Breastplate (Armor of God)
In Ephesians 6:14, the breastplate is part of the believer’s spiritual armor and is identified as righteousness. It pictures the protecting role of a life shaped by God’s truth and right standing before Him.
At a Glance
In Ephesians 6:14, the breastplate is part of the believer’s spiritual armor and is identified as righteousness. It pictures the protecting role of a life shaped by God’s truth and right standing before Him.
Description
The breastplate in the armor of God is Paul’s image in Ephesians 6:14 for the protective role of righteousness in the believer’s spiritual life. As a breastplate guards vital organs, so righteousness guards the inner life of the Christian in the struggle against sin, accusation, and the schemes of the devil. Within conservative evangelical interpretation, this righteousness is best understood first as grounded in God’s saving work and the believer’s right standing in Christ, while also including the practical outworking of a righteous life. Scripture does not require a sharp separation between these ideas in this passage, and many orthodox interpreters see both dimensions present. The image should therefore be taught as a call to stand firm in the strength God supplies, clothed in the righteousness He gives and committed to living uprightly before Him.