Put Off the Grave Clothes Lazarus

“Jesus said, Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, said unto him, Lord, by this time he stinks: for he has been dead four days. Jesus said unto her, Did I not say unto you, that, if you would believe, you should see the glory of God? Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid… He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus said unto them, Loose him, and let him go”

from John 11:39-44

John chapter 11 tells us that Jesus has the power to resurrect a person from the grave. But something that interested me in this story is the command for Lazarus to be let loose from his graveclothes. This reminds me of a court scene in heaven that was depicted in Zechariah chapter 3:

“And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke you, O Satan; even the LORD that has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel. And he answered and spoke unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused your iniquity to pass from you, and I will clothe you with change of raiment”.

Zechariah 3:1-4

The bible compares our old sinful nature to dirty garments that must be changed. It actually seems like a pretty easy thing to do, but in the church we have made getting rid of sin very difficult (if not impossible). For adults, changing clothes is a pretty simple process, but for babies this task is impossible. When a person is born again they will need help putting on the new clothes. That is why God had commanded Joshua to be changed, and why Jesus commanded the people to loose Lazarus from his graveclothes.

This help comes in the form of correct teaching, and reminding people of the gift we have received in Jesus Christ. It is why the Bible commands us, “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end” (Heb. 3:12-14).

In the church we say things that continually reinforce how sinful we are, and how we can never be freed completely from sin. Oh, what a lie this is! Satan has done a great job at filling the church with lies and compromise.

Jesus said, “Whosoever commits sin is the servant of sin. And the servant does not abide in the house for ever: but the Son abides ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed” (From John 8:34-36). If you commit sin you are in bondage to it, plain and simple. If you are a son of God you will not be a slave to sin, but made free from it because “whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world” (from 1John 5:4).

So why are we still stuck? I have found that there are two main reasons: a lack of understanding of what Jesus has done for us, or unbelief. We are either ignorant to what God has provided for us in His Son Jesus, or we know what Jesus has done and do not fully believe it, for everything is by faith. “By grace are you save through faith” (Eph. 2:8).

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject you…”

Hosea 4:6

God has said, “my people are destroyed for for lack of knowledge.” If we do not know what God has done for us Satan will use that against us and destroy us. It is hard to combat a lie if we do not know the truth. Jesus said the truth will make us free, but if we do not know the truth then the lie will continue to dominate us.

He also said if we reject knowledge then He will reject us. So let us not continue to be ignorant. We should come into an understanding of what God has done for us. The Bible declares plainly if any man is baptized into Christ he is baptized into His death.

“Do you not know, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? For this reason we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that from this time forward we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin” (Rom. 6:3-7).

If we are in Christ the old man is crucified with Jesus on the cross, and now we are resurrected with Him by the power of the Holy Spirit. That is why 2 Corinthians 5:17-18 says, “For this reason if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God…” We are new creatures! We are no longer living according to the old sinful man. “And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created [us]” (Col. 3:10).

“Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you Believe this?”

John 11:25-26

Faith is the Principle thing. “For with the heart man believes unto righteousness” (from Rom. 10:10). If we truly believe that God has raised Jesus from the dead, and that we are found in him then we will walk in newness of life. But if we do not believe then we will continue to walk in the old man. By unbelief the old man will not be dead, he will be alive and well.

We need to come to a place in the church where we are no longer regurgitating false doctrines. We need to come into an understanding of what God has done for us. And once we come into a place of understanding, we can not continue to speak doubt and unbelief.