ArmorOfGod3of7BreastplateOfRighteousness

Breastplate of Righteousness
John then tells us to “put on the breastplate of righteousness”. I believe that it is important to know and be righteous; I found 565 references in the bible to being righteous! Someone thinks being righteous is important! “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.” (Psalms 1:1-2) “The Lord judges people; judge me oh Lord, according to my righteousness, and according to the integrity that is in me” (Psalms 7:8). “I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules” (Psalms 119:7) “Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness and honor” (Proverbs 21:21). “He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, and shuts his eyes from looking on evil” (Isaiah 33:15). “If a man is righteous and does what is just and right-if he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman in her time of menstrual impurity, does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, does not lend at interest or take any profit, withholds his hand from injustice, executes true justice between man and man, walks in my statutes, and keeps my rules by acting faithfully-he is righteous, he shall surely live, declares the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 18:5-9) “Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord” (Zephaniah 2:3) And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord” (Luke 1:6).

“If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won’t amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, then ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference”. –Abraham Lincoln
Being righteous; the bible goes on and on about righteousness. Paul spends a good part of the beginning of his letter to the Romans talking about righteousness. In my study of Romans, I surmised that Paul was basically saying be right with God. Through the sin of Adam, we have all lost our righteousness with God, and only through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have all been made righteous again. God does not expect perfection, adversely he expects us to sin, He knows the sinful nature we are born in to. To be righteous is to be right with God. If you make a mistake, atone for it. If you sin against a brother, make it right. If you sin against God, seek forgiveness and seek penance, not as in 3 “Hail Mary’s” and 2 “Our Fathers” type penance, but seek to correct the behavior and take steps to prevent the behavior from re-occurring. If you have done, or do something that is not “right”, acknowledge it, correct it, and take steps to prevent it. Sometimes the only preventative step you can take is to give it to God and ask for help. But take action! I may have appeared to be rambling on the subject of righteousness, but in Paul’s illustration, it is our breastplate, as in our armor, it is what protects our chest, our vital organs, our heart, our lungs, liver, spleen…..VITAL ORGANS! Know that only through Jesus Christ have we been made right again and it is only through God the father, his Son Jesus Christ AND the Holy Spirit can we maintain our righteousness. Paul is saying that it is vital to our survival to be vigilant at making sure that our breastplate of righteousness is strong, free of tears of blemishes and well maintained so that we can be protected from those that oppose us!
Being righteous is not our ticket to salvation, for our salvation is granted and guaranteed through the sacrifice of God our Father, through his son Jesus the Christ, dependant only on our acceptance. However, to walk in unrighteousness, that is to walk in a way that we know to be not right with God, is to walk outside of his law. So you ask; “but if my salvation is guaranteed, why do I need to worry about righteousness”! GLAD YOU ASKED!
Why do your parents make rules for you growing up? Why do you make rules for your own children? Are you just trying to make things as difficult as you can for them? Are you just trying to protect them and keep them as safe as possible? Rules; don’t run with scissors, stay out of that cabinet, don’t go to bad places, those friends are no good for you, be in by curfew, etc., all in an effort to protect your children. So how much more would the perfect Father, your Father in Heaven want to protect you? How many times have you been in your Bible and started acting like a rebellious teenager as you read things that convicted you on how you live!? The Bible is the living Word of God, the voice of your Father, the voice of your parent telling you, warning you, guiding you, and protecting you. (See where I’m going with this yet?) When you attempt to be right with God, to live in righteousness, you choose to live within the guidelines that he has laid out to protect you from the enemy (Satan). When you choose to live in an unrighteous way, you choose to violate the rules or the Law that has been handed down by God to guide you and to protect you. You open yourself up to attack, to hurt, to injury, to pain.
Example: Don’t drink and drive. You choose to ignore the rule; you get in an accident, you or someone else in injured or maybe killed. Could you get in an accident and be injured without drinking and driving? Could you drink and drive and not get injured? Sure, but by breaking the rule that is put in place for your protection, your risk for injury compound significantly. There is no different in the application of righteous living as laid down by the Word of God in the Bible. If I have not been clear enough for you, let me make it simpler. The law of Choices and Consequences! Choose right living, choose righteousness and have righteous rewards. Choose to violate the Law, choose unrighteousness and the consequences are yours and yours alone. Blame God all you want to, but the choice was yours!
Breastplate of Righteousness; for behind it we find protection!