A427 : by Tony Garland 
The Passage
7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. 8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. (Revelation 21:7-8)
Jesus is contrasting two different groups:
- ① "he who overcomes" (overcomers)
- vs. (the hinge: "but...")
- ② those who don't overcome (non-overcomers).
Who are the Cowardly?
Overcomers overcome by virtue of having believed in Christ (1 John 4:4; 5:4-5), the True Overcomer (John 16:33) and are therefore immune from the second death (Rev. 2:11; 20:6)—being cast into the lake of fire (Hell, Rev. 20:14; 21:8).
We overcome, not by our performance, but by our union—by faith—with Christ.
4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. 6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. (1 John 4:4-6) Overcomers are believers
4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 5:4-5)
It is the non-overcomers who are described as, 8 . . . cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. (Revelation 21:8)
Non-overcomers are unbelievers bound for the lake of fire, the second death, Hell.
If you are a believer—trusting in Christ—then you are not in the second group Jesus describes. Jesus is describing attributes of those who are not His, not clothed with His righteousness.
Additional resources on overcoming
Fear of Witnessing
All believers experience fear and trepidation when sharing their hope with others—whether preaching, teaching, or evangelizing.
We know this from personal experience (as I do now 😉), but also because two of Christ's Apostles, Paul and Peter, experienced the same.
2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:2-5)
15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear. (1 Peter 3:15)
When we feel inadequate to evangelize, we need to remember election and God's sovereignty. Salvation is a divine work—apart from which no one would be saved.
The Holy Spirit does the work, using God's Word coupled with our obedience to open our mouths to send forth God's living water (John 7:38-39). The outcome doesn't depend on our eloquence or sophistication.
Turn Fear into Compassion
The fear you expressed when wondering whether you might be among the cowardly, destined for Hell, is the fear all unbelievers should have! Unless they repent and trust Christ to be reconciled with God, they will experience the second death.
The fear you experienced concerning your potential need to perform—to measure up to God's standard—is unnecessary if you are in Christ. Instead, consider how awful that fear felt... and that the same fear is valid for those who have not heard.
This should be a big motivator to help us over our trepidation or reluctance to witness. Our relatively minor fear to witness is minuscule in comparison with the terror the unbeliever will experience standing before the Great White Throne in judgement!
11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. (Revelation 20:11-12)
We all need to ask God to increase our compassion for the lost—to minimize the number of people who will experience the terrifying scene described above—and the second death to follow! Assurance
If you remain unsure whether you are truly "in Christ," or unsure about the permanence of salvation, consider listening to the series of lectures by Paul Henebury on the Assurance of Salvationc.
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