The Clothes Make the Person

I’ve encountered a few situations recently that remind me how badly we all need to have a firm grasp on who we are in Christ. On multiple occasions I’ve heard people say that they have a fear of the Judgment Day because all our sins will be made known. One author (I think it was Mark Driscoll) addressed that fear this way—if God has said that there is now no condemnation for us in Christ (Romans 8:1), then why would we be faced with an upcoming day of shame? Several Scriptures come to mind:

• 1 Peter 2:24- “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness…”
• Colossians 2:13-14- “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross.”
• Psalm 103:12- “As far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.”
• 2 Peter 1:9- “For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.”
• Isaiah 43:25- “I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”
• Isaiah 61:10- “…He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of righteousness…”

We have this mental image of our lives being projected on a giant screen for all mankind to see. However, these Scriptures and many others make it clear that we have nothing to fear, for if we are in Christ our sins have been removed from our “life movie.” I imagine it as if when my name is called, the movie that will be shown is the life of Christ, for I am clothed in His righteousness. “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). 

If we are clothed in the robe of righteousness that Christ has put upon us, then we have no reason to worry or fear judgment. I’ve heard people ask, “What if someone doesn’t confess their sins right before they die?” That presumes that it’s possible to lose your salvation because of your sin. But if we did nothing to earn salvation in the first place, how can we do anything to lose it? We never deserved it to begin with! “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8-9). And we “were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it” (Eph. 1:13-14).

It is God who has clothed us in righteousness by His grace, and we can do nothing to remove that robe. Think of it like an astronaut’s spacesuit. He can’t put it on by himself, and he can’t take it off by himself. And so long as he has it on he is protected from the deathly environment of space.

Max Lucado points out that when Adam and Eve sinned, the Bible says that God “clothed them” (Gen. 3:21). And now, millennia later, God is still clothing His children. Only now it isn’t with animal skins but with the blood of His own Son. If we are trying to clothe ourselves in good works, or relying on frequent confession to dry clean our lives, we will live in fear that we’ve never done enough, we’re never good enough, and we may have forgotten to confess something. But if we remember that salvation is based on His merit, not our own, then we can trust that the Day of Judgment will be one of grace for us. Don’t worry, He’s got you covered!