Write The Word: Righteousness

We began the New Year with a focus on the Armor of God. The first piece of the armor mentioned in Ephesians 6 is the Belt of Truth. If you downloaded the January bookmark, we hope you wrote out not only the Armor of God passage from Ephesians, but several additional verses highlighting the word truth.

This year we will devoting five additional months to the remaining pieces of the armor:

the Breastplate of Righteousness
the Gospel Shoes of Peace
the Shield of Faith
the Helmet of Salvation
the Sword of the Spirit

When we strap on the belt of truth first, it ensures that we know the truth. Knowing the truth helps us take our stand against the lies. But it’s not just enough for us to KNOW the truth, it must also change our behavior. In telling us to buckle the belt of truth around us, Paul is telling us to live truthfully – to speak truthfully, to think truthfully, to behave truthfully. That is what constitutes righteousness.

Ephesians 6:14 says:

Stand firm then …
with the breastplate of righteousness in place …

He’s not talking here about the righteousness that leads to salvation; we know that because this is a passage directed at believers. We have already been declared righteous in Christ.

Scripture is clear: we are not saved by our own works, but by the sacrifice of Jesus.

Titus 3:5 says:

… he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.
He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

And II Corinthians 5:21 confirms,

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us,
so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This is the great exchange – He took our sin and imputed to us His righteousness. When you trade with God, you always trade up!

It’s not our own righteousness that saves us, but His.

But having been declared righteous in Christ, we are now called to live righteously. Not to BE saved … but because we ARE saved.

In telling us to put on the Breastplate of Righteousness, Paul is calling us to live a righteous life.

In a suit of armor, the breastplate would cover the torso. The largest mass in our body, it houses all our vital organs. A strategic shot to the torso could obliterate the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, bladder, stomach, intestines, and more. For this reason, the warrior would put on a breastplate as protection from devastating injury.

Spiritually speaking, living a holy life shields us from attack. It ensures we are not making ourselves vulnerable to destruction by the enemy.

As you write the Word this month – and read the weekly Sunday Soaking devotionals unpacking the passages you write – I pray you are challenged to consider how living righteously is so much more than a list of Dos and Don’ts. It has a much more significant role in our lives.

Choosing to live righteously protects us.

Grab your breastplate, ladies, and let’s start writing and living the Word!

Righteousness scripture journaling Bible