03282026 Clothed in Christ

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of God our Redeemer and our wonderful Savior Jesus Christ.

I was recently considering this verse. “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27).

The word for putting on is a reference to sinking into or being engulfed in a garment. It is commonly used for the putting on of clothing; it is not so much a reference to the state of being clothed as much as the initial act of wrapping oneself in the clothing. That’s what happens when we are saved. We become wrapped in Christ so that when God looks at us, He does not see our natural defilement, but rather the righteousness of Christ. Such an act makes us look like someone we are not.

My mind went to the story of Jacob. So that Jacob would receive the blessing that Isaac was preparing to bestow on Esau, Rebekah helped to disguise Jacob. She took Esau’s best clothes and put them on Jacob. She took the skins of goats and put them on Jacob’s hands and neck. Jacob felt and smelled like Esau. But everyone in the family (except Isaac, temporarily) knew that this was a deception. Jacob was not Esau. There was no legal or moral basis for him to be considered to be Esau. This was treachery and pretense. The wearing of the clothing and skins was illegitimate and a false representation.

Not so with us and Christ. God intends for us to be clothed in Christ. It is His provision for us so that we can be accepted. It is the way for God to legitimately view us as righteous and undefiled. In the parable of the wedding feast, after all the “important” people rejected the king’s invitation, the king sent his servants to gather people off the street to attend the wedding. One man, however, did not wear the proper wedding garment, and he was expelled from the wedding. Those who are called by God are clothed by God in the substitutionary robes of Christ. God provides this clothing and invites us to put it on. Thus we are able to be accepted in His sight.

Edward Motes wonderfully captured this truth in his hymn, “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less.” The final stanza states, “When He shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in him be found: dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.” A newer hymn by Chris Anderson puts it this way: “His robes for mine: O wonderful exchange! Clothed in my sin, Christ suffered ‘neath God’s rage. Draped in His righteousness, I’m justified. In Christ I live, for in my place He died.”

Praise God for His wonderful provision! Only by being clothed in Christ are we able to come to the wedding and be accepted by the King. May God encourage you anew with this truth, and may He bless you by granting you opportunities to help others put on this wonderful garment.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA