, the clothing underneath must be gathered together.  In those days men often wore long, robe-like clothes and it would be hard to fight and maneuver in hand-to-hand combat in a long, loose robe.  The bottom part of the robe would be tucked into the belt so it would not become tangled around his legs. 

   The belt also kept the other parts of the armor in place.     The Roman belt was 6-8 inches wide and all the body armor and weapons were attached to it.  A soldier's belt gave ease and freedom of movement by anchoring everything else.  Putting on the belt prepared one for action.

   Truth is symbolically presented as a belt that both protects our mid-section, gathers up our garments so that we can fight effectively, and gives us something to hang everything else on.  Putting on the belt of truth puts on the Biblical beliefs of the Christian as a whole.  We are told in Romans 10:17, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  The Word of God is truth and we need truth in our lives if we want to grow in Christ.  One of the most frightening things I see in Christianity today is the church taking off this belt to be more acceptable to the world.  This is completely wrong and is the wrong approach to take.  The world needs truth because there is so little truth in the world.  If the world will not be able to get truth from the church then just where do you think they WILL get truth? 

   Pontius Pilate cynically asked Jesus, "What is Truth?"  We need to face that question seriously.  Truth is a precious treasure to be coveted.  The pursuit of truth is a great challenge in our lives every day.  In our society’s effort to "open" our society to multiculturalism, we have abandoned the quest for truth.  In fact, we now deny the existence of truth in favor of "value relativism."  There is a warning written more than 2600 years ago: Isaiah 5: 20&21

20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight!
   A spiritually apathetic society hardly murmured when in 1962, citing no precedents, a "liberal" Supreme Court abolished prayer from the public schools and the next year abolished Bible reading from the schools.  Moral teaching, proper standards, and respect for rules have been removed from our schools.  The high principles that made America great have been abandoned, and not just among the lower classes, but in the highest offices in the land.  People claim that "morals have changed."   God sets morals and He didn't change His mind.  

   We have disconnected ourselves from the benefits of 2,000 years of the painful lessons we call Western Civilization.  Our youth, both American and European, have been disconnected from our Christian heritage.  How can one find truth if he is taught truth doesn't exist?  Ignorant of the great moral and religious strengths of our country, they will be unable to teach these to a new generation.  A man puts into practice tomorrow what he believes today.  To believe in the wrong version of history or the wrong moral code of life can lead to an immoral and uncontrolled life.  Look around our society today and see the “benefits” of abandoning truth.    

      Where do you find truth?  In times past I would have said, “the church.”  Now I would say to examine even that to be sure you are getting the truth, and not a watered down, adulterated version of truth.  If what you hear contradicts the Bible in any way whatsoever; run for the nearest exit. 

   It should come as no surprise that Paul begins his list of spiritual armor with "being girded with truth."  The real truth – the only truth is found in the Word of God.  Follow the example of the people of the city of Berea.  They listened to what was being preached but wanted to be sure it was the truth so they carefully checked out what they were taught.  Acts 17:11

These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.

Stephen Cram                               March 18, 2012                         Colossians 2:8

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.  Colossians 2:8 

The Whole Armor

The Whole Armor

Ephesians 6:13
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.

   The Apostle Paul begins his discourse on spiritual struggle by telling us to "be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.” (Ephesians 6:10)  He warns us to do this so we “may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”  (verse 11)  He tells us that we should be properly prepared because we “do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (verse 12)
   So now that we are warned to be prepared and warned of what we are facing in our struggles, he then tells us how to be prepared.  He tells us to take up the “whole armor of God.”  Paul, like Jesus before him, makes use of metaphors to make his point.  The metaphor, or word picture, used here is that as we should prepare ourselves for spiritual warfare by putting on spiritual armor.  He lived during the height of the Roman Empire and Roman Legionaries, (soldiers,) were a common sight.  The Romans were sticklers on uniformity and all Legionaries were outfitted with the same basic armor.  So Paul pictures in his mind how the Roman Legionary would equip himself and uses that image to tell Christians how they should equip themselves.
   The Roman Legionary was equipped to fight and survive a battle – whether or not it was alone or in a unit with other Legionaries.  Only by using all of his armor could the Legionary expect to be battle ready and only by heeding Paul’s advice and equipping yourself with the whole armor of God can you expect to be battle ready.  No Roman Centurion, the equivalent of a squad’s Sergeant, would allow one of his Legionnaires to go into battle without his helmet or without his belt or his shoes.  So your Pastor and church leaders should keep an eye on your growth and make sure you’re properly equipped to enter battle against the schemes of the devil.
   The Greek word used here for armor is “panoply” which means “all arms.”  It is used in Greek writings to mean a heavily-armed soldier.  The Roman Legionary was the best trained soldier in his day.  He was trained in single combat and in unit combat.  In other words, he was trained to fight by himself and defend a six-foot wide area around himself.  In his unit he was trained to defend himself and the man on his right and the man on his left.  The second row of soldiers was divided into two functions:  one man defended the head of the man right in front of them and the next man defended the feet of the soldier in front of them.
   Training and preparation are the keys to preparing yourself for battle.  You need to become familiar with your weapons and armor and you need to test them and become familiar with them.  Just being given armor does not make you a soldier.  In the book of 1 Samuel there is a story of how King Saul gave a boy, David, his armor to fight in.  The armor must have been good, because it belonged to the King.  But David didn't want to fight in this armor, even though it was one of the best sets of armor in the kingdom.  David explained that he didn't want to use the king's armor because he had not tested it.  (1 Samuel 17:29)  He faced the giant Goliath in armor - spiritual armor - that he had tested.
I Samuel 17:  34-36
34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock,
35 I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it.
36 Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.”

David had trusted God to protect him and to give him courage and to give him skill in battle.  That trust was part of David’s tested and proven armor.  The armor God gives you won't be effective until you use it and become used to using it.  The more you use it, the more effective it will be.
   Are you prepared to fight alone if you are forced into battle on the spur of the moment?  The Roman soldier knew that to turn his back on an enemy was almost always sure death.  Will you stand your ground or turn tail and run from the fight?
   Are you prepared to stand united with your church brethren (and, of course, sisteren,) in battle?  Do you pray defensive prayers to protect your church leaders’ heads from the sudden blow that strikes from the blind side?  Or perhaps from the blow that seeks to undermine his footing and get him off his feet?  Do you pray for their strength and protection daily?  A soldier on a battlefield has to be prepared to fight at anytime.  You don’t just fight the devil on Sundays, you’re on duty seven days a week.

Stephen Cram                     March 11, 2012                   Colossians 2:8

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.  Colossians 2:8


 

Whom We Wrestle

Whom We Wrestle

Ephesians 6:12 New Living Translation
For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

   If you are sensitive to what is happening in the world around you, you know that there is a war going on for the minds and souls of people.  The slow creep of evil into our society has sped up lately and more and more things that would have been unmentionable in 1980 are accepted and advocated here in 2012.  Our government leaders no longer show even the pretense of fairness, only personal agendas and Party politics matter.  So when we look at this passage in Ephesians we can better understand what Paul was warning us about.  Our real battle is not against flesh and blood, but we battle the wiles of the devil and his minions.
   Paul wrote of this in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 also, where he wrote: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds."
   He writes that our battle is against various powers and rulers of this invisible realm.  He used a variety of terms to refer to these spiritual adversaries.  I read this to mean these creatures are on many different levels and of many different ranks, yet they all have one goal: to defeat the Christian and hinder the spread of the Gospel.  When we are in the fight and these powers are working to slow us down and distract us from the work of the Kingdom of God, it really doesn’t matter what rank of enemy we are facing, they are all members of an evil army set on stopping the unprepared Christian.  And at the head of that army is the most evil being himself, Satan.
   There is some good news here, though.  We can stand against this evil force.  We have armor available that we can learn to use to better prepare ourselves for the battle.
   Some of the promises from God we need to remember are scattered throughout the Epistles.  In Romans 8:38 we learn that no matter how strong the opposition is, they cannot separate us from the love of God.  In Ephesians 1:20 – 21 we learn that our Lord, Jesus, is enthroned far above all principalities and powers.  In Colossians 2:10 we learn that Jesus is head over all principality and power.  In Colossians 2:15 we learn that Jesus disarmed principalities and powers at the cross and 1 Corinthians 15:24 tells us that one day their power will be broken and they will be rendered powerless.
   As I read this I know that if I am to have a victory in battle against these forces I must do so based on what Christ has already done not in what I can do in my own power.  I must face them in Christ and rely on His strength and His protection if I am to advance the Gospel.  Understand what they can and can't do, and know Who your strength is rooted in.  Jesus is not the opposite of Satan; He is above Satan, He always was above Satan and always will be above Satan.  Satan has decided to battle God’s Kingdom and has been granted the liberty to do so but only for a limited time.  When we oppose his work, we must do so in Christ’s protection.  Only then can we wrestle with an expectation of victory.

Stephen Cram                            March 4, 2012                     Colossians 2:8

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.  Colossians 2:8