Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. It's one thing to believe that the righteousness of Jesus can be credited to our account before a holy God, but it's another to make that real when we find ourselves sinning every day. Today, how to wear the breastplate of righteousness. Stay with us.
From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, some of us may find it hard to understand how righteousness can be credited to us since we're anything but righteous.
Well Dave, first of all, let me say that that's really the essence of the gospel. The fact that Jesus Christ got what he didn't deserve, namely our sin. and we get what we don't deserve, the gift of his righteousness. And I do want to underline that word gift. Because it's the kind of righteousness of which you and I have none.
But of course, as you also mentioned in your intro, it's very important for us to apply that righteousness in a practical way. And even as we talk about the breastplate of righteousness, I believe that God's people are going to be both instructed and encouraged. in our war with the enemy. At the end of this message, I'm going to be giving you some contact info, and we want you to know. that we exist to help you run all the way to the finish line and also We have a resource we'd like to let you know about.
For now, Let us listen.
So Jesus got what he didn't deserve, namely our sin. We get what we don't deserve, namely his righteousness. We get His righteousness. And that's why it is sometimes referred to as the Great Exchange. that when Jesus died on the cross, He received our sin.
You know, parenthesis, there's some theologians who say, well, It is immoral for God to punish someone who is innocent. My friend, Jesus wasn't innocent. He was declared guilty by God when he bore our sins. And because he bore our sins, God says you can receive now the righteousness of God. You can be credited to your account, legally credited.
Can be God's own standard of holiness and perfection. It's applied to you. Yeah. What are some of the characteristics of the holiness of God?
Well, obviously, first of all, it has to be a free gift. You'll notice it says in verse 24, and are justified by his grace as a gift. Of course it has to be a gift. Think about it. It's a kind of righteousness of which you and I have none.
We can't work for it, we can't earn it. We can't say, well, God, you give me part of it, and then I'll add my own righteousness to what you give me. No, it is a gift because it is God's righteousness. It has to be a gift. That's why the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Did you realize how the gospel slaps us in the face if we're proud people? Because it says, whatever you bring is unacceptable, all that you can bring is your need, and in the process of bringing the need, I will supply what you need. Our great contribution in salvation is our sin. That's the only contribution we make. It is the righteousness of God that is the gift.
If you're struggling here today and wondering whether or not you can believe in Jesus or have assurance, remember to receive it as a gift. It is not of works. Don't be impressed with what you've done for God. Because I can assure you, he's not impressed with it, and probably your close friends aren't either.
Now What do we say about it? It is a gift. It is an unchangeable righteousness. How do we know it's unchangeable? Because it is the righteousness of God.
You get the same righteousness when you believe on Jesus, as I received, as anyone else has received throughout church history, the same righteousness the Apostle Paul received, the same righteousness that D.L. Moody received, the same righteousness that Billy Graham received. We all receive the same righteousness. And that means that the real issue isn't the greatness of your sin. You see, there are some of you here today who, if the truth were known, You've done some pretty terrible things, maybe even criminal things.
And you're asking today now: can I believe on Jesus? And what happens when I believe? And the answer is yes, you can believe on Jesus. The Holy Spirit is working in your heart. I'm going to urge you to believe on Jesus, and in the process, you will receive the righteousness of God.
and receive the same Righteousness as anyone else, the same acceptance before God the Father. the same opportunity of access into his presence. The same privileges as a son or a daughter of the Almighty. It is an unchangeable righteousness, unaffected by the degree of our sin. Of course, it's better to be a good person.
rather than a bad one, rather than a criminal. But at the end of the day, when you believe in Jesus, the real issue is, the real issue is, has the righteousness of Christ been credited to you? It is an unchangeable righteousness. It's a permanent righteousness. You see, when you receive this righteousness, It is really yours forever.
It'll take you all the way to heaven. There are some people who think that the Christian life is this way: you confess your sins, and then when you sin again, you lose your salvation. You lose the righteousness of Christ and you have to start over again. And if you really believe that, my friend, you don't know where in the world you are in your Christian walk. It is so confusing.
and it is so uncertain. I remember riding on a plane with a guy who said, I'm AWOL from the Christian life. He attended a camp. And at the camp he was told that If you leave here and sin, you lose your salvation.
Well, I remember one pastor who believed that who said to the town drunk who used to get saved every Sunday. The pastor said, Well, if you get saved here next Sunday, I think right after you get saved, I ought to just shoot you.
So that at least I know you'd go to heaven. Because you see, on Monday, when he got drunk again, his salvation was gone. My friend. The work that God does in you when you believe in Jesus is so radical and is so permanent. It lasts.
It'll carry you all the way. To the heavenly city. It is yours. You say, well, do we have to confess our sins? Yes, of course, we have to confess our sins.
We have to confess our sins because That has to do with our fellowship with God, but our standing, our legal righteousness remains there. And we can be confident. that we are still God's children even when we run. All right.
So we've talked now about human righteousness. We've talked about divine righteousness.
Now the question is, how can it be applied? How can it be applied?
Now we're talking about practical righteousness.
Now we're in a position where we can actually talk about the breastplate of righteousness. This breastplate, by the way. covered everything from your neck. Uh to your belt. And it was usually made of metal or very heavy leather.
and it was worn, of course, to protect the heart. And so when Paul says you have to put on the breastplate of righteousness. He was talking about the righteousness of God applied in our lives. in a practical way. And how do we apply this righteousness?
And by the way, why is it that we are still vulnerable to Satan despite the fact that we have received legally the righteousness of God? It's the way in which God worked it. God says that when you believe on Jesus, you are mine forever. You have the righteousness of God legally Commuted to you. But You can still be rebellious.
You and I have known some Christians who have done some pretty terrible things. Very terrible things. And we, as Christians, can still in this life go into Satan's territory. And when we do, we are in for the hassle of our lives. An illustration, suppose you're an American soldier.
and you happen to walk into enemy territory. You cross the boundary. And you may not even know it. But in the process of crossing the boundary into the enemy's territory, You will be captured. You might get back.
But what a struggle it is going to be and what a lesson you're going to learn. about the nature. of the enemy. Let me give you some examples of how you and I can still allow the enemy. a victory even after The righteousness of God has been credited to us.
We can do it, first of all, by presumptuous sins by sins that we tolerate and sins where we sin and then we think to ourselves, well, God will forgive me anyway, so it really doesn't matter. Whether or not I sin. Because God is a forgiving God. John 1:9, if we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from every unrighteousness.
So there's my promise: I can sin, and I can depend upon God's forgiveness. Like a friend of mine said to someone who was sleeping with somebody else's wife, Well, of course God will forgive me, that's his job, isn't it? And by the way, that person There is no evidence that he understood the gospel at all, but he was presumptuous anyway. Many years ago I was in Japan. preaching at a missionary conference there.
And my interpreter, who was a wonderful pastor there in Japan, We were in a car together, and we had a driver who was taking us through Tokyo. I noticed that there was this huge temple. It was all lit up in the evening, and hundreds of people were swarming into it. What's going on there? And he said, that temple is to the fox god.
He said, the fox god is a God that will enable you to sin and get by, and if not, you can receive absolution or forgiveness in advance of the sin that you plan to commit. And he said it is frequented primarily by businessmen and prostitutes. It's the fox god.
Sometimes we treat God Almighty like that. We say to ourselves, well, you know, I I can sin and I can tolerate, I can toy with this, and then I can just ask forgiveness and bounce back. And God says, I'm taking this much more seriously than you are. I will actually use Satan to harass you and to, what shall we say, put you in chains. and even give you an addiction.
And addiction is primarily the price people pay for toying with sin. And I will do all that for you until you get so desperate that you cry to me and say, it's time for me to come clean and to clear everything out.
So you see, we can do that. We can do it through occultism. We can do it through Those kinds of issues that come into our lives where we have matters of conscience that we refuse to address. You've got something in the back of your mind. You know that if you are wholly and totally right with God, you're going to have to deal with it.
And sometimes it has to do with dealing with other people. And it's in the back of our mind, and then we come to church and we hear a sermon like this, and the Holy Spirit speaks to us and says, You know, you have sown so that you need to make things right with. And then we begin to really argue with God. No, I don't. We justify ourselves.
We think it is their responsibility. And on and on it goes. And Satan is winning a victory.
Well you say, well, Pastor Lutzer, how do we then put on this piece of armor, this righteousness of God. First of all, through confession. Through confession. It is true, of course, that the Bible is very clear that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every unrighteousness.
So it is really through confession. honest repentance and confession. When I was growing up on the farm in Canada, off a ways from the farmyard, we had a garbage dump. Because you see, in those days, we didn't have Garbage trucks that came to pick up the garbage. And one of the things we noticed as children when we got close to the garbage dump.
There were many, many hundreds of flies that loved to congregate there. You know the way in which you get rid of flies? You have to get rid of the garbage. The way in which we get rid of oftentimes satanic attacks is we just need to clear the garbage out of our lives. And when I'm speaking to you today, you know in advance, don't you, as the Holy Spirit is speaking through me to you and through his word, you know what that garbage is.
Don't you? You know exactly. what I'm talking about in your experience and your life. And so, you see, the enemy within is constantly feeding reason for the enemy without to reinforce. your particular sin.
And the Bible says that whoso confesseth his sin He who covereth his sin shall not prosper, but the person who confesses and forsakes it will receive mercy. That's the way in which we begin by putting on the garment of righteousness, the breastplate of righteousness. First of all, you take care of the enemy within. through confession. and repentance.
Then what you need to do is to handle the enemy without. And that is done with knowledge. It's done by pointing to the work of Jesus Christ on the cross and affirming the victory of Jesus, about whom the Bible says he disarmed all principalities and all powers and made a show of them openly triumphing over them in it. It really affirms the victory of Jesus. You don't look within your own heart.
You look out. at the victory that Jesus Christ accomplished. You see, there are two different areas in which Satan attacks us. First of all, our past.
So he brings our past up. Revelation chapter 12 says regarding our enemy, Satan, he accuses us. Before God, day and night. You see, what he does is he says, Now, look at those Christians, look at the way in which they're acting, and you call them your sons and daughters.
So, these are the kinds of people that you associate with. Look at what that person did. And you see, he calls himself a Christian. How can you, as a holy God, associate with him? And so what the devil does is he brings that up to God, but he also brings it up to us.
And we become defeated, and you know what the normal response is? I'm just leaving this whole thing. I'm not going to obey God anymore. I'm not going to walk with God. I'm not going to go to church.
God's mad at me anyway, so. I'm unworthy, I might as well sin and make myself even more unworthy. It's alive the devil, but that's the way in which he attacks us.
Now how do you handle that? I've already mentioned, you don't say, oh, oh, no, you can't do that to me, devil, because I had a warm time in my devotions. I went to church. I sang in the choir. Look at my goodness.
And we began to drink. No, no, that's human righteousness. What does the rest of the text say? And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb. and by the word of the testimony.
When Satan comes to you and tells you how awful you are, you tell him that the half has not been told. That all the information that he has about you is incomplete. It's far worse than he's making it out to be. Far worse. Tell him that.
You think that's whole? Yeah. You don't know the half. Only God knows the half. But you see, my victory is not based in dragging something out of my human righteousness bag.
My victory comes because there he stands before the throne. Before the throne, my surety stands. My name is written on his hands. That's how come we know. That we overcome him.
They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, the righteousness of God.
So, what Satan does is he uses our past and then he uses our future. And he uses our future by engendering all kinds of fears. Fears about our relationships, fears, economic fears, you just listed health fears, and what he wants to do is to destabilize us so that we lose our faith, so that we can no longer trust him, so that we can no longer joyfully believe. And so, what Satan does is he uses the past and he uses the future, and the answer is the same again. It is, today Jesus is my righteousness.
I can't handle tomorrow. It's too complicated and it's too fearful. But I don't have to. I look to Him. And because I belong to him, my needs are his needs, and my cares are his cares.
And I refuse to give in to the fears and the uncertainties. of Satan. One verse of Scripture that all of us should know by memory, 1 Corinthians 1 verse 30, but of him are ye in Christ Jesus. who love God. is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
Wisdom Righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. You say, well, Pastor Lutzer, you said that you apply these truths virtually every day, almost every day. And the answer is yes.
Sometimes I wake up in the morning and I don't necessarily have a heart that's hot for God, burning for God. I'm discouraged, I'm despondent, I fall into my own sins, so what do I do? Do I simply give up and say, well, see, things are so bad, I'm so unworthy. I know I'm unworthy, but that's not the point right now. Lord Jesus, today you are my righteousness.
Today you are my acceptance before the Father. Today you are all that I need. And Father, despite my failures, Accept what your son has done on my behalf. And I know that you delight in him, therefore you delight in me, because I have his righteousness. And I'm going to continue to move on.
That's the way. The Christian Life. is to be lived.
So what I have to ask you today, do you have on The breastplate. of righteousness. First of all, legal righteousness, because you've trusted Christ as Savior, it's been credited to you. Then the practical righteousness. of cleansing and faith.
Faith. in the victory. Of Jesus. Jesus, thy blood and righteousness. My beauty art.
My heavenly dress. Let's pray together.
So today, whatever the Holy Spirit says to us, O Father, we ask that you shall give us the grace to do. For those whom Satan has discouraged, we pray that they may look beyond their circumstances to the victory of Jesus and overcome him by the blood of the Lamb. to those whom Satan has discouraged by pointing out their past sins. May they know that they overcome that. by the blood of the Lamb.
To those, Father, who Anticipate a future with great fear. May they know that they overcome that. through the victory of Jesus and the blood of the Lamb. Grant that to us, O God, we ask today. And for those who have never trusted Christ as Savior, Today even As we shall be singing in a moment, may they trust Christ.
May they say, today I believe on Jesus. Grant that, O Lord, we pray. In Jesus' blessed name, Amen.
Well, this is Pastor Lutzer. Of course, I can't think of anything that so lifts our spirit. As the fact that we have been credited with the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
So you've heard me say before that if you wake up and you do not have a heart, Hot for God. Remember that you are accepted before the Father. Thanks to Jesus. I've written a book entitled How to Break a Stubborn Habit. The thesis of this book is that actually, because of Jesus Christ, the blessed work of the Holy Spirit.
We have resources that exist outside of us, so to speak. resources from God.
so that we need not be caught in the same sins over and over again.
So I discuss things such as seeing sin from God's standpoint, Why it is that we need the power of the Holy Spirit renewing the mind and other kinds of topics.
Now for a gift of any amount, we're making this resource available for you. I'm going to be giving you some contact info. I hope that you have a pen or pencil handy. Remember the name of the book is How to Break a Stubborn Habit. And here's what you do.
Go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com, or if you prefer, you can pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-288. 218 ninety three thirty seven. Thank you so much for helping us. Thank you for your prayers and for your interest.
And remember, we exist to help you in the race of life, so I'm giving you that contact info again. Go to rtwoffer.com. Or call us at 1-888-1000. 9337. Remember the title of the book, How to break a stubborn habit.
We believe it'll be a great encouragement for you and for others as together we run toward the finish line. You can write to us at Running2Win 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. Running to win is all about helping you find God's roadmap for your race of life. Inner peace is much more than just a sense of well-being. Its basis is what Paul calls the gospel of peace.
Good news that gives us assurance of a future that will transcend our daily stress. Are you experiencing the peace of God today? If not, Don't miss our next running to win. We'll take off our loafers and put on what Paul calls the shoes of peace. Thanks for listening.
For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church. I'm going to use the same method for the first time.
