Revelation Chapter Two, Holding Fast

Revelation 2:25 “But hold fast what you have till I come.

To properly exegete this verse, we must move a little further ahead, quoting Revelation 3:11. “Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.” Further context helps us understand what is being said by our Lord when He warns the church of Thyatira to hold fast.

What does it mean to hold fast to what we have until the Lord comes? I will begin in the negative, and state that it does not mean salvation. We do not hold fast to our salvation, because salvation is not a crown or reward, it is a gift of God’s grace. It is not given through merit or effort, it is given freely to everyone and anyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. We who believe pass from death into life, are born again, and are transplanted from Satan’s kingdom into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. We do not need to hold onto our eternal salvation, because there is another that does this for us. “For I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day,” 2 Timothy 1:12, see also 1 Peter 4:19. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time,” 1 Peter 1:3-5.

Salvation is not about human effort; it is entirely about God’s grace. If there is any sect of Christianity that teaches otherwise, they fall under Paul’s indictment of preaching another gospel and therefore also fall under the judgment of God concerning the perversion of the gospel, Galatians 1:6-9.

So, what are we to hold fast to? Paul, when explaining to the Corinthian church about rewards (1 Corinthians 9:17, 18) explains to them, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate (exercises self-control) in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown,” 1 Corinthians 9:24, 25. We know with certainty that salvation is not a competitive contest, with some hopefuls being eliminated by more aggressive competitors. No, these are crowns, or rewards for faithful stewardship. These are the same crowns the elders before God’s throne cast before Him, Revelation 4:10. 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 details how believers receive (or forfeit) reward at the judgment seat. Paul embellishes on this subject in the next epistle, adding, “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad,” 2 Corinthians 5:9, 10.

The fact that Paul includes himself in this group twice indicates that this is not referring to unbelievers in either instance. He competes with other believers for a crown he does not want to be disqualified from receiving, 1 Corinthians 9:27. He also will stand before the judgment seat of Christ beside every other saint. This is not to be confused with the Great White Throne judgment that comes when time is consumed by eternity and the new heavens and earth are created. The dead stand before the Great White Throne and are judged not by their names being in the Book of Life, but from their deeds found in the books, Revelation 20:12. The spiritually dead are judged at this point; believers have a different judgment, and this involves the acquisition or loss of reward when at last we enter into the Lord’s presence. Just as the unsaved will receive lesser or greater sentences based upon their choices in life tempered by their awareness, we believers will be judged by our actions in accordance with the true motivation behind our choices.

Every saint is gifted for ministry, 1 Corinthians 12:7. Gifts differ, but the purpose is clear: we are to utilize them for the benefit of other believers and the unsaved. As is written in Scripture, “These things are good and profitable to men,” Titus 3:8. When we understand where we fit in within the body, we are to exercise our gift liberally for the benefit of all. We do not do it to grandstand, self-serve, receive compensation, etc. We do it because selfless love is the backbone of the church and the principle of Jesus Christ our Lord. He loved us and laid down His life for us, so we should love the brethren in a similar manner, 1 John 3:16, 17.