Conqueror or Coward?

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. (Revelation 21:8)

Revelation 21.1-7 is all about Heaven.  It’s about God eliminating death and all that comes with it:  tears, sorrow, crying, and pain.  Verse seven speaks of the conqueror that overcomes, inherits all things, and enjoys an eternal relationship with the Father as His child.  Verse eight speaks of the coward that falls short, has his part in the Lake of Fire, and burns in torment for eternity. 

• Fearful is mentioned first because it is meant to form juxtaposition with overcoming in verse seven thereby connecting the two verses.  It is an apt description of those in the churches who fail to conquer and will instead be cast down. 
• The unbelieving are those who have rejected saving repentance.  They would not agree with God’s revelation of Jesus Christ.  They would not trust in Jesus for eternal life.
• The abominable are those given over to immorality, lies, filth, and defilement.  It must be remembered that anything causing an abomination will by no means enter Heaven (cf. 21.27).
• Murderers are present throughout the Revelation.  Believers are often the victims.  There are those slain for the Word of God (6.9), killed with the sword by the antichrist (13.10), and martyrs of Jesus due to the bloodlust of the harlot (17.6). 
• Whoremongers are the sexually immoral – especially as it relates to religious ritualism.
• Sorcerers are those that work deception by using magic.  Often this sin is connected with sexual immorality in the Revelation (see 9.21; 22.15).
• Idolaters are those who worship something or someone other than the one true God.  It is the heart of all sinful activity.
• Liars identify themselves with Satan.  Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14.6).  The devil is a liar.  When we lie we align ourselves with everything that Jesus is not.

All of these sins form a summary of all the sin that send people to the second death.  The first death is physical; the second spiritual.  Death means separation.  We die physically and are separated from all we love and have known.  Those who die spiritually will be separated from Love forever.  God is Love.  They will be consigned to a Lake of Fire that burns forever and never exhausts itself of pain and torment. 

The bad news is that all of us deserve this eternal torment because all of us are sinners (Romans 3.23).  Still further, we must pay a price for the sin we commit.  That price is the second death (cf. Romans 6.23).  The good news is that God has shown His love toward us by sending Jesus to die for us even though we are sinful (Roman 5.8).  “By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2.8-9). 

Still, even those who place their trust in Christ for eternal life sin.  Christians even commit the sins listed in Revelation 21.8.  Of course, the difference is that we no longer practice these sins but stumble into them.  When we do sin, we now have Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John 2.1).  As Christians, we desire to stop sinning and express our gratitude to God for our deliverance by living a good life.  That good life is only possible because of the fact that we trusted and continue to trust in Jesus.

Forever in Fire

"Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.'" - Matthew 25:41

Jesus had just spoken well of those who respond to others with compassion and love in tangible ways. These are His disciples who have worked for Him by working for others.  As a matter of fact, they have done these things for others, but Jesus said they were done for Him as well.  These are those blessed at the right hand of the King (25.34).  They are to come and inherit the kingdom prepared for them.  They are blessed of the Father.

Now the King directs His attention to those on the left hand - the weeds ...the goats.  They are not invited to come but are told to depart.  One group comes to Jesus and another departs from Him - each to their eternal destinies.

The departing group is cursed.  Their curse is to live forever in fire prepared for angelic rebels now known as Satan and his demons.  There they are tormented day and night forever (cf. Rev 20.10).  This is the awful reality of our friends and loved ones who reject our Lord and Savior.

The Nature of Saving Faith

“For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.” (Philippians 1:29)

Note that faith is granted in this verse.  Some believe saving faith is given by God to certain individuals.  The NKJ translators interpret the Greek verb as has been granted not given as in forced or compelled upon a person.  If faith were given in a compelled or forced way, then a problem develops.  God would also be the giver of suffering and persecution per the latter half of this verse. 

Charidzomai is best interpreted as granted as in freely offered.  Christ offers salvation through His finished work for those who rely, trust, or believe on Him.  Of course, along with salvation comes persecution.  This privilege of suffering is also something which comes along with our identification with Christ (see the phrase fellowship of His sufferings in 3.10).

Charidzomai is also used in the following passages:

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.” (1 Corinthians 2:12)

“And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32)

It would be difficult to conclude from these examples a compelled idea of the Greek verb.  That is, we are freely given things not compelled to have them.  Forgiving another is something we certainly decide to do.  It is not compelled.  I must choose to forgive.  If I will not forgive, then my Father in Heaven will not forgive me.  

Therefore, Philippians 1.29 does not have to support the idea of saving faith being a gift of God.  Some will import this upon the verse to defend a theological filter (We all have presuppositions we defend.).  I conclude that salvation by grace is the gift and faith is our response not our work (cf. Ephesians 2.8-9).  Of course, I do have a theological bias :)

Merry Christmas!

While writing about the Nativity in his book The Faces of Jesus, author and pastor Frederick Buechner reflects on an early scene in Shakespeare's Hamlet. Three characters—Horatio, Marcellus, and Barnardo—are keeping watch at night, discussing the possibility of having seen a ghost. In the midst of their conversation, they briefly stumble into a discussion about the night of Christ's birth. To help us navigate the difficulty of Shakespeare's prose, Buechner offers a summary of the trio's conversation—a conversation that finds Marcellus offering a breathtaking thought about the power of the Advent of a Savior:

On the dark battlements of Elsinore, Marcellus speaks to his companions of the time of Jesus' birth. It is a hallowed time he says, a holy time, a time in which life grows still like the surface of a river so that we can look down into it and see glimmering there in its depth something timeless, precious, other. And a gracious time, Marcellus says—a time that we cannot bring about as we can bring about a happy time or a sad time but time that comes upon us as a grace, as a free and unbidden gift. Marcellus explains that Christmas is a time of such holiness that the cock crows the whole night through as though it is perpetually dawn, and thus for once, even the powers of darkness are powerless.

Frederick Buechner, The Faces of Jesus (Paraclete Press, 2006), p. 14

Living Sacrifices

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service" (Romans 12.1). The command to present your bodies a living sacrifice is within a context in which we are commanded not to be conformed to this world but transformed by the renewing our minds (12.2). The Old Testament is filled with instances of believers offering dead sacrifices or making a sacrifice. The New Testament speaks of offering living sacrifices and being a sacrifice for God. This is a daily, moment by moment idea. Our lives must be spent for Christ - even if it that requires that we die for Him. However, I'm convinced that it is much harder to live for Him.

We Are Hypocrites

"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation..."  (1 Peter 2.9).  Christians do not have to sin, but they do.  God justified us and calls us saints because we place our trust in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ for the eternal dismissal of our sins.  We continually do battle against sin in our lives - we trend toward more and more victory in our lives and then relapse at other times.  This battle is sanctification (and it is a battle).  There is coming a day when the battle will end.  God will rescue us from the presence of sin forever.  This is glorification.  All of us battle with hypocrisy at some level or another.  The key is to be steadfast, immovable, and always abounding in the work of the Lord.  Your battle will be worth it all when you see Christ (1 Cor 15.58)!

Clean Water

"But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy'" (1 Peter 1.15-16).  Be holy and then act holy.  The pursuit of personal holiness is more than separating yourself from the world.  The good news of this pursuit is that your relationship with your Heavenly Father becomes deeper and more meaningful.  "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me (Jesus) and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water" (John 7.37-38).  Living water that is fresh, clean, pure, and satisfying!