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NASB | Revelation 7:9 ¶ After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Revelation 7:9 ¶ After these things I looked, and this is what I saw: a vast multitude which no one could count, [gathered] from every nation and from all the tribes and peoples and languages [of the earth], standing before the throne and before the Lamb (Christ), dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands; |
Subject: Pure joy in Heaven? |
Bible Note: Freethinker, The answer to your good question is that we who believe are bound to proclaim the Gospel and draw others to Christ. That does not mean that God is also not at work in ways known only to Himself and in ways that we may not be able to do nor even perceive Him doing. Below are two paragraphs which explain my understanding of the answer to your questions. For some other Christian where you see baptism below they might substitute profession of faith. "1257 The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation.[John 3:5] He also commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them.[Matt 28:19-20] Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament.[Mark 16:16] The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptized are "reborn of water and the Spirit." God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments. 1260 "Since Christ died for all, and since all men are in fact called to one and the same destiny, which is divine, we must hold that the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility of being made partakers, in a way known to God, of the Paschal mystery." Every man who is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of his Church, but seeks the truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it, can be saved. It may be supposed that such persons would have desired Baptism explicitly if they had known its necessity." The Catechism of the Catholic Church Emmaus |