In this article I’m going to explore the “fine linen, clean and white” granted to the Lamb’s wife in Revelation 19:7-9
7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
To understand anything in Revelation we need to first understand the nature of the book. Chapter 1 verse 1 states that the “the revelation of Jesus Christ” was “signified” unto John. Signified is seimano in the Greek which means “to give a sign”.
A sign that says Melbourne is not Melbourne, it points to Melbourne. Thus the fine linen, clean and white described in Revelation 19 is not a literal garment, it points to something else.
To find out what that something else is, we need to look at the bible as a whole and allow it to interpret itself.
let’s start at the parable of the king who arranged a wedding for his son.
Matthew 22
2 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,
8 Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.
9 Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
10 So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.
11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
14 For many are called, but few are chosen.
During bible times those invited to a wedding were provided with a garment to wear.
Rev. 19:8 states that the lamb’s wife was “granted” such a garment. “Granted” means to give, to bestow a gift.
Ephesians 2
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God
Salvation is a “gift” in the sense that it comes via the grace of God.
Grace charis means the divine influence upon the heart.
Salvation is not possible without divine influence, hence salvation is “not of yourselves: it is the gift of God”.
Titus 2
11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men
The wedding garment has “appeared to all men” yet it’s is up to us to put it on.
Refusing to “put on” the provided garment makes one “not worthy” to partake in the marriage supper.
This is receiving the grace of God “in vain” (2 Cor. 6:1) which will land a person in “outer darkness”.
1 Corinthians 11
29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself…
Now consider the following verses…
Ephesians 4
22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man…
24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
We “put off” our old man through repentance and “put on” the “new man created in righteousness…” (Ephes. 4:22-24)
Titus 2:11&12
For the grace of God…teaching us to…live…righteously in this present world
The new man “created in righteousness” is the result of one yielding to the divine influence “teaching” us to “live righteously".
2 Corinthians 5
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature, old things are passed away behold all things are become new
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him
Being a “new creature” “in Christ” means being “made the righteousness of God in him”
Justification is considered by many as a mere legal adjustment, however the word justify tsadaq means to make righteous therefore being justified is equivalent to being “made the righteous of God in him”.
There is nothing “positional” about this righteousness. It’s not magically transferred or imputed to us. We’re not hiding our true selves behind Christ’s righteousness. We’ve been transformed into a “new creature” who is IS righteous.
1 John 3
7 …he that doeth righteousness IS righteous…
How does this transformation take place?
2 Corinth. 6
1 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.
Faith is “working together” or cooperating with God. Working together is sunergeo in the Greek from which we get the word synergy. Receiving the gift of salvation requires working together synergistically with God.
Back to Ephesians 2:8&10
For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God…
For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works
Salvation is a “gift” we “put on” through faith.
Paul used the phrase “work of faith” (1 Thess. 1:3) to indicate how faith is active not passive thus it involves putting off the old man and putting on the new.
Hebrews 11
7 “By faith Noah” was “moved” to build the ark.
8 “By faith Abraham” “obeyed”
Faith is always connected to action hence “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26)
Ephesians 2:8&9
For by grace are ye saved…not of works lest any man should boast
“Not of works” refers to dead religious works done apart from divine influence.
The "new man” is “created… unto good works”. These works are done in response to divine influence hence the new man is “created” by God.
The fine linen, clean and white in Revelations 19 and the wedding garment in Matthew 22 elude to the “holy garments” worn by Aaron and his sons under the Old Covenant.
Their garments had to be made of linen so as not to cause sweat.
17 …they shall be clothed with linen garments…
18 They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat.
Adam and Eve ate freely from the trees in the garden of Eden, however when cast out of the garden they had to work for their food, producing sweat.
Genesis 3:19
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread…
Thus sweat represents the works of the flesh, dead religious works done apart from divine influence.
In conclusion:
The fine linen, clean and white, granted to the lamb’s wife which is the “righteousness of saints” is the “new man…created in righteousness…” “created in Christ Jesus unto good works” “made the righteousness of God in him”.
Just as the wedding garment was “granted” to the lambs wife and provided for those attending the marriage supper in Matthew 22, salvation is a “gift” in the sense that it has “appeared to all men”.
However, it’s up to us to “put off” our old man and “put on” the new man by synergistically “working together” with God through faith. Faith is always connected to action, indeed obedience hence it includes repentance from sin.
The “righteousness of saints” in Revelation 19 has nothing to do with dead religious works, rather works done in response to divide influence. Salvation is not possible without divine influence hence it is “not of yourselves” we are “created…unto good works”.
The fine linen granted to the lambs wife eludes to the linen garments worn by Aaron and his sons. “Linen” points to the fact that being “created…unto good works” is not of the flesh rather the result of us “working together” with God.
No comments:
Post a Comment