Transforming Lives: clothed with Christ
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
Galatians 3:26-27
On one hand, the radical transformation in me is complete when, by my faith, I am baptized into Christ as Paul phrases it—immersed in His Spirit. I am declared in right standing with God. It is that same righteousness by faith credited to Abraham (3:6).
On the other hand, I have a lot of transforming to do to look like Jesus—for God to reveal his Son in me (1:16). I have Christ on the inside. Now I need to assume His character. I need to wear Him on the outside so others will see Him.
Paul has just finished explaining to the Jews in Galatia that it was never the law that saved them—the law was actually introduced 430 years after God’s covenant with Abraham (3:17). Considering the Gentiles were ignorant of much of Jewish law, Paul introduces an analogy familiar to them: “When a Roman male child reached "son" status, his father exchanged his toga praetexta ["bordered toga"] for the toga virilis ["manly toga"] that identified him as a responsible citizen." (Thomas Constable Notes, planobiblechapel.org). The son was now seen as part of the family he was born into.
Is this putting on Christ a deliberate act on my part? It is, although one gets the sense that it is more a matter of “sinking into” the robes of righteousness as the Greek word endyo suggests. If Christ holds them out to you, why would you not put them on? After all, you are all sons of God, through faith in Christ. I have a ring I am proud to wear because it is a family heirloom, a kilt which is the tartan of my father’s Scottish clan. Would you not put on the team jersey if you were on the winning team?
It was high time for the believers in Galatia to show whose family they belonged to—the family of God. High time for us to show off our spiritual birthright as well. The world is looking for that transforming sign of Jesus in you.
Nancy P
