The Armor - Righteousness
Ephesians 6:14
Message #7
When you go into military training (boot camp), at some point, you are given your weapon. When it is issued to you, that weapon becomes part of you. You live with it, day in and day out. You don’t move without it. You sleep with it; you go to the bathroom with it. That weapon becomes an extension of who you are. And if your superiors ever catch you without your weapon, they make sure you are sorry. The reason the military does that is so at the moment you need to use that weapon, it has become like an extension of your own body; you can use it almost without thinking.
That is the level to which the weapons of our spiritual battle must reach. We must take on both defensive and offensive weapons to such an extent that we use them without thinking about it. That we don’t have to recover from some sin or the enemy causing us to stumble and say, “Oh, I should have had my weapons with me.” The weapons of our spiritual battle must become such a part of our everyday life that we begin using them without thinking. They just are who we are. They become our new nature in Christ.
Unfortunately, this is not the case in most Christian’s lives, which is why we see so many Christians getting so easily taken out over and over again by the enemy. My prayer is that we would stop being sitting ducks for our spiritual enemy. And the only way we are going to do that is to make the spiritual armor an extension of our lives. To live in it, day in and day out, to sleep in it, to think with it, to make choices with it, to walk within it. That is my prayer for this series. And to that end, today, we look at the second foundational article of the spiritual armor, the body armor of God’s righteousness.
The greatest gift ever given for all eternity was given to you the moment you were saved. The moment you truly put your faith in Jesus Christ to be your Savior and Lord, God forgave your sin, and he adopted you as his permanent son or daughter, and immediately there was reserved for you an eternal inheritance in heaven, in the permanent presence of God. But in order for that to happen, God had to do more than forgive your sin. He had to give you a level of righteousness that could stand in this presence for eternity, and the only level of righteousness that could do that was God’s own righteousness. This means all those people who say, “I’m a pretty good person, I think God will accept me,” don’t really understand the one hundred percent perfect righteousness required to enter God’s presence.
And so, if you are saved today, God has given you his own righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ. In one of the greatest explanations of salvation in the Bible 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21 says:
2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)
21 For our sake [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him (Jesus) we might become the righteousness of God.
This was the great exchange. Jesus Christ took our sin and gave us his righteousness in exchange. And that is why you can never say, “I try to be a good person, I think God will accept me,” because to be accepted by God, you must be clothed in God’s own righteousness, which you cannot get on your own.
Now, that righteousness is called positional righteousness. Positional righteousness means: “To be made right before God.” And it also means: “To be in right standing before God.”
That is the righteousness required to come into God’s presence when this life is over, and we believe (firmly) that once you are truly saved, you are permanently saved. This means Satan cannot take away your salvation (which is your positional righteousness before God.) However, he can certainly destroy your life here on earth, and he can get you to destroy the lives of others. We’ve seen it happen to so many Christians that it sometimes feels overwhelming.
Again, our positional righteousness gets us to heaven, and Satan cannot take that away.
The “working out” (fruit) of your positional righteousness is:
Practical righteousness (how you live)
Relational righteousness (right relationship with God)
These are the areas of righteousness where your spiritual enemy will attack, and attack and attack, and he will destroy your life in this area if you let him. He may not be able to stop you from going to heaven, but he can destroy your life here and use you to try to destroy the lives of those around you. That is why the second foundational article of armor is the body armor of God’s righteousness.
Because putting on practical righteousness (how we live our lives) and putting on relational righteousness (right relationship with God) is what is going to protect the vital organ of your life from the destruction of the enemy. Is that sufficient motivation?
Then let’s read today’s verse. In fact, let’s see all three of the foundational articles of the armor.
Ephesians 6:14–15 (NLT)
14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and [putting on] the body armor of God’s righteousness.
15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News (all of that) so that you will be fully prepared.
I love the NLT’s translation because it makes it clear; all three of these articles are for your preparation so that you will be fully prepared. So that you will be fully prepared. So that you will be fully prepared – for what? So that you will be fully prepared when the enemy slides in like the snake he is to try to bring destruction into your life. Be ready. You have an enemy. Your enemy comes at you from all directions, and his only purpose is to kill, steal and destroy.
In this message, we’ll be talking about what it means to stand firm in God’s righteousness and how we can begin to do that right away.
Again, in this area of the spiritual battle… our enemy is not aiming at our positional righteousness. He’s already lost that battle. He’s aiming at our practical righteousness (how we live) and our relational righteousness (right relationship with God.) These are the areas where he can bring real destruction into our lives.
Our practical righteousness is us actually living according to God’s righteousness, and I could easily spend the rest of this message talking about living according to God’s true righteousness… including the “spiritual upgrade” in righteous living from the Old Testament to the New Testament.
But in the context of the spiritual battle, I need to talk about the fact that (often) Christians try not to think too much about their practical righteousness. Meaning, are we living in God’s practical righteousness AND in right relationship with him? Often we are super happy that Jesus died in our place to pay for our sins and give us his positional righteousness so we can go to heaven. But that practical (day-to-day) living in God’s righteousness… it’s not unusual for a Christian to not want to think too much about that or do too much about that. The reason we don’t want to think about living in God’s righteousness is that we don’t really want to change what we want to do because that’s what we want to do.
What I need you to hear is the Christian who is living like that is sending out personal invitations to the demonic realm to start shipping destruction to their doorstep. And (even worse), when you choose to hold on to (or hide) sin over putting on the body armor of God’s righteousness, you are not only inviting in whatever demon is knocking at your door – you’re also sending out invitations for all his little demon friends to come set up camp in your life.
Because SIN – Begets sin.
SIN draws in – more sin.
Tony Evans explains it with the picture of old trash and rotting food left stacked up in your kitchen. If you leave that old rotten stuff lying around, pretty soon, you’re going to have a roach rave. Man, those roaches are going to come from miles to camp out together in your rotten, stinky kitchen. And it’s the same with the Christian who’s holding on to (or hiding) sin instead of putting on the body armor of God’s righteousness. Holding on to that rotten, stinking sin is going to keep inviting additional layers of sin into your life, and you’re going to end up with layers of sin in your life.
Because SIN – Begets sin.
SIN draws in – more sin.
The enemy’s plan is for you to continue adding those layers of sin until your life is destroyed, along with the lives of those around you.
We have got to deal with the roach raves in our lives. It starts by cleaning out that old rotten sin that you’ve been holding on to, like last month’s rotten bananas. And then it continues by us constantly cleaning sin out of our lives so that we don’t have the sin build-up that draws more sin, like rotting food drawing roaches.
Cleaning out old rotten sin, then continuing to clean out ongoing sin, is how you put on the body armor of God’s righteousness.
Again, cleaning out old rotten sin, then continuing to clean out ongoing sin, is how you put on the body armor of God’s righteousness. That’s how you put on God’s righteousness, and that’s how you keep it on.
And I’m not talking about how some people clean house by sweeping that rotting trash under the rug, then covering it up with room deodorizers.
“Is that rotting trash I smell? – Oh no, that’s just these little Christmas tree deodorizers I have hanging all over my life – don’t I smell good?” – NO, actually, you don’t. You need a real honest house cleaning in order to put on the body armor of God’s righteousness. And then, you need to begin to live in God’s righteousness in order to stand firm against the constant schemes of the enemy.
So, cleaning out old rotten sin and keeping it out always start with confession and repentance. Not just once to get your ticket punched to go to heaven, but an actual lifestyle of confession and repentance.
1 John 1:9 (ESV)
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we are going to put on the armor of God’s righteousness, we’re going to have to be cleansed of unrighteousness. And praise God, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ was not a one-time only cleansing of unrighteousness. But because of what Jesus Christ has done for us. Hebrews 4 says:
Hebrews 4:16 (ESV)
16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Jesus has done the work, and God has the body armor of his righteousness ready. But first, we’ve got to clean out the roach fest we’ve been hiding in our lives, and then we’ve got to learn to keep short accounts with God when it comes to sin in our lives. This means we’ve got to begin to live in a place with God where we are constantly praying what King David prayed in Psalm 139.
Psalm 139:23–24 (NLT)
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
Then we’ve got to actually mean that prayer. It can’t be just a quote from a famous Psalm. We’ve got to be in a relationship with God where we truly ask God to do this. Then, we have the courage to respond correctly when he does point out unrighteousness in our lives. Far too often, what we honestly see in our lives, rationalization, justification, avoidance, and denial, leads us into hiding or ignoring, and then it takes a radically painful crisis for us to begin to take God at his word. Don’t do that. Don’t live that lie of hiding sin until sin has destroyed a part of your life, and then finally get the courage to start being honest with God. Have the courage to be honest with God, now. And start doing something about it now.
Honesty comes in confession. Repentance comes in doing something about it. Repentance means turning away from your sin, casting it off, and turning toward God. Take note of Colossians Chapter 3 and really meditate on it later. Let me summarize the first ten verses here.
Colossians 3:1-10 (NLT)
1 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven . . .
3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God . . .
5 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you . . .
7 You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world.
8 But now is the time to get rid of [all these sins]
10 (instead) Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.
Put to death the unrighteousness that you’ve been trying to hide or ignore in your life and put on (in its place) the body armor of God’s righteousness, and you will be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. (I’ll show you a little bit how to do that in a minute.)
I have got to speak briefly about relational righteousness. Then we’ll do a little “practical work” and close.
Relational righteousness is maintaining a “right relationship” with God. And at some point, this should become your most motivating factor for putting on the body armor of righteousness. At its very core, sin is rebellion against God, and so sin separates us from God. More specifically, from a right relationship with God. Believe me; the more you experience a right relationship with God, the more being in a right relationship with God will be paramount in your life. And – the more being in a right relationship with God will be powerful armor in your spiritual battle.
You may not be fully aware of this, but your enemy is completely aware of it and his primary attack to get you out of a right relationship with God is to get you into sin.
Confessing our sin and receiving forgiveness from God keeps our practical righteousness in place and restores our relational righteousness by bringing us back into alignment with God. This is an incredibly powerful (and critical) part of the Christian life.
We don’t really have time to properly develop this, but let me give you a few scriptures that point to this. These are all references to being (or not being) in a right relationship with God.
These are verses about sin you hold on to, breaking your right relationship with God.
Matthew 7:2 (NLT)
2 For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.
Not referring to your salvation, but referring to your ongoing relationship with God.
Matthew 6:15 (NLT)
15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Again, a warning about unforgiveness breaking your relationship with God (Matthew 18:35 says the same).
James 2:13 (NLT)
13 There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others . . .
Again, the sin of mistreating others directly impacts your own relationship with God.
Those are strong warnings, and I’m sorry I can’t dive into them more, but just know there is a key part of our righteousness that is a right relationship with God. The closer you walk with God, the more important this righteousness will become.
We are closing with just a minute of “practical instruction.”
Last week we introduced the foundation verse for all change in the Christian life.
Romans 12:2 (NLT)
2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
This is so critical for putting on the body armor of God’s righteousness.
And possibly the best chapter in the Bible for changing the way you think in this area, is Psalm 51. As you read it, honestly think about the sin in your life and about your right relationship with God. And honestly make a commitment today to change the way you think in this area, allowing God to transform you.
Psalm 51 (NLT)
1 Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins.
2 Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin.
3 For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. (notice sin is rebellion)
4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just.
5 For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
6 But you desire honesty from the womb (or the heart), teaching me wisdom even there.
7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me— now let me rejoice.
9 Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.
11 Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.
13 Then I will teach your ways to rebels (other sinners), and they will return to you.
14 Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves; then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.
15 Unseal my lips (from my sin), O Lord, that my mouth may praise you.
16 You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
That is the level to which the weapons of our spiritual battle must reach. We must take on both defensive and offensive weapons to such an extent that we use them without thinking about it. That we don’t have to recover from some sin or the enemy causing us to stumble and say, “Oh, I should have had my weapons with me.” The weapons of our spiritual battle must become such a part of our everyday life that we begin using them without thinking. They just are who we are. They become our new nature in Christ.
Unfortunately, this is not the case in most Christian’s lives, which is why we see so many Christians getting so easily taken out over and over again by the enemy. My prayer is that we would stop being sitting ducks for our spiritual enemy. And the only way we are going to do that is to make the spiritual armor an extension of our lives. To live in it, day in and day out, to sleep in it, to think with it, to make choices with it, to walk within it. That is my prayer for this series. And to that end, today, we look at the second foundational article of the spiritual armor, the body armor of God’s righteousness.
The greatest gift ever given for all eternity was given to you the moment you were saved. The moment you truly put your faith in Jesus Christ to be your Savior and Lord, God forgave your sin, and he adopted you as his permanent son or daughter, and immediately there was reserved for you an eternal inheritance in heaven, in the permanent presence of God. But in order for that to happen, God had to do more than forgive your sin. He had to give you a level of righteousness that could stand in this presence for eternity, and the only level of righteousness that could do that was God’s own righteousness. This means all those people who say, “I’m a pretty good person, I think God will accept me,” don’t really understand the one hundred percent perfect righteousness required to enter God’s presence.
And so, if you are saved today, God has given you his own righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ. In one of the greatest explanations of salvation in the Bible 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21 says:
2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)
21 For our sake [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him (Jesus) we might become the righteousness of God.
This was the great exchange. Jesus Christ took our sin and gave us his righteousness in exchange. And that is why you can never say, “I try to be a good person, I think God will accept me,” because to be accepted by God, you must be clothed in God’s own righteousness, which you cannot get on your own.
Now, that righteousness is called positional righteousness. Positional righteousness means: “To be made right before God.” And it also means: “To be in right standing before God.”
That is the righteousness required to come into God’s presence when this life is over, and we believe (firmly) that once you are truly saved, you are permanently saved. This means Satan cannot take away your salvation (which is your positional righteousness before God.) However, he can certainly destroy your life here on earth, and he can get you to destroy the lives of others. We’ve seen it happen to so many Christians that it sometimes feels overwhelming.
Again, our positional righteousness gets us to heaven, and Satan cannot take that away.
The “working out” (fruit) of your positional righteousness is:
Practical righteousness (how you live)
Relational righteousness (right relationship with God)
These are the areas of righteousness where your spiritual enemy will attack, and attack and attack, and he will destroy your life in this area if you let him. He may not be able to stop you from going to heaven, but he can destroy your life here and use you to try to destroy the lives of those around you. That is why the second foundational article of armor is the body armor of God’s righteousness.
Because putting on practical righteousness (how we live our lives) and putting on relational righteousness (right relationship with God) is what is going to protect the vital organ of your life from the destruction of the enemy. Is that sufficient motivation?
Then let’s read today’s verse. In fact, let’s see all three of the foundational articles of the armor.
Ephesians 6:14–15 (NLT)
14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and [putting on] the body armor of God’s righteousness.
15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News (all of that) so that you will be fully prepared.
I love the NLT’s translation because it makes it clear; all three of these articles are for your preparation so that you will be fully prepared. So that you will be fully prepared. So that you will be fully prepared – for what? So that you will be fully prepared when the enemy slides in like the snake he is to try to bring destruction into your life. Be ready. You have an enemy. Your enemy comes at you from all directions, and his only purpose is to kill, steal and destroy.
In this message, we’ll be talking about what it means to stand firm in God’s righteousness and how we can begin to do that right away.
Again, in this area of the spiritual battle… our enemy is not aiming at our positional righteousness. He’s already lost that battle. He’s aiming at our practical righteousness (how we live) and our relational righteousness (right relationship with God.) These are the areas where he can bring real destruction into our lives.
Our practical righteousness is us actually living according to God’s righteousness, and I could easily spend the rest of this message talking about living according to God’s true righteousness… including the “spiritual upgrade” in righteous living from the Old Testament to the New Testament.
But in the context of the spiritual battle, I need to talk about the fact that (often) Christians try not to think too much about their practical righteousness. Meaning, are we living in God’s practical righteousness AND in right relationship with him? Often we are super happy that Jesus died in our place to pay for our sins and give us his positional righteousness so we can go to heaven. But that practical (day-to-day) living in God’s righteousness… it’s not unusual for a Christian to not want to think too much about that or do too much about that. The reason we don’t want to think about living in God’s righteousness is that we don’t really want to change what we want to do because that’s what we want to do.
What I need you to hear is the Christian who is living like that is sending out personal invitations to the demonic realm to start shipping destruction to their doorstep. And (even worse), when you choose to hold on to (or hide) sin over putting on the body armor of God’s righteousness, you are not only inviting in whatever demon is knocking at your door – you’re also sending out invitations for all his little demon friends to come set up camp in your life.
Because SIN – Begets sin.
SIN draws in – more sin.
Tony Evans explains it with the picture of old trash and rotting food left stacked up in your kitchen. If you leave that old rotten stuff lying around, pretty soon, you’re going to have a roach rave. Man, those roaches are going to come from miles to camp out together in your rotten, stinky kitchen. And it’s the same with the Christian who’s holding on to (or hiding) sin instead of putting on the body armor of God’s righteousness. Holding on to that rotten, stinking sin is going to keep inviting additional layers of sin into your life, and you’re going to end up with layers of sin in your life.
Because SIN – Begets sin.
SIN draws in – more sin.
The enemy’s plan is for you to continue adding those layers of sin until your life is destroyed, along with the lives of those around you.
We have got to deal with the roach raves in our lives. It starts by cleaning out that old rotten sin that you’ve been holding on to, like last month’s rotten bananas. And then it continues by us constantly cleaning sin out of our lives so that we don’t have the sin build-up that draws more sin, like rotting food drawing roaches.
Cleaning out old rotten sin, then continuing to clean out ongoing sin, is how you put on the body armor of God’s righteousness.
Again, cleaning out old rotten sin, then continuing to clean out ongoing sin, is how you put on the body armor of God’s righteousness. That’s how you put on God’s righteousness, and that’s how you keep it on.
And I’m not talking about how some people clean house by sweeping that rotting trash under the rug, then covering it up with room deodorizers.
“Is that rotting trash I smell? – Oh no, that’s just these little Christmas tree deodorizers I have hanging all over my life – don’t I smell good?” – NO, actually, you don’t. You need a real honest house cleaning in order to put on the body armor of God’s righteousness. And then, you need to begin to live in God’s righteousness in order to stand firm against the constant schemes of the enemy.
So, cleaning out old rotten sin and keeping it out always start with confession and repentance. Not just once to get your ticket punched to go to heaven, but an actual lifestyle of confession and repentance.
1 John 1:9 (ESV)
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we are going to put on the armor of God’s righteousness, we’re going to have to be cleansed of unrighteousness. And praise God, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ was not a one-time only cleansing of unrighteousness. But because of what Jesus Christ has done for us. Hebrews 4 says:
Hebrews 4:16 (ESV)
16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Jesus has done the work, and God has the body armor of his righteousness ready. But first, we’ve got to clean out the roach fest we’ve been hiding in our lives, and then we’ve got to learn to keep short accounts with God when it comes to sin in our lives. This means we’ve got to begin to live in a place with God where we are constantly praying what King David prayed in Psalm 139.
Psalm 139:23–24 (NLT)
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
Then we’ve got to actually mean that prayer. It can’t be just a quote from a famous Psalm. We’ve got to be in a relationship with God where we truly ask God to do this. Then, we have the courage to respond correctly when he does point out unrighteousness in our lives. Far too often, what we honestly see in our lives, rationalization, justification, avoidance, and denial, leads us into hiding or ignoring, and then it takes a radically painful crisis for us to begin to take God at his word. Don’t do that. Don’t live that lie of hiding sin until sin has destroyed a part of your life, and then finally get the courage to start being honest with God. Have the courage to be honest with God, now. And start doing something about it now.
Honesty comes in confession. Repentance comes in doing something about it. Repentance means turning away from your sin, casting it off, and turning toward God. Take note of Colossians Chapter 3 and really meditate on it later. Let me summarize the first ten verses here.
Colossians 3:1-10 (NLT)
1 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven . . .
3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God . . .
5 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you . . .
7 You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world.
8 But now is the time to get rid of [all these sins]
10 (instead) Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.
Put to death the unrighteousness that you’ve been trying to hide or ignore in your life and put on (in its place) the body armor of God’s righteousness, and you will be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. (I’ll show you a little bit how to do that in a minute.)
I have got to speak briefly about relational righteousness. Then we’ll do a little “practical work” and close.
Relational righteousness is maintaining a “right relationship” with God. And at some point, this should become your most motivating factor for putting on the body armor of righteousness. At its very core, sin is rebellion against God, and so sin separates us from God. More specifically, from a right relationship with God. Believe me; the more you experience a right relationship with God, the more being in a right relationship with God will be paramount in your life. And – the more being in a right relationship with God will be powerful armor in your spiritual battle.
You may not be fully aware of this, but your enemy is completely aware of it and his primary attack to get you out of a right relationship with God is to get you into sin.
Confessing our sin and receiving forgiveness from God keeps our practical righteousness in place and restores our relational righteousness by bringing us back into alignment with God. This is an incredibly powerful (and critical) part of the Christian life.
We don’t really have time to properly develop this, but let me give you a few scriptures that point to this. These are all references to being (or not being) in a right relationship with God.
These are verses about sin you hold on to, breaking your right relationship with God.
Matthew 7:2 (NLT)
2 For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.
Not referring to your salvation, but referring to your ongoing relationship with God.
Matthew 6:15 (NLT)
15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Again, a warning about unforgiveness breaking your relationship with God (Matthew 18:35 says the same).
James 2:13 (NLT)
13 There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others . . .
Again, the sin of mistreating others directly impacts your own relationship with God.
Those are strong warnings, and I’m sorry I can’t dive into them more, but just know there is a key part of our righteousness that is a right relationship with God. The closer you walk with God, the more important this righteousness will become.
We are closing with just a minute of “practical instruction.”
Last week we introduced the foundation verse for all change in the Christian life.
Romans 12:2 (NLT)
2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
This is so critical for putting on the body armor of God’s righteousness.
And possibly the best chapter in the Bible for changing the way you think in this area, is Psalm 51. As you read it, honestly think about the sin in your life and about your right relationship with God. And honestly make a commitment today to change the way you think in this area, allowing God to transform you.
Psalm 51 (NLT)
1 Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins.
2 Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin.
3 For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. (notice sin is rebellion)
4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just.
5 For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
6 But you desire honesty from the womb (or the heart), teaching me wisdom even there.
7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me— now let me rejoice.
9 Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.
11 Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.
13 Then I will teach your ways to rebels (other sinners), and they will return to you.
14 Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves; then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.
15 Unseal my lips (from my sin), O Lord, that my mouth may praise you.
16 You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.