By: Robert Serreyn
Question? Please explain Revelation 7:14 and is it suggesting works to be saved?
Revelation 7:14 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.
Answer:
I will start by answering the last part first.
There are those that TEACH FALSELY that God has two types of salvation depending on which dispensation you are talking about.
THEY TEACH:
– Old Testament and Tribulation Period – Faith PLUS WORKS
– New Testament and the Church age – Faith PLUS NOTHING
They emphasize the word THEIR indicating THEY HAVE by their faithfulness and or enduring till the end plus their faith in Christ obtained their salvation.
Here in lies THE PROBLEM, the Bible states in Romans 11:6
And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise, work is no more work.
In other words, salvation is either BY GRACE (faith PLUS NOTHING) or it is by works and the scriptures GIVES US the answer in Ephesians 2:8,9
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (9) Not of works, lest any man should boast.
To teach that God offers salvation by Works PLUS Faith in certain dispensations and salvation by Faith PLUS Nothing in another is UTTER CONFUSION and FALSE DOCTRINE.
The Bible States in 1 Corinthians 14:33
For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
As you can see THE ANSWER IS we are saved by FAITH PLUS NOTHING and this has ALWAYS BEEN God’s method of salvation.
In the Old Testament, a person WAS SAVED by LOOKING TO the cross where Christ WOULD DIE for their sins.
In the New Testament, Church age and beyond a person IS SAVED by LOOKING BACK to the cross where Christ DID DIE for their sins.
NOTICE the word WASHED this word in Revelation 7:14 is used in connection of being saved by hearing/ or reading the Gospel and BELIEVING on the the Lord Jesus Christ.
The word WASHED means to SIMPLY BELIEVE (Trust Alone) in the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ as the COMPLETE PAYMENT for sin.
Scripture Support:
John 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Ephesians 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.
Titus 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.
Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
NOW I will answer the first part:
The words Sir, thou knowest means “Sir, I do not know, but surely you must know and you are the one who can tell me”
The phrase These are they which came out of great tribulation in the Greek LITERALLY, MEANS “These are the ones COMING OUT of the Great Tribulation”.
Question: What Great Tribulation?
Answer: Matthew 24:15-21
When ye, therefore, shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand; (16) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: (17) Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: (18) Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. (19) And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! (20) But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: (21) For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
The Anti Christ makes a covenant with the Jews at the beginning of the Tribulation Period, right after the Rapture. He allows them to go into their rebuilt temple for three and a half years. In the middle(3-1/2 years) in the Tribulation Period, he breaks that covenant and DECLARES HIMSELF to be god. He will seek to KILL EVERY JEW and DEMANDS
that EVERYONE to take his mark 666 on their right hand or in the forehead or die.
(2 Thessalonians 2:3,4) Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; (4) Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
(Revelation 13:15-17) And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. (16) And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: (17) And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
(Revelation 20:4) And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with (Revelation 13:15) And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
To prevent from going through this SOON COMING Tribulation Period and to be TAKEN at the Rapture is to Trust Jesus Christ ALONE as your PERSONAL SAVIOUR, believing that HE DIED, was BURIED, and AROSE AGAIN from the grave as the COMPLETE PAYMENT for ALL YOUR SINS.
(Acts 16:31) And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
In Conclusion:
The phrase WASHED THEIR ROBES simply means that they Placed their faith alone in the Death Burial and Resurrection of Jesus Christ and TRUSTED HIM ALONE as their saviour, there is NO SUGGESTION of works involved.
– The Great Tribulation is in reference to the second three and a half year part of the Tribulation Period.
– The Anti Christ(satan indwelt possessed man) declares himself to be god, and to be worshipped as such.
– The Anti Christ WILL SEEK to kill every Jew
– The Anti Christ DEMANDS that EVERYBODY take HIS MARK 666 on their right hand or forehead or die.
– These are the ones COMING OUT of the Great Tribulation are the christians WHO HAVE survived physically alive to the end of the Tribulation Period who will enter the Millennial Kingdom and those that have died during the Tribulation will come back with Jesus Christ (at his second coming at the end of the Tribulation Period) along with all the other christians from Adam and Eve forward to live in the Millennial Kingdom
(Jude 1:14) And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints.
The MOST IMPORTANT thing to know IS Jesus Christ as savior, just simply believe that Jesus Christ went to the cross and DIED and shed his blood, was BURIED and three days later RESURRECTED from the dead to pay for your sins.
-Christ DIED for you – Romans 5:8
-Christ PAID your sins in full – 2 Corinthians 5:21,1 Peter 2:24
-BELIEVE (Trust In Completely) in Christ ALONE as the complete payment of sin for salvation – John 3:16, Acts 16:31, Ephesians 2:8,9
“For the wages(payment) of sin is death (eternal torment in hell), but the GIFT(salvation) of God is eternal life THROUGH Jesus Christ our Lord”. Romans 6:23
IT IS THAT SIMPLE – THE GOSPEL TRUTH