Our Bible study at church this quarter has focused on what it means to be clothed in Christ. I cannot resist the temptation to share this story told by a Romanian pastor imprisoned for his faith before the fall of Communism, to criminals sharing his cell.
There were once two brothers. The elder was a devout, God-fearing man while the younger was a rebel who surrounded himself with unsavoury companions and riotous living. One day, he ran to his older brother who was reading in his study screaming: “Brother, save me! The police are after me. I have killed a man!” Without hesitating, his older brother grasped the situation. “I will save you, let us change garments,” he replied. The elder brother donned the blood-stained garments, and handed his white robe to his younger sibling. They had barely dressed when the cops burst in on the scene and arrested the older brother on charges of murder.
At his trial he pleaded guilty, saying to the judge: “I accept full responsibility for the crime.” Faced with the evidence-the pursuit, the bloodstained clothes and a confession, he was sentenced to death. “What is your final wish?” the judge asked. “Only one”, replied the supposed criminal. “Please deliver this letter to my brother at the moment of my execution.”
On opening the letter, the younger brother read: “My beloved, at this moment I die in your place, in your bloodstained clothes, for your crime. I am happy to offer this sacrifice because I love you. All I ask is that in the white robe I gave you, you live a life of righteousness and purity. I have no other desire!”
As the younger brother read the letter, tears flowed down his cheeks. He ran in desperation, hoping to stop the execution but no one believed his story. “The crime has been expiated-what happened between you two is none of our concern” said the judge. Thereafter, every time his former friends called him to loose living, the younger brother would say: “In the white robe left to me by my brother who gave his life for me, I can no longer do the evil deeds I did before.”
Jesus Christ, Son of God (our elder Brother) paid a terrible price in dying for our sins. Our token of love to Him is a life of righteousness and purity. Our good works cannot save us-if they could, Christ would not have had to die. No matter how good you are now or intend to be in future, your past sins still condemn you until you accept Christ's sacrifice for your atonement. Keeping God’s Commandments should not be a burden to us, but a token of our love for Christ.
"For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous."- 1 John 5:3
"For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.-Romans 5:6-10
Also read Matt ch 26-ch 28 on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, remembering that He did all this for you. Also read John 13.
