In the Bible we read about being clothed with Christ and to put on Christ. But how can you be clothed with Christ and what does it mean to be clothed with Christ according to the Bible?
God clothed Adam and Eve with coats of skins
After man sinned, God clothed Adam and Eve with coats of skins from animals that God had chosen and sacrificed to cover their nakedness.
As written in the previous blog, this was a reference to the innocent Lamb that God chose and sacrificed for the sins of fallen man and wherewith the new creation would be clothed.
How can you be clothed with Christ?
You can only be clothed with Christ through faith and regeneration in Christ. If you believe that Jesus, the Son of God, is the Christ and that He finished the perfect redemptive work for fallen man, you repent, be baptized in water and receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit.
These three elements of the new birth are actions (works) that follow the conviction of your faith and your will to follow Jesus.
The first two actions are works of your faith; the old you repent and is baptized in water. This means, that you repentant and renounce your old life as sinner and your walk in disobedience to God, and you die in Christ and the new you (the new creation) rises from the dead in Christ.
Through baptism and the identification with Christ, the old man, who is born in the image of Adam (disobedient son of God (sinner)) dies, and the new man, who is created after the image of Jesus (obedient Son of God (righteous, saint)) rises from the dead.
The new man has put on Christ through baptism and is clothed with Christ. And as a result and confirmation, the new man receives the Holy Spirit from God.
No one can receive the Holy Spirit through their own works (by following a set of rules, rituals, methods, confessions, etc.), but only by faith and the works associated with the faith; repentance and the baptism in water.
The Holy Spirit comes from God
The baptism with the Holy Spirit comes from God and is the confirmation of the sonship. Just like Jesus received the Holy Spirit from His Father after He was baptized in water and the Father testified of His beloved Son. (Matthew 3:16-17; Mark 1:9-10-11; Luke 3:21-22).
These three elements are requirements of God, that not man but God instituted.
Both the Father and the Son testified of these three elements in the Old Testament. And also the Holy Spirit, who speaks the words of Jesus, who speaks the words of the Father, testifies in the New Testament of the requirements of these three elements (o.a. Ezekiel 36:25-27; Matthew 3:16-17; Luke 24:46-49; Mark 16:15-16; John 3:5-6; Acts 1:5; 2:38; 10:42-48;11:16-18; Colossians 2:11-15; 1 John 5:6-8; 2:27).
Without submission to God and obedience to these three elements a person is not forgiven, justified and born again and has not become a son of God (this applies to both males and females).
Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, wat shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit
Acts 2:37-38
Are Christians clothed with Christ?
The new birth is not a feeling or experience of the senses, but it is the result of faith that becomes visible in the lives of people.
Without the new birth people are not delivered from sin and death and are not restored (healed) from their fallen state, but live under the guilt of iniquity and sin in the power of sin and death.
Without the new birth people are not justified and reconciled with God and have no spiritual relationship with the Father and don’t know Him nor the Son experientially, and don’t do His will, but they are still a sinner and have the devil as father (even when they confess that God is their Father), whereby they speak and act from their carnal mind and walk after the flesh doing the works of the flesh.
Therefore, people’s works testify whether they believe and thus are born again and walk after the Spirit in the will of God or not.
The new creation has put off the sinner’s garment of captivity and is clothed with Christ
Everyone, who has died in Christ and has been raised in newness of life has been delivered and put off the sinner’s garment of captivity from the devil and is clothed with Christ. (a.o. 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:27; Ephesians 4:21-24; Colossians 3:9-11).
Jesus Christ, who walked in obedience to the word and commandment of the Father according to God’s Law, and was innocent and stood guiltless before God, gave His life for your sinful life so that you can exchange your sinful life for His righteous life; the life of Christ.
God gave you power to become a son of God (males and females) and live as son of God on earth (a.o. John 1:12-13; Ephesians 1:17-22).
Living as son of God on earth is living as Jesus Christ and not as Adam.
It means the faith and acknowledging that God is the Creator of Heaven and earth and all there is within, and His eternal Majesty and power, and therefore living in submission in obedience to Him and doing His words and commandments
The will of God reigns in the Spirit and the will of the devil reigns in the flesh. If you walk in submission to the Spirit and do what He says, you shall walk after the Spirit in the will of God instead of walking after the flesh in the will of the devil.
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and a a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations
Isaiah 61:10-11
What does Clothed with Christ mean in the Bible?
Being clothed with Christ means that you have become a son of God and are clothed with the nature and state of Christ. The same sonship and the same Holy Spirit, Who abode in Jesus, abides in you.
If you keep saying that you are a sinner, you deny God’s power and redemptive work for fallen man, the power of His blood, and the power of His resurrection from the dead.
You deny the Father by not believing that what He said and is written in the Bible is true, whereby you consider Him a Liar and His words as lies and reject His Word and prefer the devil above Him and believe and obey his words. Just like man in the Garden of Eden chose to believe the words of the devil instead of the words of God and were deceived and lost their righteousness wherewith they were clothed and became naked.
But above all, you deny and reject the holiness and power and the witness of the Holy Spirit, and by believing the lie above the truth, you shall walk as a victim from your fallen state under the rulership of the devil and shall do his will and works.
Is Christ a sinner?
No, Christ is not a sinner, Adam was a sinner. Christ is also not a Promoter of sin. Therefore if you are born of God and clothed with Christ you are no longer a sinner (son of the devil) and shall not keep walking in sin because you don’t belong to the devil anymore.
You are justified in Christ and become a saint (son of God) and shall walk in righteousness because you belong to God.
You are clothed with Christ with the garments of salvation and received God’s power to be a witness of Jesus Christ and do the will of God on earth and resist the devil and sin.
If you are clothed with Christ in the spiritual realm, and received the Holy Spirit, you shall put off the works of the old man (Adam) in the power of the Holy Spirit, and put on the new man (Christ). (a.o. Romans 8:12-13; 13:12-14; Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:8-14)
You shall follow Jesus and believe and obey His words and keep His commandments and do the works of God and His Kingdom, instead of believing and obeying the words of the world and keep doing the works of the flesh and of darkness.
The new man is created after the image of God
The new man is created after the image of God according to the will of God in true righteousness and holiness and has God’s nature. Therefore someone’s works testify whether the person has died in Christ and has risen in Him, and is clothed with Christ and has become a new creation or not.
‘Be the salt of the earth’
