You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
14 Blessed
[makarios] are they that do[poieo]
his[autos] commandments,[entole] that[hina] they[autos] may have[esomai] right[exousia] to[epi] the tree[xulon] of life,[zoe] and[kai] may enter[eiserchomai] in
through the gates[pulon] into[eis] the city.[polis] KJV-Interlinear
14 Blessed
are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of
life, and may enter by the gates into the city. NASB
The word 'blessed' means holy, to be honored as holy, to endow with something special, to be held in veneration or admiration, to bring happiness, pleasure, contentment, fulfillment, purpose.
Blessing is something that only God can bestow. No one can bless anyone, because quite simply none of us have the power, or authority, or the wherewithal to give such an honor.
To be blessed is to be holy. Holiness is the result when you combine righteousness with justice.
Righteousness is the state of sinless perfection. Justice is the cleansing required in order to rid oneself of the filth and dirt of this life. Therefore, a good washing is in order when a person finds themselves in a state of filth. That state of filth occurred when we were born into this world. Spiritual filth, that is. And confession is the symbolic act of washing in the spiritual sense.
By one man, Adam, all have sinned. Sin is passed down to each one of us by means of our parents. And more specifically the sin nature is passed down by the father, and not the mother. Jesus was born of Mary, not Joseph. Jesus was born without a sin nature, just as Adam was created without a sin nature.
But we, who are but mere mortals, were born into this world with sin natures. Those sin natures become apparent at a very early age, and we are stuck with them all of our natural lives while in this world.
When we believe in Christ, then the work of Christ provides a basis for Gods applying the washing powers of the Cross, in our lives.
There is only one way to be cleansed spiritually, and that is by means of faith in Christ. Your cleansing occurs immediately when you initially believe in Christ. In so doing, you put on clean robes. Clothes of the soul, which are acceptable to God. No one can go before the Father unless they have first been cleaned up.
Likewise in your life, when you commit a sin, after you have been saved, then confession is the required washing, which places you back in a state of cleanliness, or in a state of fellowship. Again, God will not deal with you unless you are clean. Salvation cleans you up initially, confession is the repeated action of washing which keeps you clean and allows you to function within your spiritual life.
Our verse here is referring to the act of salvation, the act of believing in Christ. That is the all important washing that is required in order to get you into the new universe and into the new city of Jerusalem. Into heaven in other words.
The tree of life is eternal life. Only believers receive this all important life. Unbelievers have forever life, but they will live their forever life in the Lake of Fire, and not with God.
Isa. 64:6
6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. NASB
Isa. 1:18
18 'Come now, and let us reason together,' Says the LORD, 'Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool. NASB
Titus 3:5
5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, NASB
Only believers in Christ will enter into the new kingdom of God. Only believers in Christ will possess eternal life. Only believers in Christ will receive blessing of a permanent nature.
Everyone is a recipient of common grace, the air that we breathe, the life that we are born in to, the opportunity we all have to believe in Christ, the laws of establishment that preserve humanity and perpetuate our existence in this world, and so forth.
But only believers in Christ receive the blessings of salvation and after, and only mature believers receive the blessings of greater grace which exceed the imagination and more.
