Many are the ideas that flit round’ on the internet concerning what is the robe of covering Christ gives to us. Let us in this article place our attention on these two paragraphs in sequence from Ellen White’s book, Christ’s Object Lessons, pp. 311-312:
Only the covering which Christ Himself has provided can make us meet to appear in God’s presence. This covering, the robe of His own righteousness, Christ will put upon every repenting, believing soul. “I counsel thee,” He says, “to buy of Me ... white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear” (Revelation 3:18).
This robe, woven in the loom of heaven, has in it not one thread of human devising. Christ in His humanity wrought out a perfect character, and this character He offers to impart to us. “All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” Isaiah 64:6. Everything that we of ourselves can do is defiled by sin. But the Son of God “was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin.” Sin is [312] defined to be “the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3:5, 4. But Christ was obedient to every requirement of the law. He said of Himself, “I delight to do Thy will, O My God; yea, Thy law is within My heart.” Psalm 40:8. When on earth, He said to His disciples, “I have kept My Father’s commandments.” John 15:10. By His perfect obedience He has made it possible for every human being to obey God’s commandments. When we submit ourselves to Christ, the heart is united with His heart, the will is merged in His will, the mind becomes one with His mind, the thoughts are brought into captivity to Him; we live His life. This is what it means to be clothed with the garment of His righteousness. Then as the Lord looks upon us He sees, not the fig-leaf garment, not the nakedness and deformity of sin, but His own robe of righteousness, which is perfect obedience to the law of Jehovah.
In older English “meet” to appear means “fit” to appear. The covering is provided by Jesus. The righteousness in this covering is Christ’s own righteousness. Jesus Himself explicitly owns it. Jesus Himself puts it on His own who are actively repenting and believing. This leads me to ask myself whether or not I have a daily life in which I am repenting and believing. Jesus is the source. And yet, there are decided conditions.
It is interesting how speedily some come along and smooth away the conditions. Such persons may be all well-meaning, and yet there is an enormous battle to be fought to be a repenting, believing soul. This is not referring to a few moments of decision but a daily pattern of surrender.
When it is read that the robe of Christ’s righteousness has in it “not one thread of human devising,” many instantly think of human works. But the sentence immediately following speaks of what Christ accomplished in His humanity! “Christ in His humanity wrought out a perfect character, and this character He offers to impart to us.” Christ in His humanity leaned on the divinity of the Father. By divine power, under enormous human pressures, Jesus wrought out a perfect character in His humanity. He offers–this is a gift–to impart this character to us.
And yet, character, generally speaking, is non-transferrable. This was, after all a creative act. The robe of Christ’s righteousness did not appear wholly formed, but was “woven in the loom” of heaven. This speaks to us of lengthy, determined engagement. It takes time to create things woven in the loom.
Next, White uses contrast. “Everything that we of ourselves can do is defiled by sin.” When we engage in character building “of ourselves” the result will be imperfect; the result will be flawed. The result will be tainted by the bad motives sin introduces into so much of what we do. But “By His perfect obedience He has made it possible for every human being to obey God’s commandments.”
Of ourselves we fail, but by receiving the gifts of Christ we actually obey. How? The next lines are both simple and crucial, for straightforwardly they tell us how we may experience this.
When we submit ourselves to Christ,
the heart is united with His heart,
the will is merged in His will,
the mind becomes one with His mind,
the thoughts are brought into captivity to Him; we live His life.
This is what it means to be clothed with the garment of His righteousness.
This definition of surrender and submission is important, for it suggests that our submission often has not been truly all that we have wished it to be. Submission means the daily living the life of Christ. But let’s think on the indicators we are given of authentic submission.
The heart of the believer is united with the heart of Jesus. Surely this means more than a fitful moment of feeling. “United” to me suggests a long-term change of feeling. It leads me to anticipate that my heart would be united to the heart of Jesus not for five minutes or five hours on a particularly good day, but through weeks and months at a time! It tells me I would have continuously in myself His hunger for souls.
The will of the believer merged with the will of Jesus leads me to think in terms of His will always surrendered to the Father, always reaching out and embracing the Holy Spirit. My will is not eliminated but continues, only now, it is merged with the will of Jesus. We are actively processing life, actively choosing God’s patterns instead of our old unconverted patterns.
The mind becomes one with His mind. Again, my mind does not disappear but it is combined with His mind. Thoughts rising from my pre-conversion interests are controlled, made captive. In certain respects, the past has a persistence but is kept captive to Jesus.
Thus she writes, “We live His life.” And then the amazing statement: “This is what it means to be clothed with the garment of His righteousness.”
Tell me about all the legality here.
But wait. This is no representation of a salvation that is merely lawyerly or legal; in every respect it describes a human character actively changing. It sounds more like Paul’s admonition “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).
In case we were left in some kind of confusion, White finally clarifies:
Then as the Lord looks upon us He sees, not the fig-leaf garment, not the nakedness and deformity of sin, but His own robe of righteousness, which is perfect obedience to the law of Jehovah.
In case someone has been busily relabeling the idea of the covering and robe of Christ’s righteousness as a kind of Christian experience in which disobedience to God is excused, she tells us yet again that the robe includes “perfect obedience” to God’s law.
Whereas so often the preacher makes attempts to minutely break salvation down to a legal accounting with some very fuzzy follow-on limited obedience, here we find Ellen White highlighting our submission, Christ’s impartation of His character, and then obedience in the life of the believer. Because some may have forgotten, let me remind us all that impute and impart tend to have different means. Most people think of imputation as counting one thing as though it is another thing. To impart means “to give or share knowledge, insight, or a quality with someone.” Theologically, to have Jesus’ character imparted to you would carry the meaning White gives in her “Without a Wedding Garment” chapter. She describe the experience as uniting, merging, become one with, and “we live His life.”
If we are honest with ourselves what is being described is a rich, dynamic, experiential connection that is supremely personal! This is what I want for myself, and I believe this is what Jesus wants for you.
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LK