FROM AN ONLINE SITE --ON DRESS CODE

FOUND FROM AN ONLINE CHRISTIAN SITE

"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." (First Corinthians 6:19-20)

I'll give you a personal illustration of this. When I first met my wife, I basically told her how I wanted her to dress, and she just thought I was crazy. "Why should I dress like that?" "Because I am your husband and I told you to." Thank God, there was an older lady in our church who was able at that time to take the Bible and show her what I should have been able to show her, as a preacher. If I had been able to show her from the Bible, it would have saved us a lot of fights in the beginning of our marriage. There was even a time at the beginning of our marriage when she did what I told her to do, because I told her to do it, but she did it begrudgingly. But when she actually saw from the Bible what God expected, she no longer did it begrudgingly, but willingly. So I hope to be able to show you from the Bible what God expects. 

Many people will say, "Well, God looks on the heart. God doesn't care what you look like on the outside. God just looks on the heart." That is true. God does look on the heart, but man cannot see the heart. Man can only see the outer. Not only that, the outer appearance is usually a pretty good indicator of what is in a person's heart. Although it is possible to look right on the outside and be wrong on the inside, it is well nigh impossible to look right on the outside and be right on the inside. What is on the outside comes from the inside. That is why Jesus said, "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" (Matthew 12:34). Granted, a man could say the right things, and have a wrong heart, but a man who had a right heart would never say the wrong things. So the outer appearance is the only indicator that man has that someone is right with God, right in their heart. So God does care how we look. Not only does God care how we look, there are rules in the Bible for both men and women that should govern our appearance. Now, whenever you start to talking about these rules, the women are always the first ones to complain, because there are more rules for the women than there are for the men. And I often wonder why the Bible has all these rules for the women and very few rules for the men, and the reason why is because men and women are made differently. I know that is not a "politically correct" thing to say, but it is none the less true. God made man and women differently. 

Women on the other hand are stimulated by touch. It could be a physical touch or an emotional touch. So all a man has to do is look at a woman, and she is stimulated. A woman has to be talked to, and she has to be touched. And as I said, that touch can be emotional. A man could talk to a woman in such a way that she is touched emotionally. Or it could be a physical touch. He could begin to pet her or stroke her in some way and that would begin to stimulate her. That is why pornography is sold mainly to men. There is some pornography that is sold to women, but statisticians tell us that the majority of the pornographic magazines that are published for women are actually purchased by a man, because women aren't really stimulated by sight. That is why you can go to the mall and see some of the ugliest guys with some of the most attractive women, because they know how to touch. They know how to touch emotionally and how to touch physically, so the woman is satisfied, whereas the man has to see something. He is stimulated by sight. Therefore, God has given certain commands to women regarding their appearance, so they will not stimulate men. And God has given different commands to men, such as in First Corinthians 7:1, which says, "It is good for a man not to touch a woman. And then verse two, Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband." So while a woman is commanded to dress a certain way so the man is not stimulated, the man is commanded to act a certain way, to behave a certain way, so the woman is not stimulated. That is why the commands are different. That is why the man is commanded, "Defraud ye not." That is why they are commanded not to touch. The additional rules for appearance are for the lady's own protection. They are designed to protect her from the lusts of man. But let's start with the rules for men. There are basically only two rules in the Bible for man's appearance, at least that I have found in my studies of the Scriptures. There may be more, but I've only found two. In Deuteronomy 22:5, it says, "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God." The first command of God, concerning the way a man should appear is that a man should not wear a woman's clothing. I don't know too many men who violate that one. There may be a few, but I have never seen it in a church. And the Bible does not say that a man who puts on a woman's garment has just sinned, but that he has committed an abomination. Lying is a sin. Stealing is a sin. Adultery is a sin. Bestiality is an abomination. Homosexuality is an abomination. So if a man puts on a woman's garment, he has not just committed a sin. He has committed an abomination. He has done something that in the mind of God, is equal to having sex with an animal. 

Now rules for women. Again, Deuteronomy 22:5, "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man." Again, if a woman dresses like a man and a lot of women do, God says they have committed an abomination. It amazes me, but I do not know any Christian women who would think of committing an act of bestiality or homosexuality, but yet they would commit the abomination of cross dressing. The Bible says this is an abomination. 

The second rule given to women is in First Timothy 2:9, which states, "In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel." The third and fourth rule are also in First Timothy 2:9. It says they should not only adorn themselves in modest apparel, but, "with shamefacedness and…" then the fourth command, "sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array." Sobriety is a word that basically means with moderation. 

So let's take those rules and apply them. I want to bring it down to where you live and why you should do certain things. So knowing these four rules that God has given to a woman's appearance: Rule number one, it should not pertain to a man. Rule number two, it should be modest. Rule three, they should dress with shamefacedness. And rule number four, it should be with sobriety or moderation. Let us apply the rules to the different garments women should wear and determine which garments agree with the Biblical dress code and which do not. 

Also, women are commanded to dress with shamefacedness. That simply means they are not to draw attention to themselves. And too tight  pants draw attention to the woman's figure. So if you wear a pair of too tight pants, or even a tight skirt, it shows the figure and it is not shamefacedness, or modest, because it doesn't flow. It shows the figure and it stimulates men. And of course, you should not want to dress in such a way that it stimulates the lusts of a man. Remember in First Corinthians chapter thirteen that it says, "Charity doth not behave itself unseemly." You shouldn't seek to do things that would cause someone to fall. Jesus said that if a man looks on a woman with lust in his heart, he has already committed adultery with her. Do you realize that if you dress in such a way that it shows your form and figure, and some man lusts after you, you have just let him commit adultery with you? "Well, he didn't have to look." Yes, and he could have also driven blindfolded into a tree somewhere. Get real. Granted, a man should know how to keep control of his mind, but women ought not to be tempting him either. 
Now let's apply this to the second type of clothing a woman should wear.   Neither shorts or mini-skirts are long and shorts do not flow, therefore shorts or mini-skirts would not be modest, because they do not meet the length requirement. A katastole is a long and flowing garment. The second reason why shorts and mini-skirts would be inappropriate for a woman is because the Bible specifically says that when a woman's thighs show, she is naked. Isaiah 47:2-3 says, "Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers. Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man." Here was a women who wanted to cross a river. God wanted to disgrace the woman, (If you read the text in Isaiah chapter forty-seven, you will see why.) so He commanded her to walk across the river, then, to lift up her skirt so her thigh would show. And God said that when her thigh was exposed, she would be naked and her shame would be revealed. We read that she was told to uncover the locks, to make bare the leg, uncover the thigh and "thy nakedness shall be uncovered." 

The thigh goes from your hips to somewhere in the knee. So if a woman dresses in such a way where that part of her body is exposed, the Bible says she is naked. Mini-skirts expose that part of the body. Thus, if a woman wears a mini-skirt, she is naked. And shorts, they expose that part of the body, and the Bible says in Isaiah chapter forty-seven, if she shows that part of the body, she would be naked. Well then, if you wear a pair of shorts, you would be naked, according to God. Therefore shorts and the mini-skirt would be immodest, because they are not long, and because they expose nakedness. And as I said, the thigh goes down into the knee. So the only way to guarantee that the thigh is not exposed is to wear a skirt or dress that goes below the knee. That is why a preacher demands that a woman wear skirts and dresses below the knee. 

And this should make it obvious that bathing suits are not modest, that they expose nakedness. You could buy a mini-skirt that only uncovers three or four inches of nakedness. A swimsuit will expose a full eighteen inches of nakedness. We think that if we get on a swimsuit, our genitals are covered and we are clothed. God says no, you don't just cover your genitals. You cover the thigh. Plus the swimsuit shows off the form and the figure, and is not shamefacedness. It doesn't flow. It is not long. It is not modest. 

We read that when Adam and Eve realized they had sinned they sewed fig leaves together. What did they do? They covered their genitals. What did God do? He said, "No, that is not good enough. You need to cover more than your sexual area. You need to cover your nakedness." So what did He do? He slew an animal and clothed them in skins, so their nakedness would be covered. 
What about tight skirts? I see a lot of women with tight skirts. I went to a Bible college where we had rules. Women had to wear dresses and skirts. They weren't allowed to wear slacks. But let me tell you, a lot of those girls wore some pretty tight dresses and skirts. You could see every curve on their body. Was that modest? No, because it didn't flow. If it flowed, it wouldn't show the figure. Was it shamefaced? No, because shamefacedness is to be dressed in such a way as not to draw attention to the figure. So a modest garment is a flowing garment. A tight garment or dress is not modest, regardless of how much flesh it covers. Granted, it may go down below the knees and you are not naked, but you are still not modest. You are still not shamefaced. So a woman needs to wear a dress or a skirt that is not just below the knees, but a dress or skirt that is full or flowing. It is modest only if it goes below the knee and it is not tight or reveals the form of the figure. 

So people say, "Well, what about fashion?" The Bible says we are not to be conformed to the world, in Romans 12:2. And in Proverbs 25:29, the Bible teaches us that "the fear of man bringeth a snare." We don't have to have the latest style. We do not have to be afraid of fashion. But at the same time, First Corinthians 7:31 says, "And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away." So we don't want to be a slave of fashion. We don't want to necessarily spend all of our money, time and resources making sure we have the latest styles and fads, but at the same time, we don't have to throw away our clothes because they happen to be fashionable. 

You have a skirt and have owned it a number of years and maybe it hasn't been in style for the last five or six years, but all of a sudden, that particular style of skirt comes back in style. You don't have to throw the skirt away, just because it happens to be in style. The Bible says it is okay to use the world, as long as you do not abuse it. It is okay to be in fashion, as long as you are not a slave of fashion. And we also don't have to purposely go to the second-hand store and go out of our way to find clothes that we know are out of date and not in style. There are some Christians who, when they go to buy clothes, they go to the second-hand store and purposely buy a tie that hasn't been in style for twenty years, because they don't want people to think they are worldly. The Bible doesn't say that you have to do that. If you want to do that, I guess it is fine. We have liberty in Christ. You have the liberty to go and buy ugly ties, but God doesn't put some command on you that you have to dress a certain way so as not to be fashionable. Although you shouldn't be a slave to fashion, if the clothes that you are wearing happen to be fashionable, that is okay. The command of God is to be modest, that women be shamefaced and dress with sobriety, or with moderation. So if a garment is modest, if it is shamefaced and in moderation, and happens to be in fashion, well, God bless you. Go for it. 

What about pretty clothes? It is the same thing. There is no sin in wearing pretty clothes. In fact, God wants your clothes to be beautiful. God wants a woman to be beautiful. God wants a woman to be beautiful for her husband. We read in Proverbs chapter thirty-one that the "virtuous woman will wear pretty clothes. It says, "She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet. She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple (Proverbs 31:21-22). So we read here that a virtuous woman wore very beautiful clothes. You can wear pretty clothes and that is fine. God wants you to be beautiful. You know, a woman should want to be beautiful for her husband. In First Corinthians chapter seven it says that the husband owns the wife's body, and if that be the case, if a woman deprives her husband of her beauty, she is actually sinning against her husband. That is why God gave the woman to the man. 

What about makeup and perfume? Well, once again, the Bible says a woman is supposed to dress with moderation and with sobriety. The Bible says, "Let your moderation be known unto all men" (Philippians 4:5). There is nothing in the Bible that says makeup and perfume are wicked. In fact, in the book of Esther, after she had bathed, she anointed her body (Esther 2:9). More than likely, she put on perfume. Granted, some who would oppose the use of cosmetics and perfume would point out verses in the Bible such as Isaiah 57:9, Jeremiah 4:30, II Kings 9:30, Ezekiel 23:40, Revelation 18:12-13, where wicked women wore perfume or wore makeup. They point out where Jezebel wore makeup, and the whore of Revelation wore makeup, therefore it is a sin to wear makeup. But we also see that in Bible days, amongst Jewish women, that the use of cosmetics and facial lubricants was common. We read several references where perfumes and cosmetics were used by godly women who loved the Lord (Proverbs 27:9, Song of Solomon 1:3; 3:6; 4:10, Esther 2:12). Not only did women who were godly and loved the Lord, wear makeup and perfume, not only did God never said it was a sin, the Bible describes God adorning His bride Israel and it says He adorned her with jewels, with pretty clothes and with perfume. So if God would adorn His bride that way, then there is nothing wrong with a man adorning his wife that way. One time a UPC preacher came to me and said that he wished that the Bible did not prohibit a woman from wearing makeup and jewelry because, "A lot of women in our church look terrible." I told this to a United Pentecostal preacher (a guy who had some common sense, because he agreed with me), that the Bible says the woman is not to adorn herself in these things. But the Bible also says the woman ought not to have power over her own body, but that it belongs to her husband. The Bible doesn't say that a man could not adorn his wife. And when God adorned His wife, He adorned her with jewels, pretty clothes and perfume. So if a man wants to adorn his wife, he is at liberty to do so. This Pentecostal preacher got excited. He went out and got his wife a makeup kit, some perfume and earrings. People in his church thought he had flipped his lid, but he just opened up his Bible and preached it like I told him to. I don't know if they accepted it or not, but they didn't throw him out of the pastorate (of course, his wife only wore these things at home). God wants His bride to be adorned. You find that in the book of Revelation, that Christ's bride is adorned for Him. God adorned His bride, Israel. And a man should adorn his wife. A man should want his wife to be beautiful and a woman should want to be beautiful for her husband. 

Here is a good quote. Dr. Bob Jones Sr. used to always say this, whenever he was asked about wearing makeup. "Well, if the barn needs a coat of paint, give it one." I knew one preacher who used to say, "Some women wear too much makeup. And it is probably sinful. There are other women, they don't wear enough and that is sinful too." Once again, the Bible says "Let your moderation be known unto all men." Women are to dress with sobriety, with moderation. Obviously, the Tammy Faye Bakker look would not be appropriate. 



For a woman, a great motivation for dressing and looking properly should be that she is jealous for her husband. First Corinthians 7:4 says, "The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband." The Bible says my wife belongs to me. She is my property. I own her. That is really not "politically correct," is it? But it is true. The Bible says it, and I would not want another man to be taking possession, even if only in his mind, of my property. I'm very territorial. There is only one man in the world who has the right to lust after my wife, and that is Me. And when a woman dresses in such a way where she shows her form, she shows her figure, shows her nakedness, what she is doing is taking something that belongs to her husband and giving it to another man. So you may say, "Well, I didn't go to bed with him." No, lady, but you showed him something that didn't belong to him. You showed him something he had no right to see. You showed him something that your husband and only your husband has the legal right to see. So a woman, for the love of her husband, should want to be modest. She should want to be dressed appropriately. And by the way, if you are not married, your body still belongs to your husband, whoever he will turn out to be. Therefore, if you go showing it all off because you are not married, you are robbing your future husband. You are taking something that will belong to him and giving it to someone else, and that is not right. So you may say, "Well, I have to show it off to get a husband." You do that, and there is a good chance that you will wind up with the wrong kind of husband. If you dress shamefacedly, then the only thing a man could be attracted to would be your countenance, your face, your character and your personality. It would take quite a man to become attracted to that, because men are not naturally attracted to those things at first. Naturally, the man is attracted to the flesh first, and the rest comes later. So if you can find a man who, without first having seen your body, is attracted to you, you have attracted the right kind of man.