When the Roman soldier went out to fight, they were told not to come back until they had defeated the enemy. If they could not defeat the enemy, never to show there face in the camp again.

Those soldiers were told.. It is better to die on the battlefield then to return and tell them the enemy had won the battle. Make sure that you come home a winner.. Or don’t come back at all. You can be assured that these statements effected the soldiers attitude toward the upcoming battle. They would mentally gear themselves up in preparation for the fight. They went weeks and months preparing, they did everything they could to prepare there minds and attitudes. Because your mind and attitude have everything to do with how you perform in the midst of a fight. If you are mentally or emotionally defeated before you enter the fight, you should not go into battle! Why? Because your negative attitude and already determined the outcome of the battle. You already have been defeated. By developing an attitude of “Righteousness” in your life and learning to view yourself through the work of the cross, your attitude will receive divine impartation of confidence and boldness that will allow you to be victorious!

You must become mentally prepared this is why peter said, “ Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end…” ( 1 Peter 1:13).

This is the picture of the Greek runner. In order to run faster he tucks up his skirt under his loin belt. By doing this, he frees up his legs in order to prevent them from getting caught up in his skirt. He is “girding up” his skirt. Like wise Peter commands us to gather up the loose ends of our mind and, to pull them together and tuck them under our belts figuratively speaking, and then to run the race and fight the fight we must prepare ourselves emotionally and intellectually.

In order to do this final work of emotional and mental preparation, you need to know that you are righteous, because this knowledge will positively effect your attitude! If you know that you really have on the breastplate of Righteousness you can fight any fight and face any enemy.

You had better know that God had made you righteous! It is of vital importance that you make this knowledge a key part of your mental make up. Even if you are thoroughly convinced of your right standing with God the devil will try to convince you that you are not righteous.

In order to establish the face of your God-given righteousness, we must look at some verses on the subject of righteousness. In 2 Cor. 5:21, Paul says, “For He made him [Jesus] to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” We are righteous. When you begin to meditate on this truth, and it gets into your mind you will develop a “righteous” consciousness! When your attitude is affected by righteousness you will no longer say I want to be righteous, but now realize that you are righteousness. It gives you assurance. Another important scripture about righteousness is Rom 3:21,22. Which states, “but now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness of God is by faith in Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe…”

According to these verses, a God-given righteousness belongs “unto all and upon all them that believe” What stronger statement to prove that all believers are clothed in righteousness? In Rom 5:17, Paul says, “For if by one man’s offence [Adam’s] death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ.”

This means that when righteousness is graciously imparted to a believer by God and when that believer finally grabs hold of it and realizes that he/she is righteous it changes him. He no longer views himself as an unimportant, defeated believer. He is effected in his attitude and it gives him the assurance that he moves from the realm of being a struggler to the realm of reigning as a king in life. You may ask then why do so many believers live defeated lives? Because there minds have not been renewed by God to this correct thinking. Because they think they are unworthy, they behave as though they are unworthy. Because they think they are of no value they behave as though they are of no value. Because they think they are unrighteous, they behave as though they are unrighteous.

When you find out that you are righteous, you throw your shoulders back and say, “look at me! I’ve got the breastplate of righteousness fixed to my life! I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus!” This knowledge changes your life.

When you begin to walk in your breastplate of righteousness, it will give you new and incredible confidence in your spiritual life. In 1 John 5:13,14, John says, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. And this is the confidence…”

The word confidence is taken from the Greek word parresia (par-re-sia), and it has been translated in other places as “boldness” or “openness.” This word portrays the picture of a man or woman who is exceptionally bold and open about things almost as if to appear arrogant.

John continues to say, “And this is the confidence [Greek: great boldness] that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desire of him.” ( 1 John 5:14, 15)

An attitude of “righteousness” will effect your prayer life! If you do not know that you have a right standing with God you cannot pray with confidence. If you are not aware that you have been given the breastplate of righteousness you will not be able to do anything with confidence.

People pray defeated prayers because they do not know that they are righteous. In fact, you can tell when someone isn’t walking in there “breastplate” of righteousness by listening to the way they pray. Their prayers are filled with defeat.

On the other hand, when someone walks in their “breastplate of righteousness” they pray with power and authority. They know that because they wear the breastplate they can come directly into the presence of God and pray with great boldness.

This concludes lesson 2 on the Breast plate of Righteousness. Please join us next week, for the conclusion of the Breastplate of Righteousness. Same place, same time. Hope to see you all here.