THE VICTOR’S MENTALITY 21 (The Breastplate of Righteousness)

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,”

‭‭Ephesians 6:13-14 NKJV

By God’s grace, in the previous articles, we’ve been looking at one of these armours, the Belt of Truth. A lot has been said about this armour and how we can always fasten this belt around our waist so that we are always winning. You can check out the blog site to review what we’ve discussed over time regarding the belt of truth.

We’ll start looking at another armor God expects us to wear so we can remain in the victory He has won for us, so that we can continue to win and reign in life. This armour is called the breastplate of righteousness.

In today’s article, I’ll share an overview of what I believe will be a transformative teaching that will empower us to keep winning.

When we talk about the Victor’s mentality, we’re talking about being aware of your victory and thereby walking and operating in light of that victory. The issue with many Christians is that they aren’t aware of what they have. For instance, many people use a super smartphone but aren’t aware of its features. Because of this, they don’t enjoy the benefits of those features. To enjoy them, they’d have to discover what’s in the phone.

Let me tell you this: The Holy Spirit has brought you into union with Christ, and you really have to discover who you are in Him. You are brought into union with Christ by grace, and then by faith, we need to start walking with Him to discover who we truly are.

I’ve seen people lose themselves in the midst of different things around them. Their lives seem directionless because of wrong mentalities, associations, and so on. But once they discover who they are and that they can do more than what they’re currently doing, the first thing they do is break off those connections, associations, and mentalities that have kept them down. Then you see their careers change; you can visibly see progress in their journey because they discovered they can be more. Although this might be a general principle, it’s a normal application for growth, even in the secular world.

But we’re not just concerned about careers; we’re concerned about our whole life living up to the expectations of God Almighty. One of the first things we must detach ourselves from is the first Adam. Many haven’t cut ties with the Adam mentality. You need to start knowing yourself after Christ and understanding what you’ve been blessed with so you can keep winning. Seeing yourself in Adam will keep you under and prevent you from moving in the direction God wants you to go. Your real you is in Christ. You are Christ’s, and Christ is yours! One of the armors God has blessed us with is the breastplate of righteousness!

Let’s look at Isaiah 59:16-17 for a parallel to Ephesians 6:14:

“He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor; therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; and His own righteousness, it sustained Him. For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak.”

Here, we see a parallel scripture from which the Apostle Paul must have been inspired to write in Ephesians 6, speaking of the coming of the Messiah in His redemptive power.

In verse 17, the Bible describes righteousness as a breastplate, just as in Ephesians 6. But here, it’s talking about the Savior, Jesus Christ. What does this tell us? The righteousness in Ephesians 6 that Paul refers to isn’t our own righteousness. It’s the exact description of the righteousness of Christ—a sinless righteousness with no blemish, which sustained Him in His conduct and actions.

When Jesus came, the earth was full of darkness. There was no truth anywhere. The Bible says there was no intercessor, meaning no one was expecting the Messiah at that time. Everyone was caught up in their own things. The earth had never witnessed this kind of righteousness until the Redeemer came with pure and holy righteousness. The Bible describes the Redeemer as putting on armor—the breastplate of righteousness. 

This tells us that the cause of redemption is the cause of righteousness. What do I mean? There’s no way the Redeemer could redeem us if the Savior wasn’t righteous according to God’s standard. Likewise, we couldn’t be called redeemed if we hadn’t been imbued with the righteousness of Christ. The enemy has no moral ground to attack Christ because there was no guile found in Him (1 Peter 2:22). Rather, on the basis of His righteousness—His nature and actions—He defeated the enemy for us.

Now, we’ve been armed with the very weapon that defeated the enemy. If we put on this weapon, we’ll always remind the devil that he’s already defeated, and we’ll continue to reign in life. The righteousness of Christ in us is a reminder to the enemy that this was the basis on which he was defeated. No wonder the Bible says the righteous are as bold as lions. Nothing can confront a person who has the breastplate of righteousness on them.

Finally, based on what I’ve shared tonight as an overview, permit me to define righteousness: 

Righteousness is the divine standard of what is right before God, perfectly embodied in the character and actions of Christ, who is our Redeemer. It is not a product of human effort or morality but the very nature of Christ that qualifies Him to be our Savior and now covers the believer as spiritual armor.

Beloved, prayerfully meditate on these things. See you next article!