For many decades Christadelphians in the Amended Fellowship have treated the subject of resurrectional responsibility as a first principle of the One faith. The amendment to clause 24 of the BASF which reads, (“namely those who know the revealed will of God, and have been called upon to submit to it”), was added to clarify that which had always been assumed and to combat current erroneous teachings. In the Christadelphian Magazine, August, 1894, page 302, it is stated: “If the question of the fate of the enlightened rejector of the Truth had not been allowed to ‘remain where it was for thirty years’, it is because a public denial has been made of what has for 30 years been accepted as Part And Parcel of the Professed System of Truth on the question of what constitutes the ground of human responsibility to God. Such a question is naturally an Integral Portion of the Truth. We have for 40 years been believing and preaching that the light of knowledge is the ground on which God holds man accountable In the Great Day of Judgment.”
It is clear that belief in understanding being the basis of resurrectional responsibility to the judgment seat of Christ was always understood as included in Clause 24 before the amendment. Only when this truth was questioned, did the brethren feel the necessity to add the clarifying amendment.
What Is a First Principle Teaching?
What is a valid test for determining the first principle status of any teaching of the Scriptures? Most would agree that there are two reasons which indicate a first principle, either of which qualifies. The first being that it is plainly taught in the Bible in many places and has never been rescinded or cancelled. By rescinded I mean such teachings as physical circumcision, sabbath keeping, animal sacrificing, etc., all of which have been abrogated. The second qualifying factor is that, because of its very nature, it is extremely important, being an integral part of the gospel message, the omission of which will endanger one’s salvation. The first of these reasons has been dealt with in the last issue of The Tidings (“The Basis of Accountability to God). Let us now look at the importance of light being the ground for resurrectional judgment.
The Cost of Our Salvation
In God’s plan of redemption was involved the death of His beloved Son. It was due to His great love for mankind that “He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him (should) have everlasting life.” It is apparent that the purpose of God in bringing salvation to certain members of Adam’s race cost Him something. As Paul declared in Rom. 8:32, “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” The apostle’s emphasis is if God went so far as to give his Son for us, then He will surely supply all that is necessary to bring us to salvation. Just as Abraham was willing to give his only begotten son, was God willing, and indeed did give His Son to secure our redemption. It will help us to realize this more fully by remembering that Isaac was to Abraham what Jesus was to God.
The Gospel Message—A Command
The word which has begotten us to a lively hope has been systematized in the gospel. This gospel is set forth in both the Old and New Testaments in the form of an invitation; i.e. “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30: see also Isa. 55:1-3) However, once the gospel is understood, it ceases to be an invitation only — it now becomes a command as well. Once, men and women understand the gospel, they are left without excuse not to respond. This is illustrated in the experience of Peter when he visited the house of Cornelius (Acts 10). The apostle preached the “word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ” (V36). While Peter continued to speak the “Holy Spirit fell on all them which heard the word.” Once the apostle fully realized that God had indeed opened the door of repentance to the Gentiles, evidenced by the speaking in tongues, “he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord” (V38). It will be noted that Peter did not merely invite or suggest to them that they should be immersed. He Commanded them, because they obviously understood the gospel message and thus, were left with no alternative. Disobedience to the divine mandate would ultimately be the basis of their condemnation.
Paul’s words to the Athenians is another illustration of the importance of heeding the gospel. After preaching to them the “unknown” God whom they ignorantly worshiped, He declared, “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he bath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead” (Acts 17:30, 31).
God’s Word Exhalted
To refuse the gospel invitation when understood is tantamount to casting God’s word behind one’s back (Psalm 50:16, 17). This is the most serious affront one can make to God’s mercy. It is an abomination to the LORD. But, why is this true? Why does God condemn the knowing rejection of His word as a sin of the greatest magnitude? The answer is found in Psalm 138 where Yahweh reveals the importance of His word: “I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name” (V2). An alternate rendering of the last of this verse is, “for you have exalted above all your name and your word” (NIV.) In either rendering, the importance of His word is inescapable. Here is the reason: God has magnified His word above all the attributes of His Name. What are these attributes? They are found in Exodus 34. Moses had requested that God shew him His glory, to which the Eternal Spirit replied, “I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy” Ex. 33:18, 19). On the mountain the next day, God descended in the cloud and proclaimed to Moses the name of the LORD; Yahweh, Yahweh, EL merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth . . .” (Ex. 34:6, 7). Here the Name of Deity is defined in terms of moral goodness and righteousness. He is “abundant in goodness and truth.” Jesus declared, “Thy word is truth” (Jo. 17:7). Jesus himself, the Word made flesh declared himself to be “the way, the truth and the life.” We must recognize that when Yahweh declares the exaltation of His Word above all the attributes of His name, that word is of tremendous import.
The Messiah to Magnify and Make Honorable the Word of God
The prophetic word foretold the coming of the Messiah who would both magnify and make honorable the word of God. Isaiah wrote of the servant of the LORD in whom God would take great delight and upon whom He would place His Spirit. The prophet further wrote, “the LORD is well pleased for his righteousness sake: he will magnify the law, and make it honorable” (Isa. 42:21). This, Yahweh did continually through His beloved Son who upheld it against the Jewish corrupters of His way.
Jesus was faithful in the administration of God’s word, and speaks of this in his beautiful prayer on the night of his betrayal: “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gayest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gayest them me; and they have kept thy word . . . For I have given unto them thy words which thou gayest me; and they have received them . . . I have given them thy word” (Jo. 17:68, 8, 14).
The Saviour, throughout his personal ministry emphasized the importance of heeding God’s word discharged through him. After completing the sermon on the mount, occupying three whole chapters of Matthew’s gospel and representing the most extensive and complete sayings of Jesus to be found in any single place in the Bible, the Lord related a parable in which he illustrated the folly of ignoring his teachings: “therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it” (Matt. 7:24-27). The “rock” is the teachings of the Lord. The calamity of those who rejected his counsels and the word of God is graphically set forth in the house built upon the sand.
The Prophet Like Unto Moses
Jesus was given the fullest authority and responsibility by the Father to convey His words to Jew and Gentile. As the opening verses of that grand epistle to the Hebrews attests, “God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son.” Here, we are assured of the complete revelation of God’s word through “the Word made flesh” and who himself is styled “the Word of God.” At the transfiguration God further witnessed to the Son’s authority to administer His word: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, Hear Ye Him” (Matt. 17:5).
The LORD, in speaking to Moses, warns against false prophets speaking after their own spirit, whom God had not sent. He then assures the patriarch of the future appearance of a prophet who would faithfully speak the Father’s words; “I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and I will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I Will Require It Of Him” (Deut. 18:18, 19) The life of Jesus was totally occupied in the revelation of that word. Jesus, “The light of the world” was the manifestation and revelation of the Father’s will and character to mankind. Thus, the apostle declares of him: ” . . . who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption . . .in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (1 Cor. 1:30, Col. 2:3).
To reject the words of Jesus is equivalent to rejecting the words of God. For, as John revealed, “He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him” (Jo. 3:34). He did this because he was indeed the prophet like unto Moses, and declared, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life” (Jo. 68:63) . His words were spirit inasmuch as they came from God who is a Spirit (4:2). When Phillip asked of the Lord, “Shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us,” Jesus replied, “Have I been so long time with you, and yet thou hast not known me, Phillip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works” (Jo. 14:8-10).
We can understand and appreciate the seemingly stern words of Jesus uttered against the chief rulers, who, although believing in him, rejected him and his message because “they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God”: “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” (John 12:48). The rejection of his words was so serious and consequential, since they were in reality those of God: “For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak (V49).
God’s Word—A Fire and a Hammer
One simply cannot treat God’s word as he would that of man. Like the Psalmist who confessed that “forever, 0 LORD, thy word is settled in heaven” (119:89), our heart must stand “in awe of thy word” (V161). We are to understand and always be cognizant of the fact that the ways and thoughts of the living God are as high above man as the heavens are above the earth (Isa. 55:8, 9).
When Jeremiah found that the proclamation of the word of the LORD brought derision, violence and reproach upon him, he determined not to “make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name.” But, the prophet had been given a solemn charge by God: “For thou shalt go to all that I send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak . . . Behold, I have put My words in thy mouth” (1:6-9). Thus, the prophet found that His word became a powerful, living force within him, and he cried “but his word was in mine heart as a burning fire, shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay” (20:9).
God is very jealous for His word and will not tolerate its misuse or corruption by man. Against the false prophets and unfaithful pastors of His people, Yahweh declared, “Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketth the rock in pieces? Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, said the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour” (Jer. 23:29, 30).
The Word Just as Effective when Administered through New Testament Writers
We might be tempted to place a higher regard and respect on the words of Jesus than on those of the apostles and other New Testament writers. This is a common mistake made by many in other faiths. The truth of the matter is that all directives and teachings of the Spirit-guided New Testament writers are on the same level of importance as those coming personally from Jesus himself. We must bear in mind that the words and teachings of the Saviour were not his, but came directly from God (Jo. 7:16, 8:28, etc.).
When the Lord sent his apostles out to preach the kingdom of Heaven, he assured them of the presence of the Holy Spirit to guide them: “And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you” (Matt. 10:18-20). As the Father revealed His will through His Son, in a similar manner would He speak through other custodians of the word.
This guidance was not confined to the twelve apostles only, for when Jesus sent out the seventy, two by two to proclaim the glad tidings, he gave them the fullest authority. The cities which would not receive their message would be held accountable to God, for as Jesus assured them, “He that heareth you heareth me; and he that dispiseth you dispiseth me; and he that dispiseth me despiseth him that sent me” (Luke 10:16). After his resurrection from the dead, the Lord appeared to his disciples and assured them, “Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit” (Jo. 20:21-22).
Spiritual Guidance from on High
Before his betrayal, and death Jesus gave encouragement to his apostles that though he would be physically away, he would be with them through the Comforter or Holy Spirit to guide them: “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” Jo. 14:26). They were therefore guaranteed a continuation of divine instruction. The promised power from on high came upon his followers ten days after his ascension. The signs, and miracles which accompanied their preaching gave assurance to those who heard them of the veracity of their word. The infant Ecclesia was provided with a reliable instructor in the parakletos (sig. an aid or assistant) which would insure the survival of the Truth in its early stage. Paul, in writing to the Ephesians speaks of the continuation of divine instruction through the Spirit gifts: “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for the work of service . . .” (Eph. 4:11, 12 NIV). With the completion of the inspired word, there was no further need for this open manifestation of the Holy Spirit. It had accomplished its purpose as defined by Peter on the day of Pentecost: “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21).
The Efficacy of the Word
We see, therefore, that the word of truth administered through the apostles and New Testament writers was in reality, the continuation of the teachings of Jesus. Thus, Paul could say to the Corinthian brethren, “if any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord” (1 Cor. 14:37). The gospel message disbursed by the apostles and later by those who believed through their word was and is just as efficacious today in bringing men and women to a saving understanding as it was when administered through Jesus himself. In the parable of the sower, the seed which fell by the wayside and was devoured by the birds was just as virile as that which fell on good ground and produced fruit. The potency of the word is not diminished whether sown by Christ or the apostles or by others of God’s servants.
Salvation Through Faith not by Miracles
The Truth today as set forth in the inspired writings can regenerate and save people just as in the first century. This is apparent when we recognize that individuals were never saved by signs, wonders and miracles, but by the power of the Word. It is true that people in the days of miracles were induced to listen attentively to the word spoken — as in the case of the Samaritans, who, “with one accord gave heed unto those things which Phillip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did” (Acts 8:6). However, that which saved them was the message of faith promulgated by Phillip: “But when they believed Phillip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women” Acts 8:12.
We are justified and saved through faith, not by the observance of the miracles of the first century: “For by grace ye are saved through faith” (Eph. 2:8). Saving “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17). Peter, at the Jerusalem council declared how God “put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith” (Acts 15:9).
The enlightenment brought about through the instruction of the word is what makes baptism valid. As the apostle taught, “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh), but the answer of a good conscience toward God” (1 Peter 3:21). An enlightened conscience must precede immersion This is why Phillip would only baptize the Ethiopian eunuch if he believed with all his heart (Acts 8:37). If understanding and belief of the gospel followed by baptism can bring one to salvation, will not that same understanding be of sufficient potency to render one resurrectionally responsible to the judgment seat of Christ? If one argues that in the absence of miracles here in the latter centuries, it is unlikely that one could be sufficiently enlighten-d to qualify his being resurrected to judgment, he might as well also argue that, for the same reason, it is doubtful that one could be given adequate understanding to make his baptism valid!
Resurrectional Responsibility—An Essential Part of the Gospel
The truth to be recognized is that the gospel can be a means of saving men and women or a means of judicially condemning them. Paul declared this very fact in 2 Cor. 2:14-16: “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and In Them That Perish: To the one we are The Savour Of Death Unto Death,. and to the other the saviour of life unto life.” The savour is “of his knowledge,” which means that the gospel can be a means of saving or condemning. This is apparent in the words which Jesus addressed to his apostles before ascending to heaven: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that beliveth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:15, 16). The word translated, “damned” is from the Greek katakrino which signifies to condemn, sentence. Continual disbelief which means to put no confidence in, will result in condemnation, formally announced at the judgment.
Judgment on Unbaptized Also
Considering the fact that the gospel message includes both salvation and condemnation, Paul could speak of the judgment of those, who refused to be led to repentance, and therefore treasured up unto themselves “wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” as receiving their just reward “in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ According to my Gospel” (Rom. 2:5, 16). The judgment of both the baptized and unbaptized rebels against His word is set forth as part and parcel of the gospel. Those who chose to pervert the gospel preached by Paul in the region of Galatia, which included the righteous judgment of God against the unrepentant rejectors of His word, would be subjected to the “curse”; Grk. Anathema signifying devoted to destruction: “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed (anathema)” (Gal. 1:8).
A Summary of the Foregoing Divine Principles of Resurrectional Responsibility
- The amendment to Clause 24 of the BASF had been accepted by the Brotherhood as an integral part of the Truth for 30-40 years prior to its addition.
- In God’s plan for redeeming mankind was involved a loss to Him—even His beloved Son.
- Once the gospel message is understood, thus calling on one to submit to it, it then becomes a command.
- God has exalted His Word and Name above all His attributes.
- That Word was faithfully administered by the prophet like unto Moses, even the Lord Jesus Christ, who magnified and made honorable the law of Yahweh.
- The rejection of the Word (gospel) as spoken by Jesus Christ, the apostles or other disciples is tantamount to the rejection of God Himself.
- We are saved, not by observing miracles, but on the basis of the Truth, believed and obeyed.
- The gospel can be a savour of death unto death or a saviour of life unto life.
- The truth concerning resurrectional responsibility is an integral part of the message of salvation; and perverting any element of the gospel will be met by the judgment of “anathema”, sig. devoted to destruction.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One