Revelation 3:20

Context

Revelation 3:14–22 is the letter to the church in Laodicea, the last of the seven churches. Christ rebukes this church for being "lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot," and says that although it claims to be rich, it is in fact "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked" (3:15–17). He then declares, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent" (3:19), and in verse 20 presents the image of knocking at a door. The one standing outside the door, then, is Christ, who has been shut out of the church.

Interpretation

• As a call to repentance addressed to the church: Read in context, the saying is an invitation to restoration directed not so much to unbelievers as to a community that is already a church, and to "any man" within it who responds. Many contemporary commentators emphasize this point.
• As an invitation to personal salvation: Evangelical evangelism has long used this verse as an invitation to receive Christ into one's heart. In the Four Spiritual Laws booklet distributed by Korea Campus Crusade for Christ, the verse appears at the point that leads into the prayer for receiving Christ. Proponents of this reading argue that even though the words were addressed to a church, the underlying principle of calling for an individual response remains the same.
• As a reference to the Lord's Supper and the eschatological feast: Some interpreters connect "will sup with him" with the Lord's Supper or with the marriage feast of the last day.

Debates and Issues

This verse is also cited in the debate over predestination and free will. The Arminian tradition appeals to the person's ability to open the door as evidence of a free response to grace. The Calvinist tradition, by contrast, holds that the very act of opening the door results from the Holy Spirit's prior renewal of the heart, and it is cautious about using this verse to support decision-oriented methods of evangelism. The English painter William Holman Hunt's The Light of the World, which depicts Christ knocking at a door with no handle on the outside, became the best-known visual representation of this verse.

Related Passages

• Revelation 3:19
• John 1:12
• John 10:3–4
• Song of Solomon 5:2