Proper Dress
Comments on Galatians with an ear to Luther’s commentary
Scripture Text: Galatians 2:16 and 2 Corinthians 5:1-4
Series: Comments on Galatians
God is not interested in merely forgiving our sins. This is a means to an end. God is interested in correcting our entire sinful nature, of which forgiveness of individual sins is a part. The problem, metaphorically, is that we are improperly clothed for being in the presence of God. We are naked in our “flesh,” in our sinful nature. This has to be corrected. We must be properly dressed or robed in order to stand before God’s holiness. Thus, the one who walks with Christ “will be clothed…in white garments” (Revelation 3:5). From earliest days of the church, this new life or new flesh is symbolized in the baptismal ceremony by the wearing of a white robe. Elsewhere, Paul says that we should not “be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life” (2 Corinthians 5:4). He instructs us to “clothe” ourselves with the Lord (NIV) or “put on” the Lord (KJV, NAS, Romans 13:14).
This is how God’s mercy on our “flesh” works: he covers our nakedness or ungodliness with the sacrificial Christ, even as he covered Adam’s and Eve’s naked flesh in the garden with garments of skin (Genesis 3:21). Christ’s sacrifice alone clothes us with the body of Jesus, covering our “flesh,” redeeming us and making us fit company for the Holy God.
Share this post
Author
Rev. Dr. Mark E. Ryman has served as Pastor for St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Salisbury, NC, since 2021. Previously, Pastor Ryman served congregations in North Carolina and Ohio, as well as a call to specialized ministry with Sola Publishing.
Click Here For Content Archives