Q.-What is the difference between " washed us from our sins " (Revelation 1:55And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, (Revelation 1:5)); " washed their robes " (Revelation 7:1414And 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 " our bodies washed with pure water " (Hebrews 10:2222Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:22))? R. M.
A.-In Revelation 1 " the disciple whom Jesus loved " addresses " the words of the prophecy " (ver. 3) to the seven churches in Asia, and wishes for them grace and peace " from him which is, and which was, and which is to come, and from the seven spirits which are before his throne; and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth." No sooner is the Lord Jesus in His life and death, resurrection and kingdom relationship before the mind of the apostle than he breaks forth in words that can be taken up by all saints since Pentecost. For the knowledge of Christ's redemption, evokes from our hearts the confession of His worth who died for us and rose again. It is He who has washed us from our sins in His own blood, and made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father. We " have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins (or offense), according to the riches of his grace " (Ephesians 1:77In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; (Ephesians 1:7)). As this could not be known and enjoyed before redemption was accomplished, so is it characteristic of the time since then and not yet ended. John therefore speaks for himself and for those who have believed on Jesus through the apostles' word. It is the Christian note of praise, and anticipates the universal ascription of glory and might to the One who went down into death for us.
But in Revelation 7 (and 22:14, " Blessed are they that wash their robes, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city ") we appear to have rather what applies to an earthly (i.e., a people for the earth, whereas the Christian is for heaven) and millennial people who pass through " the great tribulation " and are not (as we) kept " out of the bonds of temptation which shall come upon all the habitable world." They have been given to wash their robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb. " Therefore are they before the throne of God," though not in heaven, as verse 16 clearly shows. For hunger, thirst, or the falling of the sun on them, or heat, has not to do with a people above the sun in heaven. Gentiles on earth, they are followers of the Lamb who leads them to living fountains of waters, and, like another company (of Jews, chap. xiv.) they are not defiled. Nevertheless, we cannot suppose them at all up to the heights of Christian truth as we enjoy it in the possession of a purged conscience: but their walk is according to their knowledge of what the blood of the Lamb has effected.
" Our bodies washed with pure water " is the effect of the cleansing power of the word of God (John 15:33Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. (John 15:3); Ephesians 5:2626That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, (Ephesians 5:26)). As " not by water only but by water and blood," Jesus came, so here we have the heart sprinkled from an evil conscience by the blood (Hebrews 9:1414How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:14)), and the body cleansed through the operation of the truth, as in John 1314If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. (John 13:14) He that is " washed "... " and ye are clean, but not all. For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean."