Bible Study Seattle

“Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.  Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.”  Revelation 22:12-15 NASB

‘Blessed are those who wash their robes’ – what does that mean??  Righteousness?  Faith?  A bit vague.  Lets look at another translation:

“”Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me to recompense everyone according to his work.”  “I am the Alap and the Taw, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the Completion.  Blessed are they who do His (Master YHWH’s) Mitzvot, that they may have a right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city.””  Revelation 22:12-15 AENT

The Mitzvot is the Law!  The Ten commandments and the lesser commands of the Torah!  It is saying that any that want to eat from the trees of life must follow God’s laws – thou shall not murder, steal, lie, etc.  The relation between faith and works is not fleshed out very well in most churches.  There are works we can do and works we cannot do.  We cannot raise ourselves from the dead, this is purely God’s doing, and we must rest in faith that he will do it.  However, we can do simple works such as, ‘you shall not eat from this tree; you shall not lie, etc’.