NAKEDNESS COVERED WITH CHRIST
Philippians 3:9

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Let me tell you a parable about a man and his hair.

He does not recall having any hair at his birth. Of course, in his natal ignorance he could not have known whether his head was bald or covered. But he would have been not one whit happier if he had been born with the locks of Samson in the fullness of his strength, or of Absalom in the fullness of his pride.

Some would say he was born not only in a state of natal ignorance, but also natal innocence. Accordingly, even if he were born completely bald, he would have been at his birth, like Adam and Eve at their creation, naked but not ashamed (Genesis 2:25).

But he soon had his naked pate covered with much hair! He let it grow exceptionally long. And he was very fond and proud of it. He loved for his sweetheart to run her fingers through it and coo, "What a head of hair you have! You are so manly!"

But his hope of forever keeping his glorious covering receded much too soon. In his mid-thirties he noticed that he was becoming increasingly bald. Less and less hair covered his head, while more and more hair was found in his comb and brush.

He began to consider possible remedies for his baldness. But they all were unlikable. The "comb-over" hair style might cover his baldness, but it would expose his vanity. A toupee would elicit more stares than would baldness. He could tell folks his baldness was due to chemotherapy, but he would be shamed when proven to be a liar. He could completely shave his head in the hope that others would think he did not consider hair important, but he realized few if any would be fooled. He could "grin and bear it", but the grin regarding his bareness would be a façade.

He received good news one day while visiting a beauty salon. A beautician told him the reason for the thinning of his hair, and a remedy for it. The reason: He had inherited hair follicles with a genetic sensitivity to dihydrotestosterone (DHT), resulting in male pattern baldness. Hair follicles sensitive to DHT begin to miniaturize, shortening the lifespan of each hair follicle affected. Eventually, these affected follicles stop producing cosmetically acceptable hair. This problem is compounded by the alcohol in the hair care products used to make the covering more handsome. The remedy: He needs to take a supplement containing a DHT-blocker, available from a beautician - which by the way is not cheap. But he must continue to take the DHT-blocker and cease from the use of alcohol on his head for the rest of his life.

One day while taking his prescribed remedy he exclaims, "This is just like man-made religion!" Religion tells us we were born in natal innocence, and that our lack of a righteousness to cover our spiritual nakedness is nothing about which to be ashamed. Religion tells us we may obtain a righteousness by the good deeds we do in our youth. Religion loves to boast of the good deeds it claims we have done while cooing, "What a righteousness you have! You are such a fine young man!"

But we begin losing our righteous covering when our bodies begin producing sinful DHT - "Deadly Hellish Temptation" - to which we have an inherited sensitivity. The problem is compounded by the sinful effects of alcohol.

But here comes religion to the rescue! Its churches are spiritual beauty salons. Its ministers are spiritual beauticians with the remedy. They tell us we must abstain from alcohol and take their prescribed DHT-blocker, which they are happy to sell us at a handsome price. They tell us we must block our "Deadly Hellish Temptation" with regulations such as "Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle." But they warn us that we must continue to use their product for the rest of our lives, else the recovery of the righteousness they provide is only temporary. Then we would be "Covered today, but naked tomorrow!"

I. Man is not born in a state of spiritual innocence, but rather as a guilty sinner. 1. We were conceived in sin (Psalm 51:5b): "in sin my mother conceived me." 2. We were born in sin (Psalm 51:5a): "I was brought forth in iniquity." 3. We were born with the same sinful nature of our fathers (Genesis 5:3): "Adam ... begot a son in his own likeness, after his image." 4. We were born unclean before God (Job 14:4): "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one!" 5. We were born estranged from God (Psalm 58:3a): "The wicked are estranged from the womb." 6. We were born transgressors against God (Isaiah 48:8): "you ... were called a transgressor from the womb." The God-Man Jesus Christ is the only exception, being the only "Holy One" even from conception (Luke 1:35). (Jeremiah and John the Baptist were holy in their mother's wombs [Jeremiah 1:5; Luke 1:15], but not from conception.)

II. Man is incapable of meriting a righteousness even in his youth. 1. We were born liars (Psalm 58:3b): "They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies." 2. We were born incapable of a godly thought (Genesis 8:21): "the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth" (cp. 6:5). 3. We were born incapable of doing good (Ecclesiastes 7:20): "For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin." 4. We were born in bondage to Satan – in "the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will" (2 Timothy 2:26b; cp. Ephesians 2:1-3). 5. We were born incapable of liberating ourselves (Proverb 22:14): "foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child." The God-Man Jesus Christ is the only exception, as none but He from the womb truly "increased ... in favor with God" (Luke 2:52).

III. Man cannot lose a righteousness he never possessed. Although it is true that we lost our original righteousness in Adam's fall (Ecclesiastes 7:29; Genesis 3:1-8; Romans 5:12ff), no man has ever possessed a personal righteousness of his own making (Romans 3:10-12). Jesus Christ is the only exception, for He in his earthly life wrought a perfect righteousness (Matthew 5:17f; John 17:4; 19:30).

IV. Man-made religion cannot provide a product capable of blocking the effects of our deadly hellish temptations (spiritual DHT). Its "regulations – 'Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,' ... all concern things which perish with the using", and are only ineffective "commandments and doctrines of men. These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh" (Colossians 2:20-23).

V. Man-made religion cannot provide a product capable of producing a covering of righteousness. 1. Jehovah compares self-righteousness to a spider's web – which is woven in order to ensnare victims (Isaiah 59:5f): "They ... weave the spider's web .... Their webs will not become garments, nor will they cover themselves with their works; their works are works of iniquity." 2. Jehovah compares self-righteousnesses to menstruous cloths on a filthy thing (Isaiah 64:6): "But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags." 3. Jehovah declares self-righteousness to be disgraceful (Psalm 109:29): "let them cover themselves with their own disgrace as with a mantle." 4. Jehovah declares no man is in and of himself righteous (Romans 3:10-12): "As it is written: 'There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one."