Romans 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.

Word Study: The phrase “put ye on” is the Greek ἐνδύω endýō, {pronounced en-doo’-o}, which means “to sink into clothing, to clothe yourself with”. If you are a Christian, you are to put on your best suit. You are to clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ.

What Are YOU Wearing Today?

Opening Illustration: As I walked through the local Walmart the other day, I was amused, amazed, and sometimes astounded at some of the clothing I saw people wearing. Young women – not all teens – have taken to wearing either very tight and very short shorts, or thin body stockings (I guess you call it that) that leaves little to the imagination. Some people (men or women) wear jeans with holes in them, some holes in places that would make a Playboy Bunny blush. When I got holes in my jeans, my mamma patched them with those iron on patches. There were some people wearing their pajamas. I get tired in Walmart, but have yet to find a section where there are beds you can lay down on. When they get that “bedding” section, I may wear my pajamas to the store as well.

What are you wearing today?

Clothing is a very big topic in the Bible. How you clothe yourself will reflect how you feel about yourself, about your ego. Clothing also will cause others to think of you in a certain way. The Bible tells us to “clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ”.

To clothe yourself with Jesus means to
not hide your sins from God

When our first parents, Adam and Eve sinned, what did they do after their sin? The Bible says that the first thing they did was:

Genesis 2:7 (ESV) … they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

Adam and Eve covered up their sin – then they hid from God. It is foolish to cover up our sins, attempting to hide them from God. The Bible says in Proverbs 28:13:

“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and
forsaketh them shall have mercy.”

God sees our sins. He knows what we have done. To cover up our sin with fig leaves, or to deflect our guilt by blaming others, it just doesn’t wash with God. When Adam and Eve’s attempt to cover their sins were quickly discovered, Adam blamed both Eve AND God:

Genesis 3:12 (ESV) “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

The woman likewise blamed the serpent. The truth is, Adam had free will, and chose to disobey God of his own will. Adam was at fault, not God nor Eve.

There is a way to cover sin, but it is not by fig leaves or blaming others. The Bible says “blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered” (Psalm 32:1). We do not cover sin with our own works of righteousness. We “clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ”. The Bible tells us that God sent His Son Jesus to make payment for every sin we would ever commit. The Bible says:

1 John 1:7 (ESV) … the blood of Jesus Christ {God’s} Son cleanses us from all sin ..

The Lord Jesus Christ is the only acceptable covering for our sin. The Bible often uses the word “propitiation” when it discusses Jesus. For instance:

1 John 2:2 And {Jesus} is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

1 John 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son {Jesus} to be the propitiation for our sins.

Romans 3:25 {this Jesus} Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

Word Study: The word translated “propitiation” the Greek ἱλαστήριον hilastḗrion, {pronounced hil-as-tay’-ree-on} or ἱλασμός hilasmós, {pronounced hil-as-mos’}. The latter word means “the means of appeasing God, the covering for sin”. The former word means “to atone or cover”. What Jesus Christ did for us on Calvary is the only acceptable covering for sin.

When God saw Adam and Eve in fig leaves the Bible says that God took away their fig leaves and clothed them Himself:

Genesis 3:21 (ESV) … the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

God had to kill innocent animals in order to clothe Adam and Eve. This is a foreshadowing of the death of Christ Jesus on the Cross. Jesus “put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Hebrews 9:26). “Jesus also suffered outside the gate {of Jerusalem} in order to sanctify the people through His own blood” (Hebrews 13:11-12). It is only in Jesus that we have “redemption through His Blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His Grace” (Ephesians 1:7-8).

Jesus and Jesus alone is the covering for our sins. Do not hide your sins from God. Confess them to God, and plead the Blood of Christ over each sin. “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ”.

To Clothe Yourself With The Lord Jesus Means
To Live Your Life Primarily Loving God

If you “Clothe Yourself With The Lord Jesus Christ” you will literally consider how you practically live out your faith every day.

I earlier talked about how people clothe themselves as they go to the local Walmart. The Bible is explicit in that God’s people are to be careful in how they cover themselves. God told His Old Covenant saints:

Deuteronomy 22:5 A woman shall not wear a man’s garment, nor shall a man put on a woman’s cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God.

This is NOT a command that women should not wear “slacks” or “pants”. In the days that this was written, most people wore robes. It is a command that women are not to dress so as to intentionally look like a man, nor are men to dress in such a way as to intentionally look like a woman. Why is this? Because God says that “whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord”. Why?

Because when God created humanity, the Bible says “He created them male and female” (Genesis 1:26-28; 2:20-25). When the Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth, He did not eradicate what the Old Testament said. When asked about marriage our Lord Jesus said:

Matthew 19:4-6 (ESV) … “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

What God has established in the design of creation, we are told by Jesus to leave it alone. “What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate” (Mark 10:9). We are not to fool with, or in any way bring confusion to, God’s rule of order. The Apostle Paul said:

1 Corinthians 7:17 But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches.

Live your lives as our Lord Jesus Christ did. Live your lives so as to please the God Who made you. The Apostle Peter told the wives of believers:

1 Peter 3:3-4 (ESV) Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— 4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.

Women are beautifully made by God. Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ. Do not let your outer adornment – makeup, hair, clothing – the the greatest thing in your life. Dress so as to honor the Lord Who saved you. Dress so that the characteristics of Jesus Christ can shine through your lives. The Apostle said:

1 Timothy 2:9-10 … women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, 10 but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works.

I do not believe the Apostles – nor our Lord – were being misogynistic (deeply prejudiced against women). Our Lord Jesus said:

“What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” (ESV Mark 7:20-23)

The human heart is “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). No one is naturally good at heart. “all have sinned” and are sinners (Romans 3:23). Everyone is broken. If we dress provocatively, that is like pouring fuel on a fire. Dress with others in mind. Dress so as to show Christlike love toward others. I am sure I’ll be flamed on social media for some of what I just said, but it is God’s Word, not mine. But you can be angry with me if it makes you feel better. As Christ’s servant, I seek to please Him – not to please my listeners (Galatians 1:10).

To Clothe Yourself With The Lord Jesus Christ Means To Live As He Lived, Reliant Upon God

Romans 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.

The Bible tells us that David was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). Does this mean that David did not err, was not a sinner as we are? Absolutely not! But David had a trait that we all need to follow. He clothed himself with the Lord Jesus Christ.

When David was going to battle Goliath, no one – not even King Saul – felt that they could do battle with that giant monster of a man. The Bible says “Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were DISMAYED and GREATLY AFRAID” (1 Samuel 17:11). They were being driven by their flesh, by their fear, by their human logic. But David’s reply when he heard Goliath’s threats was:

“who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Samuel 17:26)

When David volunteered to fight Goliath, he was met with scorn from King Saul. “You are but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth” (vs 33). But David had his eyes not on Goliath, but on Jesus. David said, “The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine” (vs 37).

Saul clothed David with his armor (vs 38), and gave David a helmet of brass and a coat of chain mail. Though David tried it on, he quickly took them off. David said, “I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them” (vs 39). David had clothed himself with the Lord. The Lord that saved him out of the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear, would certainly deliver him from Goliath.

And God did!

When trials and testing comes, the Bible tells us that the safest thing we can do is “clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ”. The Scripture says:

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Let Jesus Christ, the Lord of Heaven and earth, cover you! Let Him be your clothing. Only in Jesus do we have power for living. Only in Jesus can we defeat the Goliaths of this world. Be like the Hebrew Children before the angry pagan king:

Daniel 3:17-18 (ESV) our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

To Clothe Yourself With The Lord Jesus Means To Love As He Loved, Treating Others With Respect

The Apostle tells us:

Romans 13:8-10 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

“love is the fulfilling of the law”. When Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, came to this earth, He fulfilled the ceremonial and sacrificial portions of the Law. But Jesus never erased the moral codes found in the Old Testament. We who are saved by Jesus are to clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make NO PROVISION for the flesh. The Bible says that:

Galatians 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

The believer in Christ is NOT to clothe themselves in the “works of the flesh”. The believer in Christ is to flee all sexual sins – including homosexuality (1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Timothy 1:10). We are not to pursue the ways of the world. Why? Because we belong to Jesus. We are to

Romans 13:12-13 … cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.

Let us clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us hide ourselves in Jesus (Colossians 3:3). The Lord that saved us is the Lord we are to walk in. Let us honor the Lord Jesus Christ, and do as He says do. For the glory of our God forever. Amen and Amen!