The Garments of Sardis

"The church’s works were “incomplete in the sight of God”

(Revelation 3:2), demanding repentance; otherwise, Jesus warned He would “come like a thief” against them (Revelation 3:3). In verse four, however, Jesus stated, “you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.”

Apparently, all but a handful of individuals in Sardis wore “soiled” garments. Given that the wider church would be unable to stand before God if Jesus should come “as a thief” without their repentance, these soiled garments corresponded to the majority church’s condition of sinful inadequacy before God. 

Commentators have noted that Jesus’ reference to soiled clothing recalls Old Testament principles of uncleanliness, showing that most church members in Sardis were unfit for life with God in the New Jerusalem. These individuals needed purification through the only means possible—the atoning blood of Jesus. Most professing believers in Sardis, however, were living as enemies of the only Person who could save them.

Jesus described these believers’ reward in verse five: “The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.”

To reiterate, believers do not actively achieve this state by clothing themselves in their own righteousness. 

Instead, Jesus promised that faithful Christians in Sardis would “be clothed.” This phrasing suggests the believers’ righteousness is a gift from God."
AIG