Revelation 20 Lesson

JUDGMENT DAY

When we die, all of us are going to be judged relative to the deeds that we did while we were alive.   That is what the following two scriptures teach us:

1. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” – Hebrews 9:27,
2. “(God) will repay each person according to his deeds: to those who by perseverancein doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality,  He will give eternal life; but to those who are self-serving and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness,  He will give wrath and indignation.” - Romans 2:6-8.

After the judgment, one of two things is going to happen:

1. We will be given eternal life and invited to be with God, Jesus, and all the saints in Heaven,
2. We will suffer the wrath of God and be sent to Hell forever.

That is it!   These are the only two outcomes mentioned in the Bible.  

This should give us pause to think. 

Eternity is forever, and once we are judged, it will be too late to make any changes to our lifestyle or our priorities.  

FIVE MATTERS OF SALVATION

Different denominations have differing opinions about what is necessary to go to Heaven.   In the end, the only thing that matters is what God says on the subject.

For today’s lesson, we are going to look at five things that the Bible teaches us are necessary for salvation along with the corresponding scriptures.  

1. Believe in Jesus.  “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” –  Acts 16:31, 
2. Confess our belief in Him.  “For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” –  Romans 10:10, 
3. Repent (turn away from) of our sins.  “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” –  Luke 13:3, 
4. Be baptized.  “ Baptism  now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ .” –  1 Peter 3:21  and “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” –  Mark 16:16, 
5. Obey God’s commandments.  “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.”  –  Mathew 7:21. 

BELIEVING IN JESUS AND CONFESSING OUR BELIEF IN HIM

These are the things that the Bible teaches us are necessary for salvation.  Believing in Jesus is not enough, we also must confess our belief in Jesus to others.   Jesus spoke about this in what is commonly referred to as “The Great Commission.”

• “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” - Mathew 28:19-20.

When we believe in Jesus, and confess that belief, we are heading in the right direction relative to our salvation.

But there is still work to be done!

REPENTING OF OUR SINS

The Bible also teaches us that we also need to repent of our sins.

Repentance means, “To turn away.”   For Christians, repentance means turning away from sinful, self-serving behavior, and turning toward God.   This means that we are going to need to make some changes in our lives.  If the people that we associate with, or the places that we frequent are causing us to sin, we need to turn away from these things so that we can focus on glorifying God and serving others. Consider the following warning spoken by Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount:

• “If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.  If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.” – Mathew 5:29-30.

When we believe in Jesus, confess our belief in Him, and repent of our sins, we are close to salvation, but there is still more to be done!

BAPTISM

To be saved, we need to obey the Gospel in baptism.   The following two scriptures tell us that baptism is a matter of salvation:

1. “Baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” –  1 Peter 3:21,
2. “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” –  Mark 16:16.

OBEYING GOD’S COMMANDMENTS

The fifth matter of salvation is obeying God’s commandments.   Obeying God's commandments is something that we need to work on our entire lives. And while none of us will be able to do that perfectly (Romans 3:23), we must try every day to obey them the best that we can. The character is in the trying! Our ability to obey God’s commandments starts with incorporating regular Bible study into our lives. After all, how can we keep His commandments if we do not know what they are?

CONCLUSION

To prepare ourselves for the Day of Judgment, there are five matters of salvation that we must adhere to:

1. Believing in Jesus,
2. Confessing our belief in Jesus,
3. Repenting of our sins,
4. Being baptized,
5. Obeying God’s commandments.

Once we understand what God wants us to do, we need to act without delay!  

We should never put off until tomorrow what we can do today when it comes to our salvation, for none of us is promised another day (Proverbs 27:1).

We will conclude today’s lesson with the following passage from the Book of James.   It warns us that there will be consequences for those who understand what the right thing to do is and choose not to do it.

• “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” – James 4:17.