Revelation 22:8-12

8 And I, John, am he who heard and witnessed these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell prostrate before the feet of the messenger (angel) who showed them to me, to worship him. 

9 But he said to me, Refrain! [You must not do that!] I am [only] a fellow servant along with yourself and with your brethren the prophets and with those who are mindful of and practice [the truths contained in] the messages of this book. Worship God! 

Once again, no bowing to anyone but our Father and our Lord. We are repeatedly shown that we are not to bow to any person!

10 And he [further] told me, Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book and make no secret of them, for the time when things are brought to a crisis and the period of their fulfillment is near. 

Again we are shown to not shy away from the Book of Revelation. Jesus will lead us to go and share it, to read it aloud, and to study it. There is a wonderful blessing in doing so and Jesus will make sure that we do openly share His revelation!

11 He who is unrighteous (unjust, wicked), let him be unrighteous still; and he who is filthy (vile, impure), let him be filthy still; and he who is righteous (just, upright, in right standing with God), let him do right still; and he who is holy, let him be holy still.

We are told that our Father is in total control. If we are called and chosen, He will cause us to be righteous and holy. If we are not chosen, we can never be holy, regardless of what we do. Our Father holds all of the power. We are only born again by His will, John 1:13. 

12 Behold, I am coming soon, and I shall bring My wages and rewards with Me, to repay and render to each one just what his own actions and his own work merit. 

Thank God the saved are now dead in Christ and our works are now Jesus’ works through us, and Jesus merits a great reward! Jesus is the Author and the Finisher of our faith and we can do nothing without Him. Jesus does the works through us and we receive the rewards. 

Now there are many people who will use this verse to tell us that we must fear and work our little tails off or we are doomed. The first thing to remember is that our righteousness is as filthy rags, Isaiah 64:6. Jesus said that there was nothing good in Him and only that the Father was good, Mark 10:18. And our Father tells us that He made all of us to be disobedient, so that He may have mercy on all of us alike.

For God has consigned (penned up) all men to disobedience, only that He may have mercy on them all [alike]. Romans 11:32

Our own actions and our own merits all merit grace and mercy and that is exactly what we will all receive!