I have often joked about the conversation I will someday have with Eve. The mother of all womanhood had a good life in the Garden of Eden, no labor pain and no laundry. Then, with one decision, life for every other woman in history changed.
In the Genesis account, clothing was a secondary result of original sin. In fact, when Adam and Eve became aware of their own nakedness, they “sewed fig leaves together” to cover themselves and then hid from God (Genesis 3:7). In other words, God’s first creations tried to cover up their shame and guilt. Their shame and guilt was handed down to every other generation of human and became our spiritual dirty laundry.
The Theology of Sin and Grace
Sometimes, I feel that shame and guilt. I wish there were a way to cover up the bad attitudes or broken thoughts and mean-spirited words. But, even if no one else can see those things, I still know they are there. There is no hiding from the sight of God. The weight of shame is heavy.
I have to ask myself don’t I believe in Jesus? Don’t I believe that Christ came to redeem me, sanctify me, and give me His righteousness? Why is grace, the unmerited favor of God, a difficult concept to accept, even to someone who has been a Christian for years?
Looking at the life and ministry of Jesus, I see His grace in action in the people that He gathered around Him. His disciples were a rough group of men, fishermen, tax collectors, doubters, those with anger issues, jealous, even a traitor. Some of the women that Jesus encountered were adulterers and immoral. Yet, His grace, the love of God in the flesh, welcomed all who believed in Him.
From where, then, does the idea come to me that I should hide and cover and live in shame when I become aware of my own sin? My theology tells me I am forgiven. But my heart feels like it is walking around in shameful dirty laundry.
Theology Applied
What I know about God (my theology) is not belief until I apply faith to it. Knowing that the Bible says that God is faithful to forgive my sins when I ask and “cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9) is different from believing that I am forgiven. Knowing that I am now “clothed in the righteousness of Jesus” (2 Cor 5: 17) requires faith applied to believe that I am “holy and without blame” before God (Eph 1:3).
All my attempts to be a better person and do good on my own are like “filthy rags” to God (Isaiah 64:6). But the work of Jesus on the cross was accomplished so that, through faith in Him, I am clothed in the righteousness of Christ before God. Because of Jesus, those who believe wear royal, heavenly garments, are adopted into God’s family, and are heirs with Jesus to the eternal life to come (Romans 8:17).
Why is this so hard to walk in, rest in, believe in? Because as a modern American raised to be strong and independent and do everything for myself, it easy to forget that Jesus did for me something that I cannot and will never be able to do for myself. Jesus took away my shameful dirty laundry and clothed me in His royal and righteous robes.
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20
The Real Story
When I remember that my theology teaches that God will faithfully forgive my sin when I ask, and when I remember to believe in the grace that I have been given, I also remember that I am not the story.
The holy God, creator of the universe, sent His Son, God in the flesh to walk among us. Jesus paid the guilt price to make me right with God. He died, rose alive again in His body, and went to be with God in His resurrected body. Jesus went before us to make a place for us to be with Him. Jesus will come again to raise us all to eternal life to be with Him forever.
Because I believe the Gospel message of Jesus Christ, shame and guilt have no place in my heart and mind. My filthy rags are gone!
“But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” 1 Corinthians 15:57
Copyright @ TA Boland 2023
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