A Reader Responds on Resurrectional Responsibility

Dear Bro. Don,

Greetings in Jesus’ name.

In Bro. Farrar’s response, he states that we all agree, “That God has the power and prerogative to raise from the dead and judge any man in whatsoever time, place and manner that He alone may determine.” Then, in the rest of the presentation, he proceeds to show that (in his mind) there is no scripture to indicate that God will raise anyone who is not in covenant relation with Him. There is a dangerous subtlety in this teaching. God has stated in Isaiah 42 :9 , and other places, that He tells His servants what He intends to do before He does it: “Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.” If He has not told us that the enlightened rejecter of His word will be raised to resurrectional judgment, then He is bound by His own word not do do it. According to this premise, Bro. Farrar’s teaching is reduced to the extreme position that God cannot raise unbaptized people.

Not in this life

Since most of us agree that enlightened rejecters will be punished by God at some time and in some way, when and where will this be done if not at the return of Jesus to the earth? They are not consistently punished in this life. Both Psalms 37 and 73 in their entirety make this point.

Old Testament evidence

Our brother claims there is no Old Testament proof for what the majority of Christadelphians are convinced is a first principle of our faith.

The only Old Testament passage raised by Bro. Farrar was Proverbs 21:16 which was sadly misinterpreted. The verse reads: “The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.” The way of understanding is something entered into as a person gains knowledge of God’ sword. The man or woman who wanders out of that way is one who has never reached or entered it. If those who enter the way of understanding and are disobedient are to remain in the congregation of the dead, then that means unworthy baptized people will not be raised. This, of course, is not the case because that is not the correct under­standing of the verse.

The same truth is stated in Psalm 49:20: “Man that is in honor, and un­derstandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.”

New Testament emphasis

With regard to New Testament emphasis on those who have been baptized — certainly this is what one would expect. How does this exclude the raising of enlightened rejecters of God’s word? In I Corinthians 15 there is such an emphasis on the raising of the dead to life eternal that the judgment seat of Christ is not even mentioned. Does that mean that there is no judgment seat?

In Christ

One of the reasons that some Christadelphians do not understand the subject of resurrectional responsibility is the incorrect usage of the term “in Christ.”

We are baptized into the name of Jesus Christ, but this does not automatically keep a person “in Christ” for the rest of his life. Consider I Corinthians 15:22: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” The proper understanding of this verse is that one who, on a daily basis, walks after the things of the spirit of God is “in

Christ.” Through mercy and grace our sins are forgiven, if we approach our Heavenly Father through the prescribed way, and we remain “in Christ.” Such a person will then be made alive (i.e. given immortality) when Christ returns. Surely not all the baptized will be given eternal life.

Romans 8:1 is another case in point. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” (The rest of the verse is omitted in most translations, ed.) With the improper interpretation of “in Christ,” we would read this verse as teaching that no bap­tized person will be condemned. Again, this is incorrect. The proper under­standing is the same as in I Corinthians 15:22. We are “in Christ” if we, on a daily basis, “Walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Rom. 8:4).

Philippians 3:8-9 is one of the best references available on this subject: ‘Tea doubtless, and/count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him.” Paul certainly is not talking about baptism. He had been baptized many years before he wrote this letter. He did hope, however, that his life would be found acceptable to God and that he would remain as one who lived on a daily basis according to the things of the spirit.

Wrong doctrine hurts accurate reading

So often when a person commits to an incorrect doctrine, they force all scripture into the mold of what is already believed. This is evidently the case with John 12:47-48: “And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”

Jesus is saying that, in his first advent, he came to present the words of life and to save the world, not to judge the world. When he comes a second time, however, in the last day, he will come to judge the world. The basis of that judgment will be the words that he spoke the first time he came. He that rejected him and his words will be judged at the last day when he comes again.

Some might say the passage is not specific enough to refer to the judgment seat of Christ. Yet most of us clearly recognize the last day to be when Christ returns. Only those trying to present an unacceptable view of what was said pass this off as the last days of national Israel. The context just does not fit the events of A.D. 70.

In some of the remaining verses quoted, it is hard to see how trying to make them apply to a universal resurrection, which none of us believes, serves any useful purpose. It is just an attempt to discredit rather plain scripture that logically has the meaning placed upon it by the Amended Fellowship. Such an approach tears down rather than builds up one’s understanding of scripture.

Two passages from Peter

I Peter 4:17-18 and II Peter 2:20–22 are two straightforward passages on the subject of resurrectional responsibility.

The first passage has the following elements:

1. The judgment.
2. The household of faith.
3. Those who did not obey the gospel call to repent and be baptized.
4. The ungodly, or those not part of the household.
5. The sinners, or those in covenant relation who did not obey the commandments of God.

“For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?”

In the second passage, the context centers around knowledge of God’s word. This passage has the following elements:

1. The holy commandment to repent and be baptized.
2. The dogs, or those who were not baptized.
3. The sows, or those who were washed (baptized) but have returned to the filth of the world.

“For if after they have escaped the pollution’s of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.”

All the elements of the subject of resurrectional responsibility are there. All are easy to understand. One might say Peter wrote his epistles only to Jews. If that is a valid reason for not applying the verses to ourselves, then we should disregard the epistle to the Hebrews, the epistle of James and perhaps some others. One might say that the judgment seat of Christ is not specified in these verses. But the point is clear that knowledge makes the difference in degree of punishment to sinners and that difference is not realized in this life. A future judgment must be in mind for the verses to make sense.

Yours in the one hope we share,
Paul M. Wade, Houston, TX