There is a serious danger people of the so-called ‘Abrahamic faiths’ (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) are easily subjected to. It is the lack of understanding and appreciation of the concept of ‘progressive revelation’ across the pages and ages of The Holy Bible. Isaiah 28:10&13 identifies this principle:
Precept upon precept,
line upon line,
here a little, there a little…
From Genesis-to-Revelation, it is apparent how The Lord applied this principle as He, over several millennia, revealed to His prophets, various aspects about Himself and His righteous plans for humanity. Most Jews in both ancient and modern times made/make the gross error of fixating only on the Mosaic laws, generally ignoring what The Lord developed as the rest of The Bible …since Moses. Some modern Christians may be making a similar error by fixating only on their favorite portions of The Bible, which might include generally avoiding The Book of Revelation. Muslims may be making a similar error in that the book of their faith excerpts a few parts and general concepts from across The Bible, and compiles them into a totally separate book, with a substantially different conclusion. That was done about 6 centuries after The Lord inspired Apostle John to conclude His Revelation vision with the following stern warning:
For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. 1
Thus, people of the 3 religions that claim to have their roots in the God-pleasing, righteous faith of Abraham (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), may have in common:
• Excerpting and fixating on their preferred concepts from across The Bible, and therefore,
• Mis-perceiving and mis-understanding the contextual understanding of Heaven’s comprehensive message to humanity, by which all people will eventually be judged.
His strategy is to offer to us salvation through Grace and faith in His crucifixion sacrifice, as a time to get to know Him, and for Him to test and get to know us, spiritually. When we fixate on our preferred excerpts of His progressive revelations to us, we short-circuit His plan. As such, we risk not getting to know Him, and Him not getting to know us to the extent that His plan requires. Thus, when we meet Him face-to-face, we risk hearing these dreaded words from Him:
Depart from Me, for
I do not know you! 2
If we of the Christian faith hear those or similar words from Him when we die, they will mean:
1. We will have failed what I call The Lord’s ‘Salvation Internship’,
2. Our names will have been blotted-out of His Book of Life, and
3. We will have been ‘de-throned’ in Heaven. 3
While some of us may be familiar with the concept of the names of The Lord’s saints being blotted-out of His Book of Life, we may not be as familiar with the concept of us being ‘de-throned’. The Book of Revelation includes numerous references to Jesus, The Lord God, sitting on His Throne. The final chapter of Revelation reveals the ultimate reality, that He sits on …the throne of God and of The Lamb. In Ephesians 2:4-6, Paul assures that The Lord’s [internship] saints are [spiritually] seated in Christ, in heavenly places. But only in Revelation 3:21 does The Lord reveal where we ‘who will overcome’, are seated—'…on His Throne.’
Thus, when we repent of our sins and embrace Jesus as Lord of our lives, we are spiritually and positionally seated with Him on the Throne of God and of Jesus in Heaven. From that spiritual position, we are equipped by The Holy Spirit to initiate and hopefully complete what I call our salvation internship—The Lord’s Grace opportunity for us to fulfill its progressive plan for Him to get to ‘test and know’ us, and us to get to know Him.
BUT…many stories and cautions across The Bible warn against departing from the faith—becoming lukewarm, backslidden or fully apostate. For people who die in those spiritual conditions,
...their names will have been…
blotted-out of The Book of Life,
and in Heaven, they will have been spiritually
DE-THRONED!
Selah~
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1 While perspectives differ about who is speaking in Revelation 22:18-19 (John or The Lord), it is important to understand the entire the vision is titled The Revelation of Jesus Christ, i.e., Jesus revealing Himself to John and to us, as The Lord God Almighty. Thus, it is safe to conclude the entire contents of the vision, including this closing warning, is of Him, whether directly spoken by Him, or derived by what John faithfully wrote.
2 See: Matthew 7:23, 25:12,41, and Luke 13:25,27.
3 See: Revelation 3:5 & 16, Two Bold-faced LIES! (Poem) and also Your Salvation Status (Q&A). These may be notions not generally heard of, and thus, not generally understood many Christian circles that focus on their preferred Scripture passages. Nevertheless, they are clearly foundational aspects of The Lord’s strategic plan for us.
