Overcoming the Adversary by Mark I. Bubeck

Author:Mark I. Bubeck [Bubeck, Mark I.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-57567-690-6
Publisher: Moody Publishers
Published: 1984-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

THE BREASTPLATES PROTECTION

The breastplate of righteousness protects us in several ways. First, it helps give us confidence and courage. Few things are more essential to spiritual warfare than is assurance. When Satan throws his accusations against us, accusing us of our failures—which are only too obvious—it is heartening to know that it is the Lord’s imputed righteousness and not our own that makes us worthy. Confidence also comes from knowing that the infused righteousness God planted in us can express itself in deeds of faith and love that glorify God. “And to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24).

A young man called me to express deep concern about his marriage. His young wife had shut him out of her life. She refused to seek counsel from anyone. She kept saying that the only solution to their problems was for him to leave. She suffered from a terrible inner anguish and torment and found little rest. Both of these young people were Christians, but the distance between them had widened into a great breach. Their frustrations and anger had become so intense at times that they had actually struck each other. The accuser had also been very busy in this trying relationship. The young man admitted that the call to me was a last ditch attempt on his part. Though involved in the Lord’s work on a full-time basis, he was about ready to leave his wife.

As we discussed some practical steps he could take and talked about why he could be sure of victory in Christ, I could sense his confidence building. As we ended the conversation he was excited about beginning a time of fasting and prayer. Confidence and courage had received a transfusion of hope and faith. That is what the breastplate of righteousness is meant to do.

The breastplate of righteousness also allows us the opportunity to repudiate self-righteousness. As we daily claim the breastplate of righteousness we should renounce that ever-present tendency to pat ourselves on the back and say, “What a good boy am I.”

Job had one of the most fearsome encounters with Satan recorded in the Word. One reason God allowed such a prolonged trial at Satan’s instigation seems to have been to refine away Job’s self-righteousness. As Job engaged in the early stages of dialogue with his friends, the idea that kept coming from him was, “I’m so good and right with God that I have no idea why God is allowing this terrible trial to be in my life.”

A beautiful, young Christian woman in my church carried a very despondent, somewhat angry look on her face for an extended period of time. I was thankful when one day she asked to have an appointment with me. As she began to share her burdens, she talked of some deep and distressing disappointments that had come into her life. They were hard blows that had upset her emotionally. She had allowed those disapppointments to raise questions in her mind about the goodness of God.

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