Clothing as the assimilation of the character of God

Learning about and living God’s character is often described as washing, putting on, or changing out clothing. The analogy fits well in several ways.

God’s character is received and put on, not created. God already is what you are trying to become.¹ He provides the way by which you can become more like he is. That path is revealed from above, not invented down below. God’s character already exists and is better than anything you can devise yourself. God’s character isn’t something you can create out of whole cloth.² Instead, you receive it by finding and learning it from those who already possess it. The scriptures are full of examples of people following this pattern. For example, Elisha spent as much time as possible learning from and living like Elijah. Having been true and faithful to everything Elijah taught, he received Elijah’s mantle as Elijah ascended into heaven.³

Attempts to create God’s character ourselves will be just as ineffective⁴ as Adam and Eve’s attempt to hide their nakedness from God with the fig leaf coverings they made. The real protection came from the animal skin garments they received from God, not their juvenile imitation of the real thing. Note that in spite of the goodness of one’s intentions, counterfeiting what can only come from God is never sufficient for the task or commended by God.⁵

Garments are put on all at once. You can add or remove items of clothing, but you don’t wear half a shirt or one leg of a pair of pants. You would not replace one portion of your present robe at a time, attempting to sew the new into the old.¹⁶⁶⁴ Your idea of how Jesus is will improve over time, but you submit to a single snapshot of how you believe him to be and must fully resubmit to any changes as they occur.

While it is possible to wear layers of clothing, at some point, you can’t put anything else on before taking something else off. It’s quite normal to change out one item of clothing for another, whether because the former is dirty or worn, or to make room for something better.¹⁶⁶⁵ Similarly, adopting new ideas about Jesus, yourself, others, and the world will frequently require you to let go of old ideas about them.¹⁶⁶⁶ You repent through forsaking your sins.¹⁶⁶⁷ You cover the sins of others by persuading them to abandon their former ways of living for better ways of living.¹⁶⁶⁸