Ephesians 6.13-24 (2)
Pray Psalm 19.12-14.
Who can understand his errors?
Cleanse me from secret faults.
Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;
Let them not have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
And I shall be innocent of great transgression.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.
Sing Psalm 19.12-14.
(St. Christopher: Beneath the Cross of Jesus)
Who, LORD, can know his errors? O keep sin far from me!
Let evil rule not in my soul that I may blameless be.
O let my thoughts, let all my words, before Your glorious sight
be pleasing to You, gracious LORD, acceptable and right.
Read Ephesians 6.13-24; meditate on verse 14.
Why is truth like a belt? Righteousness like a breastplate?
Preparation
1. What comes first in the Christian’s whole armor?
2. What next?
Meditation
We can be certain that the apostle Paul did not assign these “weapons” willy-nilly. Each has its place and order in the Christian warfare, and each weapon and its counterpart are appropriately identified.
Before yo’su go out to battle each day, cinch up your inner person and wrap yourself around with the truth of God. In Biblical terms, the bowels, or the inner parts, are the essence of a person and what must be most guarded in warfare. A belt of truth will do, but you must cinch it tight, snug, so that everything about you and all your plans, practices, and purposes are garbed in the truth of God.
Then, the breastplate of righteousness. We recall that Constantine, after his heavenly vision, had crosses affixed to the breastplates and shields of his soldiers as he led them into battle. The enemy was to know who stood with them and where they stood. So with us. Lead with righteousness in everything you do. Let the righteousness of Jesus, as you increase in it, show through you in all your words and deeds. Let what the world sees in you declare the righteousness of Christ and His Kingdom.
Girded with truth and clothed in the righteousness of Jesus, you will be ready to take up all the armor and go into your day ready to serve, advance, and be victorious in all your ways.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.16
Paul has us getting dressed for battle in similar fashion to the Christian life—from the inside out.
Truth—the fact that God created the heavens and the earth in six days, gave us His Law, which we could not keep, then sent us Jesus to die for those sins of ours, and rise victorious over sin and death—this truth is what we base our entire lives upon. Without it, we may as well remain in our pajamas and never venture out.
Righteousness—the condition which we could never experience without Jesus Christ and His life and death.
These two items of clothing: the “belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness” (Eph. 6.14) are the essentials—the undergarments closest to our being—without which we are indistinct from any other creature that roams the face of the earth.
Rules and directives from God are given to help us navigate through perils and joys.
Dressed properly for the battle, the same words declared of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego will also be observed about us: “…these men on whose bodies the fire had no power” (Dan. 3.27). None.
If God tells us to “be holy, for I AM holy” (Lev. 11.44, 45; 1 Pet. 1.16), and Paul tells us to “imitate” him as he “imitates Christ” (1 Cor. 11.1), then it only makes sense that we would want to dress like our Father.
And here is how His garb, on one occasion, was described:
“For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head;
He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak” (Is. 59.17).
As we know, and are grateful for, we can skip the “garments of vengeance” as that is His job alone
(Deut. 32.35; Heb. 10.30); but the other items are ours for the donning.
God has invited us into His family, we who “once were alienated and enemies in [our] minds by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present [us] holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—if indeed [we] continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel…” (Col. 1.21-23). Our job? Get dressed.
God’s children should all be similarly clad for the family photograph, dressed in matching, snuggly, belted sweaters of truth and righteousness. Ready? Stand therefore, and smile!
Reflection
1. What is your approach to “dressing for battle” each day?
2. How can you improve in knowing God’s truth? How about growing in righteousness?
3. What challenges to your faith do you expect to face today? How should you prepare for them?
Truth, or sincerity, is the girdle. This girds on all the other pieces of our armour, and is first mentioned. There can be no religion without sincerity. The righteousness of Christ, imputed to us, is a breastplate against the arrows of Divine wrath. The righteousness of Christ implanted in us, fortifies the heart against the attacks of Satan. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Ephesians 6.14, 15
Pray Psalm 19.7-11.
Praise and thank the Lord for His truth and for the righteousness of Jesus, which is ours by grace through faith. Put on truth and righteousness before the Lord, and commit your day to Him.
Sing Psalm 19.7-11.
(St. Christopher: Beneath the Cross of Jesus)
The Law of God is perfect, His testimony sure;
the simple man God’s wisdom learns, the soul receives its cure.
God’s Word is right, and His command is pure, and truth imparts;
He makes our eyes to understand; with joy He fills our hearts.
The fear of God is cleansing, forever shall it last.
His judgments all are true and just, by righteousness held fast.
O seek them more than gold most fine, than honey find them sweet;
be warned by every word and line; be blessed with joy complete.
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
