REVELATION
In This Section
REVELATION 3:11-12, 3:16, 3:19-22
REVELATION 3:11-12
"7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this: 8 'I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept [observed, heeded which is the Gk. word tereo] My word, and have not denied My name. 9 'Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie--I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you. 10 'Because you have kept ["obeyed"--tereo in the Greek] the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. 11 'I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12 'He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name. 13 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'" (Revelation 3:11-12)
Typically, throughout this book the passages that are wrongly interpreted according to the NEST are pointed out directly after quoting the text under consideration. This time we will walk through this message to Philadelphia, and identify the section that is used by those who believe in the NEST when we get to it. Starting out, we see Christ's introduction to this sixth church of the seven, where He says,
"7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this: 8 'I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept [observed, heeded] My word, and have not denied My name." (Revelation 3:7-8)
In looking at the message to the church in Philadelphia, we see that the messenger, (translated as the word, angel) and the rest of the church there in Philadelphia, have observed and heeded Christ's "word" according to Revelation 3:8. They "observed" Christ's word, as the Greek word tereo is translated in Matthew 23:3, Matthew 28:20, and Acts 15:5. The same Greek word is translated as "heed" in Revelation 1:3, and Revelation 22:9. Not only have the Philadelphians kept, observed, and heeded Christ's word, but they have [tereo] kept, observed and heeded the word of Christ's command to persevere as a matter of obedience, and so Christ says that because of this, He will keep them from the hour of testing which is about to come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth. This is a wonderful declaration of salvation, perseverance, zeal in devotion, and the all important theme of surety in security for all eternity. Christ goes on to say more,
"9 'Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie--I will make them come and bow down at your feet, ..." (Revelation 3:9)
In other words, the Philadelphian Christians, in being once saved always saved (OSAS), will demonstrate their salvation to the fake Jews, who in apocalyptic language, will be forced to bow down at their feet. This is why Christ goes on saying,
"... and make them know that I have loved you ..." (Revelation 3:9)
There is something here that we must not allow to drop out of mind very quickly. Christ is talking about something that is going to happen in the future, but He is referencing a state of salvation in the past. In other words, Christ is guaranteeing that He is going to make the false Jews know that He has loved, all along, these Philadelphian Christians. This is a clear declaration of being in the once saved always saved state of being loved by Yahweh. So, with that, Christ explains what He is going to do next with the Philadelphian Christians. He says,
"10 'Because you have kept [tereo again in the Greek] the word of My perseverance, I also will keep [ GK. tereo] you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth." (Revelation 3:10)
Christ, evidently kept (see footnote 1 below), the Philadelphian church, from the time span, and activity of the hour of testing that occurred that was about to test earth dwellers. In this respect, because the Philadelphians were true worshippers of the true Messiah, the false Jews ended up bowing down at the Philadelphian Christian's feet. It is important to realize that those Jews who turned to Messiah, were persecuted by their brothers and sisters of Israelite heritage who rejected Messiah. The irony is that the Jews who rejected Messiah, and who rejected those who turned to Messiah, would be humbled for their dark sin. Those whom God has elected, on the other hand, would be honored. The question remains; how does anyone become a false Jew in that time and place? The answer is that any Jew that is rejecting Messiah is a false Jew, and so any Jewish synagogue that such rejectors of Messiah continue to worship in, is in fact, a synagogue of Satan. We need to recognize that this is what Jesus said to the Jews who rejected Him in John 8, where the Jews were claiming freedom as Abraham's descendants. Jesus said to the Jews there,
"44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father." (John 8:44)
They were claiming to be true Jews, but Jesus says to them that because they were seeking to kill Him, they were really of their father the devil, which is another name for Satan (cf. John 8:37-47). Those who are fake Jews of the synagogue of Satan actually claim to know Jehovah as Father-God. They claim to worship Him in their synagogues, but in fact, they really do not. Listen to what was said in that same chapter, in John,
"19 So they [the Pharisees] were saying to Him, 'Where is Your Father?' Jesus answered, 'You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.'" (John 8:19)
Sticking consistently to the details in the text in Revelation 3, and not reading some theory into it, Christ indicates that all this is "about to come" and so He goes on to say,
"11 'I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown." (Revelation 3:11)
What is typically asserted by those who believe in the NEST concerning this passage, is that The Philadelphians need to hold fast to their eternal salvation, because if they do not, someone else will take their crown (the crown being their eternal salvation).
The NEST is wrong.
To see why the NEST is wrong, we need to ask some important questions. The first question we need to ask is; what do these faithful Christians have that they need to hold fast to? The answer is that, from the text, we know that it is not the open door that Christ has put before the Philadelphians, which no one can shut. Other than the fact that the open door is probably a figure of speech in the apocalyptic style, Christ does not indicate that the open door is their possession, or that it can be taken away either. Notice that the open door is set before them, and Christ says that nobody can shut it, (Revelation 3:8). So the "open door" is not what they need to hold fast to. Additionally, we know that it can not be the word of Christ's perseverance in Revelation 3:10 that they need to hold fast to, because that is why they will be kept from the hour of testing. They have kept, obeyed, and heeded the word of Christ's perseverance already, so they are guaranteed, in a revelation of their future, to receive the blessing for it. So, the word of Christ's own perseverance is not what they need to hold fast to. In verse 8, we see that they have obeyed, and heeded, Christ's word, which is an action, so that is not what they "have" that they need to hold onto either. Obeying Christ's word is what they did. In Revelation 3:8, we also see that they have "not denied" Christ's name, which is also an action. Not denying Christ is not something that they actually possess, so once again, that is not what they "have" that can be lost either. So, here is the main question:
"What do they have that they need to hold onto?"
We are given the answer by Christ in Revelation 3:8. They have "a little power," also translated as a little strength. They need to hold fast the little power that they have, so that no one will take the crown (which is stephanos in the Greek, which means a wreath crown). When it comes to determining what the "little power," as in the little strength, actually is, scholars debate about what Christ was talking about. Of course, the Philadelphians knew what Christ meant, but we can only speculate about what the little power is in contemporary analyzation. Nevertheless, there are three main views of what the "little power" actually is;
1) The first view is that the little power that they have refers to their small numbers in the actual church community.
2) The second view is that the little power that they have refers to their monetary condition and resources.
3) The third view is that the little power that they have refers to the spiritual impact of the church community among the city of Philadelphia.
The last view will be utilized in this section as the probable view, because the spiritual impact of the Philadelphian's ministry, though small, would make sense as what they are encouraged to hold onto. If they do not hold onto what little strength in spiritual impact that they currently have (in other words, they lose what little bit of spiritual impact that they have) then someone can take their trophy of a wreath crown from them. Another question that we need to ask is;
Can someone else take salvation away from saved people?
The answer is no. Nobody can steal your salvation away from you. Paul expresses this well in Romans 8, saying that we await the redemption of our body in the resurrection. He says of people who love God and are called according to His purpose,
"33 Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; 34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? ... I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:33-39)
For someone to be able to take away the salvation of another person, they would need to be able to sever the saved person from the love of Christ, and that can not possibly happen. Yet, this language is used here in this passage, "that no one will take your ..." So, the first thing that we recognize is that the little power is the spiritual impact of their ministry. A final question we need to ask is;
What exactly is the crown that someone else can take away from other Christians?
In the Roman world, the crown was typically a wreath made of laurel that was given as a way of honoring someone in promotion to high standing, or, it was given as a trophy for accomplishment. To answer our question, we must recognize that there are two ways that wreath-crowns are mentioned in the New Testament in respect to Christians.
One way, is in respect to the wreath-crown of honor that Christians receive as joint-heirs with Christ in their eternal salvation. All saved people are guaranteed to get this crown. Essentially it is the crown of eternal glorious life in a wonderful place, and existence, of happiness. The second way that wreath-crown is used, is in reference to the trophy that comes from Christian ministry labor. This wreath-crown trophy could be the very people Christians minister to in this current life on earth, or it could be the spread of the word, evangelism, and things like that. This wreath-crown could be the rewards Christians will receive in the afterlife in eternity that are based upon their service to the Lord while on earth. To make it simpler, one crown is the crown that everyone who is truly saved receives in eternal salvation. It is the honor of all Christians of being glorified forever in Christ. The second type of crown, is also an honor, but it is the reward-crown trophy that saved people receive for their deeds that emit out of their saved lives. In looking at how the two types of wreath-crowns are used in the New Testament, we will start with the first one.
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The first one (the salvation crown) is also called the crown of righteousness. We find it in such passages as, 2 Timothy 4:8,
"8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing." (2 Timothy 4:8)
The wreath-crown of righteousness is going to necessarily be given to all who have loved the appearing of Christ, and that of course, is all who are once saved in eternal spiritual salvation, OSIESS. We find the wreath-crown in James 1:12, where it is called "the crown of life." James assures the saved people that after they have withstood the awfulness of persecution in this temporal world,
"... he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him." (James 1:12)
The wreath-crown of life is going to be given to all those who love Him, which of course, is all people who are once saved always saved, in eternal security. We find the same wreath-crown of life mentioned in Revelation 2:10 where once again it is the soothing expectation for those who are suffering persecution now. Jesus says,
"10 'Do not fear what you are about to suffer unto death. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life." (Revelation 2:10)
The great wreath-crown of life is the wonderful expectation that awaits all Christians who leave the drudgery of this persecuting world behind. It is the glory of eternal salvation in a resurrected and glorified state where there will be no more drudgery and no more persecution. Another place where the wreath-crown is referencing the glory of eternal life in a resurrected body, is where Peter writes in 1 Peter 4-5, to
"rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. (1 Peter 4:13)
Why will those who suffer as Christians in the temporal world, rejoice and be glad when Christ appears? Peter explains it to the elders, a couple of verse later, who after their earthly labor, in 1 Peter 5:4, know that,
"when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory." (1 Peter 5:4)
In other words, the hope at the end of all their earthly commitment, endurance, and service as Christian leaders among the dark society, is the hope of the unfading crown of righteousness, life, and glory which is descriptive of the grandeur of eternal salvation in a resurrected body. This is the certain reward of the guaranteed perseverance of the saints. Some people think that Peter is talking about that second type of wreath-crown, which describes something like rewards in heaven. What about that kind of wreath-crown? We will answer that question by looking at the second type of usage of wreath-crown in the New Testament.
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The second type of crown is the type of crown which is like a trophy of achievement that one receives for winning a race in the Roman games. But when applied toward Christians, we find this trophy-wreath described as a reward for Christian service, like in 1 Corinthians 9:24-25,
"24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. [This is an analogy for Christian service based on the context. Paul goes on,] 25 Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things [more analogy]. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath-crown, but we [ministers] an imperishable." (1 Corinthians 9:24-25 emph. mine)
Contextually, "we" here is Paul, Apollos, Barnabas, Timothy, Stephanas, Fortunatus, Achaicus and any other Christian in Corinth and anywhere else. The wreath-crown Paul is talking about is an eternal type of trophy received for Christian ministry that was done while on earth. We see the same type of wreath trophy crown mentioned in Philippians 4:1,
"1 Therefore, my beloved brothers whom I long to see, my joy and wreath-crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved." (Philippians 4:1)
Here, the Philippian Christians themselves, which are fruits of Paul's apostolic labors, are Paul's wreath-crown. In 1 Thessalonians 2:19, Paul uses the metaphor of the people of the church he planted in Thessalonica, which were the fruit, or wreath-crown of his labor there. He says,
"19 For who is our hope or joy or wreath-crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming?" (1 Thessalonians 2:19)
Paul expresses the same metaphor in 2 Timothy 2:5, but uses it in a slightly different way, saying,
"5 And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned [with a trophy wreath] unless he competes according to the rules." (2 Timothy 2:5 NKJV)
In Paul's contextual point to Timothy, he is talking about the minister doing his ministry according to the rules, and so Paul makes an analogy using soldiers, farmers, and here, an athlete.
The big point in all of this, is that the Philadelphian church has a little power in their spiritual impact among the city of Philadelphia, and so they need to hold onto whatever spiritual impact capability they have now. They need to keep with it, so that "no one," (which would be other Christians that come along that God would use for his glory in replacement of an impotent Philadelphian church), will take their crown of exultation. If a Christian decides not to be a faithful steward, God will raise someone else up to do the job He wants to accomplish. When the others are raised up, it will not matter if they have a lot of power, or a little power, in terms of their spiritual impact around them. What matters is that they hold onto what they have. In ministry, God is concerned with faithfulness. It is faithfulness that produces the crown--not the size of the ministry projects, or the numbers, or how loud someone's voice is, or how many people have been reached, or an internet, audio, video presence, or how much money has been raked in to do more stuff. Faithfulness is that the Christian keeps on going and serving the Lord even though none of those things are there to bolster a sense of personal accomplishment, or a sense of humanistic standards of divine accomplishment. To be faithful, is to walk by faith and not by sight.
Finally, we come into that postscript section that follows the pattern of encouragement that Christ gives for each of the seven churches, where He says,
"12 'He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name. 13 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'" (Revelation 3:12-13)
We recognize that John explains to the seven churches, just exactly who it is who overcomes at the beginning of this revelation. He says in his opening comments,
"9 I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, ..." (Revelation 1:9 emph. mine)
This makes sense, since we know that all victory, overcoming and perseverance is in Jesus as that which is a vital part of what salvation actually is. Salvation is a state of victorious overcoming, even when we fail, because salvation is in Christ, perseverance is in Christ, and overcoming is in Christ who never fails. It is all in Christ. John tells us earlier in his gospel account, that Christ Jesus said,
"33 These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33 emph. mine)
When Christ says that "in Me" you may have peace; I have overcome the world, He is expressing the fact that all true overcoming is in Him. Then a little later, John tells us,
"4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world." (1 John 4:2-4 emph. mine)
Christ, the great overcomer, is greater in all of us who are saved than he who is in the world. But, you must be born of God for this to happen, and so John continues on and really sums up the creed of all who overcome,
"4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith. 5 Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" (1 John 5:4-5 emph. mine)
The victory that has overcome the world is the faith of all saved people that make up God's church, whether in Philadelphia, or anywhere. So John is clear and consistent--the one who overcomes the world, is he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. This also means something else. It means that anyone who does not overcome, is someone who does not have faith, which means that the non-overcomer does not believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Therefor all who do not overcome, are NASAAT, meaning, Never Actually Saved At Any Time. The fact that they demonstrate that they do not overcome, illustrates this reality forever. This can be explained with an analogy of two clocks. consider that there are two clocks. They are both said to be nuclear clocks that will endure for thousands of years. The problem is that only one of them is really a nuclear clock. The other one looks exactly like the nuclear clock, and in fact, at the outset, keeps exactly the same time each second of each day. But this fake nuclear clock is powered by a cheap battery. It is not powered by the overcoming type of power of the gamma radiation of the nuclear clock. In our analogy, the only test that has been devised to recognize whether either clock is truly a nuclear clock, is that at the end of a thousand years, both clocks will be brought before the judgment seat, to see which one overcame, and kept on ticking. This will reveal that the power within the overcomer was not religious self effort of a cheap fake. It will reveal that the overcoming clock is the one with the super, life giving, overcoming power source that kept it ticking, and will keep it ticking. This is how it is with all who are truly saved. They will be made manifest as overcomers in the end, in that they, by their supernatural natures that are empowered by Christ, always overcome.
At this point we must notice the promise of encouragement for the overcomer, which is any truly saved person. Christ says that He will make the person a pillar in God's temple, and they will never go out from it. Unlike the temple that God destroyed in AD 70, where beforehand Jews would go inside and come out of as a matter of daily course, no saved Jew will go out from the New Covenant heavenly temple anymore. No saved Gentile will either. The name of God, (Yahweh) the name of the City of God (Jerusalem), and Christ's new name (which no one else knows, cf. Revelation 19:12) will also be written on the overcomer. This is a beautiful description of the blessing of eternal salvation!
With that, we see that there is no warning in this message that remotely suggests that one can lose one's eternal salvation, earn eternal salvation, or keep eternal spiritual salvation secure in self effort.
REVELATION 3:16; 3:19-22
14 "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: 15 'I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. 16 'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. 17 'Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, 18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. 19 'Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. 20 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. 21 'He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'" (Revelation 3:14-22)
What is typically asserted by those who believe in the NEST, is that Christ wants to vomit these believers out of His mouth. Once vomited out, then they would not be in Christ anymore. The theory continues to state that if someone has become wealthy, and they think they have need of nothing, then they run the risk of losing their eternal spiritual salvation that they have now.
The NEST is wrong.
To recognize why the NEST is wrong, we need to look at what is missed by those who believe in the theory. What they miss is that Christ says that He wishes that the Laodician Christians were either cold or hot. This is apocalyptic language, so it is strange. Typically we might be inclined to think that cold means being lost, and hot means being saved, but such an interpretation does not really explain what being lukewarm is. Further, if we suggest that cold is being unsaved, and hot is being saved, then we need to ask, does Christ really wish that His church would be unsaved? Remember, Christ says, "I wish that you were cold or hot." Actually, Christ does not wish that His church would be unsaved, and so, in honesty, we realize that the temperature reference must be to something else, and it is. It is a reference to their deeds. Christ says,
"15 'I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot;" (Revelation 3:15 emph. mine)
The word, "that" is what connects Christ's point to their deeds. Their deeds are lukewarm. But, what exactly are their lukewarm deeds that will bring the spitting out? Actually, it is no mystery. Christ tells them what it is in verse 17,
"17 Because you say, 'I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,' and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked," (Revelation 3:17)
The problem is that these affluent Christians claim they do not need anything. They are relying on the arm of the flesh, and their vast incomes, rather than relying on God. This is their state of lukewarmness that Christ does not like. Christ recognizes the details that they also need to recognize. Christ knows that the Laodiceans are really messed up. In fact, they are wretched, impoverished, miserable, they can no longer see clearly, their true state is shame, and they are embarrassingly exposed for everyone to see. The problem is that they are clearly blinded to these facts in their own prideful self deception concerning their needs, and so Christ gives His advice,
"18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. 19 'Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent." (Revelation 3:18-19)
This is a typical apocalyptic list of one metaphor after another. At this point, we need to assemble the metaphoric elements of the picture. In doing so, we notice that they are lukewarm. It is metaphor. They say they are rich and in need of nothing--more metaphor. But, Christ knows otherwise. And so, Christ advises them to spend money, (metaphor) and spend lots of it to buy metaphoric gold from Christ to really be rich, but not just any gold. It is Christ's gold that has gone through the fire of hardship to be purified. It is not the gold of the so called easy life. Christ goes on with more metaphor, and urges them to spend their money on clean righteous covering, which is white clothing from Christ to cover their shameful naked bodies (which represents the disgraceful way they really look there in Laodicea). Concerning the metaphors here of Christ's apocalyptic language, Christ's refined gold, is the true enduring spiritual riches and provision that come from maturity and growth in Him. These white garments are the manifestations of the present tense of their salvation that they already have in Christ as those, "whom I love," (cf. Revelation 3:19).
When we look at all the future tense references to white robes in Revelation, we understand that everyone who is eternally spiritually saved is seen in their resurrected glory as being clothed with white robes in the heavenlies (cf. Revelation 3:5, 4:4, 6:11, 7:8, 7:14). We know, from the context, that these saved Laodicean's are not buying salvation in this present tense exhortation, with this particular garment, because Christ says that with it, they are only covering up the shame of their nakedness, so that it will not be revealed. It is still there, the clothing simply hides it. On the other hand, there is no future shame, and nakedness, to be rebuked in their resurrected glory. Additionally, they also need to purchase eye ointment. On the other hand, there is no eye ointment in heaven in eternal spiritual salvation. Needing eye ointment, like the gold, and garments, is a present tense need. So, what Christ is demonstrating here is the consistent principle of the three tenses of our one eternal spiritual salvation that we have, and never lose. The tenses of our one salvation are also called aspects. In other words, there is the past point of one's initial spiritual rebirth. It is salvation (rebirth) which never ends. Then there is the daily experience of salvation, where in our present earth-bound condition, we are living out our salvation on a moment to moment basis. In our condition, our bodies (like Laodecean Christian's bodies) are subject to sin, nakedness, shame, blindness, and death. Then there is the future tense, where we will die and be resurrected in glory. In that aspect we will be saved from our death in immortality. We will reign in perfect endurance as glorified endurers forever and ever. When it comes to preaching exhortations to godly living, most sermons are designed to urge people toward living out their salvation that they already have in its present tense. In our present tense aspect of salvation, we do things like cover our nakedness and shame with Christ's righteous living, we minister, we study His word, we suffer for Him in persecution, we pray, repent, and fellowship together in a biblically defined church, etc.. This buying of white covering from Christ, while living in Laodecea, is the same principle.
To demonstrate this consistent biblical doctrine of three tenses of our one salvation, we need to look at the same principle concerning clothing from other texts of God's word where saved people put on Christ as their covering in initial rebirth, then, in manifesting their salvation each day, they put on Christ on a moment to moment basis. Then later in the future, they are clothed in resurrected glory.
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Paul describes the initial clothing of salvation in Romans,
"27 For all of you who were immersed into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." (Romans 13:14 emph. mine)
Notice that this happened in the past. It is the position of all who are once saved in eternal salvation. This is where we who are truly saved, had received Him who is Savior as our spotless garment Who continues to impute His living righteousness to us.
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But then, each day in the present tense of our salvation, we are exhorted to live out what we already are spiritually, by expressing the glory of our salvation in this world, as Paul says in Galatians,
"14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts." (Galatians 3:27 emph. mine)
We have already clothed ourselves with Christ, so in putting Him on in daily present tense action, we demonstrate Who He is by manifesting His life.
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Then there is our future tense glory that awaits us, of which Paul so understandably reflects our ambition in a beautiful way when he says that within this dwelling place of a mortal body,
"2 ... we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven," (2 Corinthians 5:2)
The above three verses describe all three tenses of our one salvation, and so we see that when it comes to the bleached white garments of Revelation, we receive the white robe of initial salvation, we cover ourselves with white Christ likeness each day in working out our salvation with awe and reverence, and then in the future, we will glow with the shining whiteness of a glorious white robe in our resurrected state.
To further understand the very personal Laodecean focus of the metaphors, we need to recognize that Laodicea was a very wealthy city. In fact when a great earthquake leveled Laodicea around AD 60, Nero offered to help them rebuild, but the Laodiceans were so wealthy that they refused the money and rebuilt the city themselves. So, Christ's advice here concerning their self-satisfied lukewarmness, reflects the overall material reliance, and self sufficiency, of the people in the city as a whole. A very important point in the context of these people is that the thing that made the Laodiceans so rich was the world famous black wool that they produced in their day. Their wool was in very high demand throughout the surrounding regions. They dyed and processed this wool, and because of the trade route road that came by their city, they sold huge quantities of their product to the world. Consequently, the rich Laodiceans were known for wearing their unique black wool clothing. The risen Christ points to their wealth by saying in metaphoric style, to spend, but spend on His refined gold that has the true value, which is of a spiritual nature. In contrast to the black wool garments they wore, (which were made of the very substance of their riches), Christ says that they are really naked, and need to wear the white robes that He will sell to them to reflect the true image of Christ in outworking their salvation. To do so, is to simply reflect the white robes (that are washed by the blood of the Lamb) of spiritual purity in justification that they already possess in salvation, (cf. Revelation 7:14). They are, of course, not buying salvation in the sense of the metaphor. They are already saved and loved, (cf. Revelation 3:19). The truth of the matter is that their state of personal salvation was actually bought, but not by them. Their state of salvation was bought for them. Salvation is what happened to them because they were bought by the Lamb in the business deal of the cross, as we see a few chapters later in Revelation 5:9,
"And they sang a new song, saying, 'Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood, men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.'" (Revelation 5:9)
The message goes to these purchased Laodiceans who are loved by Christ (cf. Revelation 3:19, 5:9) and so Christ goes on with more metaphor, and says that they also need to spend their metaphoric money on medicine to heal their blind eyes. They need to have their eyes healed so they can see just how messed up they really are. Christ says, that in their lukewarmness, they need to buy the remedy from Him. Doing so, will heal them and give them a keen spiritual insight into where they really are in the outworking of their inner spiritual life.
Finally, if they do not do these things, then Christ will metaphorically spit them out of His mouth, which has a meaning, but the meaning is not losing eternal spiritual salvation. To get what Christ means, we must go to the very next verse. Christ has a whole point, and so when we go to His context and flow, we find His clear meaning, where we read,
"19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent." (Revelation 3:19 emph. mine)
Christ is telling these beloved Christians that because they are saved, He loves them. Sure they are stupid, they are blinded by wealth, and they do not realize that they are naked and poor, but Christ loves them, and Christ only loves those who are saved, and those who He intends to save. Christ prefers that they be cold. Cold is where they do not claim to know everything, and so, to be cold, is to admit that they are in need of discipleship. Hot is to be mature in their spiritual growth. Even though they are neither of those things, Christ nevertheless, loves them. He loves them even in their lukewarm assessment of themselves. And, so because He loves them, He reproves and disciplines them. This is what it contextually means to be spit out of Christ's mouth. It means to be reproved, and disciplined, and with Christ, reproof and discipline is always for a reason. The reason is always toward repentance. Christ is standing at the door of His audience. To repent, is to snap out of it, open the door, and have Christ come in and sit at your table. At the table, with Christ, they dine with Him in the heat of His zeal, His passion, His maturity, and His Lordship over every area of their lives. This is the blessing, rather than the curse of settling into the trap of becoming complacent in the lukewarmness of their deceiving, self assured, self satisfied, wealth. Finally, the typical postscript of encouragement starts with Christ's usual,
"21 'He who overcomes," (Revelation 3:21)
As we have seen from John's comprehensive revelations from Christ, all Christians overcome;
"4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith. 5 Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" (1 John 5:4-5)
This is a postscript of encouragement, (not doom) and so Christ makes a wonderful declaration of assurance in His encouraging statement, by saying,
"I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne." (Revelation 3:21)
This statement is amazing. Christ will grant to all Christians to sit on His throne as He overcame and sat down with His Father on His throne. To overcome as Christ overcame is to be positionally in Christ who is our overcomer Who makes sure we overcome. So, just as in an analogy, where we who are saved, are like a nuclear clock, Christ Who is our eternal life, is the photon gamma radiation, so to speak, of our eternal spiritual existence. Other people who look saved, but are not, are like clocks which resemble the nuclear clock. The problem is that they are powered by a cheap battery. Therefor, they do not overcome. It has not been, and never has been granted in God sovereign predestinating election, for them to sit down with Christ in eternal spiritual salvation. For those who are saved, it is the great identification doctrine where Christ is our righteousness; Christ is our all in all. Positionally, while on earth, we are already in Him, and we are recognized by God as being seated with Him on the throne in the heavenly places. Paul tells us where Christ is right now in Ephesians 1:20,
"He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places," (Ephesians 1:20)
But, the question is, does God see us as really being there in Christ? Listen to Paul in few more verses,
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast" (Ephesians 2:4-9 emph. mine)
This beautiful truth reflects the fact that God recognizes us in our current earthly condition as being not only the righteousness of Christ, but also seated with Him already in the heavenly places in eternal spiritual salvation.
Therefore based upon all we have covered, we recognize that this message to the Laodiceans, as well as none of the messages to any of the seven churches, even remotely suggests that a saved person can lose salvation, keep salvation secure through self-generated effort, or gain salvation by self generated effort.
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FOOTNOTES:
(1) Consider this footnote from the New English Translation team,
"tn Grk “and having kept.” The participle ejthvrhsa" (ethrhsas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. For the translation of threvw (threw) as “obey” see L&N 36.19. This is the same word that is used in 3:10 (there translated “kept”) where there is a play on words."
