Revelation 21:1-8,27; 22:14-15 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying:
“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man,
and He will dwell with them.
They will be His people,
and God Himself will be with them as their God.
4‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,’
and there will be no more death
or mourning or crying or pain,
for the former things have passed away.”

5And the One seated on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Then He said, “Write this down, for these words are faithful and true.” 6And He told me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give freely from the spring of the water of life. 7The one who overcomes will inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son.

8But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”

27But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who practices an abomination or a lie, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Revelation 22:14Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by its gates. 15But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

The Old is Gone, The New Has Come

One day the world as we now know it will be no more. We who believe in Jesus Christ, who have died with Him to sin, and who are living for Him in walks of obedience to His commands, in surrender to His will, we will be forever with our Lord. There will be no more sadness; no more pain; no more death. All those things will be gone. To those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, who long to do the will of God, and who no longer live to please the flesh, we will be with our Lord for eternity without end.

Lip Service is Not Enough

But not everyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ will be with the Lord for eternity where there will be no more death and pain and sorrow. Those who give lip service only to God, but who do NOT bow the knee to Him in worship of Him and in walks of surrender to His will, in obedience to His commands, and no longer as slaves to sin, they will not have the hope of eternity with our Lord. For all those who practice sexual immorality, sorcery, idolatry, lying, or murdering, etc., their place will be in the lake of fire for eternity.

No one who lives a spiritually unclean and immoral life, in practice, will enter into the gates of the Holy City of God. No one who makes a practice of lying or who practices an abomination (what is morally disgusting and abhorrent to God) will enter into God’s eternal kingdom. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will be able to enter into God’s holy presence. And they are those who, by faith in Jesus Christ, died with Christ to sin and who obeyed Him and His commands in life practice until the end.

All those who have denied self, died to sin, and obeyed God and His commands in life practice, by the grace of God, and in the power of God, have the hope of eternity with God where there will be no more crying and dying and pain and sorrow, where the devil will be no more. But all who practice sorcery, sexual immorality, idolatry, lying, murder, and the like, in life practice, by habit, and who do not repent of their sins, and who do not obey the Lord’s commands, they will not enter into eternal life with God.

The Gospel Truth

For Jesus Christ taught that to come to Him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) Him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to His commands, in His power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls Him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

For by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in Him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

Take This to Heart

So, take God and His Word to heart to obey them. For God means what He says. If sin is your practice, and not obedience to God and to His commands, it does not matter what your lips profess. You will not have eternal life with God. And this is not saying you must be absolutely perfect in everything that you do and that if you fail once you lose your salvation. This is speaking of your life practice. Is obedience to God and death to sin what you live by? Or are you still walking in sin and disobedience to God as your life practice?

What Do We Live By?
An Original Work / October 17, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

As the Deer

By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart’s desire
And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart’s desire
And I long to worship You

[A Prayer of Devotion to God Alone]