What happens when someone relies on his own veneer instead of God's righteousness?
When someone relies on his own veneer instead of God's righteousness, he works a lifetime to build and protect a self-made reputation, but the old Adam eventually gets the best of him. Sin traps him, as with a wealthy businessman destroyed by cheating, because God still sees an open sepulcher.
Les explains that people try to put on their own veneer instead of God's covering, and that veneer is something they work out for a whole lifetime. He illustrates it with a mother's saying: it can take a lifetime to build a reputation, but only five minutes to destroy it. Eventually their old Adam gets the best of them—as when a successful wealthy businessman is caught in a trap of sin, cheating, and ends up in federal prison, life destroyed. By contrast, when a person is covered with the righteousness of God, those things don't happen. Les clarifies that a believer can still sin, but it is a whole different ballgame. When someone tries to veneer or fix himself up, all God sees again is that open sepulcher. This connects to the garments of salvation and the robe of righteousness in Isaiah verse 10, where a believer is adorned as a bride or bridegroom.