“And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life“
21:24
And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.
The word “nations” means gentiles, so the New Jerusalem will have saints of all dispensations. The Gentile nations of the world will live by the standards of God for the first time.
21:25
Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there).
The gates of New Jerusalem will never be shut, nor will there ever be night there. There will be nothing but a perpetual day. Gates protected ancient cities from attack, especially at night. The glory of God’s presence will never be eclipsed.
21:26
And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.
Nations will come into this city with all of their valuables and honors. God has a plan for Gentiles as well as Jews.
21:27
But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie,
There will be nothing of the fall in Heaven. It will have a perfect environment of perfect righteousness. There will be no liars in Heaven (Numbers 23:19; Psalm 58:3). People talk about white lies and black lies, but to God, a lie is a lie.
“Therefore, putting away lying, ‘Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another’” (Ephesians 4:25).
“Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds….” (Colossians 3:9).
“…in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began…” (Titus 1:2).
but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Only those who have their names written in the Lamb’s book of life will be allowed to enter New Jerusalem. Jesus is the only one who can put your name into this book. He puts your name into His book the moment you accept His death for your sins. This has nothing to do with having our name in the church register.
Principle:
Jesus puts our names in a registry the moment we become Christians.
Application:
Jesus puts our names in a book the moment we receive Him as our Savior.
“Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20).
“And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life” (Philippians 4:3).
“But you have come to Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel” (Hebrews 12:22).
This explanation is very helpfull to me. I love it ! The word of God is clear like the crystal! I enjoy it a lot, because i like all those scriptures in detail, at the way you do the explanatory! Thank you so much! God Bless you and give you more spiritual revelation according to His will!
Thank you Mayra,
Once saved regardless of the lifestyle is forever saved?
Sarah, study this page: http://versebyversecommentary.com/articles/eternal-security/
is this saying that there will be evil outside the city?
douglas, This indeed a problem in the context of a text describing heaven. Some view the heavenly Jerusalem as in existence during the millennium over the earth as the habitation of the resurrected saints, and is in contrast to the city of Jerusalem located on the earth. The heavenly Jerusalem apparently is withdrawn at the time of the destruction of the present earth and heaven. Then as pictured in Revelation 21:2 it returns to the new heaven and the new earth when the scene is ready for its descent. This interpretation regards Revelation 21:9 ff. as the heavenly city in the eternal state though recognizing its existence in the millennium. This seems to solve most of the exegetical problems that are involved and, in fact, answers many objections to the premillennial interpretation of Scripture as a whole. It provides a clear distinction between resurrected saints who inhabit the New Jerusalem and the millennial saints on the earth who will inhabit the millennial earth. It is assumed, though the Scriptures do not state it, that the millennial saints at the end of the millennium will be translated prior to their entrance into the eternal state and thus will qualify for entrance into the heavenly Jerusalem.