How should we dress according to the Bible?
Solomon wrote, “And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.” (Prov. 7:10) Notice that Solomon addresses the harlot’s attire who was lying in wait for a man, caught him, kissed him and enticed him with sweet words (Prov. 7:12-20). She used the seductiveness of revealing or suggestive clothing to entice another. Now in the beginning, God made man and woman (Gen. 1:26; 2:13) and joined them in marriage one to another by which they were naked and not ashamed (gen. 2:24-25). Yet, when Adam and Eve sinned and became ashamed of their nakedness, they sewed together aprons of fig leaves (Gen. 3:7). However, despite this effort to clothe themselves, they were still naked in the eyes of God by which he clothed them more adequately by making coats of skins (Gen. 3:21). Thus, God showed them what was acceptable to wear.
Over the millenniums, when one views the television today, there is lewdness of dress exhibited by men, women and sadly even children. Oddly enough, parents even encourage their children to parade their nakedness in public view which includes but is not limited to: mini skirts, string bikinis, thongs, push-up bras, low cut blouses, and all those clothes, that as one designer said, gives us a, “look at me attitude.” Furthermore, there are many who wear their clothes so tight that you can actually read the labels of their undergarments! Thus, we live in a sexual world by which we are bombarded with sexual billboards, sexual song lyrics, sexual commercials laced with sexual innuendoes and with mothers who claim, “if ya got it, flaunt it!” They have forgotten God and they have forgotten what God showed Adam and Eve as being acceptable. Peter commanded to, “not fashioning yourselves according to your former lusts . . . be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living (1 Pet. 1:13-16 ASV). Yet we live in a world, by which many Christians, sadly, show little concern for their manner of dress and present themselves shameful and embarrassing to God. Now while stating this claim, notice that the Bible says nothing about current styles and many would classify the styles of the Bible as: “That was then . . . that is too old fashion . . . those are out of date . . . things have changed since then,” but has God really become too old fashion? I hope this is not what we are trying to say.
The fact is, God has always demanded a certain dress code. In the Old Testament, the priest had a high standard of modesty (Lev. 8:6-9) because he commanded the priest to be set apart by their dress. This command was to Aaron, his sons and priest after them. So, they were to be clothed by God’s standards. Thus the question is, by whose standards are many Christians living by, when they wear clothing so tightly that the entire chest of a woman is exposed or you see on a man what his mother and father saw at birth?
Now, some may say, “Well that is under the Old Testament and not under the New Testament.” O.K. First of all, “whatsoever things are written afortime are written for our learning . . . “ (Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 10:11-12). Second, whatsoever (meaning everything) ye do in word (meaning by your voice) or deed (meaning an act of doing), do all in the name of the Lord (Col. 3:17). Now, when one wears something that is immodest, would he still wear it in front of Jesus’s face? Third, the New Covenant calls Christians priest (Rev. 1:6). Therefore my question is: Who was the person who said that it does not matter what the priest (Christians) under the New Testament wear? Were is the book, chapter and verse for backing it up? Thus, if Christians are to be the royal priesthood and holy nation (1 Pet. 2:9), are we not also to be, “holy in all manner of conversation (which means living)” (1 Pet. 1:15-16). In addition, wasn’t it the apostle Paul who commanded that, “women adorn themselves in modest apparel” (1 Tim. 2:9-10)?
The fact is, God wants purity out of his children. He does not want the Christian’s body to become an instrument of lust (Matt. 5:28). He desires Christians to glorify God in our bodies and in spirit because they belong to him (1 Cor. 6:19-20). So, is God’s requirement for proper dress difficult to understand or are there those who are trying to find some sort of loophole in the Gospel so that we may wear something inappropriate? If Christians are to exhibit Christ in their lives, then before they leave the house, they need to look in the mirror and hold a Bible right next to them and ask, “Is this acceptable to God?” When thinking about our decency think of it this way: Our mates (husband and wife) ONLY have privileges of viewing and touching that which is to be covered (1 Cor. 7:4-5). NO ONE ELSE IS PERMITTED TO HAVE THIS RIGHT. Therefore, why should we tempt another to lust? Let’s keep ourselves clothed in modesty according to God’s standard and not to our own!