God calls one of our actions to be standing firm in His truth and righteousness. This daily devotional looks at how we stand firm for Him.
Nuggets
- Disciples are told to stand firm in God’s truth and righteousness.
- Our actions must be grounded in God’s truth.
- Our actions must be approved as righteous by God.
- Hezekiah was rewarded for his righteous actions.
To read devotions in the Redo for Godliness series, click the appropriate button below.
Devotions in the Moralities Lead to Godliness series
Our actions need to follow our Christian morals. One thing we need to do is stand.
We are stepping through Manton’s sermon entitled The Moralities of Christianity (along with some others) to see what we can glean to aid us in redoing our character to be more like God’s character
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Let's Put It into Context
“Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable — if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy — dwell on these things” (Phil. 4: 8 CSB)
The definition of moral, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior.” Morality, then, is “a doctrine or system of moral conduct.” When it is the plural form — moralities — it is a “particular moral principles or rules of conduct.”
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Our morals determine our character. Character, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “the complex of mental and ethical traits marking and often individualizing a person, group, or nation.”
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Standing Firm in Truth to Fight Satan’s Wiles
“Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness” (Eph. 6: 14 NLT)
Disciples are told to stand firm in God’s truth and righteousness.
Let’s face it. There will be times when Satan is going to throw everything that he’s got at us. He is going to try to scare us into denying God.
Paul said, “Stand your ground …” (Eph. 6: 14 NLT). The New International Version translates it as “Stand firm …” (Eph. 6: 14 NIV). The Christian Standard Bible and the Holman Christian Standard Bible just say stand.
It doesn’t say fight. Well, in a way we can’t. “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6: 12 NLT).
But it also doesn’t say leave the battlefield. Our fight is to stand and let God do the fighting. Gouge wrote, “We fight in His name and power, whereas our enemies fight in their own.”
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God is more powerful than Satan. He limits Satan’s power. “The Lord said to Satan, ‘Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger’ …” (Job 1: 12 NLT).
No, Job didn’t get special treatment. “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure” (I Cor. 10: 13 NLT).
I know. I have always read that as we can handle everything thrown our way. I have never read that through the lens of God is limiting Satan.
Isn’t that comforting? Oh, yeah. It may feel bad when we are going through the temptation. Gods doesn’t let it get worse.
But how does it play out when we are told to stand? Foster and Moore told us what to do by telling us what not to do.
It will take courage on our part. We can’t tuck tail and run away. We have to remember that God is always with us.
We can’t break. We can’t give in to the temptation. We have to keep choosing to follow God’s laws and commandments.
We can’t act rashly. Oh, yeah. Sometimes, we do something just to get the temptation over and done. We have to act in the way in which God wants us to act.
Moore included that we need to stand orderly. We are not to give in to the chaos Satan manufactures.
We can’t just not do anything. Moore wrote, “Standing is the attitude of a man awake, watching, prepared for the coming of the enemy at even, at morning, or at cock crow, or at noonday.” God cautions us not to be negligent.
We can’t give up. If we give up, we give in to Satan and sin. We need to resist.
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Gurnall took it a different way. He said we have to stand firm when we are watching for Satan to try something. He cautioned that our entire life is like a dark night through which we have to keep watch.
Watching assumes that we are in the place in which we are supposed to be. Gurnall described it this way: “Begin at the right end of your work, Christian, by placing your chief care about those main duties to God and man, in His law and gospel, in His worship, and in thy daily course, which when thou hast done, neglect not the circumstantials.” We have to have our priorities straight.
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Of course, we have to know our strengths and weaknesses when we are standing. Satan is going to attack the weak areas.
What Is the Truth in which We Are Standing?
“… putting on the belt of truth …” (Eph. 6: 14 NLT)
Our actions must be grounded in God’s truth.
Let’s work backwards and start with truth first. Gouge said that there are several kinds of truth. They are the following:
- Truth of judgment
- Truth of heart
- Truth of speech
- Truth of action
When we are describing our relationship with God to someone who we are witnessing to, we need to make sure we are being honest. We have to faithfully represent Who God is and what He has done for us.
Gouge told us that truth is necessary because, “without it, no other grace can be of any use.” We have to understand this truth — as much as God wants us to understand — so that we can make our decisions to follow Him.
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Yep, Satan is going to try to get us to twist things around. That way we are not witnessing to God’s Truth, but to Satan’s lies.
Now let’s look at that which we are to put on. All the new versions call it a belt. The older ones have some version of “… having your loins girt about with truth …” (Eph. 6: 14 KJV). That is why it is referred to as the girdle of truth.
The Jews wore a lot of flowing clothes back in Paul’s day. The warriors needed the girdle to keep those clothes out of their way. Burns also said their girdle protected the heart.
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These girdles were not just some fabric to keep the tummy tucked. Foster said they included metal — “… plates of iron, brass, or silver …” — for defense. We have to remember that this is a piece of armor.
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What Is the Righteousness on which We Are Standing?
“… putting on … the body armor of God’s righteousness” (Eph. 6: 14 NLT)
Our actions must be approved as righteous by God.
Gouge had an interesting definition of righteousness, which is a little different from the one we have been using. We say that righteousness is the result of a solid relationship with God built by a sincere life of conscientious obedience to God’s laws and commandments.
Gouge wrote, “The righteousness which is here meant. A powerful work of God’s Spirit in the regenerate, whereby they endeavour to approve themselves unto God and man, by performing what God’s law requires.”
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I am not exactly sure how to read this. One way is that it is similar to sanctification, a process to change us to have the character of God. The other way is, instead of the result of sanctification, Gouge thought righteousness was the reason why we navigate the Sanctification Road.
Glossary
I think I am going to have to consult with someone much smarter than me. Maybe I will get some clarification when we figure out the “putting on” part.
If righteousness is a breastplate, it is to guard the heart. That is one vital organ in our walk as a disciple. We put it on through repentance.
Glossary
Let’s look at it this way. The breastplate protects us from death. If we are children of God, we have been changed from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
Spiritual death is the separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin. The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
If we are already spiritually alive, why does our heart need protection? Gouge wrote, “It keeps us from being mortally wounded; for so long as we retain a true purpose and faithful endeavour answerable thereto, we shall never give ourselves over to commit sin.”
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Standing Against Satan with Honesty
“Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord. He said, ‘Please, Lord, remember how I have walked before you faithfully and wholeheartedly, and have done what pleases you.’ And Hezekiah wept bitterly” (Isa. 38: 2-3 CSB)
Hezekiah was rewarded for his righteous actions.
Hmmmm. Okay. Manton took the scenic route on including this verse in the “Satan assaults you with wiles, but your strength lies in downright honesty (Ephesians 6:14; Isaiah 38:2-3) section.
Here is a little background. Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, was the king Judah. We talked about him in the Isaiah’s Message from Sovereign God message. Some question if he was the present-day baby discussed in Isaiah 7: 14. He was also king when the Assyrians wanted to overthrow him.
To read a related devotion, click on the appropriate button below.
In Isaiah 38, Hezekiah was sick. This was right after God had saved Judah from Sennacherib’s attack.
Hezekiah was really sick. Bennett felt it was either a carbuncle, a painful type of boil, or tonsillitis. They didn’t expect him to live.
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We just talked in Still More of God’s Blessings for Merciful Disciples of Christ that it was believed that people were punished through an illness for a sin they had committed. Faithfulness was rewarded with a long life (Ps. 90: 16).
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Hezekiah seemed to buy into that. He faced the wall and cried.
Shalders thought maybe part of the reason Hezekiah was so upset was because he was a moral man. He wrote, “The very consciousness of his integrity, and of his desire to honour the Lord in the presence of his people, must have added to his distress.”
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But Hezekiah also prayed. In essence, he was questioning how he could get sick — in the prime of his life — when he had been faithful. What Hezekiah was probably using as evidence of this faithfulness, according to the Homiletic Magazine’s Hezekiah’s Prayer in Affliction was the following:
- Hezekiah’s sincerity
- Simplicity
- His walk of faith
Hmmm. Just what we’ve been talking about.
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God heard Hezekiah’s prayer and added 15 years to his life. What does this illness and healing teach us?
- God answers our prayers.
- We find strength and consolation when we pray to God.
- God sees our tears.
Making the Connections
Why is telling the truth so important? Gouge reminded us that is how we imitate God. He wrote, “The least measure of grace, seasoned with it, is acceptable to God and so profitable to us.”
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Satan will do his best to get us to lie and not believe the truth.
God’s promises has to inform our action.
How Do We Apply This?
We have to make sure we are in the place God wants us to be. I really liked what Moore said. He wrote that we need “… an honest walk before God …”
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That walk includes consistently and genuinely seeking God. Gouge warned us that we need to find true righteousness.
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11).
Gouge also warned us that we need to continually evaluate our lives to make sure we repent of any sin. Unrepented sin tarnishes our righteousness.
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Father God. We want our actions to show Your righteousness and truth. We want our character to imitate Yours. Amen.
What do you think?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
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