Righteous to the Core

The Messiah looked around at the total lack of justice 

and saw how wrong was maximized and right was minimized. 

His eyes watched as truth fell to its knees for all to mock, 

and anyone who attempted to leave the jeering crowd was hunted down. 

No one could withstand such depravity; 

not a single warrior, king, or nobility could handle it. 

So the Messiah stood, resolved. 

He reached out for His own armor. 

“He put on righteousness as a breastplate…” 

-thoughts from Isaiah 59:14-17

It’s the opening scene, and it’s the closing one in our wrestle against the darkness. Our Savior positions Himself center stage - fully capable and finally conquering - to single handedly defeat the enemy who is too strong for us. 

Now He offers His followers the victorious armor of Himself. 

When we trust Christ, we untie and hand over our own ragged efforts to save ourselves, and we strap on His righteousness at our very core. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” 

Vine’s Expository Dictionary explains the righteousness of God like this: “the perfect agreement between His nature and His acts”.  

He places on us His own righteousness like an identity exchange, changing our nature to transform our way of living. Paul introduced this idea back in Ephesians 4:24, when he wrote, “Put on the new self, created after the likeness of God, in true righteousness and holiness.” Righteousness like God’s on the inside equips us to live likewise on the outside, and that wholeness is what arms us, leaving no room for inconsistency and nothing vulnerable to attack. 

While the enemy scans for a crack in your armor, lean into the core strength of the One who saves us from the inside out.