What is the Breastplate of Righteousness in the Bible?

If a soldier is not fully outfitted for the battle, he can easily lose ground to the enemy. Spiritual warfare follows the same concept. That’s why Paul discussed the full Armor in Ephesians 6:10-18. He wanted to teach us spiritual warfare, prayer, and how to live a victorious Christian life.

The Bible tells us that if we trust in God, run to Him and seek shelter, we’ll find safety and security. When we suit up with the armor of God, we’re guarded and can move around confidently without fear.  

If you’re properly armed, you can take on any challenge with peace of mind, knowing you’re not in it by yourself. Although there are more, spiritual armor includes things like:

• The belt of truth. It keeps us from being deceived.
• The shoes of peace. It keeps us from strife and confusion.
• The helmet of salvation. It keeps us from trying to earn our way to heaven or our Father’s love.
• The sword of the spirit. It is an offensive weapon and represents the Word of God.

But let’s talk about the breastplate of righteousness today.

What is the breastplate of righteousness in Ephesians?

To learn what the breastplate of righteousness is, let’s look at Ephesians. Paul talks about the breastplate that every Christian should wear in Ephesians 6:14 when he says, 

“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place…”

Ephesians 6:14

Some versions of the Bible call this “the body armor of God’s righteousness”. Other versions call it the Breastplate of righteousness.

Why do we need a breastplate? More than that, why would a soldier need it? 

The answer is simple: to protect his heart against the assaults of his enemy. It’s the same concept for Christians today. The breastplate of righteousness protects you from the attacks of your enemy.

How to Get the Breastplate of Righteousness

It’s unnecessary to do anything special to get spiritual armor- that’s a misconception. As God’s beloved child, you already have access to the breastplate of righteousness.

In Romans 5:17, Paul says, 

“The sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over us, but all who receive God’s wonderful, gracious gift of righteousness will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.”

Romans 5:17 (NLT)

In the next verse, Paul goes on to further explain what he meant by saying: 

“Yes, Adam’s one sin brought condemnation upon everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness makes all people right in God’s sight and gives them life.”

Romans 5:18 (NLT)

There’s no way to earn righteousness, and we sure don’t deserve it. Christ sacrificed His life freely to give us the precious gift of righteousness. However, just because it’s given to us freely doesn’t mean we always choose to wear it. But we can refuse to wear it and not even realize we are taking it off.

Different Types of Breastplates

You’ve got a wide range of breastplates to pick from each day. What else do we try to use as a defense other than the breastplate of righteousness?

The Breastplate of Dishonesty

Suzy’s parents did not raise her in a Christian home. They taught her that lying was wrong, but she lied anyway. She mostly lied to get out of trouble since her mom was a real stickler and punishments could be terrible. She had no tolerance for Suzy’s accidents or mistakes.

Suzy would concoct a story if she broke something and wasn’t caught red-handed. To dodge getting into trouble, Suzy would lie about the usual errors kids make as they could get her into a lot of trouble.

But the fibs kept coming. Suzy lied at school. She lied to her friends and even to strangers. She was so dishonest that she couldn’t remember all her lies.

Suzy felt guilty when she lied. When she got in trouble for something she didn’t do and spoke the truth, it felt like she was lying.

Now that Suzy was grown up, she didn’t lie as much, but she still had the tendency. She frequently lied to protect herself. If she was late to work, she’d make up an excuse. If she wanted a day off and couldn’t get it, she’d call in and pretend to be sick.

When she was honestly sick, she felt guilty as she called in. If she were genuinely late by no fault of her own, she felt like her employer probably knew she was lying. But still, she lied anyway.

When Suzy became a Christian, stuff started shifting, and the Holy Spirit started teaching her the importance of telling the truth. It might sound easy, but it didn’t feel that way to Suzy.

She had a confused view of sin. She saw sin as either major or minor and was sure most of her lies were minor sins God wouldn’t care about. As she softened up to the Holy Spirit, her views changed. She realized that even a tiny lie is a lie and God hates liars (Proverbs 6:16-19).

Maybe you can identify with Suzy’s story. Maybe you have told a lie to stay away from other people’s poor opinions or the consequences. As Christians, we’re called to wear our breastplate of righteousness and stay true to what we believe.

The Breastplate of Pride

Pride is an ugly breastplate. Unfortunately, those who wear it think it looks wonderful. They think their problems are hidden behind it. They chose this breastplate since it’s simpler to pretend the issues don’t exist than to show people they’re not perfect.

Tom was a deacon at church on Sundays. During the week, he sold cars, and he was doing really well. He was married with three kids and they all adored him.

Tom had a hidden secret. He was a high-functioning alcoholic. He had two deployments overseas and came back with PTSD.

He didn’t want to seem weak to anyone, so he attempted to brush aside the intrusive thoughts, bad dreams, flashbacks, and other symptoms. When he couldn’t find another way out, Tom turned to drinking.

Pride is a self-dependent thing and won’t rely on anyone, including God. Instead, those that wear this breastplate try to “tough it out”, “soldier on”, or “grin and bear it”. Short-term solutions can seem great, but they can cause addiction and mental health issues.

The Breastplate of Intelligence

The breastplate of intelligence hides personal insecurity behind abundant knowledge. It can come across as a know-it-all attitude, but doesn’t have to. Wearing this might give people a boost in self-esteem knowing they’re seen as intelligent. 

Hailey’s dad rarely showed emotion and was only impressed by her academic performance. She figured out that if she wanted her dad to notice her; she had to be brainy and have lots of knowledge.

When Hailey got saved later on, she assumed the same thing applied to God. She was set on making an impression, not realizing that God wanted a relationship with her, not her knowledge.

The Breastplate of Victim Mentality

Everyone goes through hard times at some point. It might involve an abusive relationship, coming from a rough environment, dealing with a violent crime, or being diagnosed with a serious illness.

Samantha’s marriage fell apart. Her husband emptied their bank accounts, moved in with someone else, and cut off contact with their kids.

She never moved on from the bad stuff, even though the years went by. She’d always connect it to her ex when something went wrong. She blamed all of her problems on him and continued to be re-victimized again and again.

There is a comfort in being a victim. It’s not great, but it’s nice not to have to be accountable. It’s not your fault it happened considering you’re the victim.

Those who cast off the victim mentality and take up the breastplate of righteousness understand that victory comes through Jesus and what He did on the Cross (Romans 8:37).

The Breastplate of Control

This is the breastplate worn by people who can’t face their own need for change. They have to change everyone else. They’re always trying to make decisions for others and get insulted if their opinion isn’t taken. If you don’t agree with them, you’re basically saying they’re wrong and they can’t handle that. 

Brittney had the breastplate of control on for years. She was always trying to take charge and make decisions for others, trying to control everything.

It wasn’t until she saw a counselor to discuss her daughter’s addiction that she realized she had an issue. The Christian therapist explained to Brittney that she was trying to take control of the situation by enabling her daughter’s behavior to make it better.

Sometimes, the breastplate of control really does stem from a good place (like Brittney). She had a strong desire to help her daughter. Our own attempts usually aren’t enough to create change. We need Christ to redeem us! The breastplate of righteousness is really about recognizing that we need Jesus’ help.

Often giving up the control we think we depend on can be scary. But when we surrender, we are giving God back what He already owns.

It doesn’t matter how many breastplates you can think of, they’re all useless against the enemy. We think they protect us, but they don’t. We are open to every attack as long as we choose to wear them. It keeps us from having genuine relationships with those around us.

Wear the Breastplate of Righteousness by Faith

Now that you understand the importance of the breastplate of righteousness, it’s time to put it on daily. That can only be done with faith! You must believe that you have the right to wear it and then you have to choose to wear it.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul explains, 

“This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

Romans 1:17, NLT

It’s easy to think of the breastplate as just defensive. 2 Corinthians has a powerful verse that applies to all believers. In it, Paul says, 

“We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense.”

2 Corinthians 6:7, NLT

We’re defended when we put on the breastplate of righteousness. With it, we can also move ahead, pressing in to places we never would have considered going before. We can pray powerful prayers and step out in monumental steps of faith when we choose to put on the breastplate of righteousness daily.

The Breastplate Is Your Security

As we wear the breastplate of righteousness, we learn to find our true identity in Christ. It isn’t our acts that make us righteous; it is HIS.

When we wear the breastplate of righteousness, our faults aren’t hidden. Instead, they are acknowledged, and we are accepted. Admitting when we mess up isn’t a problem, since we know God’s acceptance isn’t based on our actions. 

We can stand tall when someone sees that we aren’t that good at one thing or another, and still feel secure because our worth is not based on our talents.

Don’t let pride get in the way. We’re all equal and God’s opinion is the only one that matters. We don’t need to control others or make everyone think the same, ‘cause we know we’re worth more than our efforts.

The breastplate of righteousness is a reminder that your identity and protection don’t come from you. They’re God-given gifts. God defines your worth, and it’s the righteousness of Jesus that protects you, day by day!