Righteous Acts
And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Revelation 19:8
I can’t wait to get to heaven! Not that I want to die and leave my life here, but as I read through the book of Revelation, I can’t help but notice the awesome time we will have when we get there. From what we have read throughout this book, it looks like there is constant celebration and rejoicing. A continual release of our expression of gratitude and admiration for all God has done in His creation and for delivering us from the evil clutches of sin.
In today’s reading there is once again a loud cheer of praise. Thunderous voices of a great multitude crying out “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns!” Then the celebration goes into overdrive because the wedding celebration of the Lamb begins. The bride of Christ has gotten herself ready to meet her groom, the Lord Jesus Christ!
I like how this is phrased here: “His wife has made herself ready.” It doesn’t say, He has made her ready by His blood and sacrifice and it doesn’t say that God has made her ready by rescuing her from sin. Those are the ways of salvation, only. The passage actually says that she gets herself ready and the way she does that is in the very next line. She is wearing fine linen, clean and bright, which is the righteous acts that we do. This is not to be confused with good works for salvation. There is only one way God saves people and that is accepting the Lord Jesus as the Son of God and receiving His payment of His blood and sacrifice for the penalty of our sin. These righteous acts are for preparing the bride for His coming to get her for the wedding.
Tada! Here it is, what we are to be doing to get ready for the wedding to come. The day when we will be united with Jesus our Lord. We are to be putting on righteous acts or doing what is good and right in the eyes of God our Father. We are not to be condemning the world because of the sin bondage that it is under, and we are not to be squabbling with each other over doctrine and denominations. There is no question what a good deed is and that is what our days here in this world should consist of. When we are doing righteous acts, there is no room for the arguments and disagreements that blemish His bride, there is only joy and peace as we put on the robe of righteousness and fine linen.
Upon doing a search in the scripture of what “righteous acts” are, I was not surprised to find out that they are things we do beyond ourselves. It is not going to church, being baptized or taking communion. Righteous acts are the things that Jesus taught us to do for others. Things we do in secret and not to be seen or praised by important people. In Matthew 6, Jesus taught us the things we are to do for others. Things such as: giving alms to the needy and beggars. Giving anonymously, generously and cheerfully. Praying for others in secret, not loud and repetitive for others to see how spiritual we are. Fasting, a practice that is not so common in the church today, but one that is still most effective in purifying your heart and purging out distractions and unhealthy habits, either food or something else. Jesus taught us to do unto others what we would want others to do for us (Matthew 7:12) and the things we do for those who are hurting and lost, we are doing it as unto Him. (Matthew 25:40)
So today I want to encourage you to get yourself ready by coming into agreement with the Word of God and God’s people. Even if it seems impossible to get into agreement with others, you can do this with the empowering grace of the Holy Spirit. Ask Him to show you areas where you can put on righteous acts such as giving, praying and fasting and begin doing those things today. Get a plan in place to be ready to give when an opportunity presents itself and then when you do, remember that you are doing it unto the Lord, too. Don’t walk right by the hurting people around you, share the love of God with them in a kind act, just as Jesus did. Then encourage other believers to do the same thing. You can influence believers that you are around and help them to get ready also. Put on the robe of fine linen today and continue to wear it until the day the Lord Jesus comes back to get His glorious bride prepared without spot or wrinkle.
Today’s scripture reading: Revelation 19:6-8
6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!
7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.”
8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
The Daily Dose 