The Robes of Righteousness

“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness.”
—Isaiah 61:10 ESV

In Scripture, a robe can represent a person’s identity and status. A change of clothing can picture a change in someone’s condition or relationship with God.

In Mark Twain’s novel The Prince and the Pauper, a poor boy named Tom Canty meets Edward Tudor, the Prince of Wales. The two boys swap clothes so they can experience each other’s lives. When Tom puts on the prince’s robes, people treat him as though he is the heir to the throne. They see the royal robes and believe that he is royalty.

Under the new covenant, we are invited to put on Christ:

“For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”
—Galatians 3:27 ESV

When we put on Christ, we are choosing to live from the new identity God has given us. We are in right standing with God, welcomed as his children, and able to live in the authority of Jesus’ name.

The Bible says that anyone who belongs to Christ is a new creation—the old has gone and the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17). It also tells us to put on the new self, which has been created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:24).

It takes faith to take off our old, soiled robes and put on the robes of righteousness God has given us. We let go of our old identity, with its guilt and shame, and choose to believe what God says about us.

In Christ, we are a new creation—and we have been given a new set of righteous robes!