New Robe of Righteousness – The Presidential Prayer Team

No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. – Mark 2:21

When the woman from Samaria queried Jesus on whether or not people ought to worship God in Jerusalem, Jesus said to her, “The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth” (John 4:20-23). The writer of Hebrews confirmed that Jesus Christ would establish a new covenant with the house of Israel, one which would extend to all peoples of the world. Jesus said, “I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts” (Hebrews 8:8-10).

There would no longer be a need for sacrifices, for the Holy One of God would be the once-for-all sacrifice. There could be no adjustments to the Mosaic Law that God ordained when Israel left Egypt. There would be no modifications of the Old Covenant, as the New Covenant made the old one obsolete (v. 13).

Jesus had come not to mend the “old garment,“ but to make a new one. He fulfilled the Law, satisfying the rules and regulations humanity could not keep (Matthew 5:17). The New Covenant affords all who follow Jesus spiritual freedom within the good news of the Gospel. Salvation through Christ dresses the believer in a new robe of righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).

God has not changed. In times of turmoil, it is you, the believer, who can bring the Good News of His transforming love to a hurting neighbor or friend. He wants each one to become a new creation in Him.

Today’s Verse: Mark 2:21

No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made.

All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Recommended for further reading: 2 Corinthians 5:14-21

¹⁴For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; ¹⁵and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

¹⁶From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. ¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. ¹⁸All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ²¹For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.