The last word in the whole Bible

The last word of a long message is often the most important word.
What is the final, concluding and last word of the entire sixty six books of the Bible?

" The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen."

That is the last word Revelation 22:21. What does it mean to you? I hope to speak of what it means to the Christians - "the saints".

I am tempted to include the preceding verse 20 before the last verse. Oh, let me just mention it, please.

"He who testifies these things says, Yes, I come quickly. Amen. Come Lord Jesus! (v.20)

The grace of the Lord Jesus, be with all the saints. Amen." (v.21)

I want to know:
1.) What is "the grace".

2.) What is "the grace of the Lord Jesus."?

3.) But Who is the Lord Jesus?

4.) What does it mean that the grace of Jesus be with anyone?

5.) Who are "the saints" ?

6.) Why is it so big a deal that this grace of the Lord Jesus be with the saints?

I have listened to many great pieces of music.
The final conclusion of many great symphonies are exciting to me.
They are much more so because I know the entire work and how the finale fits in with the entire rest of the masterpiece (if you will).

The conclusion of the library of sixty six books from God to man is like this - Revelation 22:21 the final verse of the whole Bible.

Like the resolving of a great chord of music this is the resolution to all that has been said before as a grand summation, a grand climax.

"The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen."

"Amen" is not only another name for Christ. But Amen means something like :

SO BE IT.
May it be so.
May it be established.
May we agree entirely.
May we go along with what is said here.
May there be no dispute and no disagreement about this.
Yes.
Yes INDEED!

" The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen." "The End".

I want to dive into this final word of the revelation of the Bible.

Everyone practically knows that the book of Revelation contains prophecy. I mean in the sense of predictions of things that will happen.

If they are sure to happen one way or another as predicted by God why is there a need for anything ELSE besides just WAITING for them to happen?

This is a great principle with the Bible. Even though some things are predicted to occur without fail there is the need for the grace of Jesus Christ to be with the believers - strengthening them.

It is all coming to pass, YET grace as the empowering of Jesus must be with the believers regardless.

This and that and the other will not fail to happen on the earth, YET the believers in Christ need grace to see them through all these things. That is to empower and enable them to stand and endure with longsuffering any and all things that may come to pass.

"The grace of the Lord Jesus" is needed all the more in the face of prophesy and prediction.

Grace has two meanings I would highlight:

1.) The power of God OVER human beings when human beings have messed things up uncontrollably and with irreparable damage.

2.) The power of God WITHIN human beings from God to furnish them with a life that can rise above and conquer all the damage sin has occasioned in them.

So God's grace is God's power OVER man.
And God's grace is God's power working WITHIN man.

Christ is God.
Jesus is God become a man.
So the grace of the Lord Jesus is the grace of God.

There is coming a great tribulation upon the earth.
It cannot fail to happen - this "great tribulation".

Yet through it the believers will come forth victorious if they avail themselves of the indwelling grace that is with all the believers.

At the end of all the prophesy of the book of Revelation John concludes with the need for us to who are set apart by belief in Christ to be helped by the grace of the Lord Jesus indwelling our innermost human spirit.

Never think just "knowing" all the things that are about to happen is sufficient. We need to receive the Lord Jesus and live in the realm of the grace of Him that enables us to stand.

@sonship said
The last word of a long message is often the most important word.
What is the final, concluding and last word of the entire sixty six books of the Bible?

" The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen."

That is the last word Revelation 22:21. What does it mean to you? I hope to speak of what it means to the Christians - "the saints".

The Saints are the people who remain on the narrow road to salvation.

Not everyone who claims to be Christian finds that narrow road.

@Eladar

I teach that saints are those who belong to Jesus Christ because His Spirit indwells them. They are saints because of their position in Christ.

Now let's get all convinced. (smile).

what do you think of the believers in the church in Corinth in First Corinthian? I think you could say some of them were walking on the narrow way and some of them were not but being exhorted to do so. They were ALL saints. They were all positionally sanctified and set apart to be holy. They were in a holy position. Some were not only in a holy position but were living in a holy daily life. Others were not too holy in living BUT being exhorted to grow spiritually to walk worthily of those who are called saints.

Cont. below.

@sonship said
@Eladar

I teach that saints are those who belong to Jesus Christ because His Spirit indwells them. They are saints because of their position in Christ.

Now let's get all convinced. (smile).

what do you think of the believers in the church in Corinth in First Corinthian? I think you could say some of them were walking on the narrow way and som ...[text shortened]... eing exhorted to grow spiritually to walk worthily of those who are called saints.

Cont. below.

Those are the same people I described.

First Corinthians calls all the audience of believers receiving the letter saints.

"Paul, a called apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Sosthenes the brother,

To the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, the called SAINTS, with all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, who is theirs and ours." (1 Cor. 1:2)

As you should know some in this audience were behaving rather badly.
They were still saints.

There were some saints who were saved yet fleshy, immature, fleshly, and carnal. And there were other saints in Corinth who were walking in a manner worthy of their calling to be set apart for Christ.

I am a saint.
Every genuine believer in Christ is a saint.

In Ephesians saints are exhorted to continue to walk worthily of the calling to the narrow way that is befitting of saints.

"But fornication and all uncleanness or greediness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for SAINTS." (Eph. 5:3)

"I beseech you therefore, I, the prisoner in the Lord, to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called . . . " (Eph. 4:1)

@Eladar

You can see fornication is not befitting saints.
Fornication is only one representative sin among many, which are not befitting
for those who are saints to live in.

In other words after being put on a holy position objectively before God we need as Christians to go on to allow God to sanctifiy us dispositionally.

Saints who are normal are being sanctified dispositionally as well as on a set apart and holy position.

Saints who are immature are not allowing the Holy Spirit within them to sanctify them dispositionally. This like an arrested development.

Saints under going sanctification dispositionally are saints who are overcoming.

Saints who are not growing in sanctification dispositionally are in danger of being defeated saints.

It is normal that we be saints in both a holy position and are being more and more sanctified in disposition to live in a manner befitting of saints.

@sonship

No matter how you slice it, Jesus said the few find salvation. This means that few are saints.

Most people are not saints. This is all I am saying.

@Eladar


Okay.

And some dear brothers and sisters who do not think they are saints need to realize that they are. This would help them. This would furnish them with a strong foundation to grow.

Some dear brothers and sisters are under so much accusation that they feel they have no right to be called saints. This can be a false humility that stems from an overly accused conscience.

When someone is led to believe in Christ, one of the FIRST things they should understand is that they belong to Christ as sanctified people from that moment on into eternity. They can never be unborn once they are born of God.

The gift was common. Then when it was changed in position to be holy (sanctified) by the altar. On the altar the common gift was made holy by its position on the altar:

"Blind men, which is greater, the gift or the altar which sanctifies the gift? (Matt. 23:19)

The gold was even common. Then being brought to God in the temple of God it was sanctified and made holy. Its position in the temple made it holy.

"Fools and blind men, which is greater, the gold or the temple which sanctifies the gold?" (v.17)

Being in Christ we are sanctified to be made holy by that position. We are saints. Yes to go on to the kingdom of the heavens is a narrow and constricted way. There is no doubt. At the same time the number saved in the end is so one that "no one could number" rejoicing in God's salvation.

"After these things I saw, and behold, there was a great multitude which no one could number, out of every nation and all tribes and people and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb . . . And they cry with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb." (Rev. 7:9-10)

This is not meant to make us complacent but to cause us to want to tell more of this salvation and believe many will and can be saved.

The subject line made me curious, and it was interesting to see that there is some disagreement re: what is the last Greek word in the Bible. It's one of these:
panton
hagion
amen

https://biblehub.com/texts/revelation/22-21.htm
(click Greek, then Go to Parallel Greek)

@sonship said
@Eladar


Okay.

And some dear brothers and sisters who do not think they are saints need to realize that they are. This would help them. This would furnish them with a strong foundation to grow.

Some dear brothers and sisters are under so much accusation that they feel they have no right to be called saints. This can be a false humility that stems from an overly a ...[text shortened]... acent but to cause us to want to tell more of this salvation and believe many will and can be saved.

But why lend any credence to this collection of texts instead of (for instance) the novels and timelines of Olaf Stapledon or the short stories of Stanley G. Weinbaum?