Wedding Dress

Let us rejoice and exult

and give him the glory,

for the marriage of the Lamb has come,

and his Bride has made herself ready;

[8] it was granted her to clothe herself

with fine linen, bright and pure”—

for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. 

(Revelation 19:7–8 ESV)

Every now and then, when you are reading in the Bible, a verse will stop you in your tracks. That is what Rev. 19:8 did to me recently.

I love the reformed tradition that I have been instructed in most of my spiritual life. No theology is perfect and a solid theology gives man the best chance to live a profitable, stable, and balanced life. The Bible presents the best environment for man to live in a sin cursed world. 

And I have said for years, bad theology strays from a Biblical balance and quickly can run a man into two ditches that I frequently make reference to .... legalism to the right of me and license to the left of me.

Two Ditches on the Road of Sanctification

And though we stress a salvation free of works, we do need to be careful to stray from a salvation free from works. We are saved by grace through faith... not a result of works, but we do need to understand that true salvation will produce works of righteousness.

 "So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. [18] A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. [19] Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. [20] Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. (Matthew 7:17–20 ESV)"

In the passage above, what adorns the beautiful wedding dress of the Bride of Jesus? The fine linen of righteous deeds!

Yes, my grandmother was so right... "Christian is as Christian does!"

Now, here is a subtle point that we often miss.... ALL righteous deeds count. These includes evangelism, giving, digging wells, and building hospitals.

But it also includes simple things... small things... things we often overlook.

For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward. (Mark 9:41 ESV)

As we move into the summer... what can you do to weave in some fine linen to adorn the beauty of the Bride? Smile, hug children, give a word of encouragement, say a prayer for the sick and hurting, clean, organize, love, laugh, live with gratitude, forgive, give grace and patience.... 

These threads matter!