Ever heard the saying, “the clothes make the man?”
Jesus spoke a parable of a man who sneaked into the weeding feast and was mingling when he was asked how it was that he got into the wedding feast without the proper garment.
Until a man or woman is born again through faith in Christ they’re clothed in the garment of the sin nature. It is not so visible to family, friends, or coworkers even. They may say that the person in question is a really good person they give money to charities, they volunteer at the rescue mission, are really polite and kind.
But God sees what man cannot. He sees what it is we are clothed in spiritually. The clothes make the man!
Isaiah 64:6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
This means the most seemingly decent person on the planet is spiritually dressed in filthy clothing before God unless he has received a new garment from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Knowing this is of utmost importance because otherwise we think of salvation in a wrong manner. For us to understand the value of what Christ has done we must know the depth of the effect of the sin nature we inherited as human beings.
Outside of Christ we are not just prone to sin, we are sin.
About The Author
- Tim Atchley
- Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
- I currently serve as Senior Pastor of Harvest Church in Knoxville, Tn. I was sent out from Trinity Chapel of Knoxville in 1993 accompanied by my wife Sheila our four children Sarah, Hannah, Josiah & Isaac and a handful of bold, brave and committed believers determined to plant our first church. Pioneering is hard work but well worth the journey. That is why we desire to make disciples of Christ who will, like us, also embrace the call to plant churches.
