REVELATION

In This Section

REVELATION 2:18-29, 3:1-6

REVELATION 2:18-29

"18 And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: The Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet are like burnished bronze, says this: 19 'I know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first. 20 'But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. 21 'I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality. 22 'Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. 23 'And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds. 24 'But I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they call them--I place no other burden on you. 25 'Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come. 26 '[And] He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; 27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father;28 and I will give him the morning star. 29 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'" (Revelation 2:18-29)

According to the typical interpretation of those who believe in the NEST, this message to the church in Thyatira states that it is possible for a Christian to fail to hold fast to salvation until Christ comes. They say that failing to hold fast, means the person failed to "overcome" and keep Christ's "deeds" until the end, and so in the end the failing Christian had lost salvation, and is damned forever.

The NEST is wrong.

In understanding why the NEST is wrong, one of the first things we need to recognize is that Christ is giving this message to the angel of the church in Thyatira. When most people think of the word angel, they think of a kind of spiritual being that is from heaven, which does accurately define some angels as they are described in the Bible. But, we need to understand that the word angel has more than one meaning. The word angel is a word that is also translated from the same Greek word that means messenger. In Luke 7:24 we see the exact same Greek word used for John's students that he sent to go to the Lord (cf. Luke 7:19). Of course we realize that John's students are not shining non-human beings from heaven. This meaning of this word, is why most commentators think that the angel here is the messenger of the church who operated as a missionary leader in a pastoral discipling ministry. In other words, there probably were not seven ethereal beings from heaven waiting in the church congregations to get this scroll from John. Further, the whole message is meant for more than just the messenger, and we know this by what John says in the introduction to his letter, where he says,

"4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia:" (Revelation 1:4)

We also see this in 1:11, where John is told,

"Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches:" (Revelation 1:11)

So, this message is for the church there in Thyatira. It is not a message that is just for the messenger. The second thing we need to consider, is one of the first things that Christ says to the messenger and the church in Thyatira,

"I know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first." (Revelation 2:19)

This is an important detail because Christ is commending the Thyatiran Church with what He knows. What Christ knows is that the true church is persevering and doing greater deeds now than in the past at initial salvation. Of course, we know that this is a good report of being Once Saved In Eternal Spiritual Salvation (OSIESS), Once Saved Always Saved (OSAS), which is perseverance of the saints, and eternal security. The problem is that the church is tolerating a false prophetess that Christ calls Jezebel, and the deeds of her teaching, (cf. Revelation 2:22). "Jezebel," like the Old Testament metaphor of Balaam and Balak of the message to Pergamum, is the name of the Queen this Thyatiran Jezebel represents in the form of an Old Testament analogy. Additionally, Christ describes the bad deeds, saying that she,

"calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols." (Revelation 2:20)

This Jezebel character is guilty of deceiving and leading Christ's bond servants astray as a false prophetess. When we look at the original Jezebel of the Old Testament, we see that she did something similar, in that she was a pagan seductress who incited king Ahab to do evil, as we read,

"Surely there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of Jehovah, because Jezebel his wife incited him." (1 Kings 21:25)

In like manner, the first century Thyatiran Jezebel of Revelation, is leading some bond-servants of Christ off course with her teaching, (cf. Revelation 2:24), and so in deceiving them, she is inciting them to do evil in the sight of Jehovah. So, what we find in this message is that Christ is stating this serious fact in a three fold purpose:

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First Christ is concerned that the Thyatirans are tolerating this false prophetess. Evidently, she and her influence had been whole heartedly accepted by some, even if reluctantly accepted by others.

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Secondly, Christ in His concern, is exposing what some bond servants in Thyatira, (in their lack of doctrinal clarity), evidently did not understand in respect to this false teacher. So, they are following her lead, and sinning in doing so.

/3/
And then thirdly, after setting them straight concerning their seduction and sin, God wants them to repent.

With these things in mind, there is an important fact that we must notice, and it is that Christ does not say that the seduced Thyatiran Christians have actually become Idol worshippers. Remember, God commends them by telling them that their love, faith, service, and perseverance, is great in respect to being Jehovah worshippers. In fact Christ says that their deeds (including "faith") of late are greater than at first. Further, those "bond servants" who actually have been seduced by Jezebel's lies, are in fact "bond servants" of Christ. In other words, Christ owns them as His chattel property in eternal spiritual salvation. Christ purchased them on the cross in Certain Redemption and they belong to Him. So, we see that rather than accusing some in the Thyatiran church of becoming Idol worshippers, Christ says that they are eating things sacrificed to idols, and they are being seduced and led into immorality with Jezebel.

In light of all the above details, we must keep in mind that Christ is already using symbolism by calling the seducing influencer by the name of the Old Testament character "Jezebel." It is safe to suppose that this is the same type of Revelation (apocalyptic) language, we find where Christ starts out this message by saying He has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet are like burnished bronze. He also says He is going to throw Jezebel on a bed of sickness. Christ does not have flames for eyes. His feet are not made out of a metal alloy, and there probably is not an actual bed that Jezebel is going to be picked up and thrown into. In other words, eating things sacrificed to idols is strongly indicative of an apocalyptic rebuke for fellowshipping among pagans in worldliness, which may be any number of proposed things. It may be the compromising sin of going into pagan feasts in which the typical Thyatiran citizen gathers in party rituals of worship to false gods. The Thyatiran trade guilds apparently had many of these kinds of feasts, and the local business people, laborers, tradesmen, and merchants, were expected to be there. At such feasts, the things eaten served as both the food and actual pagan sacrifices. The false religion which was associated with these festivals is something that the pagans consider to be connected to the "deep things" of their satanic sect. But, because of such things like the food, fun, friends, family, and cultural expectations, the bond servants of Christ, in respect to Jezebel's endorsements, would be tempted to be there among the sinners of the world. Being there among the idol worshippers would be the sin, and the metaphoric Jezebel is seducing them to believe that it is okay for them to compromise, and be in among the practices which are really originating from the deep things of Satan. Actually worshipping the idols, as deep things of Satan, as a Christian, could not be the problem, because such an act, in sincerity, is impossible for a Christian to do. So, the bond servants are not actually being pagans, but they are "tolerating" the Jezebel endorsed practices, as the text states. On the other hand, eating things sacrificed to idols may also be an apocalyptic styled reference to consumption and digestion of the junk food of overall Thyatiran worldliness in general.

Now considering what the immorality part of the rebuke is, we have the same proposals to consider. The immorality itself may be partaking in sexual practices such as existed at the pagan love feasts, yet, on the other hand, in the same sense of apocalyptic language, the immorality that is infecting them may be that certain ones are listening to Jezebel, as if she has something worthwhile to say. According to the poetic intent of apocalyptic language, they are committing "adultery" with her, which would be a reference to following her false teachings, and so the breakdown in the contextual flow looks like this:

a) The "immorality" that they are committing in verse 20 would be

b) the immorality that is "her immorality" in verse 21, which would be

c) the "adultery" they are committing with her in verse 22.

The essential metaphor of such a view is demonstrated in other epistles. For example, James uses the same type of metaphor in James 4:4, where he rebukes Christians who wish to be friends of the world (see footnote 1 below). James says,

"4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? ..." (James 4:4 emph. mine)

The main point is that concerning being seduced, and sinning, the Thyatiran Christians need to repent (meaning, turn away from). Apparently, Christ also gave the false prophetess time to turn from her immoral activity, but she did not want to turn from it, so Christ is going to throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who listened to her are going to go through tribulation, unless, of course, they turn from her deeds, reject her false prophecies, and her teachings. Christ says,

"22 'Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds." (Revelation 2:22)

There is a high price to pay for not turning from false doctrines, false prophets, and their deeds. Two high prices to pay are:

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First, there is a high price to pay in following a false prophet in ignorance. It is the price of thinking a lie is really true, and that the false prophecy is going to be fulfilled. Following a false prophet keeps one in spiritual ignorance. But, there is an even higher price to pay in continuing to follow a false prophet once an eternally spiritually saved person has been warned by God to turn from that person. It is the price of experiencing God's hand of chastisement. Here it is called "great tribulation." We must notice that so far, though, losing salvation is not mentioned as being the high price. Those who believe in the NEST think that God is talking about eternal damnation when He references "great tribulation" concerning not repenting from this particular sin. Nevertheless the honest interpreter must admit that the text does not state that this is eternal damnation. In other words, it is only a presupposition to say that this is what the passage indicates. On the other hand, according to the great biblically verified doctrinal presupposition of OSIESS, OSAS, eternal security, and perseverance of the saints, everyone who is eternally spiritually saved, logically, does not commit a damning sin. Furthermore, those who are not the elect, have no reason to repent from individual sins. Only the elect need to repent, and they do so in the great repentance of turning to Christ in salvation, then further, in turning from individual sins. This is the way it always is. Today, in our culture, there are cults with lost people in them who are warned that they are being misled by false prophets. They are warned that they need to repent by turning to Christ for salvation. Those who remain lost, do not repent. But, there are those who do repent by turning to the Lord through the true gospel in salvation. Testimonies abound of many saved people who have left cults because they realized that they were being lied to and they were involved in sin. Some of them say that they actually know the time that they were saved while among the cultic group, but they stuck around a while until they came to the place where they did another turning. They repented and came out of the group of people and exposure to the group's false teachings completely. On the other hand, there are lost people who do not come out of cults, because they were never saved, and so they continue lost in the deception.

Now, looking at the text, we see that Christ says that His punishment of Jezebel, is that He is going to throw her on a sickbed because she has not turned from her activity. The original Old Testament Jezebel was thrown from a tower by Ahab's men. She hit the ground and her corpse was eaten by dogs. Here in Thyatira, the analogy shifts a little bit, in that the sickbed is the stark contrast to the Thyatiran Jezebel's bed of adultery, where she seduces God's bond servants to listen to her deeds of false prophecies and teachings.

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Secondly, concerning the high price to pay for not turning from false doctrines, we notice that whoever is committing adultery with Jezebel is going to experience that great tribulation that Christ warns about if they do not repent. It can not be stressed enough, that it is important for us to realize that great tribulation can not be proven to be losing one's salvation. To experience tribulation is to experience hard times. John says to these same people in 1:9,

"I John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation ..." (Revelation 1:9 emph. mine)

John is not saying that he and the churches he is writing to are lost. No, in the same verse he actually says that they are once saved in eternal spiritual salvation in that he declares the great doctrine of the guaranteed perseverance of the saints. He says,

"I John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus," (Revelation 1:9)

It is clearly to be once saved always saved (OSAS) in eternal security. Christians go through great tribulation, and God uses it to produce endurance in them, (cf. James 1:1-2). Christians go through great tribulation when they are disciplined by the loving hand of God, as we see in Revelation 3:19, where Christ says,

"19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent." (Revelation 3:19)

God is talking about His disciplining chastisement. God's intended result from the chastisement is the repentance and purity He desires. Remember, He says, "I will throw ... those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds." God chastises His children toward an intended positive result of edification. God does not do this to His children (bond servants) as a penal vengeance. Rather, God as Father, is seeking the good that results from the whole schooling process of being chastised. Therefor, God would chastise the true Christians who are following the seduction of Jezebel. These Christians have a chance to repent as a result of getting this letter, and if they do not, then the chastising discipline is meant to bring them to turn from her and her ways completely. We read of God the Father's chastising action in Hebrews,

"4 You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; 5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, 'My son, do not regard lightly the discipline [chastisement] of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him; 6 For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom he receives.' 7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. 11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness." (Hebrews 12:4-11)

The great tribulation that God will throw those unrepentant Thyatiran Christians, (who continue to commit adultery with the false prophetess after this warning) into, would seem not to be joyful, but sorrowful, yet as truly saved ones who have been trained by the great tribulation, will yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness, which is repentance. We read of the same principle in 1 Corinthians, where God chastised those who were not judging the body rightly in communion. He said,

"when we are judged, we are disciplined [chastised] by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world." (1 Corinthians 11:32)

One of the main points that I want you to recognize about all of this is that this chastisement will only occur if initial repentance does not happen first. Again, if the Thyatiran Christians repent, then there is no need for great tribulation concerning their sin. By the same token, if there are any false converts in and among the congregation, then they are not expected to do anything but follow after their own lost inclinations, until, and if, they are effectually called to turn to Christ in salvation. They will not be chastised by God for edification. Why should they be? They will, (in their unsaved state), be judged as unsaved, whether they follow Jezebel or not. All unsaved people are damned to eternity at the judgment. Turning from individual acts that God does not like will not matter, because no person is saved by their deeds.

Continuing along, the next thing that we see that Christ is going to do is physically kill Jezebel's children with pestilence. Though the messenger and the church there know exactly what this is, we, today, are left without important details. We do not know who Jezebel's children are. We may quickly blurt out, "Well, they are the same people adulterating with her." But such an interpretation does not recognize that they are her children, so they may be the metaphoric product of the conception that occurs with those who are in adultery with her, or they may be someone else entirely. We do not know. After all, this is apocalyptic language, so it is hard for us who live 2000 years later in a Westernized culture, far removed from the actual Asian city's problems, to completely understand what Christ is talking to them about. Of course we would expect that the messenger and Thyatirans would instantly know. Nevertheless, it seems probable, though, that this is a reference to those, who are discipled by the false prophetess, who go on to become teachers of her doctrines themselves, so they are her offspring in respect to being her children who look, talk, and act just like her (see footnote 2 below). Therefor, even after this warning, her children continue anyway, and so God is going to kill them. Christ is going to do this physical killing with some kind of pestilence, and because of the killing, all the seven churches will know that He searches minds and hearts; and He "will give each of you" Christians "according to your deeds," (cf. Revelation 2:23).

We have no record of whether Christ killed any Thyatirans. We also have no record of whether Jezebel's children repented. Nevertheless, even though losing salvation is not the issue, there is obviously a high price to pay for not repenting of this sin. Getting killed by God is the issue for these unrepentant children of Jezebel. Apparently, the rest of the church in Thyatira, who do not hold to the teachings of the false prophetess, which the Thyatirans call the deep things of Satan, have no further burdens put on them. In the meantime, Christ says, "you" need to hold fast, which is probably a reference to holding fast to proper doctrine, and "you" need to do it until Christ comes. Later in verse 26, Christ encourages them with the same type of postscript He has been giving at the end of each message to each church. It is the same type of message that Christ consistently clarifies with, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." (cf, Revelation 2:29).

Christ says in 2:26, "and" he who overcomes, (because "and" is there in the Greek as kai). "And" signifies, "Additionally to what I just said concerning you who need to repent, as well as the rest of you Christians who are in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they call them ..." (In other words, in addition to what Christ just told all of them as the church). So it is stated this way,

"26 '[And] He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; 27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father;" (Revelation 2:26)

This is a beautiful assurance of salvation passage. But, what is amazing is that this is only fulfilled positionally in Christ, and the very statement reveals this in so many ways!

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The first way we know that this is fulfilled in Christ is because the deeds that the Christian keeps, are, of course, Christ's deeds. Christ says, "he who keeps My deeds." It is Christ's deeds, and not their own pious deeds which are to be kept. The reason those who are once saved in eternal spiritual salvation will keep Christ's deeds is because all who are truly saved, are completely empowered by Him in salvation. Because He is the victor who triumphs forever, saved people are victors forever in Him. This gets even better as we look at the rest of this promise.

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The rest of the promise gives us the second way we know that our overcoming is fulfilled in Christ. Notice that Christ says,

"26 '[And] He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; 27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father;" (Revelation 2:26-27)

Christ says that he who overcomes (which are saved people) and keeps Christ's deeds, (which are the deeds that the saved people keep), will, in fact, rule with a rod of iron over the nations. What we need to realize is that this is a prophecy of Christ from Psalm 1:9 concerning Christ's rule! We find it in Revelation 12:5, where Christ is said,

"5 ... to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; as the One who is caught up to God and to His throne." (Psalm 1:9)

We find it in Revelation 19:15 concerning Christ,

"15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, [cf. Isaiah 11:4] and He will rule them with a rod of iron" (Revelation 19:15)

In other words, in Christ, all who are saved, rule and reign in Christ positionally and practically forever as Christ Himself "received authority" from His Father. This positional truth (of where we find all blessing in Christ), is why Christ sums the whole point with the fact that it only happens,

"... as I also have received authority [power NKJV] from My Father;" (Revelation 2:26)

Of course, the true Christians will overcome, and they will keep Christ's deeds until the end. It is a statement of encouragement to those who are truly saved. After all, Christ already knows the deeds, love, faith, service and perseverance, of His saved audience in Thyatira; and that the deeds of late are greater than at first, (cf. Revelation 2:19). Additionally, John already described who it is who overcomes in his earlier revelations,

"4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith. 5 Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" (1 John 5:4-5, cf. Revelation 1:9 emph. mine)

The point is that we saved people overcome, endure, and persevere, because Christ overcomes, endures, and perseveres. Further, John recorded in an even earlier revelation that he received directly from Christ, exactly what the deeds are that ensure salvation. He recorded Christ saying,

"27 'Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.' 28 Therefore they said to Him, 'What shall we do, so that we may work the works [deeds] of God?' 29 Jesus answered and said to them, 'This is the work [deed] of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.'" (John 6:27-29)

The same Greek word for works here, is the same Greek word for deeds used in every instance that deeds is mentioned in the message to Thyatira--whether the false prophetess's deeds, the greater deeds of the church, Christ's deeds, etc. So, when Christ encourages the Christians at Thyatira with,

"26 '[And] He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations;" (Revelation 2:26)

Jesus is talking about His deeds, which He calls "My deeds," and His deeds are the deeds of God, which are love, faith, service, and perseverance--all the deeds that Christ produces as spiritual fruit in those who are truly saved, (which are all the deeds that are greater now with the Thyatiran church than in the beginning, cf. Revelation 2:19).

Therefor, based on all of the above considerations, and in accordance with the rest of New Covenant scripture, we recognize that the message to Thyatira does not remotely teach that one can lose one's eternal salvation, keep eternal salvation secure through personally generated efforts, or earn salvation in any way.

REVELATION 3:1-6

"To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: 'I know your deeds, that you have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 'Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. 3 'So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. 4 'But you have a few names in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. 5 'He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not ["never," ESV, NET, which as the negation is (Greek, ou mh), the strongest possible form of negation in Koine Greek--like a double negative. So, Christ says I will "never"] erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. 6 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'" (Revelation 3:1-6)

According to the typical interpretation of those who believe in the NEST, this message means that those of the church in Sardis are not metaphorically dead, as is typical of Revelation's apocalyptic language, but are rather, really spiritually dead. Therefore, it is said that if the Sardisian church does not wake up, and become spiritually alive again, they will be damned forever in their spiritual death. Additionally, it is said that though once saved, and now spiritually dead (lost), they have a chance to make themselves spiritually alive again (re-saved) by waking up and completing their deeds in repentance. Further, if any in the church do not overcome by persevering against sin, making themselves "worthy" of eternal spiritual salvation, as is said that some there in the city of Sardis are doing, then their names will be erased from the book of life, and subsequently, they will be damned forever.

The NEST is wrong.

To recognize why the NEST is wrong we need to examine the message in a verse to verse breakdown. We read,

"To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: 'I know your deeds, that you have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead" (Revelation 3:1)

Since this letter is addressed to the angel of the church, and to the church, as "your," then an important question for us to ask at the outset is,

"Is the messenger (angel) of the church in Sardis, plus the church in Sardis, in fact spiritually dead?"

If in fact, what Christ is saying here means that the messenger of the church is spiritually dead, and the people of the church are spiritually dead, then we must assert, based on the whole corpus of New Covenant scripture, that they are not the church, which means that they are not saved. Yet we know that they are the church because that is what Christ refers to them as being in Revelation 1:4, (cf. Revelation 22:16). They are the called out and gathered out ones in Christ. They are the Christian community there in Sardis. So, they are the church. Concerning whether they can be the church and be spiritually dead, Paul explains that to be spiritually dead is to be lost, (which means, to not be a called out and gathered one in Christ). Paul says in his great proclamation of being once saved in eternal spiritual salvation in Colossians,

"13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him." (Colossians 2:13-15)

To be spiritually dead is to not be alive with resurrected Christ. It is to not have been circumcised spiritually in Christ, (cf. Colossians 2:11). It is to not have all our transgressions forgiven. It is to not be God's New Covenant church in Sardis, or anywhere for that matter. This is a major point, because Christ says in his address in this message to Sardis, that they have the reputation of being alive. In other words, if the Sardisians in this church, are not saved at this point, (in that they are spiritually dead), then they certainly are not losing salvation that they do not have! Lost people do not lose salvation. Lost people are lost. Additionally, to say that they were eternally saved at one time, and then they lost their eternal spiritual salvation later, is a belief that must be written into the text from outside (eisegesis) by someone who is devoted to the religion of the NEST. On the other hand, the more logical understanding of the church's problem, (which would be understood when this letter was initially received), is that they were not alive in the sense of being vibrant, strong, effective, and zealous for the things of the faith. They were like a lot of churches we describe today as being "dead." They need to "wake up." For example, there are churches (and denominations) that have a name; they have a reputation of being alive, and so we know that they are there. They go through the motions of a living church, but they are metaphorically dead in the ritual that remains. There is no intense conviction, strength, effectiveness, fruits of the Holy Spirit, and zeal for the deeds of Christ, (cf. Revelation 3:2), that come from the word of God that has been received and heard, (cf. Revelation 3:3). In fact, many of these dead churches continue down through generations, and get worse. They become watered down havens of dead liberalism, and what happens is that the comprehensive life blood of the word of God of the original founding Christians, is no longer kept. Empty religion is what replaces it. Consequently, if the dead churches do not wake up and strengthen what remains, then what is about to die, (which is any remnant of truth that was left), does die, and what is left is an empty shell. The shell is a religious fake that resembles the original in name only. In fact, people who are not even saved can end up leading empty shell churches. Unsaved people can (and do) gather among such empty shell churches, and no one can tell the difference between the lethargic Christians and the unsaved. The point is that there is a progression that naturally follows if repentance and revival does not occur. The fragile things that remain, which were about to die, in such shells of religious activity, do finally die. This is what Christ's warning to Sardis is all about. So Christ urges, as the great Lord over His church, saying

"2 'Wake up, ..." (Revelation 3:2)

[which is language that reflects that the church is in spiritual lethargy]

"... and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; ..." (Revelation 3:2)

[which would be the deeds that are of Christ that are there, yet are not "completed." Such things "were" about to die, and so the message goes on,]

"... for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. ..." (Revelation 3:2)

[Therefor the church, needs to strengthen the things that remain. This will complete the deeds, and also keep them from dying. The text continues,]

"3 'So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent." (Revelation 3:3)

In keeping with the flow of the message, we see that what has been "received and heard" is the discipleship of God's word. It needs to be kept, and the remaining remnant, which was about to die, needs to be strengthened. The only way to accomplish this is for the Sardisians to turn away from their lethargy. That is what it means to repent in the Sardis context (Repent means to turn). Then the warning comes,

"Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you." (Revelation 3:3)

So, if the church, does not "wake up" in repentance from deadness, and strengthen the remnant of what remains of their initial deeds from their initial discipleship in God's word, then Christ will come to them. Nevertheless, Christ points out their salvation to them, even though there are not many Christians in the city of Sardis, by saying,

"4 'But you have a few names in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy." (Revelation 3:4)

God recognizes this church as a small remnant of saved people in the city of Sardis who are once saved in eternal spiritual salvation (OSIESS). Christ is acknowledging the fact that they have a few names in Sardis, and though lethargic and in need of waking up and strengthening the things that remain, it nevertheless, is a true church, and Christ assures them that He knows it, by starting the sentence with "But." The few saved people which comprise the church, among the masses of lost citizens there in Sardis, have not soiled their garments in the condemning act of turning away from the gospel (like the rest of the city). The unsaved masses, on the other hand, are made manifest as such in graphic language as that which soils, and is soiled, to show that they have sinned against God and are marked as dirty in the sin of turning away from the gospel of Christ according to Revelation 7:14. They are marked with the grime of being lost rejectors who never washed their garments in the blood of the Lamb by grace through faith. On the other hand, the lethargic church of "few names" who are being encouraged to "wake up," have, as their only encouraging blessing, not soiled themselves with the damning sin of rejecting Christ, and so they will walk with Christ in white in the garment that all truly saved people have that has been made white in the cleansing blood of Christ. It is the white of the garments that all God's people will necessarily wear for eternity. It is important that we understand this, or else we could make the mistake of thinking that there are certain saved people who have white garments, and certain saved people who do not. Such a mistaken statement is an impossibility that we can see demonstrated from scripture. We see that the 24 elders are clothed in this whiteness on 24 glorious thrones in heaven around the throne of the Lord, in Revelation 4:4. There are white robes given to those martyred for Christ, in Revelation 6:11. Over in Revelation 7:8, we read of John describing a great number which could not be counted from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues. This group was standing before the throne and before the Lamb, and they were clothed in white robes; and we read that good works did not make the robes white. No, rather, we read of the very important point of how they are made white in contrast to those who have soiled their garments in rejecting the gospel. We read that,

A HUGE KEY

"They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." (Revelation 7:14)

This is one of the biggest keys to understanding our Revelation 3:1-6 text. This bleaching that makes their robes white, is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ's work of His cleansing blood sacrifice alone. This is the only gospel that makes anyone, and their eternal salvation garments, as white as snow. So, clearly the few lethargic Christian people in Sardis who are Once Saved In Eternal Spiritual Salvation (OSIESS) will walk with Christ in their resurrected, cleansed, and glorified existence forever and ever. It is, of course, a declaration of surety in security for all eternity as the perseverance of the saints. And so, in the same proclamation of surety in security for the few Christians there in Sardis, Christ says,

"5 'He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not [never, ESV, NET] erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels." (Revelation 3:5 emph. mine.)

What a fantastic word of encouragement from our risen Lord! First He scolds the church for their temporal weakness, and then He encourages them in their eternal security. It is His pronouncement that the few saved Sardisians who demonstrate that they were truly saved, (in that they do, must, and will, overcome as those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God, cf. 1 John 5:5), will be clothed in white in their future resurrected glory forever, and can find comfort in the fact that Christ does not, and will not, erase any names from His New Covenant Book of Life. Nevertheless, those who believe in the NEST, want to put a warning into the declaration that Christ will never erase the names of saved people out of His New Covenant book. But, according to the textual data, in apparent actuality, no warning is made by Christ concerning His book (which contextually in Revelation, is the Book of Himself, described succinctly as, "the Book of the Lamb that was slain," in Revelation 13:8).

Clearly, this encouragement (not warning) is that Christ does "not" erase names out of His New Covenant book of life that is His book based upon His blood covenant in being "slain," (cf. Revelation 13:8). This book of life that the resurrected Christ is talking about, is the identified group, which are all those who are predetermined, and recorded, for eternal spiritual life in the New Covenant period of Revelation up to this day and beyond. The encouragement is that, in contra to erasing, Christ will "confess" all the names of His people to the Father.

At this point we need to understand some important facts about books (or scrolls) of life in general, of which the Sardisians would readily understand. Among their time and culture the leaders of the various realms kept registers that were kind of like census records. Researchers have identified this practice as going all the way back to Babylonian culture, where kings and city governments had various books of life. Any time someone would be born, their name would be entered into such a book. If someone would commit a heinous crime, or a crime against the king, that was worthy of death or banishment, then that one's name would be blotted out of the book of the living. If someone did something of great merit, then their name would be highlighted. The king of a realm also had a record book of people who were living in his realm who had not rebelled against him. If someone should rebel, then their name would be blotted out that book. Additionally, if someone moved away, then his name was placed in another book, and his name would be erased from the prior one. The most common practice was that when someone died, their name would be removed from the book of the living.

In comparison to earthly books of life, Christ is encouraging the Sardisian Christians that He, as the King of kings, will not do like earthly kings do with their record scrolls. The King of kings does things differently under His new Covenant. The huge contrast is that anyone who has their name in the Lamb's book of life, (also recognized to God's predetermined plan and decree of eternal life in election) will never have their name blotted out for any reason whatsoever.

Another point we must explore is that under the Old Covenant periods, there are Biblical references made to blotting out people from books. Those who believe in the NEST, see such references as applying to losing salvation. Nevertheless, such Old Covenant references are not from events taking place under Christ's New Covenant, and additionally, such references are not to Christ's New Covenant book, concerning which, He explicitly says that He will "not" blot out His people's names, but rather will confess them before the Father. Additionally, the other types of books of God mentioned in the Old Testament, refer to the record of those who are physically alive, as Dr. Charles Smith, writes in the Grace Theological Journal,

"The term "book of life" in the Old Testament refers to the record of those who are alive physically (cf. Exod. 32:32-33; Deut. 29:20; Ps. 69:28; Dan. 12:1; cf. Exod. 17:14; Deut. 25:19; Isa. 4:3). It came to have a more specific meaning in the New Testament. There it usually refers to the list of the names and deeds of the elect (Luke 10:20; Phil. 4:3; Heb. 12:23; Rev. 13:8; 17:8; 20:12, 15; 21:27; ... cf. Rev. 2:11)." (see footnote 3 below)

This is why we find that most literal translations will translate such references as found in Psalm 69:28, as "the book of the living." Being that the Old Testament books refer to the physically alive, to blot someone out of one of them, would mean to take their biological life, which is different than destroying their spiritual life. The main point is that there is a difference between references to books of the Old Testament, and references to the book of life of the New Covenant of Christ.

Taking a look at Psalm 69, we see an example of a book being mentioned where David is wishing a curse on his enemies. He sings that he wants them (they) to be blotted out of the book of the living. We read David's curse,

"27 Add iniquity to their iniquity, and may they not come into Your righteousness. 28 May they be blotted out of the book of the living and may they not be recorded with the righteous." (Psalm 69:27-28)

This is the Old Covenant, and so Old Covenant David is cursing his enemies. Whether symbolic or real, this "book of the living" reference is not to the New Covenant book of life of the slain and resurrected Lamb of Revelation. Enemies of Christ are not written in His book of life to begin with. To be written in His book, is to be elect to eternal spiritual salvation as one who is fore known to never be an enemy of Christ, which we will see in Revelation 13:8 in a moment. Additionally, we do not curse people under the New Covenant, and we certainly do not dictate to God concerning what He should do to our enemies. Therefor, this Old Covenant passage is not applicable to Christ's New Covenant decree of eternal life, ie. book (scroll).

There is another book in the Old Testament that is mentioned that we need to be familiar with so that we will get a fuller picture of similar language used for something that applies to a different subject. It is not called a book of the living, but it is called a written book, where we read of Moses saying,

"'But now, if You will, forgive their sin--and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!' 33 Jehovah said to Moses, 'Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.'" (Exodus 32:32-33)

This particular book is not the New Covenant book of life of the Lamb that was slain of Sardis' day. This book referenced in Exodus 32, is the representative book that contained the record of the biologically living people of the twelve tribes of Israel. Subsequently, those Israelites who worshipped the gold cow were erased from this book. God killed them. As the book that represents those who are blessed with physical life and inheritance, to be blotted out, became manifest as physical death, which eliminated the idolators from receiving the promised inheritance. As a further consideration, it is difficult to imagine that this book represents eternal spiritual damnation, as Moses pleaded to have the blotting out fate put upon himself in place of all the wicked idolators, (cf. Exodus 32:32).

The main point being made here is that Old Covenant references to books are just that--Old Covenant. We do not curse people today by telling God to blot names out of the Lamb's Book of Life, as David did with a book of the living. We do not plead to be killed, in a feeble attempt to keep idol worshippers from being blotted out of a written book of God, as Moses did. Christ clearly says in His New Testament revelation of truth, that He will never erase the overcomer's name out of the New Covenant book of life.

Now, as would be expected, those who believe in the NEST, object to this, and say,

"Well, why would God encourage Christians by saying that He will not do something to them, if in fact, He does not do it anyway?"

In other words, it is suggested that God would not say such a thing unless the reverse were also true. To which we simply start out saying that such a question does not make sense. Then from there, we go on to point out that God does this kind of thing in Scripture all the time, whether we understand why, or not. For example, in John 14, Jesus says to His students,

"16 I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." (John 14:16-18 emph. mine)

We notice that Jesus is encouraging those among His students who are once saved in eternal spiritual salvation by saying,

"I will not leave you as orphans;" (John 14:18)

For Jesus to make such a statement is meant for encouragement. Jesus will not leave any of His truly saved students as orphans whether He takes the time to encourage them with this fact in John 14:18 or not. In other words, the reverse of Christ's statement was not true, where Christ could have supposedly meant that He could leave them as orphans. Therefor, by way of analogy, to ask the same question of Jesus in John 14:16-18 also means nothing, and demonstrates how absurd such a question really is. Such a nonsense question would sound like this:

"Well, why would Jesus encourage His eternally spiritually saved students by saying that He will not do something to them, if in fact, he does not do it anyway?"

The answer is because this is the way Christ talks. Further, we can surmise that Christ says things this way because it is an encouraging way of saying that you are mine, you are saved, and I will never leave you nor forsake you. Additionally, those that Christ is saying this to are learning doctrine, of which will be written as scripture for generations of Christians to be encouraged with. Such communication is not unusual. Paul the apostle uses the same expression in 1 Corinthians, where he says,

"What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you." (1 Corinthians 11:22 emph. mine)

Paul clearly says,

"In this I will not praise you." (1 Corinthians 11:22)

As an apostle who is writing the very oracles of God, according to Holy Spirit inspiration, we know that he can not praise those who "despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing," nevertheless, he says that in this he "will not" praise them. So, once again, to ask the same question of Paul is silly, and means nothing. Such a question would go something like this:

"Well, why would Paul rebuke the Corinthian despisers by saying that He will not do something to them, if in fact, he does not do it anyway?"

The point is that Paul, and Christ, Who is God, have decided to proclaim things that they will not do that they would never do anyway. It is normal communication. This normal communication is exactly what we see with the encouragement here in Revelation;

"5 'He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels." (Revelation 3:5)

Christ is stating an assertion of encouragement here in the same way that He stated His encouragement directly before going to the cross in John 14:18. In like manner, and at the same time that this encouragement of what He will not do is proclaimed, the Sardisians are learning doctrine. It is important that we always remember that the churches were in the beginning processes of learning these doctrinal things that we now have preserved for us in the Bible. With this in mind, we recognize that this is doctrine that the first generation church is initially learning from God for the very first time.

God is teaching the Sardisians that he does not erase the names of those who are written in the particular book of life that is of His Son. We will examine this particular book in more detail in a moment. At this time, though, we must also recognize that New Covenant scripture records that God actually does erase some things in respect to those whom have been saved. The erasing that God does for those whom He loves, which is everyone who is elect to eternal spiritual salvation, is that He erases their sin and guilt forever, as we see in Acts 3, where Peter urges Israel to turn to Messiah in salvation, saying,

"18 But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Messiah would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 19 'Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be erased away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; 20 and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you," (Acts 3:18-20)

When any Israelite who had rejected Messiah turns, and returns, to Him, the Israelite's sins are erased away. Peter says that when Messiah comes back, then those Israelites who have repented and returned to Jehovah, will experience eschatological refreshing instead of eschatological doom. Paul the apostle gives this encouraging word to Gentiles in the same assurance that Christ is giving to the Sardisian Church, saying,

"13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having erased away the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." (Colossians 2:13-14)

Salvation is comprehensive and eternal. The grace gospel is the great eraser that wipes away all debts against us that were hostile against us when we were lost sinners.

In addition to this type of comforting assurance that the Sardisians were more than likely disipled in beforehand, the Sardisian remnant, though rebuked for being lethargic, are learning that they can have comfort in the great fact that Christ proclaims, which is that they have an advocate in Messiah who cares enough to confess their names before His Father, and even before angels. Though this is an urging toward surety in security for the remnant who are truly saved, there are those who believe in the NEST, who see this encouragement of eternal life, as being a warning of eternal doom. Along this line, one rather confident NEST promoter hypothetically asks,

"Could those who fail to overcome have their names blotted out of the Book of Life?"

The question is invalid, because all who are saved do necessarily overcome, and so when Christ, according to the actual text, gives the comforting assurance,

"I will not erase their names out of the book of life," (Revelation 3:5)

Christ is simply encouraging the saints with the facts of His great doctrine of eternal security in His unique book. God has no other New Covenant "book of life" anywhere, though God has other books. Further, there have never been any names of people in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain, who fail to overcome. Therefor, such a question can not be answered in the way it is asked. The real question is,

"Could those who fail to overcome have had their names in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain, at any time?"

A KEY

The answer is "no," because the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain, has all the names of those that God has predestined to be saved since the "foundation of the world," (cf. Revelation 13:8) and so being there in hard determination, they will not, as in never, be erased, (cf. Revelation 3:5). God predestined them to not be erased, and so they are saved, as is stated in Revelation 13:8, where we read about people who worship a false god called, "the beast." We read,

"8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him (the beast, 13:4), everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain." (Revelation 13:8 emph. mine)

This book of life of the Lamb who has been slain is a book that demonstrates the predestination of God's elect. All saved people have had their names written there. All unsaved people have never had their names written there. This is such an immense point because, in being unsaved, the unsaved can not be blotted out of a place that they are not written! This simple point of logic is why Revelation 13:8 is so important for understanding God's New Covenant book of Life. The same book is mentioned in the New Covenant scriptures in Philippians 4:3; Revelation 17:8, and 20:12-15, but the full explanation of it is found again in Revelation 21, where we read of,

"10 ... the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 25 ... there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; 26 and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; 27 and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life." (Revelation 21:10-27 emph. mine)

Unsaved people, who demonstrate who they are by not overcoming in belief, (cf. 1 John 5:5), never had their names there "in the book of life of the Lamb" in the first place. Therefor unsaved people are not receiving the encouragement that Christ is giving here to saved people in this message of being Once Saved In Eternal Spiritual Salvation (OSIESS).

Saved people who have had their names established in the book, were predestined to overcome, and they always do, as is demonstrated in the revelation that this same John had in 1 John 4:4-5.

"4 For whatever is born of God [which is the miracle] overcomes the world; [which is the necessity. If you are born of God you absolutely will overcome] and this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith. [which is a gift] 5 Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?"

There is one last consideration that is absolutely vital to a fuller picture of what Christ means here in Revelation 3:5, where He says,

"... and I will confess [acknowledge, declare] his name before My Father and before His angels." (Revelation 3:5)

We must especially notice these three words: "confess," "Father," and His "angels." The Greek word, "confess" here is homologeo. This word literally means to acknowledge and to declare. We find Christ telling his disciples about these same distinct audiences of the Father, and angels, who will receive His acknowledgment and declaration. We find the parallel in the account of Christ teaching in His earthly ministry, where He said,

"32 Therefore everyone who confesses [acknowledges, declares] Me before men, I will also confess [acknowledge, declare] him before My Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 10:32)

The people who Christ will confess are those who confess Him. Notice that Christ's confession will be before His "Father" who is in heaven. Then we read in Luke,

"8 And I say to you, everyone who confesses [acknowledges, declares] Me before men, the Son of Man will confess [acknowledge, declare] him also before the angels of God;" (Luke 12:8)

The confession of Christ here, is before God's "angels," which is probably those classic ethereal messenger-beings from heaven that we typically call angels of God.

Finishing up here, what we see in Matthew is that we find Christ confessing those who confess Him before men, and He does it, as He says, "before my Father." In Luke, we find Christ saying that He will confess before the angels of God, all of those who confess Him. Both together, complement and confirm Christ's encouraging statement in Revelation 3:5 perfectly.

Therefor, we see that the message to Sardis does not remotely suggest that Christ is saying that anyone can lose eternal salvation once they are saved, gain eternal spiritual salvation through any personally generated effort, or even keep eternal spiritual salvation secure through any humanistic self effort.
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FOOTNOTES:

(1) See the chapter in this book that deals with this passage out of James 4:4. In that chapter, the colorful metaphoric language that James uses all throughout his epistle, and the relationship of other analogies he uses in respect to 4:4, is pointed out.

(2) In a somewhat similar usage of metaphoric terms, the apostles referred to those that they discipled as their children, as we read in, Galatians 4:19, 3 John 1:4, 1 John 2:1, 1 Corinthians 4:14, etc.

(3) Charles R. Smith, "The Book of Life," Grace Theological Journal 6:2 (Fall 1985):219-30 {Smith also included in his verse reference for the books of the elect, the translation error of Desiderius Erasmus in Revelation 22:19. There is no Greek manuscript anywhere that has "book of life" as the King James Interpretation renders Erasmus' error. See the next sermon in this series for further explanation; part 35, dealing with Revelation 20:12-13, 21:7, 22:14, 22:19, titled "How Can I Deny The Master Who Bought Me?" originating from the 2 Peter series, starting in 2 Peter 2:1.