Revelation 22:11 Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.
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Johnny Cash quotes this verse in the good old English of the Authorized Version in The Man Comes Around:
- He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
But what does it mean?
My pastor once used a couple of things to explain it, and I find them helpful. One is Romans 1. God, in his judgment, ‘gives over’ the wicked to their wicked ways that their evil deeds should multiply and condemn them all the more: ‘Let the evildoer still do evil’ and let that evil increase. Or take the words of Jesus Christ in Mark 4:25:
- For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
Think of this in terms of righteousness, love, purity, gifts, and graces.
My pastor also used the famous quote of C.S. Lewis to illustrate the point:
The doors of Hell are locked on the inside. I do not mean that the ghosts may not wish to come out of Hell, in the vague fashion wherein an envious man ‘wishes’ to be happy: but they certainly do not will even the first preliminary stages of that self-abandonment through which alone the soul can reach any good. They enjoy forever the horrible freedom they have demanded, and are therefore self-enslaved: just as the blessed, forever submitting to obedience, become through all eternity more and more free (The Problem of Pain, chapter 8).
Let the evildoer still do evil – and do so willingly. Let the filthy be filthy still – and let him get so used to his stench that he thinks it is normal. That is one aspect of the great judgment of God. He allows the wicked man to lock himself up in his wickedness.
The good news left to be stated is that Jesus Christ takes the wrath of God upon himself for such evil and filth that we might be counted as righteous and clean before God. If you have found your righteousness in him, that righteousness will abide. But if you are locked in your wickedness and filth, don’t be surprised when you stay that way. You may have been saying for years, ‘I can change when I want to, just give me time.’ This verse calls you to reconsider, and reconsider now.
Thank you, thank you, and thank you again, for an insightful and ‘timely’ verse that’s being “lived out”, more and more “everyday”. May your ministry continue to flourish, as you walk in His Will and Way, by continuing on and with deliverance through the Word.