“For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.” (Galatians 3:26-27, NLT).

I like to wear new clothes. I like the look and feel of new clothes. When I put on new clothes, I feel new!

The Apostle Paul says that when we are united with Christ through faith in Him, it is like putting on new clothing. In fact, when Jesus saves us and gives us His Spirit, it’s like putting on a new set of clothes each day.

According to Paul we should actually dress ourselves with Christ in the same say we put clothes on: “Clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14).

We should clothe ourselves with Christ’s presence–the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the presence of Jesus with us and dwelling in us: “God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts” (vs. 4:6).

So, the way to clothe ourselves with Christ is first to remove our old clothing (Romans 13:12). These old clothes are the sinful or evil thoughts, actions, or desires that we think about or indulge in (vs. 4:19-21; Romans 13:13).

But we are not instructed to take off these old clothes, wash them, and then wear them again. When we put on Christ, we dispose of the old clothes and put on new clothes!

In other words, we remove the old clothing of sin and unrighteousness and dress ourselves in the new clothes of Christ’s presence.  Then we abide in Christ’s presence by thinking about Him, worshiping Him, reading and studying His Word, and helping and serving others in His name.

“Put on your new nature, created to be like God–truly righteous and holy” (Ephesians 4:24, NLT).

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