The Relationship of the White Robe
The Relationship of the White Robe to the Bodily Resurrection Unto Righteousness, Immortality, and Glory
He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. (Revelation 3:5)
I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. (Revelation 3:18)
And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. (Revelation 4:4)
And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. (Revelation 6:11)
After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; (Revelation 7:9)
And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (Revelation 7:14)
And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness [righteousnesses]of saints. (Revelation 19:8)
And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. (Revelation 19:14)
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; (2 Corinthians 4:17)
The "eternal weight of glory" (above) is the white robe, the body of glory.
We have included a number of references (above) to emphasize the importance in the spirit realm of the white robe. The white robe is the "righteousnesses" (righteous works) of saints (Revelation 19:8).
To be in the spirit realm without the white robe of the royal priesthood, the robe of eternal life and glory, is to be spiritually naked or clothed with filthy garments.
He who overcomes is clothed in white raiment (Revelation 3:5).
We are exhorted to buy white raiment from Jesus. To not have white raiment is to be shamefully naked (Revelation 3:18).
God’s elders are clothed in white raiment (Revelation 4:4).
The saints slain for the Word of God and for their testimony are given white robes (Revelation 6:11).
The saints who die during the great tribulation wash their robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb. Suffering, if received in the Lord, causes us to turn away from sin and cleave to the Lord (I Peter 4:1,2; Revelation 7:14).
To wash our robes in the blood of the Lamb is to walk in daily confession and repentance. We are to be quick to confess our sins as the Spirit points them out and then, with the Spirit’s assistance, to turn away from them and behave righteously. This is how we continually wash our robes in the blood of the Lamb.
We believe the purpose of the great tribulation is to provide white raiment for the saints. Many believers of today are not washing their robes because no one has instructed them in the relationship between our behavior now and our resurrection in the Day of Christ.
Until our robes are washed they are dirty with worldliness, sin, and self-will. They remain dirty until they are replaced by the Lord.
And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment. (Zechariah 3:4)
The above verse reveals that if we will follow the Holy Spirit in putting to death the deeds of our body, when the Lord Jesus appears He will remove the body of sin that has plagued us throughout our Christian walk and will clothe us with a body filled with the righteous ways of the Lord.
If we go through life and never avail ourselves of the opportunity to have Christ formed in us, in the Day of Resurrection we will be clothed with a dirty robe—a robe that reveals the sin and lawlessness of our nature.
The Divine law is stated clearly: we will receive the good we have practiced or the evil we have practiced.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:10)
Satan has succeeded in convincing the Christian ministry that II Corinthians 5:10 does not mean what it says.
However, like every other passage of Scripture it means exactly what it says. 2 Corinthians 5:10, like Romans 2:6 and Revelation 22:12, includes all people, not just the Christians.
It is equally true that there is no condemnation to those who are "in Christ." But being in Christ means much more than the contemporary "accepting Christ." Being in Christ signifies we are abiding in Christ, we are walking in daily crucifixion and resurrection.
After having stated that those who are in Christ are without condemnation (Romans 8:1), Paul continues to warn the Christian that if he walks "after the flesh," instead of "in Christ" he—the Christian—will die.
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify [put to death] the deeds of the body, ye shall live. (Romans 8:13)
In terms of the context of Romans 8:13, "ye shall die" means you shall not attain the resurrection to bodily righteousness, immortality, and glory. First, Paul announces:
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken [make alive] your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. (Romans 8:11)
Two verses later, Paul issues the warning of Romans 8:13: "if you live after the flesh you shall die." In God’s goodness, we begin our Christian walk without condemnation. But we must build a new creation on that foundation.
If, after having begun in Christ, we choose to give the bulk of our time and effort to eating, sleeping, playing, working, and reproducing, instead of seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness by attending to prayer, the Word, and service to the Lord, we will not weave the white robe of righteous conduct with which we hope to be clothed in the Day of Resurrection.
The relationship between our conduct today and our condition in the Day of Resurrection is as straightforward as this. There is no alternative means, such as mercy and forgiveness, by which we can attain the first resurrection to righteousness, immortality, and glory.
In the Day of Resurrection we will receive what we have practiced—a white robe, or a spotted garment. Those with spotted garments (Christian or not) will not be raised in the first resurrection, the resurrection that will take place when the Lord appears.
The Bride is to be without spot or wrinkle; not spotless by imputed (ascribed) righteousness but spotless by the actual righteousness of personality and behavior that results from the creating of Christ in us.
The Lord’s armies are clothed in the righteousness that is Christ formed in us. Those who are raised in the first resurrection are an army. They stand on Mount Zion, on the place of spiritual war.
And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads. (Revelation 14:1)
Many of these will be saints of the Old Testament. This is demonstrated on the Mount of Transfiguration, where Moses and Elijah appeared with Peter, James, and John. The Mount of Transfiguration was a preview of the coming of the Kingdom of God.
Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, (Matthew 16:28-17:1)
The armies of Heaven will follow the Lord Jesus when He returns to earth. The white-robed saints, mounted on white horses, will appear in glory with the Lord. Antichrist and his armies will be destroyed by the brightness of the coming of the Lord with His saints and holy angels.
When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day. (2 Thessalonians 1:10)
And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: (2 Thessalonians 2:8)
We believe that only the Lord’s "mighty men" will be raised in the first resurrection. This follows the type of Gideon and his three hundred. Only a remnant of Israel were used by the Lord at that time to overthrow the enemy. The victorious remnant will be those who attain the bodily resurrection to righteousness, immortality, and glory.
For eternity they will be with the Lord Jesus wherever He goes. One of the errors of current evangelical thinking is a reliance on imputed righteousness to the exclusion of the righteousness of personality and behavior that comes from the formation of Christ in us. By imputed righteousness the believers mean that God does not see their behavior, God sees only the robe of Jesus’ righteousness that has been placed on them.
This means that if I lie, God sees only the truthfulness of Christ. If I engage in moral filth, God sees only the holiness of Christ. If I refuse to do God’s will in a matter, God sees only the obedience of Christ.
This doctrine has destroyed the Christian churches of our day. It springs, at least in part, from the belief that justification cannot be affected by our behavior whether it be godly or ungodly. The expanding of justification until it displaces the need for godly behavior can easily be shown to be unscriptural. Faith without works, without corresponding behavior, is dead—worthless as regards salvation.
The purpose of the new covenant is to make a new creation, not to forgive the actions of our adamic nature. No matter how often the old Adam is forgiven he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. He cannot receive a body of immortality and glory.
How is the white robe formed? From where does it come? How do we obtain a white robe to cover our spirit?
The white robe comes from our prayerful, faithful, obedient response to our afflictions (2 Corinthians 4:17).
As the judgment of God touches our fallen nature, as we experience trouble, sickness, impoverishment, dread, we cry out to the Lord for deliverance. The Lord helps us commit our way to Him and rest in Him. As we do this, as we refuse to break out of our "prison" or to sin in any manner, our old nature dies. In its place is formed the Life of Christ. His body and blood are given to us in the spirit realm and are eternal life in us.
We are sowing our earthly body to the death of the cross. As the body and blood of Christ form resurrection life in us, the new life is raised to the right hand of God. The new resurrection life takes the shape of a white robe. It is that robe that will be given to us in the Day of Christ, that will be the immortality and glory with which our mortal remains will be clothed.
Our interaction with the Person of Jesus in the present hour is fashioning the kind of resurrection we shall experience. We shall be clothed with the "righteousnesses" that have been created in us as we abide in the Lord each day of our discipleship.