A new believer must pay attention to the matter of clothing. If you have any doubt about any of your clothes, you should bring them to the priest for examination. The Lord is the High Priest today. You must ask Him whether or not you can wear this clothing. Do not think that this is a small matter. Clothing is a big issue to a new believer. If you do not know which clothes are plagued with leprosy, you should bring them to the Priest and let the Lord tell you whether they are plagued.
Remember that a person has to separate himself from a leper. A house plagued with leprosy had to be torn down and a garment plagued with leprosy had to be burned. Of course, today you do not need to burn your clothing. But at least you must not wear those things anymore. There are many garments which are plagued with leprosy. Many of them can be worn again after the sleeves are lengthened and the dress dyed to a different color or changed to a different style. Some clothing can be kept after it is examined by the priest and altered a little. Some clothing has the nature of leprosy even after it is examined and altered. It must be thrown away. As soon as a person believes in the Lord, he has to present his clothes piece by piece to the Lord and allow Him to examine each one in detail. He should let the Lord tell him whether or not the clothing is appropriate for him. All of it must be dealt with piece by piece.
I hope new believers will behave as Christians when they present themselves before men. I do not want to see anyone doubting a Christian’s genuineness because of the kind of clothes he or she wears. Others will say whether or not we are Christians by the kind of clothes we wear. A cleansed person would never wear plagued clothing. Our leprosy has been cleansed and our sins are forgiven. From now on, we should not wear any leprosy-infested garments.
New believers must present everything in their wardrobe piece by piece to the Lord and pray over each item. Do not expect others to come and tell you what is good and what is not. You must bring everything to the Lord yourself and let the Lord judge you. You must ask the Lord, “I have become a believer now. Is this clothing all right? Is this clothing right?” Some items of clothing have to be thrown away, while others must be altered. Let the Lord teach you what to do. Some garments cannot be altered at all. You must decide for yourself whether sin is involved in a certain garment. Your clothing has much to do with you. This matter must be dealt with soberly.
The Bible forbids men to wear women’s clothing and vice versa (Deut. 22:5). The tendency today is to annul the distinction between men’s and women’s clothing. Already this distinction is becoming less and less. If the world continues this trend, there will soon be no difference between the two. All the brothers and sisters have to pay attention to this matter. Men should not wear women’s clothing, and women should not wear men’s clothing. You must maintain the separation established by God. Men must wear men’s clothes and women must wear women’s clothes. Anything which confuses the distinction in gender does not glorify God. God’s people and His children must learn to have proper distinction in their clothing.
Let us talk about the sisters’ clothing first. Generally speaking, the matter of clothing is simpler with the brothers than with the sisters. The sisters’ clothing poses more problems than the brothers’ clothing. We will read two portions of the Word carefully.