“There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust” (Acts 24 15) The purpose of the resurrection is to reward or punish individuals for their conduct (2nd Corinthians 5 10) There are those who will not be resurrected because God has no further use for them, either to reward or to punish They will remain in the grave because they are not amenable to the judgment seat of Christ Who are they, and why are they not responsible to the judgment seat of Christ? To answer this, it is best to divide mankind into classes or groups All in all, there are four classes or groups of individuals, and every person can be placed in one of these categories.
First There are those who are unenlightened in God s plans and purposes as they are revealed in the Gospel.
Second There are those who are enlightened, but refuse to submit to the command of the Gospel to repent and be baptized.
Third There are those who have submitted to the call to repent and be baptized, but who afterwards become unworthy of the name of Christ.
Fourth There are those who are baptized and walk uprightly in the Gospel.
The first class are those who will not be resurrected They will remain in the congregation of the dead because they wandered out of the way of understanding, or never came to an understanding of the plans and purposes of God (Proverbs 21 16) Those who do not understand the will of the Lord are said to be as the beasts that perish (Psalms 49 12, 19, 20) Lack of understanding, or enlightment, will prevent the first class from being resurrected.
As for the third and fourth classes, there can be no question of their resurrection Both classes will come forth at the resurrection to be judged Their destinies will be opposite The third class (the rejected) will be consigned to everlasting destruction (Matthew 25 46), while the fourth class will inherit everlasting life. But what of the second class, the enlightened rejector? It is this class that has occasioned so much controversy, and around which so many conflicting views have centered Where do they belong? With those who did not understand and consequently will remain in the grave? Or with those who do understand and have come into covenant relationship with God through baptism? What are the grounds of responsibility to the resurrection and judgment? Is it coming into covenant relationship with God at baptism, or is it becoming enlightened in the Gospel Baptism, or understanding, which is it When does one become responsible to the resurrection and judgment ‘
Christ commanded His apostles to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved (at the resurrection and judgment), but he that beliveth not shall be condemned” (Mark 16 15, 16) When? If it is at the resurrection and judgement that one is to be saved in the complete sense, then to be consistent, one must admit that it will be at the judgment seat that one is to be condemned in the full and final sense And since his doom is certain, he may be said to be condemned already He needs only to await the sentence to be passed upon him How else could it be?
There must have been some in the days of Paul who, having heard the Gospel preached, and having understood it, yet refused to obey its command and be baptized It would seem strange if Paul never referred to this class It seems certain that Paul does refer to the enlightened rejector in his letter to the Romans. In the first sixteen verses of the second chapter Paul treats of the destinies of three of the four classes of people.
In verse 4, Paul, addressing an imaginary opponent who understands the Gospel, but refuses to submit to it, asks ‘Or despisest thou the richness of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?” We note well the consequent results. “But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the Day Of Wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds” (verse 5, 6). The day of “wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” must be that day mentioned in verse 16: “In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ.
. .” Paul mentions in verses 8-11: “Unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth (we speak of those who submit to baptism as obeying the truth), but obey unrighteousness, (there will be) indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honor, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God.” Those who obey not the truth (verse 8) will receive their punishment at the time the righteous receive their reward (verses 7 and 10). God uses the same principle in His dealings with Jews and Gentiles.
Summing up the argument in verses 12 and 16 Paul states: “For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law; and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; . . . In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.” Verses 13, 14 and 15 are parenthetical, so verse 16 belongs with verse 12. It tells when those who sin without law shall perish, and when those who sin in the law shall be judged. Who are those who sin without law? It could not be those of the first class, because the first class does not rise to judgment, and those who sin without law perish without law in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus.
They could not be those of the fourth class, for they do not perish. Those of the third class are referred to as ones who have sinned in the law and who shall be judged by the law. They must then be those of the second class (the enlightened rejectors). What is meant by “sinned without law”? Some might suppose that the Mosaic law is referred to here, but since this is stated in reference to “as many as” (whether Jews or Gentiles), this could hardly be the case. Verse 12 has reference to either Jew or Gentile, and then again Paul is writing about those during the time when the Gospel was being preached, not about those of the Mosaic period in time past.
Paul uses the expression “without” in other writings (1st Corinthians 5:12, 13; 1st Thessalonians 4:12; 1st Timothy 3:7; Colossians 4:5) to mean those on the outside, or the unbaptized, sometimes referred to by us as the “outsiders.” It could not refer to the class of men without understanding, nor can it mean the baptized ones, for they are in the law (or under the law) of Christ. It must refer to those enlightened ones who do not submit to the law of Christ. Those “in the law” would be those who come into covenant relationship with God and Christ. Those “without law” are the unbaptized. If not, then who are they? Who else could they be? Those who have sinned without law will “perish.” This means they are doomed. There will be no possibility of their acceptance in that day, the day of Christ. Those who have sinned in the law (or under the law of Christ) will be judged by the law. Their past conduct will be examined relative to the law of Christ, and they will receive punishment as the law prescribes. No examination will be necessary for those who never made the first step.
But is this a part of the Gospel teaching, or is it incidental? Is understanding, or enlightenment, a principle upon which God deals with men in determining their responsibility to the resurrection and judgment seat of Christ, or would it be an arbitrary act if God raised an enlightened rejector to judgment? We note that Paul ends verse 16 with the words: “According To My Gospel“. In this, does he not make it a part of the Gospel teaching How can it be denied? There are those who continue to contend that It is not an element of the Gospel But in Mark 16 15, 16 Christ makes it a part of the Gospel, and Paul, in Romans 2 1 16 declares it to be according to his Gospel How then can we declare it to be otherwise?
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One