1. “He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, / He has wrapped me with the robe of righteousness” (Isa. 61:10; see also Luke 15:22; 1 Cor. 1:30).
God has clothed us with the garments of salvation and wrapped us with the robe of righteousness. Clothing us with salvation and wrapping us with righteousness refer to the same thing. The garment of salvation is the robe of righteousness, and the robe of righteousness is the garment of salvation. God’s righteousness as salvation has been put on us like a garment. Consequently, clothing in the Bible symbolizes righteousness. It symbolizes Christ as our righteousness, and it also symbolizes our righteous deeds. Food symbolizes Christ as our inward supply for our life, and clothing symbolizes Christ as our outward righteousness to cover our shame. Christ inwardly satisfies us and outwardly makes us pleasing to God. God gave Christ to us to eat as the bread of life for our satisfaction, just as the loving father killed the fattened calf to feed the prodigal son for his happiness. He also gave Christ to us as the robe of righteousness to put on so that we could be acceptable to Him, just as the loving father put the best robe on the prodigal son so that he could be beautiful before his father. The loving father prepared the fattened calf for his son inwardly and the best robe for his son outwardly, and God prepared Christ as life for us inwardly and Christ as righteousness for us outwardly.
Because God tells man to eat meat in order to manifest his need for the redemption of Christ, Satan causes man to abstain from eating meat to express his refusal of the need for the redemption of Christ. In a same way, because God wants man to wear clothes to manifest his need for Christ as righteousness, Satan causes man to be naked to express his rejection of Christ as righteousness. Demons who possess people often cause them to be naked (cf. Mark 5:15), and Satan also operates in people’s hearts and creates a desire within them to bare their chests and shoulders. All the fashions that expose the body come from Satan’s operation. His hidden intent is to cause man to reject Christ as his righteousness. Alas, many brothers and sisters who have received Christ as their righteousness follow the fashions of Satan that expose much of their body. In the matter of their clothing, they do not properly manifest their need for and their gaining of Christ as their righteousness. May the Lord show us that both food and clothing can be positive symbols of Christ. May He also show us that Satan can use both food and clothing to manifest contrary, hidden, and negative symbols. May the Lord save us from Satan’s hidden, contrary, and negative purposes so that we may match His positive intentions.
2. “The fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints” (Rev. 19:8; see also Matt. 22:11; Rev. 7:14; Isa. 64:6).
Revelation 19:8 clearly associates clothing with righteousness. The fine linen garment that the bride of Christ will wear is the righteousnesses of the saints. This fine linen is not the righteousness of Christ but our righteous acts through the Holy Spirit. The righteousness of Christ causes us to be saved, but our righteousnesses cause us to overcome. Every saint should have two kinds of righteousness and wear two kinds of clothing. The first kind of righteousness is Christ as our righteousness, which justifies us before God. Christ Himself is a robe of righteousness that makes us worthy to be God’s children. This righteousness is related to our salvation. The second kind is the righteousness that relates to our acts through the Holy Spirit, which makes us acceptable before Christ. Our righteousnesses in the Holy Spirit become a garment that makes us worthy of being the bride of Christ. This righteousness is related to our overcoming. Christ as our righteousness makes us worthy of coming before God. Our righteousnesses by the Holy Spirit make us worthy of being presented to Christ. The righteousnesses of the Holy Spirit are a fine linen garment that we can wear before Christ; this is the wedding garment that we need in order to attend Christ’s wedding feast. If we have Christ only as our righteousness but not the righteousnesses through the Holy Spirit, we will be saved, but we will not overcome. While we will be worthy of being the children of God and of enjoying the blessing of His house, we will not be worthy of being the bride of Christ and of enjoying the blessing of His wedding feast. If we want to be worthy of being the bride of Christ and of enjoying the blessing of His wedding feast, we must have the righteousnesses that come through the Holy Spirit. These righteousnesses are not something that we have in ourselves. Our own righteousness is like a filthy garment and cannot be brought before God and Christ. These righteousnesses come out of our living in the Holy Spirit by the life of Christ, that is, by Christ Himself. Such a wedding garment is bright and clean because of the blood of the Lamb. When we have such a garment, we are worthy of being the bride of Christ and of being presented to Christ.
Before God we should have one garment, and before Christ we should have another. The garment that we should have before God is Christ Himself as our righteousness. We receive this garment when we believe. This garment is objective. The garment that we should have before Christ is the righteousnesses that come out of our living the life of Christ through the Holy Spirit. We live out this garment after we believe. This garment is subjective. Since these two garments are related to salvation and overcoming, we cannot ignore them. Therefore, when we pay attention to the matter of clothing, we should consider the significance of these two garments.