Without Spot or Wrinkle

Here we show that verses about our perfection refer to Christ’s’ finished work and not to a process:

…as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it by the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. (Eph 5:25-27).

This is the gospel. It shows that we are sanctified by the cross, where Christ gave Himself. The washing of water refers to the new birth. It is Spirit baptism by the water of the word (Titus 3:5, 1 Peter 1:3, 23). (See also Heb 10:22.) We are presented to the Father perfect, without spot or wrinkle, by His blood. It does not say that we are presented perfect after a process of sanctification.

And you, that were once alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now has He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblamable and unreprovable in His sight: if you continue in the faith grounded and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel…(Col 1:21-23).

The problem with our traditions on spiritual growth is that they do the very thing Paul admonished against. They move us away from our confidence in Christ to a hope in what we can do. Oh what a disaster. We build again what Christ pulled down. But He does not judge us. He loves us and is merciful and sheds His light upon us in the gospel and heals us of our struggles.

This passage shows we are presented perfect, holy, without blame or reproof in God’s sight, not by our coming of age as a church, or our efforts in sanctification as believers, but by the cross of Christ alone. This passage is not speaking of a maturing process, but of the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

There is a teaching related to end-times that claims that the body of Christ is being perfected slowly and when that is achieved Jesus will return. It is also sometimes stated that if we take certain steps to mature ourselves more quickly, we can set the agenda of when Jesus returns. This is what the Essenes thought.

There does not appear to be any teaching in the Bible that claims that the return of Jesus has anything to do with the church maturing itself. The church has faults and always will have until He comes. They are called people – you and me. This is why we must love one another.

Rev 19:7-8 says that the bride has made herself ready for the marriage supper of the Lamb. Some have taught that Jesus is waiting for the church to get ready/fully mature herself and then He will return. The NKJV says the pure garments given to the church are the righteous acts of the saints. It is taught that when we straighten out our acts He will return.

This translation is not in accord with the original Greek. It shows how a translation can be affected by the theology of the translators. The word acts is not in the KJV. The phrase the bride has made herself ready is drawn from Israeli wedding tradition, but here the clothing is granted to her, which the KJV says is the righteousness of the saints. That is, we are clothed in purity because of the blood of Christ.

This is what qualifies us for the wedding. The man who was not dressed for the wedding (in Jesus’ parable) did not have this clothing. He did not have faith. It has nothing to do with maturity or our works.

It is assumed that the marriage supper is after the Second Coming of Jesus. The marriage supper is the gospel. It is what He declared in John 6, regarding eating His flesh and drinking His blood for eternal life. He is our supper. There is no point missing the wedding feast now, waiting for the one to come. “He sets a table before me in the presence of my enemies”, which means now (Psalm 23).

Revelation 19 depicts gospel themes. It is not a timetable for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. We are not waiting for the marriage supper, but we are in it now because we are washed in Jesus Christ. Now we eat of His flesh and drink of His blood, in His communion (fellowship) by faith (Mark 2:19, John 3:29).