|
Simple Biblical Guidelines
for Clothing
Ask Yourself Some Questions
For
any article of clothing we, as a Christian man, woman or child
could ever wear, we should always ask ourselves a few questions.
Allow me to elaborate.
Is it worn by the opposite sex?
Deuteronomy 22:5
"The woman shall not wear
that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's
garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God."
I know that just as soon as many of you read
that verse, you immediately thought "Well, that's Old Testament and not
for us today". I'm quite sure that you also (some of you anyway)
will want to refer to Verse 11 also. Allow me to present it for your
benefit:
Deuteronomy 22:11
"Thou shalt not wear a
garment of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen together."
How then, should we interpret the two
scriptures concerning clothing? Before you throw out scripture
because it is Old Testament, let me first begin at the 1st verse of
Deuteronomy 22 and you tell me if you agree with the scriptures or not.
Deut 22:1
"Thou shalt not see thy
brother's ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou
shalt in any case bring them again unto thy brother."
Do you agree that you should attempt to
restore to your brother the sheep, ox, (read it as possessions) that you
watched go astray? Would it be Godly for you to watch them and say
nothing? Of course not. Do you agree that this is a command of
God and right in his eyes?
Deuteronomy 22:2
"And if thy brother be not
nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it unto
thine own house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after
it, and thou shalt restore it to him again."
If your brother lived several miles away (or
if you found a lost puppy today with a collar), what would you do?
Would you treat it well until you could either return it or until he could
come get it? Do you agree that it is the right thing to do (to
restore it to him).
Deuteronomy 22:3
"In like manner shalt thou do
with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his raiment; and with all lost
thing of thy brother's, which he hath lost, and thou hast found, shalt
thou do likewise: thou mayest not hide thyself."
Would you do the same if you found his
wallet, his coat, his bible? When God says "thou mayest not hide
thyself.", do you realize he is saying, don't you turn a blind eye to
this. You get up and do something about it. Would you agree
with these scriptures?
Deuteronomy 22:4
"Thou shalt not see thy
brother's ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them:
thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again."
If only this verse wasn't here! Many of
you WILL be convicted if you allow the scripture to speak to you. Do
you now turn away when you see your brother in need (how about when you
see him with vehicle problems on the side of the road?) Do you think
God is making unreasonable demands here?
In every single verse, you could, if you wished to, throw out these
commands, but I ask you, are they moral? Are they "neighborly"?
Do they apply to us today? If they are moral, they apply to us now.
If they are neighborly, they apply to us now. Again I ask, "Are they
moral and neighborly"?
The obvious answer is YES to each of those questions. YES they are
moral, they are neighborly and they apply
to us today.
Why then, do we get to verse 5 and come unglued?
Deuteronomy 22:5
"The woman shall not wear
that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's
garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God."
Why do people throw such a childish, immature temper tantrum and get so
emotional over verse 5? You agree with the first 4, why throw out
number 5? Ask yourself now: Is verse 5 MORAL?
Yes, of course verse 5 is moral. How can it be otherwise? I don't know
why people find it so difficult to discern the nature or the
intent of the Laws of God when it comes to these types of topics.
I DO understand that unregenerate hearts have great difficulty with even
the most basic of passages and that it is man's sinful nature to despise
and detest any instruction that teaches him to do something
he doesn't want to do. Friends, THAT is called rebellion.
Perhaps this is the real issue at hand!
Many denominations (therein lies the vast majority of the problem) today
teach that the entire Law, including the Ten Commandments were nailed to
the cross and abolished, yet Nine of those Commandments were reinstated in
the New Testament.
If people stop worrying about "Do I have to do this or do that" and
start concerning themselves with what the law actually MEANS (in
other words, the PRINCIPLE of the law), they would stop straining
at gnats while swallowing camels.
The ONLY question that ought to be important to you when you read the
law is WHY. When you find out WHY the law was given,
you'll then understand WHY it pertains (or does not pertain) to us today.
God NEVER gave man any law that was "bad" for man. God didn't just
arbitrarily make up laws just so man could have laws. He didn't make
up laws to "take away your fun". God made laws for man because he
knows man and knows what is IN man. God created laws that man MIGHT
have a way back to God. The laws of God, when obeyed will save you
much heartache, hurt and trouble that could come your way if you disobey
them. The law was GOOD, and Paul reaffirmed this in Romans chapter
7.
Romans 7:12
"Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and
just, and good."
The problem for most people today comes when they read certain laws and,
in their lack of understanding of the purposes for such laws, they
stumble over them. As we continue, I'll give an example or two of
this.
Α Ω
|
|
