17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.

18 Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

— John 3:17-18

Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away,

— Acts 3:19

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!

— 2 Corinthians 5:17

6a Then the angel said to me, “These words are faithful and true. …

11 Let the unrighteous continue to be unrighteous, and the vile continue to be vile; let the righteous continue to practice righteousness, and the holy continue to be holy.”

12 “Behold, I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me, to give to each one according to what he has done.

— Revelation 22: 6a, 11-12

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace, mercy and love from Christ to you.

There is a very serious warning in Revelation 22. There the angel warns, “Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy.” Ultimately, people live out who they are inside. Those determined to do wrong will continue down the path they choose. All people await a settled and final outcome of their lives. Eternal life awaits all people, but for some eternity will bring greater and greater wickedness and abounding evil.

Therefore it is critically dangerous to delay repentance to a more convenient date. Unless people repent, their choice in this life will remain forever. Sin’s consequences recorded in Revelation warn people to repent immediately. When God forgives sin for Jesus’s sake, His grace immediately unfolds life’s new reality. Only repentance and faith bring lasting transformation and God’s plan to restore the universe begins with people’s repentance and renewed lives in Jesus Christ today.