Page 169 - Eschatology - Masters revised

magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices
falsehood.

In this passage, Jesus Christ wants us to know that He is coming soon and that He is preparing to
eternally reward believers who have sacrificially served Him as overcomers. Their life of dedication to
Him and His Word enabled them to “wash their robes”, to have victory over sin. Their reward will be the
right to eat from the tree of life. We do not fully understand what benefits eating from this tree will
bring, but we can trust Jesus that its benefits will be greatly valued. Because the tree of life does not
appear during the Millennium, only on the New Earth we know that eternal rewards are eternal and will
last beyond the Millennium into eternity.

The second part of the reward is that the overcoming believers will have the privilege of entering
through the gates into the city. This passage clearly teaches that only the overcomer believers who lived
faithfully for Jesus Christ here in this life will have access to the New Jerusalem.
Verse 15 states that those believers whose lives are still characterized by these sinful habits will remain
outside the city gates. This does not mean they will be in the Lake of Fire, which is not in the context of
this description of the New Earth and the New Jerusalem. They will live on the New Earth because of
their faith in Jesus Christ for eternal life. However, they will not have access to the New Jerusalem
because of their sinful lifestyle. It is interesting to compare Revelation 21:8 with Revelation 22:15.

Revelation 21:8 (NIV84)8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually
immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of
burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

Revelation 22:15 (NIV84)15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral,
the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

Many of the sinful practices are the same. Contrary to what the Lordship Salvation viewpoint teaches, it
is possible for a believer in Jesus Christ to live a carnal life (1 Cor. 3:1-4).

1 Corinthians 3:1–4 (NIV84)1 Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants
in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not
ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly?
Are you not acting like mere men? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,”
are you not mere men?

Paul wrote to the Corinthians, calling them “saints” because they had believed in Jesus Christ for eternal
life and had been positionally sanctified. However, he called them “carnal” because they were not yet
experientially sanctified to the point of maturity.

Revelation 22:15 describes carnal believers who never gained victory over their sinful habits.
Unfortunately, some of their sinful habits are the same as the sinful habits of unbelievers in Revelation
21:8. The major difference between these two passages is, first, that in Revelation 21:8 the word
“unbelievers” is used, and, second, the result is that they are in the Lake of Fire for eternity. They
experience the second death, eternal death. However, in Revelation 22:15, written in the this context of
believers who are living the New Earth, the word “unbelievers” is not used in this characterization of
the otherwise sinful lives of these believers. And the result is not eternal death in the Lake of Fire, but
being barred from access to the New Jerusalem while living in the New Earth.

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