Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness.
—Ephesians 6:14 (NKJV)
Girding your life with the Truth of God’s Word is the first piece of armor you put on. The other pieces of your spiritual armor are connected to God’s Truth and receive their power from it. But God’s Word has no power in your life unless you believe it.
The second piece of armor is the breastplate of righteousness. You stand against the enemy on the Truth that you are righteous in Christ. It is not just enough to know that you are righteous because of the finished work of Christ. You have to deliberately choose to believe you have His righteousness. Believing you are His righteousness protects your heart from the enemy’s deception. When you put on the breastplate of righteousness believing nothing hinders your prayers, you know that your prayers will be heard and answered even if you aren’t perfect in your flesh.
The enemy reminds you constantly of the old person you once were, and Jesus wants you to remember the righteousness He has given you. When you pray from the mindset of the righteousness that is yours in Christ, you pray as one who is forgiven, healed, and whole. You pray believing your prayer is heard and answered because you are no longer a sinner needing a Savior to give you a righteous relationship with God. Jesus has given you His complete and perfect work of Grace. He has presented you without fault to the Father. He has paid your debt in full, and you are reborn as a new creation by the Holy Spirit in His righteousness. You are now saved, healed, and sealed by His Grace (John 10:10, 1 Peter 2:24, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 21, Ephesians 1:4, Ephesians 1:13).
When you believe you are righteous in Christ, you know that within yourself you are nothing but that in God you have His power to stand strong. You KNOW that He is in you, and you are in Him. You BELIEVE in your heart that the Word is Truth. The righteousness of God has defeated evil. And His righteousness that defeats evil lives within you.
In a battle, the enemy reminds you of who you are in the flesh. He reminds you of your sins and your failures. You have to remind the enemy that those lies and accusations are no longer true. Jesus has made you righteous. You learn to cast those lies and accusations down, and having done that, you stand (Revelations 12:10, 2 Corinthians 10:5, Ephesians 6:14).
God doesn’t answer your prayers because of anything you have ever done or will do. He answers your prayers only because you are standing in the righteousness of His precious Son. He is not going to answer your prayers according to your holiness or your works but according to the Grace of Jesus. Because of Jesus, there is nothing held against you. You are approved, loved, and accepted because of His Grace.
“The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life” (Proverbs 10:11, NASB). “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (Proverbs 18:21, NASB).
You have the power to speak death and life. Your mouth can speak death to the lies of the enemy and also be a fountain that speaks life. If you don’t cast down the destructive thoughts the enemy tries to plant in your mind, you won’t stand strong. You will become weak, and fear will run rampant. But when you declare and speak who you are as a child of God, you speak with His authority.
“I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Enemy, your lies cannot destroy God’s Truth in me!” (2 Corinthians 5:21, Isaiah 54:17).
You have His power to speak and cast down anything that doesn’t come from God’s Truth. Nothing will prevail against you when you gird yourself in God’s Truth, believing and declaring Jesus has made you righteous, healed, and whole (Proverbs 18:21, 2 Timothy 1:7, 2 Corinthians 10:5, Isaiah 54:17. 2 Corinthians 5:21).
When you look at yourself through your own eyes, it is hard to see Christ’s righteousness. You only see the imperfection of your humanness. But when you keep looking into your heart with the Truth of the righteousness He has given you, things change. Allow the Word to renew your mind with its Truth (Romans 12:2). Stay focused on who Christ has made you, and rebuke the lies of the enemy. Do you remember that prayer—the one that you prayed believing and then time and the enemy came against you? It is still powerful and answered in Jesus.
The enemy who plans to steal, kill, and destroy you comes to remind you of the old person you once were. If you believe the enemy, your heart will condemn you. But God is greater than your heart (1 John 3:20). The Holy Spirit constantly teaches us who you are in Jesus (1 Corinthians 2:13). Listen to His Truth with the mind Christ has given you (1 Corinthians 2:14-16). Submit yourself to God—submit yourself to God’s Truth—conform to that Truth, and the enemy will flee from the righteousness that stands strongly in you (James 4:7).
© 2022 Lynn Lacher
www.lynnlacher.com/2022/08/stand-strong-in-his-righteousness.html
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