Applying the Gospel Study Bible
For Teens and College Students
What It Means to Put on the Breastplate of Righteousness
Stand therefore . . . having put on the breastplate of righteousness . . . (Eph. 6:14)
Ruthless Enemy, Righteous God
In movies and TV series centered on law enforcement, you’ll usually get a scene where the characters are gearing up for a major operation. They put in earpieces to communicate with the team. They synchronize their watches. They tuck weapons into holsters, boots, and anywhere else they can find space. And they don a bulletproof vest.
These vests are a crucial part of police officers’ gear. Imagine if they wore bulletproof pants and gloves but left their torsos exposed. They’d be in danger, because our hearts and vital organs, from which flow our life, must be protected above all else. There’s a similar reality in our spiritual battle, and God hasn’t left us to face an enemy without protection. But our armor isn’t made of Kevlar. It’s the breastplate of righteousness.
The word “righteousness” is multifaceted in Scripture. At times, it refers to believers’ standing before God as holy because of Christ’s perfect record credited to us (this is our imputed righteousness). In other instances, it’s talking about our new way of living in holiness, according to God’s will (our intrinsic righteousness). The two are related: Since God has declared us righteous, we’re both expected and enabled to live in a righteous way.1
Strong in the Lord
Winfree Brisley
This 30-day devotional invites readers to discover lasting strength by putting on the armor of God. Each reading explores a verse from Ephesians 6:10–18 with reflection prompts designed to encourage and equip women to stand strong in the Lord.
So many of Satan’s schemes are about destroying righteousness and promoting its opposites: sin and condemnation. Our enemy entices us to sin by making obedience look like missing out and disobedience look appealing. If our conscience is pricked, Satan reassures us that repentance will be easy—we can enjoy this pleasure and then go back to God.
But as soon as we bite into that forbidden fruit, we’re in his trap. Satan switches tactics, making repentance seem impossible. Surely God won’t welcome a failure like you who has messed up so badly (Gen. 3:6–8). Or he encourages us to double down and deny our sinfulness as we continue in disobedience.
The devil is a crafty, well-equipped foe, and he aims at the heart when he draws us to sin or to despair. We can only duck and dodge for so long. His attack will eventually succeed unless we’re wearing a breastplate strong enough to withstand it.
So, what exactly is this breastplate of righteousness? Commentators differ on whether it’s the imputed righteousness we receive when we trust in Christ and share his perfect record, or the intrinsic righteousness we display when we live in a way that pleases God. I agree with those who say it’s both.
First and foremost, we need the undeserved gift of Christ’s righteousness. But to stand firm against Satan, we also need to choose—day by day, moment by moment—to live in line with that righteousness, to choose holiness over sin. We’ll consider both types of righteousness in the days ahead. The main point is that God sees all the ways Satan tries to tempt us into sin, and he has provided the necessary protection. Our hearts are safe when we’re wearing the breastplate of righteousness.
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Whose Breastplate?
We could try to stand against Satan using self-made armor, cobbled together from our own good works. But when the devil bears down on us, filling our minds with accusations and condemnation, there are two possible outcomes.
Our breastplate might start to feel more like a ragged cloth garment, powerless against the point of a sword. We think of the way we gossiped about a friend last week, the harsh words we spoke to our housemate, or the jealousy we nurtured when that other church volunteer was publicly praised. And we cower before our enemy.
Or we might double down on our own strength and gather up our defense: the money we give to church each month, the Bible reading plan we’ve haven’t missed a day of this year, the children we raised who all still follow Jesus. But this armor will never be strong enough. Satan will always be able to point to good works left undone, sinful thoughts, and self-righteous motives. Our defense crumples.
We need not endure such defeats if we cast aside our own breastplates and, by faith, put on Christ’s.
[The Lord] put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak. (Isa. 59:17)
The Lord wore a breastplate of righteousness among other pieces of armor (Isa. 59:17; cf. 11:1–5). His Old Testament people, the Israelites, were crippled by their centuries-long cycle of sin and evil and facing a destruction of their own making. They kept choosing sin, and “righteousness [stood] far away” (Isa. 59:14).
No human could rescue them from the wrath they deserved, because their “iniquities [had] made a separation” between them and the Lord (Isa. 59:2). But God himself saw their desperate plight and intervened. He acted according to his perfect character, coming as a warrior to defeat the sin and evil that ensnared his people. The only one who has a right to condemn is also the one who saves.
Paul was likely drawing from these passages when he wrote Ephesians 6.2 So the righteousness that matters most in the spiritual battle is not our own but Christ’s.
Jesus proved the effectiveness of his breastplate during his earthly lifetime. At the beginning of his ministry, he was tested in the wilderness and tempted by Satan. Would he fall to sin as every one of God’s people had done? No. In accordance with his perfectly righteous character, he chose obedience to his Father every time.
First and foremost, we need the undeserved gift of Christ’s righteousness.
Jesus was unfairly treated and accused, but he never once sinned (Heb. 4:15). In his death, he was able to bear the penalty for our sin because he had none of his own to atone for. By his resurrection and ascension, he was vindicated as the Righteous One (Acts 7:52; Rom. 1:3–4). He faced all the spiritual forces of darkness, and, in the words of Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “he conquered with his righteousness.”3
Our gossip, our unkind words, our envy, and all our other sins are covered by his breastplate. Even though not one of us is righteous on our own, there is no condemnation for those who belong to Jesus (Rom. 3:10; 8:1). When our snarling, mocking enemy thrusts his sword of accusation, we don’t say, “But look at my righteous deeds.” We say, “But look at my righteous Savior.”
Practice Righteousness
Our identity and actions are connected. Even though righteousness is both imputed (given to us by Christ) and intrinsic (lived out practically), we don’t swap between the two as if they’re different breastplates—one to guarantee we’ll go to heaven and one for daily use. For Christ isn’t just wearing righteousness; he is righteous (1 Cor. 1:30). Since we’re united to him, our identity changes— and so does our practice.
John explains that if we’ve been made righteous in Christ, we’ll “practice righteousness” rather than “mak[ing] a practice of sinning”:
“Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as [Christ] is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.” (1 John 3:7–8)
Paul describes this same idea in various ways: We’re to “put off [our] old self” and “put on the new self” (Eph. 4:22–24). We’re to “walk as children of light” instead of taking part in the “unfruitful works of darkness” (Eph. 5:8, 11). We’re to “walk by the Spirit” and not “gratify the desires of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16).
Let’s consider a few benefits of practicing righteousness amid this “present darkness” (Eph. 6:12).
1) Righteousness shows who we belong to. A couple of verses after today’s passage, John writes, “Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God” (1 John 3:10). The corollary is also true: Righteousness proves we belong to God. Each moment of obedience proclaims to us as well as those around us that Christ’s death and resurrection were successful, that we are rescued from Satan’s hands and now serve a different King.
2) Righteousness reorients our longings. Satan tempts us to believe that sin will make us happy. We think satisfaction is waiting just on the other side of that worldly pleasure. But he’s lying. When we instead pursue righteousness, we discover a far more joyful life. Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matt. 5:6). As you take steps of obedience, trust that God will transform your heart to increasingly love holiness.
3) Righteousness strengthens us for the next battle. We’ve all experienced the habit-forming nature of both sin and holiness. When you speak harshly “just this once” to a coworker who lets you down, those words will more naturally come out again the next time she drops the ball on a project. But when you instead regularly use your words to bless, that too becomes your default behavior. Choosing righteousness instead of caving to temptation strengthens us to “stand firm” when the next attack comes. So today, if you’re already standing secure in the breastplate of Christ’s righteousness, don’t become weary in the battle. Keep practicing righteousness with Christ’s help.
Notes:
- See I. H. Marshall et al., eds., New Bible Dictionary, 3rd ed. (Inter-Varsity Press, 2013), under “righteousness.”
- Benjamin L. Merkle, “Ephesians,” in ESV Expository Commentary: Ephesians–Philemon (Crossway, 2018), 110–11.
- Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “Citizens of Heaven: A Sermon on Ephesians 6:14,” April 1, 1962, MLJ Trust, audio, 37:22, https://www.mljtrust.org.
This article is by Casey Achermann and is adapted from Strong in the Lord: A 30-Day Devotional on the Armor of God edited by Winfree Brisley.
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