Text: Ephesians 6:14 NKJV
Further Reading: Zechariah 3:1-10
Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
Ephesians 6:14 NKJV
MESSAGE
Although there is none righteous and every self-righteousness of man is as a filthy rag before God. Christians who also are soldiers of Christ have been made righteous. They have become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21). No longer are they filthy and unworthy to stand before the God whose eyes are too holy to behold sin (Habakkuk 1:13).
Soldiers in God’s army must value this new status with utmost passion. Their right standing as long as they stay off sin is their first line of defense. As long as man is standing correctly and blamelessly before God, it is almost impossible for the enemy to attack or overtake such a fellow.
That was exactly the point the devil made about the righteous Job. Because of Job’s standing right before God, the Almighty God made an edge around him. There was a divine fortification that made it impossible for the enemy to attack (Job 1:7-9).
Remember, it is only sin that brings separation between man and God. When this happens, the soldier of Christ is automatically cut off from his source of strength who is Christ.
When the Bible asks the soldier of Christ to put on the breastplate of righteousness, God is simply asking him to guard his inner heart away from sin. He must not allow sin to breach the flow of grace from within him.
As long as a man has sin in his life, no matter what position such holds in the church or the Christian circle, he will be vulnerable to the enemy’s attack. In our reading of the day, the high priest was wearing a filthy garment, so satan stood to withstand or contend with him. That filthy garment had to be removed before this man entered God’s divine blessing for him.
Every soldier must constantly check his life and purge every form of unrighteousness. Nothing of such must be found in him. Take the example of Moses – as highly ranked as Moses was in the army of God, the enemy found anger to hold on to in his life. If not for divine intervention, Moses’s years of walk with God would have been utterly wasted. Oh that you will begin to search and purge away every sin and ungodly habit in your life. Your victory against the enemy depends on whether you are still standing right in Christ or not.
Thank God we have a great ally, Christ Jesus who both lived righteously and is our righteousness. You can also live the life He lived, you can also live a life beyond reproach and be able to say as your Lord said, “the prince of this world came and found nothing in me”.
REFLECTION
Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.
1 Corinthians 15:34 NKJV
This is a call to wake up, no more playing with sin. It is time to begin to walk straight before the Lord, else sin be your ruin.
PRAYER
Father, please help me keep away from sin and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this world. Amen.
