WITH THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

Ephesians 6:14 (NIV) Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
WITH is a very key word here. In the previous blog we talked about the belt of truth. Anyone can know about the truth of Jesus, but unless that truth is accompanied by His righteousness, it is simply fruitless knowledge. If it were even possible for a sinful man to be righteous outside of Jesus Christ, the commandments would have been the saving factor. No man on earth except Jesus Christ has ever been without sin since the fall from grace of the first man Adam. When we recognize the truth of the gospel and repent from (turn away from) our sin, replacing it with submission to God's will, He then sends the Holy Spirit to abide with us as our council, THEN are we covered not with our righteousness, but with the righteousness of Jesus Christ (See Romans 3:21-27).
There were those in the Bible that recognized the truth and even taught it but were not among those saved by the righteousness of the lamb. See Philippians 1:15-18, Acts 19:13-16. There are those that preach a version of the truth today that are in the same boat with those described, not covered with the righteousness of Christ.
So we see that, unless we have both the word of the gospel of Jesus which is the truth and have that WITH the righteousness of Jesus Christ (or the breastplate of righteousness), we have attained NOTHING.

PUTTING ON THE BELT OF TRUTH

Ephesians 6:14 (NIV) Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, (the King James says 'having your loins girt about with truth)
The concept of the belt of truth as listed in Ephesians is a subject much deeper than one might conceive of at first. If you ask a child who just learned the verse in Sunday School or even a new Christian, what it means to put on the belt of truth, they will come back with the answer, "Well, God wants us to always tell the truth." While it is true that God wants us to always tell the truth, that is not what this scripture is all about.
Let's look at John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. And in John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. We know that the word is God's truth and here we find that it became flesh in Jesus Christ.
You see the truth that we are to put on with the belt of truth is the truth of the gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ! He is our truth as Christians.
In the early years of our marriage my husband would ask me what the truth, the real truth about the meaning of things was, and I would say the truth is Jesus. He would look at me with an expression of doubt and go about his business. Sometime later he got baptized, but the question would still come up from time to time and I would answer the same answer and he would respond as he had before. Then on Nov. 17, 2004, Tom received Jesus Christ as his personal savior. Suddenly, like the blind man he could see the truth of the gospel. The Bible was like a brand new book even though he had been reading it all of his life.
My point is this. People have to come to Jesus before they can truly put on the belt that this scripture speaks of because the truth in it is in itself Jesus Christ.

A GOOD WAY TO GET DRESSED

The Bible tells us that we are to take on the whole armor of God so we will be able to stand against evil (see Ephesians 6:13). So, we learn in Church the little drill, reciting each part of the armor and putting it on our bodies. Often we do this without the full knowledge of what doing it really means. When I first decided to write a blog on the armor, I believed it would be one simple blog, but has grown larger than one blog in content. Therefore, I challenge you to read Ephesians 6:10-18 and follow this blog for an eye opening view of the armor of God over the next few weeks. The blog will be posted every other day. I welcome comments and discussion. (I am sure some will comment already on why I am including verses 10, 11, 12 and 18). God bless you all and pray for the Lord's will as we progress in the good race.

CAN YOU BE FOOLED?

Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. James 3:1 (NIV)
As we see in this verse, there is enormous responsibility and consequence for those that teach God's word. To be judged more strictly, you would think, would detour those that are teaching false doctrines and claiming to speak for God while making up their own rules. That is what a sensible person would think; the thought of one who has read the scriptures.
Obviously, there are a lot of non-sensible people in the world. Unless you know the Word for yourself, how will you know the difference. I implore you to study it for yourself so you will not be lead astray because of your naiveté.

DON'T WAIT!
I am very excited today! The idea for a 6 part blog had been developing for a while and this morning I realized it was much bigger in concept than any blog could do justice and still be read. My husband said, "Maybe you are suppose to write a book on it." Clearly, he was right!
So today I start another book that I am so fired up about for the Lord! God told us to make disciples and to teach them; it is part of the great commission. So I challenge you as Christians to do that now. Don't wait, there are so many examples in the news showing us that tomorrow may never come for us, we need to do what God has called us to today!
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20