Revelation 3:11: Reward of Inheritance and Forsake Lying Vanities

 

Revelation 3:1

“And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.”

King James Version (KJV)

Romans 7:25

“I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”

King James Version (KJV)

There exists profound tension between Revelation 3:11 and Romans 7:25.

On one hand, Christ commands us: “Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown” (Revelation 3:11 KJV). 

On the other hand, the believer experiences the constant internal war described in Romans 7:25: “So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”

We are called to strive and hold fast, yet we daily battle the flesh. If we read Romans 7 carefully and see the culmination, it is clear Paul describes a duality the nature of sin and a renewed mind Romans 12:2 and New Creature 2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV

My two blogs together display this tension. Reward of Inheritance shows the real call to striving and mastery. Forsake Lying Vanities shows that this striving is only possible through the sufficiency of Jesus Christ.

My first blog, “Reward of Inheritance” 

(https://www.thethirdheaventraveler.com/2025/02/the-reward-of-inheritance-in-striving.html), 

This study shows the reward and the impossible striving without the truth in my second blog, 

“Forsake Lying Vanities” (https://www.thethirdheaventraveler.com/2026/06/forsake-lying-vanities-trade-your.html).

My first blog stresses the Incorruptible Crown (1 Corinthians 9:25). It highlights post-salvation striving, self-discipline, and mastery over the flesh. It links this to Romans 7’s war between the renewed mind and the flesh. 

Among the five crowns in my first blog, the Incorruptible Crown demands faithful effort. This of course is applied directly to the Philadelphia church: “Hold fast... that no man take thy crown” (Revelation 3:11). 

My view highlights personal discipline. Poole and Gill emphasize not forfeiting promised honor which I discuss below.

The Comparison Applied to Forsake Lying Vanities + Romans 7:25

My second blog shifts the focus. It calls believers to forsake lying vanities—fearful self-estimations and self-reliance.

It urges us to trade talents boldly in Christ’s power. It rejects feeble faith, works, or patience. Instead, it stresses the Faith of Jesus Christ, the Work of Jesus Christ, and the Patience of Jesus Christ.

It grounds everything in grace and our identity in Him. True service flows from knowing we are Christ’s. This resolves tension in the first blog.

Where the first stresses striving for the crown, the second grounds it in Christ’s sufficiency. Philippians 2:12-13 shows the synergy: we work out our salvation with fear and trembling because God works in us. This fits Gill and Poole’s view of the crown as honor sustained by grace. My two blogs together balance responsibility and rest.

NOTES:

Romans 7:25 declares: “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”

I fully agree with both Gill and Poole who see this as the present experience of a regenerate believer. Obviously it is Paul and we know we who are new creatures in Christ share the same.

Paul thanks God through Christ for deliverance. He then describes the ongoing war inside one person. The “mind” means the renewed inward man. This new nature delights in God’s holy law and serves it. The “flesh” means the remaining carnal nature. This old nature still pulls toward sin.

My blog stays closer to the clear teaching of the Pauline epistles, while Gill and Poole rely heavily on Old Testament prophetic language.Gill explicitly interprets “thy crown” in Revelation 3:11 as “her honour for her faith and faithfulness… or the glorious things which were spoken of this church state, and to be accomplished in it, Psalms 87:3; see Isaiah 60:1.”

• Psalm 87:3 (KJV): “Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah.”

• Isaiah 60:1, 19-21 (KJV excerpts): “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee… The sun shall be no more thy light by day… but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light… Thy people also shall be all righteous… the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.”

These passages describe future corporate glory for Zion/God’s people; i.e. TRUE ISRAEL = The Church, The Tribulation Saints, The Jewish Remnant, and of course the Old Testament Saints.

Important Observation: In the Psalms, David often speaks of his crown as secure and God-protected.

However, the idea that a true believer’s crown (the incorruptible crown) could be taken away does not easily align with the Davidic pattern of an enduring crown.

Paul’s teaching in the epistles presents crowns as rewards that can be lost through unfaithfulness (1 Corinthians 9:27), while never endangering eternal salvation. This matches the emphasis in my first blog, Reward of Inheritance, more directly.

However, as my second blog Forsake Lying Vanities teaches, I ultimately see my work aligning with Poole and Gill — although I arrive at it through a different path. My two blogs together balance the Pauline call to strive with the grace and identity that make such striving possible. In the end, both approaches point to the same beautiful truth: we must hold fast, yet we do so only because Christ lives in us and completes the work He began.

Overall Paradox Summary

My two blogs together perfectly display the paradox of Revelation 3:11. Reward of Inheritance calls for striving and mastery over the flesh which means to  Forsake Lying Vanities grounded in our BELIEF in the efficacy and sufficiency of Jesus Christ and His FAITH, His WORK, and His PATIENCE working in us both to will and to do his good pleasure  Philippians 2:12,13 KJV.  Knowing that by faith the work that he began is us will be accomplished  Philippians 1:6 KJV.