The End of Self—and the Beginning of Life

My Authorization: Why You Should (and Shouldn’t) Listen to Me

"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us," (Ephesians 3:20) 

I am not a qualified man—I am a rescued man.

“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.” (1 Timothy 1:15)

If you want polish, I have none. If you want pedigree, I cannot offer it. What I can offer is confession and Christ. 

I have learned to hate my flesh (Romans 7:18) and the world’s system that opposes God (1 John 2:15–17; James 4:4). But I love Jesus Christ—the Father’s beloved Son—and the people He loves: my wife, my family, my neighbors in St. George, and you.

“We do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.” (2 Corinthians 4:5)

My only credential is this: Jesus found me, forgave me, and is remaking me in His image. (Colossians 3:10; Ephesians 4:24)

(FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE AND FUTURE STUDY, ALL SCRIPTURES ARE PROVIDED AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST)

What You Can Expect From Me(Promises Before God)

Scripture First. I will anchor every claim in the Word of God. “To the law and to the testimony!” (Isaiah 8:20) Be a Berean and test me (Acts 17:11).

Christ Alone, Grace Alone. “By grace you have been saved through faith… not as a result of works.” (Ephesians 2:8–9) I do not offer a system; I point to a Savior.’

Weakness, Not Performance. I will boast only in the cross (Galatians 6:14). If anything looks strong, it is His power in my weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9–10).

Repentance and Obedience. I will keep repenting and learning to deny self, take up the cross, and follow Jesus (Luke 9:23). This message confronts me first.

Love, Not Contempt. I hate the world’s rebellion, not people (John 3:16–17). I will speak truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), especially to the lukewarm (Revelation 3:19).

Transparency and Correction. If I err, show me from Scripture. “Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others pass judgment.” (1 Corinthians 14:29)

Why I’m Writing (and Why Now)

Because Jesus is knocking (Revelation 3:20). Because lukewarm religion is fatal (Revelation 3:16). Because Romans 5declares that grace super-abounds, and Revelation 20 promises we reign with Christ. Because Ephesians 3:20 says God can do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think—in you.

I am ready, by grace, to lay down my life—my reputation, my preferences, my “self”—that His life might be seen (Romans 6:3–5; Galatians 2:20). If there is any reason to read what follows, it is this: I want nothing from you but that you gain Christ.

“For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” (1 Corinthians 2:2)

This is a Rescue Mission

If you feel the weight of these words, it is because the risen Christ is knocking. He said, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot… because you are lukewarm… I will spit you out of My mouth” (Revelation 3:15–16, NASB95). And yet, in the very next breath:

“Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock” (Revelation 3:19–20). Love is at the door. Not a program. Not a brand of Christianity. A Person.

This introduction is for every man, woman, and child—and especially for those who have settled into Christian speech without Christ’s life, church activity without holy fire, knowledge without obedience, comfort without the cross.

Jude speaks of “snatching them out of the fire” (Jude 23). That is our aim: to pull you—beloved—out of the suffocating gray of lukewarmness into the blazing fellowship of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Here is the treasure: God made us for Himself, in His image, to share His own life. From the first page of Scripture we hear, “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness’” (Genesis 1:26).

One God—Father, Son, and Spirit—speaks in perfect unity and fellowship. The gospel is nothing less than God restoring image-bearers to that fellowship, in Christ, by the Spirit. This is not a spiritual upgrade to the old life; it is the end of the old life.

The rot of lukewarmness is not merely “doing too little for God.” It is deeper. It is self as source—the quiet independence that says, “I’ve got this,” even while singing hymns. Scripture unmasks it: “Each of us has turned to his own way”(Isaiah 53:6).

Jesus calls us out of that false center: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23). The cross does not decorate self; it ends self. And on the far side of that ending is life.

This is the “exceedingly, abundantly” of God. “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us” (Ephesians 3:20). What power? The life of the risen Christ, given by the Spirit, now at work in those united to Him.

Paul testifies, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). This is not poetry; it is possession. Not a metaphor; a new creation.

Lukewarm Christianity says, “Try harder.” The gospel says, “Die—and live.” “All of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death… so that, as Christ was raised from the dead… so we too might walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:3–4). This is the transfer of realms: “Those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:17). Reign—not coast. Life—not lukewarm survival.

And the horizon ahead? Not vague comfort, but glory. “We will all be changed… this mortal must put on immortality.” (1 Corinthians 15:51–53). “We… will be caught up… to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). “They… came to life and reigned with Christ” (Revelation 20:4). Why chase lesser fires when the Holy One offers Himself?

Beloved, hear His counsel to Laodicea as if addressed to you by name: “Because you say, ‘I am rich… and have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire… and white garments… and eye salve… Be zealous and repent.” (Revelation 3:17–19). Christ does not shame to crush; He loves to cleanse. He reproves to restore. He knocks to dine (Revelation 3:20). The banquet is Himself.

So this teaching will do one thing relentlessly: end the pursuit of all earthly substitutes by unveiling the Triune treasure. We will trace the great arc—Creation → Fall → Redemption → Consummation—through one piercing lens: Image vs. Self.

You were not made to manage your own spark; you were made to mirror His light. You were not saved to balance Jesus with your plans; you were united to Jesus to lose your life and find it in Him (cf. Matthew 16:24–25).

Come, then. Bring your routine Christianity, your bored heart, your respectable sins, your weary compromises. Bring your “I’m fine.” Lay them at the feet of the Savior who says, “Not My will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42)—and who now lives His obedience in you by the Spirit.

Open the door. Buy the gold. Put on the white garment. Receive the eye salve. Be zealous and repent. And watch the Lord do “far more abundantly” than you imagined—ending self, and beginning Life.

“Let Us Make Man in Our Image”

The End of Self and the Gift of God’s Life

The Father’s ONE Big Idea

God’s eternal purpose is to share His own life with image-bearers in the Son, by the Spirit, to the praise of the glory of His grace.

The gospel isn’t merely “help for me”; it is the Triune God restoring His image-people into His fellowship—now by new birth and finally in glory. (Ephesians 3:20 resonates across this whole arc.)

ONE: God Acting Inseparably—Father, Son, and Spirit

Key Texts (quoted):

Genesis 1:26–27 “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

Genesis 1:2 “The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.”

John 1:1–3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.”

Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!”

Plural counsel (“Let Us…Our image”) + singular act (“God created…His image”) = one God, three Persons, inseparable in will and work.

Humanity’s design: royal vocation (“let them rule”) and relational reflection of God’s holiness and love (see Psalm 8:4–6).

We were made to image Triune communion—not autonomous “self.”

Psalm 8:4–6 “What is man that You think of him, And a son of man that You are concerned about him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! You have him rule over the works of Your hands; You have put everything under his feet.”

THE Fall: SIN as “SELF as Source”—Autonomy From God

Key Texts (quoted):

Romans 1:22–25 “Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible mankind, of birds, four-footed animals, and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them up to vile impurity in the lusts of their hearts, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for falsehood, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”

Isaiah 53:6 “All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”

James 1:14–15 “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”

The essence of the Fall is independence—acting from self apart from God’s word and life.

“Flesh” is not mere materiality; it is self-reliance opposed to God. Death flows from “self as source.”

Redemption: The Son’s “NO SELF” Obedience; Union with Christ by The Holy Spirit

Key Texts (quoted):

John 5:19 “‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in the same way.’”

John 14:10–11 “‘Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own, but the Father, as He remains in Me, does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.’”

John 15:26 “‘When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me.’”

Romans 6:3–5 “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection.”

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

Colossians 2:9–10 “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority.”

Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”

2 Peter 1:3–4 “[His] divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”

Jesus lives from the Father and in the Spirit—true humanity without autonomous self.

In union with Christ, the Spirit applies His death to our “self” and His life to our hearts.

Redemption restores the image-life—righteousness, holiness, and sonship.

Consummation: From Death to God’s Life—Glorification and Reigning with Christ

Key Texts (quoted):

Romans 8:29 “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.”

1 Corinthians 15:45, 49, 51–53 “‘The first man, Adam, became a living soul.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” (v.45) … “Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.” (v.49) … “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.” (vv.51–53)

1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”

Revelation 20:4–6 “…those who had not worshiped the beast or his image… came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years… Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection… they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.”

Our hope is God Himself—seeing and sharing the Son’s glory forever.

Glorification is the end of self and the fullness of God’s life in us—complete conformity to Christ.

Image vs. Self: Walking Now in THE Renewal of HIS Image

Key Texts (quoted):

Ephesians 4:24 “…put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”

Colossians 3:10 “…have put on the new self, which is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created [him].”

HIS Pastoral Call to Us All

End the chase for lesser things. Believe the gospel; present yourself to God; and, by the Spirit, die to all forms of self as you abide in Christ. This is the happiest freedom—the praise of the glory of His grace (Eph 1).

“Image vs. Self” Across the Whole Story

- Movement

- God’s Work (Triune Action)

- The Human Condition

- The Call / Response

Creation

Father creates through the Son, by the Spirit; one God acting inseparably

Made in His image for relational communion and royal vocation

Gen 1:26–27; Gen 1:2; John 1:1–3; Deut 6:4; Ps 8:4–6

Receive life as gift; rule underGod

Fall

God hands over rebels to their chosen autonomy

Self as source; exchange glory for idols; death

Rom 1:22–25; Isa 53:6; Jas 1:14–15

Repent of self-rule; confess truth

Redemption

The Son obeys the Father in the Spirit; cross & resurrection; Spirit given

United to Christ: crucified with Him; raised to newness of life

John 5:19; 14:10–11; 15:26; Rom 6:3–5; Gal 2:20; Col 2:9–10; Eph 1:3; 2 Pet 1:3–4

Believe, be baptized, abide; walk by the Spirit

Consummation

The Son returns; resurrection, transformation, reigning

Image perfected; end of self; everlasting life with Christ Rom 8:29; 1 Cor 15:45,49,51–53; 1 Th 4:16–17; Rev 20:4–6

Hope fully; endure; worship; be ready.

Romans 5 Explains Revelation 20

Because of Adam, death reigned; much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ (Rom 5). And those who refuse the beast and his image “came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years…

Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection” (Rev 20:4–6).

The good news isn’t a boost to our old life; it is the end of self and the gift of God’s own life, now and forever. Why want anything less than the fullness of Christ?

“Put On the New Self” — A Practicum

Daily Renunciations: “Not my will, but Yours” (echo John 5:19; 14:10–11).

Baptismal Identity: Reckon yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus (Rom 6).

Abide & Obey: Remain where the Helper keeps you in Christ (John 15:26; 15:1–5).

Hope All the Way: Fix hope on the resurrection/rapture and reign of Christ (1 Th 4; Rev 20).

Closing Prayer

Father, You made us in Your image to share in Your life. Lord Jesus, You refused every independent self and obeyed the Father in the Spirit; You died and rose that we might reign in life through You. Holy Spirit, apply Christ’s cross to my self and His life to my heart. Bury me with Christ; raise me IN CHRIST to the newness of HIS LIFE. Conform me to the image of the Son—until the day You redeem my body IN GLORY. All to the praise of the glory of Your Grace. In Jesus Name we Pray! Amen.

Here are the Scriptures promised above.

Genesis

Genesis 1:26–27 “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Genesis 1:2 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!

Psalms

Psalm 8:4–6 What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,

Isaiah

Isaiah 53:6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.

Isaiah 8:20 (cited in your “Promises” section) To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.

Matthew

Matthew 16:24–25 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”

Luke

Luke 9:23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”

Luke 22:42 saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”

John

John 1:1–3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

John 5:19 Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.”

John 14:10–11 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.

John 15:1–5 (appeared implicitly in the “abide” call; included here for completeness) “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

John 15:26 “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me.”

Acts

Acts 17:11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

Romans

Romans 1:22–25 Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

Romans 5:17 For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

Romans 6:3–5 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,

Romans 6:4 (single-verse pull frequently used) Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

Romans 7:18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.

Romans 8:29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;

1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 2:2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.

1 Corinthians 14:29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others pass judgment.

1 Corinthians 15:45, 49, 51–53 So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. (v.45) Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly. (v.49) Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. (vv.51–53)

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 4:5 For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.

2 Corinthians 12:9–10 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Galatians

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Galatians 6:14 But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Ephesians

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

Ephesians 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace

Ephesians 2:8–9 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Ephesians 3:20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,

Ephesians 4:15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,

Ephesians 4:24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

Colossians

Colossians 2:9–10 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;

Colossians 3:10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—

1 Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

1 Timothy

1 Timothy 1:15 It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.

Titus

Titus 3:5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,

James

James 1:14–15 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

James 4:4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

James 2:14–18 (referenced in comments about works as fruit; included for context) What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

1 John

1 John 2:15–17 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

2 Peter

2 Peter 1:3–4 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

Jude

Jude 22–23 And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.

Revelation

Revelation 3:15–16 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.

Revelation 3:17–20 Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

Revelation 20:4–6 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.