Ephesians 5:27, commentary and pictures

Christ gave himself for the church to sanctify and cleanse it by the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself glorious and holy without spot or wrinkle or any blemish. Glorious without blemish means wholly free from every defect of character, as a redeemed bride made wholly fair and clothed in his own unblemished righteousness received by faith. That cleansing is inward sanctification through truth received in the heart and obeyed in the life, purifying the soul by the Spirit unto sincere love and requiring individual cooperation without delay. He will present his people thus at his appearing, after a special purification while judgment goes forward, clothing the faithful in his righteousness, remembering their sins no more, and acknowledging only those washed white and made overcomers through grace and diligent effort. His self-giving, cleansing love is also the pattern for the husband's love to his wife, nourishing and cherishing her as Christ does the church.

Christ Cleanses the Church

Christ loved the church and gave himself for it to sanctify and cleanse it by the washing of water by the word, so that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but holy and without blemish or any flaw. This self-giving love and cleansing work is the rule and model for marriage, requiring careful heart-searching study as with a lighted candle. As Christ is head and Saviour of the church, so the husband is head of the wife, and as the church is subject to Christ so the wife is subject to her husband in everything and reverences him, while the husband ought to love his wife as his own body, nourishing and cherishing her even as the Lord the church. That cherishing protects rather than harms her physical and spiritual well-being, forbidding selfish sexual conduct that degrades her into a servant to gratify lust, and forbidding repeated pregnancies that endanger health and prevent service. Where this instruction is heeded, home life becomes pure and elevated, guarded by holy love.

The cleansing is Bible sanctification through truth received in the heart and practiced in the life, not merely outward show. Receiving and obeying the truth through the Spirit purifies the soul and leads to sincere love, and Christ's followers are cleansed through obeying the truth. The Word when received and obeyed brings life and cleanses the sinful soul. This purification of character is an individual work that must not be delayed, requiring believers to cooperate with Christ in it. That character-shaping work joins continual divine working with human effort, as people cooperate with what God works in them to develop Christlike characters fit to stand in the day of the Lord. The spotless condition is the character of God revealed in Christ and given to his followers, who are called to reflect that same character, and the truth has power to renew, convert, and transform character so the church becomes pure and fit for presentation to God. The church's purity and spiritual prosperity depend on the faithfulness and zealous service of its members.

Even when she appears enfeebled and defective, Christ bestows his special love and regard on his church on earth, having bought her with the precious blood of his only begotten Son. He holds her as his fortress and city of refuge in a revolted world, the case that contains his jewels and the fold that encloses his flock, making her the theater of his grace where the Holy Spirit as his representative transforms human hearts. He yearns after her with unspeakable love, longing to see her without spot or blemish or any such thing, longing to clothe her with salvation and make her glorious and share his glory as the repository of sacred, holy truth. Though he could carry his work forward without human cooperation and is not dependent on money, time, or labor, he gives opportunities to work for him and accepts those labors as tokens of love and loyalty. He is now gathering from the world a people, an army to serve under his banner, whom he himself will present to himself glorious, holy, and without spot, wrinkle, or blemish.

He will have a glorious church whose members separate evil from good, show compassion and love one another as he loved them, and do not knowingly tolerate wrongdoing but expel it from their own hearts and lives, bringing astonishment and joy to angels and heaven. This purpose is hindered when unconsecrated influences lull the church into carnal security, reject the rich floods of light from heaven, and refuse God's power and grace unless they can dictate how God works. Any betrayal of her sacred trust is treachery to him, in contrast to the synagogue of Satan whose children of disobedience love and choose sin and labor to make void the law.

Glorious Without Blemish

Glorious, holy and without blemish means free from every spot, wrinkle or any similar defect. The church so described is Christ's bride, his redeemed people, presented by him to himself as wholly fair. He gave himself for the church to sanctify and cleanse it through the washing of water by the word, so that he could present it to himself in this purity. His self-giving love in doing so is the model for a husband's love for his wife.

The spotless condition is represented by the wedding garment, which is the pure character of Christ's true followers. That garment is Christ's own unblemished righteousness and character, imparted through faith to those who receive him as their personal Saviour. Belonging to him as his bride means being yoked up with him as Leader, laying aside one's own citizen's dress and being clothed in the robe of his righteousness, joined to him and made obedient and heavenly-minded. He died to save every person because each soul is valued, and he sends evangelists, missionaries, religious periodicals and the press to reach souls in darkness. Those so clothed must not defile their garments but wash their robes of character and keep them clean by simple, obedient cooperation with God while probation still lingers, ceasing to talk of others' faults, in preparation for translation and entrance into the beautiful city of God.

Spots and wrinkles are offensive defects of character that must be cleansed and refined away, with disposition changed by the Holy Spirit's power so that the saved show a heavenly character. They include manifesting impatience and fretfulness toward husband, children or any family member, becoming jealous, criticizing, complaining, watching brethren with jealous eyes, misconstruing innocent words, and exacting fretfulness. They include talking against brethren and sisters, influencing others against them, reporting incorrect things about them, and speaking falsely or maliciously about others. They are defilement in character in wrong speech and wrong doing, unholy speech and unsanctified action. Reaching the standard requires a great work of reform in which only the faithful overcomer gains eternal life, with a new heart making actions holy, character changed and reformed, self kept in subordination, and all unrighteousness and every thread of selfishness pruned from practice. It is linked with overcoming criticism and treating one another with kindness, compassion and words that heal. The cleansing must happen now by praying to the heavenly Father as Christ prayed, trusting in the blood of Christ to wash defilement away, believing he is Saviour today to cleanse from all unrighteousness, resisting Satan and refusing to surrender the will to his control, and cooperating with divine power to become a conqueror through grace. Only those thus without spot or wrinkle or any such thing will pass in the grand review and enter the city of God, into which nothing that defiles can enter, while without this change professed believers will be left outside and unholy ambition will prove the ruin of many souls.

Being without spot or wrinkle means inward and outward purity with no defilement, no ungodliness, no selfish ambition or desire to be first. It calls for unselfishness and scrupulous integrity in every action, with Christian motives shown by honest conduct in every matter, including refusing bribes and dishonest business dealings, so that conduct bears witness for God and meets his ideal for the perfect person in Christ. It requires mercy, tenderness, compassion, and freedom from oppression and injustice, fitting the saints for immortality to dwell in holy heaven with pure, sinless beings. Even one spot, wrinkle or defect in character cultivated instead of overcome makes a person imperfect and bars entrance to heaven and its glories, and no defect will be seen among the redeemed. Those ruled by corrupt and base passions cannot rightly value the soul or understand and experience salvation.

Final Presentation in Glory

The verse describes the church as Christ will receive to himself at his appearing, after a special work of purification, of putting away of sin, among his people on earth while the investigative judgment goes forward in heaven and the sins of penitent believers are removed from the sanctuary. Those living when his intercession ceases must stand in the sight of a holy God without a mediator, with robes and characters purified from sin by the blood of sprinkling, made conquerors in the battle with evil through divine grace and their own diligent effort, so that their offering is pleasant as in former years. Every individual must be tested and found without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, morally clean and perfect and holy and free of defect, if the name is to be retained in the book of life in the great day of atonement now in progress during the few remaining days of probation. This requires afflicting the soul before God by sorrow for sin and true repentance, humility, deep faithful searching of heart, putting away a light frivolous spirit, and earnest warfare to subdue evil tendencies that strive for mastery, until the High Priest's work is done. The work is individual and not in groups, for though all nations pass in judgment he examines each case as closely as if there were not another being on earth, and one person's purity and devotion cannot make up for another's lack.

Christ clothes his faithful people with his own righteousness so he can present them to the Father as a glorious church, holy and without stain or defect. Their penitence and faith are met with forgiveness, their sins are remembered no more, and he points to that penitence and faith and claims forgiveness for them, not excusing their sins. One cleansed from sin through his righteousness is presented free from every stain, complete in his righteousness, for he stands as Substitute and Surety, and through the riches of his grace, the merits of his sacrifice, and the protection of his righteousness believers can be presented without spot or wrinkle. As they advance in holiness they discover their continuing need of grace and reveal more fully his love and wisdom and power to make them blameless, perfected and made complete in him. That spotless condition is the goal for which Christians should honestly examine their lives and seek a well-grounded hope in their Redeemer.

On his coronation day at his appearing and triumph he will not acknowledge as his anyone who still bears spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but only his faithful ones without them, bought with a price, polished from rough stones into precious jewels, made harmonious and symmetrical and made his peculiar treasure. His faithful redeemed, washed and made white in the Lamb's blood, he will acknowledge as his own and present as trophies of victory shining in the glory of the Father and the Son. To them he will give crowns of immortal glory, they will shine in the glory of the Father and the Son marked The Lord Our Righteousness, and they will surround him and accompany him as witnesses that his mission of suffering and self-sacrifice was victorious and not in vain. Those who would not have him reign over them will see him thus surrounded by the army of the redeemed, and will see the head once crowned with thorns now crowned with a diadem of glory. The call to be found without spot or wrinkle is thus applied to personal readiness for his coming, joined with putting on the wedding garment and making calling and election sure.

He himself will lead the redeemed children, the purchase of his blood, through the pearly gates into the New Jerusalem, the golden city, and looking upon them he will see the travail of his soul and be satisfied with the great salvation purchased by him. He will have a church without spot or wrinkle to present to his Father, pure and without blemish, its faith tested and purified through trials and suffering. To belong to that company his followers must follow him as their pattern, deny themselves all the way along, share his sufferings to share his glory and reign with him, and overcome as he did rather than avoid the cross. They must be perfect Christians treading the narrow thorny pathway he trod, giving up defiling habits such as tobacco for his sake, and be final overcomers, for whom heaven will be cheap enough.

The promise is precious to those waiting and watching for his appearing in the closing perilous times, who loved the church and gave himself for it to sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word; they are not in darkness, they will be ready when the Bridegroom comes and will go in with him to the marriage, while the great day comes as a snare on others, and those whom God loves enjoy this favor because they are lovely in character. No one receives the seal while defects or defilement remain, for the soul must be cleansed and character defects remedied so that his people are holy and without blemish and without spot and fit for heaven. When they are thus prepared the latter rain will fall on them as the early rain fell on the disciples at Pentecost. This fitness is to be gained now through development of perfect character and is not given at his coming, for Enoch shows that a person can remain unsullied by widespread corruption and walk with God, and he represents those who live amid the perils of the last days and are translated without seeing death. The church may appear as about to fall but does not fall, remaining while sinners in Zion are sifted out as chaff is separated from precious wheat, and only those overcoming by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony are found with the loyal and true, without spot or stain of sin and without guile in their mouths, divested of self-righteousness and arrayed in his righteousness, purifying their souls by obeying the truth, gathering strength from the trying process, and exhibiting the beauty of holiness amid surrounding apostasy.

The relation between Christ and his church is very close and sacred, he the bridegroom and the head and the church the bride and the body, bound to himself in an eternal covenant by redemption, pictured as husband and wife and as the Lamb's wife with every true believer a member of his body. Connection with Christ involves connection with his organized church, which is organized for service, and connection with the church is one of the first steps in a life of service to him, with loyalty to him demanding faithful performance of church duties as part of training, leading directly in a church imbued with his life to effort for the world without. Unfaithfulness by his people toward him is like a wife's unfaithfulness to her husband. The church is married to him and is to become a sharer in his kingdom as joint heir with him, with assurance of being loved as God loves his Son, so believers are to lean wholly upon him and turn to heaven to God as source of wisdom, grace, and efficiency instead of asking counsel of man. That relationship is spiritual union and not merely outward membership, for personal faith in a personal Saviour brings the soul into union, into spiritual wedlock with him. This union gives strength to be strong, to speak hope and press through obstacles with the Word as assurance, meaning to approach him with full assurance of faith, join hands with him, follow where he leads, do whatsoever he says, and trust him to teach and guide.

Receiving Cleansing by Faith

Holiness is glorifying God by entire conformity of the human will to the divine will with a clean, pure mind. It is the uplifting, refining, and ennobling of the human agent to the glory of God, counteracting Satan's work to ruin man. It is the re-creation of man through Christ's merits, by which a clean thing is brought out of an unclean and the image of God in him is restored. This is the end for which Christ died and gave Himself, that soul and body as His purchased possession might be presented to God without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. It comes by faith that works by love and purifies the soul from all defilement, as the believer goes forward beholding the character of Jesus Christ to the highest standard of perfection.

The spotless state is the privilege and wonderful possibility of every follower, nothing greater and nothing less than receiving the fullness of the character Christ revealed. When self is dead and nothing of self remains, and the believer surrenders fully to Him, He can finish the work He began and present him purified through grace, bearing His likeness. That likeness is a life free from selfishness, bearing His banner of love, honoring Him by unselfish words and deeds, living as He lived in human nature without selfishness, pure and true in word and deed. It is freedom from selfishness and from covetousness which is idolatry, revealing His attributes in a world of iniquity and corruption, calling attention to Him who takes away all sin, as a peculiar people zealous of good works.

Perfection of character to this standard is possible and required, sanctified in soul, body, and spirit. It requires learning of Christ His meekness and lowliness, and knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life. Educators and all believers are to keep learning from Christ the great Teacher so they may become complete in Him, without spot or wrinkle or anything like it. By His sacrifice every provision has been made to receive all things that pertain to life and godliness, and God calls His people to the highest standard of glory and virtue, made possible by the perfection of Christ's character. Those drawn to Him become pure and undefiled, wholly acceptable to God with no moral stain or defect, representatives expressing the fragrance of His character, His pure thoughts and divine attributes as manifested in His sanctified human life, so that others beholding Him in human form desire to be like Him, and the wise become partakers of the divine nature restored in creation's moral image.

Robes of character are washed in the Lamb's blood, and every spot and wrinkle of character defilement in wrong speech and wrong doing is removed. Those who will see Him in His beauty must overcome sin as He overcame, by praying to the heavenly Father as He prayed, trusting His blood to wash defilement away, believing He is Saviour today to cleanse from all unrighteousness. They resist Satan and refuse to surrender the will to his control, cooperating with divine power to be conquerors through grace. Self must be crucified and life lived for Him, with the Holy Spirit working in the heart to crucify self and give grace, putting away everything unlike Him including hatred, jealousy, folly, and covetousness. As grace transforms the heart, peculiar traits disappear and patience, kindness, forbearance, and self-denial become its fruit, in lives not defiled by unclean practices and ready to stand before His throne.

Each person must individually meet God's moral standard of righteousness and be morally clean and faultless. At His judgment the standard in view is to stand acquitted without spot or stain when the books are opened and every one is judged according to deeds done in the body. This readiness is urgent because He is coming and the end is near, requiring afflicting the soul, putting away frivolity, warring against evil tendencies, and maintaining a living connection with God and following on to know Him.

Pattern for Marriage Home

Christ loved the church and gave himself for it to sanctify and cleanse it by washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself glorious, holy, perfect, pure and complete, without spot or wrinkle or blemish or any such thing. That self-sacrificing love is the rule every husband must remember and follow in loving his wife as his own body, nourishing and cherishing her even as the Lord the church. As Christ is head and Saviour of the church so the husband is head of the wife, and as the church is subject to Christ so the wife is subject to her husband in everything and reverences him. Marriage, a union for life, is a symbol of that union between Christ and his church, and the lesson is of the greatest importance though practiced by few, requiring careful study and searching of the heart as with a lighted candle, for carried out fully it would change families and make home life pure and elevated, guarded by holy love. A husband who belittles his wife and makes her feel inferior fails that duty to love and cherish her as his own body.

The spirit Christ manifests toward the church is the spirit husband and wife are to manifest toward each other, giving no excuse for a masterly, dictatorial spirit or lording it over each other. The husband is to cherish his wife as Christ cherishes his church, with kindness and affection as part of himself, being patient, kind, forbearing, tender, sympathetic and loving in home life, never domineering over her or exercising strong will to compel her, never speaking impatiently, never bitter against her, never using hard words and a harsh spirit, but remembering she has a will of her own and respecting her individuality. The wife is to leave father, mother, sisters, brothers and friends to cleave to her husband above all earthly ties, loving him better than anyone on earth, making his wishes her wishes, yielding in words and temper, obeying him as head, showing respect, laboring to cheer, encourage and uphold him by prayer and kind sympathizing words, putting nothing in his way and no hindrance in his work for God, so husband and wife live together in harmony and happiness. Neither husband nor wife is to make plea for rulership, but both are to exercise mutual recognition of rights, courtesy, a grateful and submissive spirit, mutual self-denial and self-sacrifice, determined never to grieve or injure each other and exercising will power to be a great blessing and not a curse, so that home life becomes a preparation for entrance to the family above. To be presented clean and faultless at Christ's coming requires being fully given up to God, fully consecrated, with will swallowed up in God's will, eye single to his glory, cut loose from seeking to please relatives and friends, more devoted to God and earnest about salvation, for without this preparation a person will come short and be judged deficient, while such faithful labor together will be noticed by God and rewarded. Genuine conversion places the heart as clay in the potter's hands to be fashioned after Christ's likeness, and life is only pure, sweet, peaceful and happy when under control of the Holy Spirit in communion with God, with Christ enthroned in the heart, the outward fruit revealing the inward work.

Holy love cherishes and nourishes the wife as Christ does the church, protecting rather than harming her physical and spiritual well-being. Using a spouse to gratify lust or uncontrolled passion, degrading her into a servant to uncontrolled passion, harming her through selfish sexual conduct or repeated pregnancies that endanger health and prevent service, is not the holy love God recognizes. Christ's self-giving, pure love that sanctifies and cleanses unto holiness without blemish is the standard and pattern for love in marriage.

Divine love does not destroy human love but includes it, refines and purifies it, elevates and ennobles it, and only when united with the divine nature and trained heavenward can human love bear its precious fruit. God has ordained perfect love and perfect harmony in marriage, with the wife respecting and reverencing her husband and the husband loving and cherishing his wife, binding wife and children to his heart and cooperating in wisely, tenderly, lovingly educating children. That love between husband and wife and the warmth of true friendship is a foretaste of heaven, the family relationship is sanctifying in its influence, Christian homes conducted according to God's plan form Christian character, and families on earth are to be a symbol of the great family above through united loving service to God who alone keeps human love pure and noble. Such a Christian home is marked by pure, clean, holy affections testifying to the world of a happy home, where the husband serves God in his religious role and the wife loves, respects and counsels with him as a full partner in hallowed union. Husband and wife are to live in self-sacrificing love and faithfulness toward the high standard of purity and holiness shown in Christ presenting a holy, spotless church, ordering family life and setting faithful example, with daily and most thorough conversion of fathers and mothers, order instead of lax management, carefulness in words and actions, and instruction of children in nurture and admonition so none is left in ignorance, which is met only with Christ abiding within controlling mind and character.

The husband must reproduce the unity of Christ and the church in his home as a house-band binding wife and children together in affectionate unity reflecting a holy church without blemish. A husband who breaks that pattern breaks every tie of affection and scatters his family into bitterness and hatred toward one another, and when the wife shares his harsh character the children suffer and the whole family becomes a blot upon the earth instead of holy and united. As Christ guards his church to keep it pure and without taint of corruption, the husband must himself be without taint, fulfill his marriage vow, and guard his wife, and that guarding love must be cultivated to live and flourish by taking up neglected duties, bringing love into married life, and giving expression to that love.

Christ has married his church as bride to himself, taking each believer as his own by creation and redemption because he bought them as his property at infinite cost, the church represented as the Bride, the Lamb's wife, whom he redeems from iniquity and purifies as a people zealous for good works. Therefore the identity of the wife cannot be submerged in her husband and she cannot give her soul into her husband's keeping because it belongs to Christ, and no earthly marriage can excuse separation from him. This marriage demands individual responsibility to accept the gospel invitation and walk in the light, and if the husband refuses light and hinders the wife, or the wife hinders the husband, the believing one must still come, and if need be forsake spouse to practice religious principles and manifest loyalty to God.

Spotless Character Preparation

All who are saved at his coming will be morally spotless and blameless, cherishing no sin, for those who cherish sin cannot be received into heaven. Readiness to meet and see the King in his beauty requires a deeper experience in the things of God and a pure, holy life lived by the power he holds out while pleading before God as Elder Brother, received through humility and contrition with a character like his own, entering the city of God as his little children to be instructed through the eternal ages. In the last period of earth's history readiness requires becoming Christlike in heart and life, for those who disregard his word will be unholy, unsanctified, and unready. This requires diligent heed to his words without neglecting them, because the day of the Lord is right upon them with no time to lose, so that the grace of God is not received in vain but is answered by loving one another as he has loved. To enter the kingdom requires perfect character, holy and without defect, and making only a few feeble efforts to do right and then going back to the old life of sin fails to improve God-given privileges and will not meet this standard.

As the close of time nears Satan works with increased activity, laying unperceived snares to take possession of minds and in every way trying to eclipse the glory of God from the soul, and it rests with each person to decide whether Satan shall control heart and mind or whether they shall have a place in the new earth. If saved, those who profess to be his disciples must be without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, with Christian character without blemish, elevated in all thoughts and acts because they are fitting for immortality, and unless they meet this standard they will be pronounced unfit to be taken to a holy heaven to dwell with pure, sinless beings in his everlasting kingdom. No one can remain a Christian while indulging habits that debilitate the system, prostrate the vital forces, and wreck beings formed in his image through moral pollution, and those who corrupt their own bodies cannot enjoy his favor until they sincerely repent, make an entire reform, and perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord. The church he presents to himself is glorious, holy, and without blemish, and the same language applies to believers perfecting Christian character who make decisive changes so they may present themselves to God holy and blameless, without spot or wrinkle.

The church is made holy and free from every blemish so it can be presented to God, and the same standard of being without fault or spot applies to those who profess the truth who must be prepared to stand before his throne through sanctification by the truth and his cleansing, to which they must submit. Its spotless character is linked to cleansing from sin and washing robes of character in the Lamb's blood, calling believers to stop doing evil, learn to do good, and walk blamelessly in his commandments and ordinances. All who profess the truth must give their whole interest to the truth and the preparatory work for this time, being sanctified through the truth and made fit for immortality, with the thorough work of preparation continuing until they stand before the throne without fault and without spot or wrinkle, and he will cleanse all who submit to the purifying process. Its picture of being without spot or wrinkle describes the condition in which people must stand before God, so every flaw in character is to be recognized and overcome as they prepare for the coming crisis. Only faithful overcomers gain eternal life through thorough reform, full consecration, and removal of stumbling blocks.

Especially in the last days all must elevate their lives because they are fitting for translation to be without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, which is to be perfect before God, pure in heart and life, and holy, and then their light will shine. Having influence requires taking an exalted position instead of imitating the fashions of the world, and those looking for his coming must be the most orderly, systematic, cleanly people upon the earth in what they wear and how their houses and persons appear, because slovenly manners are not tokens of humility but are a true sign to unbelievers of what is within and cause judgment accordingly, leaving all slack, disorderly, slovenly habits so influence tells for good. He will receive a church free from defilement, holy and without blemish, and those who enter the heavenly mansions must have inward and outward purity with no defilement remaining. He is soon coming to take his people to the mansions he is preparing, and this cleansing must take place before then because heaven is pure and holy, nothing that defiles can enter those mansions, and only those made pure can pass through the gates of the city of God. Everyone counted worthy to enter heaven will be thoroughly disciplined to match heaven, where all move in order under rules and regulations and all is cleanly and in perfect harmony, being without spot or wrinkle meaning cleansed from all filthiness of flesh and spirit and perfecting holiness in his fear, because he loves purity, cleanliness, order and holiness, and the uncultivated still have spots and wrinkles now and must lose no time commencing the work of cleansing themselves.

Entering the kingdom is with character without spot or wrinkle, kept unspotted from the world, meaning complete separation from worldly relations and practices that would break his commandments, open loyalty to truth in Sabbath keeping and in healthful eating and drinking with no meat or tea or coffee, and unfurling the banner before believers and unbelievers, while the preparation still far from finished must be made now through lessons and faithful daily practice, while giving to the world the message of the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ by the third angel flying through heaven. Meeting him in the clouds without spot or wrinkle or any such thing means accepting his invitation to come, take his yoke and learn his meekness and lowliness, being born again of water and of the Spirit, having the converting power of God upon the heart, studying his life and imitating the divine Pattern, dwelling upon the perfection of his character until changed into his image, with passions subdued and will brought into captivity to his will, for no one will enter the kingdom without this. The purpose of the Bible is to lead people into a pure and holy life in this world, preparing them for the sinless life in his presence. The present life is a training time in which they are purified and made ready for the inheritance of the saints in light.

This readiness makes them pure in heart and perfect in character through his grace and righteousness to live in heaven's sinless atmosphere and be fitted for the glorious mansions he has gone to prepare, and if faithful in blessing others and patient in well-doing to be crowned at his coming with glory, honor, and immortality. Only those made holy and free from defilement will be fit for heaven and able to see the King in his beauty, shown in a life that practices his truth, loves God supremely and others as oneself, and submits thoughts and passions to him so that affections are purified by his grace. No fault can remain and no likeness to his opposite remain among those who enter the holy city, so members are to strengthen one another without self-exaltation, accusation, or harshness, and to purify their souls through love and obedience to the truth, training in holy conduct to become faultless in character, without spot, wrinkle, or any such thing. The call to be without spot or wrinkle is applied to believers who restrain sin, cultivate spiritual-mindedness, and persevere in copying his pattern so they may meet him in peace, beholding by faith his character and purity and being transformed into his image, becoming steadfast in loyalty as they prepare for heaven. All who enter the heavenly courts above must have a character with not a spot and not a wrinkle, standing faultless before God because no sin is upon the soul and no defects remain in the character.

This requires making overcoming the lifework and giving self unreservedly to God now, just now, parents with their children in one school together making in the home life a record far exceeding anything done in the past, with the great aim and constant endeavor to have a home in the heavenly courts, because time is altogether too short to give attention to worldly enterprise to the neglect of the heavenly and because Satan will work with determined effort to multiply temptations to obtain the victory, receiving the spotless, holy character here below by beholding him and studying him who gave his life and receiving the image of his character. All who are saved will be without wrinkle or any such thing, so sin must be called wrongdoing and sin and be reproved, rebuked and exhorted, not covered by sympathizers who blunt reproof nor excused by high Christian profession, which only makes mingling with dross worse, nor excused as home training or trifling sentimentalism, even while the sinner must be saved as a lost sheep. This cleansing is urgent because time to work is very short and death may come at any moment, and because believers are fitting up for the mansions he is fitting up for them and must show respect for the recompense of reward. Not a spot and not a wrinkle must be upon the character, and with the end near every soul must be ready to meet his revelation in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, having a living connection with God and following on to know the Lord, with dispositions and tempers and all such faults overcome through the blood of the Lamb and his testimony given from the Word continually.

The call to be without spot or blemish is applied to overcoming defects of character by imitating him, resisting temptation, and gaining victory over evil through strong effort, constant watchfulness, and persevering prayer, overcoming as he overcame. Fitness to be admitted into heaven as they are and to look upon God means being morally clean and free from all defect now, having on the wedding garment, and being worthy to receive the crown of life, as a present test of readiness for him to appear and take saints to live in harmony with God, asking how many are prepared. Because the only Son gave himself for sinners he requires a flawless character prepared for heaven, meaning casting off evil deeds, doing diligent work of repentance, coming to God just as one is, and cleansing the soul from every defilement of spirit, necessary because God is pure and cannot tolerate impurity of character, and those who meet this standard will be pronounced fit to enter the golden gates, receive the crown of life and join the heavenly music in his honor, where temptation will never come again. Every person must have a character kept free from all moral defect in order to enter heaven, with lips that speak no guile, purified and refined and fitted up for the higher courts, and this preparation is urgent because the end is very near and he that is to come will come and will not tarry. The condition upon which eternal life is promised and entrance into heaven depends, made plain from Genesis to Revelation, is that those who enter must be free from all moral defect and must keep his commandments and live, and a conscience that does not condemn disobedience does not prove a person uncondemned before him, but conscience, life and character must be taken to his Word to see whether they agree with the standard of righteousness revealed there and whether faith is intelligent.

His people must stand before the world in purity reflecting his light, not sparks of their own kindling, with the Lord as sufficiency through closer connection with the Teacher, humility, guarding every step by divine wisdom, and storing the mind with Scripture. The church is far behind that correct standard of work without moral defect of any kind through gradual, imperceptible backsliding into a low grade, with existing evils no human power can heal, so only the Lord God of heaven can place her where the evil is seen and corrected, and meeting it means holding the standard high and representing him in words, attitude, and actions. Ministers are to remove every stain from their own lives so that neither spot nor wrinkle is found on them, and then the Lord can use them as messengers. He wants his people to come out morally clean and unblemished, with no ungodliness left, requiring waking from sleepiness in the churches, seeking the Lord now because there is no time to lose, laying hold on the Holy Spirit, and putting away all dishonest play and advantage-taking in dealings. The soul must not be defiled by unclean practices, and humble dependence on the Holy Spirit enables him to use people and display the divine character through them.

He will present to his Father only people who are holy and free from every moral spot and defect, and he does not see as man sees, so human judgment or approval does not decide who is accepted but only clean work in his sight counts, calling for thorough reform, full consecration, an elevated life, and taking every stumbling block out of the way, including undoing harsh words and wrong influence, and he will not acknowledge and use as his servant to save others one who lets self rule and is controlled by a passionate and willful spirit with rough speech and a poor influence, unless he reforms, for his work requires clean instruments and pure vessels. Each worker's own task should be complete and free of any flaw that mars its perfection, after which its worth is left for him to judge. The spotless dress pictures a life consecrated to God and following on to know the Lord, which is the preparation that must be made for his coming, and this holy, unblemished character, including in children, is what will stand the test of the judgment and stand before the Son in his kingdom. He desires to present his church to the Father holy and without blemish, and his life is the example of what God designs the church to be, for though he lived amid corruption he remained uncorrupted, and his followers are to learn from him and reflect his character, speaking with grace and compassion and showing his gentle, unassuming nature.

Those who enter the city must be pure and undefiled, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, as overcomers who have kept the truth, joining in singing of redemption through him and the glory of God. There must not be a spot or a wrinkle or any such thing upon the characters of his people, as preparation for the great examination that is to take place, and preparing souls for it means laying hold upon the light from heaven, communicating that light to the world, and earnest work by every soul, with the spotless character coming by laying hold by faith upon the Son of the living God, who sacrificed himself in behalf of sinners that they might become partakers of the divine nature. Being without spot means wearing no guile and keeping the soul clean so Satan cannot point to filthy garments. His children are to be holy and without blemish, like the spotless offering that represented him, with lives preserved in purity and presented to God as a living sacrifice, well pleasing to him. The call to be found without spot or wrinkle is applied to personal readiness, joined with putting on the wedding garment and making one's calling and election sure.