moved by God’s love in a neighbor’s need. In the same way, that spiritual breastplate should be proven as far as love for ones’ enemies as it is fitting, and a person can demonstrate love to them in their spiritual or bodily needs. Our love for our neighbor is not certain in those who are dear to us when we cannot have love for those who are not loveable to us.
Therefore, the apostle commands us to put on the breastplate of righteousness in this difficult battle–not the righteousness of this world but God’s, because it can stand up in this battle. Human righteousness does not stand up in this battle because the strong devil rips everything open and scrutinizes who loves from a corrupted heart. Purely human love will not be detrimental to him. He is not afraid of it because it will be helpful to him, but love from a true heart is what the apostle calls a breastplate in this battle of spiritual love between neighbors. Just as there should not be holes anywhere in a breastplate, he therefore calls that righteousness towards God and one’s fellow man a breastplate. Just like there are many things joined together in a breastplate (one circlet is joined to another and so there must be many of them until a suitable breastplate is made), so also this entire righteousness towards one’s fellow man is woven together from many acts of love for one another so that there is not an empty hole left anywhere. It also should not be holey either because of little love, since sometimes a person loves his neighbor when he has a good mood, when there is nothing detrimental to fleshly gain, and when he does not have to expend effort on it. That is all little love, as is love that is inconsistent. All such love is impure. It is impure, too, when something besides God is loved. The entire and true breastplate is necessary in this battle. That savvy warrior, Žižka[1], cannot shoot at it, but Satan is more cunning in battle than one-eyed Žižka because he sees farther. That is why there must be this kind of righteousness, so that a person weighs everything correctly because of it–what he should do or share in, with whom, and where and what to associate with them about. One should conduct himself towards them like this so that he would choose his own hurt before theirs and be everything to everyone in that which he is able and that which is according to truth. He should not cause anyone to fall, either in an offence or an intentional grievance, which should be as far away as possible from him. He should be a help to everyone in what he can. He should also conduct himself towards enemies in this way as the Lord Jesus commands. In the same way, there should be righteousness towards God so that the entire person and all the parts of his life are engaged in goodness. Then, the devil does not find a place without righteousness in such a person and does not strike at him that way.
The apostle speaks here about the desires they have:
Then the apostle commands us to have our feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace, and he instructs us to have that specific clothing on our feet so that they are not injured or muddied. Everyone interprets and speaks about spiritual feet being desires, so that they are led and mastered according to the gospel in truth, shod with understanding. For that reason, the gospel is called the good news or the law of perfect freedom. The good news is the giving of good and faithful promises. Good things were preached in that God sent His dear Son, the Savior of the world, so that we have eternal life through Him. Good things are pronounced through the truth of the gospel so that the truth is upheld, the world is condemned with its fallacies, and the “old man” is crucified. Many of those good things are
- ↑ Jan Žižka was a Czech general and Hussite leader who led the Bohemian civil wars of the early 15th century. He died of the plague in 1424 and his dying wish was to have his skin used to make drums so that he might continue to lead his troops even after death. He was so well regarded that his soldiers called themselves the Orphans because they felt like they had lost their father, and his enemies said that “The one whom no mortal hand could destroy was extinguished by the finger of God.”
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