You Are Not the Only One

Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23, NKJV

It seems that most law enforcement personnel today wear bulletproof vests while on duty. While those vests are usually made of tough, synthetic material, in many combat situations, soldiers have vests with actual metal or ceramic plates covering their chests. Why the emphasis on protecting the chest from fatal gunfire? Because a wound to the chest may result in a wound to the heart. And a wound to the heart is rarely survived. By relying not on our righteousness but on the righteousness of Christ who never sinned: “For [God] made [Christ] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” 2 Corinthians 5:21

In Paul’s description of the Christian’s spiritual armor, he wrote that righteousness is the believer’s breastplate—that which protects the heart (Ephesians 6:14). The leather breastplate of the Roman soldier in Paul’s day has been replaced by today’s bulletproof vests—but the purpose is the same. Righteousness implies holiness or sinlessness. But how are we, as sinners, able to protect our hearts from Satan’s accusations of sinfulness?