Ephesians: Truth and Righteousness
Ephesians 6:14 - We chart our course to His Truth and rely on His protection through His righteousness.
“Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,
Ephesians 6:14 NASB1995
Paul begins to describe the various pieces of armor that we are to wear, starting in verse 14. We gird our loins with truth and put on the breastplate of righteousness. The AI image at the top has an intriguing commentary that comes from the ChatGPT tool:
This one feels especially appropriate because Paul specifically says “having girded your loins with truth.” In the ancient world, a belt gathered loose garments together so a person could work effectively.
Imagine a first-century weaver in Ephesus seated before a large upright loom. Hundreds of taut vertical threads are perfectly aligned. One broken or crooked thread would distort the entire cloth.
The master weaver carefully adjusts a single thread before continuing. Rich sunlight pours through the workshop, illuminating the emerging fabric.
The symbolism is subtle but powerful:
The straight, tensioned threads represent truth.
The beautiful finished cloth represents righteousness.
Without truth holding everything in proper order, the fabric falls apart.
It has the quiet, contemplative feeling that so many of your recent Heaven On Wheels images have shared. It also avoids becoming another “armor picture” while still illustrating exactly what Paul was teaching—that righteousness isn’t something we simply put on; it is woven into a life that is held together by God’s truth.
That seems fairly astute for a robotic tool. Righteousness is woven into a life that is held together by God’s truth (which is THE truth). The image is also an interesting representation that doesn’t resort to the same old armor images that you might expect. Girding our loins, by the way, meant that a Roman soldier was preparing himself for battle by gathering his tunic into his belt.
Ray Stedman seems to be hitting it out of the ballpark in commentary on this passage in Ephesians, as noted in Precept Austin:
In Proceedings, the magazine of the Naval Institute, naval officer Frank Koch tells the story of an incident that happened to him at sea an incident that illustrates the principle Paul talks about:
Two battleships assigned to the training squadron had been at sea on maneuvers in heavy weather for several days. I was serving on the lead battleship and was on watch on the bridge as night fell. The visibility was poor with patchy fog, so the captain remained on the bridge keeping an eye on all activities. Shortly after dark, the lookout on the wing of the bridge reported, “Light, bearing on the starboard bow.” “Is it steady or moving astern?” the captain called out. Lookout replied, “Steady, captain,” which meant we were on a dangerous collision course with that ship.
The captain then called to the signalman, “Signal that ship: We are on a collision course, advise you change course 20 degrees.” Back came a signal, “Advisable for you to change course 20 degrees.” The captain said, “Send, I’m a captain, change course 20 degrees.” “I’m a petty officer second class,” came the reply. “You had better change course 20 degrees.” By that time, the captain was furious. He spat out, “Send, I’m a battleship. Change course 20 degrees.” Back came the flashing light, “I’m a lighthouse.” We changed course.
God’s truth is like that lighthouse and we are like that battleship. In our human arrogance, we chart our own course and demand that the world adjust itself to our wishes. But God’s truth is unchanging, unbending, unyielding [my emphasis]. It is not God’s duty to alter His truth. It is our responsibility to chart our course according to the light of His Word, which is ultimate, objective reality. If we fail to do so, we risk running our lives aground. (Spiritual Warfare)
He also explains what truth is, very logically:
Remember, all competing and conflicting systems and philosophies must be tested at all points, not at just one. Many philosophies can provide limited help and insight in this or that area. Even Karl Marx, as misguided as he was, had a few kernels of limited and fragmentary truth embedded in his godless diagnosis of human problems. But the presence of occasional partial insights and scattered nuggets of truth does not validate a system of ideas or beliefs. Truth is a complete entity. It is all or nothing. A half-truth is frequently no better than an outright lie and is sometimes even more deceptive than a lie. That is why witnesses in our courts must swear to tell “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” because fragmentary truth produces deception.
Truth is reality. Truth is the sum total of the way things really are. Therefore, truth is the explanation of all things. You know you have found the truth when you find something that is wide enough and deep enough and high enough to encompass all things. That is what Jesus Christ does.
Further, ultimate reality never changes. Another mark of truth is that true truth never requires updating. It never needs to be modernized. If a moral or spiritual principle was true ten thousand years ago, it is still true today. If a principle is true today, it was true a hundred thousand years ago.
A man once visited his old friend, a music teacher, and said to him in that casual way people have these days, “Hey, what’s the good news today?” Without saying a word, the old man walked across the room, picked up a hammer, and struck a tuning fork. As the note sounded out through the room, he said, “That is ‘A.’ It is ‘A’ today, it was ‘A’ five thousand years ago and it will be ‘A’ ten thousand years from now. The soprano upstairs sings off-key, the tenor across the hall flats his high notes, and the piano downstairs is out of tune.” He struck the note again and said, “That is ‘A,’ my friend, and that’s the good news for today!”
Jesus Christ is unchanging. He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever. That is how you know you have the truth. Remember that, when you feel defeated, when you are under attack, when doubts come flooding into your mind. Remember that you are already encircled by the belt of truth. You have found the One who is the solid, unchanging Rock. The words of the hymn express this well,
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand
All other ground is sinking sand.
The truth shines into the tomb of Christ after the rock has rolled away and He is resurrected, revealing that He is the real and unchanging ROCK.
The breastplate of righteousness is in place because of our faith. In a suit of armor, the breastplate protected the soldier’s vital organs. This breastplate serves the same purpose in a spiritual sense, protecting our hearts from the attacks of the enemy.
Once again, from Ray Stedman quoted in Precept Austin:
Christians, through one circumstance or another, often lack assurance. They feel unworthy before God. They feel they are a failure in the Christian life and that God is certain to reject them, and He is no longer interested in them. As Christians, we are constantly aware of our failures and shortcomings. Growth seems to take place so slowly. The first joy of faith has faded, and people often come to doubt God’s presence with them, love for them, or forgiveness of their sin. There is a nagging sense of guilt. Their conscience needles them, making them feel unhappy and miserable. They feel God blames them. This is simply a satanic attack, a crafty and devilish accusation, a lie designed to undermine what God is doing in your life.
How do you answer an attack like this? You answer by remembering that you already wear the breastplate of righteousness. In other words, you do not stand on your own merits--and you never did. You never had anything . worthwhile in yourself to offer to God. You gave all that up when you came to Christ. You quit trying to be good enough to please God. You came to God the Father on the infinite merits of His Son, who died for you. It is not your own miserable, tattered righteousness that covers your heart, but the solid, impenetrable righteousness of Jesus. And His righteousness is durable enough to deflect any of the arrows of Satan’s accusations. (Spiritual Warfare)
It is His righteousness, not ours, that deflects the devil’s accusations. As an aside, I have suffered substantially from that uncertainty in my faith life. I feel like I am not doing enough, praying enough, reading scripture enough, giving enough or rejecting outside distractions enough and I often lack assurance of my salvation. I am a perfectionist and “worst-caser”, a terrible twosome to have as a personality, so I think that I am the one that has to try to reach His level of righteousness on my own merits and I feel like the worst thing will always happen. Ray Stedman’s sermon excerpts on spiritual warfare are so important to the understanding that He has done the work on the cross and His infinite merits are sufficient and durable; our experiences are not what we rely on. By the way, the link in the Precept Austin material does not go to the sermon, but it does go to Ray Stedman’s site (and a 404 page).
Here’s one more nugget, from Martyn Lloyd-Jones as quoted in Enduring Word:
ii. “Thank God for experiences, but do not rely on them. You do not put on the ‘breastplate of experiences’, you put on the breastplate of ‘righteousness.’ ” (Lloyd-Jones)
My next devotional examines Ephesians 6:15 - Shod your feet with the Gospel of Peace.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - I am so grateful for Your truth and the protection of Your righteousness. May I always know that You love me and are guiding me in Your mercy and grace. Amen.
Citations and Credits:
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.Lockman.org.
Precept Austin was accessed on 06/29/2026 to review commentary for Ephesians 6:14.
Commentary from Enduring Word is used with written permission and without any alteration. ©1996-present The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik – enduringword.com.