“And He answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, ‘Behold, I have causeed thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.” Zechariah 3:4
It was Deitrick Bonhoffer who said, “When Christ calls a man, He calls him to come and die.” This is spiritually true, for the salvation which God in Christ has accomplished for us at such a great cost is one where we are saved from, in order to be saved unto. Jesus did not die on Calvary, paying the price for our sins, so that we should continue to live in them. Nor did His salvation stop with the matter of forgiveness of sins. When He died, the moment He died, He provided a way for not only sins to be forgiven and blotted out, forgotten in their totality, but He took the sinner with Him, that the principle and law of sin would no longer dominate the soul. Deliverance from slavery to sin, self, and Satan, was not only accomplished by Christ breaking every bond, and overcoming every enslaving foe, but by putting within the believer a new principle, a new power, an eternal Life which was that of Christ by the Spirit. By the power of this indestructible, and victorious life, that of Christ Himself dwelling in the heart by the Spirit, all became possible with regard to realizing the liberty, and freedom, from the bondage of sin, as one would turn to God, to live for Him, and by Him. The coming of the Spirit of God in a new, abundant, anointing manner at Pentecost, opened the door for the believer to know the power of Christ’s victorious life over sin and the grave. But what must we grasp and understand of Christ’s work on Calvary, so that faith can lay hold upon Him as our victorious Lord?
First of all, as in the days of Zechariah, when Joshua the high priest was found clothed with filthy garments, so the individual must realize that he is a sinner, lost, and without hope in this world. Only by an act of God, by His authority, can the filthy garments of sin be removed. But this is, in part, why Christ died, to remove all the filthy garments once for all. If one would be accepted before God, and have peace with Him, then the “filthy garments,” our false concepts of righteousness, must be dealt with. All of our sins were laid on Christ, who bore the wrath and judgement of God for us. He dealt with them fully, so that we can be free from guilt and shame, then clothed with clean garments, those of Christ. So, what is this salvation to which we have been called?
By Christ’s sacrifice, and the authority that He gives to the seeking soul, power is given to trust God to take away all sin. But there is more. Power is given not only for the forgiveness of sins, but for a new life to be lived by the principle of faith. Just as sins were put away, so our sinful self, and all that sin was in man from the days of Adam, was put off. The believer is called upon to live an exchanged life, to die to the old life of sin, to live henceforth unto God by the power of the Spirit. In this era when the Spirit of God has been poured out upon all flesh, and this salvation in Christ has been spread abroad for all men to see, grasp, repent and be know, the great miracle has been unveiled since the day of Pentecost, that Christ by His Spirit has come to live in the heart in power, manifesting the glory of His resurrected life.
God gave to Joshua a commission after receiving clean garments: “If thou wilt walk in My ways, and if thou wilt keep My charge, then thou shalt judge My house.” God gives power to live victoriously.
Dear Father, Strengthen us to live. In Jesus’ name, Amen.