Tuesday, April 18, 2023
An Essential for Spiritual Survival
Then the angel showed me Jeshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord. The Accuser, Satan, was there at the angel’s right hand, making accusations against Jeshua. (Zechariah 3:1 NLT)
On more than one occasion, the Bible describes Satan as an accuser.
We see this illustrated in the third chapter of Zechariah. The setting is a heavenly courtroom, God is the judge, and Jeshua, the high priest, is the defendant. Meanwhile, Satan is the prosecutor, trying to prove Jeshua guilty.
But then God says, “I, the Lord, reject your accusations, Satan. Yes, the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you. This man is like a burning stick that has been snatched from the fire” (Zechariah 3:2 NLT).
Satan also will accuse us before God when we have sinned. That is where the breastplate of righteousness comes in. In his letter to the Christians in Ephesus, the apostle Paul wrote, “Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness” (Ephesians 6:14 NLT).
Paul was alluding to the armor that Roman soldiers wore. The breastplate, or “body armor,” was a crucial element of the armor, protecting the soldier’s vital organs. In the same way, the “body armor of God’s righteousness” is essential for our spiritual survival. It speaks of what God has done for us through Jesus Christ.
God has saved us. He justified us. And He forgave all the sins that we have committed. He erased them and washed them away. Then He placed His righteousness into our account. God gives this righteousness to us. It isn’t based on what we do for Him.
The devil, however, has declared war on followers of Christ. He wants to keep us away from God. First, he tempts us and traps us. Then he condemns us and accuses us before God. He wants to make disobedient Christians doubly defeated.
Yet we are righteous in Jesus Christ through His finished work for us on the cross. So put on the “body armor of God’s righteousness”—and keep it there.
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