Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
—Revelation 19:7-8 KJV

These wonderful verses from the book of Revelation are often interpreted as proof that the works of the saints affect their righteousness. First the emphasis is placed on the fact that she [the church] made herself ready, that is, made an effort; and second, her garments are interpreted as the righteous deeds of the saints. And as a result, you don’t much feel like being glad and rejoicing after an unbearable yoke has been put on your shoulders. Actually, the book of Revelation is a revelation of Jesus Christ, not of the works of the saints, and it is not very wise to build all kinds of doctrines on it, because everything in this book is written in the form of “signs”, and only the Holy Spirit, who wrote it, can interpret it. This is how it begins: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ [precisely of Him, and not of anything else], which God gave Him to show His servants; things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John.” [Rev.1:1] The word “signified” literally means “to give signs”.

Still, it is interesting: how did the bride make herself ready, and what are these garments of righteousness? Curiously, even at an ordinary wedding the bride does nothing herself; everyone bustles around her and dresses her. But different cultures and traditions do things differently, so it is better to rely on the Word of God than on traditions, culture and our own understanding of things. If we read the parable the Lord told about the wedding feast [Mat.22:1-14], the only condition for being at the feast was to wear a wedding garment. So right here, in Revelation 19:8, it is explained how the bride made herself ready: “to her was granted that she should be arrayed”. You can see at once that she made no effort; the garments of righteousness were given to her. This agrees with what the apostle Paul writes, who calls righteousness the gift of God. [Rom.5:17]

Now let’s move on to the garments. Some people are troubled that the Greek original uses the word dikaiomata here, which is the plural of dikaioma, righteousness. And so some Bible translations, the NKJV among them, render this verse “the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints”. No wonder: if the word righteousness is used in the plural, only works come to mind. But the word “works” [Greek ergon] is not in the original; there is only the word righteousness in the plural. On the other hand, Isaiah speaks of human works and of our righteousness, comparing it to “filthy rags”. [Isa.64:6] And if we look at the Hebrew original, Isaiah uses the word “righteousness” in the plural too — as the NKJV puts it, “all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags”. So we have a contradiction, don’t we? But there are no contradictions in Scripture; they exist only in all kinds of interpretations.

This is what the same prophet Isaiah writes, but now about the garments in which the Lord clothes the bride: “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” [Isa.61:10] Now let’s compare it with Revelation: “Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” [Rev.21:2] What wonderful lines!! You really do want to be glad and rejoice!

So what about our contradiction? In Isaiah our righteousnesses seem to be filthy garments, while in Revelation they are fine linen, clean and white? As we have already said, the book of Revelation is a revelation of Jesus, not of the antichrist, of people and their works. That is why blessed is everyone who reads and hears the prophecy of this book. [Rev.1:3] More revelation of Jesus means more blessings. Reading further, we see Jesus “clothed with a robe dipped in blood.” [Rev.19:13] There it is — eureka!!! The blood of Jesus changed everything! The blood of Jesus washed our filthy rags and made them fine linen, clean and whiter than snow. Let us give the Lord all the glory for His shed blood and for His wonderful sacrifice on the cross. Only the blood of Christ — and none of our works — can wash our garments!! This is what the beloved apostle Paul writes: “And such [extortioners] were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” [1 Cor.6:11] Thank the Lord for His blood, in which we have been washed, for His Name, by which we have been justified, and for His Holy Spirit, by whom we have been sanctified! The blood of Jesus has washed us, and it will keep us clean until the Day of redemption. All glory to our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen! ❤