In Matthew 22, Jesus told an alarming parable about a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. Those initially invited (Israel) refused to attend and even murdered the king’s servants, bringing judgment upon themselves. The king then extended his invitation to people of every nation: “So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find. So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.”
Here Jesus’ story takes another dark turn: “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless. Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”
The story emphasizes that the king’s invitation goes out to all and sundry. There’s absolutely no sense that God’s kingdom invitation is limited to some mysterious subgroup. This is thoroughly consistent with the rest of scripture: “God our savior…wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people.” (1 Timothy 2:4-6) “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.” (Titus 2:11)
But even though the kingdom invitation is universal, there are nonetheless clear standards for admission. The king requires that his guests wear the appropriate wedding clothes. This raises the crucial question: to what do these clothes correspond? After all, the garments function as the key criteria which determines whether a person is welcomed into the kingdom or is thrown out. Many evangelical pastors insist that the clothes must refer to passive “faith” in Jesus, independent of any effort or action on our part. That is the only answer their soteriology will allow.
However, there is a very different and far better answer to this question.
The apostle Paul often used the same clothing metaphor, most famously in the book of Romans. “And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Romans 13:11-14)
This passage is about the arrival of God’s kingdom, inaugurated by the death & resurrection of Jesus the Messiah & the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. As often, Paul uses the metaphor of night turning to daytime. (Paul loved using multiple metaphors in the same passage.) The dark age of evil, injustice & immorality is passing away. The new age has dawned, characterized by the righteous reign of the Messiah. And human beings must learn to live in light with this fundamental reality. Paul therefore urges his readers to put aside “the deeds of darkness.” King Jesus will simply not tolerate sinful, “fleshly” behaviors such as sexual immorality, dissension & jealousy.
Instead, Paul explicitly enjoins his readers to “clothe themselves with the Lord Jesus the Messiah.” This phrase clearly refers to altered behavior. We must renounce our former wickedness and learn to comport ourselves in a whole new way. And this new way is rooted in Jesus himself. He has revealed what genuine humanity looks like, perfectly reflecting the image of God. He has shown us how we must love our neighbor as ourselves. (Romans 13:8-10) We must now strive to imitate our Lord.
The clothing Paul speak of is not an abstract status of righteousness “imputed” to us by “faith” in Jesus. Rather, he contrasts evil behavior with genuine, concrete righteousness. This is not a matter of “doing it yourself.” Rather, it’s a function of the Holy Spirit – who is none other than “the Spirit of the Jesus” (Philippians 1:19, Acts 16:7) or “the Spirit of the Messiah” (Romans 8:9, 1 Peter 1:11). The indwelling presence of the Spirit gives us the power to put to death “the desires of the flesh” (v14) and to live in a way that is pleasing to God.
Several other New Testament passages also use the metaphor of clothing. In his letter to the Colossians, Paul writes, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” (Colossians 3:12-14)
Paul exhorts his readers to clothe themselves with a set of virtues. The qualities listed here overlaps considerably with “the fruit of the Spirit” listed in Galatians 5:22-23. Both include kindness, gentleness, patience & love. Colossians 3 adds compassion, humility & forgiveness. The important thing is to recognize that all of these virtues require an active posture which imitates Jesus.
Nothing in this text suggests that the clothing involves some abstract transfer of credit. Paul does not say, “Let God clothe you through faith in Jesus.” Rather, the emphasis is on how we must respond to God’s grace: “clothe yourselves.” Paul insists that we must cultivate the characteristics exhibited par excellence by our Lord.
Again, this is not “do it yourself” religion. Paul clearly has in mind the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit: “…Christ is all, and is in all.” (v11) The Spirit enables Christians to take off the “old self” (v9) with its vile practices of lust, greed, slander, malice, and lies, and to “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its creator.” (v10)
In the book of Revelation, John the Seer gives us a magnificent vision of the future time when God’s kingdom will be fully established over all the earth. God will then destroy all the dark agents of evil & injustice and bring his faithful people into his eternal kingdom.
Not coincidentally, John also uses the metaphor of a wedding party to depict the kingdom. Jesus the lamb is the groom, and his loyal followers are the bride. “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)” (Revelation 19:6-8)
This passage routinely confounds evangelical pastors. The text clearly indicates that the “bright and clean” garments are “the righteous acts of the saints.” As in Jesus’ parable, this is the key characteristic which qualifies them to participate in the wedding. Yet this conclusion cannot be accepted by evangelicals who insist that the clothes must only be the imputed righteousness of Jesus.
But this framework simply cannot be reconciled with what John has written. John could easily have indicated that the “fine linen” corresponds to the righteousness of Jesus the Lamb. Yet in a book full of symbolism, John goes out of his way to identify these garments as “the righteous acts of God’s holy people.” Once again, we note that the metaphor of clothing refers to our behavior.
Evangelical pastors tend to ignore this verse completely. If they do address it, they flounder about, eventually assuring their congregations (and themselves) that these righteous deeds can’t possibly be ours, despite the fact that that is precisely what John states.
All this confusion could be avoided if we stick to the text, keeping in mind that true nature of salvation. Salvation is not merely a matter of receiving abstract credit for what Jesus has done. God intends to make human beings truly righteous. This requires the Holy Spirit, restoring humans to the likeness of Jesus, who is himself the image of God. In this way, we become fit to share in eternal reign of Jesus over the redeemed creation: “To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I [Jesus] will give authority over the nations…just as I received authority from my Father.” (Revelation 2:27)
Everyone has been invited to God’s glorious wedding banquet. But you must have the right clothes. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we must imitate the character & conduct of our Lord Jesus Christ.
