Dressed to Impress
- Pamela Carlson Hogewoning
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
A Reflection for Thursday, December 18 by Rev. Pamela Hogewoning
Lectionary reading for 12/18/2025: Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; 2 Samuel 7:1-17; Galatians 3:23-29;
Selected passage for reflection: Galatians 3.23-29
Read
Galatians 3:23-29 NLT
Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed.
Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.
For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.
Reflect
Two elements stick out to me from this familiar passage in Galatians. The first is the law and how its role has shifted from before Christ to after Christ’s coming. The law was a guard, a guide, a means of keeping one on track. In a way, it was the tutor giving insight and direction. In this idea, the very intent of the law was for it to remain in effect only for a particular period of time. Every successful tutor and guardian eventually works it way out of a job. This is why Paul says, “And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian” (v 25).
The second element is that through faith we are one in Christ and there are no distinctions, not Jew or Gentile, not slave nor free, not male nor female (v 28). There is a oneness in the mystical body of Christ that is beyond individual identifiers. This oneness comes through clothing ourselves in Christ and Christ alone.
These two elements are sobering reminders. They confront me with the reality that neither my adherence to the law and all that entails nor what uniquely identifies me as me brings me into the inheritance of faith. To state it plainly, it is not who I am or what I do that finds me a place in the family of God and a recipient of the promises of God. This reality, in a healthy way, offends my pride, and it reveals my insecurity. The purpose of which is not to tear my efforts down or disparage who I am, but to bring more profound healing and deliverance by recognizing that they are not the means of gaining spiritual inheritance.
Instead, faith in Christ ushers me into the family and identifies me as a child of God and an heir of God’s promise. Being identified with Christ, baptized in him, proclaiming him as Lord and Saviour, has poured out a new identifier upon me. I am clothed, not with myself, but with Jesus. When I live out my life in this manner, clothed in Jesus, I do not live in the limitations of who I am or what I can do, but live in the infinite grace and richness of Christ Jesus.
Respond
In this last week before Christmas, as you wrap your gifts, as you finish projects or preparations, and as you dress in your holiday best for Christmas parties and gatherings, consider with what you are clothed? With what have you been dressing yourself? Is it your own efforts and attempts? Have you fallen back into the default of self-reliance? Allow the Spirit to identify any area in your heart or mind that is clothed in something other than Christ. Do this, so that you can lay it down and receive the presence of the person of Jesus Christ and find the inheritance He has for you.
Rest
We thank you, Lord, for your Son. As we move throughout this next week, may we first clothe ourselves in the one who has come, is coming, and will come. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
About the Author
Rev. Pamela Hogewoning is an ordained minister currently serving as Chaplain at the Thunder Bay Correctional Centre. For the past five years and counting, Pamela has served incarcerated men and women who are walking out their own spiritual journey. She is the Northern Region Representative on the Provincial Chaplains Supervisor Advisory Committee and continues to guest-preach in local congregations. She and her husband, Nick, have recently launched High Dwelling Ministries, which provides healing and deliverance ministry and focuses on supporting the health of local churches. They live on the outskirts of Thunder Bay, Ontario, with their three children, enjoying the typical activities of a busy family, the wildlife surrounding them, and the occasional black bear poking around their home.