Clothed in Righteousness

Isaiah 61:10 - I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

After we have been chosen and called by God to become heirs and His children, and we have taken the step of confessing our sins and taking Jesus into our lives, we find we are clothed in righteousness. We begin to learn through reading His Word what it is we are called to become and to do as His children. It's a never-ending process, learning who and what God is all about...and who we are to be in Him. Through it all our sins have been forgiven--past, present and future--and therefore obtain the "title" of righteous.

We are born into this world with sin. Even babies have it. When the first cry (without words) for attention comes from a newborn or when that first hint of possessiveness hits when they shout "mine," or they emphatically say "no," you wonder where they learned it. It's inherent. It's born into our nature. Yes, children are still considered innocent until they are able to reason on their own but they are still born with a sin nature. It's a fact of life.

"There is none righteous, no not one" is a verse that tells it like it is. (Romans 3:10) We are born into unrighteousness and it is only through Christ that we can become righteous. He clothes us with His righteousness. When Adam and Eve ate of the apple in the Garden what was the first thing they did? They hid and they were made aware of their nakedness so they covered themselves with fig leaves. When God, who is just totally amazing and nothing He does does He do without meaning, saw those silly fig leaves He chose to clothe them Himself in the skins of the very first animal sacrifice made! It was an innocent sacrifice. Later God sacrificed His own, innocent Son, the sacrificial Lamb, the Lamb of God, "who takes away the sin of the world." Jesus did not deserve to be sacrificed. The sacrifice of the first animal was a blood sacrifice; blood was spilled in the slaughter of the animal. At Jesus' crucifixion, His blood was spilled. It's "by His stripes (blood) we are healed." Through Adam sin was introduced. Through Jesus sin was abolished. The beginning and the end.

No, we are still not totally sinless even after receiving Christ into our lives. But His righteousness covers us. Don't ask me how it's done. I'm still having a hard time grasping the concept of still having sin in our lives and being righteous at the same time! Being in Christ means that God no longer sees us in our sin. We are seen as though Christ were standing between us and God...and rightfully so, He is our mediator between God and man (1Timothy 2:5). Being in Christ means that God sees Christ in us, not the old person we were (even though we still act like the old person at times...lots of times!).

To be able to understand all the things of God is impossible. It's that faith and trust factor that we learn. With God it just is. He says "I AM" and He is. If God says I am a child of God, that's who I am. I am who He says I am. It's one of those spiritual things that you just know that you know, even when you don't understand it. Make sense??

Are you like Adam and Eve? Are you hiding your sin from God? His banner over you is love. Let Him clothe you in His righteousness. Let Christ's sacrificial death for you be the cry of your heart. Ask for His forgiveness and imagine that righteous covering being placed over you by a loving God. Consider yourself among His children. Let Him begin to wear away the things in your life (selfishness, control, anger, envy, pride...) that hinder you from being who God really sees you as.

Hebrews 10:16-20 - "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them," and then He adds, "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin."