Revelation 22:10-11 ESV
“And he said to me, ‘Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.’”
The longer that we live on the earth, the closer it is for
our Lord’s return. And I look forward to that day with great anticipation. But
there is a sad reality to it all and that is that not everyone who says to
Jesus, “Lord, Lord,” is going to enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one
DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven (see Matthew 7:21-23).
Just because you prayed a prayer once to “receive Jesus into
your heart,” or you “called on God,” or you confessed him as Lord and you
believed that God the Father raised Jesus from the dead, it does not mean that
you have eternal salvation which cannot be taken away from you and that heaven
is guaranteed you as your eternal destiny regardless of how you live your life.
For we cannot build our doctrine of salvation around a few
select passages of Scripture taught out of context. We have to read the whole
context to get the whole picture. So, just because it says to call on the Lord
and you will be saved, it doesn’t mean that is all there is to it. Paul wrote
the entire book of Romans as one complete letter, so we need to read the whole
thing.
For he said in Romans 6 that we are slaves to the one we
obey, and if that be sin, it will end in death, but if it be obedience, it will
lead to righteousness and to sanctification, and its end is eternal life (see
Romans 6:16-23). And in Romans 8 he wrote that the righteous requirement of the
law is fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the
Spirit, for if we walk according to the flesh we will not inherit eternal life
(Romans 8:1-14).
So who are the evildoers and the filthy? Many of them are
those who are professing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and who are claiming
heaven as their eternal destiny. For the righteous are those who are living
righteously, not just those who claim they are righteous. All throughout the
New Testament we are taught that those who are inheriting eternal life with God
are those who have and are putting sin to death and who are living holy lives
in obedience to the Lord, in the power of God, in a present reality.
[Lu
9:23-26;
Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co
6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Rom
12:1-2; Col 3:5-10; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-11; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn
2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Matt 7:21-23; Rev 21:8,27; Rev
22:14-15; Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2; Jn 6:44; 2 Pet 1:1; Rom 8:24; Rom 13:11; 1 Co
1:18; Ac 26:18]
Revelation 22:12-13 ESV
“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
When Jesus Christ returns to the earth to judge the people of
the earth and to take his bride to be with him for eternity he is going to pay
each one of us for what we have done. That payment could be a reward for our walks
of faith and obedience to the Lord or it could be condemnation to all who
refused to bow the knee to Jesus and to obey his commands.
“He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality” (Romans 2:6-11).
“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Galatians 6:7-8).
[Also: 2 Co 5:10; 1 Co 6:9-10; Rev. 2-3; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Gal
5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Rom 6:16-23; Rom 8:1-14; Jn 15:1-11; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn
3:4-10]
Revelation 22:14-15 ESV
“Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”
You may profess faith in Jesus Christ, and you may claim
heaven as your eternal destiny, but if sin is what you practice, and if
righteousness is not what you practice, you will die in your sins. You will not
inherit eternal life with God. For all who make sin their practice, who
deliberately and habitually sin against the Lord will not enter into the
kingdom of heaven.
So, if you professed faith in Jesus but if you are living in
sexual immorality, lying about it to cover it up, hoping non one else will
know, and if you are making self and the things and the people of this world
your idols and God is not truly Lord (Owner-Master) of your life, for you do
not submit to him as Lord of your life, if you do not repent of your sin and
follow Jesus in obedience to his commands, then you are on the outside, not on
the inside.
For those who have washed their robes are not those who
merely give lip service to the Lord while Jesus is not their Lord, but they are
those who have surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ and who by faith in
Christ are walking according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh. They
are those who by the Spirit are putting to death the deeds of the flesh and who
are walking in holiness and righteousness by the grace of God.
For Jesus said that if anyone would come after him he must
deny self, take up his cross daily (daily die to sin and to self) and follow
(obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self we
will lose them for eternity. But if we die with Christ to sin that we might
live to Christ and to his righteousness, for the sake of Jesus, then we have
eternal life (see Luke 9:23-26; cf. Ephesians 4:17-24; Romans 6:1-23; 1 John
1:5-9).
Also, God’s grace to us is not permission to keep on in
deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord. For his grace, which brings
salvation, instructs us to renounce (to say “No” to) ungodliness and fleshly
lusts, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our
Lord’s soon return (see Titus 2:11-14).
For Jesus died on that cross to deliver us from our slavery
(addiction) to sin so we would now be slaves of God and of his righteousness,
no longer living under the control of Satan and sin. For if we remain slaves to
sin it ends in death not life eternal (Romans 6:1-23). For Jesus died that we
might die to sin and live to righteousness (1 Peter 2:24) and that we might no
longer live for ourselves but for him who gave his life up for us (2
Corinthians 5:15,21).
So, if your faith in Jesus is in profession only but you are
still walking according the flesh and not according to the Spirit, please know
that the Scriptures do not teach that you will inherit eternal life. We must
die with Christ to sin that we might live to him and to his righteousness. Only
those who are practicing righteousness are righteous. Those who make sin their
practice will not inherit eternal life (see 1 John 3:4-10).
But for those of us who are walking according to the Spirit,
by the Spirit, and who are not walking according to the flesh, we have that
hope of eternal life with God, and so we can look forward to his return with
great anticipation.
By
Unknown
My
heart can sing when I pause to remember
A
heartache here is but a steppingstone
Along
a trail that's winding always upward,
This
troubled world is not my final home.
The
things of earth will dim and lose their value
If
we recall they're borrowed for a while;
And
things of earth that cause the heart to tremble,
Remembered
there will only bring a smile.
This
weary world with all its toil and struggle
May
take its toll of misery and strife;
The
soul of man is like a waiting falcon;
When
it's released, it's destined for the skies.
But
until then my heart will go on singing,
Until
then with joy I'll carry on,
Until
the day my eyes behold the city,
Until
the day God calls me home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4SaKgGZijM
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