Breastplate of Righteousness
Armor of God • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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What is Biblical Righteousness?
What is Biblical Righteousness?
Gen 15:1-6 “After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”
Biblical Righteousness is trusting the Lord and believing in his promise
The Chinese character for "righteousness" is most interesting. It is composed of two separate characters one standing for a lamb, the other for me. When "lamb" is placed directly above "me," a new character "righteousness" is formed. This is a helpful picture of the grace of God. Between me, the sinner, and God, the Holy One, there is interposed by faith the Lamb of God. By virtue of his sacrifice, he has received me on the ground of faith, and I have become righteous in his sight.
Biblical Righteousness is seeking after the character of God
2 Tim 2:22 “So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”
What are you pursuing?
But there is a fight between 2 kinds of righteousness in us
But there is a fight between 2 kinds of righteousness in us
Romans 10:3 “For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.” \
Paul is contradicting the Jews and the Gentiles in this passage
Paul is being pretty critical of Israel (God’s people) because they relied so much on themselves and their lineage to please God
He is more pleased with the Gentiles who understood they brought nothing to the table
Self Righteousness
Self Righteousness
Isa 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.”
Self righteousness is the enemy of Biblical righteousness.
Self righteousness focuses on me, but Biblical righteousness focuses on Christ
Philip Yancey interviewed a young alcoholic who had formerly been an active church member, but had allowed Alcoholics Anonymous to replace the church. When questioned why, the young man responded, "Mainly I'm trying to survive, and AA helps me in that struggle far better than any church." Yancey explored further, "Name one quality missing in the local church that AA somehow provides."
The alcoholic stared at his coffee, watching it go cold. Finally he looked up and whispered one word: "Dependency."
He explained, "Most church people give off a self satisfied air of superiority. I don't sense them consciously leaning on God or on each other... Maybe God is calling us alcoholics to teach the saints what it means to be dependent on Him and on His community on earth."
We need to put on Christ’s Righteousness
We need to put on Christ’s Righteousness
Eph 6:14 “Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,”
The Breastplate keeps our vitals safe, just like the soldiers armor keeps their vitals safe