Lesson 10: Breastplate of Righteousness, part 3

Ephesians 6:14 - …and having put on the breastplate of righteousness

Why do we put on His righteousness? An ancient Greek historian called the breastplate a “heart protector.” It protects our hearts from the arrows and the spears and the swords and the crushing blows from Satan in our spiritual battle. It stands for uprightness and integrity of character and it protects this vital area. Proverbs 11:4 says, "Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.

Without righteousness, we leave ourselves open to almost certain death. With righteousness — just as with a breastplate — the otherwise fatal attacks of our enemy are thwarted. The Breastplate of Righteousness is something that must be put on by us – no one else can do it for us.

Then the question is, "Whose righteousness are we putting on and being immersed with?" Right? When you look at the Bible, you only have three options:


1. Our own self-righteousness which we do not mean for obvious reasons, since self-righteousness is a sin. You are basically trying to “prove your self-righteousness to God” in order to get into heaven. But the Bible says in Isaiah 64:6 - We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

2. Positional righteousness which is the righteousness that is given to us in Jesus Christ, or “imputed to us” as the Bible says, by His death on the cross. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” The imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ is our only hope for eternal life and our defense against Satan's accusations when we fail to put on the breastplate of righteousness.

3. Practical righteousness, which is not the same as self-righteousness, is a daily process of Christian maturity in our own behavior. We read in Romans 6:12-13 – “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.”

Our positional righteousness is not a piece of armor we put on. The saved are clothed in the righteousness of Christ from the moment of salvation, and that never changes. But our practical righteousness is a battle each day – a battle for which we need the Breastplate of Righteousness in our personal lives. This practical righteousness is grown every day as we choose whom we will follow.

We will study this more in our next lesson.

*Memorize Ephesians 6:10-12