For many people, the book of Revelation is a frightening book, filled with weird imagery and terrifying metaphors. Not to mention it’s made even more confusing by the many interpretations that exist.

There’s gloriously good news in the midst of the confounding, however. Read what Revelation 19:6-9 (ESV) says:

6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

“Hallelujah!

For the Lord our God

the Almighty reigns.

7 Let us rejoice and exult

and give him the glory,

for the marriage of the Lamb has come,

and his Bride has made herself ready;

8 it was granted her to clothe herself

with fine linen, bright and pure”—

for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

The marriage of the Lamb.

The marriage supper of the Lamb.

There will come a time when Jesus, the Lamb, comes for his Bride, the Church, and a beautiful celebration will ensue. 

I want to zoom in on one detail of this future celebration. Notice what the Bride is wearing.

Fine linen, bright and pure.

And remember that you and I—believers in Jesus—are the Bride.

Now, what does the fine linen represent? Look back at the end of verse 8:

The fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

Jesus’ Bride will be clothed in her righteous deeds.

Let me ask you something: do you think that most (all?) brides want to be beautiful on their wedding day?

Absolutely!

I don’t know a single woman who would say she didn’t want to look her most beautiful! That’s why so much money is spent on a gorgeous dress, shoes, makeup, hair, nails, etc., etc.

There is so much preparation that goes into that day for most brides. (Yes, there are exceptions!)

Many women start months in advance—perhaps losing weight or toning up. She wants to look her absolute best for her groom.

We are the Bride of Christ. Shouldn’t we want to look our best on our wedding day to our Groom, the Lamb of God, the King of kings and Lord of lords?

Yes!

How do we do that? Expect to have perpetually good hair days? Make sure we are toned?

Nope!

Our good deeds, our righteous acts are what make up our wedding garments. The more righteous acts, the more beautiful we become for Jesus.

Now, our righteous acts do not save us; they are the result of our salvation.

The Bible makes very clear that our lives should and will change as a result of salvation (James 2:14-26). If not, we need to question whether we are saved. A life in Christ becomes characterized by good works and the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

We have a responsibility on the “after” side of salvation to grow in Christlikeness and to perform the good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).

These good works come when we “work out” our salvation, as Philippians 2:12-13 says:

¹² So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; ¹³ for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

Working out our salvation is not the equivalent of working for our salvation. When we work out our bodies, we are not working to get a body. We already have a body. We are strengthening the body we have. Similarly, when we work out our salvation, we are strengthening the salvation we already have. We are growing in Christlikeness.

And notice that it says that we work out as God works in us. It’s a partnership with Him. We are not doing this in our own strength, not “muscling” our way through life. No. We are partnering with the Holy Spirit to grow in His likeness and to perform the good works for His glory.

And in the process, we become a more beautiful Bride.

So, join me, believer, in growing in good works so that we, the collective Bride of Christ, might take away Jesus’ breath when He sees us at the marriage of the Lamb.