Spiritual Warfare Volume 7 Joseph a Cortes
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Spiritual Warfare Volume 7 Joseph A Cortes 1 Table of Contents The Breastplate of Righteousness- an overview 1 Logion, Stoicheion and Gematria 15 Color and Light 33 Tried in the Fire 44 The Color of Royalty and Evangelism 54 Scarlet 64 Precious Stones and Righteousness 76 Sardius 91 Simeon, the Second Stone 106 The Carbuncle 118 The Children of the Light 129 The Breastplate of Righteousness An Overview In Ephesians 6:14 Paul writes, “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness [dekiosuna in the Greek] .” In previous messages on this subject, the truth is what is true in the matter under consideration . Many Christians want to place everything else as the truth, and there are plenty of other areas with the opportunity to talk about the Gospel, including the next verse. But that's not what Paul was referring to here in this verse. He was referring to the truth , the matter under consideration , which was spiritual warfare , and there is no better message than the breastplate of righteousness to start this mini- series within this series. This has been a very confused subject throughout history, but by the time I am done, you will hopefully have a better understanding of what type of righteousness God is referring to in these verses. First, I chose six books to evaluate concerning the breastplate. I will keep the authors names and book titles anonymous. I'll just read the basic information and then move from book to book. Let’s begin. “The breastplate of righteousness. This piece of armor covered the front of the soldier's body, from the neck to the upper part of the thighs. It protected the vital organs.” This's true; however, I believe Paul had one purpose, even though he used two different examples that can be applied in describing this full Christian armor that we are to put on. One, and I've said this before, Paul was a prisoner more times than I'm sure he liked. He saw what the soldiers wore. He saw their uniforms and the kind of weapons they used, from swords to shields to helmets. So, we can use the times Paul lived in as reference points. However, as we go further into this armor, I want to point out the spiritual aspect of all the elements listed here in God's armor. I believe Paul went beyond what he could see the soldiers wearing from the knowledge he obtained from Christ Himself. And because Paul was also a student of the Old Testament, he knew what righteousness in the spiritual sense symbolized. As a result, I don't view the breastplate like most authors do. Yes, Paul saw soldiers and was trying to identify with the people in his life, but that's not all Paul did. There was a deeper meaning than what Paul saw, and he related that poetic knowledge from God using those examples. For instance, he used the soldiers and their uniforms to make his point, but Paul was not that shallow. He was much deeper than that. Just read his letters to see how Paul goes beyond what he could see to make his point. You will never really understand this breastplate of righteousness if you don't understand what it means in the Old Testament, where I believe Paul drew from to make the point. Spiritual warfare has been around from day one. Spiritual warfare with these evil forces is not something that was created in the New Testament, it's been here since Adam and Eve sinned. Even before Adam and Eve sinned there was spiritual warfare, but because of their sin, it intensified because Satan and his minions are not just dealing with one or two characters any longer. They have dealt with billions of people throughout the ages. That's why the Bible tells us wide is the passageway leading to destruction, but narrow is the way leading to God; to Christ 1 Himself. So even though Paul could see the soldiers and identify with them and make a comparison in the material sense about what a Christian should wear spiritually, I'm saying he goes deeper than that. He truly understood what Christ's message was and what Christ revealed to him, (in my opinion) in his training period after he was blinded and then could see. Paul could also draw information from the Old Testament, and you might not know that. So, as I read from these authors, they all focus in on the Roman soldier's uniform because that's the comparison and the only comparison Paul was making to poetically say what a soldier of Jesus Christ should wear in a spiritual sense. To continue with this author, we read, “The breastplate of righteousness. This piece of armor covered the front of the soldier's body, from the neck to the upper part of the thighs. It protected the vital organs. I believe that Paul is referring here to the righteousness of Christ which we receive when we trust Him. [Okay.] Satan is an accuser, and he attacks us by reminding us of our sins. It is through faith in Christ that we have his righteousness imputed to us, put to our account. [No problem with that at all.] It is important to make a distinction between imputed and imparted righteousness. When a sinner trusts Christ and is born again, the very righteousness of Christ is put to his account, and this never changes.” I do have a problem where this author wrote, “When a sinner trusts Christ and is born again, the very righteousness of Christ is put to his account, and this never changes.” It can change. Start living a life of unbelief, start living a life opposite of trusting Jesus for your salvation. Do you think God's righteousness will never change and never leave you? Do you think you won't grieve the Holy Spirit? Faith in Jesus redemptive work is how you get it in the first place! If I gave you the name of this author you would say, “What! How could he say that?” “As the believer walks with the Lord and yields to the Spirit, the righteousness of Christ is imparted to him and becomes more like Christ.” I'm not going to get into the difference between imputed and imparted righteousness. I think they made a whole big deal out of nothing. It is just more fancy terminology that tries to confuse the Christian believer. “Every believer should know the meaning of the word ‘justification.’ It is the gracious act of God whereby he declares the believing sinner righteous through the merits of Jesus Christ. Justification never changes. Once God has declared you righteous, your standing before him is settled for eternity.” Again, no, it's not, “once God has declared you righteous,” or reconciled back to Him. Once again, continuing trust and confidence want Christ did for us is what we must have to keep God's righteousness imputed into our lives or it will change. “However, your state- your walk- is quite another matter. This changes as we yield to the Spirit and obey the Word. It is worth noting that the breastplate covers the heart, which suggests that our feelings ought to be protected by Christ's righteousness.” 2 You'll find that several of these authors are more concerned about emotions and feelings. If this was true, then why is this breastplate even in Ephesians 6:14? It's there to protect us when we are physically attacked, and the devil works on our conscience with guilt that we are falling short and not living up to God's standard. We will never live up to God's standard; I will never live up to God's standard. It is impossible; therefore, the breastplate of righteousness is there to protect us from the onslaught of the devil's accusations that brings us down and makes us feel unworthy to be a child of God. This book falls short in describing and defining what the breastplate of righteousness is. You must understand all the benefits of righteousness, and there are many benefits that Christ allows us to participate in along with Him. My whole goal in these next few weeks is to give you a better understanding of what Christ has done for us, why it was important for Him to step in, and it's not just for the shedding of blood for the remission of sin, without which there is no hope. You have heard me preach on it and you have probably heard others preach on laying up your treasures in heaven. There are rewards that come by laying those treasures up in heaven. In the chapters to come, I will make clear all the wonderful benefits here and now that we have once we understand what righteousness is. At the same time, I don't think anyone can completely explain it because it is that overwhelming of a subject, but in the Old and New Testaments, Christ gives us a better picture of what those benefits are if you have eyes to see and ears to hear. That's probably the most important key point up to now, and once you understand and see for yourself in God's Word what they are, you'll say, “Sign me up. I cannot believe I did not understand this before, but I do not want to miss out on any of the benefits that I can receive through Christ Jesus.” “It is worth noting that the breastplate covers the heart, which suggests that our feelings ought to be protected by Christ's righteousness.