What Shall I Wear Today?

Our Right to Wear the King’s Robe

“What shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honor? . . . . Let a royal robe be brought . . . that he may array the man whom the king delights to honor.”—Esther 6:6, 8, 9, NKJV

In the Old Testament book of Esther, King Ahasuerus honored Mordecai for foiling the assassination plot against him by giving Mordecai the right to wear the royal robes of the king (Esther 6:6-11). He was treated as royalty.

In a similar way, because of Christ’s work of redemption in identification, as believers we take on the identity of the righteous Christ. Paul declared, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor 5:21).

On this basis, and referring to Mordecai in the book of Esther being dressed in kingly attire and given the royal treatment, Andrew Murray applied this in a personal way to every believer: “Believer, abide in Christ as your righteousness. . . . Take time to realize that the King’s own robe has indeed been put on, and that in it you need not fear entering into His presence. It is the token that you are the man whom the King delights to honor. . . . Live your daily life in the full consciousness of being righteous in God’s sight, an object of delight and pleasure in Christ.”  (Abide in Christ).

A.B. Simpson asserted in his book The Self Life or the Christ Life, “We have put off the old man and put on the new man. We have ceased to be paupers and have become princes.  Therefore, we are to put off the rags of the beggar and wear the badge of rank of a prince.”

Speaking of God’s grace to seat us in the heavenly places in Christ, A.W. Tozer writes his book The Knowledge of the Holy, “We benefit eternally by God’s being just what He is. Because He is what He is, He lifts up our heads out of the prison house, changes our prison garments for royal robes, and makes us to eat bread continually before Him all the days of our lives.”  Think of that!—Prison garments to royal robes! In a similar vein, A.B Simpson asserts:

“Do we dare to believe that we are absolutely, utterly, eternally accepted in Jesus Christ, in the same sense as He is accepted, and righteous even as He is righteous? Can we believe that our very name before God is: ‘The Lord Our Righteousness;’ His own name of ineffable holiness (Jer 23:6) given to us (Jer 33:16), even as the bride bears the husband’s name? Now, this all comes by a simple act of believing God’s testimony. God declares it of us simply because we have accepted Christ’s atonement and we believe the declaration; and take the new place assigned us.”

This righteousness is known as imputed righteousness, reckoned to the believer and worn as a garment, not to be confused with imparted righteousness within the believer, which is related to sanctification. We have the right to wear the robe of righteousness, and as we grow in holiness, that righteousness is imparted within us.

Dare to believe that you are accepted at the throne of God.

Dare to believe you are royalty.

Put on the royal robe of righteousness —

The King delights to honor you!