Christian Modesty

Spring is my favorite time of the year. Today, March 28, 2011, I spotted the first yellow roses on the Lady Banks Rose Bush. Rosa banksiae or commonly named to as the Lady Banks’ Rose, is a species of Rosa native to central and western China, in the provinces of Gansu, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Sichuan, and Yunnan; it grows in mountains at altitudes of 500-2200 m. The rose is named after Lady Banks, the wife of the great botanist Sir Joseph Banks (after whom the Banks Peninsula is named). So what does Lady Banks Roses have to do with today's topic of Christian Modesty? What do you think of when you think of a "lady"? Not the same as the English word, "woman". I am preparing a series of messages about the topic of Christian Modesty for use on Voice of Gospel Radio, a web based radio which is intended for Chinese listeners. Of course my messages are Biblically based and recorded in English. My photo is to illustrate how a lady should take concern for her appearance. “Modest” means propriety in speech, conduct or dress. “Propriety” means proper or appropriate. The Bible talks about what is proper. Yes, even regarding how a lady should dress. Remember, modest is not only the outer clothing, but the inner life and conduct. A person dresses outwardly either as a reflection of the inner life, or in contradiction to what is inside.Let's investigate some Scriptures that talk about clothing.

Isaiah 61:10 NKJV: I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

This beautiful description of a follower of Jesus Christ, the Eternal Bridegroom, shows us that it is GOD Himself Who makes possible our right standing with God. What do I mean? Right standing is relational. Right standing enables two people to enjoy good fellowship and deep heart level communion. Two things are mentioned here about clothing. First, a garment of salvation. Second, a robe of righteousness.
Why do we need such garments as ''salvation'' or ''righteousness''? The short answer is that we are born with a sin nature.. we are born as enemies of God, born dead spiritually in our sins and transgressions against the Holy God. God dwells in light unapproachable. God cannot be in the presence of evil. We might say that God has a 'zero' tolerance toward sin. James 2:10 NASB says: "For whoever keeps the whole Law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all." We need rescue or salvation from the wrath of God which is the just punishment for our sins of willful disobedience against the commands of God. The wrath of God abides on all who do not place their trust or faith in the Eternal Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. [see John 3:36] The punishment incurred by the wrath of God is eternity separated from God in the Lake of Fire or Hell.This sounds pretty bad. But wait.

There is Good News.

"Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before God made anything at all and is supreme over all creation. Christ is the one through whom God created everything in heaven and earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see—kings, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities. Everything has been created through him and for him. He existed before everything else began, and he holds all creation together. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and by him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of his blood on the cross. This includes you who were once so far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions, yet now he has brought you back as his friends. He has done this through his death on the cross in his own human body. As a result, he has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. For he has rescued us from the one who rules in the kingdom of darkness, and he has brought us into the Kingdom of his dear Son. God has purchased our freedom with his blood and has forgiven all our sins." [selected verses from Colossians 1 NLT]

In these verses we see the following:

• God the Father sent the Son to provide reconciliation.
  
• The Son Who is Christ Jesus accomplished the reconciliation of sinful man and Holy God by means of His own willing death on the cross.
  
• Redeemed man appears as "holy and blameless" before God the Father.
  
• The full wrath of God the Father poured out on the Eternal Son at the cross.
  
• The blood of Jesus paid the redemption price for the souls of all who place their faith or trust in Christ Jesus alone for forgiveness of sins.
• We are covered or clothed with the garment of righteousness or salvation.
• The prison walls of our own sin are broken down; in fact, we are removed from the evil kingdom of darkness and eternal death to the Kingdom of Light and Eternal Life.

The garment of salvation is the most important garment any lady should be wearing! How about you? Please let me know if you are not sure you are dressed in a robe of Christ's righteousness. I am not speaking about religion. Remember, right standing is 'relational'.

Next post we will talk about the inner person of the heart of a modest lady. We will also talk about how this looks in our choice of outer apparel.