Article - Immodesty: A Way to Take Off Christ
When you become a child of God by being baptized into Christ, you put on (clothe yourself with) Christ (Galatians 3:26-27). As God’s new creation, you have made the commitment to put off your former lusts and put on righteousness and holiness in all your behavior (Ephesians 4:22-24; 1 Peter 1:13-16). This includes clothing yourself modestly (decently, purely) as one who professes godliness (1 Timothy 2:9-10). Faithful, gospel preachers are commanded to teach such “sound doctrine.” The older women are commanded to teach the younger women to be chaste (“morally pure in thought and conduct; modest,” –Webster; Titus 2:1-5). Where is the teaching? Where is the practice? Especially during the spring and summer, unfortunately, many Christians choose to take off Christ as they take off their modest clothing. Christian men and boys are out in public shirtless and/or wearing short and tight swim trunks. Christian women and girls are, also, out in public wearing midriffs, low tops, short skirts/shorts and revealing swimwear. It seems that everyone except the Christian realizes that this type of clothing is designed to attract worldly lusts. Adam and Eve clothed themselves, covering only their loin area, but God properly “clothed” them with tunics (a type of shirt/robe that covered a person from shoulder to knee or ankle, Customs by Wight, p. 91; Genesis 3:7, 21). Christians who want to see God must think and practice purity (Matthew 5:8). We need to follow the example of Peter who, though he was fully covered with his inner tunic/shirt, put on his outer tunic to meet the holy, risen Savior (John 21:7).
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