In the last Meditation we read
Paul’s command to “put on the full armour of God”. We realized that it
means nothing less than clothing ourselves with Jesus Christ (see Romans
13:14** “Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think
about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”).
Speaking in detail about God’s
full armour, the apostle first urges us to “gird our waist with truth” which
means that we need to remain in Jesus’ presence. This implies that we are filled
with (or controlled by) His Spirit. We noticed that if we want to protect
Jesus’ life within us against Satan’s attacks, we need to allow God’s Spirit to
shield us. Without His control over us, we are utterly lost to our ‘old self’
and his unrighteous and immoral behaviour.
“... having put on the
breastplate of righteousness” ( Ephesians 6:14***)
The second item we need is the “breastplate
of righteousness”. As this entire defensive armour is a picture of our Lord
Jesus Christ, we need to ask ourselves first of all what God’s Word says about
Jesus’ breastplate of righteousness.
The prophet Isaiah (8th
century BC) foresaw the coming of the divine Messiah to bring salvation to God’s
people. In Isaiah 59:17** we read that He will clothe Himself in full armour to
fight injustice. Isaiah writes that “He put on righteousness as His
breastplate...”
The apostle Paul speaks elsewhere
of the need for Christians to wear a defensive “breastplate”. In his first
letter to the Christians in Thessaloniki (Greece) he writes: “Let us be
self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate...” (1
Thessalonians 5:8**)
It
is interesting to notice that this defensive armour against Satan’s assaults
exists in outgoing, active behaviour: righteousness, faith and love! It
seems that Paul says that we are not called to lock ourselves in an
impenetrable castle against our fiercest enemy. On the contrary, we protect
ourselves against Satan’s onslaught by acting positively in righteousness,
faith and love. I think of Paul’s advice to the Christians in Rome: “Don't
let evil get the best of you, but conquer evil by doing good” (Romans 12:21*).
And what about Jesus’ words: “But if you are willing to listen, I say, love
your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for the happiness of those
who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. If someone slaps you on one cheek,
turn the other cheek. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. Give
what you have to anyone who asks you for it; and when things are taken away
from you, don't try to get them back.” (Luke 6:27-30*)
In this Meditation we are especially
interested in the questions: (a.) What does God’s Word mean when it speaks
about being ‘righteous’? (b.) What do Isaiah and Paul mean when they write about
“the breastplate of righteousness”? Here follow some thoughts to ponder:
Our Triune God
is righteous
When the prophet Isaiah speaks
about the divine Messiah’s breastplate of righteousness, he actually speaks about
our Triune God who Himself is the norm of righteous living and action since He
created human life.
Moses (13th century
BC?) declares that “His works are perfect, and all His ways are just. A
faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He” (Deuteronomy 32:4**).
King David (11th
century BC) rejoices in Psalm 145:17* saying that “the LORD is righteous in
everything He does...”
God’s Word and
Will are righteous
Because
God is righteous, His Word and Will are righteous. Psalm 119 speaks of God’s
righteous ways: “May my tongue sing of Your Word, for all Your commands are
righteous” (Psalm 119:172**). The apostle Paul tells the Christians of Rome
that“the Law (of God) is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and
good” (Romans 7:12**).
Whoever obeys God’s
will is righteous
Moses told God’s people: “If
we are careful to obey all this Law before the LORD our God, as He has
commanded us, that will be our righteousness" (Deuteronomy 6:25**).
And the apostle Paul writes: “It is not those who hear the Law (of God) who
are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the Law who will be
declared righteous” (Romans 2:13**)
So,
a person who lives and acts righteously reflects God’s righteous living and
action. Job testifies about his righteous life when he says: “I helped the
poor in their need and the orphans who had no one to help them. I helped those who had lost hope, and
they blessed me. And I caused the widows' hearts to sing for joy. All I did was
just and honest. Righteousness covered me like a robe, and I wore justice like
a turban. I served as eyes
for the blind and feet for the lame. I was a father to the poor and made sure
that even strangers received a fair trial. I broke the jaws of godless oppressors and
made them release their victims.” (Job 29:12-17*)
It
is the prophet Isaiah who attested that actually no one can obey God’s
righteous commands perfectly: “We are all infected and impure with sin. When
we proudly display our righteous deeds, we find they are but filthy rags. Like
autumn leaves, we wither and fall. And our sins, like the wind, sweep us away”
(Isaiah 64:6*).
God’s
Messiah, Jesus Christ, displays God’s righteousness perfectly
Through
His prophet Isaiah, God promises the coming of the righteous Messiah: “The
Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him -- the Spirit of wisdom and of
understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and
of the fear of the LORD -- and He will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will
not judge by what He sees with his eyes, or decide by what He hears with His
ears; but with righteousness He will judge the needy, with justice He will give
decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of
His mouth; with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Righteousness
will be His belt and faithfulness the sash round His waist.” (Isaiah
11:2-5**)
Furthermore
we read of Him: “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is upon Me, because the
LORD has appointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to comfort
the brokenhearted and to announce that captives will be released and prisoners
will be freed. He has sent Me to tell those who mourn that the time of the
LORD's favor has come, and with it, the day of God's anger against their
enemies. To all who mourn in Israel, He will give beauty for ashes, joy instead
of mourning, praise instead of despair. For the LORD has planted them like
strong and graceful oaks for His own glory.” (Isaiah 61:1-3*)
About
seven hundred years later, Jesus showed that He is this promised Messaiah: “The
scroll containing the messages of Isaiah the prophet was handed to Him (Jesus),
and He unrolled the scroll to the place where it says: ‘The Spirit of the Lord
is upon Me, for He has appointed Me to preach Good News to the poor. He has
sent Me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see,
that the downtrodden will be freed from their oppressors, and that the time of
the Lord's favor has come.’ He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the
attendant, and sat down. Everyone in the synagogue stared at Him intently. Then
He said, ‘This Scripture has come true today before your very eyes!’”
(Luke 4:17-21*)
Indeed, the four Gospels tell us
that Jesus lived and acted righteously according to God’s righteous will. Just
like Book of the Hebrews tells us: “The Son reflects God's own glory, and
everything about Him represents God exactly.” (Hebrews 1:3*) and Paul
writes to the Colossian Christians: “Christ is the visible image of the
invisible God.” (Colossians 1:15*)
We now understand that when
Isaiah speaks about the Messiah’s “breastplate of righteousness”, he is
saying that the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ, will display God’s nature and
will in the way He will live and rescue God’s people. His saving intervention
will be a display of God’s love, compassion and righteousness.
To put on the
breastplate of righteousness means to live and act like Jesus
What then does Paul mean when he
urges us to put on ‘the breastplate of righteousness’? I think that it
is clear by now that Paul does not expect us to resist Satan in a ‘self-made’
righteousness. We just read in Isaiah 64:6 that nobody is able to live and act
sinlessly and in accordance with God’s will. So, the ‘breastplate of
righteousness’ which Paul mentions in Romans 6:14 must come from elsewhere!
We said at the beginning of this
Meditation that Paul urges us to clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ
(Romans 13:14). He lives in all His followers by His Spirit, as Paul wrote
to the Christians in Rome: “You ... are controlled not by the sinful nature
but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not
have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.” (Romans 8:9**)
Indeed, it is Christ’s Spirit who
gives us the power to obey God’s Word and Will. He wants to empower us to oppose
Satan’s attacks with Christlike love, compassion and righteousness. Therefore,
we need Him to clothe us with the breastplate of Christ’s righteousness. That
is the way to overcome any attack of our fiercest enemy.
Translation: * New Living
Translation; ** New International Version; *** New King James Version.
About “ Satan and our
rebellious lives”, see Meditations 19-21.
About “The Holy Spirit and His
ministry”, see Meditations 27-34.
About “God’s major project:
transforming me and my church into the likeness of Christ”, see Meditations
45-48.
About “Do not bring sorrow to God’s
Spirit”, see Meditations 49-55.
About “Personal Christlike love for
the Father and His Son”, see Meditations 56-64.
About “How to overcome
the power of sin in my life and in my church?” see Meditations 101-121.
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