Having established that the church is God’s army prepared and mandated to win the world for Him (Christ Jesus), we shall be looking at some armours Apostle Paul encouraged the Ephesian church to put on. The first of the armours to be discussed is the breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate is a device worn over the torso to protect it (torso) from injury. In medieval weaponry, the breastplate is worn in the front portion to cover the torso (the trunk of the human body). It has been a military mainstay since ancient times and was usually made of leather, bronze or iron in antiquity. Some writers call the bullet proof vests as the modern versions of the breastplate of old.
The heart is arguably the most important organ of the human body. As the breastplate protects the heart, it will be very dangerous for any warrior or soldier to go to the battlefield without the breastplate firmly in place. The breastplate protects the heart.
Righteousness, on the other hand, is also seen as something being right-aligning with how God ordained it and how God sees it in the natural, moral or legal sense. They are those acts, words, deeds and attitudes that are considered right. It, therefore, stands to mean that, as the breastplate protects the heart from evil, the church must also ‘put on’ righteousness as the only sure protection of the heart from the corruption of the world. According to Apostle Paul, the only protection we can give to our heart from the corruption of the world today is to put on the breastplate of righteousness. Apostle Paul advises that it is only righteousness (life of the kingdom) that can protect us from the evil and the corruption of our world. From the definitions, we get the impression that the breastplate protects the trunk of the human body. The breastplate protects the heart.