“Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires” (Romans 13:14 NLT).
First, isn’t there the necessity of putting off our old clothes? Certainly, this is what the Word teaches. In his letter to the Colossians, Paul says to “put off anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds” (Col. 3:8-9). So, putting off the old nature precedes putting on the new.
Second, we put on the new nature, which is ours in Jesus Christ. Earlier in Romans, Paul described this as putting on the “shining armor of right living” (Rom. 13:12). Again in Colossians, Paul described being clothed in Christ as putting “on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him” (Col. 3:10).
This new nature features many beautiful articles of spiritual clothing. Paul writes, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity” (Col. 3:12-14).
Having received Christ as Savior, let us put off the old nature and put on the Lord Jesus Christ, so that we might resist temptation and always walk in Him. Both this putting off and putting on can only be done with God’s help, so let us do so by His grace.
PRAYER: Lord, teach us to put off the old nature and to put on the new. Our new nature is Christ. So empower us to put off the old and to put on Christ. We want to be clothed in the righteousness of Christ. So that we reflect Your glory and light into this world of darkness. In Jesus’ name, amen.