The Armor of God: The Breastplate of Righteousness - a podcast by Mike and Melissa

The Trial of All Eternity
The courtroom is packed. The case is a slam dunk. Not a shred of evidence was missed. The investigator did his job well and found every clue, every indication of the defendant’s intentions, selfishness, sinfulness. The case is airtight. The guilty will go away...for all eternity. There’s a large contingent of the fallen. They sneer and smile maliciously in thought of what’s to come. Justice will be done. The prosecutor has everything needed to present the case to the judge. It should be over quickly. The evidence is overwhelming. The defendant walks into the courtroom, beside his paraclete, the Holy Spirit, and unexpectedly he’s clothed in a spotless robe as white as snow, a robe of righteousness. The fallen stand and point while shouting, “Take that off! You can’t wear that!”, but the robe remains. “All rise.” The judge steps into the room, clothed in the same robe of righteousness. He sits on the judgment seat. The gavel is struck. Court is in session. The prosecutor opens and presents all of the damning evidence. There’s no escaping, there’s no question of the guilt. Now it’s the defense's turn. No rebuttal is offered. Instead, exhibit A is presented. The prosecution knew about it, but maybe didn’t want to mention it. An account of the cross is read.
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
- Romans 3:21-26Then an explanation is made of the great exchange that took place on calvary. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the perfect lamb, took on the sinfulness of the defendant, paying the full price, and then as if that wasn’t enough, he attributed, he clothed the defendant with His very own righteousness, making the defendant perfect, as Jesus is, in the eyes of God the Father. The courtroom falls silent. All eyes turn towards the Judge, the creator of the Universe, the Alpha and Omega. The gavel swings down, “Not Guilty!” The courtroom erupts into a cacophony of sound. Cheers are raised from one side as the defendant is ushered out of the divine courtroom, destined to live out eternity in Heaven in the presence of God. On the other side of the courtroom is outrage. Another one got away because of faith in the blood of Jesus.

That defendant is you and me.Covered by Christ's Righteousness
You have been acquitted. When Jesus went to the cross he died for our sins. Our guilt is removed, but then He also covers us with His righteousness. Which is a very good thing because we can’t dwell in God’s perfect and holy presence without it.“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—”
- Philippians 3:8-9We have no righteousness of our own. We can't work hard enough to earn it, make enough of the right investments to afford it or live well enough to deserve it. It is a gift given to us through faith.Trying to do Good Under Your On PowerIf I just try to “be good” I’ll never make it. I’ll never be righteous. I’m going to slip-up and fall short. Romans 3:23 says it, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

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