The Belt of Truth The Breastplate of Righteousness

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The Belt of TruthThe Breastplate of
Righteousness

• Sue Bohlin
• October 1

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Belt of Truth

• Ephesians 613-14
• Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that
  you will be able to resist in the evil day, and
  having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm
  therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH,
  and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF
  RIGHTEOUSNESS (NASB)
• Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled
  around your waist, with the breastplate of
  righteousness in place (NIV)

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Belt of Truth

• Put on the full armor of God means to clothe
  yourselves with Christ
• "Put on the Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 1314)

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• Belt of Truth
• Isaiah 111-5
• Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,
  And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
• The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The
  spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of
  counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and
  the fear of the LORD.
• And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And
  He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make
  a decision by what His ears hear

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• But with righteousness He will judge the poor,
  And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the
  earth And He will strike the earth with the rod
  of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He
  will slay the wicked.
• Also righteousness will be the belt about His
  loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist.
  
• Isaiah 111-5

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• Breastplate of Righteousness
• Isaiah 5917
• He put on righteousness like a breastplate,
• And a helmet of salvation on His head
• And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing
• And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle.

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Belt of Truth

• A wide belt worn across the lower torso to
  protect the loins
• From the ribcage to the thighs
• Belt essential to soldier
• Held scabbard for sword
• Kept tunic in place when he girded his loins
• Secured breastplate

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Belt of Truth

• Truth is a What
• There is such a thing as objective truth!
• Truth is a Who
• "I am the way, the truth and the life." --Jesus,
  John 146

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Belt of Truth

• 2 aspects to truth
• Lack of falsehood
• Being consistent with reality
• Integrity truthfulness as character
• We don't lie to ourselves
• We don't lie to others
• We don't lie to God
• We don't lie in word or deed

BELIEVE the truth
LIVE the truth
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Belt of Truth

• Wrapping truth around us is wearing the character
  and nature of Jesus.
• To put on the belt of truth means
• Getting and staying grounded in God's word
• Thy Word is truth, John 1717
• Putting on the character of Jesus

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Belt of Truth

• It's imperative that you have a settled
  conviction that the Word of God is just that, the
  God-given, God-breathed, God-protected, and
  God-preserved Word of God. You must settle in
  your heart that it is without error and that it
  contains all you need in order to live
  righteously before Him. If you are not convinced
  of these things, then the rest of the armor will
  be useless.
• Lord, Is It Warfare? Kay Arthur

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Belt of Truth

• Important truths from the Bible
• There is a God, and you are not Him.
• He loves you and created you for relationship
  with Him.
• He is holy and wants you to be holy too.
• 2 basic rules love God, love other people
• Jesus died for you to reconcile you to God and
  lives in and through you
• The Christian life can be summed up in two words
  TRUST and OBEY

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Belt of Truth

• Truth is foundational to the rest of the armor.
  If we don't know the truth and own the truth,
  everything else will fall apart.

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Breastplate of Righteousness

• Breastplate covered all of a soldier's vital
  organs, front and back
• Usually made of metal
• Guarded his heart

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What does Righteousness mean?

• Dictionary.com Morally upright without guilt or
  sin
• Right standing before God
• Jesus traded our sin for His righteousness
• 2 Cor 521 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin
  on our behalf, so that we might become the
  righteousness of God in Him.
• "Not guilty!"

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• The breastplate of righteousness protects us from
  grounds for accusation
• Therefore there is now no condemnation for those
  who are in Christ Jesus.
• For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,
  nor angels, nor principalities, nor things
  present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor
  height, nor depth, nor any other created thing,
  will be able to separate us from the love of God,
  which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
• Romans 81, 38-39

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How the Breastplate of Righteousness Works

• I know God has forgiven me, but what do you do
  with all the garbage in the memories?
• The breastplate of righteousness allows us to
  say
• "I'm forgiven,
• I'm pardoned,
• My sin is paid for, so
• SCAT, Satan!"

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• The breastplate of righteousness is the shed
  blood of Jesus.

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Labels

• God desires truth in our inmost parts (Psalm 51)
• Which label are you wearing? It may have come
  from a parent, a sibling, a classmate, or even
  ourselves, but it originated with Satan because
  he hates you.
• Write your labels on a post-it note, put them on
  yourself, and then take them to the cross. . .
  where they belong.

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Labels

• Mistake Unwanted Loser Fat
• Ugly Incompetent No self-control
• Rebellious Can't do anything right
• Never enough Nobody special Special
• Dumb Unacceptable Disappointment
• Damaged goods Inadequate Too old
• Too young Shy People pleaser Frigid
• Broken Tomboy Unloving Friendless

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Labels

• Frigid Not working to potential
• Unpopular Cold Dirty
• Why can't you be more like your sister?
• Disorganized Wicked Stubborn
• Infertile Alone Lazy
• Smarty pants Goody two-shoes
• Bad mother Stuck up Tramp
• Impulsive Woman with a past