Page 136 - Eschatology - Student Ebook

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.

If God intended for us to understand this passage to be talking about the Lake of Fire He could have
used the words, “outside of the New Earth” to refer to the Lake of Fire. But He didn’t use those words.
And it would be quite unnatural, in this passage about the New Earth, to drag the previous reference to
the Lake of Fire from the previous chapter (Revelation 21:8) into this context. The description of the
Great White Throne Judgment which sentenced the unbelievers to the Lake of Fire ends before chapter
21 begins. Then, in Revelation 21:8, when God gives the list of choices for mankind and their
consequences, the last description to the Lake of Fire is given.

The remainder of chapter 21 and all of chapter 22 is about the New Heavens and the New Earth. The
word ”outside” in Revelation 22:15 immediately follows the words “may go through the gates into the
city” in verse 14. The natural and literal meaning should be understood to mean “outside the city (the
New Jerusalem)”. This means that believers, whose lives are characterized by sinful habits over which
they did not gain victory, will be living on the New Earth because of their faith in Jesus Christ for eternal

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