How you dress does not affect your salvation, but your salvation affects how you dress. We are not saved because of the kind of clothes we wear. We are saved by faith in Christ. However, this does not mean we can dress inappropriately or that we lose our salvation by the kind of our attire.
When a person is saved, he or she has the Holy Spirit living within, transforming heart and mind. As a result, he or she will begin to change his or her behavior and begin to dress in a more godly fashion. But what does a “more godly fashion” mean? Generally speaking, a woman who is saved, who has the Lord living in her, will not want to dress in a provocative manner so as to draw attention to her body and cause anyone to lust. Women who are godly tend to dress modestly, but that does not mean dressing like a prude. It is perfectly fine to dress in modern styles. Women can dress very nicely, in a very feminine manner, but also in such a way as to guard their own beauty so they are not drawing unwarranted attention to various areas of their physique.
Similarly, a man accustomed to flaunting his money or his high status through expensive clothing or who overly obsesses over and idolizes his outward appearance may, in his war against the flesh and against the pride of his heart, perhaps choose to wear simpler or plainer clothes that do not draw much attention or puff up his image. A designer suit may not be inherently sinful, but if it is the outward expression of an inner sin of the heart, it’s probably time to sell the suit!
This concern for godly behavior and appearance is sanctification. Sanctification is the process God puts us through to make us more like Jesus. Of course, Jesus didn’t have an issue with the clothes he wore, but the point is that when we love others (Matt. 22:39), we don’t want to tempt them by how we dress. Women, because they look so good, can easily dress seductively. But the more sanctified a woman becomes in Christ, the more conscious she will be about how she presents herself to the world.
