Gospel Reflections #311: Not by our own Strength but Jesus's Garments

Revelation 19:7,8 "We will rejoice and be greatly glad, and give glory to God. The wedding day of the Lamb has come, and the bride is ready. The bride was clothed in a robe of shining clean linen. This linen garment is the righteous deeds of the holy ones."

The Bible uses a variety of wedding imagery to describe the relationship between Christ and His faithful Church.

God unilaterally made a marriage promise to us when we chose to sin and began on the path of depravity. He did not promise us marriage because we were good and perfect.

He took pity on us because we were helpless, but He did not save us because He felt sorry for us.

He just loved us and wanted to bring us back.

Because we have believed in and been accepted by such a God, we are able to wait for Him to come to us. And our preparation while waiting is not ours, but the Holy Spirit leads us.

We are clothed with the garments of Jesus. It says "righteous deeds" of "the holy ones," which means "those who have received Jesus' righteousness by faith of "those who have accepted Him, believing that Jesus' cross has freed us from our sins and saved us," and we are covered with Jesus' garments. We are considered holy because we are covered by Jesus' garments, not by our own strength.

Jesus' robe is a "gift from God.

When the prodigal son returned, his father ran to him and put on his robe.

When we come back to God, He also comes running to us and puts on His robe.

Then He takes us to the wedding feast.

If this is not our joy, what other joy can there be? We are looking forward to this time.

No, we are anticipating it and already sharing it with God's children!

That joy will continue to spread until the day God comes for us.

This Gospel Reflections page is written by Masae San who lives in Hiroshima, Japan. She is a devoted student of the Bible who passionately embraces the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She shares her daily reflections on the Gospels as a way to reach out to others and spread the message of God's true love through the Christ-centered approach of Biblical Reflections. We're sharing her message here so that you too can experience the joy that comes from knowing and understanding the true Gospel message that has filled her heart.