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[joejoe]

THE TRUE MEANING OF REVELATION 3:5

"He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment: and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels."  Revelation 3:5

This verse is one of the wonderful verses addressed to believers that is often overlooked and misunderstood.  Perhaps the reason that the verse is overlooked by many is because most Christians do not understand the "overcomer".

Who is an overcomer?  This question is clearly answered in I John 5:4,5 where we read, "for whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?"  Therefore, an overcomer is clearly a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.  We become overcomers not on the basis of what we have or will accomplish, but on the basis of the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary.  So, therefore, we know that Revelation 3:5 is addressed to those that are born of God, those who have trusted Jesus Christ as their Saviour.

The first promise in Revelation 3:5 to an overcomer is that he or she "…shall be clothed in white raiment."  This is a picture of the "righteousness of God" that is required for salvation.  II Corinthians 5:21 tells us, "For he hath made him (Jesus Christ) to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."  In other words, Jesus Christ traded places with us on the cross of Calvary.  He took our sin upon himself in order that He might give us His righteousness.  This is pictured in the Old Testament as a "garment of salvation" or a "robe of righteousness."  Our righteousness based on our deeds are filthy rags according to Isaiah 64:6.  "But we are all as an unclean things, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6)."

Isaiah 61:10 reads, "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness."  Therefore, the promise is that every believer (overcomer) shall be clothed in white raiment speaking of the righteousness of God (II Corinthians 5:21).

The second promise to a believer (overcomer I John 5:4,5) is, "I will not blot out his name out of the book of life."  I believe, according to Revelation 3:5, that the Bible teaches that everyone’s name is in the book of life.  This is contrary to what most people have been taught.  When a person dies in unbelief not having trusted Jesus Christ as Saviour, his name will be blotted out.  At the final judgment for unbelievers, who are cast into the lake of fire, their names will not be found in the book of life, because they will have been blotted out (Revelation 20:10-15).

A most interesting Scripture on this point is found in Exodus 32.  The children of Israel had greatly sinned against the Lord in making gods of gold to worship.  Moses interceded on the behalf of the people.  Let’s look at the passage.  "And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.  Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin –; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.  And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book (Exodus 32:31-33)."  Remember, according to Revelation 3:5, if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, he will not blot your name out.  What is the sin that can cause your name to be blotted out?  It is unbelief.  It is the rejection of Jesus Christ as Saviour.  This is the unpardonable sin.  (See John 3:36, I John 5:12).

In John 3:18 we have this unpardonable sin given.  "He that believeth on him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."  A person living in unbelief is living in a condemned state already.  If that person puts their trust in Jesus Christ as Saviour before they die, God promises in Revelation 3:5 that "…I will not blot out his name from the book of life…"  If that person dies in unbelief, then at that point, God blots their name out of the book of life.

The believer will be clothed with the righteousness of God, and his name will never be blotted out of the book of life.  In other words, you can never be lost once you trust the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour.

The third promise, if you are an overcomer/believer, is that Jesus Christ promises, "I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels."  We are not told much about what is presently happening in heaven, but we are informed that "there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth (metanoia – change of mind, Luke 15:10)."

What happens at the moment of salvation, according to Revelation 3:5, is that an announcement is made in heaven that you have trusted Christ, (as Jesus said, "before my Father; and before his angels".  (Compare Revelation 3:5 and Luke 15:10.)  Evidently, great joy follows the announcement in Heaven.

Remember the key to understand to whom this verse is addressed if found in I John 5:4,5.  I John says, "Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God." If you trust in God, the three promises of Revelation 3:5 are yours.

[joejoe]

A PERSON CAN NOT LOSE THEIR SALVATION

You are missing an important point. Nothing man does merits salvation. This includes good deeds, asking forgiveness, proclaiming Christ, "continuing in the faith," etc. Salvation is a gift from God, based on His mercies alone. We don’t deserve it; that’s why it is called "mercy." He saved us "…not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy…"(Titus 3:5). Christianity is the only religion in the world that teaches salvation by grace. The Bible says, "For 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).

Once God has granted salvation, why on earth would He take it back? Would God remove a person’s salvation because he or she was a sinner? Did not He offer us salvation "while we were still sinners"? John the disciple said, "Beloved, now we are children of God" (1 John 3:1). The Father protects His children. Jesus said, "And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand" (John 10:28-29). Jesus also protects us. He said, "Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition [Judas], that the Scripture might be fulfilled" (John 17:12).

The Christian who becomes unfruitful will lose his reward. The apostle Paul said this of the unfruitful Christian, "If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire" (I Corinthians 3:15). The unfruitful believer will not lose his salvation, but he will lose his reward.

For a more in depth look at salvation, read on…

Those whom God, according to His purpose, calls to the communion of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and regenerates by the Holy Spirit, He also delivers from the dominion and slavery of sin, though in this life He does not deliver them altogether form the body of sin and from the infirmities of the flesh.

By reason of these remains of indwelling sin, and also because the temptations of the world and of Satan, those who are converted could not persevere in that grace if left to their own strength. But God is faithful, who, having conferred grace, mercifully confirms and powerfully preserves them therein, even to the end.

But God, who is rich in mercy, according to His unchangeable purpose of election, does not wholly withdraw the Holy Spirit from His own people even in their grievous falls; nor suffers them to proceed so far as t lose the grace of adoption and forfeit the state of justification, or to commit the sin unto death or against the Holy Spirit; nor does He permit them to be totally deserted, and to plunge themselves into everlasting destruction.

Thus it is not in consequence of their own merits or strength, but of God’s free mercy, that they neither totally fall from faith and grace nor continue and perish finally in their backslidings; which, with respect to themselves is not only possible, but would undoubtedly happen; but with respect to God, it is utterly impossible, since His counsel cannot be changed nor His promise fail; neither can the call according to His purpose be revoked, nor the merit, intercession, and preservation of Christ be rendered ineffectual, nor the sealing of the Holy Spirit be frustrated or obliterated.

Of this preservation of the elect to salvation and of their perseverance in the faith, true believers themselves may and do obtain assurance according to the measure of their faith, whereby they surely believe that they are and ever will continue true and living members of the Church, and that they have the forgiveness of sins and life eternal.

This assurance, however, is not produced by any peculiar revelation contrary to or independent of the Word of God, but springs from faith in God’s promises, which He has most abundantly revealed in His Word for our comfort; from the testimony of the Holy Spirit, witnessing with our spirit that we are children and heirs of God (Rom 8:16); and lastly, from a serious and holy desire to preserve a good conscience and to perform good works. And if the elect of God were deprived of this solid comfort that they shall finally obtain the victory, and of this infallible pledge of eternal glory, they would be of all men the most miserable.

The Scripture moreover testifies that believers in this life have to struggle with various carnal doubts, and that under grievous temptations they do not always feel this full assurance of faith and certainty of persevering. But God, who is the Father of all consolation, does not suffer them to be tempted above that they are able, but will with the temptation make also the way of escape, that they may be able to endure it (1 Cor 10:13), and by the Holy Spirit again inspires them with the comfortable assurance of persevering.

The carnal mind is unable to comprehend this doctrine of the perseverance of the saints and the certainty thereof, which God has most abundantly revealed in His Word, for the glory of His Name and the consolation of pious souls, and which He impresses upon the hearts of the believers. Satan abhors it, the world ridicules it, the ignorant and hypocritical abuse it, and the heretics oppose it. But the bride of Christ has always most tenderly loved and constantly defended it as an inestimable treasure; and God, against whom neither counsel nor strength can prevail, will dispose her so to continue to the end. Now to this one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be honor and glory forever. Amen.

This rejects those:

Who teach: That the perseverance of the true believers is not a fruit of election, or a gift of God gained by the death of Christ, but a condition of the new covenant which (as they declare) man before his decisive election and justification must fulfil through his free will.

For the Holy Scripture testifies that this follows out of election, and is given the elect in virtue of the death, the resurrection, and the intercession of Christ: "What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened (Rom 11:7)." Likewise: "He who did not spare His own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died–more than that, who was raised to life–is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ (Rom 8:32-35)?"

Who teach: That God does indeed provide the believer with sufficient powers to persevere, and is ever ready to preserve these in him if he will do his duty.

"He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor 1:8)."

Who teach: That the true believers and regenerate not only can fall from justifying faith and likewise from grace and salvation wholly and to the end, but indeed often do fall from this and are lost forever.

For this conception makes powerless the grace, justification, regeneration, and continued preservation by Christ, contrary to the expressed words of the apostle Paul: "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him (Rom 5:8-9)." And contrary to the apostle John: "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God (1 John 3:9)." And also contrary to the words of Jesus Christ: "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all ; no one can snatch them out of
my Father’s hand (John 10:28-29)."

Who teach: That the faith of those who believe for a time does not differ from justifying and saving faith except only in duration.

For Christ Himself, in Matt 13:20, Luke 8:13, and in other places, evidently notes, beside this duration, a threefold difference between those who believe only for a time and true believers, when He declares that the former receive the seed on stony ground, but the latter in the good ground or heart; that the former are without root, but the latter have a firm root; that the former are without fruit, but that the latter bring forth their fruit in various measure, with constancy and steadfastness.

[joejoe]

The entire first chapter of Ezekiel describes cherubim.

INTERESTING FACT:
The cloud that surrounds God is made of cherubim.

If you are interested in learning more about angels, this chapter is a must read.

[joejoe]

1Timothy 2:4 reads,

“Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”

On the surface, this certainly looks like the definitive statement concerning God’s desire to have every man and woman alive come to a saving knowledge of Him. But, that interpretation creates a whole host of conflicts.

First off, Biblical scholarship is unanimous on the fact that this letter was written by the Apostle Paul. This is the same man who wrote the great treatises to the Romans and the Ephesians, in which he declared God’s right, power and predetermined decision to save a particular people. Paul clearly states that God is all-powerful and works everything – everything! – in accordance with His own will.

So, if your interpretation of 1Timothy 2:4 is correct, we immediately have two huge dilemmas.

1.)  Paul is a very contradictory theologian. On the one hand, he clearly argues that God does all things in accordance with His own will and is powerful enough to enact every detail of His plan, especially where salvation is concerned.

“In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.” (Eph 1:11)

Yet, on the other hand, Paul declares that God sincerely wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, despite the fact they will not all arrive at that destination.  So, Paul does not seem to know whether God can enact His will or not.

2.)  The second, is a question of power.  Why, given God’s preeminent power, is He so incapable of seeing His supposed desire of universal salvation come to fruition?

According to Arminian apologists, the answer lies in the fact that God always allows – and indeed favors – the free will and unencumbered choice of every individual. God would never encroach on any person’s freedom of choice. Therefore, despite His expressed desire that all men be saved, some will be lost through no fault on God’s part. They simply refuse to be saved and God – in spite of His own desire – deigns to condemn them.

So, who has all the power in that relationship? Well, the sinner, of course! The human will takes precedent over the eternal, sovereign will. God is powerless to save any person who refuses His gracious offer because it is the will and desire of the creature that supercedes the will and desire of the Creator.

The implications of that notion are huge. For instance, why do we worship God and thank Him for saving us when it was actually up to us to make the saving decision? Sure, God may want everyone to be saved. But, we are the ones fulfilling His dream. He should be thanking us, don’t you think?

Or, what was Jesus doing on the cross? Was He actually saving anyone, or was He merely making salvation a possibility provided we would come along later and validate His work. To say that Jesus died for all, yet not all were saved means Jesus died in vain. In other words, salvation is no longer an act of God. It is the result of mutual effort between God and the sinner. There’s no real grace, beyond the fact that God was willing and desirous of our participation. But, in the end, it was all up to us.

Clearly, Paul was not teaching universal salvation, universal redemption, or even the notion that God’s will is ultimately thwarted. Any of those readings would force us to the inescapable conclusion that not all of Paul’s teachings are correct. And if that’s true, how can we trust anything he says? How do we know which one of Paul’s multiple positions is the correct one?

No, no. Paul was not contradicting himself. He was making a point. And, his point was the God is “no respecter of persons.” The high and mighty estates of human leaders do not impress God.

Read 1 Timothy 2:4 in its context –
“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. (1 Tim 2:1-6)

The primary confusion in this passage arises from Paul’s use of the word “all.” In the Greek, it’s “pas.” That little word can mean several things. It can indeed be used to include everything or everyone. But, just as easily, it is used to designate “all kinds” or “all types.”

To determine the proper meaning in 1Timothy 2:4, we need only to follow Paul’s use of this same word in this same letter.

For instance, in 1Timothy 6:10 we read –
“For the love of money is the root of all (pas) evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

What’s immediately apparent is that the love of money cannot be the root of every single evil thing that ever occurred. Certainly, this is not true. Even the first sin – Eve’s partaking of the forbidden fruit – was not motivated by money (which did not exist either materially or conceptually). So, Paul’s meaning must be more exclusive than that. And, it is. Paul’s use of the word “pas” was meant to designate “all kinds” of evil. And, most other translations render it exactly that way. The ASV, NAS, NIV and NKJV all read, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds (or ‘sorts’) of evil…”

Paul was not arguing that God desires that every individual person in the world be saved. If Almighty God desires universal salvation, then He will most assuredly accomplish universal salvation. His arm is not limited in its ability to save.

So again, despite what it may have looked like on the out-of-context surface, Paul’s use of the word “pas” designates “all kinds.” And, God is certainly willing that “all kinds” of men be saved, as opposed to Jews only; or as opposed to the downtrodden and oppressed only.

It should be obvious that Paul is continuing his “all kinds of men” line of thinking in 1 Timothy 2:4. As the apostle to the Gentiles, he knew that God was spreading his worship out into the whole world. But, Jesus the Christ, the Jewish Messiah, the fulfillment of the Hebrew Scriptures, sent to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” was now declared to have given Himself as a ransom for all kinds of people. So, the context shows that Paul was completely consistent in his thinking and theology.

[joejoe]

I never said that God doesn’t want anyone to perish.  May I remind you of the Flood in Genesis as well as all those who God destroyed at Sodom and Gomorrah. God doesn’t "create/predestine others for destruction", He chooses/elects some to be saved.  For God said to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." (Romans 9:15)

God could have justly left all mankind to perish in their sin and misery, but according to the good pleasure of His will, He chose in Christ, before the foundation of the world, all whom He purposed to save.

    ‘According as he hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love; having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will’ (Ephesians 1: 4,5).

    ‘And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.  For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren. Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called; and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified them He also glorified’ (Romans 8: 28-30).

These verses from among many which could be quoted, and the whole scheme of redemption from Genesis to Revelation, afford infallible and unqualified proof that salvation is of free and sovereign grace.

Don’t fool yourself into believing that conditional election is on the ground of foreseen faith, i.e. those whom God knew would repent He chose beforehand.  This is contrary to the Truth.

    ‘Whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate, etc.’ (Romans 8: 29).

The word ‘foreknow’ in the New Testament usage is employed in the sense of the Hebrew yada (know) which denotes love and favour and should be understood likewise:  ‘Whom He did forelove, He also did predistinate, etc.’

As long as men are unregenerate, they are in a state of unbelief, without hope in God and without faith in Christ.  When saved by grace, you have faith, but that not of yourselves.  It is not of your own power or free-will, but the gift of God through the efficacious teaching of the Holy Spirit.  Faith, therefore, cannot be the cause of election.  It is the effect of it and is insured by it.

    ‘As many as were ordained to eternal life believed’ (Acts 13: 48).

    ‘For by grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them’ (Ephesians 2: 8-10).

[joejoe]

GOD CHOOSES MAN, MAN DOES NOT CHOOSE GOD

Do you deny the total depravity of man, and hold that the will of man is free and has the ability to choose Christ and the salvation that is in Him?  Such teaching is false and delusive since the Scriptures represent election as occurring in the past, irrespective of personal merit.

    ‘The children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of Him that calleth, it was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated’ (Romans 9: 11-13).

The unregenerate person has no free will of spiritual matters.  This means they can do nothing pertaining to their salvation.  This is because of the Fall.  God told Adam, if you eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt surely die.  Obviously, Adam didn’t die as we think of people dying today because Adam went on to live for hundreds of years.  Adam died a spiritual death.  But through his fall he brought spiritual death upon himself and all his posterity.  He thereby plunged himself and the entire race into spiritual ruin and lost for himself and his descendants the ability to make right choices in the spiritual realm.  His descendants are still free to choose – every man makes choices throughout life – but inasmuch as Adam’s offspring are born with sinful natures, they do not have the ability to choose spiritual good over evil.  Consequently, man’s will is no longer free from the dominion of sin as Adam’s will was free before the fall.  Instead, man’s will, as a result of inherited depravity, is in bondage to his sinful nature.  

It is quite evident that many unsaved people, when judged by man’s standards, do possess admirable qualities and do perform virtuous acts.  But in the spiritual realm, when judged by God’s standards, the unsaved sinner is incapable of good.  The natural man is enslaved to sin; he is a child of Satan, rebellious toward God, blind to truth, corrupt, and unable to save himself or to prepare himself for salvation.  In short, the unregenerate man is dead in sin, and his will is enslaved to his evil nature.  The will of man is free only to choose according to his moral nature, and as his nature is under the dominion of sin, man chooses accordingly.

    ‘The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned’ (I Cor. 2: 14).

    ‘No man can come unto Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day’ (John 6: 44).

    ‘Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto Me, except it were given unto him of My Father. From that time many of His disciples went back and walked no more with Him’ (John 6: 65, 66).

    ‘All who are born again are said to be ‘born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God’ (John 1: 13).

The sovereignty of God’s choice comes out clearly in the statement that Christ died for His people while they were yet sinners (Romans 5: 8). Therefore do not take the choice out of the hands of God and place it in your own hands.

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