Reading Through The New Testament in 2016 - December 28th, 2016 - Revelation 20 How you live matter

If the gospel is an excuse for you to sin and live however you want, you’re really misunderstanding what it means.

Jesus paid our price and gives us His grace, but that doesn’t mean that how we live doesn’t matter. In fact, it means more than you might think.

How do you live in response to the grace you’ve received?

In Revelation 20 it talks about those who were beheaded for their faith, they didn’t bow down to the beast and they lost their lives because of it.

Because of how they lived they will be the first to be resurrected and will reign with Jesus.

How they lived mattered. Their decision to not bow down meant a lot.

Then, there’s the day of judgement where everyone will stand before the throne. It says that we will be judged according to what we have done.

Hades will spit out their dead, the graves will spit out their dead, the ocean will spit out their dead and they will all be judged based on how they lived.

I’ve often been asked what happens to those who die without giving their lives to Christ. Do they burn in hell eternally? What about the monk in Thailand who never heard the gospel? Does he burn forever?

Apparently not! He will stand before Jesus and be judged according to how he lived.

And those not found in the book of like will be thrown in the lake of fire, along the Hades itself.

Burning forever in hell? Doesn’t look like it. Looks like Hell itself gets extinguished in the lake of fire.

It doesn’t sound like God was ever into eternal burning for those who never gave their lives to Him. Sounds like he gives people a chance based on their lives and their hearts.

However, this doesn’t mean I’m ok with someone not knowing Jesus. In fact, when I stand there on judgement day, I don’t want to go there based on my good deeds alone. I want to stand there covered in the blood of Jesus and forgiven by His grace.

And I want everyone to do the same.

I want to live a life transformed by the grace of God, with the deeds to show for it. I want to be confident that I didn’t squander my life or waste his grace.

Today may this serve as a reminder: your life matters. Your decisions matter. How you live in response to God’s grace matter.

What do you think about all this? Read Revelation 20 and let me know how you see it. It can be a tricky one.