Rev. Angus Stewart
A reader asks for an explanation of Revelation 3:20—“Behold, I stand at the door and knock …”—a text often cited in support of free will and resistible grace. This is part of God’s word to the church of Laodicea (Rev. 3:14-22) which we shall examine first.
Christ describes the Laodiceans as neither cold nor hot but lukewarm (vv. 15-16). At first reading, we might think that this church could have been better (“hot”) and could have been worse (“cold”). However, the Lord says, “I would thou wert cold or hot” (v. 15). Thus it is worse to be lukewarm than to be cold. How could this be if it is simply speaking of a church’s “spiritual temperature”? The church here is described not simply with regard to its temperature but with regard to its temperature as a drink. A hot cup of tea or coffee is refreshing, as is a cold glass of lemonade or milk, but a swig of lukewarm tea or milk is repulsive. We spit it out. Christ said of the Laodiceans, “because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth” (v. 16).
But what did He find so disgusting and offensive about the Laodiceans? “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing” (v. 17). Laodicea was a market town at the confluence of two rivers and at the intersection of three important roads. It was the site of a civil court and a famous medical school, and was “noted for its banking and for its manufacture of clothing from the local black wool” (Leon Morris). Whether because of the church’s (presumed) material wealth or the flattering preaching of its minister(s) or something else, the church wrongly evaluated her spiritual condition. She thought she was “rich” and, therefore, had “need of nothing” (v. 17). Christ found her pride highly repulsive and threatened to spew her out of his mouth as one would a lukewarm drink.
He tells the church her real condition: “thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” (v. 17). As “the wretched one,” she is in need of mercy (“miserable”) for she lacks spiritual wealth (“poor”), understanding (“blind”) and clothing (“naked”). Of course, this describes all Christians according to their old sinful nature, but the Laodiceans did not see and confess this. Instead, the church thought that she was “rich … and had need of nothing” and thus she “[knew] not” her misery (v. 17).
Throughout the NT age, congregations in various lands are well characterised by the strengths and weaknesses of the seven churches in, what is now, western Turkey (Rev. 2-3). Does a church faithfully, fearlessly and consistently teach the total depravity of man including the utter wretchedness of the believer according to his old man (Rom. 7:24)? Do the members truly believe in total depravity so that they confess it in their prayers, worship and evangelism? Or do the members think that they are good people, certainly no worse than, and probably a lot better than, their neighbours? “We are very comfortable and God must be pleased with us.” But they are utter strangers to heartfelt confession of their wicked thoughts and nature. This is a lukewarm, “Laodicean” church, the sort of church Christ spews out of His mouth.
Coming to the specific enquiry of the reader, here are at least three errors in the popular Arminian misconception of Revelation 3:20:
- Christ, it is said, knocks at the door of the sinner’s heart, earnestly desiring admission—the error of the free offer, that God wants to save everybody.
- Christ knocks on everybody’s heart yearning for admission trying all He can to get the sinner to open to Him—resistible grace condemned in the third/fourth heads of the Canons of Dordt.
- Thus the salvation of the sinner rests ultimately on his free will—that proud, old Pelagian heresy.
All this betrays a false conception regarding the sinner. The apostle declares, “There is none that seeketh after God” (Rom. 3:11) and “the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (8:7). So how can a sinner embrace Christ without God’s almighty, sovereign grace? And how could a minister with any understanding of the Scriptures ever preach free will? Does he not know the depravity of the human heart, his own included? Christ has just been describing the fallen nature of man. He is spiritually “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” (Rev. 3:17)—five adjectives, heaped up one after another, each one a hammer blow to any good in man without irresistible grace!
Along with this goes a lie about Christ Himself. He is presented as a poor beggar begging admission into the heart of the sinner. And if the sinner won’t open to Him, He walks away sad without fellowship and shelter. Thus Arminianism makes a begging bowl out of the Son of God. But verse 17 describes fallen man as the beggar (“poor”) who is “naked,” “wretched” and “miserable”—and not the glorious Son of God! He is “the Amen, the faithful and true witness” (v. 14).
Christ’s witness is that fallen man is a beggar (v. 17). This is the faithful witness preachers must give. Teaching some native ability in man is an unfaithful and false witness, and God will punish for it!
Christ’s witness of Himself is that He is “the beginning of the creation of God” (v. 14)—the source and author of the entire universe (John 1:1; Col. 1:15-17)—and the One seated with His Father on His throne (v. 22). He is not a beggar but the great Creator and King!
Christ is the One possessing and exercising “the key of David … that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth” (Rev. 3:7). He is the priest-king (Ps. 110:1, 4) who makes His people “willing in the day of [His] power” (v. 3). He is the One who opens hearts so that His elect attend to the preaching of the Word (Acts 16:14). Thus the implied calling in Revelation 3:20 to “hear” Christ’s voice and to “open the door” teaches us man’s duty and not man’s natural ability.
Having now explained the context and refuted the Arminian interpretation, we now come to the positive interpretation of Revelation 3:20: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
One Calvinistic view of this text identifies the “door” as the church door and, hence, sees the text as a call to church reformation. The Laodicean church, so this argument goes, was well-nigh apostate. Christ is outside that church institute and He is calling His faithful to leave and form a new congregation. This interpretation is certainly in keeping with the analogy of faith (i.e., the overall biblical teaching) and does not slide into Arminianism. Also it is held by many solid Reformed men.
Two arguments, however, may be made against it. First, neither the text nor the context provide any information about forming a new, faithful congregation in Laodicea. Second, Christ was not finished with that church. Verse 16 does not state that it was His fixed and unchangeable purpose to vomit it forth, for the word “spue” (“I will spue thee out of my mouth” [v. 16]) is not a future indicative. Rather, Christ is “about to” spue the church out. Then He counsels it (v. 18) and calls it to repent (v. 19). Thus Christ delivers a serious warning and (by implication) teaches that, in the way of repentance, they will be spared. This conclusion is confirmed in verse 19, where Christ speaks of the sonship of the Laodiceans and His “love” for them: “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.” Hebrews 12:5-8 explains that “sons” and not “bastards” are chastened. Clearly, Christ was not finished with the Laodicean church for in it were His beloved sons.
So what then does the text mean? In verse 18, Christ addresses the church collectively but verse 20 is a call to the members individually. Not only must the church repent of her pride—thinking that she had “need of nothing” (v. 17)—but each member is called upon to repent and believe.
Francis Turretin (1623-1687) put it very well:
When it is said that ‘Christ stands at the door and knocks’ (Rev. 3:20), it cannot be inferred that sufficient grace is granted to all. (1) He is there treating of those already called who were in the church, not of those about to be called. (2) … standing and knocking not only designates internal notions, but is properly referred to external exhortations [v. 19] … Therefore he knocks in different ways at the hearts of the elect and reprobate; at the former externally and internally by the word and by the Spirit so that, by knocking imperatively by the word, he may also open them operatively by the Spirit (as was the case with the heart of Lydia). At the latter, he only knocks externally by the word that they may understand their duty, the promised benefit, the heinousness of their sin and the justice of punishment if they neglect the voice of God … He does not cease justly to admonish man of his duty and to convict the rebellious of obstinacy (Institutes of Elenctic Theology, vol. 2, p. 515).
Thus, in the way of repentance, God’s beloved sons (v. 19) enjoy covenant fellowship with Christ as they dine with Him as His friends (v. 20).
It only remains to tidy up some loose ends and flesh out further the positive interpretation of Revelation 3:20: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
First, the “door” at which Christ stands and knocks is the heart and life of each of the members of the church at Laodicea. One could even extend this to include unbelievers who make no confession of faith in Christ, provided, of course, that Christ’s “knocking” is rightly understood.
Second, the “knocking” is the faithful proclamation of the Word of God. By this means, Jesus Christ Himself summons men. God is holy and you are polluted before Him. There is a rap at your door to leave your carnal mindedness and vain delusions of righteousness (v. 17) to embrace Jesus Christ. Hell looms as a bottomless cavern that is never full. This is another loud and insistent bang on the door. The atoning death of Christ is the only way of salvation for guilty sinners. Another knock! Clearly and unmistakably, men are called and summoned by the preaching of the gospel to repentance and faith—the only way of enjoying everlasting life in Jesus Christ.
But does this not mean that Christ wants to save everybody? Is He not at the door of every man’s heart earnestly desiring to come in? No, the text says that He “stands” and knocks, not that He is on His knees and knocks. It is true that He does desire to come in to some men. Christ identifies them thus: “as many as I love;” not, “as many as I do not love.” They are His sons, whom He chastens (v. 19); not “bastards” (Heb. 12:8). Love is that which desires fellowship and communion. Christ does not love but hates the reprobate (Rom. 9:13). Thus He does not yearn to “sup” or dine (Rev. 3:20) with them.
Whereas all under faithful preaching hear the external knocking, only in the elect is it accompanied by the irresistible power of the Holy Spirit. “Many are called [externally], but few are chosen” and thus few receive the internal call (Matt. 22:14), for election and (effectual) calling are inseparably joined (Rom. 8:30). Many only hear the knocking with their physical ears, while others also hear the knocking with God-given spiritual ears (Matt. 13:14-16). To the former the preaching (Christ’s knocking) is a “savour of death unto death,” but to His elect it is a “savour of life unto life” (II Cor. 2:16).
Third, Christ’s coming in to dine with men who “open” the door to Him does not mean that all men have the power to do this. Jesus declared, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him” (John 6:44). God opens the hearts of His people (Acts 16:14) or “draws” them so that they “come” to Christ (John 6:44) willingly (Ps. 110:3). The elect are empowered by God through the knocking of faithful preaching to open their hearts and lives to Christ, so that they consciously enjoy covenant communion with Him. In the Spirit and through His Word, we sit together and dine together, fellowshipping with Him in the riches of His gospel!
John Owen (1616-1683): “He is patient towards … the elect not yet effectually called. Rev. iii: 20, he stands waiting at the door of their hearts and knocks for an entrance. He deals with them by all means, and yet stands and waits until “his head is filled with the dew, and his locks with the drops of the night,” Cant. v. 2; as enduring the cold and inconveniences of the night, that when his morning is come he may have entrance. Oftentimes for a long season he is by them scorned in his person, persecuted in his saints and ways, reviled in his word, whilst he stands at the door in the word of his patience, with his heart full of love towards their poor rebellious souls” (The Works of John Owen [Great Britain: Banner, 1967], vol. 6, pp. 138-139; italics Owen’s).
Gordon Keddie on Matthew 22:1-14: “The king in the parable sent his servants to ‘tell them to come’ to his son’s wedding feast, but they ‘refused to come’ (22:3). What does this tell us about the gospel of Christ? First, it emphasizes that it is a call to believe. A king’s invitation is a summons! The language used today in proclaiming the gospel is more like that of salesmanship than the imperative to command. The gospel is ‘presented’ and people are invited to ‘accept’, ‘ask’ or even ‘allow’ Jesus ‘into their hearts.’ This is virtually a reversal of the biblical psychology of conversion, because the movement is all from Jesus to man, and indeed within man himself. Man, with his free will, alone and unaided, is in centre stage, while Jesus waits—as the pathetic pre-Raphaelite icon in William Holman Hunt’s painting of Revelation 3:20—a helpless spectator of otherwise autonomous human decision-making. In contrast, the direction of the movement in the biblical call to faith is from man to the Lord. He calls us to himself with a voice of winsome authority. The question that then confronts the challenged sinner is not so much whether he will ‘accept’ Jesus, but whether Jesus will accept him. Do I desire acceptance with God and salvation from my sins? Then, says Jesus, ‘Hear and your soul shall live!’ The focus is on God’s free grace in Jesus Christ the only Mediator. Yes, all who come to him, he will in no way cast out! The call is not one of plaintive impotence, however, but of majestic authority” (He Spoke in Parables, pp. 223-224).
