Putting On Christ!

The Bible says that those who are baptized in Christ have put on Christ. What does that really mean? I have asked many Bible teachers and pastors this question and none were able to give me a simple or satisfactory answer. Needles to say, they all attempted to explain and gave plenty of theological analysis, but none was clear or simple enough for anyone to comprehend. This statement had bothered me for a long time because I could not understand it enough to explain it to someone else. Finally I saw the light in one of the Bible classes I conducted and, in which, I had a Biblical scholar named George. Here is how he explained it.

We are to live in a way that others see God in us; they can see God in our activities, in our speech and in our behavior. We do not notice that people pay attention to these things the moment we say we are believers. We do not realize that God is watching us and over us continuously. Here is what he said: a blind young man woke up one day and said to his mother that he is meeting very important friends and would like to look his best. So his mother helped put on a white set of clothes. He could not see the clothes that his mother gave him. But his mother told him that he was wearing a very bright and clean set of white clothes, and she asked him to take good care of the clothes. She said “watch were you sit and where you go and how you act.” Now if he believed his mother that he was wearing a clean and very white set of clothes, and he cared about her instruction because he loved her, then he would be very careful all day. He would move around slowly and carefully. He would ask others that he trusts to help him avoid bumping into and hitting walls or avoid stepping into a mud puddle. In other words, this blind young man would do everything within his power to do what his mother instructed him. He would be repeating all day “my mother said to stay clean.” When he returned home in the evening his mother was immediately able to tell if he believed her. She would be able to tell if the tarnish on his clothes was accidental or deliberate. If she found a little bit of dust or maybe a spot or two she would know that it could happen to anybody, and that her son did his best to care for his clothing. But if she saw the clothes all muddy and black spots every where, then she would know her son neither loved her nor believed her when she had told him that he was very clean. This would break her heart.

The Lord tells us in His Word that when we are baptized, we are covered by His presence and we are confessing to the whole world that Christ covers our lives. Although we do not see Him, we are to believe Him and consequently live with extra care to bring Glory to His name.

When a King hosts a dinner he provides a robe like covering to every one of his guests; a royal robe so that everyone who is at the dinner would look the same. The king elevates all the guests to his level; no one can dress to show he is better than anyone else. That is what God does for us when we accept Christ as our Savior; to Him we are all the same. I want to thank Christ for his covering in my life and I want to live so others can see that I believe him like the blind man believes his mother.