Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Revelation 3:5: "He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels."
Can you imagine a more thrilling honor than for Jesus Himself to take your name upon His lips, to confess you as His holy child before the Father in heaven and before the millions of loyal angels? In the Judgment which is now in session (see Rev. 14:6, 7), our text says there will be a time when all the assembled hosts of heaven will look at each of us alone and scrutinize our individual lives.
Will they see all our mistakes, all the shameful things that we hope will never come to light? Jesus knows that it was not our true purpose to do all those ugly things. We have been captives of sin. When we believe in Christ and begin to hate sin, "it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells in me" (Rom. 7:17). "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). He will cleanse them with His blood.
Remember that Jesus is seeking to save us. He is not seeking an excuse to condemn us. He wants us in His Kingdom, not out. At this moment, the Holy Spirit is drawing each one to Christ, and imparting to us His heavenly grace so that we may "overcome" if we will cease resisting Him and yield to His grace. He will draw us all the way. Our real battle is to trust God, to believe that He loves us--sinners, unthankful, impure, mean persons, that we know ourselves to be. "Overcoming" is overcoming doubt that God accepts us individually and personally. "This is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith" (1 John 5:4).
If you believe Him, you will overcome. No one who appreciates the love of Jesus can possibly continue living in sin. "The love of Christ constrains us" (2 Cor. 5:14).
It is well to think often about that moment soon to come (no one knows how soon) when Jesus will take our names on His lips and say, "Father, this is My true child; he trusts Me, and I cannot abandon him! I died for him, and I must have him in My kingdom!" And when Satan whispers to you that you are too great a sinner, that you must give up hope, remind him of what Jesus said of the greatest sinner on earth, "The one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out" (John 6:37). Claim that promise, and come!
Another Look at the Judgment
The reality of a pre-Advent or "investigative" judgment is so clearly taught here that another look is in order. Some who contend against such a judgment say it is unnecessary because "the Lord knows them that are His." It is true that the Lord's omniscient knowledge makes such a judgment unnecessary from His point of view. An investigative judgment is not a time for the Lord to decide whom to save. Rather, it is a time for Him to defend the decisions He has already made, and to convince the world and the universe that He is just and righteous in making them.
Further, Christ's seven promises (in chapter 3) "to him who overcomes" show that a superficial "once-saved-always-saved" assumption is spiritual arrogance. It is a misunderstanding of Scripture to say that when a sinner initially professes faith in Christ that he has already come into judgment in the sense of a final acquittal. In a purely legal sense this is true; and it is true so far as God's desire and intent are concerned; but if a believer turns from his faith and resists the ministry of the Holy Spirit in overcoming, he frustrates the grace of Christ and chooses that his name be blotted from the Book of Life.
This passage reveals a heavenly investigation of every man's character to determine if he has in fact continuedto believe toward the goal of overcoming. The present tense of the verb in John 3:16 also emphasizes this continuity: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever keeps on believing in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
--Robert J. Wieland
From: The Gospel in Revelation, pp. 16-17, 185-186 (1989).
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