top of page
Search

Good Deeds Follow...


Blessed to Die in the Lord/Blessed are the Prepared

Daily Reading: (Revelation 14:13, 16:15):

“Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”

“Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”

“Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.”

Question #1 Those who die in the Lord… who qualifies? Is it only the 144,000 Jewish believers in Revelation 7:4? Obviously not. Thank God we don’t have to be martyred for our faith in order to receive the blessings on the other side of eternity. Paul said he died in Christ, and so do all believers the moment they believe. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me Galatians 2:20.


#2 Do Old Testament saints living before the cross, did they die in the Lord too and if so how?

Salvation (for both Old Testament and New Testament saints) has always been a work of God’s grace available through faith. The Apostle Paul used the Old Testament in Romans 4 to show that salvation has always been by God’s grace and can only be received through faith.

J.D. Greer said, “People in the Old Testament were saved just like us: They looked forward to the cross; we look backward at it. The direction is different, but the object is the same.” [1] It was our faith in Christ that saves us. Whether we lived before the cross, waiting on the Savior or after looking back to the cross and Christ’s finished work as the means to our salvation.


“Their deeds will follow them.” If our deeds do follows us, then this is not a blessed thing to read and this would go directly against what God’s Word says because you have to read this in context. Hebrews 10:17: “Their sins and lawless deeds I will remember no more.”


“Their deeds will follow them (Revelation 14:13) but “I will remember their lawless deeds no more” (Hebrews 10:17). How can both of these be true? This is easy. The context is talking about believers remember “blessed are the dead who die in the Lord” and so since God will remember the sins of those in Christ no more, that means the deeds that follow you into heaven are the fruit that He bore in your life. This is great news and a blessing to behold that when we die the great things we were a part of will be rewarded in heaven. Do you see why this book is bless to read?


“Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed” (Revelation 16:15).


We are clothed in the robes of righteousness of Christ Jesus (prophesied about in Isaiah 61:10) and became our reality and spoken to in Galatians 3:27. Remain mindful of the beautiful garments that Jesus has placed you in and as a result your behavior will follow suit. There is such a blessing to be mindful of the positional holiness you have and watch as that impacts your behavioral holiness which is what Peter wrote about in 1 Peter 1:14-15. If you know you got your beautiful robes of righteousness on, the way you act reflects the true reality of your new nature in Christ.


[1] J.D. Greer. https://jdgreear.com/blog/people-saved-old-testament/

98 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All
bottom of page