Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries |
Discipleship demands the function of the royal family honor code.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
The breastplate of righteousness = ton = the "only" breastplate that you have to protect yourself in the angelic conflict and spiritual warfare.
Thoraka = breastplate.
Tes [of the] + a description of this spiritual breastplate from the descriptive genitive noun dikaiosunes = righteousness, integrity, virtue, correct thinking.
The breastplate of righteousness or integrity is the virtue and the honor attained through the perception of Bible doctrine.
Be sober - pres-act-subj - nephomen = to be self-controlled, to be well balanced and therefore to be in the state of spiritual self-esteem.
1TH 5:8 But since we are of the day, let us attain spiritual self- esteem, after we have put on the breastplate of doctrine, and virtue love, and as a helmet, the confidence in salvation.
Dikaoisune is used in the New Testament for the justice and righteousness of God and therefore the virtue, the honor, and the integrity of God.
And that honor and integrity can only be attained by learning the truth.....,
Knowing the truth.....,
And then thinking the truth.
And applying the truth.
God has provided the thinking or the mind of Christ, 1CO 2:16, which is Bible doctrine, as our means of attaining the honor, the virtue and the integrity of God.
To be strong spiritually is to operate in the integrity of God which comes from applying doctrine to your particular circumstances in life.
If I operate in integrity, I am living in His righteousness and putting on the breastplate which he has provided.
After salvation then there is an experiential righteousness which is the breastplate of righteousness which is infinitely greater than any system of morality that has ever been designed by man.
MAT 19:26 “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
The Doctrine of the Royal Family Honor Code or What it Means to Put on the Breastplate of Righteousness.
Point 1. Definition and Description.
a. The Royal Family honor code or putting on the breastplate of righteousness is a system of spiritual integrity mandated by God and revealed in the mystery doctrine of the Church-age.
b. The Royal Family honor code or putting on the breastplate of righteousness relates to personal integrity on the part of believers in relationship with other persons.
1TH 5:8 But since we are of the day, let us attain spiritual self esteem, after we have put on the breastplate of doctrine, and virtue love,
The honor code or putting on the breastplate of righteousness includes: the filling of Spirit, doctrinal orientation, grace orientation, and a personal sense of destiny.
The Royal Family honor code centers around two words - integrity and truth.
The Law of Christian Liberty: The law of liberty is directed toward self. Biblically, the believer has the right to engage in activities that are not sinful and that will not tempt him to sin.
The Law of Love: The law of love is the function of impersonal love directed toward all believers, including the arrogant, the legalistic, and the lascivious.
Under this law, the strong believer denies himself certain permissible activities, strictly for the benefit of weaker believers; however, he must never compromise with legalism.
The Law of Expedience is related to the believer as a witness for Jesus Christ. Every believer is an ambassador for Christ and at times must refrain from certain forms of recreation, or deny himself things he desires, not because they are wrong, but because they may hinder an unbeliever from seeing the true issue of salvation.
The Law of Supreme Sacrifice is directed toward God and relates to personal love for God the Father and occupation with the TLJC. It generally applies to mature believers who forsake normal living and legitimate functions in life in order to serve the Lord in a special way. This is the highest law of the Christian way of life; Paul functioned under this principle.