Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

Lying may seem at first reading more "trivial" than the other vices listed, but I would say that it merits such pre-eminence, considering that Satan (whom Jesus called "the father of lies" (John 8:44)) caused the original fall of all of humanity into sin by means of a lie (Genesis 3:4-5) and continues to deceive people into rejecting the gospel to this day. In turn, humans who practice lying (including lying to themselves about their lost condition) serve him in expanding his "kingdom". 

By contrast, Jesus referred to Himself (in John 14:6) as "the Truth". Humans (even saved Christians) may not be able to emulate His claims to also be "the Way" and "the Life", but they CAN imitate Him by believing His true words, and by always speaking the truth in love to others, as well.

June 08 2021 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Dale Casselman Christian/Circus Clown

The first thing we should note is that this is a vision of future events that was given to John. So, by the time that His statement in Rev. 21:8 becomes reality, the Restrainer will have been taken out of the way in order for the man of lawlessness to be revealed. Who is the Restrainer and why is He taken out of the way? He is the Holy Spirit and He is present in the body of Christ.

So I am referring here to the "rapture" of the church. Where the dead in Christ are raised first and those of us that are still alive in Christ, are caught up to meet with them in the air. 

The labeling of sinners by their individual sin type, I believe, is a warning to all and to let those going through the Tribulation know that everyone who continues to reject Christ is guilty of their sins and will be cast into the Lake of Fire.

In actuality, we were all dead in Adam and separated from God. It is only through Jesus Christ and the work He finished on the cross that saves anybody, and it is by His being raised from the dead that we have eternal life. The Lake of Fire was to be the final destination of every sinner or human being that will or has ever lived, by default. We sin because we are sinners, we are not sinners because we sin. You could argue that some just remain in Hell (Hades/Sheol), but Hell gets cast into the Lake as well.

So in calling each of these sins by name He is addressing all sin. Which of course is only more sin heaped upon the original or actual sin that separated all of us from our Creator to begin with.

We need to also remember that this being the time of Jacob's trouble, It is also addressing the Jews, and they, being all about keeping the law, require a vivid image or application given to them in order to be able to process it with their mindset of Judaism (Law). You see, up until the cross the Jews had a scapegoat to take their sins away into the wilderness and a lamb without blemish to cover them with its splattered blood, and thus atoned for 360 days, which is a Lunar year. Then they had to repeat this each year at the Passover. 
Once Christ went to the cross, that was no longer accepted, as Christ was a better sacrifice, that paid for the sins of all believers once for all time.

We are all saved, before and after the cross by grace through faith, Jew or Gentile all the way back to Adam. But when Christ was crucified He went into paradise just as He told the thief on the cross, and there He set the record straight, and today there is nobody in Paradise because scripture tells us "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord". Paradise was the Bosom of Abraham, and when Christ ascended to Heaven He led a train/host of captives (all those in the Bosom of Abraham). So you must understand that these folks were atoned for under the Jewish law, and this is why Christ, when He got there, set the record straight. He is the Messiah they were waiting on. He did not have to go across to the part that is written about in (Luke16:19-31) because those folks will stand the judgment in its time.

James is a great example of what I am putting across here. Paul said that it was by faith alone that we are saved, and James as we all know said that it is by faith plus works. They are both in agreement here, but Paul is talking to the Gentiles that were pagans and had no law to begin with. So he did not need to give them an application that coincides with works. The Jewish converts in exile, James was writing to had the Mosaic law for all of their lives up until conversion and were all about doing good works. James was only being explicit.

So, are either of them, saying that it is works that save you? Nope, not at all. They are both saying that if you are saved through faith, then as a result of having this new life in you, you will produce good works. We know it as the fruit of the Spirit.

It should be noted that there are going to be Jew and Gentile come out of the Tribulation.

June 13 2021 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report