for him by God himself. In the 6th verse of this chapter the Jews are informed, that " they (not the tribe of Levi only, but their whole nation) shall be named the priests of the Lord, and the ministers of their God." Now lor the priests there were certain garments appointed, wherein they were to minister, especially the linen ephod ; which was intended to intimate to them the purity that became their high office. For the high priest there were some other " garments for glory and for beauty c." In reference to these it is that the believer says, " He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation ;" for every believer under the Christian dispensation is " a king and a priest unto his Godd :" the whole body of them are " a royal priesthood e :" and for them a robe of righteousness is prepared, which shall be to them a garment of salvation. This robe of righteousness may be understood of that righteousness which the Lord Jesus Christ hath wrought out for his people by his own obedience unto death, and " which is unto all, and upon all, them that believe in himf." This is the righteousness which the Prophet Daniel speaks of as to be brought in by the Messiah g, and which St. Paul desired to possess, " not having his own righteousness which was of the law, but the righteous- ness which was of God by faith in Christ11." It is by imparting this righteousness to the believer that " Christ is made right- eousness unto him1," and that he acquires that title which is given him by all his people, " The Lord our Righteousness14."
But these garments of salvation may also be understood of that righteousness which the Holy Spirit imparts to all who believe in Christ. He forms them anew : he enables them to " put on the Lord Jesus Christ1 ;" or, in other words, to " put off the old man, and to put on the new, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness111." This is the idea which the priestly garments were more immediately intended to convey : for though they were an outward covering, they were chiefly emblematic of inward purity; in reference to which it is said, " Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation*." And this may well be called " a garment of salvation :" for, though it is not that which justifies us before God, it constitutes our meetness for the heavenly inheritance0, and is that " without which no man shall see the Lord p."
With these garments and this robe is the believer clothed : the very moment he comes to Christ, the one is imputed to him, so that he is " accepted in the Beloved"1;" and the other
c Exod. xxviii. 2. d Rev. i. G. e 1 Pet. ii. 9.
f Rom. iii. 22. s Dan. ix. 24. h Phil, iii. 9.
' 1 Cor. i. 30. k Jer. xxiii. G. ' Rom. xiii. 14.
m Eph. iv. 24. n Exod. xix. 6. ° Col. i. 12.
p Heb. xii. 14. n Eph. i. 6.