Breastplate of righteousness

The second one is: the breastplate of righteousness. In Paul’s day soldiers wore a protective breastplate, made of metal or very tough leather. The breastplate covered the chest and the abdomen, protecting all the vital organs, from swords and other weapons. The breastplate was a critical defence against mortal and lesser wounds. Well, you need to understand that in biblical times, the ancients believed that the heart and the liver were the centre of your affections. It seems very odd to us, because we know our affections are connected with our brain. But when you do get really scared, or really moved by something, you do have a gut-level feel, don’t you? See that is what they went by. They said affections are all inside here. And so, emotions such as joy or anger, originated they thought in these organs. And Paul is saying, believers must put on the breastplate of righteousness, to protect the vital parts of the inner man and its faculties against the attacks of Satan. Because as believers we are very vulnerable in our feelings, very vulnerable in our emotions, our affections. Because Christianity is a very feeling religion.

And so, the righteousness of the breastplate is provided by God in Christ. In Christ we have a righteousness that holds us up against all the vacillation of our own up and down feelings. And of course, you know that that righteousness is the active obedience of Christ, obeying the law for us. The passive obedience of Christ, who paid the sin for us. So that through his active and passive obedience, we may be accepted by faith, righteous in God’s sight through the substitutional obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the Gospel. So, by that Gospel of Christ-centred righteousness, we defend ourselves from all Satan’s attacks who tries to get our feelings, our emotions and our affections messed up, to destroy our spiritual life of communion with God.

So, Satan’s schemes to keep us from resting in Christ’s righteousness, and he wants us to rest just in our feelings as the foundation of our hope and then he wants to destroy our feelings, so we despair. But when we use the breastplate of righteousness, we can stop those fiery darts of Satan, where he says things like this: How could you be a child of God? When you said that yesterday, or when you felt that way this morning, when you got up, or you forgot to pray there. All these feelings tries to stir up in us, making you think, Oh, how can I be a believer and so on. And you put up that breastplate of righteousness, and you say: Satan, my only hope is in Christ and his righteousness. And then the darts fall to the ground. Like the poet said, I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name; in Christ, the solid Rock, I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. That is what the breastplate of righteousness will do for you. It is a very important piece of defending yourself against Satan.¹

Joel Beeke