A Christian's wash cycle
The closing of Revelation contains these last words from Jesus:
Revelation 22:12-13
“Look, I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me to repay each person according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
Christ is clearly not speaking of salvation from sins here, what He’s describing pertains to the reward for how a Christian has chosen to live life on earth. Jesus then states what that choice looks like and what the future rewards could be:
Revelation 22:14
“Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates.”
There’s quite a bit going on in that statement, so let’s break it down into pieces that we can evaluate and understand.
Blessed are those who wash their robes
To fully understand this phrase, we’ll need to once again look within the context of Revelation.
The phrase “wash their robes” appears within the book only one other time, when John is being instructed by one of the elders:
Revelation 7:14
Then he told me: These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
A few chapters later during the wedding feast of the Lamb, we are told this about the Bride:
Revelation 19:8
She was given fine linen to wear, bright and pure. For the fine linen represents the righteous acts of the saints.
Also helpful to our understanding is looking at the similar language Jesus used when He was dictating the letters to the believers at each of the seven churches in the beginning of the book:
To the church in Sardis, Jesus said:
Revelation 3:4-5
But you have a few people in Sardis who have not defiled their clothes, and they will walk with Me in white, because they are worthy. In the same way, the one who conquers will be dressed in white clothes…
And to the church in Laodicea, Jesus said:
Revelation 3:18
I advise you to buy from Me…white clothes so that you may be dressed
All these references, taken together, give us a rich context to understand what Jesus meant during the final chapter:
The washing of the robes is something the believer does.
To have unsoiled, or white, clothes is representative of a believer’s godly actions.
The garments are a reward from Christ, and are “purchased” by the believer’s actions.
Other translations render the phrase Blessed are those who wash their robes as Blessed are those who do His commandments. Now this makes sense and is relatable…the more I do His commandments, the more I act like Christ, and the more I rightly live a life that God rewards.
But how, exactly, are we to “wash” our robes? How do we keep them from being soiled, or better yet, if we dirty our clothes, how do we clean them?
I’m certain that John would give us the same advice he gave to other believers:
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
This is the washing cycle of our lives:
We do His commands, and when we fail, we ask God to forgive – and He does. With all unrighteousness removed and our fellowship with Christ restored, we are empowered to do His commands once again. And when we fail, we ask God to forgive – and He does.
Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
Blessed are those who wash their robes
Keep Pressing,
Ken