This is the Faith I live by: Salvation gifts me Christ’s robe of righteousness
Message Magazine’s Online Devotional for Monday, May 13, 2019
Audio Link: http://bit.ly/ThoughtsinWorship
“That you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”
Ephesians 4:22-24 (NKJV)
I hope you have a change of clothes handy, because we are going to an all white affair!
Don’t Tell Me What to Wear!
I’m not going to lie to you. I don’t like being told exactly how to dress if I’m going somewhere. If it’s a formal affair I understand the need. Even work uniforms make sense to me. I even understand internationally themed celebrations. I promise I understand all of that. It’s just that, I really don’t like being told that I must wear exactly this or that, or else I cannot come in to an event. Like all white parties, which is why I’ve never been to one. It looks great in pictures. Everyone wearing white hats, shirts, blouses, pants, dresses, dress shorts, scarves, and everything in between. But, it’s just not my thing.
Wardrobe Malfunction
Unfortunately, some of us have my attitude about all white parties. Especially the ones related to righteousness. We admire those whose characters have been washed clean and white in the blood of the Lamb. We love when people are kind, honest, loving, generous, joyful, and have integrity. But for some of us, it’s just not our cup of tea. We admire certain righteous acts, but we have no real desire to produce those acts. And if we’re truly honest with ourselves all that really means is that we have no real desire to be transformed by our righteous Heavenly Father. Instead, we’d rather snub the event host and keep on our own attire like the man in Matthew 22. He decided to wear his own righteous garments to God’s heavenly feast. Not realizing that the righteous robe of God was his access inside.
Wearing Christ’s Robe of Righteousness
God has been so good to us. He has helped many of us recover from our spiritual wardrobe malfunctions and saved us from the consequences of sin. But in order for all of us to experience such a blessing we must be willing to take off our old, corrupt wardrobe and allow God to robe us in His righteousness and holiness. We have to allow God to finish His work in us by covering us in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. If you think about it that way, allowing God to give you a change of clothes isn’t all that bad after all. In fact, having experienced the change myself, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
By God’s grace, this is the faith I live by. Let this be the same for you. In Jesus’ name.
