rhēma Christou ό λόγος τού Θεού en Christō

GOD SAVE ME FROM YOUR FOLLOWERS

Or the gonzo journalism of grace

TRILOGY
BOOK THREE - THE TRIBUNAL

These men have the freedom of futility,

Heaven is not a reward.
You have brought us back to Eden,
To eat of the tree of life.

The one who has an ear had better hear what the Spirit says to
the churches. To the one who conquers, I will permit him to eat
from the tree of life that is in the Paradise of God.206

Jesus Christ, 95 A.D.

Written and edited by DL Coulon

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PART FIVE - FISH, FOWL, AND BEAST
And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the
moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly
above the earth in the open firmament of the heaven. And
God created great whales , and every living creature that
moveth, which waters brought forth abundantly, after
their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God
saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be
fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and
let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the
morning were the fifth day.

Genesis i. 20-23.

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Salvation Endures Forever

The Scapegoat

Lev 16:20 “When he has finished atoning the holy place, the Meeting
Tent, and the altar, he is to present the live goat. 16:21 Aaron is to lay
his two hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the
iniquities of the Israelites and all their transgressions in regard to all
their sins, and thus he is to put them on the head of the goat and send
it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man standing ready.
16:22 The goat is to bear on itself all their iniquities into an
inaccessible land, so he is to send the goat away in the wilderness.
NET

Isa 53:6 All of us had wandered off like sheep;

each of us had strayed off on his own path,
but the Lord caused the sin of all of us to attack him.19 NET

19tn Elsewhere the Hiphil of ugp means “to intercede verbally” (Jer 15:11;
36:25) or “to intervene militarily” (Isa 59:16), but neither nuance fits here.
Apparently here the Hiphil is the causative of the normal Qal meaning,
“encounter, meet, touch.” The Qal sometimes refers to a hostile encounter or
attack; when used in this way the object is normally introduced by the
preposition -B= (see Josh 2:16; Judg 8:21; 15:12, etc.). Here the causative
Hiphil has a double object—the Lord makes “sin” attack “him” (note that the
object attacked is introduced by the preposition -B=. In their sin the group
was like sheep who had wandered from God’s path. They were vulnerable to
attack; the guilt of their sin was ready to attack and destroy them. But then
the servant stepped in and took the full force of the attack.

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Opening Comment
Drawing from my own experience as a member of an engineering
group, a similar dynamic within Christianity occurs to me. My company
engaged in critical applications of proven knowledge to solve
commercial power production problems. There was a book in
manufacturing headquarters that was the creation of decades of modern
generator design and operation data. This book was known as “the
bible.” On many occasions, either from a competing company or one of
our own associates, an objection would be raised to a proposed
“solution.” Now objections are healthy and many times helpful. They
show that people are concerned and alert.
What I find uncannily relevant to the theme of this paper is the
combination of a particular type of objection voiced by a certain kind of
individual. On many occasions, a junior contributor would fret and insist
the plan was flawed because of some basic engineering criteria. He
would then proceed to demonstrate - to a captive audience of highly
compensated and very busy men and women - his competence regarding
a fundamental objection to a proposed solution that was over his head.
Bear in mind, not all of the captive audience were technical experts,
rather a mix of the customer’s operation and upper-level administrators
responsible for the final outcome of the proposed repair, rebuild, or
replacement solution.
To the point, the self-impressed individual had introduced a negative
contribution that now must be countered by someone competent in the
various parameters and practical application of proven knowledge
contained in “the bible.” Therefore I suggest, Arminian theology is the
distracting contribution made to Christianity by those who do not know
the only person who can explain the Bible – Jesus Christ.
The Testimony of God - Seven Proofs That Salvation Endures
Forever
Dr. Lewis Chafer:
THE CONSUMMATING SCRIPTURE
Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for them who are
in Christ Jesus.
AS THE LETTER to the Romans is designed to give the plan and scope
of salvation by and through the grace of God made possible through
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the death of Christ, it is to be expected that that Letter will present the
essential truth that the one who is saved is safe for all eternity. …
Of supreme importance in the consideration of the eighth chapter
of Romans are the indisputable facts that this is the divinely ordained
book for the setting forth the whole plan and scope of salvation by
grace, and that the eighth chapter serves as the consummation of the
doctrinal structure of this Epistle.
Since the opening statement of the eighth chapter of Romans is so
unequivocal, the Apostle proceeds to offer seven proofs of its
truthfulness.
I. DELIVERED FROM THE LAW
Rom 8:2-3 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made
me free from the law of sin and death. For what law could not do, in
that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that
the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not
after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do
mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the
things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be
spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is
enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither
indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
In this context, the law stands as the representation of the merit
system – that divine arrangement which according to the New
Testament, is held as the antipodes of God’s plan of salvation by
grace. Beyond the one truth that both systems are ordained of God for
application in such ages as He may elect, they set up contrasts at
every point. The fact that, under the new order, the law principle is
done away as having nothing to contribute to the outworking of the
principle of grace (cf. Rom 11:6; 4:4-5; Gal 5:4), should not create
the impression that the law did not originate with God; that it is not
holy, just, and good; or that it has not had His sanction. On this point
the Apostle is most emphatic. When arguing the power of the law as
designed by God, he said, “What shall we say then? Is the law sin?
God forbid” (Rom 7:7); “Whereof the law is holy, and the
commandment holy, and just, and good. … For we know that the law
is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin” (Rom 7:12, 14);
“Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of
transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was
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made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator” (Gal
3:19). Though holy, just, and good the law undertook no more than to
serve as a rule of life for people already rightly related to God by His
covenants with them. However, as for its holy demands, it is in no
way to be compared with that manner of life which is set before the
Christian under grace. Over against this, the heaven-high system of
conduct under grace, while demanding a supernatural manner of life
(cf. John 13:34; 2 Cor 10:3-5; Eph 4:30), does provide divine
enablement; that is, by the presence of the indwelling Spirit the
believer is able to do that which these high standards demand.
Therefore, this truth is to be observed that, while requiring far less,
the law system failed; yet, while presenting that heaven-high
requirement in daily life which belongs to the grace relationship,
there is expectation that these standards will be realized.
It is well to contemplate the glorious truth that, so far as the
believer’s standing in Christ is concerned, the heavenly ideals are
reached to infinite perfection. Only in the sphere of the believer’s
daily conflicts is the grace ideal at times unrealized. It is too often
supposed that the outworking of grace is restricted to the Christian’s
walk and conversation, and the real triumph of grace – the perfecting
of the child of God forever – is unrecognized. No matter how
disproportionate these issues become under Arminian influence, it
must be remembered that to walk worthy of the heavenly calling –
though of great importance – is not to be compared for a moment
with the heavenly calling itself. The believer may often fail in his
conflict with the world, the flesh, and the devil; but this should not
blind one to those immeasurable, divine achievements which have
already united the believer to Christ and thereby constituted him as
perfect in the sight of God as his Savior. It is this faultless standing in
Christ which conditions the believer’s walk; never does the believer’s
walk condition his standing. Just here is where, more than elsewhere,
the essential difference between Arminianism and Calvinism is
demonstrated. The upholders of the Arminian system have never
evinced ability to comprehend the truth regarding a perfect standing
in Christ which is as enduring as the Son of God. To the Arminian,
standing before God is just what a feeble believer makes it by his
daily life. Under those conditions the Christian may fail and be lost
again. For the moment it seems to be forgotten that every believer
sustains an imperfect daily life and therefore, on that basis, all must
be lost forever. The New Testament teaches that those who believe
are saved from the merit system by having all demands satisfied in
Christ, and thus the believer endures forever. In the Arminian system
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God becomes the a colossal failure, unable to realize His purposes in
grace; in the Calvinistic system God never fails even to the slightest
degree.
The all-important phrase in the context now under consideration
(Rom 8:2-4), so far as the present phase of truth is concerned, is, “for
what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh.” By
these words the Apostle is accounting for the failure of the law
system (cf. Rom 9:30-32). He does not imply that the law was, or is,
weak in itself; it was powerless because the flesh to which it was
addressed and on which it depended for response, was too weak to
comply with its commandments. It follows that, if God would bring
perfected beings into glory out of the midst of this weakness, He must
adopt another and more efficacious plan than that which the merit
system represents. The new plan adopted does, as seen in earlier
chapters of Roams, secure a triumph of divine grace, even the
justifying forever of the one who believes on Christ. Therefore, the
discussion for the moment centers on the problem of the daily life of
the justified one. This problem is greatly influenced by the fact of
“sin in the flesh,” or the Adamic nature. This context asserts that the
Adamic nature has been “condemned” – that is, judged – and to that
end that the Holy Spirit may be free righteously to control that nature.
The aim of all this divine provision concerning daily life is that “the
law” – meaning the entire will of God for every moment of the
believer’s life – “might be fulfilled in us.” The crucial word here is
έν, which in this instance is furthest removed from the idea that the
will of God is fulfilled by the believer. The contrast set up between
what the Spirit may do in the believer as compared to that which the
believer, under a merit system, may do for God. However, that he
may avail himself of the power of the Spirit in the daily-life problem,
the Christian is told that he must “walk not after the flesh, but after
the Spirit.” The conclusion of the matter is that “there is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” because of
the fact that they are delivered from the law, or merit, system.
II. THE FACT OF THE PRESENCE OF THE DIVINE NATURE
Rom 8:9-13 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that
the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of
Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead
because of sin; but he Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the
Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that
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raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies
by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Having pointed out that the flesh was opposed to God and that the
walk of the flesh is in the way of spiritual death as the walk in the
Spirit is in the way of life and peace, the Apostle declares that the
Christian – with reference to position – is not in the flesh, though the
flesh is in the Christian. The Christian is “in the Spirit.” However, the
Spirit is also in the Christian; for he states, “Now if any man have not
the Spirit of Christ [the Holy Spirit], he is none of his.” This
indwelling reality is again asserted by the words, “if Christ be in
you,” and, “if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead
dwell in you.” That indwelling One shall quicken the mortal body of
the one whom He indwells. This is not a reference to the present
energizing of the body by the Spirit, but rather to the fact that the
Spirit will quicken that body in resurrection from the dead. The
presence of the indwelling Spirit guarantees the endurance of the
believer – even his mortal body is under the divine covenant which
assures its presence in glory. No Arminian uncertainty is admitted in
this unalterable declaration. However, the Apostle does refer again to
the believer’s daily life and asserts anew the warning that to walk
after the flesh is in the way of spiritual death, and to walk after the
Spirit is in the way of life and peace. Having received the divine
nature “There is therefore [with full consideration of an imperfect
walk] now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.”
III. THE CHRISTIAN A SON AND HEIR OF GOD
Rom 8:14-17 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the
sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to
fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry,
Abba, father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we
are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and
joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may
be also glorified together.
It is certain that “the foundation of God standeth sure, having this
seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his” (2 Tim 2:19); and it is
impossible, unthinkable, and – what is more important - unscriptural,
that God should lose He has begotten into actual sonship. Some may
“go out from us, but they are not of us” (1 John 2:19); the implication
is that those “who are of us” never go out. God reserves the right to
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chasten an erring child, as He did the sons of David (cf. 2 Sam 7:14);
Ps 89:31-32), but the chastisement of the child of God has for its
supreme purpose “that we should not be condemned with the world”
(1 Cor 11:31-32). “That which is born of God,” the Apostle declares,
endures; for “his seed remaineth in him” (1 John 3:9).
Likewise, to be a son of God is to be an heir of God, even “a joint
heir with Christ.” Here all the riches of God are in view. Christ said
“All things that the Father hath are mine” (John 16:15). The purpose
of a will being made out to specified heirs is that they may receive
that benefit without fail. None would contend that there is danger that
all that the Father bequeathed to Christ will not be delivered; nor
should it be intimated that a “joint-heir” will fail of his portion. The
revealed truth that God bequeaths His riches to His “joint-heirs with
Christ” means they are to receive this benefit, else God has failed. As
Christ said, “I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with
me where I am” (John 17:24), in like manner the Father has willed to
His heirs all His riches in glory; and to claim that they will not
receive their portion is to assume that God is defeated. There is a
common sharing of interest between the Father and the Son. This is
indicated by the words of Christ, “All mine are thine, and thine are
mine” (John 17:10). It is thus demonstrated that, because of the truth
that believers are sons and heirs of God, “There is therefore now no
condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.”
IV. THE DIVINE PURPOSE
Rom 8:28-29 And we know that all things work together for good to
them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many
brethren.
Nothing could be more fundamental or more determining in this
universe than the purpose of God. Comparable to the above passage is
Ephesians 1:4-12. In that context such decisive statements as the
following are found: “chosen in him” (vs. 4); “having predestinated
us” (vs. 5); “according to the good pleasure of his will” (vs. 5); “the
mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath
purposed in himself” (vs. 9); “being predestinated according to the
purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own
will” (vs. 11); the divine objective is said to be, “that we should be
holy and without blame before him” (vs. 4); “to the praise of the glory
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of his grace” (vs. 6); “that in the dispensation of the fullness of times
he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in
heaven, and which are on earth; even in him” (vs. 10); and, “the we
should be to the praise of his glory” (vs. 12).
From these declarations, a devout person will rightfully conclude
that back of all secondary causes which may be divinely arranged to
cooperate in the realization of the purpose of God, there is a
sovereign intention – that which actuated God in creation and
continues to actuate Him in providence and preservation – and when
man has divested himself of self-centered prejudice, and is moved
common reason, he will conclude that this universe belongs to God
by absolute title and that He therefore has inherent rights and
indisputable freedom to execute things after the counsel of His own
will. In this recognition of divine authority it is also acknowledged
that man is but a creature and that his highest destiny will be realized,
not in opposition to God, but in complete conformity to God.
The text cited – Romans 8:28-29 – states that there are those who
are “called according to his purpose” (they are said to “love God” and
this implies He has revealed Himself to them), and that for them He is
undertaking that all things are working together for good in their
behalf. It is the usual idea that the “all things” here mentioned are to
be observed in the minute details of a believer’s experience in life.
Such divine care is an actuality and should be acknowledged; but the
major issues which are itemized in this context lift the specific “all
things” into the highest realms of divine achievement. The saved one
has been foreknown, predestinated, called, justified, and glorified.
Such a sequence of blessings is rightfully classed as that which is
“good.” …
God is causing everything to work together to that end. Should
they fail to reach this end, on the human side the issue would be
comparatively small; but on the divine side the issue would be as
great as the failure of God the Creator. It will not do to conclude, as
Arminians do, that God has left the whole matter of His sovereign
purpose, as it applies to an elect company, to their own determination.
He needs no alibi in case of failure, since there will be no failure.
Pious men have never challenged Deity more violently than when
they have implied that the realization of His sovereign purpose must
be conditioned by secondary causes. God thus degraded and
dishonored becomes, in the mind of men, no God at all. It still stands
true, though all men stagger in unbelief (Rom 4:20), that “there is
therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.”
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V. THE EXECUTION OF THE DIVINE PURPOSE
ROM 8: 30-33 “Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also
called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he
justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 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? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
It is certain that, in the vast range of creation, God has manifold
purposes and there will be no question raised about whether His will
is done in other spheres. It is only within the restricted realm of
certain human beings that doubt is engendered relative to the
sovereignty of God; and it is significant that such doubt springs from
men and from God. His Word may be taken as the declaration of what
He deems to be true, and He asserts His own sovereignty with no
condition or qualification. After all, the opinions of men, who are
steeped in self-exalting prejudice and afflicted with satanic
independence of God, are of no actual value. The entire theme of
predestination is outside the human horizon. …
All that enters into the problem of qualifying a sinner for heaven’s
holy associations is perfected in justification, it being the
consummation of all that enters into salvation both as a dealing with
demerit and as a provision of infinite merit before God – the very
merit of Christ. As a divine undertaking, justification, which is
secured without reference to any human cause (Rom 3:24),
incorporates as essential to it, not only the value of the death and
resurrection of Christ, but every step that enters into divine salvation
by grace. Indeed, it is the very scope of that which justification
incorporates that leads the Apostle to declare as he does in verse 31
and 32, that God is “for us.” This is a marvelous truth and His attitude
of love is demonstrated by the fact that He did not spare the supreme
gift of His Son, but delivered Him up for us all. Having given the
supreme Gift, all else will easily and naturally be included. God gives
unqualified assurance that He justifies all whom He predestinates and
He bases justification on the death and resurrection of Christ, which
basis renders it at once a divine act altogether righteous in itself –
even to the point of infinity. Little wonder that the Spirit’s answer to
His own question “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s
elect?” is, “It is God that justifieth.” That is, the very thing that would
serve as a charge against the believer has been so dealt with already,
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that there can be no charge recognized. From the standpoint of
infinite holiness, it is no slight achievement for God to justify
eternally an ungodly enemy who himself does no more than to
believe in Jesus, and to do this in such a manner as to shield the One
who justifies from every complication which mere leniency with sin
and unworthiness would engender. This is not a human disagreement
where one believer is charging another with evil; it is an issue of far
greater proportions. It is God who is challenged to take account of he
sin of His elect. The Arminian contends that God must judge and
condemn the one He has saved if there is ought to charge against him.
Over against this notion, which notion seems never to have
comprehended the workings of divine grace, is the clear assertion that
God has already justified the one who has given full proof of his
election by believing on Christ, and this in spite of not just one evil
alone being charged against him, but in spite of every sin – past,
present, and future.
It remains true – regardless of human doubt, misunderstanding,
and blindness – that the purpose of God for His elect is executed on a
basis so righteous and reaching to such a degree of infinite perfection,
that “there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in
Christ Jesus.”
VI. CHRIST’S OWN ACHIEVEMENT
Rom 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us.
By His substitutionary death, Christ has borne the condemnation
of sin of those to whom the value of His death has been applied in
response to saving faith. Because of the value of His death having
been applied, no condemnation can return upon that one. The
resurrection of Christ has provided the gift of eternal, resurrection life
that cannot die. The appearing of Christ as Advocate in the court of
heaven in behalf of the sinning Christian guarantees that the very
place where insecurity might find entrance the Lord Himself so
advocates before the Father, by presenting the fact of His own
sufficient sacrifice for sin, as to preserve the one who sins on a basis
so indisputable that the Advocate wins the title, “Jesus Christ the
righteous.” And, lastly, the Savior intercedes and by His intercession
is able to save to completion all that come unto God by Himself (Heb
7:25).
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Any one of these four achievements of the Son of God is
sufficient to answer the Arminian contention and, as set forth in the
New Testament, they are intended to serve as a ground for the
believer’s safekeeping for all eternity. It therefore follows that the
primary declaration of the eighth chapter of Romans, “There is
therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,” is
altogether true and is completely provided for by the Savior Himself.
VII. THE INCOMPETENCY OF CELESTIAL AND MUNDANE
THINGS
Rom 8:35-39 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or
peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all day
long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all things
we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am
persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor
depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the
love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Thus far, arguments sustaining the doctrine of eternal security, as
drawn from Scriptures, have been based on those infinite resources
which the Persons of the Godhead guarantee. This, the closing portion
of Romans 8, approaches the fact of security from the negative side –
setting aside that which other forces, both heavenly and mundane,
effect. As for the first category, which enumerates mundane things
(vs. 35), they are ordained for the believer’s experience in the world
and over them, by divine enablement, he is to be victor. By the
authority of God, the believer is to recognize the force of these things
and to prevail in spite of them. As for the second category, which is
of celestial realities (vss. 38-39), the Apostle can say, “I am
persuaded,” is distinctive, being used but twice by the Apostle Paul,
and but three in the Sacred Text (A.V.); and in two of these instances
– Romans 8:38; 2 Timothy 1:12 – reference is made directly to the
security of the child of God. In the present instance – Romans 8:38 –
he includes all believers; in the second – 2 Timothy 1:12 – he gives a
personal testimony, and in these words: “For the which cause I also
suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom
I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I
have committed unto him against that day.” It is no small distinction
and encouragement to the one who believes that the true child of God
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is eternally safe, that he, in this particular, is in complete harmony
with the great Apostle; especially is this true in the light of the fact
that the Apostle’s statement is given by inspiration. On the other
hand, it is no small discredit and delinquency on he part of the one
who denies the doctrine of eternal security that he, in attempting to
maintain his contention, must impugn the inspired testimony of the
one who above all men has been selected of God to receive and to
transmit this very gospel of divine grace. Regardless of avowed
sincerity, Arminians are not Pauline in their essential theology. To
them the doctrinal hesitations of one leading Arminian are more
worthy of adoption and promotion than are the unqualified, inspired
teachings of the Apostle Paul. This attitude of unbelief is exhibited by
the Arminians in their treatment – usually a dire neglect – of all
unqualified New Testament declarations on the truh respecting
security, and none more commonly than their treatment of Christ’s
words as recorded in John 10:28-29. In this context the Savior
declares, “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never
perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father,
which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck
them out of my Father’s hand.” It is the Arminian gloss or evasion to
say that no power can “pluck” the believer out of the hand of Christ
or of the Father, except the believer himself, who, it is asserted, is
able, because of the sovereignty of the human will, to remove himself
from that security. The Lord seemed to anticipate such evidence of
distress on the part of those who would “wrest the Scriptures unto
their own destruction,” and purposely inserted one phrase, namely,
“and they shall never perish,” which Arminians fail to receive at its
face value.
It is to be observed that of all things celestial and mundane which
the Apostle enumerates as forces which are potent in their spheres,
yet impotent to cast as much as a shadow of doubt over the great truth
of the believer’s security, no mention is made of two subjects – the
human will and human sin – which are the points of danger according
to Arminian theology. With no consideration of the scope of the
argument of this great chapter, the Arminian may suppose, contrary to
fact, that the two features – the will and sin – are omitted from these
categories because the Apostle believed that they do have the power
to separate the Christian from Christ. It will be discovered, rather, that
these two factors are omitted because the truth that they have been
accounted for in earlier portions of the this context. The human will
has been brought into harmony with the divine purpose by the
effectual call (vs. 30), and the Son of God by His intercession guards
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the believer from pitfalls and by His advocacy preserves from
condemnation in case of actual evil. So, also, the Christian’s sin has
been judged by Christ in His substitutionary death and thus, like the
issue of the will, having been disposed of earlier in the argument of
the chapter, these subjects are not included in this closing category.
It therefore stands that the unqualified assertion that “there is
therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” is
true, being sustained by at least seven major proofs, and the proof
which concludes the seven is to the effect that all potent forces,
celestial or terrestrial are not able to separate he child of God from
“the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” – a love set
eternally free to realize its every desire toward meritless sinners, and
on the ground of the redemption which is in Christ.
CONCLUSION
It is here dogmatically asserted, and on the basis of proofs from
the Word of God which have been presented in this volume, that there
is no Scripture which, when rightly interpreted, will even intimate
that a Christian might be lost; that there is no salvation now offered to
the unsaved which is not eternal in its nature; that no soul once saved
has ever been lost again; and that the New Testament declares in
terms both multiplied and unqualified that the believer, though he
may be subject to correction and chastisement, is eternally safe from
all condemnation.
“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a
good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil
1:6).
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively
hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an
inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away,
reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1
Pet 1;3-5). 207
The Arminian’s View of His Self-Endurance for Salvation
Dr. Lewis Chafer:
The shallow appraisal which the Arminian system places on that
which constitutes salvation leads its advocates to estimate a saved
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person, though forgiven the sins committed before he was saved, to in his self-saving program. As water seeks its level, Arminianism, in
be himself in no way changed into a new creation, indwelt by the its modern form, has departed from its original claim to orthodox
Holy Spirit, or subject to new ideals by which he may live to the truth and for the reason, among others, that the defenders of that
glory of God. Were these great provisions recognized and system have never relied upon supernatural forces in the realization of
incorporated into that system, its promoters could evince a more their soteriological scheme.208
comprehensive understanding of all that enters into the relation which
the believer’s daily life and conduct sustain to his perfect salvation
and eternal security in Christ. …
Due consideration [should be given] to the wholly different and
independent plan of God by which the believer may be enabled to
walk worthy of his perfect standing in Christ. … Arminians have
always evinced a reprehensible blindness – not unlike that of
unregenerate men – concerning these so vital distinctions. Armini-
anism’s misleading error in the field of Soteriology is that it persists
in attempting to build the believer’s standing upon his feeble and
faltering daily life, rather than on the sufficient and immutable merit
of Christ. The Arminian Soteriology becomes little more than a
system of human conduct; for, though the idea of regeneration is
incorporated, it is, in the Arminian idea of it, of no abiding value,
being supported only by a supposed human virtue. …
It is generally recognized that the Christian faces three opposing
forces which are sources of evil – the cosmos world, the flesh, and the
devil – and that, when he was in his unregenerate state, these forces
were in no way arrayed against him; for he was then a part of the
cosmos world, restricted in his being to the flesh, and under the
dominion of Satan. Conscience and social ideals may have made their
feeble demands upon him, but he knew little, if anything, of the
unceasing conflict which besets the child of God. In other words, the
believer in his problem of daily life, because of new foes and new
standards of holy living which rightfully impose their claim upon
him, is far less able to live the life set before him than he was able to
live with more or less virtue in the sphere of the unregenerate man. It
follows, then, that if the believer must sustain his salvation by a
correct manner of life, as the Arminian contends, he, because of
impossible heavenly demands and because of supernatural foes, is
unconditionally defeated before ever he begins. The Arminian’s
preaching of his ideals has been tolerated only because of an inability,
if not an unwillingness on his part, to face the stupendous issues
involved. It sounds practical, simple, and it ministers to the inherent
conceit of man, to propose a salvation which endures on the basis of
human merit. In such a scheme there is little need of the sustaining
grace of God. He may be called in to forgive wherein man has failed
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 rhēma Christou ό λόγος τού Θεού en Christō
The Tribunal

Let nobody deceive you with empty words, for because of these things
God’s wrath comes on the sons of disobedience. Do not participate in
the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. But all
things being exposed by the light are made evident. For everything
made evident is light, and for this reason it says:

“Awake, O sleeper!
Rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you!” 209

925 926

Jer 6:10-11 I answered,
“Who would listen
if I spoke to them and warned them?
Their ears are so closed
that they cannot hear!
Indeed, what the Lord says is offensive to them.
They do not like it at all.
I am as full of anger as you are, Lord,
I am tired of trying to hold it in.”
The Lord answered,
“Vent it, then, on the children who play in the street
and on the young men who are gathered together.
Husbands and wives are to be included,
as well as the old and those who are advanced in years.” NET
The Opening Address to the Jurist
This disclosure of the entrenched Christian error of Arminianism in
the Rectoral or Governmental theory of atonement is an indictment of
said theory for the prejudice and violence committed against the Gospel
of the Grace of God. An unabridged citation of this theory, from a
leading Arminian theologian, will be entered as evidence for the defense.
Opening Statement:
As the logical truth and biblical revelation would support, there is
only one true gospel: “Your faith and love have arisen from the hope laid
up for you in heaven, which you have heard about in the message of
truth, the gospel that has come to you. Just as in the entire world this
gospel is bearing fruit and growing, so it has also been bearing fruit and
growing among you from the first day you heard it and understood the
grace of God in truth” (Col 1:5-6). Inherent in this statement is the
negative logical truth that there may be many false gospels. The false
gospel to be referred to as the Negative Gospel – specifically derived
from, and associated with the Rectoral or Governmental theory of
atonement - is the subject of this indictment. Not by the clear exposition
of biblical truth, but by the denial of numerous plain biblical statements
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of God’s grace does this theological scheme maintain a “rational”
credibility. It will be the burden of the prosecution to prove this scheme
to be false.
Atonement is not a NT Christian thought, principle, nor teaching.
Christ redeemed sin, He paid the ransom price for sin. Christ did not
“atone,” (Heb. kāphar - to cover) sin on the cross. The word “atonement”
appears many times in the Old Testament, where sins were “covered” by
the blood of animal sacrifices under the Mosaic Law. In the New
Testament (Romans 3:25) this Jewish sacrifice for sins in the past is
spoken of as “remission,” or more accurately, a “passing over” of sins,
however, all sin, Jewish and Gentile, was not expiated or “taken away”
until the historical reality of the antitype of the “scapegoat” was
presented in the death of Christ on His cross of crucifixion. John the
Baptist proclaimed the great doctrinal difference between OT and NT
divine dealings with sin when he declared, “Behold the Lamb of God
which taketh away [expiates] the sin of the world” (John 1:29). This was
a change of cosmic proportions. At this point in history, God reconciled
all unsaved men to Himself through Christ. The word “atonement”
appears in the KJV translation of the New Testament only by mistake,
and this only once, in Romans 5:11. Which is immediately followed by
the most major, theologically critical verse in the New Testament,
Romans 5:12, which includes another error that is rendered “all have
sinned,” which is universally misunderstood as personal sins. This verse
should read “all sinned,” in the past, historical, shared sense of “original
sin.” Reconciliation is present tense for all men who look back upon the
death of Christ and to a living Savior, whereas atonement is past tense
for men who looked forward to the first advent of Christ and to a living,
resurrected Savior. For this reason, atonement is not a New Testament
928

principle upon which to base a theory. The word. katallage (Rom 11:15;
210
2 Cor 5:18-19 ) is properly rendered “reconciliation,” as rendered in
the verses that follow 5:11, and as rendered in an appended KJV. Also,
as rendered in all other major translations.
Personal sin is the outworking of the inherited sin nature. These
negative acts and, the penal consequence of these actions, may only be
redeemed by the blood of Christ. Thereby, the need, the necessity of a
required substitutionary penal death of Jesus Christ for the unsaved. Only
the substitutionary death of the Lamb - that God the Father provided as a
satisfactory (propitiation) “payment of a ransom” (Gk. apolutrosis) in
full (not a waiver or cancellation) from the redeemer (Heb. goel - Christ,
the kinsman-redeemer) for the penal consequences of sin committed by
the lost (Gk. apollumi) – can reconcile the lost to God and render them
“meet” (qualified, made suitable, fit) for salvation. In short, the standing
of all men before God because of provisionary salvation as the finished
work of Christ.
The fact that Christ died saves no man or woman, nor any child past
the age of responsibility. It does, however, provide the ground for the
gospel of the grace of God to be proclaimed. A gospel that declares that
the wrath of the holy judgments of God were against all men, yet Christ
paid the price in full, redeemed, and reconciled all men to God by
satisfying, propitiating God’s judgment against all men as He “took
away,” expiated, all sin. God’s covenants and promises cannot fail. A
salvation that is based on the Word of God is absolute, “ These things
have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that
you may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the
name of the Son of God” (1 John 5:13). If this is believed and Christ is
trusted as the Savior, then and only then, may the new believer know that
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he has eternal life and receive forgiveness and salvation as the saving
work of God. This salvation consists of many changes and
transformations brought about by all three Persons of the Godhead in a
continuing ministry of the work of grace for each believer until that
individual is perfected into the very image of the Son of God, Christ
Jesus. This is the “power of God” and “the wisdom of God,” “For I am
not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation to
everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For the
righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel from faith to faith, just as
it is written, “The righteous by faith will live” (Rom 1:16-17 NET).
Salvation as the finished work of Christ is to be communicated to the
unsaved, whereas, the Positive gospel of the grace of God is only
complete, only a whole truth, when it encompasses salvation as the
saving work of God for the those who believe in the power of God that
begins with the irreversible regeneration of the new child of God by the
Holy Spirit and the imputation of the righteousness of God, Jesus Christ.
“But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable
priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that
come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for
them” (Heb 7:24-25 KJV). Christ Himself makes intercession for those
“come unto God by Him.” Not only is the risen Christ the Intercessor to
keep the believer safe from external sources of sin, also, He is an
Advocate when they themselves sin, “My little children, these things
write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the
propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also the whole world”
(1 John 2:1-2). “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own
blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
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redemption for us” (Heb 9:12 KJV). “For by one offering he has
perfected for all time those who are made holy” (Heb 10:14 NET). “And
just as it is appointed for [all] men once to die, and after that the [certain]
judgment. Even so it is that Christ, having been offered to take upon
Himself and bear as a burden the sins of many once and once for all, will
appear a second time, not to carry any burden of sin nor to deal with sin,
but to bring to full salvation those who are [eagerly, constantly, and
patiently] waiting for and expecting Him” (Heb 9:27-28 AMP).
The reconciliation that is available to all unsaved men is the ground
upon which God may offer them salvation. This salvation is “much
more” than the forgiveness of personal sins. “Saving grace is more than
love; it is God’s love set absolutely free and made to triumph over His
righteous judgments against the sinner. “By grace are ye saved through
211
faith” (Eph 2:8; cf. 2:4; Titus 3:4-5).” God insures the continued
salvation of all who believe in Jesus Christ as Savior. The saved receive
salvation as a work of God through faith. Romans 8:1 has a scribal
addition in the KJV that reads, “for those who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit,” that is universally ignored by major translations, and
has been extrapolated from verse 4. The proper rendering is the simple,
unmistakable assurance of, “There is therefore now no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus” (also John 3:18; 5:24; 6:37; Rom 5:1; 1
Cor 11:32).
To preach Christ as an insufficient Savior is spiritual sin of the
highest magnitude. To substitute personal behavior for salvation is pure
unadulterated pride and declares God to be a liar. The Arminian concept
of God’s grace is insufficient and must be augmented by the inclusion of
personal worth. Where grace is extended on the one hand, but taken
away by the other, the net effect is zero grace. In Arminian thought and
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practice, the true meaning behind the three key elements for saving faith
in the finished work of Christ – redemption, reconciliation, and
propitiation – is denied and not presented in their full sufficiency. A
limited scheme of forgiveness is substituted in their place. In Arminian
thought and practice salvation as the saving work of God by grace is
denied and not presented. The same limited scheme of forgiveness is
maintained and offered to the saved as the only resource of God that is
available to those who believe. The unsaved man cannot discern spiritual
truths, rather he is burdened to explain away the supranatural aspects of
God’s glorious salvation by grace. Consequently, a revolving door from
saved to unsaved, is conceived, based upon a non-substitutionary
bloodless concept of atonement which may only put forward a beggarly
scheme of benevolent forgiveness. Accordingly, it is speciously and
mistakenly asserted that one may “lose” their salvation. This is due to a
grossly misconceived and sadly Non-Christian appreciation of God’s
regeneration by the Holy Spirit. This misconception is defined in the
following citation from Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible: “men can be
born again more than once (1) All men had eternal life in Adam until he
sinned. If he had not sinned all men would live forever. The new birth of
John 3:1-8 is really a re-birth or a restoration to original life by
cancellation of the death penalty. If this can thus happen once it can
happen again and again if necessary. (2) There is no comparison
between the natural and spiritual birth as to choice in the matter,
conception, embryo, process, and actual birth. The very moment one is
grown enough to recognize he is a sinner and when he repents and
believes the gospel a moral and spiritual change takes place. The very
moment he decides to sin again he has a moral fall, incurs the penalty of
the broken law again and comes under the sentence of death again. (3)
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If any man sins he has an advocate with the Father. What is this advocate
212
for if not to restore backsliders to God?”
Issue will not be taken with misguided expositions of God’s Holy
Word. The Apostle Paul warned his young friend, Timothy, concerning
the fate of the gospel of the grace of God, “They will maintain the
outward appearance of religion but will have repudiated its power. So
avoid people like these” (2 Tim 3:5). In this indictment, evidence and
disclosures will be presented regarding the underlying false conception
that drives a forced, prejudiced reading of Scripture by Arminians. The
foundation of Arminian thought and practice is grounded in the writings
of Hugo Grotius. The Grotian theory of Rectoral or Governmental
atonement is the source of Arminian Christian error. This conception
cannot qualify as biblical. Even more to the point, it fails as a partial
truth. This theory is a counterfeit New Testament doctrine based upon
the ideas of Old Testament atonement for salvation. It contains no
redeeming blood of Christ as a ransom for the lost (apolutrosis for the
apollumi) (cf. John 3:16; Acts 4:12; Heb 9:26). In this theory Christ is
not the kinsman-redeemer who suffers a substitutionary penalty for those
He redeems. In this scheme God goes no farther in salvation than to
wave a gloved papal hand in a benediction of forgiveness for those who
are worthy, for as many times as they may make themselves worthy,
again and again. It is a rational attempt to explain forgiveness as the
“passing over” of sins and the cancellation of penalty that is reasoned
away by an extra-biblical concept of a human need that dictates that God
must mandate a common good and execute punishment, and this, only
because He is bound to “good people.” In this scheme God must judge
those who fail to maintain their salvation out of fairness to other men
who are properly penitent and worthy. This is an exercise in a rationalism
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that would reason cause to be personal merit and asserts heaven is a
reward for good people. Whereas, the biblical revelation of forgiveness is
based in the substitutionary penal death of Christ, which states that
forgiveness is the cause of a predicted effect – salvation for mankind.
The Governmental theory of forgiveness is a bold, straight out–of-hand
censorship and suppression of the divinely declared doctrines of
imputation and propitiation, righteousness and justification, and
regeneration by the Holy Spirit on which the Positive gospel of God’s
grace stands. This theory is less than what God offers. For this reason,
the Governmental theory of atonement has created a Negative gospel. It
addresses man’s basic need for hope, yes, but - only in the most
malicious and insignificant fashion does it extend forgiveness as
something less than a human offer of reprieve. Forgiveness and salvation
in this scheme is little more than a stay of execution.
In this implausible contrivance, God’s salvation is explained as
forgiveness resulting from the actions of a savior who came into
existence to set an example for men to follow. A savior who died
exclusively to redeem the honor of his loving father and free him to
forgive men their sins. Conceptually, this father is the redeemed
forgiving Ruler of an all-important celestial Government, such as may
only be exemplified in the fable of the dilemma confronting the ruler of
an ancient kingdom in southern Italy, the mythic Zaleucus.
The Negative gospel is an offer of salvation limited to penitence for
the forgiveness of personal sins only. It is a reliance upon human merit
and behavior, not a Savior. It is a reliance upon leniency towards sin.
God cannot be, and has never been, lenient towards sin. The true
meaning of antinomianism is a Christian who doubts the force of the law
and holds a flexible concept of morality. What could encompass these
934

beliefs more unmistakably than the Arminian teachings on self salvation,
where human not divine effort must fulfill the demands of divine law,
and, secondly, the extremely flexible concept of morality in undefined
sins that will cause the loss of salvation? It will become obvious and
clearly proven beyond doubt, in the evidence against the Negative
gospel, that this system suppresses and censors God’s declarations of
glorious grace provided to all His children. A scheme of theology
grounded upon the denial, the biblical expurgation, and the prejudice
which insinuates that God’s secure salvation in grace is lewd and vulgar
cannot teach salvation by the grace of God. A salvation by grace that is
given freely and made available only through trust in the resurrected,
ascended, glorified Christ Jesus the Son of God. The gospel of the grace
of God that provides for thirty-three immediate and seven future divine
positions and transformations is declared to be the only salvation in the
saving work of God.
By the following disclosures presented as evidence, the prosecution
will prove the Rectoral or Governmental theory of atonement and its
derivative, the Negative gospel, to be false. The well established and
respected views of Dr. Lewis Chafer, cited in the following, will further
validate this indictment:
“The Arminian insists that human merit is essential for
safekeeping and by so much he denies that the eternal purpose in
salvation is to be accomplished by unconditional sovereign grace. To
him the promise is not sure, and he denies that God has concluded all
under sin for the very intent that the human element should be
dismissed forever. This Arminian misrepresentation is not an
insignificant matter. The gospel he preaches is perilously near being
“another gospel,” that which merits the unrevoked anathema of
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Galatians 1:8-9.213… The Arminian contends that man is supreme and
that God is compelled to adjust Himself to that scheme of things. …
Having incorporated into his scheme the finite human element, all
certainty about the future is for the Arminian overclouded with
doubts. Having made the purpose of God contingent, the execution of
that purpose must be contingent. By so much the glorious, divine
arrangement by which the ungodly may go to heaven, is replaced by
the mere moral program in which only good people may have a hope.
… All of this becomes another approach to the same
misunderstanding that is the curse of that form of rationalism which
cannot comprehend the gospel of divine grace. Such a rationalism
plans it so that good people may be saved, be kept saved because of
their personal qualities, and be received into heaven on their merit.
The gospel of divine grace plans it so that bad people – which
wording describes every person on earth – may be saved, be kept
saved as they were saved through the saving work and merit of
Christ, and be received into heaven, not as specimens of human
perfection, but as objects of infinite grace. Arminianism, with its
emphasis upon human experience, human merit, and human reason,
apparently has little or no comprehension of the revelation that
salvation is by grace alone, through faith. … Salvation through Christ
is the essence of Christianity, while salvation through personal
worthiness is no better than any pagan philosophy, and it is of this
notion, so foreign to the New Testament revelation, that Arminianism
partakes.
Though Scripture is cited by Arminians to defend their contention
that the Christian is not secure – their appeal is usually more to
experience and reason than to the testimony of the Bible. When
936

turning thus to experience, it is often recounted that some individual
has first been a Christian and then, later, became unsaved; but in
every instance two unsupportable assumptions appear. It could not be
demonstrated finally that the person named was saved in the first
place, nor could it be established that he was unsaved in the second
place. If Demas be cited because he forsook the Apostle Paul (2 Tim
4:10), it will be remembered that is far removed from the idea that
God forsook Demas. … Another experimental consideration of the
Arminian is the claim that if, as the Calvinist teaches and as certainly
set forth in the New Testament, the believer will not be lost because
of sin, the effect of that doctrine is to license the saved one to sin,
thus tending to antinomianism. In other words, God has no other
motive to hold before the believer that will insure a faithful manner of
life, than the one impossible proposition that he will be lost unless he
is faithful. … Security does not mean, as the Arminian supposes, that
God merely keeps unholy people saved regardless of what they do.
He has made immeasurable divine provisions respecting the daily life
of the believer, namely, the Word of God that may be hid in the heart
that one thus fortified may not sin against God, the presence of the
victorious Spirit as a delivering power in every believer’s life, and the
incomparable sustaining power of the unceasing prayer of Christ for
those who are saved. … No system of theology may boast that its
scheme of doctrine guarantees that those who are saved will never
sin. It would be difficult to prove, though constantly asserted by
Arminians, that those, like the Puritans, who believe they are secure
in Christ, were and are greater sinners than Arminian adherents who
make no such claim. It may be repeated that the greatest incentive in
any person’s life is that which rightfully impels a true believer and
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which no Arminian has given a worthy trial in his own life, namely,
to honor God in his life because he believes he is saved and safe in
the redeeming grace of God, rather than to attempt to honor God
because by so much he hopes to be saved and safe. Doing right never
saved a sinner nor did it ever preserve a saint; but it is true that being
divinely saved and preserved is the most imperative obligation to do
right. … As for human reason, which the Arminian employs against
the doctrine of security, it need only be pointed out that no human
reason is able to trace the divine undertaking which provides both
salvation and safekeeping on the ground of the sacrifice and the
imputed merit of the Son of God, and with no other requirement
resting on the sinner than that he believe on Christ as Savior. What
God accomplishes is according to reason, but it is that higher reason
which characterizes every divine undertaking. … Neither in the
sphere of sovereign grace, nor in the sphere of human experience, nor
in the sphere of Biblical interpretation have the Arminian advocates
established their claims, and the insufficiency of their position will be
disclosed further as this discussion turns from the negative to the
positive. It may well be pointed out that Arminians have not taken up
the security passages with candor and with an attempt to reconcile
these to their insecurity contention. A collection of mere negatives
sustained by human guesses has no claim to the title a system of
Christian theology.” 214
I ask you, the jurist, in all seriousness, “Who would offer a Negative
gospel and an unsecured salvation?” In the OT, as Balak attempted to
have Balaam curse the Israelites - before they failed to enter the
promised land - while they were still under the divine power of grace in
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the Exodus and not self-imposed law, God responded to Balak, “I see no
iniquity in Jacob.”
Should even one of the following indictments be admitted, the entire
construction of tradition embodied in the de facto Christianity supported
by the Rectoral or Governmental theory of atonement will collapse upon
itself. This will be for you to decide based on the evidence to be
submitted to you - the unique jurist.

The Articles of Indictment will now be presented:

939 940

The Indictment, Testimony, and Prosecution of the Negative
Gospel
Articles of Indictment
I.
It is a denial of Original Sin, the resulting Sin Nature, and the
subsequent Wrath of God towards all unregenerate men as the need for
the death of Christ.
II.
It is a denial of Christianity therefore it is religious humanism.
III.
It is a denial of Eternal Salvation and the reason Christ lives as
Advocate and Intercessor.
IV.
It is a denial of Substitutionary Penalty and Propitiation; the essential
cause and effect by which God forgives men unconditionally by grace
through faith in Christ for belief in a completed forgiveness.
A. The Negative gospel for the forgiveness of personal sins is not
the fully developed “my gospel” revealed to Paul for the
propagation of Christianity.
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B. The tenet of the Grotian Governmental theory of atonement is
humanistic because it is primarily man ward, and secondarily
god ward.
C. The Governmental theory of atonement assigns a sub-Christian
death to Jesus Christ. That Christ was “made to be sin” and
“died for the sins of the world” is denied.
D. The one dimensional loving God who trades forgiveness of
personal sins for penitence is not the Father of divine conscience
and honesty who provided the sacrifice of His Son as atonement
for the expiation and propitiation of sin that accomplished the
reconciliation and salvation of men through faith in the finished
work of Christ.
The following are preliminary proofs of this indictment.
I. Original Sin
“He who holds fast to the witness of Scripture and conscience to
sin as sin (anomia) cannot deduce it from creation, but must accept
the conclusion that it began with a transgression of God’s command
and thus with a deed of the will. Pythagoras, Plato, Kant, Schelling,
Baader have all understood and acknowledged this with more or less
clearness. He who denies the Fall must explain sin as a necessity
which had its origin in the Creation, in the nature of things, and
therefore in God Himself; he justifies man but accuses God,
misrepresents the character of sin and makes it everlasting and
indefeasible. For if there had not been a fall into sin, there is no
redemption of sin possible; sin then loses its merely ethical
942

significance, becomes a trait of the nature of man, and is
215
inexterminable.”
“The message of the Bible is one of redemption from that estate in
sin which, according to the Sacred Text, must be due to the fall. Thus
the whole Biblical revelation comes to be without reason or reality
when the fall of man is denied. … By the immediate experience of
spiritual death man’s first parents were converted downward and
became a kind of being wholly different from that which God created.
… Proof of this is found in the record that the first-born was a
murderer, and in the intimation that Abel recognized his own sin
when he presented a slain lamb as his offering to Jehovah. From that
fall of the first parents every member of the human race is blighted
and they, each one for himself, must accept God’s redeeming grace or
go on to the consummation of spiritual ruin which consummation is
known as the second death (cf. Rev 2:11; 20:14; 21:8). Thus the
216
effect of the fall is universal.”
II. Christianity
Christ is forgiveness and salvation by faith in Him. Christ was the
propitiation (cf. Rom 3:24; John 2:2; 4:10). The doctrine of the Negative
gospel for the forgiveness of Sins is due to a willful focus on personal
sins as illustrated by compounded denials. These are the stated denials of
the source of original sin and the denial of the imputed original sin
contained in Romans 5:12, that is continued through to verse 21 and
further supported by John 3:6. This denial is maintained only by a four
hundred year old translation that points to personal present sin. The KJV
rendered “have” in “all have sinned” (Romans 5:12). All major
943
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translations; NIV, NASB, and AMP render “all sinned” and disagree
with this willful ignorance, as do any competent Greek translators. The
Negative gospel would maximize this flawed translation in verse 12 and
deny and censor the declaration by God in the verses that follow, which
include: “And the gift is not like the one who sinned. For judgment,
resulting from the one transgression, led to condemnation, but the
gracious gift from the many failures led to justification. For if, by the
transgression of the one man [Adam], death reigned through the one,
how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of
the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ!”
(Rom 5:16-17 NET).
That Satan has been judged by God to be the original source of evil
has no credence in the Arminian view. Christianity is God’s graceful
creation whereby men that are ruined by sin are transformed by the
ministries of the Holy Spirit and regenerated into a progressive sinless
perfection. Saved men are perfected after the curse of death releases the
saved man from his inherited sin nature. This is the Christianity denied
by the Negative gospel. Arminian salvation is for a unique race of men
unaffected by the sin of Adam and thus not in need of the ministries of
the Holy Spirit and the ascended Jesus Christ who provide for eternal
salvation from the guilt and power of sin. This is the Christianity that the
Negative gospel would deny. Based on human imagination, a subjective
theory of atonement states that God decreed the crucifixion of Christ so
that man may be forgiven out of hand by God the Father for the sake of
His Rulership. Penitence, not faith, is the requirement for this out of
hand forgiveness. By denying the blood of the Lamb of God,
Arminianism has based salvation on Grotian concepts of mathematized
944

natural law that he himself said would exist if there were no God.
Whereby the essential truth of Christianity is denied.
III. There is “another Gospel” (Gal 1:6; 2 Cor 11:4) “which is not
another,” but a perversion of the Gospel of the grace of God, against
which we are warned. It has had many seductive forms, but the test is
one – it invariably denies the sufficiency of grace alone to save, keep,
and perfect, and mingles with grace some kind of human merit. In
Galatia it was law, in Colossi fanaticism (Col 2:18, etc.). In any form
its teachers lie under the awful anathema of God. (Scofield Reference
Bible, Dr. C. I. Scofield, p. 1343) (Bold italics mine, this writer)
Arminianism is not true Christianity and therefore guilty of religious
humanism. For this reason, the Negative gospel is guilty of “another
gospel” (Gal 1:8-9).
III. Eternal Salvation
The false doctrine of Arminian unsecured salvation and a future
determination is grounded upon the denial of truth in the Rectoral or
Governmental theory of atonement. These truths establish the eternal
security of God’s salvation:
1. imputed sin and imputed righteousness that are illogically
explained away in the Grotian Governmental theory of
atonement
2. the sin nature and the continuance of its effect on the saved
3. the merit of imputed righteousness through the baptism by the
Holy Spirit and the essential verse 1 Cor 12:13
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4. irreversible regeneration in John 3:5 and restated in John 3:7
5. reconciliation whereby all men stand forgiven of personal sin
6. the repeated emphatic eternal unity prayers of Jesus in John 17,
which looked forward to the work of the baptism by the Holy
Spirit where each believer is placed “in Christ,” “Ye in me and
I in you”
7. all eternal security and imputed righteousness verses contained
in Scripture
IV. Substitutionary Penalty and Propitiation
Lastly and most critically, the Negative gospel for the forgiveness of
personal sins is founded upon a theme of religious humanism and a
theory of atonement that would attribute a sub-Christian reason to the
voluntary, substitutionary penal death of Jesus Christ the Savoir of
mankind. For this reason a sub-Christian religion is conceived and
practiced by the denial of thirty-three immediate and seven future divine
undertakings that result in the transformation of a sinner, that taken
together, is the Christian salvation by grace that is offered in the Gospel
of the Grace of God.
A. The Negative gospel for the forgiveness of personal sins is not
the fully developed “my gospel” revealed to Paul for the
propagation of Christianity.
“My Gospel (Rom 2:16), which designation is used by the Apostle when
referring to all the revelation that was given him, namely, the gospel of
saving grace revealed to him in Arabia (cf. Gal 1:11-12) and also the
946

revelation respecting the Church as the one Body of Christ composed, as
it is, of believing Jews and Gentiles. To all this should be added the
range of truth which sets forth the Christian’s responsibility in daily life,
with the new and incomparable provisions for holy living through the
power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. The Apostle’s designation, “my
gospel,” is equivalent to Christianity when a direct, constructive, and
unrelated (to Judaism, etc.) consideration of Christianity is in view.” 217
B. The tenet of the Grotian Governmental theory of atonement is
humanistic because it is primarily manward, and secondarily
godward.
“Grotius, as those who follow him, distinguished between that which was
governmental and that which is personal in God with respect to His
judgment of sin. The theory proposes that God could not judge sin on a
personal basis or as that which outrages His holiness, since He is love,
but He must judge sin on the ground of His rectoral or governmental
relation to man. No penalty falls on a substitute [Christ] and the penitent
218
sinner is forgiven as an act of divine compassion.”
C. The Governmental theory of atonement assigns a sub-Christian
death to Jesus Christ. That Christ was “made to be sin” and
“died for the sins of the world” is denied.
“The Rectoral or Governmental theory contends that in His death Christ
provided a vicarious suffering, but that it was in no way a bearing of
punishment. The advocates of this theory object to imputation in all its
forms, especially that human sin was ever imputed to Christ or that the
947
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righteousness of God is ever imputed to those who believe. … That there
was a substitution of the most absolute character both as respects merit
and demerit, which does not become effective apart from a vital union
with Christ – the result of saving faith – but does accrue to all who are in
Christ, is rejected. … To say, as they do, that Christ’s sufferings were
sacrificial but not punitive, is equal to saying that Christ answered by His
death some divine necessity other than the penalty which sin incurs from
divine holiness and divine government. It is asserted that the sin of man
caused God to suffer and that the suffering fell on Christ, though he
Father was in complete rapport with the Son in he Hour of suffering. The
sufferings are said to manifest thus divine compassion rather than penal
judgment. When so estimated it is declared, the sufferings are not
lessened nor is their efficacy reduced. By these sufferings of Christ, God
reveals His holy hatred for sin, and, by an actual demonstration on the
cross, He displays the distress which sin causes Him. This is allowed to
pass as an objective value of Christ’s death God ward, and is as near to
propitiation as the system is able to approach.
The plea of those who hold the Governmental theory is that , since
God is love and ever has been, there is no occasion for Him to be
propitiated. Yet Scripture declares that the unsaved are “children of
wrath” (Eph 2:3) and that by His death Christ has rendered God
propitious (1 John 2:2). In its objective value man ward, or as it effects
the sinner for whom He died, it can mean no more than a moral influence
such as would arise in the mind of one who is impressed by the spectacle
of divine sorrow for sin and compassion for the sinner. By so much, the
death of Christ accomplishes no change in the estate of the sinner. This is
as near to reconciliation as the theory may come; yet the Bible declares
that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, and, by that
948

death, so changed the estate of men that He is now not imputing their
trespasses unto them (2 Cor 5:19). Similarly, considering the value of
Christ’s death sunward, according to this theory God is safe, in a
governmental sense, in forgiving the one who is rendered penitent by the
recognition of the fact of Christ’s death; and that is as near as the system
may approach to a redemption. Yet this Christ, according to His own
declaration, gave His life “as a ransom for many” (Matt 20:28; cf. Mark
0:45; 1 Tim 2:6). The theory is exhausted by its one claim that, on the
rectoral or governmental side of the divine requirements, having by
Christ’s death demonstrated the divine estimation of evil and by His
sacrificial suffering displayed the divine compassion, God may with
safety to His government pardon in a sovereign manner the sinner who,
being influenced by the fact of Christ’s death, is penitent. Divine
government is thought to be protected sufficiently in the maintenance of
its holy standards if forgiveness as a divine generosity is extended to the
penitent. Labored arguments have been presented to demonstrate that a
forgiveness based on an expression of divine displeasure concerning sin
– which expression is accepted as a form of atonement for sin – is not a
sovereign forgiveness, but is based on a worthy ground. Such arguments
fail to carry any weight of conviction with those who oppose the theory.”
219
D. The one dimensional simplistic loving God - created by the
imagination of men - who trades forgiveness of personal sins for
penitence is not the Father of divine conscience and honesty that
provided the sacrifice of His Son as atonement. A satisfactory
atonement that achieved the expiation and propitiation of sin.
For this reason, men who reconcile themselves to God by faith
in the finished work of Christ are forgiven, positionally
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rhēma Christou ό λόγος τού Θεού en Christō
righteous “in Christ”, and redeemed for all eternity from
condemnation.
“In tracing the genealogy of Christ back to Adam, Luke accounts for
Adam’s existence by declaring him to be a son or creation of God (Luke
3:38). This, most evidently, is sonship by right of creation – the only
conception of divine fatherhood which an unregenerate person can
entertain. The Apostle similarly quotes the pagan poets as asserting that
all men are the offspring of God thus (cf. Acts 17:28). All men may
indeed be considered sons of God inasmuch as they owe their existence
to Him. This greatly restricted conception has been seized upon by
modern men, however, as a basis for a supposed universal sonship and
universal fatherhood of God on intimate terms. It should be remembered,
contrary to such an assumption, that Christ told the very authorities of the
Jewish nation how they were children of the devil (cf. John 8:44). Hence
sonship that is based on mere existence, which existence but links man to
God as Creator, must be far removed from a sonship which is the estate
of each believer – regenerated, born of God, and member of the family of
God as he is.” 220
This concludes the indictment of the Negative gospel by the pro-
secution. The witness for the defense of the Arminian Rectoral or
Governmental theory of atonement will be next.
950

Rom 16:17 Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for
those who create dissensions and obstacles contrary to the teaching
that you learned. Avoid them! 16:18 For these are the kind who do
not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By their smooth
talk and flattery they deceive the minds of the naive. NET
Eph 4:14 So we are no longer to be children, tossed back and forth
by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery
of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes.19 NET
19tn While the sense of the passage is clear enough, translation in
English is somewhat difficult. The Greek says: “by the trickery of men,
by craftiness with the scheme of deceit.” The point is that the author is
concerned about Christians growing into maturity. He is fearful that
certain kinds of very cunning people, who are skilled at deceitful
scheming, should come in and teach false doctrines which would in turn
stunt the growth of the believers
1 Tim 1:3 As I urged you when I was leaving for Macedonia, stay on
in Ephesus to instruct certain people not to spread false teachings, 1:4
nor to occupy themselves with myths and interminable genealogies.
Such things promote useless speculations rather than God’s
redemptive plan that operates by faith. NET
rhēma Christou ό λόγος τού Θεού en Christō
and verbal disputes. This gives rise to envy, dissension, slanders, evil
suspicions, 6:5 and constant bickering by people corrupted in their
minds and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a way
of making a profit. NET
John 7:14 When the feast was half over, Jesus went up to the temple
courts and began to teach. 7:15 Then the Jewish leaders were
astonished and said, “How does this man know so much when he has
never had formal instruction?” 7:16 So Jesus replied, “My teaching is
not from me, but from the one who sent me.
7:17 If anyone wants to do God’s will, he will know about my
teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from my own
authority.
7:18 The person who speaks on his own authority desires to receive
honor for himself; the one who desires the honor of the one who sent
him is a man of integrity, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
NET

1 Tim 4:1 Now the Spirit explicitly says that in the later times some
will desert the faith and occupy themselves with deceiving spirits and
demonic teachings, 4:2 influenced by the hypocrisy of liars whose
Waiting for Godot
consciences are seared. NET Waiting for Godot is one of the
best-known plays of the Irish-
1 Tim 4:6 By pointing out such things to the brothers and sisters, you born writer Samuel Beckett. The
will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, having nourished yourself on tramps Vladimir and Estragon,
the words of the faith and of the good teaching that you have shown here, wait for Godot, who
followed. 4:7 But reject those myths fit only for the godless and never arrives. Beckett’s play
gullible, and train yourself for godliness. NET addresses the absurdity of, and
need for, hope.
1 Tim 4:10 In fact this is why we work hard and struggle, because we Corbis/Robbie Jack
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2006.
have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all people,
© 1993-2005 Microsoft
especially of believers. NET Corporation. All rights reserved.

1 Tim 6:3 If someone spreads false teachings and does not agree with
sound words (that is, those of our Lord Jesus Christ) and with the
teaching that accords with godliness, 6:4 he is conceited and
understands nothing, but has an unhealthy interest in controversies
951 952

“The Necessity for Atonement”
The following citation is from Dr. John Miley, who will be stating
and defending the Rectoral or Governmental theory of atonement against
the biblical doctrine of “Completed Satisfaction”:
(1). An Answer to the Real Necessity. – The redemptive mediation
implies a necessity for it. There should be, and in scientific consistency
must be, an accordance between a doctrine of atonement and the ground
of its necessity. The moral theory finds in the ignorance and evil
tendencies of man a need for the higher moral truth and motive than
reason affords; a need for all the higher truths and motives of the Gospel.
There is such a need – very real and very urgent. And Christ has
graciously supplied the help so needed. But we yet have no part of the
necessity for an objective ground of forgiveness. Hence this scheme does
not answer to the real necessity for an atonement. Did the necessity arise
out of an absolute justice which must punish sin, the theory of
satisfaction would be in accord with it, but without power to answer to its
requirement, because such a necessity precludes substitutional
atonement. i We do find the real necessity in the interests of moral
government – interests which concern the divine glory and authority, and
the welfare of moral beings. Whatever will conserve these ends while
opening the way of forgiveness answers to the real necessity in the case.
Precisely this is done by the atonement we maintain. In the requirement
of the sacrifice of Christ as the only ground of forgiveness the standard
of the divine estimate of sin is exalted, and merited penalty is rendered
more certain respecting all who fail of forgiveness through redemptive
grace. And these are the special moral forces whereby the divine law
may restrain sin, protect rights, guard innocence, and secure the common
welfare. Further, the doctrine we maintain not only gives to these
salutary forces the highest moral potency, but also combines with them
the yet higher force of divine love as revealed in the marvelous means of
our redemption. Thus, while the highest good of moral beings is secured,
the divine glory receives its highest revelation. The doctrine has,
i
“Be ye holy for I am holy,” is not an exhortation to righteous conduct, it is a
command to be humbly recognized as impossible. “I know it is so of a truth: but how
should man be just with God?” (Job 9:2). Which can only be fulfilled in the
imputation of the righteousness of Christ. Thus, the real necessity for a
substitutionary at-one-ment. Additionally, an important distinction is - in NT
principle the word “for,” meaning instead of or on behalf of what Christ did for man
in a vicarious or substitutionary sense, is used in every passage where the death of
Christ is redemptive, as in “a ransom for all,” (Mtw 20:28; Mark 10:45; 1 Tim 2:6).
953
rhēma Christou ό λόγος τού Θεού en Christō
therefore, not only the support derived from an answer to real necessity
for an atonement, but also the commendation of a vast increase in the
moral forces of the divine government.
(2). Grounded in the deepest Necessity. – We are here in direct issue with
the doctrine of satisfaction: for here its advocates make special claim in
its favor, and urge special objections against ours. We already have the
principles and facts which must decide the question. In their scheme, the
necessity lies in an absolute obligation of justice to punish sin, and
ultimately in a divine punitive disposition. But we have previously
shown that there is no such necessity. i We have maintained a punitive
disposition in God; but we also find in him a compassion for the very
sinners whom his justice so condemns. And we may as reasonably
conclude that his disposition of clemency will find its satisfaction in a
gratuitous forgiveness of all as that he will not forgive any, except on the
equivalent punishment of a substitute. Who can show that the punitive
disposition is the stronger? ii We challenge the presentation of a fact in its
expression that shall parallel the cross in its disposition of mercy. iii And
with no absolute necessity for the punishment of sin, it seems clear iv that
i
The core meaning of this entire scheme is derived from conjecture. It is assumed
that Christ provided help and then immediately prior to footnote 2, the author only
surmised, not from Scripture, but stated his own, non-argued, argumentum ad
libitum, quick and slick by the use of the one word precludes substituitional
atonement, an insinuation – of which he burdens the reader to grasp and agree with
him, what he with rhetorical skill does not openly state, in the following unspoken
conclusion, – that, patently, if punishment to satisfy justice was a requirement, then
only the punishment of the guilty would satisfy that requirement. To the contrary,
God’s method is “water and blood.” Without the first cleansing by blood, water is of
no effect. “Unless I wash your feet you have no part in me.” Thus, he has leaped over
all biblical principle that applies to atonement and to the blood of Christ. From this
expedient insinuation, flows the balance of his rationale, as he here emphasizes. A
quick review of the trial of Jesus by Caiphas will show that it was altogether
expedient.
ii
Angels are God’s first beloved creation of free moral agents. Satan and his
rebellious angels are not forgiven, stated in the fact that the Lake of Fire was created
specifically for Satan.
iii
Salvation by undeserved grace satisfies mercy. The cross was not mercy, it was an
expression of the exceedingly sinfulness of sin that could not be forgiven. It is the
epitome of the expression of God’s wrath. It required that God himself should die as
a creature of His own hand to cleanse His creation of sin. And this done, irrespective
that any man should ever avail himself of salvation.
iv
Where is the point of clarity argued? Because Dr. Miley himself stated, “there is no
absolute necessity for the punishment of sin” because no one can show a greater
parallel in that the cross was an “expression” and “disposition” of mercy, which it
was not?
954

but for the requirement of rectoral justice compassion would triumph
over the disposition of a purely retributive justice. Hence this alleged
absolute necessity for an atonement is really no necessity at all. i What is
the necessity in the governmental theory? It is such as arises in the
rightful honor and authority of the divine Ruler, ii and in the rights and
interests in the moral beings under him. The free remission of sins
without an atonement would be their surrender. Hence divine justice
itself, still having all its punitive disposition, but infinitely more
concerned for these rights than in the mere retribution of sins, must
interpose all its authority in bar of a mere administrative forgiveness. The
divine holiness and goodness, infinitely concerned for these great ends,
must equally bar a forgiveness in their surrender. The divine justice,
holiness, and love must, therefore, combine in the imperative
requirement of an atonement in Christ as the necessary ground of
forgiveness. These facts ground it in the deepest necessity. The rectoral
ends of moral government are a profounder imperative with justice itself
than the retribution of sin, simply as such. One stands before the law in
the demerit of crime. His demerit renders his punishment just. Though
not a necessity. But the protection of others, who would suffer wrong
through his impunity, makes his punishment an obligation of judicial
rectitude. The same principles are valid in the divine government. The
demerit of sin imposes no obligation of punishment upon the divine
Ruler; but the protection of rights and interests by means of merited
penalty is a requirement of his judicial rectitude, except as that protection
can be secured through some other means. It is true, therefore, that the
rectoral atonement is grounded in the deepest necessity. iii
(3). Rectoral Value of Penalty. – We have sufficiently distinguished
between the purely retributive and the rectoral offices of penalty. The
former respects simply the demerit of sin; the latter, the great ends to be
attained through the ministry of justice and law. As the demerit of sin is
i
Again, another conclusion, without a stated deduction nor induction, drawn from
the strength of his own non-argued insinuations. Both of Dr. Miley’s theological legs
are too short to reach the ground.
ii
Note, He nor Him, when referring to God, was previously capitalized, but here,
Ruler is capitalized. Dr. Miley’s contemporaries do use capitals for pronouns when
referring to God in their writings.
iii
What I understood Dr. Miley to say: – God punished Christ to make it possible
for Him to punish men because His forgiveness for all sin would not be fair to the
men who are the subjects of His primary concern, His Rulership, His government.
I’m getting the distinct impression of a genius Mentalist with a Ruler-god complex.
I’ll reserve any more running commentary until my response at the end of this
citation.
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the only thing justly punishable, the retributive element always
conditions the rectoral office of justice; but the former is conceivable
without the latter. Penal retribution may, therefore, be viewed as a
distinct fact, and entirely in itself. As such, it is simply the punishment of
sin because of its demerit, and without respect to any other reason or end.
But as we rise to the contemplation of divine justice in its infinitely
larger sphere, and yet not as an isolated attribute, but in its inseparable
association with infinite holiness, and wisdom, and love, as attributes of
one divine Ruler over innumerable moral beings, we must think his
retribution of sin always has ulterior ends in the interest of his moral
government. We therefore hold all divine punishment to have a strictly
rectoral function. Punishment is the resource of all righteous government.
Every good ruler will seek to secure obedience, and all other true ends of
a wise and beneficent administration, through the highest and best
means. Of no other is this so true as of the divine Ruler. On the failure of
such means there is still the resource of punishment which shall put in
subjection the harmful agency of the incorrigible. Thus rights and
interests are protected. This protection is a proper rectoral value of
penalty, but a value only realized in its execution. There is a rectoral
value of penalty simply as an element of law. It has such value in a
potency of influence upon human conduct. A little analysis will reveal its
salutary forces. Penalty, in its own nature, and also, through the moral
ideas with which it is associated, makes its appeal to certain motivities in
man. As it finds a response therein, so has it a governing influence, and a
more salutary influence as the response is to the higher associated ideas.
First of all, penalty, as an element of law, appeals to an instinctive fear.
The intrinsic force of the appeal is determined by its severity and the
certainty of its execution; but the actual influence is largely determined
by the state of our subjective motivity. Some are seemingly quite
insensible to the greatest severity and certainty of threatened penalty,
while others are deeply moved thereby. Human conduct is, in fact, thus
greatly influenced. This, however, is the lowest power of penalty as a
motive; yet it is not without value. Far better is it that evil tendencies
should be restrained, and outward conformity to law secured, through
such fear than not at all. The chief rectoral value of penalty, simply as an
element of law, is through the moral ideas which it conveys, and the
response which it thus finds in the moral reason. As the answers to these
ideas in the helpful activities of conscience and the profounder sense of
obligation, so the governing force of penalty takes the higher form of
moral excellence. As it becomes the clear utterance of justice itself in the
declaration of rights in all their sacredness, and in the reprobation of
crime in all its form of injury or wrong, and depth of punitive desert, so it
956

conveys the imperative lessons of duty, and rules through the profounder
principles of moral obligation. Now rights are felt to be sacred, and
duties are filled because they are such, and not from fear of the penal
consequences of their violation or neglect. The same facts have the
fullest application to penalty as an element of divine law. Here its higher
rectoral value will be, and can only be, through the higher revelation of
God in his moral attributes as ever active in all moral administration.
(4). Rectoral Value of Atonement. – The sufferings of Christ, as a proper
substitute for the punishment, must fulfill the office of penalty in the
obligatory ends of moral government. The manner of fulfillment is
determined by the nature of the service. As the salutary rectoral force of
penalty, as an element of law, is specially through the moral ideas which
it reveals, so the vicarious sufferings of Christ must reveal like moral
ideas, and rule through them. Not else can they take the place of penalty
as they reveal God in his justice, holiness, and love; in his regard for his
own honor and law; in his concern for the rights and interests of moral
beings; in his reprobation of sin as intrinsically evil, utterly hostile to his
own rights and to the welfare of his subjects. Does the atonement in
Christ reveal such truths? We answer, Yes. Nor do we need the
impossible penal element of the theory of satisfaction for any part of this
revelation. God reveals his profound regard for the sacredness of his law,
and for the interests which it conserves, by what he does for their support
and protection. In direct legislative and administrative forms he ordains
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rhēma Christou ό λόγος τού Θεού en Christō
his law, with declarations of its sacredness and authority; embodies in it
the weightiest sanctions of reward and penalty; reprobates in severest
terms all disregard of its requirements, and all violation of the rights and
interests which it would protect; visits upon transgression the fearful
penalties of his retributive justice, though always at the sacrifice of his
compassion. The absence of such facts would evince an indifference to
the great concerned; while their presence evinces, in the strongest
manner possible to such facts, the divine regard for these interest. The
facts, with the moral ideas they embody, give weight and salutary
governing power to the divine law. The omission of the penal element
would, without a proper rectoral substitution, leave the law in utter
weakness. Now let the sacrifice of Christ be substituted for the primary
necessity of punishment, and as the sole ground of forgiveness. But we
should distinctly note what it replaces in the divine law and wherein it
may modify the divine administration. The law remains, with all its
precepts and sanctions. Penalty is not annulled. There is no surrender of
the divine honor and authority. Rights and interests are no less sacred,
nor guarded in feebler terms. Sin has the same reprobation; penalty the
same imminence and severity respecting all persistent impenitence and
unbelief. The whole change in the divine economy is this – that on the
sole ground of the vicarious sacrifice of Christ all who repent and
believe may be forgiven and saved. This is the divine substitution for
the primary necessity of punishment. While, therefore, all other facts in
the divine legislation and administration remain the same, and in an
unabated expression of truths of the highest rectoral force and value, this
divine sacrifice in atonement for sin replaces the lesson of a primary
necessity for punishment with its own higher revelation of the same
salutary truths; rather it adds its own higher lesson to that penalty. As
penalty remains in its place, remissible, indeed, on proper conditions, yet
certain of execution in all cases of unrepented sin, and, therefore, often
executed in fact, the penal sanction of law still proclaims all the rectoral
truth which it may utter. Hence the sacrifice of Christ in atonement for
sin, and in the declaration of the divine righteousness in forgiveness, is
an additional and infinitely higher utterance of the most salutary moral
truths. The cross is the highest revelation of all the truths which embody
the best moral forces of the divine government. The atonement in Christ
is so original and singular in many of its facts that it is the more difficult
to find in human facts the analogies for its proper illustration. Yet there
are facts not without service here. An eminent lecturer, in a recent
discussion of the atonement, has given notoriety to a measure of Bronson
Alcott in the government of his school. He substituted his own
chastisement for the infliction of penalty upon his offending pupil,
958

receiving the affliction at the hand of the offender. No one can rationally
think such a substitution penal, or that the sin of the pupil was expiated
by the stripes which the master suffered instead. The substitution
answered simply for the disciplinary ends of penalty. Without reference
either to the theory of Bronson Alcott or to the interpretation of Joseph
Cook, we so state the case as obvious in the philosophy of its own facts.
Such office it might well fulfill. And we accept the report of the very
salutary result, not only certified by the most reliable authority, but also
as intrinsically most credible. No one in the school, and to be ruled by its
discipline, could henceforth think less gravely of any offense against its
laws. No one could think either that the master regarded with lighter
reprobation the evil of such offense, or that he was less resolved upon a
rigid enforcement of obedience. All these ideas must have been
intensified, and in a manner to give them the most helpful influence. The
vicarious sacrifice of the master became a potent and most salutary moral
element in the government maintained. Even the actual punishment of
the offender could not have so secured obedience for the sake of its own
obligation and excellence. We may also instance the case of Zaleucus,
very familiar in discussions of atonement, though usually accompanied
with such denials of analogy as would render it useless for illustration. It
is useless on the theory of satisfaction, but valuable on a true theory.
Zaleucus was lawgiver and ruler of the Locrians, a Grecian colony early
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founded in southern Italy. His laws were severe, and his administration
rigid; yet both were well suited to the manners of the people. His own
son was convicted of violating a law, the penalty of which was blindness.
The case came to Zaleucus both as ruler and father. Hence there was a
conflict in his soul. He would have been an unnatural father, and of such
a character as to be unfit for a ruler, had he suffered no conflict of
feeling. His people entreated his clemency for his son. But, as a
statesman he knew that the sympathy which prompted such entreaty
could be but transient; that in the reaction he would suffer their
accusation of partiality and injustice; that his laws would be dishonored
and his authority broken. Still there was the conflict of soul. What should
he do for the reconciliation of the ruler and the father? In this exigency
he devised an atonement by the substitution of one of his own eyes for
one of his son’s. This was a provision above law and retributive justice.
Neither had any penalty for the father on account of the sin of the son.
The substitution therefore, was not penal. The vicarious suffering was
not in any sense retributive. It could not be so. All the conditions for
penal retribution were wanting. No one can rationally think that the sin of
the son, or any part of it, was expiated by the suffering of his father in his
stead. The transference of sin as a whole is unreasonable enough; but
the idea of a division of it, a part being left with the actual sinner and
punished in him, and the other part being transferred to a substitute and
being punished in him, transcends all the capabilities of rational thought.
960

The substitution, without being penal, did answer for the rectoral office
of penalty. The ruler fully protected his own honor and authority. Law
still voiced its behests and sanctions with unabated force. And the
vicarious sacrifice of the ruler upon the alter of his parental compassion,
and as well as upon the alter of his administration, could but intensify all
the ideas which might command for him honor and authority as a ruler,
or give to his laws a salutary power over his people. This, therefore, is a
true case of atonement through vicarious suffering, and in close analogy
to the divine atonement. In neither case is the substitution for the
retribution of sin, but in each for the sake of the rectoral ends of penalty,
and thus constitutes the objective ground of its remissibility. We have,
therefore, in this instance a clear and forceful illustration of the rectoral
value of the atonement. But so far we have presented this value in its
nature rather than its measure. This will find its proper place in the
sufficiency of the atonement.
(5). Only Sufficient Atonement. - Nothing could be more fallacious than
the objection that the governmental theory is in any sense acceptilational,
or implicitly indifferent to the character of the substitute in atonement. In
the inevitable logic of its deepest and most determining principles it
excludes all inferior substitutions and requires a divine sacrifice as the
only sufficient atonement. Only such a substitution can give adequate
expression to the great truths which may fulfill the rectoral office of
penalty. The case of Zaleucus may illustrate this. Many other devices
were also at his command. He, no doubt, had money, and might have
essayed the purchase of impunity for his son by the distribution of large
sums. In his absolute power he might have substituted the blindness of
some inferior person. But what would have been the signification or
rectoral value of any such measure? It could give no answer to the real
necessity in the case, and must have been utterly silent respecting the
great truths imperatively requiring affirmation in any adequate
substitution. The sacrifice of one of his own eyes for one of his sons did
give the requisite affirmation, while nothing below it could. So in the
substitution of Christ for us. No inferior being and no inferior sacrifice
could answer, through the expression and affirmation of great rectoral
truths, for the necessary ends of penalty. And, as we shall see in the
proper place, no other theory can so fully interpret and appropriate all the
facts in the sacrifice of Christ. It has a place and a need for every element
of atoning value in his substitution. (Ibid., Vol 2, pp 176-84, cited in
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 3, pp 147-153) (bold italics
and highlights mine, this writer)
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Witnesses for the Prosecution - Analysis and Response
This writer:
Superficial views of an all-important cosmic government may only
contain a dishonoring evaluation of the work of Christ. I ask: If this
loving God who can deny Himself and overcome His wrath for judgment
against sin, was He the same God that authored the Flood and the
writings of the prophet Ezekiel? The O.T. prophet who wrote the words
of God, “You will not be cleansed from your uncleanness until I have
fully unleashed my anger upon you. I the LORD have spoken: judgment is
coming and I will act. I will not relent, or show pity, or change my mind.
I will judge you according to your conduct and your deeds, declares the
Sovereign LORD” (Ezk 24:13-14 NET).
The underlying principles proposed by Dr. Miley are not to be found
in the Scriptures of Truth and, without exception, are an insult to the
sacrifice of the Son of God for the sin of man. It is an argumentum ad
exemplum. Initially, the learned Dr. Miley seems to have excised his NT
Bible from all mention of the much prized word that recognizes the
crowning completion of salvation in this life – justification. Justification
is the act of a judge requiring due payment of penalty, not that of a
“Ruler” maintaining a common good. God is and can only be - good.
Additionally, Dr. Miley completely confuses human forgiveness as
divine forgiveness. Whereas the latter demands the just payment of a
debt for satisfaction – divine substitutions who actually suffer the penalty
being acceptable. And, the former may only relinquish the right to be
satisfied. Thirdly, Dr. Miley has made partial use of the doctrine of
reconciliation in his scheme of forgiveness. Although the unsaved may
be forgiven, this forgiveness is but one part of divine salvation. The
sinner is reconciled (changed thoroughly from unsavable to savable) and
God is propitiated (completely satisfied) by the redeeming reconciliation
and propitiation provided by the substitutionary sacrificial death of
Christ. However, forgiveness may not be claimed by the unregenerate,
i.e., those not “born from above” (begotten) by God the Father, baptized
into Christ, indwelt, and sealed “until the day of redemption” by the Holy
Spirit until saving trust is placed in the finished work of Christ. The
simple message and truth of the gospel of grace is to trust that the one
who believes is forgiven all sins by the once-and for-all sacrifice of
Christ. The Governmental theory asserts that one is forgiven after tru Dr.
Miley’s theory lacks the ability to produce the desired result - salvation.
This Governmental theory of atonement is inadequate in that it lacks the
“necessity” of usefulness.
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As to the origins of the Governmental theory, one may note, Hugo mathematicians treat their figures as abstracted from bodies, so in
Grotius was a Dutchman, who possessed the inherent baggage of the treating law I have withdrawn my mind from every particular fact” (De
national beginnings of the emerging global power of Holland in the 17th Iure Belli ac Pacis; On the Law of War and Peace, 1625).”
century. A country that was fighting for freedom from Spanish rule. The Additionally, the political content in the scheme of Governmental
Dutch equivalent of our George Washington was the one-eyed Clavius atonement, based as it is in ancient emperor worship contained in Roman
Civilus (cf. “Zaleucus”; the late works of Rembrandt) who deserted the Caesarian law, is more in the vein of early 20th century Italian Fascism.i
Roman army to lead the Batavians to independence. The following is a To think of God in natural, material terms as an all powerful ruler is most
an excerpt from Encarta: “Earlier, his [Hugo Grotius] efforts to moderate unlike communism, but greatly related to the smoke and mirror social
a bitter doctrinal dispute among Dutch Calvinists had embroiled him in a engineering for a common beneficial good and the peaceful co-existence
political clash between his province of Holland and the rest of the Dutch ideal of fascist intolerance. For example, during his public appearances
Republic and its orthodox majority. He was sentenced to life in the United States in the late 1950’s the darling of the American press,
imprisonment in 1619 but escaped to Paris in 1621. There he finished De the “El Loco” Cuban attorney, the hero of the July 26 slaughter of
Veritate Religionis Christianae (On the Truth of the Christian Religion, Batista’s army forces sleeping in the barracks at Moncado, and the leader
1627), a nonsectarian statement of basic Christian beliefs that was widely of the revolt hiding in the Sierra
translated and won Grotius great acclaim. His voluminous writings Maestra whose famous claim was,
included other theological and legal works as well as poetry, histories, “History will absolve me” - Fidel
and classical translations. Castro - portrayed himself as an
The Dutch jurist Hugo idealist and his Cuban revolt as
Grotius is considered the “Green” not “Red.” He lied. Today’s
founder of the modern idealistic, South American democratic
theory of natural law. His socialism, based on the Christian ideals
break with Scholasticism of community, not private property,
is in methodology rather will be tomorrow’s military dictator-
than content. His ships. If I were to attempt to duplicate
definition of natural law the political hyperbole and rhetoric of
as that body of rules the Governmental theory espoused by
which can be discovered Dr. Miley, I would say: No one can
by the use of reason is pose a rational objection to this deepest
traditional, but in raising and most determining principle of the
the hypothetical argument undeniable logic of the salutary good that with the utmost force is stated
that his law would have to be the highest and most exalted rights of the state and the protection of
validity even if there were the rights of the individual to share in a common beneficial good – a
no God or if the affairs of
human beings were of no
i
concern to God, he Fascism, modern political ideology that seeks to regenerate the social, economic,
effected a divorce from and cultural life of a country by basing it on a heightened sense of national belonging
theological presuppose- or ethnic identity. Fascism rejects liberal ideas such as freedom and individual rights,
and often presses for the destruction of elections, legislatures, and other elements of
tions and prepared the democracy. Despite the idealistic goals of fascism, attempts to build fascist societies
way for the purely have led to wars and persecutions that caused millions of deaths. As a result, fascism
rationalistic theories of the is strongly associated with right-wing fanaticism, racism, totalitarianism, and
17th and 18th centuries. A second innovation of Grotius was to view this violence. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2006. © 1993-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights
law as deductive and independent of experience: “Just as the reserved.

963 964

common beneficial good which, incidentally, would be controlled by and
determined by a state with zero tolerance for dissent. The all hail Caesar,
who sacrificed his son (symbolized as the eye of Zaleucus) for the public
good motif of the Rectoral or Governmental theory, conceived by a man,
Hugo Grotius who was obsessed by the natural laws of this world, is not
the place to find God. The logic of this thinking, biblically, conforms to
the ideas embodied in a world controlled by the ultimate stealth control
freak, Satan, in this, the God permitted penumbra of our world - the
cosmos diabolicus. The entire concept is based in penalty and reward for
the superficial. The “Ruler” is not the Father that Jesus came to manifest
and, it is not the new law of life – to obey the gospel of the grace of God.
“Jesus replied, “This is the deed God requires—to believe in the one
whom he sent” (John 6:29).
Easton’s Bible Dictionary credits the revelation of justification to the
following: “The Epistle to the Galatians and that to the Romans taken
together "form a complete proof that justification is not to be obtained
meritoriously either by works of morality or by rites and ceremonies,
though of divine appointment; but that it is a free gift, proceeding
entirely from the mercy of God, to those who receive it by faith in Jesus
our Lord."” I would include the book of Hebrews, also, as it is outlined
from Galatians. Hebrews is intended to prove Christ is superior to Moses
and the Mosaic Law. Additionally, Hebrews states that salvation is a new
system under a new High Priest that lives forever to intercede for His
brothers and sisters “begotten of the Father.”
Once again, this theory is based on carrots and sticks. Regardless, that
the Governmental exempli gratia atonement theory predicts fear for
penalty, the effect of the stated cause is jealousy brought forth by the
inherited sin nature in all men that requires a completed satisfaction for
all sin by God in the substitutionary penal death of His Son.. When NT
Scripture is read without bias, one finds that God has designed
forgiveness in such a way as to preclude the competitive enticement of
merit. The passage quoted at the end of this paragraph describes the
motive of God as righteous judgment placed upon Christ, which makes
one worthy of the kingdom through the finished work of Christ.
Forgiveness is accomplished through belief in a righteous Christ who
bore our substitutionary judgment. The righteous wrath of judgment put
upon Christ made the “cleansing” of reconciliation possible.
Reconciliation is self-validating and forgiveness is not waggled as a
future competitive goal to those who do not obey the gospel and believe
that Christ paid a just penalty for all sin. It is not a solicitation to
pragmatism. It is stated in such a way that one may take it or leave it.
This is forgiveness for a belief that we could never merit our own
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forgiveness and righteousness which is not a call to a green-eyed envious
penitence that would compete with a Great Example to receive a
completed future satisfaction. A forgiveness that would deny
immediate divine transformation to substitute future behavior with divine
forgiveness in reformation is an insignificant surrogate. Belief in the
imputed righteousness of Christ excludes the stealth of a marketed, “I
will be like the most high God – You must forgive me” and the
underlying enticement, “You will be like gods,” originally conceived and
offered to Eve, who was deceived. To his credit and man’s federal
shame, Adam did not believe the false religious proposal, but only
desired his now pagan companion and boldly rejected God’s one
command. Thereby demonstrating by his actions, “My progeny be
damned, I will have my companion.” A sad excuse for a mother and
father were they both. They begat a murderer. They begat a race of
“marred,” apollumi, men and women that are doomed to “perish” in
eternal perdition unless they receive zōēn aiōnion, eternal life (cf. John
3:16). And this eternal life may be received only after the reality of a just
payment in penalty by the Righteous Substitute – Jesus Christ. Divine
wrath is most real. The Apostle Paul explains:
Rom 3:5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness
of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not
unrighteous, is he? (Grk “That God is not unjust to inflict wrath, is
he?”) (I am speaking in human terms.) 3:6 Absolutely not! For
otherwise how could God judge the world? NET
The Governmental theory meets the criteria for a biblical “strong
delusion” sent by God: “… and with every kind of evil deception
directed against those who are perishing, because they found no place in
their hearts for the truth so as to be saved. Consequently God sends on
them a deluding influence [23tn Grk “a working of error.”] so that they
will believe what is false. And so all of them who have not believed the
truth but have delighted in evil will be condemned” (2 Thess 2:10-12
NET).
2 Thess 1:5 This is evidence of God’s righteous judgment, to make
you worthy of the kingdom of God, for which in fact you are
suffering. 1:6 For it is right for God to repay with affliction those who
afflict you, 1:7 and to you who are being afflicted to give rest together
with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty
angels. 1:8 With flaming fire he will mete out punishment on those
who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
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1:9 They will undergo the penalty of eternal destruction, away from salvation based in the Word of God that states God’s judgment against
the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his strength, 1:10 when sin was completely satisfied. Thereby, a completed satisfaction and an
he comes to be glorified among his saints and admired on that day eternal salvation from the moment of saving faith is available to
among all who have believed—and you did in fact believe our whosoever and each and everyone of their earthly family with the never-
testimony. (bold highlights mine) NET ending assurance of son and daughtership in the heavenly family of God.
This, His New Creation of glorified humanity in Christ Jesus our Savior,
Whereas, NT Christianity, for me, is not to be a protected subject that now and forevermore.
is the property of a Cosmic State, it is to be a family member, with not a
shared, divine, and sinless blood, but a shared humanity that is to be Dr. B. B. Warfield:
glorified, and a shared pleroma [the very life of God; eternal life] that is
afforded by the “objective” at-one-ment. Objective meaning that the The Grotian theory has come to be the orthodox Arminian view -
authority of the Bible plainly states it. Heaven high revelation and world the theory, that is, that conceives the work of Christ not as supplying
wide subjective instrumentalism 221 are antithetical, sharing only the the ground on which God forgives sin, but only as supplying the
single orthodoxy that Christ, the Son of God, died on a cross. From this ground on which He may safely forgive sins on the sole ground of
single common point, Arminian Christianity leaves the Bible and enters His compassion - and is taught as such by the leading exponents of
into the proven allegory and fiction of the Rectoral theory of fear cited modern Arminian thought whether in Britain or America; and he who
above. The above citation is not abridged, it is an unabridged statement
by a leading theologian of Arminian Christianity. His thought and
writings have been taught and cited by generations of Arminian seminary
graduates. Thus, this de facto theory of atonement is well established
Christian fascism, spread by its derivative false negative gospel of
repent/believe and forgiven/saved to the naïve and ignorant. This theory
and the offshoot gospel is a parody of catholicizing. Biblically, in sense
and word root, faith-believe-repent are synonyms and are not required
separate acts. Over 130 verses state salvation is by belief only. Some, but
a very few, use two of these synonyms. An often repeated false
dichotomy does not a truth make. Repetition induces tradition.
Salvation is revealed to be a completed satisfaction began by the
sacrificial death of Christ and finalized by His resurrection and ad
interim ascension into heaven. This transformation is available by God
assisted faith. Who in their right mind would not desire, but reject the
thought of God’s assistance in salvation? Yes, faith is assisted, plainly
proven by the fact that it is His Son – His Bible – His Spirit - His
messengers – His plan - that assists simple trust in Christ for the “whole
enchilada” which is an eternal salvation in a new progressive state of
existence lived in the righteousness and the image of Christ.
The death of Christ is not just a mere cosmic background for
forgiveness of personal sins, it includes the judgment of the primary
source of sin - my inherited sin nature and my personal guilt in original will read the powerful argumentation to that effect by the late Dr.
sin. The forgiveness of inherited and personal sin produced by the sin John Miley, say for example, will be compelled to agree that it is,
nature was completed 2,000 years ago. This is to say, conclusively, indeed, the highest form of atonement doctrine conformable to the
whosoever will believe on Christ as Savior possesses a completed Arminian System. … In a word, wherever men have been unwilling
967 968

to drop all semblance of an “objective” atonement, as the word now
goes, they have taken refuge in this half-way house that Grotius has
builded for them. I do not myself look upon this as a particularly
healthful sign of the times. I do not myself think that, at bottom, there
is in principle much to choose between the Grotian and the so-called
“subjective” theories [non-Biblical personally conceived schemes,
this writer]. It seems to me only an illusion to suppose that it
preserves an “objective” atonement at all. But meanwhile it is
adopted by many because they deem it “objective,” and it so far bears
witness to a remnant desire to preserve an “objective” atonement. 222
Dr. Lewis Chafer:
As a summarization of this discussion of the Rectoral or Govern-
mental theory, three indictments may be lodged against this system.
(a) It is a hypothesis based on human reason, which makes no avowed
induction of the Scriptures on the theme which it essays to expound,
but contends that the Scriptures, by special interpretation, can be
made to harmonize with it.
(b) It attempts an impossible distinction between the sufferings of
Christ as sacrificial in contrast to the sufferings of Christ as penal.
The weakness of this distinction is well published in Dr. Miley’s two
illustrations, quoted above – the teacher punished in place of the pupil
and the Zaleucus who sacrificed his eye for the crime of his son. Of
these, Dr. Miley asserts that they could not be penal. If he means they
render no satisfaction to God for sin as God saw it, none will contend
with him; but within their sphere as related to human laws and
regulations, each became a definite penal substitute which not only
upheld the law that was involved, but gave, so far as human standards
may require, a righteous discharge of the offender. One fallacy which
dominates this theory lies hidden in the unrecognized distinction
which exists between divine and human governments.
(c) It restricts the scope of the value of Christ’s death to the one issue
of the forgiveness of the sins of the unsaved, the assumption being
that fallen man – if, indeed, man be fallen at all – needs no more than
the forgiveness of sin. The death of Christ unto the sin nature and the
death of Christ for imputed righteousness are either neglected or
rejected. 223
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Dr. B. B. Warfield:
We are getting more closely down to the real characteristic of modern
theories of the atonement when we note that there is a strong
tendency observable all around us to rest the forgiveness of sins
solely on repentance as its ground. In its last analysis, the Grotian
theory itself reduces to this. The demonstration of God’s
righteousness, which is held by it to be the heart of Christ’s work and
particularly His death, is supposed to have no other effect on God
than to render it safe for Him to forgive sin. And this does not as
effecting Him, but as effecting men – namely, by awakening in them
such a poignant sense of the evil of sin as to cause them to hate it
soundly and to turn decisively away from it. This is just Repentance.
We could desire no better illustration of this feature of the theory than
is afforded by the statement of it by one of its most distinguished
living advocates, Dr. Marcus Dods. The necessity of atonement, he
tells us, lies in the “need of some such demonstration of God’s
righteousness as will make it possible and safe for Him to forgive the
unrighteous.” Whatever begets in the sinner true penitence and impels
him towards the practice of righteousness will render it safe to forgive
him. Hence Dr. Dods asserts that it is inconceivable that God should
not forgive the penitent sinner, and that Christ’s work is summed up
in such an exhibition of God’s righteousness and love as produces, on
its apprehension, adequate repentance. “By being the source, then, of
true and fruitful penitence, the death of Christ removes the radical
subjective obstacle in the way of forgiveness.” “The death of Christ,
then, has made forgiveness possible, because it enables man to repent
with an adequate penitence and because it manifests righteousness
and binds men to God.” There is no hint here that man needs anything
more to enable him to repent than the presentation of motives
calculated powerfully to induce him to repent. That is to say, there is
no hint here of an adequate appreciation of the subjective effects of
sin on the human heart, deadening it to the appeal of motives to right
action however powerful, and requiring therefore an internal action of
the Spirit of God upon it before it can repent: or of the purchase of
such a gift of the a Spirit by the sacrifice of Christ. As little is there
any hint here of the existence of any sense of justice in God,
forbidding Him to account the guilty righteous without satisfaction of
guilt. All God requires for forgiveness is repentance: all the sinner
needs for repentance is a moving inducement. It is all very simple;
but we are afraid it does not go to the root of matters as presented
either in Scripture or in the throes of our awakened heart. 224
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This writer:
For a professing Christian belief system the Arminian concept of
atonement, like the Greek word hamartia, meaning sin, has completely
missed the mark. Man’s rationalizations can never weigh against God’s
revelations. From a grace understanding, this theory is comparable to
voluntarily using an incomplete deck of cards where in order to play a
game one needs to draft special senseless rules. Grotius, Miley, and
Wardlaw are to be given this measure of credit. It is to be expected from
a scheme that is drawn from natural law and not the heaven high divine
principles given in the Bible. The mercy seat, substitution, redemption,
reconciliation, propitiation, expiation, holiness, the cross, blood
atonement, imputation, and righteousness are not contained in the
Arminian scheme of atonement for the beggarly rights of Rulership.
Arminian human-styled forgiveness falls far short of the biblical
measures taken by God to secure the salvation of men. Dr. Charles Ryrie
would define and group atonement theories in the following manner:
Governmental – Grotius (1583-1645) Also Wardlaw and Miley.
God’s government demanded the death of Christ to show His
displeasure with sin. Christ also did not suffer the penalty of the Law,
but God accepted His suffering as a substitute for that penalty.
Penal Substitution – Calvin (1509-1564). Christ the sinless One took
on Himself the penalty that should have been borne by man and
others.
(1) Views that related the death of Christ to Satan (Origin and Aulen)
(2) Views that consider His death a powerful example to influence
people (Abelard, Socinus, Grotius, Barth).
(3) Views that emphasize punishment due to the justice of God and
substitution (perhaps Anselm – though deficient – and the
Reformers). Although there may be some truth in views that do not
include penal substitution, it is important to remember that such truth,
if there be some, cannot save eternally. Only the substitutionary death
of Christ can provide that which God’s justice demands and thereby
become the basis for the gift of eternal life to those who believe.
(Basic Theology, Dr. Charles Ryrie, p 356)
.
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Dr. Lewis Chafer:
The belief that Christ met the righteous demands of God against sin
has been the view of true believers in all their history, and because of
the fact that it is the plain testimony of the Word of God and the
natural conclusion whenever an unprejudiced induction of the Bible
teaching bearing on this theme is made. It remains, as it has been, the
unquestioned belief of expositors, conservative preachers, and
evangelists. …
As in contrast to all other theories regarding the value of the death
of Christ – including the Rectoral or Governmental – which entire
group restricts the work of Christ to the one undertaking of providing
a way by which the sinner may be forgiven, the doctrine of
satisfaction, because of its full accounting for all that the Bible
affirms, recognizes and includes the typical foreshadowings of the
Old Testament, and is as much concerned to be in accord with these
as with the New Testament antitypical teachings; it sustains from the
Word of God the actual substitution by Christ both in the field of
disobedience which He bore (άνгί) in the room and stead of the
sinner, and in the field of obedience which He offered to God in
behalf of those who are void of obedience; it incorporates the truth
that Christ by His death ended the entire merit-system for all who
believe; it respects the peculiar and far reaching doctrines of
redemption, reconciliation, and propitiation; it gives unreserved
consideration to the death of Christ in its relation to the sin nature and
the personal sins that flow out from it; it accounts for those specific
personal sins committed by Christians; it also advances into angelic
realms and into heaven itself. Compared to all of this, a theory which
cannot, by its limitations, expand beyond a gratuitous or sovereign
forgiveness of the personal sins of those who are unsaved is less than
a human gesture where naught but the mighty arm of the infinite One
can avail. Nor should it be overlooked that so-called theories are not
only hopelessly inadequate but they dishonor God by assuming that
He can disregard, if not insult, His own holiness by an attitude of
leniency toward sin; and, as has been stated, if divine leniency for sin
is once admitted, a principle is introduced which denies the Word of
God and besides, if extended to all sin, would account the death of
Christ foolishness.
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Dr. B. B. Warfield:
I am not meaning to imply that the doctrine of substitutive atonement
– which is after all the very heart of the gospel – has been lost from
the consciousness of the Church. It has not been lost from the hearts
of the Christian community. It is in its terms that the humble
Christian everywhere still expresses the grounds of his hope of
salvation. It is in its terms that the earnest evangelist everywhere still
presses the claims of Christ upon the awakened hearer. It has not even
been lost from the forum of theological discussion. It still commands
powerful advocates wherever a vital Christianity enters academical
circles: and, as a rule, the more profound the thinker, the more clear is
the note he strikes in his proclamation and defense. But if we were to
judge only by the popular literature of the day – a procedure happily
not possible – the doctrine of a substitutive atonement has retired well
into the background. Probably the majority of those who hold the
public ear, whether as academical or as popular religious guides, have
definitely broken with it, and are commending to their audiences
something other and, as they no doubt believe, something very much
better. A tone of speech has even grown up regarding it which is not
only scornful but positively abusive. There are no epithets too harsh
to be applied to it, no invectives too intense to be poured out on it. An
honored Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church tells us that “the
whole theory of substitutional punishment as a ground either of
conditional or unconditional pardon is unethical, contradictory, and
self-subversive” (Bishop Foster, in his “Philosophy of Christian
Experience”: 1891, p. 113). He may rightly claim to be speaking in
this sweeping sentence with marked discretion and unwonted charity.
To do justice to the hateful theme requires, it seems, the tumid
turmoil and rushing rant of Dr. Foster’s rhetoric. Surely if hard words
broke bones, the doctrine of the substitutional sacrifice of the Son of
God for the sin of man would long ago have been ground to
powder.225
Dr. Charles Ryrie:
The Denial of Substitutionary Atonement
Attempts to deny the force of this evidence are usually made in
one of two ways. Some claim that even though substitution may be in
the picture, it must not be made the controlling meaning of Christ’s
death. Thus substitution is submerged in and among other meanings
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of His death until it becomes such a minor part of the concept that it
has disappeared for all practical purposes. Here is an example: “The
death of Jesus is bigger than any definition, deeper and more
profound than any rationale. … By a rich variety of terms and
analogies it is set forth, but it is never completely captured in any
verbal net. … Even though no final rationale of the cross is to be
achieved, we must seek its meaning again and again.” 226
Others simply attempt to reinterpret substitution as always
meaning “for the sake of.” Here is an example:
The fact is that he [Paul] intends what we may call a
“representative” view of Christ’s death. When Paul writes that
Christ died “for” me, he usually means not “instead of me” but
“for my benefit.” … Thus it cannot be a matter of substitution or
of a scapegoat. In another context, it is true, the analogy of the
ransom of a captive or (very rarely) that of a sacrificial offering is
brought in play by Paul and suggests substitution. But this motif
… is dominated by the ruling conception of our participation with
Christ in His death to sin and Law. 227
This writer fails to examine any of the evidence of the prepositions or
verses I have cited.
Clearly according to His own teaching and that of the rest of the
New Testament, Christ’s death was a substitution for sinners. (Basic
Theology, Dr. Charles Ryrie, p 333)
The Evidence for Substitution in the Death of Christ
Dr. Charles Ryrie:
The Bible teaches that Christ’s sacrifice was not a matter of
sympathy but of substitution.
1. In the Old Testament. The arrangement of the sacrificial system of
the Old Testament included the necessity of the offerer laying his
hands on the animal being offered as a sacrifice.
This meant transmission and delegation, and implied represent-
tation; so that it really pointed to the substitution of the sacrifice
for thee sacrificer. … If the sacrifice was brought by more than
one, each had to lay on his hands. It is not quite a settled point
whether one or both hands were laid on; but all are agreed that is
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was to be done “with one’s whole force” – as it were, to lay one’s
whole weight upon he substitute. 228
The animal’s death took the place of the death due the one offering
that animal. The system clearly taught substitution.
2. In the use of the preposition anti. The root meaning of this
preposition, which occurs twenty-two times in the New Testament, is
face-to-face, opposite, as two objects placed over against each other
and one being taken instead of the other as in an exchange. Critic’s of
substitutionary atonement label this “crude transactionalism.”
Nevertheless, the preposition anti does support substitution.
a. In classical Greek. Anti uniformly means “in the place of,” and
it has no broader meaning as, for instance, “for the sake of.”
b. In Greek of the New Testament Period. Moulton and Milligan
give no examples of anti meaning “on behalf of” or “for the sake of.”
The common meaning is “instead of.” The same and only meaning is
found in Polybius (ca. 200-ca.118 B.C.), Philo, and Josephus.
c. In the Septuagint. Among the 318 occurrences of anti there is
no example of the broader meaning “on behalf of.” Uniformly it
means “in place of” and translates tachath (Gen. 44:33).
d. In the New Testament. Examples of the clear meaning “instead
or in place of” are found in Matthew 2:22 and Luke 11:11. Instances
where the idea of exchange is prominent occur in John 1:16; Romans
12:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:15; Hebrews 12:16; and 1 Peter 3:9.
Matthew 17:27 ( the incident concerning paying the temple tax)
seems to bear a clear substitutionary sense. The tax was redemption
money (Exodus 30:11-16). The idea of equivalence appears in
Matthew 5:38 and 1 Corinthians 11:15, though some understand the
use of anti in the latter reference to mean that a woman’s hair serves
in place of a covering. However, this would seem to contradict Paul’s
teaching in the preceding verses, so likely it has the idea of
equivalence. That is, hair in the natural realm is equivalent to what
the covering stands for in the spiritual realm.229 Clearly none of these
verses support the meaning “on behalf of” or “for the benefit of.”
The crucial verse is Mark 10:45 (KJV): “For even the Son of Man
came … to give his life a ransom for many” (see also Matt 20:28).
Anti demands the interpretation that the Lord came to die in our place
and as our substitute. It cannot be understood otherwise, and this, of
course, was Christ’s own interpretation of the meaning of His
sacrifice. Anti also appears as the prefix on the compound word anti-
lutron in 1 Timothy 2:6. Christ was our substitution ransom.
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3. In the use of the preposition huper. The original meaning of this
preposition was over, upper, and for one’s benefit. The idea included
standing over someone to protect him and to receive the blows on his
behalf and in his place. Thus the basic ideas in the word include both
benefit and substitution, simply because to act on behalf of or for the
benefit of someone often includes acting in his place. Both these ideas
occur in the New Testament usage as we shall see.
a. In classical Greek. Both ideas of benefit and substitution occur
in classical writings (compare Davies, Christ in Our Place, 82).
b. In the Greek of the New Testament period. Again both ideas are
found. Often huper is used of someone writing a letter for someone
else who was illiterate. Clearly this a substitutionary idea.
c. In the Septuagint. Again both ideas are found, but it is
especially important to soteriology to note that the substitutionary
meaning is clearly the meaning in such verses as Deuteronomy 24:16
and Isaiah 43:3-4.
d. In the New Testament. No one debates that huper means “for
the benefit of.” The debate centers on whether or not it can mean “in
the place of.” Those who deny substitutionary atonement naturally
want to eliminate the latter meaning and insist that Christ’s death was
not in any sense a substitutionary payment but only a benefit to
mankind. Those who affirm substitutionary atonement can rest there
case on the meaning of the anti, but they can also point to the
substitutionary meaning in huper. The case is further strengthened by
he fact that huper clearly has a substitutionary meaning in passages
that are not concerned with the Atonement. There are three clear
ones.
(1) In Romans 9:3 Paul wishes he could be accursed in the place
of his fellow Jews. He wanted to take their place under God’s curse.
(2) First Corinthians 15:29 most likely refers to those who by
being baptized showed that they had joined the Christian ranks to take
the place of those who had died, and therefore could be said to have
been baptized for (in the place of ) those who had died. This
understanding of the verse requires a substitutionary meaning of
huper.
(3) Even if there were any questions about the two preceding
examples, there certainly can be no question about the substitutionary
meaning of huper in Philemon 13. Onesimus, the converted slave,
was in Rome with Paul, and he was about to return to his master
Philemon in Colossae. In this wonderful letter of intercession on
Onesimus’s behalf, Paul told Philemon that he would like to keep
Onesimus with him in Rome to help him on Philemon’s behalf (huper
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sou). That can only mean that someone had to be in Rome with Paul –
either Philemon himself or his slave Onesimus as his substitute. Of
course, the idea is present as well, but the only way there could have
been any benefit to Paul was to have Philemon’s substitute,
Onesimus, with him in Rome. If huper had both ideas, benefit and
substitution in non-atonement passages, then it may also carry both
meanings in atonement passages, and indeed it does. Some important
examples where the substitutionary idea is present are John 11:50-51;
Romans 5:6-8; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13; Titus 2:14; and 1
Peter 3:18.
To summarize: anti always has the idea of equivalence, exchange,
or substitution. It never has the broader idea of “for the sake of” or
“on behalf of.” Huper has both ideas, including the idea of
substitution in atonement passages in the New Testament. (Basic
Theology, Dr, Charles Ryrie, pp 330-33)
Dr. Lewis Chafer:
Substitution is not a Biblical term (cf. Trinity, incarnation, etc.),
but a Biblical doctrine nonetheless.
1. IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. a. In general, every animal sacrifice
offered during Old Testament times substituted for the offender. All
this was accordingly a type of Christ dying in the room and stead of
the sinner.
b. The sweet-savor and non-sweet savor offerings of Leviticus,
chapters 1-5, indicate that two accomplishments are to be noticed in
Christ’s accomplishment:
(1) The non-sweet savor oblations were, first, the sin offering and,
second, the trespass offering. In these the perfection of the offering
itself had to be insisted upon since Christ the Antitype is perfect in
Himself, but of course, at the same time, the offering is invested with
the sin of the offerer. They are called non-sweet savor offerings since
God cannot look upon sin with allowance whatsoever. In fulfilling
this type of sacrifice Christ cried, “My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me?” (Matt 27:46).
(2) Sweet savor offerings were three in number: first, the burnt
offering, second, the meal offering, and third, the peace offering. In
these were depicted an aspect of Christ’s death which was a delight to
His Father, as it has been suggested in Hebrews 9:14: He “offered
himself without spot to God.” Here is substitution in the sense that
God requires of the believer, not merely that he should have no sins
(as typified by the non-sweet savor offerings), but that he indeed
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should have done all good. These three offerings, consequently,
suggest how the perfection of Christ may be accepted for a Christian.
They are sweet to God since only Christ’s perfections are in view,
and manifestly as such they could apply to the elect alone.
2. NEW TESTAMENT DOCTRINE. Again the same twofold con-
ception obtains. The Scriptures state the doctrine fully.
a. Sweet savor (Phil 2:8; Heb 9:11-14; 10:5-7).
b. Non-sweet savor (Rom 3:23-26; 2 Cor 5:21; 1 Pet 2:24; 3:18;
cf. Ps 22:1; Matt 27:46).
3. DETERMINING PREPOSITIONS. a. The Greek ύπέρ often has a
restricted meaning, as for another’s good, in another’s behalf (cf.
Luke 22:19-20; John 10:15; Rom 5:8; Gal 3:13; 1 Tim 2:6; Titus
2:14; Heb 2:9; 1 Pet 2:21; 3:18; 4:1). Actual substitution is not
included at bottom in the word, but from usage it doubtless came to
be anyway.
b. άντί. Here the thought of substitution is clear (Matt 20:28; Rom
12:17; 1 Thess 5:15; 1 Tim 6:2; Heb 12:2, 16; 1 Pet 3:9).
(Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 7, pp 296-97)
Substitutionary Penal Death Verses
Lev 1:4 He must lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it
will be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf. NET
Isa 53:5 He was wounded because of our rebellious deeds,
crushed because of our sins;
he endured punishment that made us well;
because of his wounds we have been healed.
53:6 All of us had wandered off like sheep;
each of us had strayed off on his own path,
but the Lord caused the sin of all of us to attack him. NET
1 Cor 5:7 Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch of
dough—you are, in fact, without yeast. For Christ, our Passover lamb,
has been sacrificed. NET
Matt 20:28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to
serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” NET
Matt 27:46 At about three o’clock Jesus shouted with a loud voice,
“Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have
you forsaken me?” NET
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Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but
to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” NET
Luke 22:19 Then he took bread, and after giving thanks he broke it
and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.” NET
John 10:18 No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down of my
own free will. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the
authority to take it back again. This commandment I received from
my Father.” NET
John 11:48 If we allow him to go on in this way, everyone will
believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away our
sanctuary and our nation.” 11:49 Then one of them, Caiaphas, who
was high priest that year, said “You know nothing at all! 11:50 You
do not realize that it is more to your advantage to have one man die
for the people than for the whole nation to perish.”102 11:51 (Now he
did not say this on his own, but because he was high priest that year,
he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the Jewish nation, 11:52
and not for the Jewish nation only, but to gather together into one the
children of God who are scattered.) 11:53 So from that day they
planned together to kill him. NET
102sn In his own mind Caiaphas was no doubt giving voice to a
common-sense statement of political expediency. Yet he was
unconsciously echoing a saying of Jesus himself (cf. Mark 10:45).
Caiaphas was right; the death of Jesus would save the nation from
destruction. Yet Caiaphas could not suspect that Jesus would die, not in
place of the political nation Israel, but on behalf of the true people of
God; and he would save them, not from physical destruction, but from
eternal destruction (cf. 3:16-17). The understanding of Caiaphas’ words
in a sense that Caiaphas could not possibly have imagined at the time he
uttered them serves as a clear example of the way in which the author
understood that words and actions could be invested retrospectively with
a meaning not consciously intended or understood by those present at the
time.
John 13:1 Just before the Passover feast, Jesus knew that his time
had come to depart from this world to the Father. Having loved his
own who were in the world, he now loved them to the very end.3
NET
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3tn Or “he now loved them completely,” or “he now loved them to the
uttermost” (see John 19:30). All of John 13:1 is a single sentence in
Greek, although in English this would be unacceptably awkward. At the
end of the verse the idiom είς τέλος (eis telos) was translated literally as
“to the end” and the modern equivalents given in the note above, because
there is an important lexical link between this passage and John 19:30,
τετέλεσται (tetelestai, “It is ended”).
John 19:30 When he had received the sour wine, Jesus said, “It is
completed!”89 Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. NET
89tn Or “It is accomplished,” “It is finished,” or “It is ended.” See tn
on John 13:1.
Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we
were still sinners, Christ died for us. 5:9 Much more then, because we
have now been declared righteous by his blood, we will be saved
through him from God’s wrath. NET
1 Cor 6:20 For you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God
with your body. NET
2 Cor 5:21 God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us,
so that in him we would become the righteousness of God. NET
Gal 2:21 I do not set aside God’s grace, because if righteousness
could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing! NET
3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a
curse for us (because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on
a tree”) NET
Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the
forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace
NET
2:15 when he nullified in his flesh the law of commandments in
decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man out of two, thus
making peace, 2:16 and to reconcile them both in one body to God
through the cross, by which the hostility has been killed.32 2:17 And
he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to
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those who were near, 2:18 so that through him we both have access in but by being made alive in the spirit. NET
one Spirit to the Father. NET
Easton’s Bible Dictionary: REDEMPTION - There are many passages
32tn Grk “by killing the hostility in himself.” in the New Testament which represent Christ's sufferings under the
idea of a ransom or price, and the result thereby secured is a purchase
Col 1:14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. NET or redemption (comp. Acts 20:28; 1 Cor. 6:19, 20; Gal. 3:13; 4:4, 5;
Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14; 1 Tim. 2:5, 6; Titus 2:14; Heb. 9:12; 1 Pet. 1:18,
1 Tim 2:6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, revealing God’s 19; Rev. 5:9). The idea running through all these texts, however
purpose at his appointed time. NET various their reference, is that of payment made for our redemption.
The debt against us is not viewed as simply cancelled, but is fully
Titus 2:14 He gave himself for us to set us free from every kind of paid. Christ's blood or life, which he surrendered for them, is the
lawlessness and to purify for himself a people who are truly his, who "ransom" by which the deliverance of his people from the servitude of
are eager to do good. NET sin and from its penal consequences is secured. It is the plain doctrine
of Scripture that "Christ saves us neither by the mere exercise of
Heb 2:9 but we see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a power, nor by his doctrine, nor by his example, nor by the moral
little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered influence which he exerted, nor by any subjective influence on his
death, so that by God’s grace he would experience death on behalf of people, whether natural or mystical, but as a satisfaction to divine
everyone. NET justice, as an expiation for sin, and as a ransom from the curse and
authority of the law, thus reconciling us to God by making it
9:12 and he entered once for all into the most holy place not by the consistent with his perfection to exercise mercy toward sinners"
blood of goats and calves but by his own blood, and so he himself (Hodge's Systematic Theology).
secured eternal redemption. NET
The Evidence for Justification in the Death of Christ
10:10 By his will we have been made holy through the offering of the
body of Jesus Christ once for all. NET Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our
justification. (Rom 4:25) KJV
10:14 For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are
made holy. NET Rom 4:25 He who was delivered over because of our transgressions,
and was raised because of our justification. NASB
12:2 keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our
faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its Rom 4:25 Who was betrayed and put to death because of our
shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. misdeeds and was raised to secure our justification (our acquittal),
NET [making our account balance and obsolving us from all guilt before
God]. AMP
1 Pet 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we
may cease from sinning and live for righteousness. By his wounds Rom 4:25 He was given over45 because of our transgressions and
you were healed. NET was raised for the sake of46 our justification. NET
3:18 Because Christ also suffered once for sins, 45 sn The verb translated given over (αρδίδωµι, paradidōmi) is also
the just for the unjust, used in Rom 1:24, 26, 28 to describe God giving people over to sin. But
to bring you to God, it is also used frequently in the gospels to describe Jesus being handed
by being put to death in the flesh over (or delivered up, betrayed) by sinful men for crucifixion (cf., e.g.,
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Matt 26:21; 27:4; Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:33; 15:15; Luke 20:20; 22:24;
24:7). It is probable that Paul has both ideas in mind: Jesus was handed
over by sinners, but even this betrayal was directed by the Father for our
sake (because of our transgressions).
46tn Grk “because of.” However, in light of the unsatisfactory sense that
a causal nuance would here suggest, it has been argued that the second
διαv (dia) is prospective rather than retrospective (D. Moo, Romans
[NICNT], 288-89). The difficulty of this interpretation is the structural
balance that both διάv phrases provide (“given over because of our
transgressions…raised because of our justification”).
Easton’s Bible Dictionary: JUSTIFICATION - a forensic term, opposed
to condemnation. As regards its nature, it is the judicial act of God, by
which he pardons all the sins of those who believe in Christ, and
accounts, accepts, and treats them as righteous in the eye of the law,
i.e., as conformed to all its demands. In addition to the pardon (q.v.)
of sin, justification declares that all the claims of the law are satisfied
in respect of the justified. It is the act of a judge and not of a
sovereign. The law is not relaxed or set aside, but is declared to be
fulfilled in the strictest sense; and so the person justified is declared to
be entitled to all the advantages and rewards arising from perfect
obedience to the law (Rom. 5:1-10).
It proceeds on the imputing or crediting to the believer by God
himself of the perfect righteousness, active and passive, of his
Representative and Surety, Jesus Christ (Rom. 10:3-9). Justification is
not the forgiveness of a man without righteousness, but a declaration
that he possesses a righteousness which perfectly and for ever
satisfies the law, namely, Christ's righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21; Rom.
4:6-8).
The sole condition on which this righteousness is imputed or credited
to the believer is faith in or on the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith is called a
"condition," not because it possesses any merit, but only because it is
the instrument, the only instrument by which the soul appropriates or
apprehends Christ and his righteousness (Rom. 1:17; 3:25, 26; 4:20,
22; Phil. 3:8-11; Gal. 2:16).
The act of faith which thus secures our justification secures also at the
same time our sanctification (q.v.); and thus the doctrine of
justification by faith does not lead to licentiousness (Rom. 6:2-7).
Good works, while not the ground, are the certain consequence of
justification (6:14; 7:6).
This writer:
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It may be noted, that the positive evidence presented by the
prosecution has either been causal, or motiving. It may be apparent, also,
that an motivated reading of the KJV translation may lead to many
misconceptions that would mask the true intent of the underlying
language. This claim is well supported in the clarifications and
expositions of God’s Word given by the witnesses. The witnesses
gathered here are servants of the Word of God. Continuing in a like
manner, the evidence for justification in the death of Christ will be
presented.
Justification is a critical distinction in salvation that must not be
minimized by misconceptions. It may be remembered, from previous
testimony, that there exists a great fundamental difference between the
OT Jew who was just, and the NT saint who is justified. This infinite
difference is separated, on the one side from the other, by the death of
Christ, crucified on His cross. Christ ascended, in His present position as
Advocate for the defense of a sinning believer, pleads His righteousness
before God the Father at every occasion of sin committed by a believer.
Thereby, a believer’s justification is maintained and salvation is secured
in Christ, the Righteous One. This is grounded upon the “sweet savor”
burnt-offering on the brazen altar, the non-penal, the second aspect of
forgiveness in the substitutionary death of Christ, where “he offered
himself without spot or blemish” (Heb 9:14).
Rev 15:4 Who will not fear you, O Lord,
and glorify your name, because you alone are holy?16
16sn Because you alone are holy. In the Greek text the sentence literally
reads “because alone holy.” Three points can be made in connection with
John's language here: (1) Omitting the second person, singular verb “you
are” lays stress on the attribute of God’s holiness. (2) The juxtaposition
of alone with holy stresses the unique nature of God’s holiness and
complete “otherness” in relationship to his creation. It is not just moral
purity which is involved in the use of the term holy, though it certainly
includes that. It is also the pervasive OT idea that although God is deeply
involved in the governing of his creation, he is to be regarded as separate
and distinct from it. (3) John’s use of the term holy is also intriguing
since it is the term όσιος (hosios) and not the more common NT term
άγιος (hagios). The former term evokes images of Christ’s messianic
status in early Christian preaching. Both Peter in Acts 2:27 and Paul in
Acts 13:35 apply Psalm 16:10 (LXX) to Jesus, referring to him as the
“holy one” (όσιος). It is also the key term in Acts 13:34 (Isa 55:3 [LXX])
where it refers to the “holy blessings” (i.e., forgiveness and justification)
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brought about through Jesus in fulfillment of Davidic promise. Thus, in
Rev 15:3-4, when John refers to God as “holy,” using the term όσιος in a
context where the emphasis is on both God and Christ, there might be an
implicit connection between divinity and the Messiah. This is bolstered
by the fact that the Lamb is referred to in other contexts as the King of
Kings and Lord of Lords (cf. 1:5; 17:14; 19:16 and perhaps 11:15; G. K.
Beale, Revelation [NIGTC], 796-97).
Holiness belongs to God and is not an attribute that man can obtain as
a result of reformation. Holiness begins at the point beyond the known
limits of this world. The transcendence of God is holiness. “Be ye holy
for I am holy” is not a command from God that man can perform,
contrary to Pelagius and any ancient notion of human perfectionism. God
promises “you shall be holy,” holiness is imparted from God to man
when the believer is placed into Christ by the baptism of the Holy Spirit,
as declared in the passage:
1 Pet 1:16 for it is written, “You shall be holy, because I am holy.”
1:17 And if you address as Father the one who impartially judges
according to each one’s work, live out the time of your temporary
residence here in reverence. 1:18 You know that from your empty
way of life inherited from your ancestors you were ransomed—not by
perishable things like silver or gold, 1:19 but by precious blood like
that of an unblemished and spotless lamb, namely Christ. 1:20 He
was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was manifested
in these last times for your sake. 1:21 Through him you now trust in
God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your
faith and hope are in God.
1:22 You have purified your souls by obeying the truth in order to
show sincere mutual love. So love one another earnestly from a pure
heart. 1:23 You have been born anew, not from perishable but from
imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.
NET
Man may become holy by the work of God for man. Unforgiven is the
opposite of holiness. Justification is a legal position resulting from the
imputation of the righteousness of Christ to those who are perfectly and
completely forgiven from the penalty of sin. Whereas, born from above
and placed into the Body of Christ transcends the known limits of this
world, and is part and parcel of the impartation of eternal life in Christ
which separates the believer from the power of sin by the indwelling
Holy Spirit.
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It may be recalled that all men were in Adam, thereby “all sinned,”
resulting in the natural state of spiritual death for all men. The judgment
of the “dead” at the end of this age will be determined not by behavior,
not by whether or not one is just, but whether or not one is justified and
has received eternal life before they died. This and only this, determines
if one’s name is missing, an awful blank space, in the Lamb’s Book of
Life as proof of condemnation in the seventh and final judgment of
God’s morally free intelligent creatures. Evolutionary notions count for
nothing. When the eternal soul stands without Christ for paradidōmi, to
give himself over to judgment, that soul will not be surrounded by
kindred monkeys, bears, and dolphins - as so many supposedly educated
children assert today. Does impersonating an animal excuse unforgiven
evil?
For the reasons above, the following testimony will present
justification as proof that the Governmental theory, in its humanistic
assumptions, is fundamentally flawed in conceiving that forgiveness for
personal sins is accomplished by a release to overlook sin. Sin is never
overlooked, forgiveness of all sin is secured in the blood of Christ, but
yet, requires His personal appearance before the Father for each occasion
of sin committed by any member of God’s family.
Dr. Lewis Chafer:
Who was delivered [paradidōmi] for our offenses, and was raised
again for our justification. (Rom 4:25) (brackets mine) KJV
Because of a complicated translation in the A.V. [KJV] of
Romans 4:25, the impression is abroad that in some way – not well
defined – Christ was delivered to death for our sins, but was raised
again to the end that believers might be justified. However,
justification does not depend on the resurrection of Christ, but on His
death; and this particular text really asserts a quite different idea. The
A.V. rendering is, “Who was delivered for our offences, and was
raised again for our justification.” Romans 3:24 states that
justification is “through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”; and,
again, “justified by his blood” (Rom 5:9). The sense of Romans 4:25
is that, the ground having been provided for justification by His
death, the Lord arose from the grave. Bishop Moule writes in the
Cambridge Bible on this verse:
Lit. because of our justification. The construction is identical [i.e., in
this and the corresponding phrase earlier]. This, and the balance of the
clauses, seem to demand the exposition: “He was raised, because our
986

justification was effected;” not, “in order to give us justification,” as
many interpret it. The parallel is complete: “We sinned, therefore He
suffered: We were justified, therefore He rose.” – To this it is objected
that the thought is not doctrinally true; justification being, for each
believer, dated not from the Lord’s death, but from the time of faith (see
ch. v.1). But the answer is obvious: the Apostle here states the Ideal of
the matter; he means not individual justifications, but the Work which
forever secured Justification for the believing Church. A close parallel is
the “IT IS FINISHED” (John xix.30). (See too the ideal language in viii.30;
and instructive parallels in Heb. i.3 and x.14).
Rom 8:30 And those he predestined, he also called; and those he
called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.
NET
Heb 1:3 The Son is the radiance of his glory and the
representation of his essence, and he sustains all things by his
powerful word, and so when he had accomplished cleansing for
sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. NET
Heb 10:14 For by one offering he has perfected for all time those
who are made holy. NET
In the divine Idea every future believer was declared to be justified,
through an accomplished Propitiation, when Jesus rose. His resurrection
proved His acceptance as our Substitute, and therefore our acceptance in
Him. No doubt the other interpretation is true as to fact: He was raised
that, through the Gospel, (which but for His resurrection would never
have been preached,) we might receive justification. But the Gr.
construction, and the balance of clauses, are certainly in favor of that
now given. – “Romans.” P. 98
To the same purpose, F. Godet writes, “In the same way, as Jesus
died because of our offences, that is our (merited) condemnation, He
was raised because of our (accomplished) justification. Our sin had
killed Him; our justification raised Him again. How so? The
expiationi of our trespasses once accomplished by His death, and the
i
sin-offering. Genesis 4:7 “sin1 lieth at the door” 1 (4:7) Or, sin-offering. In
Hebrew the same word is used for “sin,” and “sin-offering,” thus
emphasizing in a remarkable way the complete identification of the
believer’s sin with his sin-offering (cf. John 3:14 with 2 Cor 5:21). Here both
meanings are brought together. “Sin lieth at the door,” but so also “a sin-
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right of God’s justice proved in earnest, God could pronounce the
collective acquittal of future believers, and He did so. … So long as
the security is in prison the debt is not paid; the immediate effect of
payment would be his liberation. Similarly, if Jesus wee not raised,
we should be no more than ignorant whether our debt were paid: we
might be certain that it was not. His resurrection is the proof of our
justification, only because it is the necessary effect of it” (Romans, I,
312, cited by Griffith Thomas, Romans, I, 187). (Systematic
Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 4, pp 88-89)
Dr. John MacArthur:
paradidōmi (gave … over [Rom 1:24]) is an intense verb. In the
New Testament it is used of giving one’s body to be burned (1 Cor
13:3) and three times of Christ’s giving Himself up to death (Gal
2:20; Eph 5:2, 25). It is used in a judicial sense of men’s being
committed to prison (Mark 1:14; Acts 8:3) or to judgment (Matt.
5:25; 10:17, 19, 21; 18:34) and of rebellious angels delivered to pits
of darkness (2 Pet. 2:4). It is also used of Christ committing Himself
to His Father’s care (1 Pet. 2:23) and of the Father’s delivering of His
own Son to propitiatory death (Rom. 4:25; 8:32).
He who was delivered up because of our transgression, and was
raised because of our justification. (Rom 4:25 NASB)
If, despite his limited revelation Abraham could anticipate the
Savior and believe that God could raise the dead, how much more
reason do men today have to believe that the Father did indeed raise
Jesus our Lord from the dead, in order that those who believe “in Him
should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Jesus was delivered up because of our transgressions, and was
raised because of our justification. Delivered up was a judicial
term, referring to the commitment of a criminal to his punishment.
Jesus Christ was delivered up to serve the sentence of death that our
offering croucheth at the [tent] door.” It is “where sin abounded” that “grace
did much more abound {superabound}” (Rom 5:20). Abel’s offering implies
a previous instruction (cf. Gen 3:21), for it was “by faith” (Heb 11:4), and
faith is taking God at His word; so that Cain’s unbloody offering was a
refusal of the divine way. But Jehovah made a last appeal to Cain (Gen 4:7)
even yet to bring the required offering. (Old Scofield Study System, Dr. C. I.
Scofield, p 11)
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transgressions deserve, and He was raised up to provide the
justification before God that we could never attain in our own power
or merit.
The great nineteenth-century theologian Charles Hodge wrote,
With a dead Saviour, a Saviour over whom death had triumphed and
held captive, our justification had been forever impossible. As it was
necessary for the high priest, under the old economy, should not only
slay the victim at the alter, but carry the blood into the most holy
place, and sprinkle it upon the mercy-seat; so it was necessary not
only that our great High Priest should suffer in the outer court, but
that He should pass into heaven to present His righteousness before
God for our justification. Both, therefore, as the evidence of the
acceptance of His satisfaction on our behalf, and as a necessary step
to secure the application of the merits of His sacrifice, the
resurrection of Christ was absolutely essential, even for our
justification. (Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans [Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1983 reprint] p. 129)
He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us
all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?
(Rom 8:32 NASB)
God intervened to spare Isaac and provided a ram in his place
(Gen. 22:-13). At that point, however, the analogy changes from
comparison to contrast, because God did not spare His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all.
Isaiah extolled the wondrous love of both God the Father and God
the Son when he wrote,
Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet
we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God [the Father], and
afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was
crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well being fell upon
Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have
gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has
caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. … But the Lord [the
Father] was pleased to crush Him [the Son], putting Him to grief; if
He would render Himself as a guilt offering. (Isa 53:4-6,10)
NASB
Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross not only is the foundation of our
salvation but also of our security. Because the Father loved us so
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much while we were still under condemnation,. “He made Him who
knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the
righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor 5:21). Because the Son loved us
so much while we were still under condemnation, He “gave Himself
for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age,
according to the will of our God and Father” (Gal. 1:4; cf. 3:13). (The
MacArthur New Testament Commentary Romans 1-8, Dr. John
MacArthur, p. 99; 268; 505)
Dr. C. I. Scofield:
John 12:24 I tell you the solemn truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls
into the ground and dies, it remains by itself alone. But if it dies, it
produces much grain. NET
(12:24) Chapters 12-17 are a progression according to the order of
approach to God in the tabernacle types: Chapter 12 in which Christ
speaks of His death, answers to the brazen altar of burnt-offering,
type of the cross. Passing toward the altar toward the holy of holies,
the laver is next reached (Ex 30:17-21), answering to Chapter 13.
With His associate priests, now purified, the High Priest approaches
and enters the holy place, in the high communion of Chapters 14-16.
Entering alone the holy of holies (17:1), the High Priest intercedes
(Cf. Heb 7:24-28). That intercession is not for salvation, but the
keeping and blessing of those for whom He prays. His death
(assumed as accomplished, 17:4) has saved them.
John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this
world will be driven out. NET
(12:31) The Seven Judgments. (1) Of Jesus Christ bearing the
believer’s sins. The sins of believers have been judged in the person
of Jesus Christ “lifted up” on the cross. The result was death for
Christ, and justification for the believer, who can never again be put
in jeopardy (John 5:24; Rom 5:9; 8:1; 2 Cor 5:21; Gal 3:13; Heb
9:26-28; 10:10; 14-17; 1 Pet 2:24; 3:18). See other judgments, 1 Cor.
11:31, note; 2 Cor. 5:10, note; Mt. 25:32, note; Ezk. 20:37, note; Jude
6, note; Rev. 20:12, note. (Old Scofield Study System, Dr. C. I.
Scofield, p 1133)
1 Cor 11:30 That is why many of you are weak and sick, and quite a
few are dead. 11:31 But if we examined ourselves, we would not be
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judged. 11:32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are
disciplined so that we may not be condemned with the world. NET
(11:31) (2) Self-judgment is not so much the believer’s moral
condemnation of his own ways or habits, as of himself, for allowing
such ways. Self-judgment avoids chastisement. If neglected, the Lord
judges, and the result is chastisement, but never condemnation (v.32;
2 Sam 7:14, 15; 12:13,14; 1 Cor 5:5; 1 Tim 1:20; Heb 12:7). (Ibid., p
1222)
2 Cor 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,
so that each one may be paid back according to what he has done
while in the body, whether good or evil. NET
(5:10) (3) The judgment of the believer’s works, not sins, is in
question here. These have been atoned for, and are “remembered no
more forever” (Heb 10:17); but every work must come into judgment
(Mt 12:36; Rom 14:10; Gal 6:7; Eph 6:8; Col 3:24, 25). The result is
“reward” or “loss” (of the reward), “but he himself shall be saved” (1
Cor 3:11-15). This Judgment occurs at the return of Christ (Mt 16:27;
Luke 14:14; 1 Cor 4:5; 2 Tim 4:8; Rev 22:12). (Ibid., p 1233).
Luke 14:14 Then you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you,
for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” NET
1 Cor 4:5 So then, do not judge anything before the time. Wait until
the Lord comes. He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness
and reveal the motives of hearts. Then each will receive recognition3
[praise] from God. NET
Mtw 25:32 All the nations will be assembled before him, and he will
separate people one from another like a shepherd separates the sheep
from the goats. NET
(25:32) (4) This judgment is to be distinguished from the judgment of
the grate white throne. Here there is no resurrection; the persons
judged are living nations; no books are opened; three classes are
present, sheep, goats, and brethren; the time is at the return of Christ
(v. 31); and the scene is on the earth. All these particulars are in
contrast with Rev. 20:11-15. The test in this judgment is the treatment
accorded by the nations to those whom Christ here calls “my
brethern.” These “brethren are the Jewish Remnant who will have
preached the Gospel of the kingdom to all nations during the
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tribulation. See “Remnant” (Isa 1:9; Rom 11:5). The test in Rev.
20:11-15, is the possession of eternal life [the Book of Life].
(brackets mine) (Ibid., p 1036)
Ezk 20:37 I will make you pass under the shepherd’s staff, and I will
bring you into the bond of the covenant. NET
(20:37) (5) The passage is a prophecy of the future judgment of
Israel, regathered from all nations … into the old wilderness of the
wanderings (v. 35). The issue of this judgment determines who of
Israel in that day shall enter the land for kingdom blessings (Psa 50:1-
7; Ezk 20:33-34; Mal 3:2-5; 4:1, 2). (Ibid., p 861)
Jude 1:6 You also know that the angels who did not keep within their
proper domain but abandoned their own place of residence, he has
kept in eternal chains in utter darkness, locked up for the judgment of
the great Day. NET
(v. 6) (6) The judgment of the fallen angels. The “great day” is the
day of the Lord (Isa 2:9-22, refs.). As the final judgment upon Satan
occurs after the thousand years, and preceding the final judgment
(Rev 20:10), it is congruous to conclude, as to the time, that other
fallen angels are judged with him (2 Pet 2:4; Rev 20:10). Christians
are associated with Christ in this judgment (1 Cor 6:3). (Ibid., p 1328)
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing
before the throne. Then books were opened, and another book was
opened—the book of life. So the dead were judged by what was
written in the books, according to their deeds. NET
(20:12) (7) The final judgment. The subjects are the “dead.” As the
redeemed were raised from among the dead one thousand years
before (v. 5), and have been in glory with Christ during that period,
the “dead” can only be the wicked dead, from the beginning to the
setting up of the great white throne space. As there are degrees in
punishment (Lk 12:47, 48), the dead are judged according to their
works. The book of life is there to answer such as plead their works
for justification, e.g., Mt. 7:22, 23; an awful blank where the name
might have been. (Ibid., p 1351)
The Evidence for Wrath and Propitiation in the Death of Christ
“God, be thou propitiated to me the sinner.” (Luke 18:13b, R.V.)
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“The one who believes in the Son has eternal life. The one who rejects
the Son will not see life, but God’s wrath remains on him.”
( John 3:36 NET)
“but wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition and do not
obey the truth but follow unrighteousness.” (Rom 2:8 NET)
“Much more then, because we have now been declared righteous by his
blood, we will be saved through him from God’s wrath.” (Rom 5:9 NET)
And although you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which
you formerly lived according to this world’s present path, according to
the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the ruler of the spirit that is now
energizing the sons of disobedience, among whom all of us also formerly
lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of
the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath even as the
rest… (Eph 2:1-3 NET)
For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the
truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful
looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the
adversaries. He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two
or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall be
thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath
counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an
unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
(Hebrews 10:26-29 KJV)
“And all these things are from God who reconciled us to himself through
Christ, and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation. In other
words, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting
people’s trespasses against them, and he has given us the message of
reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God
were making His plea through us. We plead with you on Christ’s behalf,
“Be reconciled to God!” God made the one who did not know sin to be
sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God.”
(2 Cor 5:18-21 NET)
“God publicly displayed him at his death32 as the mercy seat33
accessible through faith.34 This was to demonstrate his righteousness,
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because God in his forbearance had passed over the sins previously
committed.” (Rom 3:25 NET)
32tn Grk “in his blood.” The prepositional phrase (en tō autou haimati) is
difficult to interpret. It is traditionally understood to refer to the atoning
sacrifice Jesus made when he shed his blood on the cross, and as a modifier
of ίλαστήριον (hilastērion). This interpretation fits if ίλαστήριον is taken
to refer to a sacrifice. But if ίλαστήριον is taken to refer to the place where
atonement is made as this translation has done (see tn on the phrase “mercy
seat”), this interpretation of (en tō autou haimati) creates a violent mixed
metaphor. Within a few words Paul would switch from referring to Jesus as
the place where atonement was made to referring to Jesus as the atoning
sacrifice itself. A viable option which resolves this problem is to see (en tō
autou haimati) as modifying the verb ροέθετο (proetheto). If it modifies
the verb, it would explain the time or place in which God publicly displayed
Jesus as the mercy seat; the reference to blood would be a metaphorical way
of speaking of Jesus’ death. This is supported by the placement of (en tō
autou haimati) in the Greek text (it follows the noun, separated from it by
another prepositional phrase) and by stylistic parallels with Rom 1:4. This is
the interpretation the translation has followed, although it is recognized that
many interpreters favor different options and translations. The prepositional
phrase has been moved forward in the sentence to emphasize its connection
with the verb, and the referent of the metaphorical language has been
specified in the translation. For a detailed discussion of this interpretation,
see D. P. Bailey, “Jesus As the Mercy Seat: The Semantics and Theology of
Paul’s Use of Hilasterion in Romans 3:25” (Ph.D. diss., University of
Cambridge, 1999).
33tn The word ίλαστήριον (hilastērion) may carry the general sense “place
of satisfaction,” referring to the place where God’s wrath toward sin is
satisfied. More likely, though, it refers specifically to the “mercy seat,” i.e.,
the covering of the ark where the blood was sprinkled in the OT ritual on the
Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). This term is used only one other time in
the NT: Heb 9:5, where it is rendered “mercy seat.” There it describes the
altar in the most holy place (holy of holies). Thus Paul is saying that God
displayed Jesus as the “mercy seat,” the place where propitiation was
accomplished. See N. S. L. Fryer, “The Meaning and Translation of
Hilasterion in Romans 3:25,” EvQ 59 (1987): 99-116, who concludes the
term is a neuter accusative substantive best translated “mercy seat” or
“propitiatory covering,” and D. P. Bailey, “Jesus As the Mercy Seat: The
Semantics and Theology of Paul’s Use of Hilasterion in Romans 3:25”
(Ph.D. diss., University of Cambridge, 1999), who argues that this is a direct
reference to the mercy seat which covered the ark of the covenant.
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34tn The prepositional phrase διάV ίστεως (dia pisteōs) here modifies the by the “blameless” religious bigots called the Pharisees. The NT clearly
noun ίλαστήριον (hilastērion). As such it forms a complete noun phrase and reveals the truth that God is satisfied in His judgment of sin. God is
could be written as “mercy-seat-accessible-through-faith” to emphasize the propitious. He has been propitiated by the propitiator – Jesus Christ.
singular idea. See Rom 1:4 for a similar construction. The word “accessible” Thus the completed circle of propitiation.
is not in the Greek text but has been supplied to clarify the idea expressed by For this reason, He remains just and is the justifier of sinners because
the prepositional phrase (cf. NRSV: “effective through faith”). the “Lamb of God that was slain for the sins of the world” propitiated
His required judgment upon sinners. The Christian Day of At-one-ment,
This writer:
the Yom Kippur of reconciliation, is complete, once and for all men, once
and for all time. This is something for the unregenerate to believe, and is
No matter the soaring flights of cosmic rectitude and ancient Greek
not to be asked for. To ask is extreme unbelief and insult to God.
exemplifying undertaken by the learned Dr. John Miley in his theorizing
Unbelief saves no one. It is an upside down, false gospel that would
effort, the wrath of God is most certainly real in this present age. There is
preach that the unsaved request forgiveness. It is a gospel that denies the
a vast body of teaching regarding the death of Christ that entirely
death of Christ satisfied the Father’s penal judgment against sin and
overwhelms the meager assumptions put forth in the Governmental
rendered Him satisfied towards the sin of all men. Whereby, all men are
theory of atonement. God’s wrath is revealed and testified to by John the
reconciled to God. Propitiation is God’s recognition of a completed
Baptist in the above passage John 3:36, by Paul in Romans 2:8, 5:9, and
satisfactory expiation of sin. For this reason, reconciliation is a finished
Ephesians 2:3. Judgment is darkness. Light is sinless perfection. The
work that gives to whosoever a standing in redemption that renders them
antediluvian Noah and seven others found grace, but how many
redeemable through faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. God has reconciled
hundreds of millions did not?
the world through the infinitely satisfactory Lamb of sacrifice that He
The intended purpose of the teaching that includes “God, be thou
provided - Jesus Christ on the cross. Propitiation is the same as
propitiated towards me the sinner” is to qualify who, at the end of the
justification in that both are a recognition by God of a divinely
day, goes home justified. It is the matter of the nature of salvation that is
completed work. Justification is the recognition by God of the completed
sought that forms the humble or proud attitude. The religious and
work of the Holy Spirit when a new believer is baptized into Christ and
sanctimonious Pharisee who believed and pursued self salvation did go
receives all the “Righteousness of God,” which is Christ. Thereby, the
home blameless under the Law, but not justified by God. The KJV
work of God - expiation/reconciliation is integral with propitiation. Also,
translation in Luke 18:3b, rendered “God be merciful to me” is wrong.
the work of God for man - the Positive gospel/the baptism by the Holy
The humble, justified tax collector’s prayer for propitiation has been
Spirit/imputed righteousness is integral to justification. Both – propitia-
answered. Propitiation and reconciliation is what the gospel of God’s
tion and justification - are the divine recognition of completed works of
grace offers for men to believe in. God could never, and has never been
grace consisting of multiple aspects of divine work.
“merciful” towards sin. He has been merciful towards individuals by
An everyday example is: to drink a cup of hot tea, one must have a
providing a Penal Substitute. As exemplified in the religious humanism
source of thermal energy [which can be hugely complicated, consisting
of the Governmental theory, human forgiveness always means the
of the entire myriad of the electrical system followed back to the nuclear
remission of penalty. This is never true of divine forgiveness, which
fuel rods that heat the low pressure steam to spin the huge turbines and
throughout Scripture follows the “completion of the penalty” upon a
generating equipment that make the mystery of electricity possible],
substitute. In Matthew 26:28 Jesus says, “This is my blood of the new
water [again, a complicated system of municipal facilities and delivery],
covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Such a
and finally, a means of containment in order to boil the water. This
prayer for propitiation as offered by the humble OT Jewish tax collector
example is simplified, in that it excludes all the multi-faceted dynamics
is wholly wrong since the death of Christ in this present age of grace.
of the human body in which one is enabled to enjoy a cup of hot tea.
Here was a man who had special reasons to ask that his sacrifices
Finally, a very legitimate question would be: Who made the cup of hot
satisfied God because he was a despised “publican,” working for the
tea that you enjoyed?
Romans, who was discriminated against and grouped with “sinners,”
The elements of God’s salvation by His work of grace, when fully
those who did not offer the appropriate sacrifices for their personal sins,
defined, like life, is straightforward, but not as uncomplicated as one
995 996

might desire it to be. Special attention to the absence of carrots and
sticks, present punishment and future reward, may be noted in the above
discussion. When properly presented, joy not fear is the response to the
gospel of the grace of God. Amazement is not an untypical reaction when
confronted with the truth of God’s grace. This is the belief in the gospel
of the grace of God that saves and transforms men eternally. For this
reason, the Negative gospel that would cheat Christ and God to make
request for the forgiveness of personal sins only - is false. To ask saves
no one. To ask is to answer a false gospel of unbelief in God’s work of
the unmerited gratis of grace to “whosoever will believe” in the good
news that he is already forgiven and will be eternally saved for his belief.
If one believes it, he already has it. “He who is forgiven much, loves
much.” To condemn and disparage the gospel of God’s secured grace is
to come under a curse in the first of two NT anathemas: “Let anyone who
has no love for the Lord be accursed. Our Lord, come!19” (1 Cor 16:22
NET).
19tn The Greek text has µαράνα θά v (marana tha). These Aramaic
words can also be read as maran atha, translated “Our Lord has come!”
In Luke 18:13b (cf. Heb 2:17), the KJV translation of “merciful”
should be a understood as a request for God to be satisfied by the proper
sacrificial offering that kept an OT Jew “blameless” under the Law. As
previously discussed at length, under the division of Law, the KJV “all
have sinned” in Romans 5:12 should be understood as “all sinned” in
Adam. A system of theology, like Arminianism, can hinge on the use of
incorrectly translated words, such as the Old Testament principle of
“atonement” and “merciful,” to construct a delusion of atonement in a
theory of NT forgiveness that requires penance by penitents for salvation.
This is religious humanism, not NT reconciliation. The future reality for
Christians far exceeds Dr. Miley’s imaginative abilities. His ideas are
literally brought in “off the street,” not the Bible. I do not use the word
“delusion” lightly, as this effort is to prove beyond doubt that the theory
of Rectoral or Governmental atonement is so far removed from NT
reality that it qualifies as a God wrought strong delusion, “And with all
deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they
received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this
cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie”
(2 Thess 2:10-11 KJV).
With the insight given above, it remains that the following are the
major translations of this verse under discussion, Luke 18:13b:
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God be merciful to me a sinner. KJV
O God, be favorable (be gracious, be merciful) to me, the especially
wicked sinner that I am! AMP
‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ NASB
‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ NIV
Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, merciful 2433 - ίλάσκοµαι,
(Luke 18:3; Heb 2:17) hilaskŏmai: mid. From the same as 2436; to
conciliate, i.e. (trans.) to atone for (sin), or (intrans.) be propitious: -
be merciful, make reconciliation for.
“‘God, be merciful39 to me, sinner that I am!’” NET
39tn The prayer is a humble call for forgiveness. The term for mercy
(ίλάσκοµαι, hilaskomai) is associated with the concept of a request for
atonement (BDAG 473-74 s.v. 1; Ps 51:1, 3; 25:11; 34:6, 18).
Psalm 51 is the prayer of a saved man, King David, for restoration not
salvation. David was a man who knew he would see his deceased infant
son and that one of his sons would sit on the throne of Israel forever. All
OT saints were saved by believing that God would send a Savior that
would expiate sin. They knew that sacrificial sheep were only a “passing
over” – as in the High Holy Day of Passover – for sin, and, that the
“taking away” of sin was yet future.
Ps 51:1 Have mercy on me, O God, because of your loyal love!
Because of your great compassion, wipe away my rebellious acts!
51:2 Scrub away my wrongdoing!
Cleanse me of my sin!
51:3 For I am aware of my rebellious acts;
I am forever conscious of my sin.
51:4 Against you, especially you, I have sinned;
I have done what is sinful in your sight.
So you are just when you confront me;
you are right when you condemn me. NET
This prayer comes from the mouth of a OT Jew, who was born into a
covenant relationship with the Lord. It is the prayer of an insider not an
“outsider.” The psalmist is King David in the verses below.
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Ps 25:11 For the sake of your reputation, O Lord,
forgive my sin, because it is great.
Ps 34:6 This oppressed man cried out and the Lord heard;
he saved him from all his troubles. NET
Dr. C.I. Scofield:
Mtw 26:28 for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, that is
poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. NET
(Mt 26:28) Forgiveness. Summary. The Greek word translated
“remission” in Mt 26:28; Acts10:43; Heb 9:22, is elsewhere rendered
“forgiveness.” It means to send off, or away. And this, throughout
Scripture, is the one fundamental meaning of forgiveness – to
separate the sin from the sinner. Distinction must be made between
divine and human forgiveness: (1) Human forgiveness means the
remission of penalty. In the Old Testament and the New, in type and
fulfillment the divine forgiveness follows the execution of the
penalty. “The priest shall make an atonement for his sin that he hath
committed, and it shall be forgiven him” (Lev. 4:35). “This is my
blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission
[sending away, forgiveness] of sins” (v. 28). “Without shedding of
blood there is no remission” (Heb. 9:22). See “Sacrifice” (Gen. 4:4;
Heb. 10:18, note. The sin of the justified believer interrupts his
fellowship, and is forgiven upon confession, but always on the ground
of Christ’s propitiating sacrifice (1 John 1:6-9; 2:2). (2) Human
forgiveness rests upon and results from the divine forgiveness. In
many passages this is assumed rather than stated, but the principle is
declared in Eph. 4:32; Mt. 18:32,33. (Old Scofield Study System, Dr.
C.I. Scofield, p. 1038)
Heb 10:18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more
2
offering for sin. KJV
Heb 10:18 Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no
longer any offering for sin. NET
2
(10:18) Sacrifice, Summary: (1) The first intimation of sacrifice is
Gen. 3:21, the “coats of skins” having obviously come from slain
animals. The first clear instance of sacrifice is Gen. 4:4, explained in
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rhēma Christou ό λόγος τού Θεού en Christō
Heb. 11:4. Abel’s righteousness was a result of his sacrifice, not his
character.
Heb 11:4 By faith Abel offered God a greater sacrifice than Cain,
and through his faith6 he was commended as righteous, because
God commended him for his offerings. And through his faith7 he
still speaks, though he is dead. NET
6tn Or “through his sacrifice”; Grk “through which.”
7tn Or “through his sacrifice”; Grk “through it.”
(2) Before the giving of the law [until Isaac was born all men were
Gentiles] the head of the family was the family priest. By the law an
order of priest was established who alone could offer sacrifices.
Those sacrifices were “shadows,” types, expressing variously the
guilt and need of the offerer in reference to God, and all pointing to
Christ and fulfilled in Him. (3) As foreshadowed by the types and
explained by the N.T., the sacrifice of Christ is penal (Gal 3:13; 2 Cor
5:21); substituitional (Lev 1:4; Isa 53:5,6; 2 Cor 5:21; 1 Pet 2:24);
voluntary (Gen 22:9; John 10:18); redemptive (Gal 3:13; Eph 1:7; 1
Cor 6:20); propitiatory (Rom 3:25); reconciling (2 Cor 5:18, 19; Col
1:21,22); efficacious (John 12:32,33; Rom 5:9, 10; 2 Cor 5:21; Eph
2:13; Heb 9:11,12, 26; 10:10-17; 1 John 1:7; Rev 1:5); and revelatory
(John 3:16; 1 John 4:9,10). (brackets mine) ((Old Scofield Study
System, Dr. C.I. Scofield, p. 1300)
1 John 4:9 By this the love of God is revealed in us: that God has
sent his one and only Son into the world so that we may live through
him. 4:10 In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he
loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice27 for our sins.
NET
27sn As explained at 2:2, inherent in the meaning of the word translated
atoning sacrifice (ίλασµός, hilasmos) is the idea of turning away the
divine wrath, so that “propitiation” is the closest English equivalent.
God’s love for us is expressed in his sending his Son to be the
propitiation (the propitiatory sacrifice) for our sins on the cross. This is
an indirect way for the author to allude to one of the main points of his
controversy with the opponents: the significance for believers’ salvation
of Jesus’ earthly life and ministry, including especially his sacrificial
death on the cross. The contemporary English “atoning sacrifice”
communicates this idea more effectively.
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Dr. Lewis Chafer:
ATONEMENT
Complexity arises in some minds respecting the use of the word
atonement and this is due to certain facts.
1. IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. So far as the English translation is
concerned, the use of the term atonement – excepting the
mistranslation of Romans 5:11 – is restricted to the Old Testament.
Though there is a translation of two Hebrew words, but one of them,
kāphar, is generally in view and it is used about seventy times. Its
meaning is ‘to cover.’ This, the distinct and limited meaning of the
Hebrew word, should not be invested with the New Testament ideas,
which contemplate a finished or completed work. Under the Old
Testament provision the one who had sinned was himself fully
forgiven and released, but the ground pon which it could be wrought
was itself only typical and not actual. God forgave and restored where
sin was only covered by the animal sacrifices, but the true basis on
which forgiveness could ever be be granted was the intention on
God’s part to take up the sin later that He has forgiven and deal with
it righteously and effectively through the sacrificial death of His Son
on the cross. That efficacious death was typified in the required
animal sacrifice. According to Romans 3:25 – “Whom God hath set
forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his
righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the
forbearance of God” – the fact that Christ bore the sins which were
committed before, which sins had already been forgiven on the
typical ground that they were covered, ranks as one of the major
accomplishments of His death. It is as though unnumbered
promissory notes has been handed to Christ for Him to pay. If the
notes are paid as promised, God is thereby proved to be righteous in
the forgiving of sin with no other demands having been made upon
the sinner than that an offering be brought which, regardless of how
much it was understood by that sinner, was in God’s sight an
anticipation and recognition of His final meeting of every holy
demand against sin by the efficacious blood of Christ. In other words,
God pretermitted or passed over the sins, not judging them finally at
the time they were forgiven. Such a course, it is obvious, would be a
very unrighteous dealing if those sins were not in due time to be
brought into judgment. All sins of the Mosaic age were thus shown to
have been “covered” but not “taken away.” In contrast to this
temporary expedient, all sin which God forgives has been and is now
“taken away.” In two New Testament passages that vital cintrast
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rhēma Christou ό λόγος τού Θεού en Christō
appears. It is written: “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and
of goats should take away sins. … And every priest standeth daily
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can
never take away sins: but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice
for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth
expecting til his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified” (Heb 10:4, 11-14).
Added to this is the direct statement of John 1:29, “Behold the Lamb
of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” This great
declaration from John was a doctrinal innovation of immeasurable
proportions. The same contrast between the divine dealings with sin
in the past dispensation and in the present dispensation is indicated
again in Acts 17:30.
Acts 17:30 Therefore, although God has overlooked106 such times of
ignorance,107 he now commands all people everywhere to repent,109
NET
106tn Or “has deliberately paid no attention to.”
107tn Or “times when people did not know.”
109sn He now commands all people everywhere to repent. God was now
asking all mankind to turn to him. No nation or race was excluded.
2. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. Though appearing once by an
unfortunate translation in the New Testament (cf. Rom 5:11), the
word atonement is not really found in the New Testament. It is a
though the Holy Spirit in jealousy for the truth is not allowing room
for such an error respecting the divine plan of dealing with sin in the
present age. The etymological meaning of atonement is ‘at-one-
ment’; those once estranged are brought into agreement. The New
Testament word for this great truth is reconciliation. There would be
no doctrinal error committed should at-one-ment be substituted for
reconciliation, but the careful student must be much influenced by the
fact that ‘atonement’ as such is confined to the old order and is not
used by the Spirit respecting any feature of the new order in
Christianity.
3. IN THEOLOGY. By common usage and yet with little reason,
modern theologians have seized upon the word atonement as a term
to represent all that Christ did on the cross. In earlier portions of this
work (Vol. III) upwards of fourteen stupendous achievements by
Christ in His death have been indicated. These reach beyond all
present time into other ages and past human situations into angelic
spheres. It is not possible that the limitless outreach of Christ’s death
1002

should be represented in any single one or dozen words; and from the
fact that the term in question does not belong in the New Testament
vocabulary and from the fact that it is employed in the Old Testament
to represent one idea wholly foreign to and superceded in the New
Testament , no word related to Christ’s death is more inapt as a
reference to that which He really wrought for men of the present age.
As the extent of Christ’s death is understood, so, correspondingly, the
use of the term atonement will cease. (Systematic Theology, Dr.
Lewis Chafer, Vol 7, pp 25-27)
Easton’s Bible Dictionary: PROPITIATION - that by which God is
rendered propitious, i.e., by which it becomes consistent with his
character and government to pardon and bless the sinner. The
propitiation does not procure his love or make him loving; it only renders
it consistent for him to exercise his love towards sinners.
In Rom. 3:25 and Heb. 9:5 (A.V., "mercy-seat") the Greek word
hilasterion is used. It is the word employed by the LXX. translators in
Ex. 25:17 and elsewhere as the equivalent for the Hebrew kapporeth,
which means "covering," and is used of the lid of the ark of the covenant
(Ex. 25:21; 30:6). This Greek word (hilasterion) came to denote not only
the mercy-seat or lid of the ark, but also propitation or reconciliation by
blood. On the great day of atonement the high priest carried the blood of
the sacrifice he offered for all the people within the veil and sprinkled
with it the "mercy-seat," and so made propitiation.
In 1 John 2:2; 4:10, Christ is called the "propitiation for our sins." Here a
different Greek word is used (hilasmos). Christ is "the propitiation,"
because by his becoming our substitute and assuming our obligations he
expiated our guilt, covered it, by the vicarious punishment which he
endured. (Comp. Heb. 2:17, where the expression "make reconciliation"
of the A.V. is more correctly in the R.V. "make propitiation.")
ATONEMENT - This word does not occur in the Authorized Version of the
New Testament except in Rom. 5:11, where in the Revised Version the
word "reconciliation" is used. In the Old Testament it is of frequent
occurrence.
The meaning of the word is simply at-one-ment, i.e., the state of being at
one or being reconciled, so that atonement is reconciliation. Thus it is
used to denote the effect which flows from the death of Christ.
But the word is also used to denote that by which this reconciliation is
brought about, viz., the death of Christ itself; and when so used it means
satisfaction, and in this sense to make an atonement for one is to make
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satisfaction for his offences (Ex. 32:30; Lev. 4:26; 5:16; Num. 6:11),
and, as regards the person, to reconcile, to propitiate God in his behalf.
By the atonement of Christ we generally mean his work by which he
expiated our sins. But in Scripture usage the word denotes the
reconciliation itself, and not the means by which it is effected. When
speaking of Christ's saving work, the word "satisfaction," the word used
by the theologians of the Reformation, is to be preferred to the word
"atonement." Christ's satisfaction is all he did in the room and in behalf
of sinners to satisfy the demands of the law and justice of God. Christ's
work consisted of suffering and obedience, and these were vicarious, i.e.,
were not merely for our benefit, but were in our stead, as the suffering
and obedience of our vicar, or substitute. Our guilt is expiated by the
punishment which our vicar bore, and thus God is rendered propitious,
i.e., it is now consistent with his justice to manifest his love to
transgressors. Expiation has been made for sin, i.e., it is covered. The
means by which it is covered is vicarious satisfaction, and the result of its
being covered is atonement or reconciliation. To make atonement is to do
that by virtue of which alienation ceases and reconciliation is brought
about. Christ's mediatorial work and sufferings are the ground or efficient
cause of reconciliation with God. They rectify the disturbed relations
between God and man, taking away the obstacles interposed by sin to
their fellowship and concord. The reconciliation is mutual, i.e., it is not
only that of sinners toward God, but also and pre-eminently that of God
toward sinners, effected by the sin-offering he himself provided, so that
consistently with the other attributes of his character his love might flow
forth in all its fullness of blessing to men. The primary idea presented to
us in different forms throughout the Scripture is that the death of Christ is
a satisfaction of infinite worth rendered to the law and justice of God
(q.v.), and accepted by him in room of the very penalty man had
incurred. It must also be constantly kept in mind that the atonement is not
the cause but the consequence of God's love to guilty men (John 3:16;
Rom. 3:24, 25; Eph. 1:7; 1 John 1:9; 4:9). The atonement may also be
regarded as necessary, not in an absolute but in a relative sense, i.e., if
man is to be saved, there is no other way than this which God has
devised and carried out (Ex. 34:7; Josh. 24:19; Ps. 5:4; 7:11; Nahum 1:2,
6; Rom. 3:5). This is God's plan, clearly revealed; and that is enough for
us to know. (Easton’s Bible Dictionary shareware on the NET Resource
CD)
Raymond E. Brown, S.S.
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2a. and he himself is an atonement for our sins. [I John 2:2] As Balz,
Johannesbriefe 169, has recognized, we move now from the setting of
an advocate before a heavenly court to that of a high priest in a
heavenly temple; and Westcott, Epistles 44, is correct in insisting that
the manner in which Jesus is a paraklētos in 2:1 must be interpreted
through the reference to him as a hilasmos, “atonement,” in 2:2.
Bultmann, Epistles 23, exaggerates when he sees a contradiction
between forgiveness of sins through intercession (2:1 from the
epistolary author) and atonement for sins through blood (2:2 from the
Ecclesiastical Redactor). Those ideas were already joined in the
intertestamental Judaism where the martyrs made intercession at the
moment they wee shedding their blood, e.g., IV Macc. 6:28-29 in
which Eleazar says as he faces martyrdom, “Be merciful [adj. related
to hilasmos] to Your people and let our punishment suffice for them;
make my blood serve as a cleansing for them and take my life for
theirs.” … And if paraklētos has a more forensic back ground, the
introduction of hilasmos into such a setting is not unattested, e.g., Ps
130:3-4: “If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? But
with you there is mercy [hilasmos] for the sake of your name.”
Let me begin with reflection on the word hilasmos itself and then
turn to the Johannine context. Since the author was describing Jesus,
a person, one might have expected him to use the concrete term
hilastēr (one who offers atonement) rather than the abstract hilasmos
(atonement/atoning action). The answer to this may lie in the fact that
like the neuter “what” in 1:1, the abstract noun is more complexive
(Clavier, “Notes” 295-97; THLJ 41) and catches the fact that Jesus is
victim as well as priest. A glance at the Bibliography for this unit will
suggest that hilasmos is not a term easily understood. English
translations for it include: atonement, atoning sacrifice, expiation,
propitiation, remedy for defilement, sacrifice for sin; and in antiquity
the Latin translations reflected a similar range of meanings:
deprecation, exoratio, placation, propitiatio. A series of Greek words
from the same root must be considered:

hilaskesthai, a verb used 11 times in the LXX and twice in the NT
(never in the Johannine writings): Luke 18:13 “God be merciful to
me a sinner”; and Heb 2:17: Jesus became “a merciful and faithful
high priest in the service of God to make expiation for the sins of
the people.”

exilaskesthai, which with over 100 uses in the LXX is ten times
more frequent than hilaskesthai. It is never used in the NT but
appears in the Apostolic Fathers: I Clem 7:7: “The people of
Ninevah … when they repented, they propitiated God and gained
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salvation”; Hermas, Vis. 1:2:1: “How shall I propitiate God for the
sins I have committed?”

hilastērion, a noun used 27 times in the LXX (22 of which refer to
the mercy seat or cover of the Ark of the Covenant) and twice in the
NT (never in the Johannine writings): Rom 3:24-25: “The
redemption which is in Christ Jesus whom God put forward as an
expiation (propitiation) by his blood, to be received by faith”; Heb
9:5: “Above the Ark were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the
mercy seat.”

hilasmos, a noun used 10 times in the LXX and twice in the NT,
both in I John: the present passage and 4:10: “God loved us and sent
His Son as an atonement for our sins.”

hileōs, an adjective used some 35 times in the LXX, particularly to
describe God as He turns His anger from His people. It is used
twice in the NT (never in the Johannine writings) : Matt 16:22:
“[May God] be merciful to you, Lord”; Heb 8:12 (citing Jer
31[48]:34: “I will be merciful towards their wrongdoings [adikia].”
The root of the Greek word is related to hilaros and hilaroun
(English “hilarity”) and so has something to do with rendering
pleasant. (The Epistles of John, The Anchor Bible, Raymond E.
Brown, Volume 30, pp 217-21)
The Negative Evidence Against the Governmental Theory
EXEMPLUM Atonement
“Barlaam and Josaphat, a spiritual romance popular during the
Middle Ages (5th century to 15th century). Barlaam and Josaphat is an
exemplum (narrative used to tell a moral or sustain an argument) that has
been compared to The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. Both tales
develop the theme of man's struggle to attain eternal life and are
enlivened by imaginative episodes. Josaphat, according to the legend, is a
prince of India who has been raised and educated with the aim of making
him content with his present life. To this end he has been kept ignorant of
the evils that beset humanity and lives isolated in a palace surrounded by
all of the pleasures that his father's great wealth can command.
Accidentally, however, he encounters human misery in the form of a
leper, a blind man, and an old decrepit man. Barlaam, a hermit, teaches
the young prince that life is a time of probation leading to happiness for
those who resist earthly allurements and who surmount the disasters that
test the souls of humans. After many conflicts, Josaphat retires from the
1006

world with his teacher, ending his life as a hermit of extraordinary
wisdom and sanctity.
The original version of this legend, which is based on the life of
Buddha, was written in India probably between 100 bc and ad 100. It was
introduced into the Byzantine Empire, then in close contact with India,
about ad 600. The story was translated into Greek and Christianized by a
Greek monk and then translated into Latin by Anastasius, librarian to the
pope, about 1100. During the 13th century, abridgements of the story
were included in two popular medieval miscellanies: the Mirror of
History by Vincent of Beauvais and the Legenda Aurea (Golden Legend)
by the archbishop of Genoa, Jacobus de Voragine. Both of these editors
treated the tale as historical and regarded Barlaam and Josaphat as saints.
As such they were admitted to the Roman Martyrology of 1574. The
story has been translated into most of the European and Asian languages.
It is the source of certain tales in the works of Giovanni Boccaccio and
John Gower and of portions of the Gesta Romanorum (Deeds of the
Romans). It also supplied the plot of the morality play Everyman.”
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2006. © 1993-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights
reserved.
2 Cor 11:3 But I am afraid that just as the serpent deceived Eve by
his treachery, your minds may be led astray from a sincere and pure
devotion to Christ. 11:4 For if someone comes and proclaims another
Jesus different from the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a
different spirit than the one you received, or a different gospel than
the one you accepted, you put up with it well enough! 11:5 For I
consider myself not at all inferior to those “super-apostles.” 11:6 And
even if I am unskilled in speaking, yet I am certainly not so in
knowledge. Indeed, we have made this plain to you in everything in
every way. 11:7 Or did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that
you could be exalted, because I proclaimed the gospel of God to you
free of charge? … 11:13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful
workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 11:14 And no
wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 11:15
Therefore it is not surprising his servants also disguise themselves as
servants of righteousness, whose end will correspond to their actions.
“The Necessity for Atonement”
First of all, penalty, as an element of law, appeals to an instinctive
fear. Far better is it that evil tendencies should be restrained, and
outward conformity to law secured, through such fear than not at all.
We therefore hold all divine punishment to have a strictly rectoral
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function. Punishment is the resource of all righteous government. The
whole change in the divine economy is this – that on the sole ground
of the vicarious sacrifice of Christ all who repent and believe may be
forgiven and saved. 230
Dr. John Miley,
Arminian theologian
“The Necessity for At-one-ment”
God has never proposed the amendment of sinners now, nor will He
in eternity. He has provided at infinite cost a perfect regeneration and
new creation through faith in Christ. This may be received or
rejected by men. 231
Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer,
Grace theologian
This writer:
In the above quotations, one theologian, a “minister of righteous-
ness,” would suggest that personal righteousness by reformation is the
individual’s right relation to God. The second theologian would suggest
that only by divine regeneration received through faith does one belong
to God, and thereby, one may have a right relation to God. God Himself
would proclaim that the wisdom of men is foolishness: “Guard against
self-deception, each of you. If someone among you thinks he is wise in
this age, let him become foolish so that he can become wise. For the
wisdom of this age is foolishness with God. As it is written, “He catches
the wise in their craftiness.” And again, “The Lord knows that the
thoughts of the wise are futile. So then, no more boasting about mere
mortals! For everything belongs to you, whether Paul or Apollos or
Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future.
Everything belongs to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs
to God” (1 Cor 3:18-23 NET).
In the denial of the primary truth of the substitutionary penal death of
Christ, that provides for redemption in His shed blood, the Rectoral or
Governmental theory creates a void that must be filled. Thus the required
substitutionary meritorious life (the idolized EXEMPLUM) of the
successful Arminian advocate is made to be primary. Primary because
this is what determines salvation. For the unfortunate Arminian failure,
he is relegated to his original unsaved estate. By extension, this logic
predicates the exact opposite of that which the Arminian would fervently
deny – Calvinist predestination. Luther did not agree with Calvin’s later
doctrine of predestination. They were in agreement on the primary truth
of a salvation secured in the death and shed blood of Christ.
1008

The Arminian primary assertion that salvation can be lost and
Calvin’s secondary truth of predestination, logically state the same thing.
There is no difference. Why? Because of what is overlooked in the
notion of the revolving door of Arminian salvation. “The Lord gives and
the Lord takes away.” What professing Christian would deny that God
chooses the time of one’s death? As repulsive as this statement will be to
an Arminian concept of salvation, it is logically true: the successful
Arminian is elected and predestined by God to receive salvation! This is
to say that God chooses - not that one comes to belief – but that one dies
in either a saved or unsaved estate. This is undeniably true, as it matters
not whether the sovereignty of God in salvation is front loaded or back
loaded, God’s sovereignty yet remains the deciding factor. The
Arminian, albeit unrealized and unstated, believes in a predestined
salvation for the elect in agreement with the extreme five-point Calvinist.
The single rational approach, to be completed as quickly as possible,
is to do as God commands – obey the gospel of the grace of God. Then
and only then, is one eternally secured in a salvation that is the work of
God. Exactly as it is promised and declared in the NT. Not only may one
choose the time of the new birth and regeneration, but simultaneously,
one chooses his time of death, and thus, secures salvation. The Apostle
Paul was not using a metaphor when he stated this thought very clearly
and unmistakably, “For through the law I died to the law so that I may
live to God. I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who
live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live
because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave
Himself for me. I do not set aside God’s grace, because if righteousness
could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing!” (Gal 2:19-21
NET).
Based on the following forensic axioms, derived from natural law, I
will construct a defining statement of the source of the subtle exterior
distinctions between the negative and positive gospel. What is hidden
below the surface is a colossal, unforgivable Christian error. Correct
Christology goes much deeper than the fact that Christ was fully man and
fully God. Shallow orthodoxy is no warrant to profit from the preaching
of a false gospel. The reason for His death and what it accomplished for
man is paramount, not opinion. Dr. Lewis Chafer writes regarding the
opinion proposed by the Governmental theory of atonement: “It would
be simple, indeed, to devise a scheme by which sinless unfallen human
beings may reach heaven on the basis of their worthiness; but God is
undertaking to bring sinful, fallen beings into glory, and the plan He has
devised, of necessity, can take no account either of human merit or
demerit. Immeasurable grace is manifested in the provision of a righteous
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rhēma Christou ό λόγος τού Θεού en Christō
way by which fallen men may be translated from a ruined estate to a new
creation; but, after one is translated, there is no passing back and forth
from one estate to the other as changing merit or demerit might seem to
require.”232 To desecrate God’s plan of salvation, as Arminian
Christianity has done, is the crime of the ages. It is to eat from the table
prepared by the blood of Protestant martyrs who were burned alive by
the advocates of self-salvation and a Negative gospel of righteousness.
The hypocrites who take their salaries and pensions should well enjoy
them now. If the Negative gospel be a proven lie, and the very words of
Jesus define a lie as Satan’s natural language, what should one conclude
about those who defend the Negative gospel? But, most importantly,
God’s great commission, His witness to the world, contemporary
Protestant Christianity, suffers the argument of the Grotian Govern-
mental theory that leads to the sadly under-appreciated dilemma of an
impoverished unsecured salvation that trades Penitence for proof of
divine Forgiveness. That God’s Great Commission suffers a false gospel
is intolerable sin.
Axiom 1: A lie is inverted truth.
Axiom 2: The dirty get dirtier, the clean get cleaner.
For a stated two fold atonement that precludes substitution but
encompasses the illogical distinctions between penal and sacrificial, all
of the following meanings apply:
1. Exemplum – an example or illustration, a brief story to support a
moral point or argument
2. Except (syn.) – excused, exempted, excepted, released, off the hook
(informal), relieved, not liable, discharged, let off, immune, freed
3. antonym: required 233
The theory of EXEMPLUM atonement does not agree with what is
revealed in the NT order of events. The three concepts and chronology of
a biblically required Completed Satisfaction at-one-ment are:
Forgiveness-Past, Faith-Present, and Future-Perfect. These F and P
couplets are rearranged in this “subjective theory,” and the meaning of
the substitutionary penal death of Christ, to be washed clean by His past
shed blood once and for all future times - is omitted. But most critically,
the eternal wrath of God that is upon those born into the darkness of
eternal Judgment is denied. Also, the divine unity of the Godhead with
the Body and Bride of Christ as those born into the light of the eternal
Righteousness of Christ is denied.
1010

The theory of EXEMPLUM atonement proposes that the past-perfect
life and the death of Christ accomplished an EXEMPLUM that has
excepted the salutary rights of Government, so as, to allow the all loving
Father to future-forgive penitent sinners of past personal sins. As the
following words excerpted from the previous citation of Dr. Miley will
demonstrate:
(1) “The demerit of sin imposes no obligation of punishment upon the
divine Ruler; but the protection of rights and interests by means of
merited penalty is a requirement of his judicial rectitude”
(2) “The rectoral ends of moral government are a profounder
imperative with justice itself than the retribution of sin, simply as
such.”
(3) “And with no absolute necessity for the punishment of sin, it
seems clear that but for the requirement of rectoral justice com-
passion would triumph over the disposition of a purely retributive
justice. Hence this alleged [completed satisfaction] absolute necessity
for an atonement is really no necessity at all.” (brackets mine)
From the information above, I submit the following summary statements
for comparison:
EXEMPLUM atonement accomplishes a Past-Perfect EXEMPLUM, Future-
Forgiveness for Present-Faith AND PENITENCE/ LORDSHIP grounded on
Savior-like behavior.
Completed Satisfaction at-one-ment accomplishes a Forgiveness-Past for
Present-Faith and Future-Perfect grounded on redemption in the blood of
the Savior.
One may readily see the only commonality is the unalterable
chronology and concept, Present-Faith. To which, violence has been
done to this logically inseparable condition. It is altered by the addition
of a separate required act of non-biblical, self-absorbed sorrow in either
penitence and/or Lordship making. By comparison, the final induction to
be made is that both statements above cannot be true. In the Exemplum
atonement, Future-Forgiveness is conditioned by continued Present-Faith
and Penitence. In this theory Christ becomes the EXEMPLUM and the
believer a living impersonation of Christ – thus the statement for
salvation is: Salvation by EXEMPLUM is in continued faith. Which is far
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removed from the opposing statement, where the believer in a normal
state of being led by the Spirit is the personification of Jesus Christ:
Salvation in Christ is for faith.i The Word of Truth declares: “But the
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no
law. Now those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its
passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also behave in
accordance with the Spirit” (Gal 5:22-25).
The Good News is not sorrowful, nor is Lordship making for the
unsaved. The Good News is Christ redeemed “whosoever will believe”
forever from the eternal damnation of inherited sin. The distinction yet to
be admitted by the willfully ignorant and antichrist, is that personal sins
are not the all-determining judgment of condemnation. Men are
condemned before they are born and must be regenerated in this life. In
conception, the Negative gospel is a distortion and only a superficial
anti-gospel of the gospel of the grace of God. It is a scheme whereby
good people may be respectable because they continue to go to church
and the unquantified really good may go to heaven and live happily in a
nebulous ever after because they died in a self-maintained “state of
grace.” The only Arminian that is referred to as a man of God is the
preacher. The laity are allowed only to be godly. This false gospel
message is one and the same preached by the antichrists revealed to be
“already in the world” 2,000 years ago in the NT. Any gospel that
distorts the person (birth) or the work (death) of Christ is a distortion of
Christianity. It is a false Christology. Christ came to save men not from
personal sins that are the outworking of a ruined humanity, but to
manifest the gospel of grace that men might believe in Him for salvation
and not perish. He came and died that men might be transformed by faith
into a “new creation.” Only through trust in Christ as Savior may men
“metanoia” (turn to the opposite direction) and enter - once and for all
time - the light of eternal Righteousness from the darkness of eternal
Judgment by the miracle of the new birth; but only by the gospel of the
grace of God may men learn why. Personal sin then becomes a matter of
communion in the eternal union of a believer and God - after salvation.
The Oracles of Truth would tell us to “test the spirits.” In the case of
the Negative gospel of righteousness, as it is structured on individual
future behavior, the prophetic accuracy of salvation is inherently
unknowable. God has given His “little children” another test, a second
test to be applied to a false spirit. This is to ask and determine, “Does that
spirit recommend idolatry?” The “spirit of deceit” will recommend
i
see Book One – Glorious Grace, subsection - Declaration of Grace
1012

idolatry. If self-reliance for admission into heaven is not idolatry, then
excessive admiration for ability is not idolatry, and language means
nothing - as in “American Idol” and tens of millions of pay-per-vote calls
are nonsense. The antichrist in the passage cited below, would not
confess Jesus as Savior, or Christ. The anti-gospel derived from the
theory of Governmental atonement does not confess Christ as the penal
substitute for the judgment of sin and, holds back the reservation of
personal behavior as a contribution to Jesus as the Savior for all
mankind. This theory rejects the imputation of any sin to Christ. This
theory will not confess that Christ was “made to be sin” and that He was
“the lamb that was slain for the sins of world.” This theory does not
confess the dozens of imputed righteousness verses based on the
substitutionary death of Christ. This theory would deny the very heart of
the death of Christ – the justification of the unjust. Instead, this theory
advocates idolatry - personal righteousness based on Christ as the Past-
Perfect EXEMPLUM.
The Messiah of the OT was never expected to be dependent upon
Israel for help to fulfill the promised salvation of that nation. Surely they
expected to be used by God, but that is the very point - God chose to use
them. A replication of God, as in the reformation of behavior, was never
the “ground” of God’s choice. In the OT, God structured victories for
Israel in such a way, that Israel could not claim the glory. “Salvation is of
Jehovah” and “Thou shall have no other God before me.” In the NT, in
the book of Hebrews, the OT saints in the Hall of Faith of chapter 11 are
never, repeat never, commended for their faithfulness to the Law. The
universal question asked by Christ, “Who do you say I am?” is answered
falsely in the EXEMPLUM theory of atonement and the gospel of the
forgiveness of personal sins for the reformation of mankind is not His
gospel of the new creation for the transformation of mankind.
The following is NT proof that the Negative gospel does not confess
Jesus to be the Christ “come in the flesh,” predicted in Isaiah 53:5. The
Hebrew “causal” preposition translated “because of” for deeds, sins,
wounds, and healing is denied to be the imputed need for and the cause
of - His substitutionary penal death to effect salvation for the removal of
men from “the power of Satan to God;” when they are “born from
above” with the ability to “see” and “enter the Kingdom of God,”
thereby, “creating in Himself one new man out of two” from “those who
are called, wrapped in the love of God the Father and kept for Jesus
Christ”:
Isa 53:5 He was wounded because of15 our rebellious deeds,
crushed because of16 our sins;
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rhēma Christou ό λόγος τού Θεού en Christō
he endured punishment that made us well;17
because of his wounds we have been healed.18 NET
15tn The preposition [Heb.] /m has a causal sense here.
16tn The preposition [Heb.] /m has a causal sense here.
17tn Heb “the punishment of our peace [was] on him.” [Heb.] <wlv,
“peace,” is here a genitive of result, i.e., “punishment that resulted in our
peace.”
18sn Continuing to utilize the imagery of physical illness, the group
acknowledges that the servant’s willingness to carry their illnesses (v. 4)
resulted in their being healed. Healing is a metaphor for forgiveness here.
(brackets mine)
2 Cor 5:21 God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us,
so that in him we would become the righteousness of God. NET
Luke 1:79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the
shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace. NET
Acts 26:18 to open their eyes so that they turn from darkness to light
and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive
forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by
faith in me.’ NET
Eph 2:15ff He did this to create in himself one new man out of two,
thus making peace, NET
Col 1:13 He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred
us to the kingdom of the Son he loves, 1:14 in whom we have
redemption, the forgiveness of sins. NET
1 John 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit,1 but test the
spirits3 to determine if they are from God, because many false
prophets have gone out into the world. 4:2 By this you know the
Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses Jesus as the Christ8 who has
come in the flesh is from God, 4:3 but every spirit that does not
confess Jesus is not from God, and this is the spirit of the antichrist,
which you have heard is coming, and now is already in the world. 4:4
You are from God, little children, and have conquered them, because
the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 4:5
They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world’s
1014

perspective and the world listens to them. 4:6 We are from God; the
person who knows God listens to us, but whoever is not from God
does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit
of deceit.16 NET
16sn Who or what is the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit in 1 John
4:6? (1) Some interpreters regard the “spirits” in 4:6 as human spirits.
Although 4:1a is ambiguous and might refer either to human spirits or
spiritual beings who influence people, it is clear in the context that (2) the
author sees behind the secessionist opponents with their false Christology
the spirit of the Antichrist, that is, Satan (4:3b), and behind the true
believers of the community to which he is writing, the Spirit of God .
This is made clear in 4:4 by the reference to the respective spirits as the
One who is in you and the one who is in the world.
1sn 1 John 4:1-6. These verses form one of three units within 1 John that
almost all interpreters consider a single unit and do not divide up (the
other two are 2:12-14 and 15-17). The subject matter is so clearly
different from the surrounding context that these clearly constitute
separate units of thought. Since the Holy Spirit is not the only spirit
active in the world, the author needs to qualify for the recipients how to
tell if a spirit comes from God. The “test” is the confession in 4:2.
3sn Test the spirits. Since in the second half of the present verse the
author mentions “false prophets” who have “gone out into the world,” it
appears highly probable that his concept of testing the spirits is drawn
from the OT concept of testing a prophet to see whether he is a false
prophet or a true one. The procedure for testing a prophet is found in
Deut 13:2-6 and 18:15-22. An OT prophet was to be tested on the basis
of (a) whether or not his predictive prophecies came true (Deut 18:22)
and (b) whether or not he advocated idolatry (Deut 13:1-3). In the latter
case the people of Israel are warned that even if the prophet should
perform an authenticating sign or wonder, his truth or falsity is still to be
judged on the basis of his claims, that is, whether or not he advocates
idolatry. Here in 1 John the idea of “testing the spirits” comes closer to
the second OT example of “testing the prophets” mentioned above.
According to 1 John 4:2-3, the spirits are to be tested on the basis of their
christological confession: The person motivated by the Spirit of God will
confess Jesus as the Christ who has come in the flesh, while the person
motivated by the spirit of deceit will not confess Jesus and is therefore
not from God. ...
8tn This forms part of the author’s christological confession which
serves as a test of the spirits. Many interpreters have speculated that the
author of 1 John is here correcting or adapting a slogan of the
secessionist opponents, but there is no concrete evidence for this in the
text. Such a possibility is mere conjecture (see R. E. Brown, Epistles of
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rhēma Christou ό λόγος τού Θεού en Christō
John [AB], 492).… This is discounted by R. E. Brown because the verb
in John 9:22 occurs between the two accusative objects rather than
preceding both as here (Epistles of John [AB], 493—although Brown
does mention Rom 10:9 as another parallel closer in grammatical
structure to 1 John 4:2). Brown does not mention the textual variants in
John 9:22, however: Both Ì66 and Ì75 (along with K, Ë13 and others)
read (homologēsē auton Christon). This structure exactly parallels 1 John
4:2, and a case can be made that this is actually the preferred reading in
John 9:22; furthermore, it is clear from the context in John 9:22 that
Χριοτν is the complement (what is predicated of the first accusative)
since the object (the first accusative) is αύτόνn rather than the proper
name ΄Ιησοϋν. The parallel in John 9:22 thus appears to be clearer than
either 1 John 4:2 or 2 John 7, and thus to prove useful in understanding
both the latter constructions.
2 John 1:9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not remain in the
teaching of Christ30 does not have God. The one who remains in this
teaching has both the Father and the Son. 1:10 If anyone comes to
you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your
house and do not give him any greeting, 1:11 because the person who
gives him a greeting shares in his evil deeds. NET
30tn The genitive tou' Cristou' (tou Cristou, “of Christ”) is
difficult because it may be understood as objective (the teaching about
Christ), subjective (Christ’s own teaching), or both (M. Zerwick’s
“general” genitive [Biblical Greek §§36-39]; D. B. Wallace’s “plenary”
genitive [ExSyn 119-21]). An objective genitive (with Christ as the object
of the “apostolic” teaching) might seem to be the obvious reading in
context, especially since verse 7 makes reference to what a person
“confesses” about Jesus Christ. A good case can also be made for a
subjective genitive, however, since other Johannine uses of the genitive
following the noun didachv (didach, “teaching”) favor a subjective
sense here. In John 7:16, 17 Jesus himself refers to “my teaching” and
“teaching from me,” and 18:19 refers to “his (Jesus’) teaching.” Rev
2:14, 15 refers to the “teaching of Balaam” and “the teaching of the
Nicolaitans,” both of which are clearly subjective in context. In the
present context, to speak of “Christ's teaching” as a subjective genitive
would make Christ himself (in the person of the indwelling Spirit) the
teacher, and this is consistent with the author’s position in 1 John 2:27
that the community does not need other teachers. In 1 John 2:27 it is the
Paraclete, referred to as “his anointing,” who does the teaching. Since the
dispute with the opponents concerns the salvific significance of the
earthly life and ministry of Jesus, the “teaching” here would refer to
1016

Jesus’ own teaching (reflected in the Gospel of John) concerning his
person and work. Since this is ultimately one with the apostolic
eyewitness testimony about Jesus, it is perhaps best to view the genitive
here as both objective and subjective (perhaps the author deliberately
intended not to be specific).
Jude 1:1 From Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to
those who are called, wrapped in the love of God the Father and kept
for Jesus Christ. NET
John 9:22 (His parents said these things because they were afraid of
the Jewish religious leaders. For the Jewish leaders had already
agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Christ would be put
out of the synagogue. NET
The idea expressed behind “confess Jesus to be the Christ” is not
directed against admittance to the Person of Jesus, nor to the EXEMPLUM
of Jesus, but to Jesus as the one who was to accomplish the salvific work
of the Messiah, revealed in the OT. The unvarnished determination is
that a gospel, or a paradigmatici theory, a “form” of Christianity, that
does not place belief in the finished work of Christ to save men from
eternal damnation is the “spirit of the antichrist.” Irrespective that it
parades itself as a religion of Christianity. What else should it do?
Denounce itself as a look-alike evil? The Governmental theory advocates
idolatry of the EXEMPLUM. Which is the behavior of the christ-like
adherent who wins a Future-Forgiveness, a Super Bowl salvation to
which the Past-Perfect, EXEMPLUM, the Great Example, Jesus only
contributed the example. This form of Christianity exalts the Person of
Christ, not the work of Christ. This theory advocates personal behavior
not a Savior. Men die physically because of Adam’s sin. Men are born
with a dead spirit because of Adam’s sin. Men die and their souls go to
hell because all men were present when Adam sinned. How may the
forgiveness of personal sins based on behavior in the Governmental
theory, held so dear by the Arminians, address this dilemma? By
EXEMPLUM perhaps? With the denial of plain Scriptural fact, has been
the response for centuries. This theory based in fear, not joy, owes much
of its commercial success to Hugo Grotius and the natural law of an evil
world system. The final conclusion is - the spirit of EXEMPLUM is the
i
2. model that forms basis of something: an example that serves as a pattern or
model for something, especially one that forms the basis of a methodology or theory
Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All
rights reserved.
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spirit of deceit. Only the Person of Jesus is held up for faith. There is no
redemption in the blood of Jesus, no faith in the finished work of Jesus,
and no salvation as the work of God in the regeneration of a believer.
Contrary to the Governmental theory, redemption, reconciliation, and
propitiation are three completed aspects of the once and for all sacrifice
of Christ that makes up the entirety of salvation as the finished work of
Christ. This is the essence, the very heart, of the gospel message to be
received and believed by the unsaved. The thief on the cross, who went
to paradise, died after Christ. And this, after Christ had said, “It is
finished.” All men condemned by the triple jeopardy imposed upon the
triad of sin, that was brought into this world by Satan - original, nature,
and personal - stand, at the cross 2000 years ago, universally forgiven
during the probationary period of mortal life. Thereby, God is obligated,
not to a twofold purpose - to send His Son to the cross as an EXEMPLUM
for men and release the Father to forgive men - quite to the contrary, the
Father has joyfully obligated Himself to forgive those who “obey the
gospel of the grace of God,” to believe in the One He sent to receive
salvation as the work of God for all the promised benefits of an eternal
salvation based on the justification of the sinful in the finished work of
Christ His Son.
The Governmental Theory Denies the Substitutionary Blood
Redemption of Christ and Regeneration by the Power of God
Dr. Lewis Chafer:
Satan has always adapted his methods to the times and conditions.
If attention has been gained, a complete denial of the truth has been
made, or, when some recognition of the truth is demanded, it has been
granted on the condition that that which is vital in redemption should
be omitted. This partial recognition of the truth is required by the
world today. For, while the direct result of the believer’s testimony to
the cosmos has been toward the gathering out of the Bride, there has
been an indirect influence of this testimony upon the world, which
has led them to see that all that is good in their own ideals has been
already stated in the Bible and exemplified in the life of Christ.
Moreover, they have heard that every principle of humanitarian
sympathy or righteous govern-ment has been revealed in the
Scriptures of Truth. Thus there has grown a more or less popular
appreciation of the value of these moral precepts of the Scriptures and
of the example which Christ presents. This condition has prevailed to
such a degree that any new system or doctrine which secures a
1018

hearing today must base its claim upon the Bible, and include, to
some extent, the Person and teachings of Christ. The fact that the
world has thus partly acknowledged the value of the Scriptures is
taken by many to be a glorious victory for God, while, on the
contrary, fallen humanity is less inclined to accept God’s terms of
salvation than in the generations past. It is evident that this partial
concession of the world to the testimony of God has opened the way
for counterfeit systems of truth, which, according to the prophecy, are
the last and most-to-be-dreaded methods in the satanic warfare. In
this connection it must be conceded that Satan has really granted
nothing from his own position, even though he be forced to acknow-
ledge every principle of truth save that upon which salvation depends.
Rather is he advantaged by such a concession; for the value and
delusion of a counterfeit are increased by the nearness of its likeness
to the real. By advocating much truth, in the form of a counterfeit
system of truth, Satan can satisfy all the external religious cravings of
the world, and yet accomplish his own end by withholding that on
which man’s only hope depends. It is, therefore, no longer safe to
subscribe blindly to that which promises general good, simply
because it is good and is garnished with the teachings of the Bible; for
good has ceased to be all on the one side and evil all on the other. In
fact, that which is evil in purpose has gradually appropriated the good
until but one issue distinguishes them. Part-truth-ism has come into
final conflict with whole-truth-ism, and woe to the soul that does not
discern between them! The first, though externally religious, is of
Satan, and leaves its followers in the doom of everlasting banishment
from the presence of God, while the latter is of God, “having promise
of the life that now is, and that which is to come.”
It is also noticeable that the term “infidel” has, within a generation,
disappeared from common usage, and that the manner of open denial
of the truth has been almost wholly abandoned. Yet the real Church
has by no means lost her foes, for they are now even more numerous,
subtle, and terrible than ever before. These present enemies, however,
like the unclean birds in the mustard tree, have taken shelter under her
branches. They are officiating at her most sacred altars and conduct-
ing her institutions. These vultures are fed by a multitude, both in the
church and out, who, in satanic blindness, are committed to the
furtherance of any project or the acceptance of any theory that
promises good to the world if it is apparently based upon Scripture,
little realizing that they are often supporting the enemy of God.
A counterfeit is Satan’s most natural method of resisting the
purpose of God, since by it he can realize to the extent his desire to be
1019
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like the Most High. Every material is now at hand, as never before,
for the setting up of those conditions which are predicted to appear
only in the very end of the age. In 2 Timothy 3:1-5 one of these
predictions may be found: “This know also, that in the last days
perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own
selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to pa-
rents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers,
false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of
God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from
such turn away.” Here it is stated that in these last days forms of
godliness shall appear which, however, deny the power of God, and
from such the believer is warned to turn away. The important element
in the true faith which is to be omitted in this “form” is defined
elsewhere in the Scriptures: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that
believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Rom 1:16); “But
we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto
the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which area called, both Jews
and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor
1:23-24). Therefore, that which is omitted so carefully from these
forms is the salvation which is in Christ. This is most suggestive, for
“there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby
we must be saved,” and it is by salvation alone that any deliverance
can be had from the power of darkness. Without this salvation Satan
can still claim all his own. It is perhaps necessary to add that, judging
from all his writings, this salvation of which Paul confesses he was
not ashamed was no less an undertaking than regeneration by the
Spirit; and whatever other theories may be advanced, this is the
teaching of the Spirit through the Apostle Paul. This prophecy
concerning conditions in the “last days” ends with an injunction
which is addressed only to the believers who are called upon to live
and witness during those days. To them it is said: “from such [a form
of godliness which denies the power thereof] turn away.” As certainly
as the last days are now present, so certainly this injunction is now to
be heeded, and the Lord’s people are called upon to separate from
churches and institutions which deny the gospel of God’s saving
grace through the substitutionary blood redemption of the cross. To
support institutions or ministries which “deny the power thereof,” is
to lend aid to Satan – the enemy of God. With no less force it is stated
in 2 Peter 2:1, “But there were false prophets also among the people,
even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall
1020

bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them
and bring upon themselves swift destruction.” In the manner,
according to this passage, the denial falls not on the Person of Christ,
but rather on His redeeming work – “the Lord that bought them.” It
therefore follows that one feature of the last days will be a form of
godliness which carefully denies the power of God in salvation.
Again, Satan is “in the latter times” to be the promoter of a system
of truth or doctrine: “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the
latter times some shall depart from the faith [the gospel of the grace
of God, this writer], giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of
devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their consciences seared
with a hot iron” (1 Tim 4:1-2). These predicted satanic systems are
here accurately described. Their offers will be so attractive and
externally so religious that into them will be drawn some who “shall
depart from the faith,” they being enticed by seducing spirits. No
reference is made here to personal faith by which one may be saved.
It is “the faith” – a body of truth (cf. Jude 1:3) which is first seen to
some extent, and then rejected. This a regenerate person will never
do. These attractive systems are not only from Satan, but are
themselves “lies in hypocrisy,” being presented by those whose
conscience has been seared with a hot iron. No more illuminating
terms could be used than these. A lie covered by hypocrisy means,
evidently, that they are still attempting to be counted among the
faithful; and the conscience seared would indicate that they can
distort the testimony of God and blindly point other souls to perdition,
without present remorse or regret. The doctrines of devils are again
referred to in Revelation 2:24, R.V. as “the deep things of Satan,” and
this is Satan’s counterfeit of “the deep things of God” which the Spirit
reveals to them that love Him (1 Cor 2:10). Thus there are predicted
for the last days of this age both a form of godliness which denies the
power of salvation that is in Christ, and a system known as ‘the deep
things of Satan” or “doctrines of the devils,” speaking lies in
hypocrisy. Can there be any doubt that these two Scriptures describe
the same thing, since they also refer to the same time? The lies of one
can be but the covered denial of salvation in the other.
Again, Satan has his assembly, or congregational meeting, which
is his counterfeit of the visible church. This assembly is referred to,
both in Revelation 2:9 and 3:9, as the “synagogue of Satan,” an
organized assembly being relatively as important for testimony in the
deep things of Satan as it has been in the things of God. In Matthew
13 the tares appear among the wheat and their appearance is said to
after the sowing of the wheat. So, also, the “children of the wicked
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one” appear and are often included and even organized within the
forms of the visible church. The assembly of Satan, calling itself part
of the visible church, is to have its ministers and teachers. This is
sated in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15: “For such are false apostles,
deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of
light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be
transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be
according to their works.” Here is a remarkable revelation of the
possible extent of the satanic counterfeit – “false apostles, deceitful
workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ” and
“ministers of righteousness”; yet these are shown to be only agents of
the great deceiver, Satan, who is himself transformed into an angel of
light. It is evident that the method of this deception is to imitate the
real ministers of Christ. Certainly these false apostles cannot so
appear unless they gather into their message every available “form of
godliness” and cover their lies with the most subtle hypocrisy. Evil
will not appear on the outside of these systems; but they will be
announced as “another gospel” or as a larger understanding of the
previously accepted truth, and will be all the more attractive and
delusive since they are heralded by those who claim to be ministers of
Christ, who reflect the beauty of an “angel of light,” and whose lives
are undoubtedly free from great temptation. It should be noted,
however, that these false ministers do not necessarily know the real
mission they have. Being unregenerate persons of the cosmos, and
thus blinded to the real gospel, they are sincere, preaching and
teaching the best things the angel of light, their energizing power, is
pleased to reveal unto them. Their gospel is one of human reason, and
appeals to human resources. There can be no appreciation for divine
revelation in them, for they have not come really to know God or His
Son, Jesus Christ. They are ministers of righteousness, which
message should never be confused with the gospel of grace. One is
directed only at the reformation of the natural man, while the other
aims at regeneration through the power of God. As all this is true,
how perilous is the attitude of many who follow attractive ministers
and religious guides only because they claim to be such and are
sincere, and who are not awake to the one final test of doctrine by
which alone the whole covert system of satanic lies may be
distinguished from the truth of God! In this connection John writes
the following warning: “If there come unto you, and bring not this
doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed”
(2 John 1:10).
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False teachers are usually sincere and full of humanitarian zeal;
but they are unregenerate. This judgment necessarily follows when it
is understood that they deny the only ground of redemption. Being
unregenerate, it is said of them: “But the natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him: neither
can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor
2:14). Such religious leaders may be highly educated and able to
speak with authority on every aspect of human knowledge; but if they
are not born again, their judgment in spiritual matters is worthless and
misleading. Al teachers are to judged by their attitude toward the
doctrine of the blood redemption of Christ, rather than by their
winsome personalities, their education, or their sincerity.
Since the blood redemption of the cross is the central truth and
value of the true faith, it being the power of God unto salvation”
(Rom 1:16; 1 Cor 1:23-24), any counterfeit system of doctrine which
would omit this essential, must force some secondary truth into the
place of prominence. Any of the great Scriptural subjects which are of
universal interest to humanity, such as physical health, life after
death, morality, unfulfilled prophecy, or religious forms, may be
substituted in the false system for that which is vital. And while these
subjects are all found in their proper relations and importance in the
true faith, the fact that people are universally inclined to give
attention to them furnishes an opportunity for Satan to make a strong
appeal to humanity through them, using these subjects as central
truths in his false and counterfeit systems. Many are easily led to fix
their attention upon the secondary things, and to neglect wholly the
one primary thing. Especially is this true since the secondary things
are tangible and seen, while the one essential thing is spiritual and
unseen; and Satan has blinded their eyes toward that which is of
eternal value. A system of doctrine may be formed, then, which
includes every truth of the Scriptures save one: exalting the Person of
Christ, but not His work, and thereby emphasizing some secondary
truth as its central value. This system will be readily accepted by
blinded humanity, though the real power of God unto salvation has
been carefully withdrawn. Naturally it would be supposed that such
Satan-inspired systems would have no value or power, since their
could be no divine favor upon them. Such a supposition would be
possible only because of the prevailing misunderstanding with respect
to the real power of Satan. If the description given of him in the
Scriptures is accepted, he will be seen to be possessed with
miraculous power, able to perform such marvels that the whole world
is led to wonder and then to worship. He is free also to bestow this
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miraculous power upon others (Rev 13:2). So it is no marvel if his
ministers, who appear as the ministers of righteousness, are able to
exert superhuman power when it is directly in the interests of the
satanic projects. The great power of Satan has doubtless been active
along these lines during all the ages past; for it is impossible that
humanity should have worshipped other gods blindly without some
recompense, and it is Satan himself who has been thus worshipped
(Lev 17:7; 2 Chron 11:15; Rev 9:20).
It is not final evidence, therefore, that a system of doctrine is of
God simply because there are accompanying manifestations of super-
human power, nor is it final evidence that the Almighty has
responded simply because any form of supplication has been
answered. The divine movements are, of necessity, limited by the
laws of His own holiness; and access into His presence is by the
blood of Christ alone, by a new living Way which was consecrated
for us through His flesh (Heb 10:19-20). Assuming to come before
God in prayer but ignoring this truth is but to insult with pollution
Him who is infinitely holy and pure. Surely the Satan-ruled world
does not come before God by the blood of Christ.
Churches sometimes fall an easy prey to forms of doctrine –
“deceivableness of unrighteousness” – which Satan originates. Sad is
the spectacle of churches meeting week after week to be beguiled by
the philosophy of men, and raising no voice in protest against the
denial of their only foundation as a church, and the individual’s only
hope for time and eternity! Far more honorable were the infidels of
the past generation than those who minister in these churches. They
were wholly outside the church. But now, behold the inconsistency!
Men who are covered by the vesture of the church, ministering its
sacraments, and supported by its benevolence, are making an open
attack upon that wisdom of God which made Christ Jesus the only
ground for all righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. The
predictions for the last days are thus not only being fulfilled by false
systems and doctrines, but they are found in the visible church itself.
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine;
but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers,
having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth,
and shall be turned into fables” (2 Tim 4:3-4). Great religious
activities are possible without coming into complication with saving
faith. It is possible to fight against sin and not present the Savior, or to
urge the highest Scriptural ideals and yet offer no reasonable way of
attainment. There is a strange fascination about these undertakings
which are humanitarian, and are religious only in form or title. And
1024

there is a strange attractiveness in the leader who announces that he is
not concerned with the doctrines of the Bible, because the helping of
humanity is his one passion and care; yet all his passion is lost and his
care is of no real end unless coupled with a very positive message of a
particular way of salvation, the true understanding of which demands
a series of most careful distinctions.
Who can be the God of these systems? The energizing power in
these people? And the answerer of their prayers? Surely not the God
of the Scriptures who cannot deny Himself, and whose Word cannot
be made to pass away! Revelation sets forth but one other being who
is capable of these undertakings; and it not only assigns to this being
a great and sufficient motive for all such activity, but clearly predicts
that he will thus “oppose” and “exalt himself” in this very day and
age. Much of the secondary truth is the present inheritance of the
child of God. However, if there is a choice to be made, the deepest
wisdom will perceive that all the combined secondary values which
Satan can offer are but for a fleeting time, and are not worthy to be
compared with the eternal riches of grace in Christ Jesus.
Certain religious systems which are in no way related to the Bible
and have continued for millenniums – including the ancient pagan
systems and spiritism – have held the devotion of uncounted millions
and bear every evidence of being inspired by Satan. The moral
problem, which is felt to some degree by every human being, is
seized upon by almost every unscriptural system. The idea that man
will stand on a basis of personal worthiness has been the chief heresy,
opposing the central doctrine of grace, from the time of Christ’s death
to the present hour. It so permeates the church that few who preach
are able to exclude it from their attempts at gospel preaching. It is
safe to say that wherever the element of human merit is allowed to
intrude into the presentation of the plan of salvation, the message is
satanic to that extent. The ministers of Satan proclaim personal
righteousness as the ground of the individual’s right relation to God
(2 Cor 11:13-15). No sphere of profession has been more confused
and befogged by the intrusion of human merit than has the Church of
Rome.
As has been observed, cults are now multiplying and their
appearance is restricted to very recent times. … There is but one acid
test, namely, What place does it give to the redeeming grace of God
made possible only through the death and shed blood of Christ? …
It may be concluded that, by creation, Satan is the highest of all
angels and that he fell into sin, being befogged by the distortion of
sanity which pride engenders. His sin took the form of an assumption
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to act in independence of the Creator – an undertaking which, of
necessity, became a concrete embodiment of untruth as certainly as
God is Truth. According to the divine method in dealing with creature
assumption, as seen in all past history, Satan is allowed – if not
required – to put his scheme of independent action to an experimental
test, and its present development, though manifesting even now its
corrupt nature, is yet incomplete. The inerrant, prophetic Scriptures
carry the stupendous enterprise on to the unavoidable, irrational,
incomprehensible spiritual bankruptcy which characterizes the
consummation of this gigantic experiment. During these terrible ages
of trial, Light is pitted against darkness, and Truth against falsehood.
Little attention can have been given to Scripture on the part of men
who propose to account for the evil one as a mere influence in the
world. Of such wicked inattention to revelation, Dr. Gerhart writes:
“In the history of Jesus the fact of the deadly hatred of Evil to the
ideal Good, of fiendlike wickedness towards spotless Virtue, no one
can deny. Those who choose to describe such appalling inhumanity
and diabolism exclusively to Jews and Gentiles, (instead of referring
it to a mighty personal evil spirit, as its background,) do not get rid, as
they suppose, of a devil. Then man is himself resolved into a devil;
for he is invested with a kind and degree of malice which
dehumanizes human nature, turns earth into pandemonium, and
history into an interminable war of incarnated fiends” (Institutes of
the Christian Religion, I, 697). Perhaps both things here stated are
true. Not only are Satan and his angels tot be seen in their true light as
fiends of darkness, but humanity as allied with them is evidently seen
by God to be wholly evil, if not diabolical. It is such who, having cast
in their lot with a satanic lie, must, if not saved out of it, share the
lake of fire which originally was prepared only for “the devil and his
angels” (Matt 25:41; Rev 20:10). It is to these fallen, God-repudiating
human beings that the gospel of eternal redemption and heavenly
glory is to be preached. How matchless is the grace of God toward
these enemies (Rom 5:10)! And how incomprehensibly blessed are
the words of Christ, “… should not perish, but have everlasting life”!
(Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 2, pp 103-12)
Concluding Evidentiary Testimony and Disclosures
The Negative Gospel Preaches Regret for Sin, not Christ
Crucified for the Expiation of Sin
Dr. B. B. Warfield:
1026

“The widespread tendency to represent repentance as the atoning
fact might seem, then, to be accountable from the extensive
acceptance which has been given to the Rectoral theory of the
atonement. Nevertheless much of it has had a very different origin
and may be traced back rather to some such teaching as that, say, of
Dr. McLeod Campbell. Dr. Campbell did not himself find the atoning
fact in man’s own repentance, but rather in our Lord’s sympathetic
repentance for men. He replaced the evangelical doctrine of
substitution by a theory of sympathetic identification, and the
evangelical doctrine of expiatory penalty-paying by a theory of
sympathetic repentance. Christ so fully enters sympathetically into
our case, was his idea, that He is able to offer to God an adequate
repentance for our sins, and the Father says, It is enough! Man here is
still held to need a Saviour, and Christ is presented as that Saviour,
and is looked upon as doing for man what man cannot do for himself.
But the gravitation of this theory is distinctly downward, and has ever
tended to find its lower level. There are, therefore, numerous
transition theories prevalent – some of them very complicated … The
essential emphasis in all these transition theories falls obviously on
man’s own repentance rather than on Christ. Accordingly the latter
falls away easily and leaves us with human repentance only as the
sole atoning fact – the entire reparation which God asks or can ask for
sin. Nor do men hesitate today to proclaim this openly and boldly. …
Christ sympathetically enters into our condition, [Dr. Forsyth]
tells us, and gives expression to an adequate sense of sin. We,
perceiving the effect of this, His entrance into our sinful atmosphere,
are smitten with the horror of the judgment our sin has brought on
Him. This horror begets in us an adequate repentance of sin: God
accepts this repentance as enough; and forgives our sin. Thus
forgiveness rests proximately only on our repentance as its ground:
but our repentance is produced only by Christ’s sufferings: and hence,
Dr. Forsyth tells us, Christ’s sufferings may be called the ultimate
ground of forgiveness.
It is sufficiently plain that the function served by the sufferings
and death of Christ in this construction is somewhat remote. Accord-
ingly they quite readily fall away altogether. It seems quite natural
that they should do so with those whose doctrinal inheritance comes
from Horace Bushnell, say, or from the Socinian theorizing of the
school of Rischl. We feel no surprise to learn for example, that with
Harnack, the sufferings and death of Christ play no appreciable part.
With him the whole atoning act seems to consist in the removal of the
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false conception of God from the minds of men. Men, because
sinners, are prone to look upon God as a wrathful judge. He is, on the
contrary, just Love. How can the sinners misjudgment be corrected?
By the impression made upon him by the life of Jesus, keyed to the
conception of the divine Fatherhood. With all this we are familiar
enough. But we are hardly prepared for the extremities of language
which some permit themselves in giving expression to it. “The whole
difficulty,” a recent writer of this class declares, “is not inducing or
enabling God to pardon, but in moving men to abhor sin and to want
pardon.” Even this difficulty, however, we are assured is removable:
and what is needed for its removal is only proper instruction.
“Christianity,” cries our writer, “was a revelation, not a creation.”
Even this false antithesis does not, however, satisfy him. He rises
beyond it to the acme of his passion, “Would there have been no
Gospel,” he rhetorically demands – as if none could venture to say
him nay – “would there have been no Gospel had not Christ died?”
Thus “the blood of Christ’ on which the Scriptures hang the whole
atoning fact is thought no longer to be needed: the gospel of Paul,
which consisted not in Christ simpliciter but specifically in “Christ as
crucified,” is scouted. We are able to get along now without these
things.
To such a pass have we been brought by the prevailing gospel of
the indiscriminate love of God. For it is here that we place our finger
on the root of the whole modern assault upon the doctrine of an
expiatory atonement. In the attempt to give effect to the conception of
indiscriminate and indiscriminate love as the basal fact of religion,
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the entire Biblical teaching as to atonement has been torn up. If God ways little beyond the saddened sense of the benignitas numinis. The
is love and nothing but love, what possible need can there be of an benignitas numinis! How studded the pages of those genial old
atonement? Certainly such a God cannot need propitiating. Is not He heathen are with the expression; how suffused their repressed life is
the All-Father? Is He not yearning for His children with an with the conviction that the kind Deity that dwells above will surely
unconditioned and unconditioning eagerness which excludes all not be hard on men toiling here below! How shocked they are at the
thought of “obstacles to forgiveness?” What does He want but – just stern righteousness of the Christian’s God, who loomed before their
His children? Our modern theorizers are never weary of ringing the startled eyes as He looms before those of the modern poet in no other
changes on this single fundamental idea. God does not require to be light as “the hard God that dwelt in Jerusalem”! Surely the Great
moved to forgiveness; or to be enabled to pardon; or even to be Divinity is too broadly good to mark the peccadillos of poor puny
enabled to pardon safely. He raises no question of whether He can men; surely they the objects of His compassionate amusement rather
pardon, or whether it would be safe for Him to pardon. Such is not the than of His fierce reprobation. Like Omar Kyayyam’s pot, they were
way of love. Love is bold enough to sweep all such chilling questions convinced, before all things, of their Maker that “He’s a good fellow
impatiently out of its path. The whole difficulty is to induce men to and “twill all be well.”
permit themselves to be pardoned. God is continually reaching The query cannot help rising to the surface of our minds whether
longing arms out of heaven toward men: oh, if men would only let our modern indiscriminate benevo-lencism goes much deeper than
themselves be gathered into the Father’s eager heart! It is absurd, we this. Does all this onesided proclamation of the universal Fatherhood
are told – nay, wicked – blasphemous with awful blasphemy – to of God import much more than the heathen benignitis numinis? When
speak of propitiating a God such as this, of reconciling Him, of we take those blessed words, “God is Love,” upon our lips, are we
making satisfaction to Him. Love needs no satisfying, reconciling, sure we mean to express much more than that we do not wish to
propitiating; nay, will have nothing to do with such things. Of its very believe that God will hold man to any real account for his sin? Are
nature it flows out unbought, unpropitiated, instinctively and we, in a word, in these
unconditionally, to its object. And God is Love! modern days, so much
Well, certainly, God is Love. And we praise Him that we have soaring upward toward
better authority for telling our souls this glorious truth than the a more adequate
passionate assertion of these somewhat crass theorizers. God is Love! apprehension of the
But it does not in the least follow that He is nothing but love. God is transcendent truth that
love: but Love is not God and the formula “Love” must therefore Good is love, as
ever be inadequate to express God. It may well be - to us sinners, lost passionately protesting
in our sin and misery but for it, it must be – the crowning revelation against being ourselves
of Christianity that God is love. But it is not from the Christian branded and dealt with
revelation that we have learned to think of God as nothing but love. as wrath deserving
That God is the Father of all men is a true and important sense, we sinners? Assuredly it is
should not doubt. But this term “All-Father” – is not from the lips of impossible to put
Hebrew prophet or Christian apostle that we caught it. And the anything like their real
indiscriminate benevolencism which has taken captive so much of the content into these great
religious thinking of our time is a conception not native to words, “God is Love,”
Christianity, but of distinctly heathen quality. As one reads the pages save as they are thrown
of popular religious literature, teeming as it is with ill-considered out against the
assertions of the general fatherhood of God, he has an odd feeling of background of those
transportation back into the atmosphere of, say, the decadent other conceptions of
heathenism of the fourth and fifth centuries, when the gods were equal loftiness, “Good
dying, and there was left to those who would fain cling to the old is Light,” “God is
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Righteousness,” “God is Holiness,” “God is a consuming fire.” The
love of God cannot be apprehended in its length and breadth and
height and depth – all of which pass knowledge – save as it is
apprehended in the love of God who turns from the sight of sin with
inexpressible abhorrence, and burns against it with unquenchable
indignation. The infinitude of His love would be illustrated not by His
lavishing of His favor on sinners without requiring an expiation of
sin, but by His – through such holiness and through such
righteousness as cannot but cry out with infinite abhorrence and
indignation – still loving sinners so greatly that He provides a
satisfaction for their sin adequate to these tremendous demands. It is
the distinguishing characteristic of Christianity, after all, not that it
preaches a God of love, but that it preaches a God of conscience.
A somewhat flippant critic, contemplating the religion of Israel,
has told us, as expressive of his admiration for what he found there,
that “an honest God is the noblest work of man.” There is a profound
truth lurking in the remark. Only it appears that the work were too
noble for man; and probably man has never compassed it. A
benevolent God, yes: men have framed a benevolent God for
themselves. But a thoroughly honest God, perhaps never. That has
been left for the revelation of God Himself to give us. And this is
really the distinguishing characteristic of the God of revelation: He is
a thoroughly honest, a thoroughly conscientious God – a God who
deals honestly with Himself and us, who deals conscientiously with
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Himself and us. And a thoroughly conscientious God, we may be
sure, is not a god who can deal with sinners as if they were not
sinners. In this fact lies perhaps the deepest ground for the necessity
of an expiatory atonement.
And it is in this fact also that there lies the deepest ground of the
increasing failure of the modern world to appreciate the necessity of
an expiatory atonement. Conscientiousness commends itself only to
an awakened conscience; and in much of recent theologizing
conscience does not seem especially active. Nothing, indeed, is more
startling in the structure of recent theories of atonement, than the
apparently vanishing sense of sin that underlies them. Surely, it is
only where the sense of guilt of sin has grown grievously faint, that
men can fancy that they can at will cast it off from them in a
“revolutionary repentance.” Surely it is only where the heinousness of
sin has practically passed away, that man can imagine that the holy
and just God can deal with it lightly. If we have not much to be saved
from, why, certainly, a very little atonement will suffice for our
needs. It is, after all, only the sinner that requires a Saviour. But if we
are sinners, and appreciate what it means to be sinners, we will cry
out for that Saviour who only after He was perfected by suffering
could become the Author of our Salvation.” 234 (bold italics mine)
The Power of God in Salvation as the Saving Work of God
THE NEGATIVE GOSPEL DENIES THE TWELVE RESOURCES OF
GRACE THAT KEEP A BELIEVER SAVED
Dr. Lewis Chafer:
UNAVOIDABLY, much that enters into the Calvinistic doctrine of
security has been alluded to by way of contrast or comparison in the
foregoing analysis of the Arminian position. Perhaps enough has been
presented respecting the Calvinistic view on the doctrines of original
sin, efficacious calling, decrees, the fact and character of the fall,
divine omniscience, divine sovereignty, and sovereign grace, though
it may safely be restated that what is termed Calvinism – largely for
want of a more comprehensive cognomen – is, so far as devout men
have been able to comprehend it, the essential Pauline theology,
especially in its soteriological aspects. After all, Systematic Theology
is the attempt on the part of men to state in orderly arrangement what
God has revealed in the Bible. The Word of God is consistent with
itself and it is regrettable that good men do not agree among
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themselves about the interpretation. In seeking a reason, or reasons,
for this lack of unity, certain suggestions may be advanced. First, it
has pleased God so to embed the truth in the Sacred text that only
those who study unceasingly and who are qualified for the task by
educational background, all of this coupled with true spiritual insight,
are able to discern with some degree of accuracy its revelation in its
length and breadth, its height and depth. Men with little or no
conformity to these educational requirements have rendered super-
ficial opinions, which are based on mere human reason and claim to
be final. This shallow dogmatism has swept multitudes who think but
little into cults and sporadic religious movements. It has long been
recognized that the man least qualified to speak with authority will
be, very often, the most dogmatic. A second explanation of disagree-
ment in Bible interpretation is slavish conformity to human leaders.
This tendency can easily beset the best of interpreters. Each sect feels
called upon to maintain its theological schools and to pursue its
peculiar point of view. Their theology is published and defended by
those who are run in their specific molds. In the light of the fact that
there is but one body of revealed truth setting forth but one system,
that which God has given, the disagreement which obtains between
sincere and educationally disciplined men may be accounted for on
the basis of this tendency to cleave to human authorities identified
with a given sect. The creed of the denomination is more to be
defended than the Word of God itself. In the present day, there is but
little resentment when the Scriptures are discredited, but there is
strong opposition experienced when the position occupied by the
denomination is questioned. Men seldom change their preconceived
views whether good or bad. Their early training and theological
discipline serve as a mold from which the individual will seldom be
extricated. Such a slavish bondage to human leaders and creeds may
impede Calvinists as well as Arminians. It will be recognized by all,
however, that Calvinist as a body, judging from their writings, are
more concerned to be conformed to the Bible than any other group
that is held together by common theological beliefs. Ignorance,
intolerance, unteachableness, and slavish devotion to human leaders
are the roots of doctrinal confusion with the attending evils which that
confusion engenders. The names Calvinism and Arminianism may
well be dismissed if only a clear understanding of the word of God
may be gained. However, these appellations do represent, in the main,
two conflicting schools of theological thought, and it is the purpose of
this thesis to defend the Word of God and Calvinism is favored only
because it, in turn, favors the Scriptures of Truth. The Calvinistic
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interpretations, especially respecting security, are unstrained and
show an amenableness to the Word of God. The great doctrines of
Scripture bearing on security – universal depravity, effectual calling,
decrees, the fall, omniscience, divine sovereignty, and sovereign
grace – are taken by Calvinist in the plain and natural meaning which
may be drawn from the Sacred Text. It is not claimed that there are no
truths which are too deep for human understanding; but these, when
received in the natural sense of the language of the Scriptures, if not
fully understood, are found to be harmonious with the revealed plan
and purpose of God. It has been demonstrated … that the Scriptures
upon which the Arminian depends, for such Biblical appeal
respecting insecurity as he chooses to make, are none of them in any
final sense a support for his contention. His interpretation for these
portions of the Word of God is well described by the text: “as also in
all his epistles, speaking in them of these things ; in which are some
things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and
unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own
destruction.” Over against these passages to which the Arminian
resort, is the positive, constructive, and consistent declaration of
uncounted New Testament passages which in unqualified terms assert
that the believer is secure. Added to these positive assertions of the
Word of God are those deductions to be drawn from every doctrine
which is at all related to a complete soteriology. No Arminian
undertakes to demonstrate that the positive passages are uncertain in
their meaning. Their only recourse is to claim that human
responsibilityi must be read into these passages in order to make them
harmonize with the interpretation they have placed on so-called
insecurity texts. John 5:24 must read, “He that heareth My word, and
believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not
come into condemnation that is, if he holds out to the end.” Romans
8:30 must read, “Moreover whom He did predestinate by
foreknowing their faith and works, them He also called provided they
are willing to be called: and whom He called, them He also justified
provided they do not sin: and whom He justified, them He also
glorified provided they do not fall from their own stead-fastness.” It is
i
As discussed in Part One in the section The Body of Man, Randy Alcorn coined the
term christoplatonism to describe the spiritualizing of the afterlife in Scripture. Here,
Dr. Chafer, is making an illustration of religious humanism being read into Scripture.
This is a mandatory burden upon the Arminian. Hence the consistently held
“perception” that salvation is dependent upon behavior. An anecdotal analogy is that
when I first began reading the Bible, as many do, regardless of the verse, I tried to
apply it to myself. One gets beyond that point.
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no small responsibility to add to, or take from, the Word of God (Rev
22:18-19), or to handle that Word deceitfully (2 Cor 4:2).
2 Cor 4:2 But we have rejected shameful hidden deeds, not
behaving with deceptiveness or distorting the word of God, but by
open proclamation of the truth we commend ourselves to
everyone’s conscience before God. NET
Having previously discussed the Calvinistic beliefs respecting the
great soteriological doctrines, it remains now to consider the direct
and positive unfolding of eternal security as presented in the New
Testament.
While there are unnumbered secondary declarations and infer-
ences respecting the security of the true Christian, this chapter will
present twelve major reasons, declared in the New Testament, why
the believer once saved can never be lost. Liberty is to claimed in
connection with each of these reasons to point out what the
rationalistic denial of the truth in question involves. These twelve
reasons, it will be found, are equally divided in their relation to the
three Persons of the Godhead – four are the responsibility of the
Father, four are the responsibility of the Son, and four are the
responsibility of the Spirit. This threefold fact at once lifts the theme
to a major doctrine of Soteriology. Of these twelve reasons it may be
said that any one of them is in itself a final and sufficient basis for
confidence that the child of God will be preserved unto heaven’s
glory. When twelve reasons, each complete and conclusive in itself,
are contemplated, the evidence is overwhelming. In general the New
Testament presents the Father as purposing, calling, justifying, and
glorifying those who believe in Christ; the Son is presented as
becoming incarnate that He might be a Kinsman-Redeemer, as dying
a substitutionary and efficacious death, as rising to be a living Savior,
both as Advocate and Intercessor, and as Head over all things to the
Church; the Holy Spirit is presented as administering and executing
the purpose of the Father and the redemption which the Son has
wrought. It is reasonable, then, that all three Persons of the Godhead
should have their individual share in preserving to fruition that which
God has determined.
I. THE REASONS WHICH DEPEND UPON GOD THE FATHER
The four reasons for security which are assigned to the Father are:
(1) the sovereign purpose of God, (2) the Father’s infinite power set
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free, (3) the infinite love of God, and (4) the influence on the Father
of the prayer of His Son.
1. THE SOVEREIGN PURPOSE OF GOD. By no process of worthy
reasoning and certainly by no word of revelation can it be concluded
that He who created all things according to His sovereign purpose –
which purpose extends on into eternity to come and comprehends
every minute detail that will ever come to pass – will be defeated in
the realization of all His intention; nor should there be failure to
accept the truth that the bringing of redeemed men into heaven’s
glory is a major divine purpose behind all His creative undertaking.
The assumption is unfounded and vain which declares that the saving
of souls and the outcalling of the Church is but a minor detail which,
if unsuccessful, would, on account of its insignificance, have no
important bearing on the main divine objective. It is true that, on the
human side, man exercises his will in that he acts according to his
desires and best judgment. It is also true and of greater importance
that God molds those desires and enlightens that human judgment. It
is natural for men to conclude that since in the range of their own
experience their acceptance of Christ is optional, the salvation of a
soul and its attaining to heaven’s glory is a matter of indifference or
uncertainty in the mind of God. The failure of one soul to be saved
and to reach glory whom God has ordained to that end means the
disruption of the whole actuality of divine sovereignty. If God could
fail in one feature, be it ever so small, He could fail in all. If He could
fail in anything, He ceases to be God and the universe is drifting to a
destiny about which God Himself could know nothing. None would
doubt that the incarnation and death of Christ were major features in
the purpose of God; but all this, it is revealed, is for the purpose of
bringing many sons into glory. It is written: “But we see Jesus, who
was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death,
crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should
taste death for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things,
and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to
make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering” (Heb
2:9-10). God did not give His Son as a fortuitous venture, with
uncertainty about whether a remnant of His purpose would be
realized. Every devout mind would be shocked by the recital of such
God-dishonoring insinuations; yet every feature of this impious
sequence is unavoidably admitted if it be allowed that God could fail
in the realization of His purpose in the instance of one soul.
Ephesians 1:11-12 is a proper declaration in respect to the divine
purpose: “In whom also we have also obtained an inheritance, being
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predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will: that we should be to the praise of his
glory, who first trusted in Christ.” And though often referred to
previously, Romans 8:28-30 proclaims the same immutable divine
intention, with plenary assurance that the sovereign purpose of God
will be realized. … The primary pronouncement of this passage is
that “all things work together for good to them that love God [a
reference to those who are saved], to them who are called according
to his purpose.” This entire program centers in His purpose, which
began with predestination and foreknowledge acting in their
combined effectiveness. That this intent which was foreseen and
predetermined might be achieved, He calls, He justifies, and He
glorifies. This purpose is for each individual who is saved. If it is
inquired whether the individual must believe by the action of his own
will, it will be remembered that the divine call consists in the moving
of the human will – not by coercion, but by persuasion – and that by
so much, the only human responsibility – believing which is of
measureless importance – is guaranteed. All that God has purposed in
behalf of those who area saved He has promised in unconditional
covenant and His covenant cannot be broken, else the holy character
of God is defamed. Would any pious individual assert that God might
promise and not fulfill? Yet He has, by the very revelation of His
sovereign intent, promised complete preservation of those who are
saved at all. He does not hesitate to include the element of human
faith in this great undertaking. When it is thus included, it is not the
introduction of an uncertainty, as is easily supposed. There is no
uncertainty whatever where He is Author of faith. When God says He
will save those who believe, it is understood from other Scriptures
that His elect, under the persuasion which cannot fail, will believe.
God’s ability to make unconditional covenants in the outworking of
His sovereign purpose is demonstrated in the covenants made with
Abraham and David. The only responsibility in either of these
covenants is contained in the sovereign “I will” of Jehovah. Both
covenants reach on for their fulfillment to future ages. Because of
their duration, if for no other reason, these covenants could not rest on
the faithfulness of either of the men involved. The span of their lives
scarcely marked the beginning of the realization of all that God
promised in these covenants. It is of peculiar interest to note that, in
the case of David – and what may be perplexing to Arminians – God
declared the sins of David’s sons, through whom the covenant was to
be perpetuated, would not in any case abrogate the covenant; though,
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it should also be observed, Jehovah reserved the right to chastise
those in David’s line who offended (2 Sam 7:8-16; Ps 89:20-37).
2 Sam 7:14 I will become his father and he will become my son.
When he sins, I will correct him with the rod of men and with
wounds inflicted by human beings. 7:15 But my loyal love will
not be removed from him… NET
The word promise as employed by the Apostle Paul (cf. Rom
4:13-14, 16, 20; Gal 3:17-19, 22, 29; 4:23, 28), though much
neglected in doctrinal study, represents precisely the form of
unconditional promise which God made to Abraham – not the
promise of the same thing, but that which in each case is
unconditional and therefore an expression of divine sovereignty. The
promise made to the believer of this age is not only concerning
different objectives, but reaches out to realms unrevealed to
Abraham. God did not covenant with Abraham that He would present
Abraham faultless before the presence of His glory (Jude 1:24); nor
did He promise that Abraham would be accepted in the Beloved (Eph
1:6).
Jude 1:24 Now to the one who is able to keep you from falling,
and to cause you to stand, rejoicing, without blemish before his
glorious presence, NET
Under present relationships, the word promise represents all that God
in sovereign grace designs for the believer. Abraham is the divinely
determined pattern of salvation by promise (Gen 15:6; Rom 4:3, 20-
25); but the scope of the promise now is widely different in the case
of the believer as compared to that which was addressed to Abraham.
The force of this divinely arrayed principle to make a sovereign
covenant of promise and to execute it apart from every human
condition is seen in Romans 4:16, where it is written: “It is of faith
[nothing on man’s part], that it might be by grace [everything on
God’s part], to the end the promise might be sure.” If the end in view
depended at any point on human resources or factors, the promise
could not be sure; but, being an unconditional, sovereign work of
God, the result is as sure as the existence of the eternal God.
Similarly, in Galatians 3:22 it is written that, “the scripture hath
concluded all [Jew and Gentile alike] under sin,” which means that
God accepts no merit from man which might be credited to his
account in his salvation. This is so in order that “the promise,” which
is realized by faith in Jesus Christ, “might be given to them that
1038

believe” – meaning, who do no more than believe. The Apostle is
careful to point out that, in the case of Abraham, he was declared
righteous by believing. It could not be because of law observance
since the law was not given until five hundred years later; nor could it
have been merited by circumcision, since Abraham was not then
circumcised (Rom 4:9-16).
Rom 4:9 Is this blessedness then for the circumcision or also for
the uncircumcision? For we say, “faith was credited to Abraham
as righteousness.” 4:10 How then was it credited to him? Was he
circumcised at the time, or not? No, he was not circumcised but
uncircumcised! 4:11 And he received the sign of circumcision as a
seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still
uncircumcised, so that he would become the father of all those
who believe but have never been circumcised, that they too could
have righteousness credited to them. 4:12 And he is also the father
of the circumcised, who are not only circumcised, but who also
walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham
possessed when he was still uncircumcised.
4:13 For the promise22 to Abraham or to his descendants that he
would inherit the world was not fulfilled through the law, but
through the righteousness that comes by faith. 4:14 For if they
become heirs by the law, faith is empty and the promise is
nullified. 4:15 For the law brings wrath, because where there is no
law there is no transgression either. 4:16 For this reason it is by
faith so that it may be by grace, with the result that the promise
may be certain to all the descendants—not only to those who are
under the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham,
who is the father of us all. NET
22sn Although a singular noun, the promise is collective and does not
refer only to Gen 12:7, but as D. Moo (Romans 1-8 [WEC], 279)
points out, refers to multiple aspects of the promise to Abraham:
multiplied descendants (Gen 12:2), possession of the land (Gen
13:15-17), and his becoming the vehicle of blessing to all people
(Gen 12:13).
Thus the grace-promise with all that it includes is addressed to the
believer apart from all ceremonials. It is the sovereign purpose of the
sovereign God, which is accomplished to infinite perfection through
sovereign grace on the sole condition of faith in Christ as Savior.
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The Arminian insists that human merit is essential for safekeeping
and by so much he denies that the eternal purpose in salvation is to be
accomplished by unconditional sovereign grace. To him the promise
is not sure, and he denies that God has concluded all under sin for the
very intent that the human element should be dismissed forever. This
Arminian misrepresentation is perilously near being “another gospel,”
that which merits the unrevoked anathema of Galatians 1:8-9.
The unconditional divine covenant of promise is the substance of
a vast body of Scripture. It enters into every passage in which
salvation and safekeeping are made to depend upon faith in Christ.
The following texts will serve as illustration:
John 3:16 For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his
one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not
perish but have eternal life.
5:24 “I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message
and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be
condemned, but has crossed over from death to life.
6:37 Everyone whom the Father gives me will come to me, and
the one who comes to me I will never send away.
10:28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; no one
will snatch them from my hand. NET
Rom 8:30 And those he predestined, he also called; and those he
called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.
NET
2. THE FATHER’S INFINITE POWER SET FREE. The problem related
to the exercise of divine power in the safekeeping of the believer is
more complex than it would be were there no moral features
involved. Granting that God is omnipotent, and to this all pious souls
will agree, it would not be difficult to imagine a situation in which
God could preserve an individual Christian by His arbitrary
domination, or a situation in which He could surround the believer
with influences which would safeguard him throughout his days; but
Christians sin and are imperfect, which fact introduces a moral
problem when their safekeeping is considered. Without doubt, it is
this moral problem which is the formidable obstacle to security in the
Arminian’s mind. … The Arminian readily discloses his mind when
asked the direct question, What would serve to unsave the Christian?
His answer, of course, is sin – not minor sins, such as all believers
commit, else no Christian would endure at all and they evidently do
1040

endure; even Christians of the Arminian faith endure to some extent,
and some do reach heaven at last. No Arminian would contend that
those of their number who reach heaven do so on the basis of a sinless
life. The contention is, rather, that those thus favored did not commit
sins sufficiently wicked to unsave them. By so much, as all will
admit, a rationalistic and unscriptural claim is introduced which
distinguishes between big sins and little sins. Yet even more daring in
its unbelief is the obvious confession involved, which asserts that sin
may unsave after Christ has borne it. The Scriptures declare that
Christ by His death became the propitiation for our sinsi (1 John 2:2),
which certainly means that the believer’s sins, in contrast to the “sins
of the whole world,” have had their specific and perfect judgment
wrought out by Christ in His death – a judgment so perfect that the
Father is rendered infinitely propitious [satisfied] by it. It would seem
unnecessary to state here the qualifying truth that, though the
Christian’s sin does not surpass the propitiation which is originated to
disannul its power, it does carry with it other penalties, and not the
least of these is chastisementii by the Father should the sinning
Christian continue to sin without repentance and confession (1 Cor
11:31-32).
1 Cor 11:31 But if we examined ourselves, we would not be judg-
ed. 11:32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined
so that we may not be condemned with the world. NET
The special point which division of this theme aims to establish is
that God the Father not only is able because of omnipotence to keep
His own, but that He is set free through the death of His Son to keep
them, in spite of the moral problem which the imperfection of each
Christian engenders. The New Testament bears abundant testimony to
the unrestrained ability of God to keep those whom He has saved
through Christ. It is written:
John 10:29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,
and no one can snatch them from my Father’s hand. Rom 4:21 He
was fully convinced that what God promised he was also able to do.
i
The second aspect of expiating (taking away sin) the believer’s sins, the “sweet-
savor” sacrifice in the burnt offering
ii
If one may recall “older” drawings of the shepherd with the lost sheep being
carried on his shoulders – the sheep’s leg was bandaged because the shepherd broke
it to keep it in the flock.
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4:22 So indeed it was credited to Abraham as righteousness. 4:23 But
the statement it was credited to him was not written only for
Abraham’s sake, 4:24 but also for our sake, to whom it will be
credited, those who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from
the dead. 4:25 He was given over because of our transgressions and
was raised for the sake of our justification. 8:31 What then shall we
say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 8:38
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
heavenly rulers, nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor
powers, 8:39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will
be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
14:4 Who are you to pass judgment on another’s servant? Before his
own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able
to make him stand. Eph 3:20 Now to him who by the power that is
working within us is able to do far beyond all that we ask or think,
Phil 3:21 who will transform these humble bodies of ours into the
likeness of his glorious body by means of that power by which he is
able to subject all things to himself. 2 Tim 1:12 Because of this, in
fact, I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, because I know the one in
whom my faith is set and I am convinced that he is able to protect
what has been entrusted to me until that day. Heb 7:25 So he is able
to save completely those who come to God through him, because he
always lives to intercede for them. Jude 1:24 Now to the one who is
able to keep you from falling, and to cause you to stand, rejoicing,
without blemish before his glorious presence, NET
To all this may be added the specific disclosure of Ephesians 1:19-21,
wherein it is revealed that the very power which wrought in Christ to
raise Him from the dead – the supreme power – is “to us-wards.”
Who, indeed, is able to estimate the advantage to the child of God of
that immeasurable power?
3. THE INFINITE LOVE OF GOD. That which actuated God from all
eternity in His elective choice of those whom He would bring into
glory was His love for them. If, as many scholars believe, the words
in love, which in the Authorized Version are at the end of Ephesians
1:4, are to be made the opening words of that which follows, a flood
of light falls on this important revelation respecting the motive of
God. Under this arrangement the passage would read and probably
should read, “in love having predestined usi.” Love is one of the
i
(Eph 1:4-5 NET) 12tn The prepositional phrase ejn ajgavph/ (en agaph, “in
love”) may modify one of three words or phrases: (1) “chose,” (2) “holy and
1042

attributes of God. “God is love,” which means that He has never
acquired love, He does not maintain it by any effort whatsoever, nor
does His love depend upon conditions; for He is the Author of all
conditions. God loved before any being was created, and at a time – if
time it be – when there was no other than His own triune Being. He
loved Himself supremely, but upon a plane far above that of mere
self-complacency. His love is as eternal and unchangeable as His own
existence, and it was in that incomprehensible past that He also loved
the beings He would yet create. Though expressed supremely by the
death of Christ at a moment in time, and though seen in the
preservation of, and the providence over, His redeemed, His is a love
of the dateless past and its continuation is as immutable as the
predestination it devises. Yes, predestination is, so far from being a
hard and awful predetermination of God, in reality, the supreme
undertaking and satisfaction of His infinite compassion.
At an earlier point in this thesis, attention has been called to the
truth that salvation springs not from the misery of men which God in
mercy might choose to relieve, but it springs from the love God has
for His creatures, which love can be satisfied by nothing short of their
conformity to Christ in His eternal presence. It is this unchangeable
endearment that … [one] must contemplate and in the light of it must
form [their] conclusion. In this contemplation, it will not do to invest
the divine compassion with the fitfulness and capriciousness which
characterizes human love, as though God loved His creatures when
unblemished,” both in v. 4, or (3) “by predestining” in v. 5. If it modifies “chose,” it
refers to God’s motivation in that election, but this option is unlikely because of the
placement of the prepositional phrase far away from the verb. The other two options
are more likely. If it modifies “holy and unblemished,” it specifies that our holiness
cannot be divorced from love. This view is in keeping with the author’s use of
ajgavph to refer often to human love in Ephesians, but the placement of the
prepositional phrase not immediately following the words it modifies would be
slightly awkward. If it modifies “by predestining” (v. 5), again the motivation of
God’s choice is love. This would fit the focus of the passage on God’s gracious
actions toward believers, but it could be considered slightly redundant in that God’s
predestination itself proves his love.
13tn Grk “by predestining.” Verse 5 begins with an aorist participle dependent on the
main verb in v. 4 (“chose”).
sn By predestining. The aorist participle may be translated either causally (“because
he predestined,” “having predestined”) or instrumentally (“by predestining”). A
causal nuance would suggest that God’s predestination of certain individuals
prompted his choice of them. An instrumental nuance would suggest that the means
by which God’s choice was accomplished was by predestination. The instrumental
view is somewhat more likely in light of normal Greek syntax (i.e., an aorist
participle following an aorist main verb is more likely to be instrumental than causal).
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they were good, but withdrew His love when they were wrong. The
fact is, though incomprehensible, that God loved men enough to give
His Son to die for them even when they were enemies and sinners
(Rom 5:7-10). He was not merely shocked by their unworthiness
enough to provide some relief; He actually died for them in the
Person of His Son. It is in this connection – and at Romans 5 – that
the words “much more” occur twice and when contrasting the
outworking of the love of God for the saved. It is not implied that He
loves more, though the individual saved by His grace is more lovable
than when unregenerate; it is rather that the opportunity has been
made, through salvation, for His love to have a much more
manifestation in those who are saved. “Much more then, being now
justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For
if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of
his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life”
(Rom 5:9-10). The preservation declared in the end of this passage is
not due to the indwelling Christ, which is eternal life (Col 1:27), but
is due to the essential fact of Christ’s own life and all that He, the
resurrected Son of God, is to the believer.
If this truth respecting the immeasurable and immutable love of
God for believers is recognized, it will be seen that, because of this
unalterable motive, God will conclude perfectly what He has begun –
that which He predestinated with infinite certainty. Love removed
every barrier that sin erected and love will keep, by a much more
manifestation even than that exhibited at Calvary, all whom He hath
chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.
Little place, indeed, does the Arminian make in his system for this
unalterable, undefeatable love of God for those whom He has saved.
To deny this love its full manifestation and satisfaction, as it is
disclosed by God Himself, is to attempt to impair, if not to deny, the
essential reality of one of God’s most glorious attributes.
4. THE INFLUENCE ON THE FATHER OF THE PRAYER OF HIS SON.
Many cognomens are used in the New Testament to designate those
from among Jews and Gentiles who are saved - Christians, believers,
brethren, children of God, the household of faith, the family of God,
“my sheep,” a kingdom of priests, His Body, saints – and each of
these, to which others might be added, carries a specific meaning and
suggests a peculiar relationship. There is, however, one title which,
because of the One who used it and the circumstances under which it
was employed, surpasses in hallowed exaltation all other appellations
combined. The Lord Himself used it exclusively in that supreme hour
when He was leaving this world and was returning to the Father – an
1044

hour when He was accounting to the Father respecting the completion
of His incomparable mission to this world. The time and
circumstances thus marked the climax of all that He had wrought
while here in the world. Whatever term the Savior might employ at
any time would be of the greatest significance, but above all and
exalted to the highest heaven is that designation which He employs
when He is in holy and familiar converse with His Father in heaven.
At once the devout mind is aroused to its supreme attention to catch
the terminology which is current in the intercourse between the Father
and the Son. It is then in His High Priestly prayer that the Savior
seven times refers to those who are saved as “those whom thou hast
given me” (John 17:2, 6, 9, 11-12, 24). This so exalted company
includes all that believe on Him throughout the age (John 17:20). This
title at once suggests an event of measureless import in past ages
concerning which but little may be known. It is reasonable to believe
that each individual ever to be saved by the grace of God through the
Savior, Jesus Christ, was in the ages past individually presented as a
particular love gift from the Father to the Son; that each individual
represents a thought that could never be duplicated; and that if one of
these jewels should be missing from the whole company, the Lord
would be deprived as only infinity could be injured by imperfections.
While referring to believers as “those whom thou hast given me,”
the Son asks the Father this definite petition: “Holy Father, keep
through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they
may be one, as we are” (John 17:11). The prayer that they may be one
no doubt refers to the organic unity of all believers, which is
illustrated by the figure of a body and its relation to its head. The
implication is that no member shall be absent. But, more top the
point, is the fact and force of the direct prayer to the Father by the
Son, in which He makes request that the Father keep through His
name those whom He has given to the Son. Naturally, the question
arises whether this prayer of the Son will be answered. The
Arminians hesitate to believe that it will be answered, nor could it be.
The request itself which this prayer presents should not be
overlooked. The Son asks the Father to keep those saved whom the
Father has given to the Son. If it could be demonstrated – which it
cannot – that the Father has no interest of His own in these elect
people, it must be observed that He, for the Son’s sake, to whom
nothing is denied, must employ His infinite resources to accomplish
precisely what the Son has requested. It is thus that the prayer of the
Son of God to the Father becomes one of the major factors in the
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believer’s security. To deny the safekeeping of the believer is to
imply that the prayer of the Son of God will not be answered.
II. THE REASONS WHICH DEPEND ON GOD THE SON
While the four reasons for the Christian’s security which depend
upon God the Son are discussed separately in various places in the
New Testament, they all appear together in one verse and as a
fourfold answer to a challenging inquiry whether the child of God is
secure. The passage reads:
Rom 8:34 Who is the one who will condemn? Christ is the one
who died (and more than that, he was raised), who is at the right
hand of God, and who also is interceding for us. NET
The question with which this passage opens is preceded by a similar
inquiry – “Whoi shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?”–
which question draws out the assuring answer, “It is God that
justifieth.” The argument is that if God has already justified, which is
the case with everyone who believes in Jesus (cf. Rom 3:26; 8:30),
how can He lay anything to the charge of His justified one? It is in no
wise the common problem of one person discovering imperfections or
sin in another person. In such an undertaking, God above all others,
could identify the Christian’s failures. He has never shut His eyes to
those failures, nor does He fail to give righteous consideration to
them. The believer’s justification is secured on the ground on the
imputed merit of the Son of God and it is legally his, being, as he is,
in Christ. There could never be such a thing as a justification before
God which is based on human worthiness. On the other hand, a
justification which is not subject to human merit could hardly be
subject to human demerit. As in human relationships where there are
ways by which an earthly father may correct an erring son without
disrupting either sonship or family standing, in like manner God as
Father maintains the perfect standing – even complete and eternal
justification – of His child at the very moment it is necessary for Him
to correct that child. The truth therefore stands that God, having
justified the ungodly (Rom 4:5), will not and cannot contradict
Himself by charging them with evil, which charge amounts to the
reversing of their justification. Bearing on this truth, Dean Alford
quotes Chrysostom as saying: “He saith not, ‘God who remitteth
sins,’ but which is more, ‘God who justifieth.’ For when the vote of
i
Isa 50:8 Who is my accuser? 16tn Heb “Who is the master of my judgment?”
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the judge himself acquits, and such a Judge, of what weight is the
accuser?” (N.T. for English Readers, new ed., on Rom. 8:34). …
The second question and the one which draws out the fourfold
answer now under consideration – “Who is he that condemeth?” – is
quite similar to the one which precedes it, though a different body of
truth is summoned to serve as an answer. Here, as throughout the
New Testament, the inquiry whether the believer is unconditionally
safe forever through the provisions of infinite grace is answered in the
affirmative. Concerning the complete answer to this second question,
De Wette remarks: “All the great points of our redemption are ranged
together, from the death of Christ to His still enduring intercession, as
reasons for negativing the question above” (Alford, loc. cit.).
A sincere attention to this question and its fourfold answer is
demanded, to the end that there may be a worthy understanding of the
truth embraced in this particular theme which occupies so great a
place in Soteriology. This interrogation whether the true believer will
ever be condemned is both propounded and answered by the Holy
Spirit. These are the words of God and not the words of a man alone.
It is as though the divine Author anticipated the doctrinal confusion
that was to arise and, with that in view, caused these momentous
questions to be recorded with their unequivocal answers.
Nevertheless, such direct questions and conclusive answers have not
deterred a form of rationalistic unbelief, which poses as pious and
sound, from denying the entire revelation.
The four answers to the question “Who is he that condemneth?”
are here taken up separately and in their order since they constitute
the four reasons for the believer’s security which belong, for their
achievement, to the Son of God. The answers are: (1) Christ has died,
(2) Christ is risen, (3) Christ advocates, (4) Christ intercedes.
1. CHRIST HAS DIED. The first answer to the question “Who is he
that condemneth?” is a citation of the fact that Christ has died, and
properly so, since that death is a major ground for the assurance that
the believer cannot be condemned. To a degree that is complete and
final, Christ has Himself borne the condemnation which otherwise
would fall on the Christian who has sinned. No new principle is thus
introduced. It was on the basis of the efficacy of Christ’s death for his
sins that the believer was saved in the first place and apart from all
penalty or punishment, a holy God being thus set free to pardon
righteously every sin that ever was or ever will be, with respect to its
power to condemn (Rom 8:1 R.V.). It is the same divine freedom,
based on the fact that Christ died for the Christian’s sins (1 John 2:2),
which creates the freedom of God to forgive righteously the sin – now
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within the sphere of fellowship with God – of the believer who
confesses that sin (1 John 1:9). The solution of the problem of the
salvation of the unregenerate person and of the preservation of those
who are saved is identical. This divinely wrought solution is not only
equitable and legal, but it is practical and reasonable. Though Satan-
blinded minds do not see this truth until they are enlightened, the fact
that the Substitute has borne the penalty is the simplest of methods by
which a problem, otherwise impossible of solution, may be wholly
solved. Though God reserves the right to correct and chasten His
child, He has never allowed an intimation to go forth by His
authority, that His child would be condemned. In defense of his
theological position, The Arminian must either deny that the death of
Christ is a sufficient divine dealing with sin, and, therefore, the
believer may be disowned for the very sins which Christ bore, or he
must abandon the testimony of the Bible outright and conclude that
Christ did not die efficaciously for anyone. Such conclusions are the
inescapable deductions from the Arminian position respecting the
doctrine of substitution. Naturally, there is no intermediate
ground. Either the believer must be condemned for each and every
sin – which is the logical contention of Arminianism – or his sins are
in no way a ground of judgment, the judgment of them having been
borne by Another. There is no question about what the Bible teaches
on these two propositions, nor about which one it favors.
2. CHRIST IS RISEN. The glorious truth of the resurrection of
Christ becomes at once the ground upon which two conclusive
reasons for the security of the child of God are found to rest: (a) that
the believer has partaken has partaken of the resurrection life of the
Son of God, and (b) that the believer is a part of the New Creation
over which the resurrected Christ is the all sufficient Head. The latter
of these to reasons will be discussed under those features of security
which are the responsibility of the Holy Spirit. The former, now to be
considered, is that the child of God partakes of the resurrection life of
the Son of God. An exceedingly important statement of truth appears
in Colossians 2 and 3. It is to the effect that the Christian is already in
the sphere of resurrection by virtue of the fact that he is in the
resurrected Christ. In chapter 2, the Apostle asserts directly that the
Christian is raised with Christ (vs. 12). This reality is not a mere
symbolism or figure; it is as real as Christ’s own resurrection, in
which it shares. To be “quickened” is to made alive by the receiving
of the resurrection life of Christ. The Christian has been, and is said
to be even now, raised up and seated with Christ in the heavenlies
(Eph 2:6). To be in the resurrected Christ and to have the resurrected
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Christ within, constitutes a spiritual resurrection which, as to the
believer’s whole being, will be completed in due time by the
resurrection of the body or by its transformation in translation. With
this spiritual reality in mind, the Apostle writes in Colossians 3:1-4
and in respect to the believer’s daily life, “If ye then be risen with
Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the
right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things
on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear
with Him in glory.”
The life which the believer receives in regeneration is the life of
Christ in resurrection. That life cannot decrease or perish. It is the
common claim of Arminians that, whatever eternal life may be, it can,
and in many instances does, depart. Some have said that it is eternal,
resurrection life while it is possessed, but that the Christian may
become dispossessed of it. But that life is not a detached something
which may come or go. It is a nature secured by divine generation
and, like any nature that is possessed, it cannot be detached and
dismissed. There seems to be a peculiar bond of relationship between
the two realities – “eternal life” and “shall not perish” as these are
twice used together by Christ (John 3:16; 10:28).
3. CHRIST ADVOCATES. In 1 John 1:1-2:2, two important
questions are answered, namely, what the effect of the Christian’s sin
is upon himself and what its cure, and what the effect of the
Christian’s sin is upon God and what its cure. … Turning for the
moment to the effect of the Christian’s sin upon himself, it will be
seen that in 1 John alone there are at least seven damaging
consequences which result from that sin; yet it is not once intimated
that the believer will be lost again. One of these penalties is that of
the loss of communion with God the Father and the Son, and the cure
– far removed indeed from regeneration – is a simple confession of
the sin to God from a penitent heart (1 John 1:3-9). Attention has
been called to thirty-three divine undertakings which together
constitute the salvation of a soul. Among them is the truth that all sin
is forgiven. Not one of these thirty-three transformations could be
claimed alone or separated from the whole, nor could thirty-two be
selected with the intentional omission of one. They constitute one
indivisible whole; nor is one of these subject to a second experience
of reception. Even the forgiveness of sin – which is unto union with
Christ and into a state where there is no condemnation – is never
repeated. The Christian’s forgiveness in the household and return to
fellowship with the Father and the Son is quite another thing; yet, it
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too, is based on the same substitutionary death of Christ. The removal
of the effect upon himself of the Christian’s sin is, through divine
grace, perfect and complete when the requisite confession is made.
The provision is specific and sufficient whereby the sin is forgiven
and the sinner cleansed (1 John 1:9).
On the other hand, the effect of the Christian’s sin upon his holy
God is most serious indeed. It is asserted with all possible emphasis
that the least sin – such as believer’s habitually commit, as omissions
and commissions – has the power in itself to hurl the believer down
from his exalted position into perdition, were it not for that which
Christ has wrought. It is here that the form of rationalism which
characterizes Arminianism asserts itself. Apart from revelation, it is
natural to conclude that God cannot get along with one who is
sinning, even though that one is His own child by regeneration; but it
is discovered that God does get on with those who are imperfect, then
the problem of the security of the believer is solved in so far as the
Christian’s sin affects God.
The central passage, in 1 John 2:1, opens with the address, “My
little children,” which is complete evidence that this declaration – as
is true of this entire Epistle – is addressed to those who are born of
God (1 John 1:12-13). “These things” of which the Apostle writes are
doubtless are the particular doctrine of forgiveness and cleansing for
the Christian as revealed in chapter 1, and that, also, which
immediately follows in this verse, wherein the divine way of dealing
with the Christian’s sin is disclosed. The effect of these truths upon
the believer – quite contrary to the claims of the Arminians - is to
deter him from sinning. The “natural” or unregenerate man who
delights to sin will embrace a doctrine which lifts the penalty of sin;
and at this point Arminians seem able to comprehend no more than
the view of the natural man. That there are greater incentives to
purity, holiness, and faithfulness than the mere dread of punishment,
they fail to recognize. At least in their writings they make no mention
of those higher motives. All this is largely due to the fact that they
cannot, because of the very beliefs they profess, look upon
themselves as accepted and sealed in Christ. Were they to see
themselves in such a relation to God, reason as well as revelation
would remind them of the corresponding obligation to live as an
accepted sealed person should live. So to live is the greatest motive
that can actuate a human life. It far transcends in its effectiveness the
mere fear of law or punishment which, after all, everyone on every
hand is disregarding. On the antinomian235 charge against the
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Calvinist which the Arminians universally enter, Dr. Charles Hodge
writes:
Antinomianism has never had any hold in the churches of the
Reformation. There is no logical connection between the neglect of moral
duties, and the system which teaches that Christ is a Savior as well from
the power as from the penalty of sin; that faith is the act by which the
soul receives and rests on Him for sanctification as well as for
justification; and that such is the nature of the union with Christ by faith
and indwelling of the Spirit, that no one is, or can be partaker of the
benefit of His death, who is not also partaker of the benefit of His life;
which holds to the divine authority of the Scripture which declares that
without holiness no man shall see the Lord (Heb. xii.14); and which, in
the language of the great advocate of salvation by grace, warns all who
call themselves Christian’s: “Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor
idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with
mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor
extortioners, shall inherit shall inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor vi.9,
10). It is not the system which regards sin as so great an evil that it
requires the blood of the Son of God for its expiation, and the law as so
immutable that it requires the perfect righteousness of Christ for the
sinner’s justification, which leads to loose views of moral obligation;
these are reached by the system which teaches that the demands of the
law have been lowered, that they can be more than met by the imperfect
obedience of fallen men, and that sin can be pardoned by priestly
intervention. This is what logic and history alike teach. – Systematic
Theology, III, 241
Evidently the Apostle John anticipates that the power of the truth
he is disclosing will tend to a separation from sin. This is the force of
the words, “that ye sin not.” The phrase which follows, “if any man
sin,” refers to Christians exclusively. It could not include the unsaved
along with the saved. It is any man within the Christian fellowship. A
similar usage, among several in the New Testament, is found in 1
Corinthians 3:12-15 where the restricted classification is equally
evident. The term any man corresponds numerically to the pronoun
“we” which follows here immediately. The sufficient provision for
the sinning Christian is indicated by the words, “We have an advocate
with the Father.” The scene is set in the high court of heaven with the
Father as Judge upon the throne (incidentally, it should be noted that,
though the child of God has sinned, God is still his Father). A
prosecuting agent is present also. The record of his activity as
prosecutor is found in Revelation 12:10, which reads: “And I heard a
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loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength,
and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the
accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our
God day and night.” If any accusing voice were needed, that need
Satan himself supplies. The question “Who is he that condemneth?”
easily includes in the sphere of its possibilities vastly more than the
charges which one human being might prefer against another. But
even the prosecution by Satan cannot avail, for there is an Advocate,
a Defender. What this means every hour to the believer will never be
known in this life. The truth respecting the advocacy of Christ is in
view in these declarations: “who is even at the right hand of God”
(Rom 8:34) and “now to appear in the presence of God for us” (Heb
9:24).
If inquiry be made concerning what influence the Advocate brings
to bear on the Father by which the believer is cleared from
condemnation, some might venture the opinion that He is making
excuses; but there are no excuses. Another might suggest that He
pleads with the Father for leniency; but the Father, being holy, cannot
be, and therefore is not, lenient with sin. Still another might propose
that this Attorney, or Advocate, is a shrewd lawyer who is able to
make out a case where no case exists; but – and great is the force of it
– at this very point and in connection with the specific work of
delivering the sinning Christian from condemnation, the Advocate
wins an exalted title which He gains for no other service, namely,
Jesus Christ the Righteous. The claim to this unique appellation is
probably twofold: (1) He presents the evidence of His own sacrifice
for the sin in question – the truth that He bore it fully on the cross.
Thus when the Father withholds condemnation, His ground for doing
so is just, since the Savor has died. It is direct line with this aspect of
the Advocate’s work that this very context goes on to say: “And he is
the propitiation for our sins.” By the death of His Son for the
Christian’s sin, the Father is rendered propitious. (2) Christ is made
unto the believer righteousness (1 Cor 1:30; 2 Cor 5:21), and He, as
the source of this imputed righteousness, is the One by whom the
Christian is saved and in whom he stands forever.
It is evident then, that, while paternal discipline will be exercised
by the Father over His erring child according to His good pleasure
(Heb 12:3-15), that child will not be condemned, since Christ who
bore the Christian’s sin appears in heaven for him and Christ is the
very righteousness in which the Christian is accepted before God.
4. CHRIST INTERCEDES. Among the neglected doctrines – and
there are many – is that which brings into view the present
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intercession of Christ in behalf of all that are saved. The very fact that
He thus intercedes implies the danger which besets the believer in this
the enemy’s land, and the necessity of Christ’s prayer in his behalf.
The strange inattention which obtains with regard to this ministry of
Christ may be due to various causes and none, it is probable, than the
influence and power of Satan, who would rob the believer of the
advantage and comfort which this intercession secures. As a practical
experience, believers are without the knowledge of this intercession
in their behalf and therefore deprived of the help and strength which
this knowledge affords. The neglect cannot be attributed to the lack of
revelation, for it stands out with more than usual clearness on the
Sacred Page. Four major passages appear, and these should be given
careful attention. It will be seen that the divine purpose in Christ’s
intercession, as exhibited in these passages, is the security of all those
for whom He intercedes.
John 7:1-26. A quotation, or reproduction, of the text of this
supreme chapter is uncalled for. The passage embodies the prayer of
Christ and the reasonable conclusion is that it is the norm or pattern
of that prayer which Christ continues to pray in heaven. If it were
fitting for Him to intercede for His own who were then in the cosmos
world, it is fitting that He should pray for those who are now in the
cosmos world. In this prayer His solicitude for all who are in the
cosmos world is most apparent, so, also, His dependence upon the
Father to keep them from the evil one. As before indicated, the
request of the Son in behalf of the safekeeping of those who are
saved, can be refused by the Father only on the supposition that
Christ’s prayer might not be answered; or that it is beyond the power
of Infinity, even though the Father is released from all moral restraint
by the death of Christ for sin. The latter position – that to preserve the
believer is beyond the power of God even when the sin question is
eliminated – Arminians have not hesitated to assume. Nevertheless,
the savior ceases not to intercede in behalf of those whom He has
saved and to the end that they may be preserved forever.
Romans 8:34. “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died,
yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God,
who also maketh intercession for us.”
In this Scripture it is declared that there is no condemnation for
the child of God because of the truth, among others already
considered, that the Savior “maketh intercession for us.” On the
divine side of the problem of the eternal security of the Christian,
there is evidently a definite dependence upon the prayer of the Son of
God.
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Luke 22:31-34. “And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan
hath desired to have you, that He may sift you as wheat: but I have
prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted,
strengthen thy brethren. And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go
with thee, both unto prison, and unto death. And he said, I tell thee,
Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice
deny that thou knowest me.”
Luke 22:31 “Simon, Simon, pay attention! Satan has demanded to
have you all,77 to sift you like wheat,78 NET
77sn This pronoun is plural in the Greek text, so it refers to all the
disciples of which Peter is the representative.
78sn Satan has demanded permission to put them to the test. The
idiom “sift (someone) like wheat” is similar to the English idiom “to
pick (someone) apart.” The pronoun you is implied.
While this is the record of Christ’s prayer for but one man and that
man the one who is to deny his Lord, it is reasonable to assume that
Christ sustains this same solicitude and care over each individual
believer. Doubtless He could say to every believer many times in the
day, “I have prayed for thee.” The petition which Christ presented for
Peter was secured. He prayed that Peter’s faith should not fail, and it
did not fail, though through all this experience Peter manifested the
traits of a believer who is out of communion with his Lord.i There is
no intimation that Peter became unsaved, or that he was saved a
second time. The doctrine respecting the believer’s restoration to
fellowship with God – confused by Arminians with salvation – is that
which Peter illustrates.
And finally,
Hebrews 7:23-25. “And they truly were many priests, because
they were not suffered to continue by reasons of death: but this man,
because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.
Wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto
God by him, seeing that he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”
No more direct and unqualified declaration respecting the eternal
security of the believer than this is recorded in the New Testament,
i
The Arminian contention that a believer may reject Christianity and thus his
salvation, could have no stronger illustration to the negative as here; where Peter
denied the very Person of Christ. One may be converted, turn back to God, many
times, but salvation comes but once.
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and that security is here made to depend wholly on the intercession of
Christ; that is, the believer is said to be secure in the most absolute
sense because Christ prays for him – else language ceases to be a
dependable medium for the conveying of thought.
In His priesthood over believers, Christ differs widely from the
priests of the old order and in the one particular especially: that as
they were subject to death and by death their ministry was
interrupted, Christ’s priesthood is interminable. He hath an
immutable, or unchangeable priesthood, and that corresponds to the
equally important truth that He liveth forever. “Wherefore?” Because
He liveth forever and, on that account, His ministry as priest has no
end. He is able to save the Christian – some say “to completeness”
and others say “evermore” or “eternally” (είς τό αντελές will
sustain both conceptions; for that which is saved into completeness
and is saved without end – all those that come unto God by Him; that
is, those that trust in the Savior). This certitude is based on the
enduring Savior’s interminable ability as Priest to bring to pass
eternal security. The assertion is unqualified and the unequivocal
divine guarantee is made to depend directly and only, so far as this
passage is concerned, upon the prevailing power of Christ’s
intercession. Such is efficacious power and the infinite reality of it
cannot be comprehended by the mind of man; and to deny its supreme
potency, as all do who disbelieve in the absolute security of the child
of God, is to enter the unwarranted sphere of assumption.
The intercession of Christ, it is well to observe, is more than the
mere exercise of prayer. Christ is a Shepherd and Bishop to those
whom He saves. He guides His own away from the pitfalls and snares
of Satan. The Christian could never know in this life what he owes to
the interceding Shepherd who sustains him every hour of his life.
David caught the same assuring confidence concerning his own
relation to Jehovah when he said, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall
not want” (Ps 23:1). David did not testify merely that he had not
wanted anything up to that moment, but he boldly declares that his
future is as certain as the Shepherdhood of Jehovah could make it.
Returning for the moment to the one text (Rom 8:34) into which
all four reasons for the believer’s security which depend on God the
Son are compressed, it may be restated that, by His substitutionary
death, Christ provides the Father with righteous freedom to undertake
eternal blessedness for those who believe. By His resurrection Christ
provides the Christian with imperishable resurrection life. By His
Advocacy He meets the condemning effect of the believer’s every sin
as that sin is seen by God in heaven. And by His intercession He
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engages the infinite power of God – including His own Shepherdhood
– in behalf of those who believe. Every step in this incomprehensible
service of the Savior is in itself wholly sufficient to achieve the end in
view; yet every step is challenged and disowned by Arminian
rationalism.
What the Savior undertakes – especially as Advocate and
Intercessor – is at His own appointment. He saves and keeps simply
because of the truth that His salvation is by its very nature eternal. It
follows, then, that He should never be implored to advocate or
intercede, though unceasing thanksgiving should ascend to Him for
these accomplishments.
III. RESPONSIBILITIES BELONGING TO GOD THE HOLY
SPIRIT
Much indeed, is directly undertaken by the Holy Spirit to the end
that the child of God shall be safe forever. Under the present divine
arrangements, He is the Executor of very much that the Godhead
undertakes; however, as in the case of the Father and the Son, four
achievements are wrought by the Third Person and these demand
recognition.
1. THE HOLY SPIRIT REGENERATES. The widespread Arminian
emphasis upon human merit has tended to obscure one of the primary
realities of a true Christian, which reality is secured, not by merit, but
by divine grace, in answer to saving belief in Christ. That reality is
that the believer is regenerated and thus is introduced into a new
estate, a new existence, a new relationship which is well defined as a
new creation. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 it is written: “Therefore if any
man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away;
behold all things have become new.” The Apostle likewise declares
that “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:10).
This passage reveals the truth that, as a result of the divine
workmanship, the Christian is no less than a divine creation – a form
of being which did not exist before. That new being is said to partake
of the “divine nature,” which implies that it is as enduring as the
eternal God. Similarly, the same Apostle writes: “For in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new
creature” (Gal 6:15). Upon this specific aspect of the truth the Lord
placed the greatest emphasis when speaking to Nicodemas. It is
significant that, when declaring the necessity of the birth from above,
Christ did not select a dissolute character, but He chose one who
ranked highest in Judaism and whose character was beyond reproach.
1056

It was a personal message when He said to Nicodemas, “Ye must be
born again,” and the universally acknowledged mystery of it must not
be suffered to detract from either the reality or the necessity of that
divine regeneration. In the instance of human generation, a being
originates who did not exist before and who will go on forever. Like-
wise, in spiritual regeneration a being originates which was not
identified as such before and this being will go on forever. By what
law of reasoning can it be assured that eternal existence belongs to a
form of existence which outwardly seems to be temporal, and not to
that form of existence which because of its source and essential
character is not temporal but is eternal? An earthly parent imparts a
nature to his child by human generation, and that nature is immutable.
Thus, and to a degree which is far more exalted, the Holy Spirit forms
a new creation which is immutable. An earthly father might disinherit
and utterly abandon his son, but he cannot stop the son from
resembling himself, and the reason is obvious. The Arminian’s
difficulty is initial. To him salvation itself is no more than a state of
mind, a good intention, a resolution, or an outward manner of life.
Such passing or transient verities as these are far removed from that
inviolable, divine creation which Christ pressed upon Nicodemas and
that which is presented in every New Testament reference to this
theme. It may be safely asserted that regeneration, as presented in the
Scriptures, is an enduring actuality and the one who questions the
eternal continuation of the child of God, questions the process (and its
result) by which he becomes a child of God. When God is declared to
be the Father of all who believe, reference is not made to a faint
moral resemblance which a good life might suggest; it is a reference
to legitimate Fatherhood and legitimate sonship grounded on an
actual regeneration by the Holy Spirit.
2. THE HOLY SPIRIT INDWELLS. Closely akin to the truth
respecting the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit is the fact that He
indwells every true child of God. Besides, there is a distinct and
extended testimony of the Scriptures to the specific truth of the
Spirit’s indwelling. … Out of a formidable list of passages bearing on
this particular theme, one declares specifically that the Spirit who
indwells abides forever. This passage records the words of Christ and
reports His prayer respecting the coming of the Holy Spirit into the
world. These are the words of the Savior, “And I will pray the Father,
and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you
forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive,
because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but you know him; for
he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (John 14:16-17). Thus the
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assurance is given that the Holy Spirit indwells the believer and that
His presence is abiding. He may be grieved; but He will not be
grieved away. He may be quenched – which carries the thought of
resisting – but He cannot be extinguished. He never leaves the
Christian, else the word of Christ is untrue and His prayer is
unanswered. The Apostle writes, “Now if any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he is none his” (Rom 8:9). This great declaration is not a
warning to the believer that he might lose the Spirit and be unsaved
again; it is a direct statement to the effect that, if the Spirit is not
present in the heart, that one has never been saved. The Apostle John
points out (1 John 2:27) that the Spirit is identified, among other
characteristics of His presence within, as the One who abides. This
determining Scripture reads, “But the anointing which ye have
received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach
you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth,
and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, ye shall abide in him.”
Again, the Arminian position can be sustained only by a denial of
the truth set forth in those notable Scriptures which not only aver that
the Spirit indwells each believer, but that He abides forever.
3. THE HOLY SPIRIT BAPTIZES. Not many New Testament
doctrines are more misunderstood than that of the Spirit’s baptism;
and few misunderstandings could be more misleading than this, for
on the right apprehension of that which is involved in this divine
undertaking the believer’s discernment of his possessions and
positions depends, and the knowledge of these constitutes the true
incentive for a God-honoring daily life. The fuller meaning of this
ministry of the Spirit and its importance as the foundation of other
doctrines must be reserved … As a ground upon which the certainty
which eternal security rests, the baptism of the Spirit should be
recognized as that operation by which the individual believer is
brought into organic union with Christ. By the Spirit’s regeneration
Christ is resident in the believer, and by the Spirit’s baptism the
believer is thus in Christ. This union is illustrated in the word of God
by various figures – notably the members of a body in their relation to
the head. This union is also said to be a New Creation humanity in its
relation to the new and unfallen Last Adam, Christ Jesus. It would be
enough to point out here that the glorious Body of Christ will not be
marred or maimed because of amputated members, and that there will
be no fall in the Last Adam; but the members of Christ’s body are
constituted what they are on the sole basis of the truth that the merit
of Christ is their standing, which merit is neither withdrawn nor does
it fail in its potentiality. Likewise, the New Creation Headship
1058

guarantees the same perfect standing. Were it not for the fact that
minds seem to be darkened on this point, it would be unnecessary to
restate the obvious truth that God undertakes, along wholly different
and adequate grounds, to govern in the matter of irregularities which
appear in the Christian’s life, and quite apart from holding over them
the threat that an impossible separation from the New Creation
Headship will follow should so much as one sin be committed. It
would be simple, indeed, to devise a scheme by which sinless
unfallen human beings may reach heaven on the basis of their
worthiness; but God is undertaking to bring sinful, fallen beings into
glory, and the plan He has devised, of necessity, can take no account
either of human merit or demerit. Immeasurable grace is manifested
in the provision of a righteous way by which fallen men may be
translated from a ruined estate to a new creation; but, after one is
translated, there is no passing back and forth from one estate to the
other as changing merit or demerit might seem to require.
Let it be restated that, by that baptism which the Spirit
accomplishes, the believer is vitally joined to the Lord. Being in
Christ, he is a partaker of the righteousness of God which Christ is.
He is thus perfected to that point which satisfies infinite holiness, and
on that ground and on no other God declares him justified in His own
sight. Though He may discipline the justified one, God having
justified, cannot consistently lay anything to the charge of His elect
(Rom 8:33).
To the Arminian, salvation is no more than an indefinite divine
blessing upon a life that is worthy of it, which blessing endures as
long as personal worthiness continues. To the Calvinist, salvation is a
divine achievement which is unrelated to human merit, which secures
the forgiveness of sin, the gift of eternal life, imputed righteousness,
justification, acceptance and standing in Christ, and final conformity
to Christ in eternal glory.
4. THE HOLY SPIRIT SEALS. The last of the twelve reasons why the
believer is secure, to be named in this connection, is that he is sealed
by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit indwelling as an anointing is Himself
the Seal. His presence in the Christian indicates a finished transaction,
divine ownership, and eternal security. The believer is a temple of the
Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19); and, though woefully unrecognized and
unappreciated by the best of men, that fact of indwelling is,
apparently, a most distinguishing reality in the reckoning of God. It is
an age characterizing fact (Rom 7:6; 2 Cor 3:6). Three references to
the Spirit’s sealing are found in the New Testament. (1) 2 Corinthians
1:21-22: “Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath
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anointed us, is God; who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of
the Spirit in our hearts.” Every one of the four parts in this passage
speaks of security, and the truth is asserted that the presence of the
Spirit in the believer’s heart is a foretaste of the knowledge-
surpassing experience of divine blessing yet to be enjoyed. The
passage breathes no intimation of uncertainty either about present
blessings or about a future consummation. (2) Ephesians 1:13-14: “in
whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel
of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed
with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our
inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the
praise of his glory.” More correctly the passage begins, “upon
believing ye were sealed,” etc. (cf. R.V.).
Eph 1:13 And when you heard the word of truth (the gospel of
your salvation)—when you believed in Christ—you were sealed
with the promised Holy Spirit, 1:14 who is the down payment of
our inheritance, until the redemption of God’s own possession, to
the praise of his glory. NET
Here, again, the thought of the earnest, which the presence of the
Spirit is, appears and it is made clear that the blessings which the
present relation to the Spirit secures are but an indication of the glory
yet to be. As the Spirit is an earnest of the future inheritance, He is
also the “first-fruits” of it (Rom 8:23). (3) Ephesians 4:30: “And
grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed until the day
of redemption.” This signal passage declares that the believer is
sealed until the day of redemption. The redemption to which
reference is made is its final aspect when the body is changed so as to
become like unto the body of Christ (Rom 8:23), and the sealed one is
complete forever – even conformed to the image of Christ in glory.
Like every other declaration respecting security, this one presents no
human condition, but is set forth as a work of God, and on a basis so
righteous and so independent of human cooperation that no human
responsibility could be included as a factor in this sublime out-
working of grace through Christ.
In concluding this division of this treatment of the doctrine of
security, it may be restated that of these twelve major reasons why the
true believer is safe, any one of them alone would suffice to end all
doubt and terminate all controversy for the individual who gives
unprejudiced attention to the Word of God. These reasons cover an
incomprehensible range of truth Arminianism does not enter; for that
system, if consistent with itself, must deny every one of these twelve
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reasons, or else vitiate them by writing into them by writing into them
the human element which God, of necessity and for His glory, has left
out. Some among the Arminians may not comprehend this body of
immeasurable truth; others may prefer to avoid assuming an attitude
of bold rejection of these portions of the New Testament. At any rate
and for whatever reasons, the Arminian does not attempt even a
feeble exposition of what are well classed as security verses.

Final testimony from the witnesses for the prosecution of the above listed
four indictments will be presented next.

1061 1062

Concluding Proof
I.
Indictment 1: Concluding Proof of Original Sin
Concluding Proof for the prosecution of the Negative gospel for denying
Original Sin, the Sin Nature, and the subsequent Wrath of God
towards all men as the need for the death of Christ.
This writer:
Completed satisfaction for the propitiation made by Christ is not
theory. It is the divinely planned effect of the essential need for a
required action to make satisfaction for sin. Most importantly, the
voluntary, the substitutionary, and the penal death of Christ expiated all
sin and propitiated (satisfied) the Father. This is proven in the fact that
Christ defeated death. Christ has risen and lives - so that man may live.
Imputation is not theory. It is proven in the certain fact that men die.
Adam and Christ are the source of two separate creations of men. They
are the source of imputed sin and imputed righteousness as surely as
genetic traits are transferred. Original sin in all men is the fundamental
and primary reason why Christ died. The “wrath” of God remains on all
unsaved men. If God has no wrath towards sin and is free to forgive men
because of the death of Christ, as the Governmental theory would assert,
then by this stated rationale, Revelation chapters 5-19, that include the
horrors that fall upon mankind in the Great Tribulation, must be
interpreted as something that happened before Christ died. Much like the
Great Flood. What reputable Bible commentary takes that view?
1 Thess 5:9 For God did not destine us for wrath but for gaining
salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. NET
Dr. Lewis Chafer:
God sees but two representative men and all humanity is
comprehended either in one or the other. He sees the first Adam with
a race fallen and lost in him, and He sees the last Adam with a new
creation redeemed and exalted in Him. Vital distinctions are
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observable between these two headships. The truth revealed
respecting Adam may be divided into that found in the Old Testament
and that found in the New Testament.
1. According to the Old Testament. … Not only does Genesis
record Adam’s origin and estate, but all subsequent Scripture builds
its teaching on the reality and truthfulness of the Genesis account. In
this the Bible is consistent with itself. Having declared the origin of
the race after the manner set forth in Genesis, it treats those records as
true. There is no shadow of suspicion that any other theory relative to
man’s origin exists. Thus he who rejects the Genesis account rejects
the whole Bible in so far as it bears upon the origin, development,
history, redemption, and destiny of the race. In the doctrinal scheme
of the Bible Adam and Christ are so interwoven and interdependent
that it must be concluded that if the Genesis account respecting Adam
be erroneous – on the theory he was a character who never existed –
the record respecting Christ is subject to question also. …
2. According to the New Testament. The New Testament teaching
regarding Adam and Christ is one of type and antitype; but in every
respect save one – namely, that each is head of a creation of beings –
the typology is one of contrast. Two primary passages are to be
considered and also other secondary passages.
a. Romans 5:12-21. Observing but two representative men, God
see likewise just two works – one of disobedience and one of
obedience – and two results – one of death and one of life. The race is
thus divided into two main classifications: those in Adam, lost and
undone, and those in Christ, saved and secure forever. This most
important passage bearing upon the relation between Adam and
Christ – theologically to the last degree – draws out the distinctions
which exist between Adam and Christ.
As he was warned of God, Adam died both spiritually (which took
place at once) and physically (which occurred eventually) as a result
of his first sin, and the race that was included with him shared in the
same twofold judgment of death. Resulting from Adam’s first sin are
two lines of effects reaching down alike to every member of Adam’s
race. One is the sin nature, which results in spiritual death and is
transmitted mediately from parent to child; the other is imputed sin
with its penalty of physical death, which is transmitted immediately
from Adam to each individual member of his race. A person dies
physically not because Adam alone sinned, not because of personal
sins, and not because of the sin nature; he dies because of his own
share – in the seminal sense – in the original sin which drew out the
judgment of death. Because its natural head in creation, Adam is seen
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as representative of the entire race. In that headship position he transgression” (that is knowingly and willfully). Thus also in Jude
contained the race and his lapse, or sin, is imputed with its penalty of 1:14 Enoch is declared to be “the seventh from Adam,” as throughout
physical death to his posterity as an actual imputation; because as the entire Bible Adam is recognized for a living man, the beginning
what is antecedently their own sin, then, physical death as a judgment of the human race. In the genealogy of Christ given by Luke Christ is
falls on all alike, even on those, such as infants, who have not sinned traced back to Adam who, it is averred, was the son of God (Luke
– as Adam did – willfully (Rom 5:14). This divine principle of 3:38). Christ Himself upholds the Genesis record respecting Adam
reckoning heavy responsibility to an unborn posterity is seen again in and Eve (cf. Matt 19:4-6; Mark 10:6-8). (Systematic Theology, Dr.
Hebrews 7:9-10 where Levi, the great-grandson of Abraham, is Lewis Chafer, Vol 7, pp 6-9)
declared to have paid tithes to Melchizedek, being yet in the loins of
his father Abraham (cf. Gen 14:20). Romans 5:2 declares that all his 1 Cor 15:20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the
race sinned in Adam when Adam sinned. No other interpretation than firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 15:21 For since death
that will carry through the remaining verses of this context. came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also came through
b. 1 Corinthians 15:22. This Scripture reads: “For as in Adam all a man. 15:22 For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be
die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” Such is the Authorized made alive. 15:23 But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits;
version reading of this important declaration. There is no difficulty then when Christ comes, those who belong to him. 15:24 Then comes
regarding the first clause, that “in Adam all die”; but as for the rest of the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he
the verse, the same numerical all – πάντες – will be made alive; for, has brought to an end all rule and all authority and power. 15:25 For
as Christ said, “ the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 15:26
graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth” (John 5:28-29). It is The last enemy to be eliminated is death.
more fully in accordance with the context which follows (1 Cor
15:23-24) if the passage is understood to mean that all men die
because of Adam and all men – the same numerical all – will be
raised by or because of Christ. For the context continues by saying
that every man will be raised in his own classification; every man will
be raised – that disclosure precludes a restriction of the context to
those who are only in Christ by position. Such a limited type of
resurrection, nevertheless, is later declared by the words “they that are
Christ’s at his coming” (v. 23). The subject in view is clearly
universal death through Adam and universal resurrection through
Christ. Romans 5:18 presents a similar case with a twofold use of
πάντες.
c. Secondary Passages. In 1 Corinthians 15:45 it is asserted that,
in contrast again, Adam was made a life-receiving soul while Christ is
a life-giving Spirit. In like manner (vs. 47), Adam was “of the earth,
earthly”; the Second Man is none other than the Lord from heaven.
Though the believer has worn the image of the earthly, he is
appointed to bear the image of the heavenly. He will be “conformed
to the image” of Christ (Rom 8:29). Again in 1 Timothy 2:3-14 it is
said that Adam, quite in contrast to Eve, was not deceived in his
transgression. Adam sinned knowingly and willfully. In Romans 5:14
reference is made to those who, because of immaturity and
incompetency, have not sinned after “the similitude of Adam’s
1065 1066

II.
Indictment 2: Concluding Proof of Christianity
Concluding Proof for the prosecution of the Negative gospel for denying
Christianity
2 Cor 1:18 But as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes”
and “No.” 1:19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the one who was
proclaimed among you by us—by me and Silvanus and Timothy—
was not “Yes” and “No,” but it has always been “Yes” in him. 1:20
For every one of God’s promises are “Yes” in him; therefore also
through him the “Amen” is spoken, to the glory we give to God. 1:21
But it is God who establishes us together with you in Christ and who
anointed us, 1:22 who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our
hearts as a down payment.41
41sn Down payment. The Greek word άρραβών (arrabōn) denotes the
first payment or first installment of money or goods which serves as a
guarantee or pledge for the completion of the transaction. In the NT the
term is used only figuratively of the Holy Spirit as the down payment of
the blessings promised by God (it occurs later in 2 Cor 5:5, and also in
Eph 1:14). In the “already—not yet” scheme of the NT the possession of
the Spirit now by believers (“already”) can be viewed as a guarantee that
God will give them the balance of the promised blessings in the future
(“not yet”).
This writer:
Men are not lost because of personal sin. The Negative gospel is
based on a theory of divine Government that is limited to provide for the
forgiveness of personal sin only. This is a denial of Christianity on two
counts. One, It is a denial of the reconciliation of mankind accomplished
through the atoning blood of Christ. “In other words, in Christ God was
reconciling the world to himself, not counting people’s trespasses
against them, and he has given us the message of reconciliation.
Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making
His plea through us. We plead with you on Christ’s behalf, “Be
reconciled to God!” God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for
us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor
5:19-21 NET). Two, it is a denial of Christianity, in that a Christian may
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not lose their salvation, or become unregenerate, or born in Adam, a
second time. All personal sins are redeemed and judgment has been
passed on Christ as substitutionary penalty and He as Advocate pleads
the sufficiency of His death for the sins of believers. “There is therefore
now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” i (Rom 8:1
NET).
It is a monument to gross blindness that the Negative gospel was ever
created a second time, after the Reformation, as it is a parody of ancient
Catholicism. And proof that many within the Negative gospel are blinded
to the true gospel by Satan, “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled
only to those who are perishing, among whom the god of this age has
blinded the minds of those who do not believe so they would not see the
light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor
4:3-4 NET). To ignore the fact that personal sins do not send the unsaved
to hell is to preach religious humanism and “another gospel.” That the
completed satisfaction in the death of Christ covers the unaccountable
soul of a child and the deficient individual is proof that personal sins do
not condemn the sinner and that Christ died a substitutionary penal death.
Also, the fact that they die is proof of the real imputed sin of the sin
nature, as per Romans 5.
The Arminian motto encapsulated in the forgiving father of the
prodigal son is a dead wrong salvation gospel of forgiveness for personal
sins and a unsecured future salvation. No faith, no trust, no Jesus Christ,
ergo no gospel is contained within this parable. A conversion, a change
of direction, a 180 degree change of mind is contained in this parable.
This parable of the lost, and the others in Luke 15 are eternal security
illustrations for the saved child of God. The pearl in the parable of
Matthew 13 was not bought by a beggarly wicked sinner competing with
Christ for salvation – Christ bought the pearl of great price, the single,
unified church of His body in Christ. Jesus stated the parables He spoke
were meant to hide truth from the unsaved. Parables are a tool meant for
discernment. They are given to the saved child of God for him to
i
NET 1tc The earliest and best witnesses of the Alexandrian and Western texts, as
well as a few others (Í* B D* F G 6 1506 1739 1881 pc co), have no additional
words for v. 1. Later scribes (A D1 Y 81 365 629 pc vg) added the words mhV
kataV savrka peripatou'sin (mh kata sarka peripatousin, “who do not
walk according to the flesh”), while even later ones (Í2 D2 33vid Ï) added ajllaV
kataV pneu'ma (alla kata pneuma, “but [who do walk] according to the Spirit”).
Both the external evidence and the internal evidence are compelling for the shortest
reading. The scribes were evidently motivated to add such qualifications (interpolated
from v. 4) to insulate Paul’s gospel from charges that it was characterized too much
by grace. The KJV follows the longest reading found in Ï.
1068

distinguish the unsaved false professing Christians who preach the false
gospel. As all Bible doctrine is interrelated and all error is based on
disregard and overemphasis on doctrine, predictably, the Negative gospel
has focused on personal sin much in the same manner as a Seventh Day
Adventist misreads and misapplies the Bible, as the Jewish sixth day
Sabbath has been deleted from the Decalogue in the NT restatements of
Godward and manward obligation inherent upon a Christian. The
Negative gospel for the forgiveness of personal sins is false because it
denies the meaning of Christianity – the suffix “ity,” means to be in the
state of - what a Christian is “in Christ” for all eternity.
Raymond E. Brown, S.S.:
“and in Him there is no darkness at all,” This is our first encounter
with einai en, “to be in,” one of the two frequent and revealing
Johannine expressions for interiority; see Malatesta, Interiority 27-32.
(The other is menien en, “to abide, dwell in”; it will be discussed in
the NOTE on 2:6a, the first occurrence.) The expression einai en
occurs in GJohn 13 times, and 14 more times with the verb “to be”
clearly understood. In I John einai en occurs 18 times, with 4 more
instances where the verb “to be” is clearly understood. The usage
maybe divided under three headings:
(A) INDWELLING PERTINENT TO GOD. Einai en is used to describe
the presence of the Christian in God and Jesus and vice versa. (The
more frequent formula for this, however, is menein en; and I shall
postpone the general discussion of divine immanence until 2:6a; see
also ABJ 29A, 602-3.) The 9 instances of this use in GJohn and in the
3 in I John (one with the verb implicit: 4:4) may be analyzed thus:

for the Christian in God: I John 2:5

for the Christian in Jesus: John 14:20; 15:2

for the Christian in the father and Jesus: John 17:21; I John 5:20

for Jesus in the Christian: John 14:20,23; 17:23,26

for Jesus in the Father: John 14:20

for the Father in Jesus: 17:23

for both Jesus in the Father and the Father in Jesus: John 10:38;
14:10,11; 17:21

for the Spirit of Truth in the Christian: John 14:17; I John 4:4
This use of einai en is not exclusively Johannine, e.g., Acts 17:28: “In
Him we live and move and are.” In the Pauline Epistles there are 165
instances of the expression “in Christ: or its equivalent, and there are
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also instances of Christ in the Christian – the verb “to be” is often
implied in these expressions (see JBC 79 # 138).
(B) INDWELLING OF OTHER REALITIES IN THE CHRISTIAN. The
dualistic Johannine world view divided people according to their
inmost being, so that various realities could be said to be in Christians
and not in their opponents. There are some 5 instances of this usage
of einai en in GJohn and 7 in I John. In the following instances
realities related to God or Jesus are said to be in the Christian:

light: John 12:35

Jesus’ joy: I John 2:15

The love the Father had for Jesus: John 17:26
But most often we learn of the divine realities in the Christian from a
statement about their absence in opponents. The following positive
things are said not to be in those of whom the Johannine authors
disapprove (e.g., “the Jews,” the secessionists, the devil):

light: I John 11:10

love of the Father: 2:15

truth: John 8:44; I John 1:8; 2:4; (cf. 2:8)

word of God: I John 1:10 (cf. John 8:37)
By way of comparison we may note what Ignatius in Magn. 5:2:
(unless we choose to die to the world through Christ), “his life is not
in us.” Returning to the Johannine writings, we find that the following
negative things are said not to be in Christ or in the true Christian:

dishonesty (adikia) : John 17:18

sin (hamartia) : I John 3:5

stumbling block (skandalon) : I John 2:10
(C) MISCELLANEOUS THEOLOGICAL USES. These are often corol-
laries of the dualism reflected in the preceding grouping but do not
lend themselves easily to schematization. The following realities are
the subject or the object of einai en:

light or darkness: God in light (I John 1:7); hater of one’s brother
not in light but in darkness (I John 2:9ac, 11); no darkness in God (I
John 1:5)

life: What came to be in the Word was life (John 1:4); eternal life in
God’s Son (I John 5:11)

love: No fear in love (I John 4:18)

in the world: Jesus (John 1:10; 9:5; 17:11); Christian (13:1; 17:11; I
John 4:17); Spirit of the Antichrist or the Evil One (I John 4:3,4);
evil things (I John 2:15-16) (The Epistles of John – The Anchor
Bible, Raymond E. Brown S.S., pp195-96)
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Dr. Lewis Chafer:
THE ESTATE OF THE LOST
The word lost is used in the New Testament in two widely
different ways. An object may be lost in the sense that it needs to be
found. This use of the word does not imply that a change in the
structure or character of the lost object is thereby indicated. It is lost
only to the extent that it is out of its rightful place. Israel wandering
from their covenants were styled by Christ as “the lost sheep of the
house of Israel” (Matt 10:6). In like manner, a Christian who is out of
fellowship with God because of sin is misplaced; yet he remains
unchanged with respect to the essential realities which make him a
child of God – eternal life, imputed righteousness, and union with
God. The God-given illustration of this wonderful truth is declared in
the threefold parable of Luke 15. A sheep is lost and is “found.” It
was a sheep all the time, but was out of its place. A coin is lost from
its place in the woman’s headdress and is “found.” It was the same
coin all the time, but was out of its place. A son was lost and is
“found.” And he was a son in every step of his wanderings. On the
other hand, a person may be lost in such a manner as to need to be
saved. “The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was
lost” (Luke 19:10). It is because of the fact that in salvation the
structural changes are such as to demand the divine provisions and
divine creative powers, that the transition from the lost estate to that
of the saved can be wrought only by God.
The body of truth now being considered contemplates at least four
reasons why those who are of this fallen estate are lost:
1. The lost soul has attained to none of the eternal realities that
make a Christian what he is. i All that may be said of the unsaved is
negative. No Scripture makes this clearer than Ephesians 2:12, in
which the Ephesian Christians are reminded from the lost estate from
which they were saved: “That at that time ye were without Christ,
being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the
covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the
world.”
2. Individuals are lost, also, because of the fact that they are
born with a fallen sinful nature. This is no doubt he most
condemning feature of man’s lost estate. When Adam sinned, he
experienced a conversion downward. He became an entirely different
kind of being. After the fall, he could propagate only “in his own
i
The thirty-three positions and possessions by grace of a Christian in Christ.
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likeness,” and his first son is a murderer. Adam – in whom Eve is
reckoned as one – is the only human being who became a sinner by
sinning. All other members of the race commit sin because they are
born sinners. Though this evil nature remains in the Christian as long
as he is in the world, it was judged for the Christian by Christ on the
cross (Rom 6:10), and its condemnation removed. The death of Christ
unto the sin nature is also the ground of the believer’s deliverance by
the Holy Spirit from the power of inbred sin. It is true that men are
lost because of personal sins: but, since personal sins are the normal
fruit of the evil nature, they should never be made the only, or even
important, basis upon which a soul is lost. In reply to a claim that he
is lost because of personal sin, an unregenerate person might easily
assert, that he had never been one percent evil as he might have been,
therefore he is only one percent lost. The lost estate consists primarily
in a fallen nature, which is one hundred per cent evil. An effort to be
good or form a worthy character is a poor remedy for a fallen nature.
Only he grace of God acting on the death of His son will avail.
3. Again, men are lost because of a decree which God has made
concerning all who live on earth – Jew and Gentile alike – in the
present age, which age is bounded by the two advents of Christ. It is
written: “What then? Are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we
have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under
sin” (Rom 3:9); “But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that
the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that
believe” (Gal 3:22). The phrase “under sin” means, as stated above,
that Good will accept the merit of no person as a contributing factor
in his salvation. This decree, which eliminates all human merit, is
essential if salvation is to be by grace. This does not imply that a
good life is not of value in its place; but he issue under consideration
is the problem of how a holy God can perfectly save those who, in
His sight, are perfectly lost. He disregards that which men deem to be
good – and some possess more of this goodness than others – that He
may replace it with the perfection of Christ. What, for the moment,
seems to be a complete loss, thus in the end becomes an infinite gain.
Since, by the very way in which He saves the lost, God is preparing
the material for a heavenly demonstration of the unsearchable riches
of His grace (Eph 2:7), the inclusion in this salvation of any human
element is impossible.
4. Similarly and finally, men are lost because of the fact that they
are under the power of Satan. Only the Word of God can speak with
authority on this theme. But four passages need be cited:
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2 Corinthians 4:3-4. This text declares that the unsaved are
blinded in their minds by Satan, lest the saving gospel of Christ
should shine unto them.
Ephesians 2:1-3. The testimony at this point is that the unsaved
are “children of disobedience” – being in the headship of disobedient
Adam – and that everyone is energized by Satan. In contrast to this it
would be well to note Philippians 2:13, where, by use of the same
word, the Christian is said to be energized by God.
Colossians 1:13. This text points to the striking fact that a soul
when saved is translated out of the power of darkness, in which
darkness it naturally dwells.
1 John 5:19 (R. V.). The cosmos, it is asserted, including the
unregenerate (as being a part of it), “lieth in” the wicked one. The
word wickedness, found in the Authorized Version, is better
translated evil or wicked one (note the preceding verse where the
same word occurs). Likewise, the phrase lieth in is deeply suggestive,
indicating as it does that in some measure the unsaved are in Satan,
while the Christians are in Christ.
There is strong enough intimation with regard to the
condemnation that rests upon the unsaved in Scriptures, to assert that
when they are saved it is from the curse of the law (Gal 3:13), from
wrath (1 Thess 5:9; John 3:36), from death (2 Cor 7:10), and from
destruction (2 Thess 1:9). (Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer,
Vol 3, pp 230-32) (bold italics mine, this writer)
Gal 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a
curse for us (because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on
a tree”) NET
1 Thess 5:9 For God did not destine us for wrath11 but for gaining
salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. NET
11sn God did not destine us for wrath. In context this refers to the
outpouring of God’s wrath on the earth in the day of the Lord (1 Thess
5:2-4).
1 Thess 5:2 For you know quite well that the day of the Lord will
come in the same way as a thief in the night. 5:3 Now when they are
saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction comes
on them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will surely
not escape. 5:4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the darkness
for the day to overtake you like a thief would. NET
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John 3:36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life. The one
who rejects the Son will not see life, but God’s wrath70 remains on
him. NET
70tn Or “anger because of evil,” or “punishment.”
2 Cor 7:10 For sadness as intended by God produces a repentance
that leads to salvation, leaving no regret, but worldly sadness brings
about death. NET
2 Thess 1:8 With flaming fire he will mete out punishment on those
who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
1:9 They will undergo the penalty of eternal destruction, away from
the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his strength, 1:10
when he comes to be glorified among his saints and admired on that
day among all who have believed— NET
Raymond E. Brown, S.S.:
The author of I John is not worried about initial justification but
about the forgiveness of sins committed as a Christian. When people
first believe and come to the light, their sins are forgiven. They may
sin again; yet if they try to walk in the light, the blood of Jesus, which
cleanses from all sin, cleanses from these sins as well.
Moving on from the grammatical logic of the clauses in 7cd, let us
discuss “the blood of Jesus.” Of the 362 uses of “blood” in the
Hebrew Bible, 103 refer to sacrificial blood (Morris, Apostolic
Preaching 109). The distinctive note in sacrifices for sin was not the
death of the animal but the use made of the blood in sprinkling the
Temple veil or in anointing the horns of the altar, a task confined to
the priest. It was demanded, of course, that the blood have been
obtained by the violent death (slaughter) of the victim; and this
presupposition affects the NT understanding of the sacrificial quality
of Christ’s blood as well. J. Behm, “haima,” TDNT 1, 175, wrongly
underplays this when he says, “The early Christian representation of
the blood of Christ as sacrificial blood is simply the metaphorical
garment clothing the thought of the self-offering, the obedience to
God, which Christ demonstrated in the crucifixion.” It has these
notions, of course; but the shedding of blood was important as well
(see John 19:34; ABJ 29A 951). In the NT the term “blood” occurs 97
times; of those, 6 are in GJohn and 4 in I John, a statistic which
means that proportionately “blood” is far more important in I John.
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Of the six usages in GJohn, four (6:53-56) refer to Jesus’
(Eucharistic) blood to be drunk, and only one (19:34) refers to the
blood shed on the cross. In concentrating on the latter, then, the
epistolary author is capitalizing on a minor theme in GJohn. Yet, if
the Book of Revelation is an offshoot of Johannine thought, the
frequency of the blood theme there suggests that GJohn may not have
done justice to its overall importance in Johannine thought, e.g., “To
him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood” (Rev
1:5); “For you were slain and by your blood you ransomed men for
God” (Rev 5:9); “They have washed their robes and made them white
in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev 7:14; see 12:11). Certainly the theme
of the redemptive blood of Christ is common in the NT for initial
justification (Col 1:20; Acts 20:28; 1 Pet 1:18-19), combined with
ongoing forgiveness and reconciliation (Eph 1:7; 2:13; Rom 5:9; 1
Pet 1:2; Heb 9:14). …
7e. cleanses us from all sin. The Johannine redemptive language
contains many words to describe what has been done to sin (see
Rivera, La redención 20-26), including:

“forgive” (aphienai) : John 20:23; I John 1:9; 2:12

“take away” (airein) : John 1:29

“destroy” (lyein) : I John 3:8

“atonement, expiation” (hilasmos) : I John 2:2; 4:10

“cleanse” (katharizein) : here; I John 1:9

“clean” (katharos) : John 13:10-11
The idea of cleansing or being clean from sin is well attested in
the OT, e.g., Ps 19:13 (12); Prov 20:9. I John 1:9d will use the
synonymous expression, “cleanse us from all wrong doing” (adikia);
and that is found in Jer 33(40) :8: “I will cleanse them from all their
wrongdoings whereby they have sinned against me.” Although in the
OT such cleansing can refer to either making clean or simply
declaring clean, the fact that I John speaks also of destroying and
taking away sin makes it clear that a real cleansing is meant here. In
John 13:10-11 the disciples are said to be cleansed with the word of
Jesus (although the context there describes an action of Jesus that is
symbolic of his death); but here the author uses the imagery of
cleansing with blood reflecting sacrificial terminology from the
levitical practices of Israel, as discussed in the preceding NOTE. The
outlook is eloquently summarized in the words of the Lord in Lev
17:11: “I have given it [blood] to you that you may make atonement
with it upon the altar for your souls,” and in Heb 9:22: “According to
the Law almost everything is cleansed with blood, and without the
shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Probably the author of I
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John had a particular OT sacrifice in mind when he described the
shedding of Jesus’ blood, i.e., the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement;
but we shall discuss that under “atonement” in 2:2a below. The
present passage never specifies the circumstances under which the
cleansing takes place, but I do not find plausible the suggestion of
Houlden, Epistles 56, “The sense of 1:7 may be that the sacrifice of
Jesus serves to obliterate a Christian’s sins as soon as they are done.”
An interval is required between the sin and the forgiveness; for v. 9
casts light on v. 7, and from that verse we learn that a confession of
sin was desired. The power over sin given in John 20:23 was
probably invoked in the cleansing from sin. (The Epistles of John,
The Anchor Bible, Raymond E. Brown, Volume 30, pp 202-204)
Dr. Charles Spurgeon:
“I will; be thou clean.” Mark i. 41.
c RIMEVAL darkness heard the Almighty fiat, “light be,” a
straightway light was, and the word of the Lord Jesus is equal in
majesty to that ancient word of power. Redemption like Creation has
its word of might. Jesus speaks and it is done. Leprosy yielded to no
human remedies, but it fled at once to the Lord’s “I will.” The disease
exhibited no hopeful signs or tokens of recovery, nature contributed
nothing to its own healing, but the unaided word effected the entire
work on the spot and for ever. The sinner is in a plight more
miserable than the leper; let him imitate his example and go to Jesus,
“beseeching Him and kneeling down to Him.” Let him exercise what
little faith he has, even though it should go no further than “Lord, if
thou wilt, thou canst make me clean;” and there need be no doubt as
to the result of the application. Jesus heals all who come, and casts
out none. In reading the narrative in which our morning text occurs, it
is worthy of devout notice that Jesus touched the leper. This unclean
person had broken through the regulations of the ceremonial law and
pressed into the house, but Jesus so far from chiding him broke
through the law Himself in order to meet him. He made an
interchange with the leper, for while He cleansed him, He contracted
by that touch a Levitical defilement. Even so Jesus Christ was made
sin for us, although in Himself He knew no sin, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in Him. O that poor sinners would go
to Jesus, believing in the power of His blessed substitutionary work,
and they would soon learn the power of His gracious touch. That
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hand which multiplied the loaves, which saved sinking Peter, which
upholds afflicted saints, which crowns believers, that same hand will
touch every seeking sinner, and in a moment make him clean. The
love of Jesus is the source of salvation, He loves, He looks, He
touches us, WE LIVE. (Morning and Evening Devotions, Charles
Spurgeon, Sept. 4 Morning, p 496)

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III.
Indictment 3: Concluding Proof of Eternal Salvation
Concluding Proof for the prosecution of the Negative gospel for denying
Eternal Salvation and the reason why Christ lives as Advocate and
Intercessor.
This writer:
The imputation of righteousness is a NT verity that the Christ
professing advocates of the Negative gospel should take notice of.
Salvation by grace through faith is past complete, present perfect, and
future perfected. Salvation is eternal. Personal sin has no part in the
immediate salvation of a sinner. Personal sin was redeemed 2000 years
ago. Quite distinct from the Arminian theory is the Biblical revelation
that a completed basis for the infinite riches of salvation by grace was
accomplished by the atoning blood of Christ. Salvation is why Christ
lives. He lives as the Intercessory High Priest and Advocate for His
kingdom of priests. Additionally, the baptism of the Holy Spirit places
one into the body of the living, resurrected, glorified, and ascended
Christ. Thereby, the “righteousness of Christ” is a possession of each
believer and God sees “no iniquity in Jacob.” For this is the reason that
Christ lives – sin and death could not conquer Him. He conquered sin
and death so that men may be created into His image. Men created
through faith for salvation in the grace of the risen Righteous One.
“Bible doctrines are the bones of revelation, and the attentive Bible
student must be impressed with the New Testament emphasis on
“sound doctrine” (Matt 7:28; John 7:16-17; Acts 2:42; Rom 6:17;
Eph 4:14; 1 Tim 1:3; 4:6, 16; 6:1; 2 Tim 3:10, 16; 4:2-3; 2 John
9:10). Not knowing the doctrines of the Bible, the child of God will
be, even when sincere, “tossed to and fro, and carried about with
every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness,
whereby they lie in wait to deceive”; the many well-meaning
believers who are drawn into modern cults and heresies being
sufficient proof. On the other hand, the divine purpose is that the
servant of Christ shall be fully equipped to “preach the word; be
instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all
longsuffering and doctrine.” 236 Lewis Sperry Chafer
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1 John 2:1 (My little children, I am writing these things to you so that
you may not sin.) But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate3 with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous One,4 2:2 and he himself is the atoning
sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole
world. NET
3tn The description of the Holy Spirit as ‘Paraclete’ is unique to the Gospel
of John (14:16, 26; 15:26; and 16:7). Here, in the only other use of the word
in the NT, it is Jesus, not the Spirit, who is described as αράκλητος
(paraklētos). The reader should have been prepared for this inter-
changeability of terminology, however, by John 14:16, where Jesus told the
disciples that he would ask the Father to send them ‘another’ paraclete
(άλλος, allos, “another of the same kind”). This implies that Jesus himself
had been a paraclete in his earthly ministry to the disciples. This does not
answer all the questions about the meaning of the word here, though, since it
is not Jesus’ role as an advocate during his earthly ministry which is in view,
but his role as an advocate in heaven before the Father. The context suggests
intercession in the sense of legal advocacy, as stress is placed upon the
righteousness of Jesus (Ίησοϋν Χριστόν δίκαιον, Iēsoun Christon
dikaion). The concept of Jesus’ intercession on behalf of believers does
occur elsewhere in the NT, notably in Rom 8:34 and Heb 7:25. Something
similar is taking place here, and is the best explanation of 1 John 2:1. An
English translation like “advocate” or “intercessor” conveys this.
4tn Or “Jesus Christ the righteous.”
Dr. Lewis Chafer:
The question here raised and which has been for so long under
theological controversy is simply stated in the words, “Can a person
once saved be lost again?” To this question two widely differing
answers have been given. These are as simply stated in the two
words, Yes and No. There is no middle position, or ground for
compromise, for both answers cannot be true at the same time. One
cannot really be secure if he is insecure as to his eternal keeping by
the slightest degree.
… Eternal security is a doctrine of Scripture, a divine revelation of
an abiding fact which exists, whether it is believed or not. … The two
schools of belief regarding eternal security have existed for several
centuries and certain church creeds have taken positive sides on the
question. The belief, or disbelief, in security is, however, more of a
personal matter than creedal. It depends much on the extent of
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personal Bible study and heart response to the whole revelation of
God. Because one is enrolled under a “Calvinistic” creed does not
guarantee that he himself will be free from the distractions of mere
human reason: on the other hand, because one is enrolled under an
“Arminian” creed is no guarantee that he will learn to rest in every
revelation and promise of God.
The question resolves itself to one issue: did Christ do enough on
the cross to make it possible for God righteously to keep one saved,
as well as righteously to save at all? Since this question strikes at
the very heart of the revelation regarding the cross, its importance
cannot be overestimated. The solution of the question involves the
very foundation of personal rest and peace, and must qualify
Christian service as well. No one can rest while in terror of eternal
damnation, nor can one be normal in service if he is confronted with
the superhuman task of self-keeping in the realm of the new creation.
A careful survey of the whole field of discussion regarding the
security of those who are saved will reveal that one group return
constantly in their discussions of this subject to the conclusions of
human reason, to the uncertain evidence of human experience, and
such Scripture as is cited by them, they “wrest to their own
destruction.” The other group are guided by revelation alone,
believing that there is nothing about any phase of salvation that can
be explained within the circumscribed limits of unaided reason or
knowledge. …
To claim that the child of God is not safe because of the
supposed unsaving power of sin, is to put sin above the blood and to
set at naught the eternal redemption that is in Christ Jesus. … If the
saved one is finally lost, it must be concluded that God is, to that
degree, lacking in power. He Who has testified that not one of His
sheep will ever perish, must yet retract His bold assertions and
humbly submit to a power that is greater than His own. He who
created and holds the universe in His hands; Who calls things that are
not as though they were; Who could speak the word and dismiss
every atom of matter and life from existence forever must retire
before the overlordship of some creature of His hand.
And, lastly, admitting the revelation concerning God’s eternal
purpose and His infinite power to accomplish that purpose, if it could
still be proven that the saved one might be lost we would be shut up
to the one and final conclusion that it could be so only because the
All-Powerful God did not sufficiently care to keep those whom His
power had created as new-born children. But what do we find? The
revelation is full of testimony concerning that very care. Who can
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measure the revealed devotion of His boundless love towards the
objects of His saving grace? Who will dare claim that He will not
answer the prayer of His Son?
“I am not praying only on their behalf, but also on behalf of those
who believe in me through their testimony, that they will all be one,
just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. I pray that they will be
in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me. The glory you
gave to me I have given to them, that they may be one just as we are
one—I in them and you in me—that they may be completely one, so
that the world will know that you sent me, and you have loved them
just as you have loved me. “Father, I want those you have given me to
be with me where I am, so that they can see my glory that you gave
me because you loved me before the creation of the world. Righteous
Father, even if the world does not know you, I know you, and these
men know that you sent me. I made known your name to them, and I
will continue to make it known, so that the love you have loved me
with may be in them, and I may be in them.” (John 17:20-26) NET
Many have placed an emphasis out of all due proportion upon the
three years’ ministry of Christ on the earth as compared with His
present ministry at the right hand of God. So little is this latter
ministry considered that it is almost unknown to many Christians; but
no one can enter intelligently into the revelation concerning the fact,
purpose and value of the present ministry of Christ and not be assured
of the eternal security of all who have put their trust in Him.
Whatever else lies in the purpose of the Eternal Son at the right hand
of God, the Scriptures reveal only that He is there for the keeping of
His own who are in the world.
The present heavenly ministry of Christ is both intercessory and
advocatory. As intercessor He prays for all that the Father has given
Him, or every member of His blessed body. This prayer is concerning
their weakness and helplessness. His intercessory ministry began with
His High Priestly prayer which He prayed before His death as
recorded in John 17. This petition it should be noted, is not only
limited to His own in the world, but altogether for their keeping and
fitting for their heavenly destiny (Rom 8:34; Heb 7:25). No child of
God will ever know before reaching heaven from what dangers and
testings He has been saved by the faithful and unfailing intercession
of His Lord. He is the Great Shepherd of the Sheep, brought again
from the dead through the blood of the everlasting covenant Who is
guarding His own, and of them He will say: “And I have lost none of
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them, save the son of perdition that the Scriptures might be fulfilled”; death scarred body which answers the condemning power of every sin
while they can say of Him, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not of the child of God. It is also a sufficient answer to every accusation
want.” of Satan who accuses the brethren before God day and night. “Who is
It is inconceivable that the prayer of the Son of God should not be he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen
answered. It was answered in the case of Peter. “And the Lord said, again, who is even at the right hand of God.” It is Christ, superior to
Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you as he might sift all finite beings, Who died. The death of such as He is the
you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.” He undisputable answer to the condemning power of every sin; and He is
did not pray that Peter should be kept out of Satan’s sieve. He did risen. Oh blessed Presence! Oh eternal safety! No condemnation can
pray that Peters faith might not fail, and it did not fail. What ever pass His nail-scarred body. What priceless consolation to the
consolation it yields to contemplate the fact that He, with all His imperfect and sin-conscious saint.
understanding of every weakness and danger before us, is praying this We have been kept to the present hour by the living intercessor
moment, and every moment, for us! His is not a prayer that will not Who ceases not to shepherd our wandering feet, and by the living
avail. His praying is perfect and the result is absolute. Moreover, His Advocate Who ceases not to appear for us before the right hand of the
intercession is without end. Father. The same Intercessor and Advocate will yet prevail until that
The Aaronic priesthood was most limited in its continuance blessed day when we shall see Him as He is and be like Him.
because of the death of the priest.” But this man [Christ], because He To challenge the eternal security of the believer is to deny that the
continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is prayer of the Son of God will be answered and to deny the eternal
able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, efficacy of His atoning blood. In ignorance, perhaps, such insult has
seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Heb 7:24-25). been heaped upon the blessed Savoir; yet still He is faithful. He prays
He is able to save to the uttermost (Greek, panteles, meaning and appears before the Father in behalf of just such ignorant or
forever, or perfectly in point of time). Such security is vouchsafed sinning believers. (Salvation, Dr. Lewis Chafer, pp101-12)
only to those “who come unto God by Him,” and such security is
assured to these on no other grounds, in this passage, than that, “He
ever liveth to make intercession for them.”
As Advocate He now “appears in the presence of God for us”
(Heb 9:24). This ministry has only to do with he believer’s sin. “If
any [Christian] man sin, we have an advocate with he Father [not an
advocate with God], Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). In
exercising this ministry He does not continue to atone for sins as they
are committed: sin has been atoned for “once for all,” and what He
does is in the value of that finished work of the cross. He does not
seek to excuse the sinning Christian before the Father’s presence. Sin
is ever that soul-destroying stain that can be cleansed only by His
precious blood; but the blood has been shed. Nor is He appealing for
the pity and leniency of God the Father towards the Christian’s sin.
God cannot be lenient toward sin; but having perfectly satisfied every
demand of His own righteousness against sin by the cross, He can be
eternally gracious towards the sinner who has come unto Him by
Jesus Christ.
The Lord Jesus Christ is now appearing before the face of God for
us and He appears there with His glorified human body in which are
the scars of His crucifixion (Zech 13:6). It is the presence of the very
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IV.
Indictment 4: Concluding Proof of Substitutionary Penalty and
Propitiation
Concluding Proof for the prosecution of the Negative gospel for denying
Substitutionary Penalty and Propitiation; the essential cause and effect
of Completed Satisfaction and the At-One-Ment of reconciliation by
which God forgives men unconditionally by grace through faith in Christ
for belief in this forgiveness.
This writer:
Forgiveness is the very heart of the Gospel, but so also - eternal life.
To deny propitiation is to deny the personal effect of sin upon the justice
of God that required the sacrificial substitutionary penal death of Christ.
And this, the Gospel that is to be believed for salvation. So, to the one
who would deny the wrath of God, he must deny propitiation exists at all
in the word of God, moreover, the alternate loving, forgiving god and
christ of the Governmental theory is proven to be a fraud. No more
conclusive proof may be given than that which is in the Oracles of God’s
Truth. The fixed idea that the death of Christ has but one goal leads to a
false interpretation of the value of His death. This is evidenced by the
Negative gospel based in the Governmental atonement theory that has
created a false graveni image of God. The following verses prove
conclusively the substitutional penalty and the completed satisfaction
of propitiation accomplished in the death of Christ. God’s judgment
against sinners has been borne by the substitutionary penal death of
Christ and the Father was propitiated, utterly and completely satisfied.
Forgiveness is complete and to be had by faith in the revealed facts of the
positive gospel of God’s grace which states that it may be had gratis.
God, in His Word, reveals the Father’s required penal judgment against
sin, His provision of His Son as the essential, satisfactory, substitutional
sacrifice for judgment, and the work of the Holy Spirit in effecting the
transformation of a sinner to saint. By grace, or undeserved merit, the
simple faith of the sinner who believes this to be true is “obeying the
gospel” and receives all the divine benefits of salvation. The sinner
i appropriate here. Another term, “satisfaction,” might also convey the
Graven1. fix something in mind: to fix something firmly in the mind
(literary) graved it in her mind Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P)
1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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reposes on the salvation that God proposes. God proposes no theories
concerning His completed work and divine unconditional offer of eternal
salvation and transformation.
Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood,20 the
forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace
NET
20sn In this context his blood, the blood of Jesus Christ, refers to the
price paid for believers’ redemption, which is the sacrificial death of
Christ on the cross.
Heb 2:9 … so that by God’s grace he would experience death on
behalf of everyone. NET
1 John 2:2 and he himself is the atoning sacrifice5
[propitiation/satisfaction] for our sins, and not only for our sins but
also for the whole world. NET (brackets mine)
sn The Greek word (ίλασµός, hilasmos) behind the phrase atoning
sacrifice conveys both the idea of “turning aside divine wrath” and the
idea of “cleansing from sin.”
5tn A suitable English translation for this word (ίλασµός, hilasmos) is a
difficult and even controversial problem. “Expiation,” “propitiation,” and
“atonement” have all been suggested. L. Morris, in a study that has
become central to discussions of this topic (The Apostolic Preaching of
the Cross, 140), sees as an integral part of the meaning of the word (as in
the other words in the [hilaskomai] group) the idea of turning away the
divine wrath, suggesting that “propitiation” is the closest English
equivalent. It is certainly possible to see an averting of divine wrath in
this context, where the sins of believers are in view and Jesus is said to
be acting as Advocate on behalf of believers. R. E. Brown’s point
(Epistles of John [AB], 220-21), that it is essentially cleansing from sin
which is in view here and in the other use of the word in 4:10, is well
taken, but the two connotations (averting wrath and cleansing) are not
mutually exclusive and it is unlikely that the propitiatory aspect of Jesus’
work should be ruled out entirely in the usage in 2:2. Nevertheless, the
English word “propitiation” is too technical to communicate to many
modern readers, and a term like “atoning sacrifice” (given by Webster’s
New International Dictionary as a definition of “propitiation”) is more
idea, but “satisfaction” in Roman Catholic theology is a technical term
for the performance of the penance imposed by the priest on a penitent.
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1 John 4:10 In this is love: not that26 we have loved God, but that he
loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice27 [propitiation] for
our sins. NET (brackets mine)
sn What is important (as far as the author is concerned) is not whether we
love God (or say that we love God—a claim of the opponents is probably
behind this), but that God has loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning
sacrifice which removes believers’ sins. This latter point is similar to the
point made in 2:2 and is at the heart of the author’s dispute with the
opponents, because they were denying any salvific value to Jesus’ earthly
life and ministry, including his death on the cross.
27sn As explained at 2:2, inherent in the meaning of the word translated
atoning sacrifice ( hilasmos) is the idea of turning away the divine wrath,
so that “propitiation” is the closest English equivalent. God’s love for us
is expressed in his sending his Son to be the propitiation (the propitiatory
sacrifice) for our sins on the cross. This is an indirect way for the author
to allude to one of the main points of his controversy with the opponents:
the significance for believers’ salvation of Jesus’ earthly life and
ministry, including especially his sacrificial death on the cross. The
contemporary English “atoning sacrifice” communicates this idea more
effectively.
Mark 24:46 Thus it stands written that the Messiah would suffer116
and would rise from the dead on the third day, 24:47 and repentance
for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all
nations NET
116tn Three Greek infinitives are the key to this summary: (1) to suffer,
(2) to rise, and (3) to be preached. The Christ (Messiah) would be slain,
would be raised, and a message about repentance would go out into all
the world as a result. All of this was recorded in the scripture. The
remark shows the continuity between Jesus’ ministry, the scripture, and
what disciples would be doing as they declared the Lord risen.
117sn This repentance has its roots in declarations of the Old Testament.
It is the Hebrew concept of a turning of direction.
Dr. C. I. Scofield:
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his
blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are
past, through the forbearance of God. (Rom 3:25) KJV
(3:25) Lit. a propitiatory [sacrifice], through faith by his blood, Gr.
hilasterion, “place of propitiation.” The word occurs, 1 John 2:2;
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4:10, as the trans. of hilasmos, “that which propitiates,” “a
propitiatory sacrifice.” Hilasterion is used by the Septuagint, and in
Hebrews 9:5 for “mercy seat.” The mercy-seat was sprinkled with
atoning blood on the day of atonement (Lev 16:14), in token that the
righteous sentence of the law had been (typically) carried out, so that
what must else have been a judgment-seat could righteously be a
mercy-seat (Heb 9:11-15; 4:14-16), a place of communion (Ex 25:21-
22). In fulfillment of the type, Christ is Himself the hilasmos, “that
which propitiates,” and the hilasterion, “the place of propitiation” –
the mercy-seat sprinkled with His own blood – the token in our stead
that He so honoured the law by enduring its righteous sentence that
God, who ever foresaw the cross, is vindicated in having “passed
over” sins from Adam to Moses (Rom 5:13) and the sins of believers
under the old covenant (Ex 29:33 note), and just in justifying sinners
under the new covenant. There is no thought in propitiation in
placating a vengeful God, but of doing right by His holy law and so
making it possible for Him righteously to show mercy. (Old Scofield
Study System, Dr. C. I. Scofield, p 1195
Dr. Charles Ryrie:
… It is proper and biblical to view the death of Christ as a great
display of the love of God or to see it as an example for us to be self-
sacrificing (these are biblical truths, John 15:13; Rom 5:8), but if
these comprised the only meaning of the death of Christ, there would
be no eternal value in it. It must provide a substitution and a payment
for sin, or the example means relatively little. … The reality of the
wrath of God raises the need for appeasing that wrath or for
propitiation. Though to the liberal such an idea is pagan, the truth is
that the wrath of God is a clear teaching of both the Old and New
Testaments.
1. In the Old Testament. More than twenty different words occurring
about 580 times express the wrath of God in the Old Testament (2
Kings 13:3; 23:26; Job 21:20; JER 21:12; Ezek 8:18; 16:38; 23:25;
24:13). … At the same time the Old Testament also portrays God as
loving His people and yearning for their fellowship. So the Old
Testament concept is not a pagan one of an unreasonable God who
demands to be placated, but of a Righteous God who cannot overlook
sin but whose love also provides avenues for fellowship with
Himself.
2. In the New Testament. Though not mentioned so frequently as in
the Old Testament, wrath in the New Testament is a basic concept to
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show the need for propitiation. The New Testament uses two
principal words. Orge conveys a more settled anger (John 3:36; Rom
1:18; Eph 2:3; 1 Thess 2:16; Rev 6:16), while thumos indicates a
more passionate anger (Rev 14:10, 19; 15:1, 7; 16:1; 19:15). Together
they clearly convey the divine hostility against sin in a personal way.
His wrath is not simply the inevitable, impersonal result of the
working of cause and effect, but a personal matter. To appease that
wrath was not a matter of vengeance but of justice, and it required the
sacrificial gift of God’s Son. …
C. The Negation of Propitiation: The Teaching of C.H. Dodd
1. His background. C. H. Dodd (1884-1973) was a British
congregational minister and New Testament scholar. He held
professorships at Manchester and Cambridge, and after his retirement
he served as general director of the New English Bible translation. He
is primarily known for his work in “realized eschatology” and in the
apostolic kerygma.
2. His view on propitiation. Dodd’s view was first stated in a article
in the Journal of Theological Studies (1931, 32:352-60) entitled
“Hilaskesthai, Its Cognates, Derivatives, and Synonyms,” In essence
his view is this: “The rendering propitiation … misleading,
misleading for it suggests the placating of an angry God, and although
this would be in accord with pagan usage, it is foreign to biblical
usage.” i Though he cited elaborate philological and exegetical
evidence, his principal reason for this conclusion appears to be
theological. To him it is sub-Christian to think that God can be angry
and therefore needs to be appeased; therefore, propitiation must be
defined in some other way. He proposed expiation as the substitute
word and concept for propitiation.
3. His evidence. Dodd cites the following. (1) At least two pagan
contexts furnish the examples of the meaning expiate and show that
in pagan usage the meanings of expiate and propitiate were
ambiguous. (2) The Old Testament word kipper is translated in the
Septuagint by sanctify, purify, cancel, purge, forgive, and not by
propitiate. Therefore, hilaskethai will have those other meanings also.
(3) Hilaskethai is used to translate other Hebrew words as cleanse and
forgive. (4) When the word is used to translate kipper, it does not
mean appeasement but to remove guilt.
i
The Epistle of Paul to the Romans, C. H. Dodd, p 55
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4. The response. Roger Nicole has offered the most comprehensive
and persuasive reply to Dodd’s arguments. i He points out (a) that
Dodd’s choice of evidence is selective, since he omits consideration
of a number of relevant words; (b) that he fails to include evidence
from Philo and Josephus, both of whom understand propitiation as
appeasement; (c) that he often ignores the contexts of passages that if
considered would not support his conclusions; and (d) that basically
his logic is faulty when he assumes that the root meaning of a word is
changed or lost just because it is used to translate words other than
the most directly equivalent ones.
Basically, the stumbling block to Dodd’s way of thinking is the
idea of the wrath of God. He must eliminate that and goes to great
philological lengths to try to accomplish it. However, he does not
succeed either philologically or biblically. Romans 1:18; Colossians
3:6; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; and Revelation
6:16 cannot be explained away by Dodd or anyone else. Yet his
influence has been widespread (T.W. Manson, D. M. Baille, Vincent
Taylor, C.K. Barrett, and the Revised Standard Version).
D. The Distinction between Propitiation and Expiation
Propitiation, as we have seen, means the placating the personal
wrath of God. Expiation is the removal of impersonal wrath, sin, or
guilt. Expiation has to do with reparation for a wrong; propitiation
carries the added idea of appeasing an offended person and thus
brings into the picture the question why was the offended person
offended. In other words, propitiation brings the wrath of God into
the picture while expiation can leave it out. If one wanted to use both
words correctly in connection with each other, then he would say that
Christ propitiated the wrath of God by becoming an expiation for our
sins.
E. An Important Practical Point
If because of the death of Christ God is satisfied, then what can
the sinner do to try to satisfy God? The answer is nothing. Everything
has been done by God Himself. The sinner can and need only receive
the gift of righteousness God offers.
i
Westminster Theological Journal, May 1955, 17:127-48, “C. H. Dodd and
the Doctrine of Propitiation,” Roger Nicole,
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Before Christ died, it was perfectly proper to pray, as did the tax-
gatherer in Luke 18:13, “God be merciful [lit., propitiated] to me, the
sinner.” Though provision for fellowship with God was provided
under the Law, this man could only rely on a finished and eternal
sacrifice for sin that would appease God once and for all. So that was
an entirely appropriate prayer fro him to pray. But now Christ has
died and God is satisfied, and there is no need to ask Him to be
propitiated. He is appeased, placated, and satisfied eternally. This is
the message we bring to a lost world: Receive the Savoir who through
His death satisfied the wrath of God. (Basic Theology, Dr. Charles
Ryrie, pp 329-42)
Dr. Lewis Chafer:
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the
Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)
KJV
In two recorded utterances, John the Baptist, as declared by the
Apostle John, reaches out into the oncoming glories of divine grace
made possible through the death and resurrection of Christ. Since the
preaching of John the Baptist, as set forth in the Synoptics, is so
drastically legal and so clearly a call to a merit system, the
recognition of the ground and fact of a grace relationship, presented
only in John’s Gospel is significant. The entire content of John 1:15-
34 constitutes a rare unfolding of the grace vision accorded in some
measure to John the Baptist. But two of these utterances by John may
be noted here. In 1:29 one is written as quoted above. The great
forerunner – to whom it was not given evidently to understand that
the Messianic kingdom which he announced was to be rejected and
postponed, with a new heavenly, divine purpose to be ushered in –
did, nevertheless, by the Holy Spirit announce the immeasurable
declarations of divine grace. John the Baptist could not fail to
comprehend to some degree that the title “Lamb of God,” which he
himself employed, implied a sacrificial death; and the assurance that
He would take away the sin of the world measured an achievement
far beyond the bounds of his own nation or of the usual Messianic
expectation – but then have not prophets often spoken beyond the
range of their understanding? In fact, is not this great proclamation far
beyond the understanding of all human minds? It is averred that the
sin of the world is taken away by the dying Lamb. The scope of this
undertaking – something to effect the whole cosmos world (cf. John
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3:16) – must not be misinterpreted. There is no reference here to the
elect of this age, else language ceases to serve as an expression of
truth. The Church is a company saved out of the cosmos and therefore
not to be confused with the cosmos. It is true that the Scriptures
specify that Christ died for the Church (Eph 5:25-27), but it is as
clearly said that He died for the cosmos. The assumption that Christ
could have but one objective in His death has led to much error.
His death was as well the judgment of angels, a specific dealing with
the sins of Israel past and future, the end of the law, and the ground of
heaven’s purification. However, the question concerning the sense in
which the sin of the world is “taken away” is pertinent at this point. It
would be a defenseless contradiction of subsequent New Testament
doctrine to contend that the sin of the cosmos is so removed by the
death of Christ that the individual unregenerate person could not
come into judgment. The same, subsequent Scriptures teach that sin
has been dealt with in three spheres of relationship – with reference to
its power to enslave, Christ has provided a ransom; with respect to its
effect upon the sinner, Christ has wrought a reconciliation with God;
and with regard to its effect upon God, Christ has achieved a
propitiation. These three consummations – redemption, recon-
ciliation, and propitiation – are not things which God will do if one
believes; they are already finished and constitute the very thing which
the sinner must believe. The sin of the world is taken away in the
sense that by Christ’s threefold accomplishment in His death every
hindrance is removed which restrained God from saving even the
chief of sinners. However it has pleased Him to require personal
acceptance of this Saviorhood of Christ, at which time, and on this
sole condition, He will apply all His saving grace. Even though Christ
has completed so perfect a basis for salvation, men are not saved
thereby except they believe. Similarly, to claim that men must be
saved since Christ died for them is equally at fault. The Scriptures
teach a finished work for the entire cosmos (cf. John 1:29; 3:16; Heb
2:9; 1 John 2:2), but the same divine revelation asserts that vast
multitudes of those who are of the cosmos will be lost forever. These
are not problems that belong to some one system of theology; they
belong to every exegete who receives the words of Scripture in their
plain meaning (cf. 2 Cor 4:2). Through the death of Christ, God has
so dealt with the problem of human sin that the cosmos stands in an
entirely new different relation to Him. The human family is
reconciled, not in the sense that they are saved, but in the sense that
they may be saved (2 Cor 5:19). The prison door which Satan would
not open (Isa 4:17) has been unlocked for all (Isa 61:1; Col 2:14-15).
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Heb 2:9 but we see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a
little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered
death, so that by God’s grace he would experience death on behalf of
everyone. NET
1 John 2:2 and he himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and
not only for our sins but also for the whole world. NET
2 Cor 4:2 But we have rejected shameful hidden deeds, not behaving
with deceptiveness or distorting the word of God, but by open
proclamation of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone’s
conscience before God. NET
2 Cor 5:19 In other words, in Christ God was reconciling the world
to himself, not counting people’s trespasses against them, and he has
given us the message of reconciliation. NET
Isa 14:17 Is this the one who made the world like a desert,
who ruined its cities,
and refused to free his prisoners so they could return home?”’ NET
Isa 61:1 The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me,
because the Lord has chosen me.
He has commissioned me to encourage the poor,
to help the brokenhearted,
to decree the release of captives,
and the freeing of prisoners, NET
Col 2:14 He has destroyed what was against us, a certificate of
indebtedness expressed in decrees opposed to us. He has taken it
away by nailing it to the cross. 2:15 Disarming the rulers and
authorities, he has made a public disgrace of them, triumphing over
them by the cross. NET
John the Baptist announced, likewise, the immeasurable results of
divine grace when he said, “And of his fulness have all we received,
and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and
truth come by Jesus Christ” (John 1:16-17). By the death of Christ –
not by His birth – a new reality is secured which he terms “grace and
truth.” This new thing supercedes the Mosaic system. Grace upon
grace, or grace added to grace, accomplishes no less for the believer
than experience of the pleroma of Christ for all who come within the
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range of its provisions. No more all-inclusive statement of the
limitless workings of divine grace than this is to be found. The
pleroma of the God-head is that which grace bestows upon those who
are saved (cf. Col 1:19; 2:9-10). Whatever John the Baptist himself
may have comprehended is a secondary issue. He did by the Spirit
declare the whole basis, scope, and consummation of divine grace.
Col 1:19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in the
Son NET
Col 2:9 For in him all the fullness of deity lives20 in bodily form,
2:10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head over every ruler
and authority. NET
20sn In him all the fullness of deity lives. The present tense in this verse
(“lives”) is significant. Again, as was stated in the note on 1:19, this is
not a temporary dwelling, but a permanent one. Paul’s point is polemical
against the idea that the fullness of God dwells anywhere else, as the
Gnostics believed, except in Christ alone. At the incarnation, the second
person of the Trinity assumed humanity, and is forever the God-man.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the
ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much
fruit. (John 12:24) KJV
A principle is announced in this text which, though working
throughout nature generally, is especially evident in Christ’s death
and resurrection as they reach out in benefit to others. It is through
death that life is multiplied (cf. 1 Cor 15:36). That the principle
applies to men is declared by Christ when He went on to say, “He that
loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world
shall keep it unto life eternal” (John 12:25). In His death Christ
entered the greatest sphere of sacrifice. Of this Dean Alford makes
note, “The saying is more than a mere parabolic similitude: the divine
Will, which has fixed the law of the spring up of the wheat-corn, has
also determined the law of the glorification of the Son of Man, and
the one in analogy with the other: i.e., both through Death. The
symbolism here lies at the root of that in ch. vi., where Christ is the
Bread of life. “It abideth by itself alone,” with its life
uncommunicated, lived only within its own limits, and not passing
on” (New Testament for English Readers, Vol 1, 592) So, also, R.
Govett adds:
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He compares Himself, then, to the grain of wheat which must die all spiritual power and blessing. (2) What is the effect of the
before it appears in a new form, and associate others with itself. As Christian’s sin upon God? This is a most vital problem, for it
the Son of God risen from the dead and ascended to heaven, He can knit
determines everything with respect to the believer’s salvation. The
to Himself in closest contact both Jew and Gentile, who are made of one
answer of a shallow rationalism which argues that, because of
spirit with Him. Thus His atonement and His righteousness may be ours.
The grain in the granary is possessed of life, but single and limited. If it God’s holiness, He must disown His child is wholly at fault, since it
is to expand, it must die and take a new form. He must, then, die and be ignores the present ministry of Christ as Advocate in heaven. The
buried; like the grain of wheat, which is to spring out of earth and take a believer is told that, when he sins, he has an Advocate in heaven. This
new shape, having many new grains united with it. Thus He would is a distinct and sufficient provision. The Advocate is Christ and He
discover to His persecutors, if they had eyes to see it, the falsehood of stands to plead that He bore the sin on the cross. His advocacy is so
their hopes. They grieved over Jesus’ success while living, and thought to absolutely perfect with regard to its equity that He wins in this service
cut off all by putting Him to death. “Let us kill Him, and there will be an a title which is given Him in no other relationship – “Jesus Christ the
end of the matter!” They did so; but it was only to find that the disciples Righteous” (1 John 2:1). This perfect advocacy in which He pleads
then multiplied by the thousands, and filled Jerusalem and the land – nay, His finished work on the cross thus becomes the ground of the
and the Gentiles, with their doctrine. Our Lord, then, knows the counsels propitiation which He is to God, all of which is mentioned in the next
of His Father, whose ways are not as ours. Death and resurrection is His verse, the one under consideration. There would be no hope for any
plan. And as for Jesus, so for His members,. We are familiar with this sinner – saved or unsaved – apart from the death of Christ; but
view of it in the ancient saying, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of sheltered under that provision, divine propitiation is infinitely real
the Church.” (Exposition of the Gospel of St. John, Vol 2, 69-70) and unchangeably effective for man. (Systematic Theology, Dr.
Lewis Chafer, Vol 3, pp 189-98). (bold italics mine)
And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also
for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2) KJV The prosecution will now submit as evidence the final and incontestable
proof of the error in the Negative gospel of salvation that denies thirty-
With respect to the imperative demands which outraged holiness three immediate and seven future eternal effects of God’s grace bestowed
must otherwise impose upon sinners, God is rendered propitious by upon each and every one who believes on Jesus as Savoir.
Christ’s judgment death for them. Propitiation on the part of God is
not salvation on the part of sinners. It rather secures the possibility of
salvation. God is propitious, therefore the sinner may be saved upon
such terms as a propitious God may dictate. The sinner is not called
upon by tears and entreaties to persuade God or to influence Him to
be well disposed; that much has Christ’s death as a substitute has
wrought to infinite completeness. The sinner has but to believe, by
which act he reposes confidence in that which God has provided. In
like manner, when the Christian sins, his restoration to divine
fellowship is conditioned on the same truth – that, through the death
of Christ, God is propitious. The passage under consideration states
forth a primary statement regarding the sins of Christians and only a
secondary statement regarding the sins of the unsaved. Preceding this
assertion that God is propitious concerning our “sins,” the Apostle
John has brought into view two great questions along with their
answers: (1) What is the effect of sin upon the Christian himself who
commits it? The answer, stated throughout this Epistle and especially
in chapter 1, is that fellowship with the Father and Son is lost, as also
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PART SIX - MAN
And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature
after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the
earth after his kind and it was so. And God made the
beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their
kind, and everything that creepeth upon the earth after his
kind: and God was saw that it was good. And God said,
Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let
them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the
fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the
earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image
of God created he him; male and female created he them.
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be
fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue
it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over
the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth
on the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you
every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the
earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree
yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every
beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to
every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is
life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold,
it was very good. And the evening and the morning were
the sixth day.

Genesis i. 24-31.

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The Disclosure of the Forty Effects of Grace
MORNING April 4

“For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we
might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”
2 Corinthians v. 21.

MOURNING CHRISTIAN! Why weepest thou? Art thy mourning over

thine own corruptions? Look to thy perfect Lord, and remember, thou
art complete in Him; thou art in God’s sight as perfect as if thou hast
never sinned; nay, more than that, the Lord our Righteousness hast
put a divine garment upon thee, so that thou hast more than the
righteousness of man – thou hast the righteousness of God. O thou
who art mourning by reason of inbred sin and depravity, remember,
none of thy sins can condemn thee. Thou hast learned to hate sin; but
thou hast learned also that sin is not thine – it was laid upon Christ’s
head. Thy standing is not in thyself - it is in Christ; thine acceptance
is not in thyself, but in thy Lord; thou art as much accepted of God to-
day, with all thy sinfulness, as thou wilt be when thou standest before
His throne, free from all corruption. O, I beseech thee, lay hold on
this precious thought, perfection in Christ! For thou art “complete in
Him.” With thy Saviour’s garment on, thou art holy as the Holy one.
“Who is he that condemeth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is
risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh
intercession for us.” Christian, let thy heart rejoice, for thou art
“accepted in the beloved” – what hast thou to fear? Let thy face ever
wear a smile; live near thy Master; live in the suburbs of the Celestial
City; for soon, when thy time has come, thou shalt rise up where thy
Jesus sits, and reign at His right hand, even has He has overcome and
has sat down at His Father’s right hand; and all this because the
divine Lord “was made to be sin for us; who knew no sin; that we
might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”

Morning and Evening Devotions, Charles H. Spurgeon

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The Power and the Grace of God
1 Cor 2:6 Now we do speak wisdom among the mature, [spiritually
mature in Christ] but not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this
age, who are perishing. 2:7 Instead we speak the wisdom of God,
hidden in a mystery, that God determined before the ages for our
glory. 2:8 None of the rulers of this age understood it. If they had
known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 2:9 But
just as it is written, “Things that no eye has seen, or ear heard, or
mind imagined, are the things God has prepared for those who love
him.” 2:10 God has revealed these to us by the Spirit. For the Spirit
searches all things, even the deep things of God. 2:11 For who among
men knows the things of a man except the man’s spirit within him?
So too, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 2:12
Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who
is from God, so that we may know the things that are freely given to
us by God. 2:13 And we speak about these things, not with words
taught us by human wisdom, but with those taught by the Spirit,
explaining spiritual things to spiritual people. 2:14 The unbeliever
does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are
foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them, because they are
spiritually discerned. 2:15 The one who is spiritual discerns all things,
yet he himself is understood by no one. 2:16 For who has known the
mind of the Lord, so as to advise him? But we have the mind of
Christ. NET (brackets mine)
Acts 4:27 “For indeed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the
Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together in this city
against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, 4:28 to do as
much as your power and your plan had decided beforehand would
happen. NET
This writer:
In the first passage above, the conclusion that a great difference exists
between the saved and the unsaved to perceive certain realities is
undeniable. A change has occurred as a result of salvation. One of which,
is the potential to become spiritually mature in life. The second passage
above would indicate the named individuals and groups were controlled
by God to do their part in His plan for the salvation of mankind through
the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ. The accounts of the life and
death of Jesus Christ are contained in the Gospel books of the Bible. The
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NT Greek euangelion used to announce “good news” from the self-
deified Emperor, Old English “godspiel” the story of God, later called
the gospel or “good news,” was the reality interpreted and given meaning
through the Spirit of God by the NT writings of God’s servants, those
who were all witness to the events, and also, witness to the resurrected
Christ. Historical fact and the interpretation thereof is not an uncommon
occurrence. This is the definition of a legal fact:
4. LAW actual course of events: the circumstances of an event or
state of affairs, rather than an interpretation of its significance
Matters of fact are issues for a jury, while matters of law are issues
for the court.
5. LAW something based on evidence: something that is based on or
concerned with the evidence presented in a legal case
Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation.
All rights reserved.
The gospel is not a strict retelling of matters of fact, but the interpretation
of the significance of the facts of the origin, life, and death of a unique
man named Jesus. The unique jurist - the individual who sits in judgment
of the case of Jesus Christ - is asked to cast his vote with a black or white
stone for, not only the matters of fact, but also, the matters of law
presented as evidence in the gospel. Therefore, the great importance of a
true and accurate gospel presentation. Thereby, the great differences
between the Negative and Positive gospel. Therein, a life lived in
recognition of the glorious riches of an eternal salvation or a life wasted
in the hope of an unsecured salvation. The biblical term reconciliation
means that all men may be saved and stand forgiven - universally. The
biblical terms; predestination, foreknowledge, election, foreordination,
and chosen have been taken by some to mean that the individual has no
say in salvation. This is simply not true. Reconciliation saves no one as
surely as Election or Predestination saves no one. The means of the
message and saving faith must be present. The unique jurist, by
necessity, must have access to the correct matters of fact and law in order
to cast a vote of saving faith, which is to choose the “white stone” (a
diamond) inscribed with the unique name of the jurist. It is the duty of
the servants of the Most High Court to present these facts. The servants
would be those who are called and not self-appointed by reason of a
human “wisdom of this age.” Therein, is the sovereignty of God in all
human matters. Paul confessed in Galatians 1:15 that he had been set
apart “even from his mother’s womb.” The Apostle Paul was
incontestably chosen on the road to Damascus, but just as surely, when
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Paul inquired, “Who are you Lord?” - he received a true and accurate
answer in which he trusted.
In the Positive Gospel, the fact of completed forgiveness in the
substitutionary redemption from the guilt of personal sin is something to
be believed in for salvation, not to be asked for nor hoped for. There is,
most assuredly, a second salvation that must be presented and believed
in. This is the ongoing salvation from the power of sin. It is provided for
in thirty-three divine realities of eternal life that are possessed by each
and every jurist who votes with a white stone. These are the glorious
riches of grace in a true Christianity that is most certainly not a mere
Christianity as contained in the Negative gospel that secures only the
theoretical forgiveness of personal sin and a maybe salvation.
The thirty-three immediate and seven heavenly future effects will
now be submitted as evidence.
Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer writes:
Most of the great doctrinal epistles of the New Testament may be
divided into a general twofold division: namely, first, that which
represents the work of God already accomplished for the believer,
and, second, that which represents the life and work of the believer
for God. The first eight chapters of Romans contain the whole
doctrine of salvation in its past and present tense aspects: the last
section, beginning with chapter twelve (chapters nine to eleven being
parenthetical in the present purpose of God for Israel) is an appeal to
the saved one to live as it becomes one thus saved. This section opens
with the words, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of
God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable
unto God, which is your reasonable service.” So the entire closing
section of Romans is an exhortation to that manner of life befitting
one who is saved.
The first three chapters of Ephesians present the work of God for
the individual in bringing him to his exalted heavenly position in
Christ Jesus. Not one exhortation will be found in this section. The
helpless sinner could do nothing to further such an undertaking. The
last section, beginning with chapter four, is altogether an appeal for a
manner of life befitting one raised to such an exalted heavenly
position. The first verse, as in the opening words of the hortatory
section of Romans, is an epitome of all that follows: “I therefore, the
prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the
vocation wherewith ye are called.”
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The first two chapters of Colossians reveal the glory of the Son of
God and the believer’s present position as identified with Him in
resurrection life. This followed by the two closing chapters, which are
an appeal that may again be briefly condensed into the first two
verses of the section: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those
things which are above.”
It is important to note the divine order in presenting these most
vital issues. The position to which the believer is instantly lifted by
the power and the grace of God are always mentioned first and
without reference to any human merit or promises. Following this is
an injunction for a consistent life in view of the divine blessing.
It is obvious that no attempt to imitate this manner of life could
result in such exalted positions; but the positions, when wrought of
God, create an entirely new demand in life and conduct (in the Word
of God these demands are never laid upon unregenerate men). Such is
always the order in grace. First, the unmerited divine blessing; then
the life lived in the fullness of power which that blessing provides.
Under the law varying blessings were given at the end according to
the merit: under grace full measure of transformation is bestowed at
the beginning and there follows an appeal for a consistent daily life. It
is the divine purpose that a Christian’s conduct should be inspired by
the fact that he is already saved and blessed with all the riches of
grace in Jesus Christ, rather than by the hope that an attempted
imitation of the Christian standard of conduct will result in salvation.
In turning to the Scriptures to discover what it has pleased God to
reveal of His saving work in the individual at the instant he believes,
it will be found that there are at least thirty-three distinct positions
into which such a person is instantly brought by the sufficient
operation of the infinite God. All of these transformations are super-
human, and taken together, form that part of salvation which is
already the portion of everyone who has believed. Of these thirty-
three at least five important things may be said:
First, They are not experienced. They are facts of the newly
created life out of which most precious experiences may grow. For,
example, justification is never experienced; yet it is a new eternal fact
of divine life and relationship to God. A true Christian is more than a
person who feels or acts on a certain high plane: he is one who,
because of a whole inward transformation, normally feels and acts in
all the limitless heavenly association with his Lord.
Second, The Christian positions are not progressive. They do not
grow, or develop, from a small beginning. They are as perfect and
complete the instant they are possessed as they ever will be in the
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ages to come. To illustrate, sonship does not grow into fuller sonship,
even though a son may be growing. An old man is no more the son of
his earthly father at the day of his death than he was at the day of his
birth.
Third, These positions are in no way related to human merit. It
was while we were yet sinners that Christ died for the ungodly. There
is a legitimate distinction to be made between good sons and bad
sons; both equally possess sonship if they are sons at all. God is said
to chasten His own because they are sons, but certainly not they may
become sons. Human merit must be excluded. It cannot be related to
these divine transformations of grace; nor could they abide eternally
the same if depending by the slightest degree on the finite resources.
There are made to stand on the unchanging Person and merit of the
eternal Son of God. There are other and sufficient motives for
Christian conduct than the effort to create such eternal facts of the
divine life. The Christian is “accepted (now and forever) in the
beloved.”
Fourth, Every position is eternal by its very nature. The imparted
life of God is as eternal in its character as its Foundation Head. Hence
the Word of His grace: “I give unto them eternal life and they shall
never perish.” The consciousness and personal realization of such
relationship to God may vary with the daily walk of the believer; but
the abiding facts of the new being are never subject to change in time
or eternity.
Fifth, These positions are known only through a divine revelation.
They defy human imagination, and since they cannot be experienced
their reality can be entered into only by believing the Word of God.
These eternal riches of grace are for the lowest sinner who will only
believe.
That God may in some measure be glorified, some, if not all, of
these positions are here given. “The half has never been told.” The
reader is humbly invited to remember that these things are now true of
each one who believes, and if there should be the slightest doubt as to
whether he has believed that question can be forever settled even
before the following pages are read: (Salvation, Dr. Lewis Chafer, pp
56-58)
The following verses are from the New English Translation Bible. The
verses are chosen from the outline in the above book by Dr. Chafer. The
citations below are Dr. Chafer’s and are taken from his Systematic
Theology, Vol 3, pages 232 through 265.
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01. IN THE ETERNAL PLAN OF GOD
To be in the eternal plan of God is a position of surpassing
importance both with regard to the reality itself and its timeless
character. The human mind cannot grasp what it means to be in the
divine purpose from all eternity, nor what is indicated when it is declared
that the same divine purpose from all eternity, nor what is indicated when
it is declared that the same divine purpose extends into eternity to come –
“whom he predestinated, he glorified.” …
FOREKNOWN
Acts 2:23 this man, who was handed over by the predetermined plan
and foreknowledge of God, you executed by nailing him to a cross at
the hands of Gentiles.
Rom 8:29 because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be
conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son would be the
firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
1 Pet 1:2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father by being
set apart by the Spirit for obedience and for sprinkling with Jesus
Christ’s blood. May grace and peace be yours in full measure!
1 Pet 1:20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but
was manifested in these last times for your sake.
PREDESTINATED
Eph 1:5 He did this by predestining us to adoption as his sons
through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure of his will—
Eph 1:11 In Christ we too have been claimed as God’s own
possession, since we were predestined according to the one purpose
of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his
will
Rom 8:30 And those he predestined, he also called; and those he
called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.
ELECTED
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1 Thess 1:4 We know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has
chosen you, [ Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God
(KJV) ]
Rom 8:33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God
who justifies.
Col 3:12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and dearly loved, clothe
yourselves with a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and
patience,
Titus 1:1 From Paul, a slave of God and apostle of Jesus Christ, to
further the faith of God’s chosen ones and the knowledge of the truth
that is in keeping with godliness, [ … Jesus Christ, according to the
faith of God’s elect (KJV)]
CHOSEN
Mtw 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”
1 Pet 2:4 So as you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but
chosen and priceless in God’s sight,
CALLED
1 Thess 5:23 Now may the God of peace himself make you
completely holy and may your spirit and soul and body be kept
entirely blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 5:24 He
who calls you is trustworthy, and he will in fact do this.
02. REDEEMED.
Redemption as a doctrine and as it obtains in the present age, is
properly subject to a threefold classification: (1) It is universal in
character in the sense that it includes the whole world and provides a
sufficient ground of righteousness upon which God may save those who
are lost. (2) It is specific when contemplated as the position into which
the saved one has been brought. He is purchased out of the bond slave
market and set free with that liberty which is the rightful portion of the
sons of God (Gal 5:1). It is not a position to be sought or secured by
faithfulness; it is that which God has wrought in behalf of every
regenerate person. The exercise of divine grace – even to the finality of
justification – is said to be “ through the redemption that is in Christ”
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(Rom 3:24). It is connection with redemption that the believer has
“forgiveness of sins,” and this is “according to,” and a part of, “the riches
of his grace” (Eph 1:7). (3) There is yet a redemption of the body of the
believer and for that redemption the Christian is waiting (Rom 8:23). The
thought here, as in all the riches of grace, is that redemption is a position
of transforming reality and is the possession of all who are saved.
REDEEMED BY GOD.
Col 1:14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
1 Pet 1:18 You know that from your empty way of life inherited from
your ancestors you were ransomed—not by perishable things like
silver or gold
Rom 3:24 But they are justified freely by his grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
OUT OF ALL CONDEMNATION.
Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are
in Christ Jesus.
John 5:24 “I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my
message and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will
not be condemned, but has crossed over from death to life.
1 Cor 11:32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined
so that we may not be condemned with the world. 3:18 The one who
believes in him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has
been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of
the one and only Son of God.
John 3:18 The one who believes in him is not condemned. The one
who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has
not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.
03. RECONCILED
Again, a special reconciliation is in view, one which reaches far
beyond that aspect of it which contemplates the whole world. It is the
reconciliation of the believer to God as presented in 2 Corinthians 5:20.
A difference will be recognized between the reconciliation of the world –
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as declared in 5:19 – and the reconciliation of the individual – as
declared in 5:20-21. The reconciliation of the world does not obviate the
reconciliation of the individual. The latter is that form of reconciliation
which is applied to the believers heart and results in a perfect and
unending peace between God and the reconciled believer. To be perfectly
reconciled to God on the ground of the merit of Christ, as is true of every
child of God, is a position of blessedness indeed and is one of the riches
of divine grace.
RECONCILED BY GOD
2 Cor 5:18 And all these things are from God who reconciled us to
himself through Christ, and who has given us the ministry of
reconciliation. 5:19 In other words, in Christ God was reconciling the
world to himself, not counting people’s trespasses against them, and
he has given us the message of reconciliation. 5:20 Therefore we are
ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His plea through
us. We plead with you on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God!”
5:21 God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that
in him we would become the righteousness of God.
Col 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all
creation,
1:16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him—all
things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions,
whether principalities or powers—all things were created through him
and for him.
1:17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together in
him.
1:18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning,
the firstborn from among the dead, so that he himself may become
first in all things.
1:19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in the Son
1:20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making
peace through the blood of his cross—through him, whether things on
earth or things in heaven.
RECONCILED TO GOD
04. RELATED TO GOD THROUGH PROPITIATION
The central truth contained in this doctrine - and more engaging
than any other aspect of it – is the abiding fact that God is propitious. He
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has been rendered free toward sinners by the death of His Son for them.
That which constitutes the divine problem in the salvation of sinners,
namely, the solution of the problem of sin has been solved perfectly. In
the case of the unsaved, that which remains is the human responsibility
of saving faith. The truth that all that enters into the divine responsibility
has been perfectly wrought indicates that God is propitious toward
sinners; but He is also propitious towards His blood-bought child who
has sinned, which sin Christ bore on the cross. The truth is of greatest
import that “He is the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 2:2). The ever
recurring need of adjustment between the Christian and His Father is
possible on the ground of the truth that the Father is propitious. To be in
that relation to God in which He is propitious toward the specific sins of
the child of God is a benefit of infinite grace. It is a position more
advantageous than heart or mind can comprehend.
05. FORGIVEN ALL TRESPASSES
In the sense that there is now no condemnation to them which are
in Christ Jesus, believers are forgiven all trespasses. The declaration of
Colossians 2:13 – “having forgiven you all trespasses” – covers all
trespasses, past, present, and future (cf. Eph 1:7; 4:32; Col 1:14; 3:13). In
no other way than to be wholly absolved before God, could a Christian
be on an abiding peace footing with God or could he be, as he is, justified
forever.
The divine dealing with sin is doubtless difficult for the human mind
to grasp, especially such sins as have not yet been committed. However,
it will be remembered that all sin of his age was yet future when Christ
died. Its power to condemn is disannulled forever. In this connection the
Holy Spirit inquires, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s
elect?” and, “Who is he that condemneth?” The inspired answers are
conclusive: God justifies rather than charges with sin; and condemnation
has been laid upon Another, who died, who is risen, who is at the right
hand of God for us, and who also “maketh intercession for us” (Rom
8:33-34). This chapter of Romans which begins with “no condemnation”
ends with “no separation”; but such complete forgiveness is possible
only on the ground of Christ’s work in bearing sin and in releasing His
merit to those who are saved and through His mediation and are in Him.
Men either stand in their own merit or in the merit of Christ. If they stand
in their merit – the only conception that is within the range of reason and
that which is advocated by the Arminian system – there is only
condemnation for each individual before God; but if they stand in the
merit of Christ, being in Him – whether all its righteous ground is
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comprehended or not – there remains naught but continued union with
God and therefore no condemnation and no separation.
At this point a distinction is called for between this abiding judicial
forgiveness and the oft-repeated forgiveness within the family of God.
The seeming paradox that one is forgiven and yet must be forgiven, is
explained on the ground of the truth that there are two wholly and
unrelated spheres of relationship between the believer and God.
Regarding his standing, which like his Sonship is immutable since it is
secured by his place in Christ, he is not subject to condemnation and will
never be unjustified or separated from God. Regarding his state, which
like the daily conduct of a son is mutable and is wholly within the family
relationship, he must be both forgiven and cleansed (1 John 1:9). The
writer to the Hebrews declares that, had the old order of the sacrifices
been as efficacious as the sacrifice of Christ, those presenting an animal
sacrifice for their sin would “have had no more conscience of sins”
(10:2). On the other hand, it is the believer’s portion to be free from the
sense of the condemnation of sin – he never thinks of himself as a lost
soul, if at all instructed in God’s Word; however, this is not to say that
the Christian will not be conscious of the sins he commits. Sin, to the
believer is more abhorrent than ever it could have been before he was
saved; but, when sinning, he will not have broken the abiding fact of his
union with God though he has injured his communion with Him. Within
the family relation – which relation cannot be broken – he may sin as a
child (without ceasing to be a child) and be forgiven, and be restored
back into the Father’s fellowship on the basis of his own confession of
his sin and the deeper truth that Christ has borne the sin which otherwise
would condemn.
None of the believer’s positions before God, when rightly
apprehended, is more a blessing to the heart than the fact that all
condemnation is removed forever, God for Christ’s sake having forgiven
all trespasses.
06. VITALLY CONJOINED TO CHRIST FOR THE JUDGMENT OF THE OLD
MAN “UNTO A NEW WALK”
The essential doctrine of union with Christ appears as the basis of
many of these riches of divine grace. In the present aspect of truth, only
that which has to do with the death of Christ unto the sin nature is in
view, and the central passage which declares this truth is Romans 6:1-10.
This important Scripture will be brought forward in various places in this
work on theology, but always it will be pointed out that it refers neither
to self-judgment by self-crucifixion nor to a mode of ritual baptism. If
the passage does not contemplate more than these interpretations imply,
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one of the most vital truths of the New Testament is deprived of its most
important affirmations. The death of Christ, quite apart from its
achievement as a final dealing with sins, is a judgment of the sin nature,
which judgment does not mean that that nature is rendered incapable of
action or that it is changed in its character; it does mean that a perfect
judgment is gained against it and that God is now righteously free to deal
with that nature as a judged thing. The evil character of that nature, does
not, after it is judged, restrain the Holy Spirit from curbing its power for
us. Thus, by faith in the indwelling Spirit, the believer may be delivered
from the reigning power of sin and on the ground of Christ’s death as a
judgment of the sin nature. This feature of Christ’s death is
substitutionary to the last degree. The central passage asserts that the
death of Christ is so definitely an act in behalf of the believer, that it is a
cocrucifixion, a codeath, a coburial, and a coresurrection (cf. Col 2:12).
The application of this truth is not an injunction to enact all or any part of
it; it is rather something about himself which the Christian is to believe
or reckon to be true, being, as it is, the ground upon which he may by an
intelligent faith claim deliverance from the power of the inbred sin
nature.
To be placed thus permanently before God as one for whom Christ
has died a judgment death against the sin nature is a position of privilege
of infinite blessedness.
07. FREE FROM THE LAW
As now considered, the law is more than a code or set of rules
governing conduct. Too often it is thought that to be free from the law is
to be excused from doing the things which the law prescribes, and,
because he law is “holy, and just, and good,” it is difficult for many to
accept the New Testament teaching that the law is not the prescribed rule
of life for the believer. Why, indeed, it is inquired, should the believer do
other than to pursue that which is holy, just, and good? Over against this
idea is the uncompromising warning to the Christian that he by the death
of Christ is free from the law (cf. John 1:17; Acts 15:24-29; Rom 6:14;
7:2-6; 2 Cor 3:6-13; Gal 5:18). In one passage alone – Romans 6:14 – the
child of God is told that he is not under the law, and in another – Romans
7:2-6 – he is said to be both dead to the law and delivered from the law.
Since every ideal or principle of the law, except the fourth
commandment, is carried forward and restated and incorporated in the
grace manner of life, it hardly seems reasonable to contend that the
believer should be warned so positively against doing the things
contained in the law. The solution of the problem is to be found in the
fact that the law is a system demanding human merit, while the
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injunctions addressed to the Christian under grace is unrelated to human
merit. Since the child of God is already accepted in the Beloved and
stands forever in the merit of Christ, application of the merit system to
him is both unreasonable and unscriptural. When the principles contained
in the merit system reappear it is always with this vital change in the
character. It is one thing to do a thing that is contained in the law in order
that one may be accepted or blessed; it is a wholly different thing to do
those same things because one is accepted and blessed. Freedom from
the merit obligation is that “liberty” to which reference is made in
Galatians 5:1. It is not liberty to do evil; but it is a perfect relief from the
crushing burden – the yoke of bondage (Acts 15:10) – of works of merit.
To be “free from the law” (Rom 8:2), to be “dead to the law” (Rom
7:4), and to be “delivered from the law” (Rom 7:6; cf. Rom 6:14; 2 Cor
3:11; Gal 3:25), describe a position in grace before God which is rich and
full unto everlasting blessing.
08. CHILDREN OF GOD
To be born anew by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit into
a relationship in which God the First Person becomes a legitimate Father
and the saved one becomes a legitimate child, is a position which is but
dimly apprehended by any human being in this world. This far-flung
reality is more a matter of heavenly values than of the earth.
Nevertheless, this very regeneration is one of the foundational realities of
everyone who has believed upon Christ as Savior. This birth from above
accomplishes a measureless transformation. To be born into an earthly
home of outstanding character is of great advantage, but to be born of
God with every right and title belonging to that position – an heir of God
and a joint heir with Jesus Christ – passes the range of human
understanding. This new existence is not only intensely real, but it, like
all begotten life, is everlasting in its very nature. The theme is so vast
that it includes other positions and possessions which, in turn, will be
mentioned as this analysis progresses.
Varied terms are used in the New Testament to identify this new
birth. Each of these is distinct in itself and revealing.
BORN AGAIN. It is of more than passing import that the Lord Jesus Christ
selected Nicodemus, the most religious and ideal man of his day in
Judaism, to whom and as applied to himself Christ declared the necessity
of the new birth. The word άυωθευ is rendered anew, and its implication
is that it is not only an actual birth, but it is new in the sense that it is
complete in itself and no product of the flesh. Of this distinction Christ
said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of
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the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6). Other confirming passages are John 1:12-
13; 1 Pet 1:23.
John 1:12 But to all who have received him—those who believe in
his name—he has given the right to become God’s children 1:13 —
children not born by human parents or by human desire or a
husband’s decision, but by God.
1 Pet 1:23 You have been born anew, not from perishable but from
imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.
REGENERATED. This expressive term, which appears in Titus 3:5 – “by
the washing of regeneration” – conveys the same idea of a rebirth. The
passage relates a cleansing to this birth, but the birth does not consist in a
mere cleansing of the old being; it is rather that a cleansing, like
forgiveness, accompanies the regeneration.
Titus 3:5 he saved us not by works of righteousness that we have
done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new
birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit,
QUICKENED. The word quickened expresses the thought that an object is
made alive that did not possess that life before. Through regeneration by
the Spirit, as in the case with the flesh, there is an impartation of life.
Regeneration imparts the divine nature. Attention should be given also to
Ephesians 2:1 and Colossians 2:13
Eph 2:1 And although you were dead in your transgressions and sins,
2:2 in which you formerly lived according to this world’s present
path, according to the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the ruler of the
spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience, 2:3 among
whom all of us also formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our
flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by
nature children of wrath even as the rest…
2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with
which he loved us, 2:5 even though we were dead in transgressions,
made us alive together with Christ—by grace you are saved!— 2:6
and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly
realms in Christ Jesus, 2:7 to demonstrate in the coming ages the
surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
2:8 For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God; 2:9 it is not from works, so that no
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one can boast. 2:10 For we are his workmanship, having been created
in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we
may do them. NET
Col 2:13 And even though you were dead in your transgressions and
in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he nevertheless made you alive
with him, having forgiven all your transgressions. NET
SONS OF GOD. This title, used many times (cg. 2 Cor 6:18; Gal 3:26 RV;
1 John 3:2), publishes the true relationship between God and those who
are saved. They are sons of God, not by a mere title or pretense, but by
actual generation the offspring of God. The reality which the title
designates cannot be taken too literally.
A NEW CREATION. Thus again, and by language both appropriate and
emphatic, the mighty creative power of God is seen to be engaged in the
salvation of men. As respects their salvation it is said that they are His
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus. That exalted new creation is not
only the direct work of God, but owes all that it is to its vital relation to
Christ Jesus.
09. ADOPTED
The peculiar position of one who is adopted is an important
feature of the riches of divine grace. Its unique place in the following
passage indicates its major import: According as he hath chosen us in
him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and
without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the
adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good
pleasure of his will” (Eph 1:4-5). In attempting to discover what this
position really is, it is needful to recognize that divine adoption has
almost nothing in common with that form of it as accepted and practiced
among men. According to human custom, adoption is a means whereby
an outsider may become a member of a family. It is a legal way to create
father and son relationship as a substitute for father and son reality. On
the other hand, divine adoption, while referring both to Israel’s kinship to
God (Rom 9:4) and to redemption of the believer’s body (Rom 8:23), is
primarily a divine act by which one already a child by actual birth
through the Spirit of God is placed forward as an adult son in his relation
to God. At the moment of regeneration, the believer, being born of God
and therefore the legitimate offspring of God, is advanced in relationship
and responsibility to the position of an adult son. All childhood and
adolescent years, which are normal in human experience, are excluded in
spiritual sonship and the newly born believer is at once in possession of
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freedom from tutors and governors – who symbolize the law principle –
and is responsible to live the full-orbed spiritual life of an adult son in the
Father’s household. No period of irresponsible childhood is recognized.
There is no body of Scripture which undertakes to direct the conduct of
beginners in the Christian life as in distinction to those who are mature.
Whatever God says to the old and established saint, He says to every
believer – including those most recently regenerated. There should be no
misunderstanding respecting the “babe in Christ,” mentioned in
Corinthians 3:1, who is a babe because of carnality and not because of
immaturity of years in the Christian life. In human experience legitimate
birth and adoption never combine in the same person. There is no
occasion for a father to adopt his own child. In the realm of divine
adoption, every child born of God is adopted the moment he is born. He
is placed before God as a mature, responsible son. Thus adoption
becomes one of the important divine undertakings in the salvation of men
and is a position of great importance.
10. ACCEPTABLE TO GOD BY JESUS CHRIST
As a position before God, none could be more elevated or
consummating than that a believer should be “made accepted in the
beloved” (Eph 1:6) and “acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (1 Pet 2:5).
Such an estate is closely akin to that already mentioned wherein there is
no condemnation, and to that, yet to be considered, of justification; but
this aspect of truth not only announces the marvelous fact that the
Christian is accepted, but grounds that acceptance in the position which
he holds in Christ. As definitely as any member that might be joined to a
human body would partake of all that the person is to whom it is joined –
honor and position – so perfectly and rightly a member joined to Christ
by the baptism of the Spirit partakes of all that Christ is. In respect to this
union with Christ and that which it provides, wonderful declarations are
made:
MADE RIGHTEOUS. Reference here is neither to any merit nor good
works on the part of the individual believer, nor has it the slightest
reference to the unquestioned truth that God is Himself a righteous
Being. It rather represents that standing or quality which Christ released
by His death according to the sweet-savor aspect of it, and which
rightfully becomes the believer’s portion through his living union with
Christ. It is righteousness imputed to the believer on the sole condition
that he has believed on Christ as his Savoir. Two major realities which
constitute a believer are: imparted eternal life (John 20:31) and imputed
righteousness (2 Cor 5:21). Of the two great salvation books in the New
Testament, it may be said of John’s Gospel that it stresses the gift of
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eternal life, and it may be said of the Epistle to the Romans that it
stresses imputed righteousness. Eternal life is defined as “Christ in you,
the hope of glory” (Col 1:27), and imputed righteousness is based on the
truth that the believer is in Christ. These two supreme truths are
compressed by Christ into seven brief an simple words, “ye in me, and I
in you” (John 14:20). Whether it be the exception of eternal life or of
imputed righteousness, but one condition is imposed on the human side,
namely, to believe on Christ as Savoir (John 3:16; Rom 3:22).
In the earlier treatment of this theme the central features of imputed
righteousness have been recorded and the extended body of Scripture
bearing on this doctrine has been cited. The believer is “acceptable to
God,” even the infinitely holy God, since he has been made accepted in
the Beloved; and this constitutes a transforming feature of the riches of
divine grace.
SANCTIFIED POSITIONALLY. That there is a positional sanctification
which is secured by union with Christ has too often been overlooked,
and, because of this neglect, theories of a supposed sinless perfection in
daily life have been inferred from those Scriptures which assert the truth
that the believer has been “perfected forever” through this sanctification.
The point of misunderstanding is with regard to the design of the
sanctification, which may be defined as the setting apart of a person or
thing, a classifying. It is thus that Christ sanctified Himself by becoming
the Savoir of the lost with all that involved (John 17:19), which
sanctification certainly could not imply any improvement in moral
character on His part. Likewise, the sanctification of an inanimate object,
such as the gold of the temple or the gift on the alter (Matt 23:17, 19),
indicates that a moral change in the thing sanctified is not demanded.
Thus, in the case of the sanctification of a person, the moral change in
that person’s life may not be the result of sanctification; but no person or
thing is sanctified without being set apart or classified thereby. Christ has
been “made unto us … sanctification” (1 Cor 1:30), and the Corinthians
– even when being corrected for evil practices – are assured that they
were not only “washed” and “justified,” but that they were “sanctified”
(1 Cor 6:11). Such sanctification was neither the estate of those believers
nor did it refer to their ultimate transformation when they would appear
in glory (Eph 5:27; 1 John 3:2). It evidently indicated that greatest of all
classifications, which resulted in the standing and position of every
believer when he enters the New Creation through being joined to Christ
and partakers of all that Christ is. This truth is declared in the phrase -
PERFECTED FOREVER. This consummating phrase appears in Hebrews
10:14 and applies equally to every believer. It, too, relates to the
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Christian’s standing and position in Christ. Such a union with Christ
secures the perfection of the Son of God for the child of God.
MADE ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED. The student would do well to
observe the force of the word made as it appears in a considerable
number of passages, where it indicates that the thing accomplished is not
wrought by the believer for himself, but is the work of God for him. If he
is made something which he was not before, it is evidently the work of
another in his behalf. In this instance, the believer is said to be made
accepted. He is accepted on the part of God who, because of His infinite
holiness, could accept no one less than Himself. All of this is provided
for on the basis of the truth that the believer is made accepted “in the
beloved” (Eph 1:6). Without the slightest strain upon His holiness God
accepts those who are in union with His Son; and this glorious fact, that
the one who is saved is accepted, constitutes a measureless feature of
divine grace.
Made Meet. Here, again, the word made with all its significance
appears, but with respect to that requirement which must be demanded of
all who would appear in the presence of God in Heaven. The text in
which this assuring phrase occurs is Colossians 1:12, and it asserts that
the believer is, even now, fitted for that celestial glory: “giving thanks
unto the Father, which has made us meet to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in light.” No mere pretense or bold assumption is
indicated in this passage. The least believer, being in Christ, is even now
made meet to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light. It
therefore becomes no arrogance or vainglory to accept this statement of
God’s word as true, and as true from the moment one believes on Christ
as Savoir.
11. JUSTIFIED
No present position in which the believer is placed is more exalted
and consummating than that of being justified by God. By justification
the saved one is lifted far above the position of one who depends on
divine generosity and magnanimity, to the estate of one whom God has
declared justified forever, which estate the holy justice of God is as much
committed to defend as ever that holy justice was before committed to
condemn. Theological definitions of justification are more traditional
than Biblical. Only inattention to Scripture can account for the confusion
of justification with divine forgiveness of sin. It is true that each of these
is an act of God in response to saving faith, that none are forgiven who
are not justified, and that none are justified who are not forgiven; but in
no particular do these divine undertaking coalesce. Likewise, though they
are translated from the same Greek root, the terms righteousness
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(imputed) and justification present different wholly conceptions. The
believer is constituted righteous by virtue of his position in Christ, but is
justified by a declaratory decree of God. Righteousness imputed is the
abiding fact, and justification is the divine recognition of that fact. In
other considerations of the doctrine of justification incorporated in this
general work, a more exhaustive treatment is undertaken, including the
scope of this divine enterprise in which God justifies the ungodly (Rom
4:5) without a cause (Rom 3:24), and on a ground so worthy, so laudable,
and so unblemished that He Himself remains just when He justifies. He
reserves every aspect of this measureless benefit to Himself, for the only
human obligation is that of believing in Jesus (Rom 3:26). It is the
Christian’s right to count this work done and to say, as in Romans 5:1,
“Therefore being justified by faith …” Though language may describe
it, only the Spirit of God can cause the mind to realize this essential
position so elevated and so glorified.
12. MADE NIGH
The saved one, according to Ephesians 2:13, is said to be “made
nigh.” This text states: “But now in Christ Jesus ye who were sometimes
far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” As seen before, the word
made is significant in that it assigns the whole undertaking to another
than the one who receives the blessing. Various terms are employed in
the New Testament to describe the close relation which is set up and
exists between God and the believer. To be “made nigh” is not only a
work of God, but it is to be brought into a relationship to God which is of
infinite perfection and completeness. To it nothing could be added in
time or eternity. What such a nearness may mean to the Christian when
he is present with the Lord cannot be anticipated in this life; nevertheless,
the reality which the phrase made nigh connotes is as cogent an
acquirement at the inception of the Christian’s salvation as it will be in
any point in eternity.
Divinely wrought positions are often accompanied by a corres-
ponding Christian experience. This is true of the subject in hand. While,
as has been stated, the position which is described as nigh to God is itself
complete and final, the one who is thus nigh is exhorted to draw nigh to
God. It is written: “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.
Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double
minded” (James 4:8); “Let us draw near with a true heart in full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience,
and our bodies washed with pure water” (Heb 10:22). These exhortations
belong wholly in the realm of Christian experience, in which realm they
may be a consciousness, more or less real, of personal fellowship with
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the Father and the Son (1 John 1:3). The process by which a believer may
draw nigh – as required by James and in response in which God Himself
will draw nigh to the believer – is that of a confession of sin and an
adjustment of one’s life to the will of God. Over against this it will be
observed that, whether in fellowship or out of fellowship as respects
conscious experience, the Christian is, because of his position in Christ,
ever and always made nigh.
Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who used to be far away have
been brought near [ have come near in the blood of Christ ] [made
nigh (KJV)] by the blood of Christ. NET (brackets mine)
13. DELIVERED FROM THE POWER OF DARKNESS
As declared in Colossians 1:13, this special position, as described
here in this passage, may be taken as representative of all the Scripture
bearing on he Christian’s deliverance from the power of Satan and his
evil spirits. Previously, certain passages have been cited relative to the
power of Satan over the unsaved. One passage, 2 Corinthians 4:3-4,
reveals the blinding power of Satan over the unregenerate person’ mind
respecting the gospel; Ephesians 2:1-2 declares the company of the lost -
designated “children of disobedience” (disobedient in the headship of
disobedient Adam) – to be energized by Satan; 1 John 5:19 states that the
cosmos world, in contrast to believers who are of God, “lieth in” the
wicked one. The passage under consideration – Colossians 1:13 – reads:
“who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated
us to the kingdom of his dear Son.” It will be observed that all these
passages, to which reference is made, assert that the unsaved are under
the power of Satan and that the believer is delivered from that power,
though he must continue to wage a warfare against these powers of
darkness; and the Apostle assures the Christian of a victory made
possible by an attitude of faith in the Lord (Eph 6:10-12). The same
Apostle, when relating his own divine commission, mentions one certain
result of his ministry, namely, that the unsaved were to be turned “from
darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God” (Acts 26:18).
To be liberated thus is a great reality and constitutes one of the major
positions into which the believer is brought through divine grace.
Acts 26:15 … ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 26:16 But get
up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this reason,
to designate you in advance47 as a servant and witness48 to the
things you have seen and to the things in which I will appear to you.
26:17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles,
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to whom I am sending you 26:18 to open their eyes so that they turn
from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that
they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are
sanctified by faith in me.’ NET
47tn L&N 30.89 has “‘to choose in advance, to select beforehand, to
designate in advance.’”
48sn As a servant and witness. The commission is similar to Acts 1:8 and
Luke 1:2. Paul was now an “eyewitness” of the Lord.
54sn To open their eyes so that they turn… Here is Luke’s most
comprehensive report of Paul’s divine calling. His role was to call
humanity to change their position before God and experience God’s
forgiveness as a part of God’s family. The image of turning is a key one
in the NT: Luke 1:79; Rom 2:19; 13:12; 2 Cor 4:6; 6:14; Eph 5:8; Col
1:12; 1 Thess 5:5. See also Luke 1:77-79; 3:3; 24:47.
14. TRANSLATED INTO THE KINGDOM OF THE SON OF HIS LOVE
As Dean Alford points out in exposition of Colossians 1:13 ( N.T.
for English Readers, new ed., in loc.), the translation into the kingdom is
“strictly local”; that is, it is now that it is accomplished, when saving
faith is exercised, and the entrance is into the present form of the
kingdom of God and of Christ. Two other passages shed light upon this
great change which is experienced by all who pass from the lost estate to
the saved estate: “ that ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called
you unto his kingdom and glory” (1 Thess 2:12); “For so an entrance
shall be ministered unto you abundantly unto the everlasting kingdom of
our Lord and Savoir Jesus Christ” (2 Pet 1:11). In Colossians 1:13, the
term “translated” evidently refers to the removal from the sphere of
Satan’s dominion to that of Christ. The kingdom is that of God, which
may be considered also the kingdom of the Son of His love. Entrance
into the kingdom of God is by the new birth (John 3:5). Such a position
is far more than merely to be delivered from darkness, however much the
advantage of that may be; it is to be inducted into and established in the
kingdom of God’s dear Son.
15. ON THE ROCK, CHRIST JESUS
In the consideration of divine grace as exercised in behalf of the
lost, it is essential, as in other matters of similar import, to distinguish
between the foundation and the superstructure. In the parable of the two
houses – one built upon the rock and one built upon the sand (Matt 7:24-
27) – Christ made no reference to the superstructure, but rather
emphasized the importance of the foundation. The smallest edifice built
on the rock will endure the tests which try its foundations, and only
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because the rock endures. Over against this, the Apostle writes (1 Cor
3:9-15) of the superstructure which is built upon the rock, which
superstructure is to be tested by fire. Reference is thus made, not to
salvation, but to the works in which the Christian engages. It is not
character building, but Christian service. There are, again, two general
classes of superstructure being built upon Christ the Rock, and these are
likened to gold, silver, and precious stones, on the one hand, and to
wood, hay, and stubble, on the other hand. As gold and silver are refined
by fire, and wood, hay, and stubble are consumed by fire, so the
judgment of Christian service is likened to fire in which the gold and
silver will stand the test and receive a reward, while that which
corresponds to wood, hay, and stubble will suffer loss. It is declared,
however, that the believer who suffers loss in respect to his reward for
service will himself be saved, though passing through that fire which
destroys his unworthy service.
The important truth to be recognized at this point is that, while the
unsaved build upon the sand, all Christians are standing and building on
the Rock, Christ Jesus. They are thus secure with respect to salvation
through the merit of Christ, apart from their own worthiness or
faithfulness. While this figure used by Christ does not lend itself to a
literal development in every particular, it is clearly stated by this object
lesson that Christ is the foundation on which the Christian stands and on
which he builds. To be taken off the sand foundation and to be placed on
the enduring Rock which is Christ, constitutes one of the richest treasures
of divine grace.
16. A GIFT FROM GOD THE FATHER TO CHRIST
No moment in the history of the saints could be more laden with
reality than that time when, as the consummation of His redemptive
mission – foreseen from all eternity and itself a determining factor in the
character of all ages to come – the Lord Jesus Christ reviewed in prayer
to the Father that which He had achieved by His advent into this cosmos
world. He fully intended for His own who are in this world to hear what
He said in that incomparable prayer (John 17:13). Devout minds will
ponder eagerly every word spoken concerning themselves under such
august and solemn circumstances. What, indeed, would be the
designation by which believers will be identified by the Son? What
appellation is proper in such converse? What cognomen answers the
highest ideal and conception in the mind of Deity with respect to
Christians? Assuredly, the superlative title, whatever it is, would be
employed by the Son when He presents formally His own, and petitions
the Father in their behalf. Seven times in this prayer by one form or
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another and quite exclusively His saved ones are referred to as those who
Thou hast given Me. Nothing but ignorance of the great transaction
which is intimated in this title will explain the inattention of Christians to
this descriptive name. When it is considered, it is seen that in the
background are two important doctrines, namely, that all creatures
belong inherently to their Creator and, hence, that in sovereign election
He has determined in past ages a company designed to be a peculiar
treasure for His Son; but the title itself tells its own story of surpassing
interest and importance, which is, that the Father has given each believer
to the Son. This is not the only instance in which the Father gives a
company of people to the Son. In Psalm 2:6-9 it is predicted that, at His
second advent and when He is seated upon the Davidic throne, the then
rebellious and raging nations will be given by Jehovah to the Messiah.
The imagination will not have gone far astray if it pictures a situation in
eternity past when the Father presents individual believers separately to
the Son – each representing a particular import and value not approached
by another. Like a chest of jewels, collected one by one and wholly
diverse, these love gifts appear before the eyes of the Son of God. Should
one be missing, He, the Savior, would be rendered inexpressibly poor.
Immeasurable and unknowable riches of grace are latent in that
superlative cognomen, those whom Thou hast given Me.
Dr. C. I. Scofield’s comment on this truth is clear and forceful:
“Seven times Jesus speaks of believers as given to Him by the Father (vs.
2, 6 [twice], 9, 11, 12, 24). Jesus Christ is God’s love gift to the world
(John 3:16), and believers are the Father’s love gift to Jesus Christ. It is
Christ who commits the believer to the Father for safe-keeping, so that
the believer’s security rests upon the Father’s faithfulness to His Son
Jesus Christ” (Scofield Reference Bible, p. 1139).
John 17:2 just as you have given him authority over all humanity, so
that he may give eternal life to everyone you have given him.
17:6 “I have revealed your name to the men you gave me out of the
world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they
have obeyed your word.
17:9 I am praying on behalf of them. I am not praying on behalf of
the world, but on behalf of those you have given me, because they
belong to you.
17:11 I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am
coming to you. Holy Father, keep them safe in your name that you
have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one. 17:12
When I was with them I kept them safe and watched over them in
your name that you have given me. Not one of them was lost except
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the one destined for destruction, so that the scripture could be
fulfilled.
17:24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I
am, so that they can see my glory that you gave me because you
loved me before the creation of the world. NET
17. CIRCUMCISED IN CHRIST
One of the Apostle’s threefold divisions of humanity is the
“Uncircumcision” with reference to unregenerate Gentiles, “the
Circumcision in the flesh made by hands” with reference to Israel, and
“the circumcision made without hands” with reference to Christians (Eph
2:11; Col 2:11). However, the important truth that the believer has been
circumcised with a circumcision made without hands and wholly apart
from the flesh, is the grace position which is now in view. In the
Colossians passage (2:11), the believer’s spiritual circumcision is said to
be the “putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of
Christ.” Two closely related words occur in this passage, namely, body
[soma] (σώµα) and flesh [sarx] (σάρξ ). The physical body does not
commit sin except as it is dominated by the flesh – which flesh includes
the soul and spirit, manifests that fallen nature which all possess, saved
and unsaved alike. The physical body is not put off in a literal sense, but,
being the instrument or sphere of sins manifestation, the flesh with its
“body of sin” may be annulled (Rom 6:6), or rendered inoperative for the
time being. As the sin nature was judged by Christ in His death, so the
believer, because of his vital place in Christ, partakes of that “putting
off” that Christ accomplished, and which fell as a circumcision upon
Him and becomes a spiritual circumcision to the one for whom Christ
substituted. It is a circumcision made without hands.” To stand thus
before God as one whose sin nature, or flesh, has been judged and for
whom a way of deliverance from the dominion of the flesh has been
secured, is a position which grace has provided, and is blessed indeed.
18. PARTAKERS OF THE HOLY AND ROYAL PRIESTHOOD
In his first Epistle, Peter declares that the believers form a holy
priesthood (2:5) and a royal priesthood (2:9), and their royalty is again
asserted by John when in Revelation 1:6 (R.V.) they are titled “a
kingdom … priests,” or according to another reading (A.V.), “kings and
priests.” The truth that Christ is a king-priest is reflected here. The
believer derives all his positions and possessions from Christ. The child
of God is therefore a priest now because of his relation to the High Priest,
and he will yet reign with Christ a thousand years – when Christ takes
His earthly throne (Rev 5:10; 1 Tim 2:12).
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Priesthood has passed through certain well-defined stages or aspects.
The patriarchs were priests over their households. Later, to Israel was
offered the privilege of becoming a kingdom of priests (Ex 19:6); but it
was conditional and Israel failed in the realization of this blessing, and
the priesthood was restricted to one tribe or family. On a grace basis, in
which God undertakes through the merit of His Son, in the New
Testament is introduced the true and final realization of a kingdom of
priests. Every saved person in the present age is a priest unto God. The
Old Testament priest is the type of the New Testament priest. Israel had a
priesthood; the Church is a priesthood. To be a priest unto God with a
certainty of a kingly reign is a position to which the one who believes on
Christ is brought through the saving grace of God.
19. A CHOSEN GENERATION, A HOLY NATION, A PECULIAR PEOPLE
All three of these designations (1 Pet 2:9) refer to one and the
same general idea, namely, that the company of believers of this age –
individuals called out from the Jews and Gentiles alike – are different
from the unsaved Jews and Gentiles to the extent to which thirty-three
stupendous miracles transform them. They are a generation, not that they
are restricted to one span of human life, but in the sense that they are the
offspring of God. They are a nation in the sense that they are separate, a
distinct grouping among all the peoples of the earth. They are a peculiar
people in the sense that they are born of God and are therefore not of this
cosmos world. They are not enjoined to try to be peculiar; any people in
this world who are citizens of heaven, perfected in Christ, and appointed
to live in the power of and to the glory of God, cannot but be peculiar.
These three designations represent permanent positions to which the
believer has been brought and they, likewise, make a large contribution
to the sum total of all the riches of divine grace.
20. HEAVENLY CITIZENS
Under this consideration, commonwealth privilege, or what is
better known as citizenship, is in view. Writing of the estate of the
Ephesians, who were Gentiles before they were saved, the Apostle states
that they were” aliens from the commonwealth of Israel.” Israel’s
citizenship, though earthly, was specifically recognized by God as
separate from all other peoples. Into this position no Gentile could come
except as a proselyte. Thus it is said that the Gentile, being a stranger to
Israel’s commonwealth, had not so much as any divine recognition; yet
immeasurably removed and heaven-high above even Israel’s
commonwealth is the Christian’s citizenship in heaven. Of Christians it is
written, “For our citizenship is in heaven” (Phil 3:20 R.V.); their names
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are written in heaven (Luke 10:20), and they are said to have “come unto
Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem”
(Heb 12:22). To enforce the same truth, the Apostle also write, “Now
therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens
with the saints, and of the household of God” (Eph 2:19). Actual
presence in heaven is an assured experience for all who are saved (2 Cor
5:8); but citizenship itself – whether realized at the present moment or
not – is an abiding position accorded to all who believe. In truth, the
occupation of that citizenship by instant removal from this sphere would
be the normal experience for each Christian when he is saved. To remain
here after citizenship has been acquired in heaven creates a peculiar
situation. In recognition of this abnormal condition, the child of God is
styled a “stranger and pilgrim” (1 Pet 2:11; cf. Heb 11:13) as related to
this cosmos world-system. In like manner, he is said to be an ambassador
for Christ (2 Cor 5:20). To remain here as a witness, a stranger, a
pilgrim, and an ambassador is but a momentary experience; the heavenly
citizenship will be enjoyed forever. It is a glorious feature of the riches of
divine grace.
21. OF THE FAMILY AND HOUSEHOLD OF GOD
Closely akin to citizenship and yet more restricted in their extent,
are the positions the Christian is said to occupy in the family and
household of God. As has been observed, there are various fatherhood
relations which God sustains; but none in relation to His creatures is so
perfect, so enriching, or so enduring as that which He bears to the
household and family of the saints. So great a change has been wrought
in the estate of those who are saved respecting their kinship to God, that
it is written of them, “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and
foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of
God” (Eph 2:19). With this position an obligation arises which makes its
claim upon every member of the household. Of this claim the Apostle
writes, “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men,
especially unto them that are of the household of faith” (Gal 6:10). In the
present human relationship sustained in the cosmos world, there is, of
necessity, but a limited difference observable between the saved and
unsaved; yet those who comprise the household of faith are completely
separated unto God, and into that family none could ever enter who
sustains no true relation to God as his Father. Human organizations,
including the visible church, may include a mixed multitude, but “the
foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth
them that are his” (2 Tim 2:19). “In a great house there are many vessels
to honor and some to dishonor, some of gold and silver, and some of
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wood and of earth. If a man purge himself from vessels of dishonor, he
shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the Master’s use,
and prepared unto every good work (2 Tim 2:20-21). This picture of
household relationships does not imply that there are those in the family
of God who are not saved; the truth set forth is that not all believers are,
in their daily life, as yielded to God as they might be, and that by self-
dedication they may be advanced from the position of vessels of dishonor
– of wood or of earth – to the position and substance of vessels of honor
– of gold and silver.
Like citizenship in heaven, a participation in the household and
family of God is a position as exalted as high as heaven itself, and
honorable to the degree of infinity. Thus there is correspondence with all
other features of the riches of divine grace.
22. IN THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE SAINTS
A Christian citizenship pertains to a relation to heaven, and as the
household pertains to God, so the fellowship of the saints pertains to their
relation to one to the other. The fact of this kinship and the obligation it
engenders is stressed in the New Testament. The fact of kinship reaches
out to incomparable realities. Through the baptism of the Spirit – by
which the believers are , at the time they are saved, joined to the Lord as
members in His Body – an affinity is created which answers the prayer of
Christ when He petitioned the Father that the believers might all be one.
Being begotten of the same Father, the family tie is of no small import,
but to be fellow members in the Body of Christ surpasses all other such
conceptions. To be begotten of God results in sonship; but to be in Christ
results in a standing as exalted as the standing of God’s Son. To be
partners in this standing added to regeneration’s brotherhood, constitutes
that vital relationship for which Christ prayed when He asked “that they
all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee” (John 7:21). A
repetition of any statement as it occurs in the Bible is for emphasis. It
would seem, however, that, when speaking to His Father, there would be
little occasion for reiteration; yet in that one priestly prayer Christ prays
four times directly and separately that believers may be one, and once
that they may be one in their relation to the Father and to Himself (John
17:11, 21-23). With all this in view, it must be conceded that few, if any,
truths are so emphasized in the Word of God as the unity of believers.
This prayer of Christ’s began to be answered on the day of Pentecost
when those then saved were fused into one corporate Body, and it has
been answered continuously as, at that moment of believing, those saved
are also joined to Christ’s Body by the same operation of the Holy Spirit.
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An unknowable unity exists between the Father and the Son. It is the
mystery of the Trinity itself; yet it is on this very level that Christ has
requested that believers may stand in relation to each other – “that they
all may be one; as thou, father, art in me, and I in thee … that they may
be perfect in one” (John 17:21-23). This prayer, as all that Christ ever
prays, is answered, and the fact of oneness between the saints of God is a
present truth whether anyone ever comprehends it in this world or not.
This marvelous unity between believers becomes the logical ground
for all Christian action, one toward another. Such action should be
consistent with the unity which exists. Never are Christians exhorted to
make a unity by organizations or combines; they are rather besought to
keep the unity which God by His Spirit has created (Eph 4:1-3). This can
be done in but one way, namely, by recognizing and receiving, as well as
loving and honoring, every other child of God. The spirit of separation
from, and of exclusion of, other believers is a sin that can be measured
only in the light of that ineffable union which separation and exclusion
disregard.
To be in the fellowship of the saints is a position in grace too exalted
and too dignified for mere human understanding.
23. A HEAVENLY ASSOCIATION
What is termed “the heavenly places” is a phrase which is peculiar
to the Ephesians Letter and has no reference to heaven as a place or to
specific places of spiritual privilege here on earth; but it does refer to the
present realm of association with Christ, which association is the inherent
right of all those who are in Christ Jesus. The association is a partnership
with Christ which incorporates at least seven spheres of common interest
and undertaking.
PARTNERS WITH CHRIST IN LIFE. The New Testament declares not only
that the believer has partaken of a new life, but asserts that life to be the
indwelling Christ. In Colossians 1:27 a mystery is revealed which is
“Christ in you, the hope of glory”; and in Colossians 3:4 it is also said
that “Christ … is our life.” Likewise in 1 John 5:11-12 it is written: “And
this is the record, that God hath given us eternal life, and this life is in his
Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he who hath not the Son of God
hath not life.” Upwards of eighty times in the New Testament the truth
appears, that among the major features which characterize a Christian is
the impartation of a new life from God. Thus a unique partnership is
established between Christ and all who believe which is both a position
and a possession.
PARTNERSHIP IN POSITION. As an incomparable position, the Christian
is raised with Christ (Col 3:1), and seated with Christ in the heavenly
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association. This truth is clearly revealed in Ephesians 2:6, which
declares, “And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in
heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” To be raised with Christ and to be
seated with Christ is a partnership in position which is real and abiding.
Its contribution to the entire fact of the believer’s association with Christ
is enough to characterize the whole. The honor and glory of it are
knowledge-surpassing.
PARTNERS WITH CHRIST IN SERVICE. A number of passages unite in a
testimony that the service of the Christian is one of copartnership with
Christ. Of these, none is more direct and convincing than 1 Cor 1:9,
which reads: “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the
fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” In the A.V. the word
κοινωνία is rendered fellowship. As the word is at times rendered
communion (cf. 2 Cor 6:14) with the thought of agreement or
partnership, and to be in harmony with the message of Christian service,
which theme characterizes this Epistle, the idea of joint undertaking may
be read into this passage. Some, as Meyer and Alford, see a sharing here
in Christ’s coming glory; but as this Epistle is almost wholly one
parenthesis which begins with the verse following this notable text and
ends with 15:57, it is important to observe the next verse in the direct
course of the message, namely, 15:58. With the rendering of κοινωνία by
partnership, the two dominant and connecting verses would read: “God
is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the partnership of his Son Jesus
Christ our Lord … Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast,
unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye
know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” The same Epistle
states, “For we are labourers together with God” (3:9); and 2 Corinthians
6:1 designates the believers as “workers together with him” – in the same
context they are said to be “ministers of God” (6:4) and “ministers of the
new testament” (3:6). To be thus in partnership with Christ is a position
of limitless responsibility as well as exalted honor.
PARTNERS WITH CHRIST IN SUFFERING. Of the entire field of the
doctrine of human suffering, a well defined feature of that experience is
suffering with Christ. “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him” (2 Tim
2:12). Likewise, “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only
to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake” (Phil 1:29); and, again,
“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try
you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice,
inasmuch as ye are partakers in Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory
shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy” (1 Pet 4:12-
13). The Apostle testified of himself, “who now rejoice in my sufferings
for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my
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flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church” (Col 1:24), and, “For I
reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be
compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom 8:8);
similarly, “That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for
yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto” (1 Thess 3:3).
While the child of God may suffer the reproaches of Christ, which is
a definite form of copartnership suffering with Christ, the form of the
fellowship suffering which is closest to the heart of the Savior is to share
with Him His burden for lost souls – those for whom He died. Such
longings are not natural to any human nature, but are generated in the
heart by the Holy Spirit who causes the yielded believer to experience
the compassion of God. It is written, “The fruit of the Spirit is love” (Gal
5:22), and, “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy
Ghost which is given unto us” (Rom 5:5). As an illustration of this ability
of the believer to experience the compassion of Christ, the Apostle
testifies of himself thus, “I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my
conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great
heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself
were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the
flesh” (Rom 9:1-3). Partnership with Christ in suffering is real and
reflects the fact that the Christian occupies a position of untold
distinction.
PARTNERS WITH CHRIST IN PRAYER. The very act of praying in the
name of Christ is in itself an assumption that He also makes petition to
the Father for those things that are in the will of God and for which the
Christian prays. The central passage bearing on this aspect of partnership
is John 14:12-14: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on
me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these
shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in
my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye
shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.” “Greater works” are to be
done by the Son of God in answer to the believer’s prayer in His name.
The partnership in responsibility is defined thus, “If ye shall ask … I will
do.”
PARTNERS WITH CHRIST IN BETROTHAL. To be betrothed to a person
is a position both definite and demanding. It is also a partnership. The
Church is espoused as a bride to Christ. The marriage day is that of His
return to receive her unto Himself. It was the Apostle’s desire that he
might present believers a chaste virgin (not as a chaste virgin) to Christ
(2 Cor 11:2); and from Ephesians 5:25-27 it is to be understood that
Christ loves the Church as a bridegroom might love a bride and that He
gave Himself for His Bride.
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PARTNERS IN EXPECTATION. The “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13) is ever
the expectation of the instructed Christian; for the coming of Christ will
be the moment of release from these limitations into the fullness of glory,
and the moment of seeing Him who is the center of all reality for the
believer. But Christ, too, is now “expecting” (Heb 10:13), and His
longings to claim His bride are as great as ever His willingness to die for
her.
All partnerships in human relations create their corresponding
positions and possessions; in like manner the sevenfold partnership
which the child of God sustains with Christ creates positions and
possessions, and these are the riches of divine grace.
24. HAVING ACCESS TO GOD
Could any human being catch but one brief vision of the glory,
majesty, and holiness of God, from that time forth that one would marvel
that any human being – even if he were unfallen – could have access to
God; yet, through Christ as Mediator, sinners are provided with an open
door into the presence of God. In attempting to understand what is
granted in that access to God, it would be well to pursue certain revealed
truths in a purposeful order.
ACCESS INTO HIS GRACE. Divine grace in action is that achievement
which God is free to undertake because of the satisfaction respecting sin
which Christ provided by His death and resurrection; therefore, access
into the grace of God is access into His finished work. This door is open
to all; but only those who have believed have entered in. Of this position
which Christ procured, it is written: “By whom also we have access by
faith into this grace wherein we stand” (Rom 5:2). The believer is not
only saved by grace (Eph 2:8), but he stands in grace. He is ensphered in
divine grace. The same grace that saved him sustains him. The same
principle upon which he is saved when he believes, is continually applied
to him for safekeeping throughout his earthly pilgrimage. Of the
ensphering grace, Peter wrote these words, “But grow in grace, and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Pet 3:18). The
thought seems to be that the Christian, being in grace, is appointed
therein to grow in the knowledge of Christ. Certainly no one who has not
found entrance into divine grace through faith, will grow. It is not a
matter of growing more gracious, but of coming to know Christ, which
knowledge is possible since the believer has entered the sphere of grace
(cf. 2 Cor 3:18).
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2 Cor 3:18 And we all, with unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the
Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of
glory to another, which is from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
ACCESS UNTO THE FATHER. Of this specific access it is written: “For
through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father” (Eph
2:18). All three persons of the Godhead appear in this brief text. It
declares both Jew and Gentile, being saved, have access through Christ
and by the Spirit unto the Father. The essential part which Christ has
accomplished has been considered at length, but there is also a part
which the Holy Spirit undertakes. The Christian’s apprehension (1 Cor
2:10), communion (2 Cor 13:14), and much of his qualification for the
divine presence (1 Cor 12:13), are directly the work of the Holy Spirit.
The all important truth – marvelous beyond comprehension – is that each
believer has perfect and immutable access unto the Father.
ACCESS IS REASSURING. So perfect, indeed, is this admission into the
divine presence and favor that the Christian is urged to come boldly. In
this instance, boldness becomes the believer, since every obstacle has
been removed. Two passages, both in the Epistle to the Hebrews, enjoin
this boldness: “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace,
that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (4:16);
“having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the
blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for
us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh” (10:19-20).
To be one to whom unrestrained access into the presence of God is
accorded is to occupy a position of superior privilege and standing,
whether it be measured by the standards of heaven or of earth.
25. WITHIN THE MUCH MORE CARE OF GOD
OBJECTS OF HIS LOVE. It will be conceded by all who are awake
to the divine revelation, that the love of God for the unsaved is as
immeasurable as infinity; yet, there is clear revelation that the expression
of divine love for those who are saved is even “much more.” The
argument is that, if God loved sinners and enemies enough to give His
Son to die for them, His attitude will be “much more” toward them when
they are reconciled and justified. The Apostle states: “But God
commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we
shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being
reconciled, we shall be saved by his life” (Rom 5:8-10). This
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inconceivable devotion on the part of God for those He has saved leads
on to various blessings for them.
OBJECTS OF HIS LOVE. The unchangeable love of God underlies all that
he undertakes. It was His love that originated the way of salvation
through Christ and thus by infinite grace. It is true that God is propitious;
that is, He is able through the death of Christ to receive the sinner with
unrestrained favor. The death of Christ did not cause God to love sinners;
it was His love which provided that propitiation in and through Christ
(John 3:16; Rom 5:8; 1 John 3:16). The satisfaction which Christ
rendered released the love of God from that demand which outraged
holiness imposed against the sinner. The love of God knows no
variations. It experiences no ups and downs, moods and tenses. It is the
love of One who is immutable in all His character and ways.
OBJECTS OF HIS GRACE. Men are not saved into a state of probation,
but into the sphere of infinite grace – a sphere in which God deals with
them as those for whom Christ died, and whose sins are already borne by
a Substitute. That grace contemplates:
(1) Salvation. Thus it is written: “that in the ages to come he might
shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us
through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that
not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man
should boast” (Eph 2:7-9).
(2) Safekeeping. As the Scripture declares: By whom also we have
access by faith into this grace wherein we stand” (Rom 5:2).
(3) Service. Of this it is said: “As thou hast sent me into the world,
even so have I sent them into the world” (John 17:18); “But unto
every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of
Christ” (Eph 4:7).
(4) Instruction. So, also, it is asserted: teaching us that, denying
ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously,
and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and
the glorious appearing of the Great God our Saviour Jesus Christ”
(Titus 2:12-13).
(5) Objects of His Power. A full induction of all passages in which
God is said to be able to work in behalf of those who trust Him will
prove a real help to the student. It will be seen that infinite power is
ever actively engaged in the support and defense of the believer. It is
written: “And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-
ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power”
(Eph 1:19); “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to
do of his good pleasure” (Phil 2:13).
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(6) Objects of His Faithfulness. Limitless comfort is provided for
those who recognize the faithfulness of God. It is said: “I will never
leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb 13:15); “being confident of this
very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform
it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil 1:6); “Faithful is he that calleth
you, who also will do it” (1 Thess 5:24).
(7) Objects of His Peace. Not only is that peace with God in view
(Rom 5:1) which is due to the fact that all condemnation is removed,
but the imparted, experimental peace is promised also: “Peace I leave
with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I
unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
(John 14:27); “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the
which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful” (Col 3:15),
and “The fruit of the Spirit is … peace” (Gal 5:22).
(8) Objects of His Consolation. Respecting divine consolation it is
written: “Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our
Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation
and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and stablish you in
every good word and work” (2 Thess 2:16-17).
(9) Objects of His Intercession. While it is revealed that the Holy
Spirit “maketh intercession” for the saints according to the will of
God (Rom 8:26) and they are enjoined to pray “in the Spirit” (Eph
6:18; Jude 1:20), it is also indicated that one of the greatest ministries
of Christ in heaven is His unceasing intercession for the saints. In His
Priestly prayer He said that He prayed not for the cosmos world, but
for those the Father had given Him; and it is probable that His present
intercession, like this Priestly prayer, is restricted to His own who are
in the world. Three passages assert this heavenly intercession: “Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen
again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh
intercession for us” (Rom 8:34); “Wherefore he is able also to save
them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever
liveth to make intercession for them” (Heb 7:25); “For Christ is not
entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of
the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God
for us” (Heb 9:24).
To be included in the “much more” love and care of God becomes a
position in divine grace which is of surpassing value.
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26. HIS INHERITANCE
A partial anticipation of this position in grace has been expressed
under the previous heading, which announced that each Christian is a gift
of the Father to the Son; however, beyond the treasure which he is to
Christ as a gift from the Father, Ephesians 1:18 asserts that the believer is
also the inheritance of the Father. This exalted truth is the subject of the
Apostle’s prayer. As though, apart from the supernatural revelation of the
Holy Spirit, they could not understand, he prays “the eyes of your
understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of
his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the
saints” (Eph 1:18). Much is promised the believer respecting his future
place in glory. It is written: “And the glory which thou gavest me I have
given them; that they may be one, even as we are one” (John 17:22);
“Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he
called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also
glorified” (Rom 8:30); “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then
shall ye also appear with him in glory” (Col 3:4). It is only by such
changes as He shall have wrought in fallen sinners that God will be
glorified. They will reflect the “glory of his grace” (Eph 1:6). Each child
of God will serve as a medium or material by which the Shekinah glory
of God will be seen.
27. THE INHERITANCE OF THE SAINTS
Far easier to comprehend than that just considered is the truth that
the believer has an inheritance in God. The believer’s inheritance is God
Himself and all that God bestows. This is asserted by Peter thus: “An
inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away,
reserved in heaven for you” (1 Pet 1:4). The present blessings which the
Spirit brings into the Christian’s heart and life are likened to an earnest or
comparatively small payment of all that is yet to be bestowed. The
Apostle writes: “which is the earnest of our inheritance until the
redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory”
(Eph 1:14); “knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the
inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ” (Col 3:24). An eternal
inheritance (Heb 9:15) is a possession under grace; its specifications are
unknowable until they are claimed in heaven.
28. LIGHT IN THE LORD
As presented in the Scriptures with its symbolic meaning, an
extensive body of truth is related to the general theme of light. Above all
and supreme is the revelation that “God is light” (1 John 1:5). The
meaning of this term as thus applied to God is that He is transparently
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holy and in Him there is no moral darkness at all. That holy light which
God is, has its manifestation on the face of Christ (2 Cor 4:6). The
believer has by divine grace, become light (Eph 5:8) – not merely that
divine light shines upon him, but is light in the Lord. This great reality
does not dismiss the truth that the believer is commanded to “walk in the
light” (1 John 1:7), the light which God is. Both truths obtain and each
engenders its own obligation. To walk in the light is not to become the
light; it is rather to be wholly subject to the mind and will of God and
adjusted to the holy character of God. In this respect, the Bible is a lamp
to the feet and a light upon the path (Ps 119:105). However, with regard
to the light which the believer is, it may be observed that to have
received the light into one’s being is a possession and to be light in the
Lord is a position. No person becomes the light by attempting to shine;
rather, having become light in the Lord and that as a divine achievement,
he is appointed to shine as a light in a dark world. It is unreasonable to
conclude that the light which the believer is may be identified as the
indwelling divine nature, and that that light is veiled in this world, but
will have its manifestation in glory.
29. VITALLY UNITED TO THE FATHER, THE SON, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT
As perplexing as it may be to the human mind, the Scriptures
advance six distinct revelations regarding relationships between the
Godhead and the believer, and these relationships represent realities
which find no comparisons in the sphere of human intercourse. It is said:
1. that the believer is in God the Father (1 Thess 1:1)
From Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, to the church of the
Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. that God the Father is in the believer (Eph 4:6)
one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
3. that the believer is in the Son (8:1)
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus.
4. that the Son is in the believer (John 14:20)
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You will know at that time that I am in my Father and you are in me
and I am in you.
5. that the believer is in the Spirit (Rom 8:9)
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit
of God lives in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ,
this person does not belong to him.
6. that the Spirit is in the believer (1 Cor 2:12)
Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who
is from God, so that we may know the things that are freely given to
us by God.
The force of these stupendous declarations is centered in the intensity of
meaning which must be assigned to the word in as used in each of these
six declarations. It is evident that to be in the Father, or the Son, or the
Holy Spirit is a position; and for the Father, or the Son, or the Holy Spirit
to be in the believer constitutes a possession. A corresponding truth
grows out of all this which is a result of it, namely, that the believers are
one in each other as the Father is in the Son and the Son is in the father
(John 17:21). Since the believer’s physical body is a corporate entity, it is
not as difficult to think of that body as an abode; and the body is termed
a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19). On the other hand, it is
exceedingly difficult to understand the truth asserted that the believer is
in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This peculiar relationship to
the Son is amplified by a sevenfold declaration or under seven figures:
1. the believer is a member in Christ’s Body (1 Cor 12:13)
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. Whether Jews or
Greeks or slaves or free, we were all made to drink of the one Spirit.
2. the believer is to Christ as a branch to the vine (John 15:5)
“I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me—
and I in him—bears much fruit, because apart from me you can
accomplish nothing.
3. the believer is to Christ as a stone in the building of which Christ
is the Chief cornerstone (Eph 2:19-22)
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So then you are no longer foreigners and noncitizens, but you are
fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household,
because you have been built on the foundation of the apostles and
prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the
whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the
Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place
of God in the Spirit.
4. the believer is to Christ as a sheep in His flock (John 10:27-29)
My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I
give them eternal life, and they will never perish; no one will snatch
them from my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater
than all, and no one can snatch them from my Father’s hand. 10:30
The Father and I are one.”
5. the believer is a part of that company who forms the Bride of
Christ (Eph 5:25-27)
Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave
himself for her to sanctify her by cleansing her with the washing of
the water by the word, so that he may present the church to himself as
glorious—not having a stain or wrinkle, or any such blemish, but holy
and blameless.
6. the believer is a priest in a kingdom of priests over which Christ
is High Priest forever (1 Pet 2:5, 9)
you yourselves, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house to be
a holy priesthood and to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable
to God through Jesus Christ. But you are a chosen race, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may
proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into
his marvelous light.
7. the believer is part of the New Creation over which Christ as the
Last Adam is the Head (2 Cor 5:17)
So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has
passed away—look, what is new has come!
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In John 14: 20: “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye
in me, and I in you,” three great truths are declared as those which the
believer is to know specifically in this age, namely, (1) Christ is in the
Father, (2) the believer is in Christ, and (3) Christ is in the believer.
Similarly, there is much in the New Testament respecting the
relationship which obtains between the Holy Spirit and the believer,
which will yet be considered more fully in Volume VI. 237
The truths declared and distinguished under this heading represent not
only the most vital positions and possessions which infinite grace can
create, but are the very heart of Christianity, being never intimated in the
Old Testament.
30. BLESSED WITH THE EARNEST OF FIRST-FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT
As before intimated, the immeasurable blessings which come to
the child of God because of his relation to the Holy Spirit are as a
comparatively small down-payment which binds with certainty the larger
gifts of heaven’s glory. These present ministries of the Spirit are said to
be an “earnest” (2 Cor 1:22; Eph 1:4) and “first-fruits” (Rom 8:23) of the
Spirit. There are five of these present riches:
1. The believer is born of the Spirit (John 3:6), by which operation
Christ is begotten in the one who exercises saving faith.
2. The believer is baptized by the Spirit (1 Cor 12:13), which is a
work of the Holy Spirit by which the believer is joined to
Christ’s Body and comes to be in Christ, and therefore a partaker
of all that Christ is.
3. The believer is indwelt or anointed by the Spirit (John 7:39;
Rom 5:5; 8:9; 2 Cor 1:21; Gal 4:6; 1 John 2:27; 3:24), by which
Presence the believer is equipped for every conflict and service.
4. The believer is sealed by the Spirit (2 Cor 1:22; Eph 4:30),
which is the work of God the Holy Spirit by which the children
of God are made secure unto the day of redemption.
5. The believer may be filled with the Spirit (Eph 5:18), which
ministry of the Spirit releases His power and effectiveness in the
heart in which He dwells.
The Spirits work in and through the Christian results in both positions
and possessions that are themselves marvelous realities of the riches of
divine grace, and all these together form but a foretaste of the glory
which is assured in heaven.
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31. GLORIFIED
What God has determined, though it be yet future, is properly
looked upon as sufficiently certain to be considered a present
achievement. He is the One “who … calleth those things which be not as
though they were” (Rom 4:17). Awaiting the child of God is a surpassing
heavenly glory – even partaking of the infinite glory which belongs to
the Godhead. Of this fact it is written: “For I reckon that the sufferings of
this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which
shall be revealed in us” (Rom 8:18); “When Christ who is our life shall
appear, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory” (Col
3:4). It is not to be concluded that there is a present and a future glory
which are unrelated. The present is the divine reckoning of the future
glory to be even a present reality. No passage more clearly asserts this
fact than Romans 8:30, which states: “Moreover whom he did
predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also
justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”
To be a glorified saint is a position in divine grace of immeasurable
riches and, in the certainty of the divine purpose, it becomes a
possession.
32. COMPLETE IN HIM
This, with the theme which follows, serves as a conclusion of that
which has gone before in this attempt to record the riches of divine grace;
yet these are specific disclosures of all that enters into the exceeding
grace of God. What may be included in the word complete when the
Apostle says, “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and
power” (Col 2:9-10), is beyond the range of human understanding. No
careless use of terms will be discovered in any Scripture, and this
passage presents the voice of the Holy Spirit declaring that, to the degree
by which God values things and according to those standards which God
employs, the child of God is complete; but so great a transformation is
due to the all-determining fact that he is in Christ. The truth is thus once
more presented that, because of his vital union with Christ, the believer
partakes of all that Christ is. The Father finds infinite delight in the Son,
nor can He find delight in that which is less than the perfection of the
Son. While men may ever be before the Father as the creatures of His
hand, those who are saved are, even now, perfected in His sight by and
through their vital relation to the Son. Thus a principle is introduced
which is far removed from human custom or practice and, naturally,
beyond human understanding, but not beyond the range of human
acceptance or belief, since it is declared in the Word of God. To be
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complete in Christ is a glorious reality and is a portion of that grace
which is extended to all who believe.
33. POSSESSING EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING
No text of Scripture more perfectly accounts for all the riches of
grace than Ephesians 1:3, which reads: “Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ.” All the riches of grace tabulated in the
thirty-two points before are to be included in this sweeping term – “all
spiritual blessings.” These are again and finally declared to be realized
on the basis of the believer’s relation to Christ. Thus all positions and
possessions which together measure the riches of divine grace are traced
to the believer’s place in Christ. These are accorded the one who believes
on Christ to the saving of his soul.
CONCLUSION OF THIRTY-THREE IMMEDIATE EFFECTS OF GRACE
It would hardly be amiss to restate the truth that salvation is a work of
God for man and not a work of man for God. It is what God’s love
prompts Him to do and not a mere act of pity which rescues creatures
from their misery. To realize the satisfaction of His love God has been
willing to remove by an infinite sacrifice the otherwise insuperable
hindrance which sin has imposed … Nothing short of transformations
which are infinite will satisfy infinite love. … Those who believe on
Christ in the sense that they receive Him [“But to all who have received
him—those who believe in his name i —he has given the right to become
i
28tn On the use of the (pisteuō + eis) construction in John: The verb πιστεύω
occurs 98 times in John (compared to 11 times in Matthew, 14 times in Mark
[including the longer ending], and 9 times in Luke). One of the unsolved mysteries is
why the corresponding noun form πίστις (pistis) is never used at all. Many have held
the noun was in use in some pre-Gnostic sects and this rendered it suspect for John. It
might also be that for John, faith was an activity, something that men do (cf. W.
Turner, “Believing and Everlasting Life—A Johannine Inquiry,” ExpTim 64
[1952/53]: 50-52). John uses πιστεύω in 4 major ways: (1) of believing facts, reports,
etc., 12 times; (2) of believing people (or the scriptures), 19 times; (3) of believing
“in” Christ” (πιστεύω + είς + acc.), 36 times; (4) used absolutely without any person
or object specified, 30 times (the one remaining passage is 2:24, where Jesus refused
to “trust” himself to certain individuals). Of these, the most significant is the use of
πιστεύω with είς + accusative. It is not unlike the Pauline έν Χριστώ' (en Christō)
formula. Some have argued that this points to a Hebrew (more likely Aramaic)
original behind the Fourth Gospel. But it probably indicates something else, as C. H.
Dodd observed: “πιστεύειν with the dative so inevitably connoted simple credence, in
the sense of an intellectual judgment, that the moral element of personal trust or
reliance inherent in the Hebrew or Aramaic phrase—an element integral to the
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God’s children.”i] … as their Savoir enter instantly into all that divine
love provides. These thirty-three positions and possessions are not
bestowed in succession, but simultaneously. They do not require a period
of time for their execution; but are wrought instantaneously. They
measure the present difference which obtains between one who is saved
and one who is not saved. (Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol
3, pp 234-66) (brackets mine)
This writer:
The preceding is substantial evidence that the individual contributes
nothing to his standing in Christianity. The end is as certain as the
beginning with grace at work. The beginning is as certain as the end with
men at work. Christianity is a complete work of grace by God. The
Christian is given everything that makes he or she a Christian. A
Christian has only voluntary consent to give to the Lord who will work
His good works through that willing Christian soul. As stunning as the
previous divinely wrought changes are, they are but the preview, the new
beginning of what is to be. The Bible reveals the sure prospect of a
Christian’s entrance into the glory of heaven for the assurance of all
believers. In a heaven high manner, as God created the woman from the
first Adam as a companion, God is creating a companion from the Last
Adam. This is the New Creation in Christ, the Body and the Bride of
Christ.
The seven future effects of grace are the final and irrefutable
evidence, beyond any measure of doubt, that will prove the Rectoral or
Governmental theory of atonement - that conceives the Negative gospel
for the forgiveness of personal sins only and the concept of heaven as a
future reward for deserving individuals - is without reservation, non-
biblical. It absolutely and dreadfully false. In a word – a criminal act
against the gospel of the grace of God as charged in this indictment.
Dr. Lewis Chafer, will now give his expert testimony. The subject of
the believer’s future faultless presentation in heaven is for your decision
on matters of fact and matters of law.
Seven Future Effects of Grace
Dr. Lewis Chafer:
primitive Christian conception of faith in Christ—needed to be otherwise expressed”
(The Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel, 183).
i
John 1:12 NET
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“The consumating experience for the sinner whom God saves is his
presentation in glory. Of this the Apostle writes, “Now unto him that is
able to keep you able from falling, and to present you faultless before the
presence of his glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 1:24). In this passage,
the word “falling” is better translated “stumbling” (R.V.), and it should
be observed that the “exceeding joy” is that of the One who conceives,
constructs, and consummates the whole undertaking. The entire
enterprise is strictly His own. Similarly, when writing to the Corinthian
believers, the Apostle Paul declared what is true of all believers – the
Body and Bride of Christ – “For I am jealous over you with godly
jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you
as a chaste virgin to Christ” (2 Cor 11:2). Here again the force of the text
is discovered when the italicized words “you as” are omitted; for the
Apostle did not desire merely to present believers as a chaste virgin, but
his purpose was rather to present a chaste virgin to Christ. In like
manner, it was the supreme desire of Christ in His sacrificial death, that
He might claim a perfected Bride. Of this it is revealed: “Husbands, love
your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the
word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having
spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without
blemish” (Eph 5:25-27).
The truth that the believer will be presented faultless before the
presence of God’s glory is unfolded in the New Testament with
magnificent detail. The changes to be wrought are in comprehensible;
but, in all, they indicate that the transformation, so extended, is
calculated to obliterate almost every vestige of those elements which
together constitute humanity in its present existence. To be reconstructed
until completely adapted to, and meet for, the celestial sphere, is an
exalted distinction which is guaranteed by infinite competency and
sustained by sovereign intention. This is the portion of every believer,
not varied according to degrees of human merit; for it is the standardized
divine achievement in behalf of all who believe.
Some of the changes which enter into this immeasurable trans-
formation, a portion of which is already incorporated into the believer’s
present estate, are listed here:
34. HEAVENLY CITIZENSHIP
The fact that heavenly citizenship begins in this life and at the
moment one believes does not alter the abiding character of it, though so
great a development from the present order to that which is to follow
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must ensue. Though that citizenship is now possessed with respect to the
right and title, it is, nevertheless, unoccupied and therefore unex-
perienced. Immeasurable advantage and ascendancy await tenure of that
exalted estate.
35. A NEW FRATERNITY
This feature of coming felicity comprehends a vast field of eternal
realities. It begins with the new birth into actual and legitimate sonship to
God, which, in turn, engenders the whole compass of the family and
household relationship. Not only sonship to God is wrought, but noble
kinship to all saints of all the ages, and, apparently, to all the unfallen
heavenly hosts. These ties are perfectly established while in this world,
yet the larger, joyous experience of them awaits the gathering together of
all who are Christ’s with Him in glory.
36. A STANDING PERFECTED FOREVER
A perfect standing in Christ is not only begun in this life, but its
incalculable value is to be demonstrated and experienced throughout
eternity. Little can the human mind grasp the oncoming restfulness and
blessedness of the consciousness that the standing is secured, and
qualities instituted and divinely approved which are properly required in
the sphere of infinite holiness and purity.
37. A RENEWED BODY
But little can be anticipated of the coming zest, satisfaction, and
comfort of a renewed body which will be fashioned like unto Christ’s
glorious body (Phil 3:21). A wide distinction is to observed between the
possession of eternal life and the experience of it which is yet to be. The
present experience of human life in a death-doomed body is little to be
compared to the experience of eternal life in a renewed body that
corresponds to Christ’s resurrection body – that which, to the point of
infinity, is suited to the eternal needs of the Second Person of the
Godhead. In describing this stupendous change, the Apostle declares (1
Cor 15:42-57) that this body of “dishonour” will put on glory, this body
of weakness will put on inconceivable power, this body which is natural
– adapted to the soul – will become a spiritual body – adapted to the
spirit.
38. FREEDOM FROM THE SIN NATURE
Again all human powers of anticipation are wholly inadequate. So
embedded in the very structure of the present existence is the sin nature
with all its unholy demands and its contrariness to the indwelling Spirit
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(Gal 5:17), that no imagination can forecast the hour of release to
describe it.
39. TO BE LIKE CHRIST
If the believer’s destiny were not so clearly asserted it could not
be believed by any in this world. The testimony of the Scriptures,
however, cannot be diminished: “And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called
according to His purpose” (Rom 8:28); “And as we have borne the image
of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly” (1 Cor
15:49); “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear
what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be
like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). Though these
statements seem to reach far beyond the range of possible things, this
exalted destiny comports with that which is required in the very purpose
of God. It will be remembered that salvation is wrought to the end that
the grace of God may be revealed. God’s grace is infinite and therefore
requires that the undertakings which measure that grace shall extend into
infinite realms. Like wise salvation is wrought to satisfy the infinite love
of God, and, in the satisfying of that love, God must do His utmost for
the objects of His affection – for whom He is free to act at all.
Conformity to the image of Christ is the supreme reality in the universe,
and divine love can be content with nothing less as the measure of its
achievement. In general, the likeness to Christ includes all other features
indicated in this listing of heavenly realities.
40. TO SHARE IN CHRIST’S GLORY
Precisely what Christ comprehended when He prayed, “Father, I
will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am;
that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me” (John 17:24),
finite minds could not know in this world. So, likewise, the title deed
recorded in John 17:22, “And the glory which thou gavest me I have
given them,” cannot be broken. Consequently it is written, “But we all,
with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed
into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the
Lord” (2 Cor 3:18); “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment,
worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (4:17);
“It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is
raised in power” (1 Cor 15:43); “When Christ, who is our life shall
appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory” (Col 3:4); “For it
became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in
bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation
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perfect through sufferings” (Heb 2:10); “But the God of all grace, who
hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have
suffered for a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you” (1
Pet 5:10). Added to this is the glory which is the result of cosuffering
with Christ – the reward for the burden the believer may experience for
lost souls: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us”
(Rom 8:18); “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him” (2 Tim 2:12).
By all this it will be seen that the salvation of a soul, as proposed by
God, contemplates the fruition of that purpose. Whom He predestinates,
He glorifies, and “He which hath begun a good work in you will perform
it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil 1:6). Failure is impossible with
God. Because of this, the New Testament writers are exceedingly bold in
declaring the certainty of coming glory for everyone who believes. That
no intimation of possible failure is mentioned, is due to the truth that the
end is as certain as the ability of infinity to achieve it. Arminians are
casting doubts upon God’s supreme ability to bring to pass that which He
has determined, and upon the truthfulness and dependable character of
the words which record the divine purpose and competency; but such
efforts to weaken the testimony of God respecting Himself cannot avail.
Note the words of Balaam respecting Israel – the people of God’s
election: “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man,
that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he
spoken, and shall he not make it good? Behold, I have received
commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it. He
hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither has he seen perverseness in
Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among
them. God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of a
unicorn. Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there
any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of
Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!” (Num 23:19-23). Of
Jehovah’s attitude towards this elect people it is said, “For the gifts and
calling of God are without repentance” (Rom 11:29). If it is possible that,
because of sovereign election, God will never change His purpose toward
the earthly people and see no “iniquity in Jacob” nor any “perverseness
in Israel,” if He will never repent regarding any gift or calling of that
nation, is it deemed an impossibility that He is able to preserve the Body
and Bride of His Son for whom it is said that Christ died in a most
specific sense (Eph 5:25-27)?
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CONCLUSION OF SEVEN FUTURE EFFECTS OF GRACE It were enough for God to disclose the fact that He intends to bring
many sons into glory; but He is not satisfied with a limited revelation.
“In reviewing this extended thesis which has aimed to present the He, rather, honors men by spreading before them for their wonder and
seven aspects of the saving work of God, it will be seen that salvation is delight the steps which He takes and the righteous ground which all that
of Jehovah, whether it be in the sphere of the finished work, the He undertakes is accomplished. It is in the sphere of eternal realities to
enlightening work, the saving work, the keeping work, or the presenting be wrought by unrestrained, infinite ability; and the devout mind, having
work. In every respect and in every step of its majestic progress it is a taken cognizance of these facts, may well hesitate to deny to God the
work of God alone – a work which is wrought in spite of the sin of those authority, power, and the freedom through Christ, to do all His adorable
whom He saves and in spite of any hazard which the will of man might and holy will. The prayer of the Apostle is in order: “That the God of our
engender. God is sovereign over all and is both free and able to realize all Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of
that He has purposed to do. wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: the eyes of your
As before observed, the salvation of a sinner is, so far as revelation understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of
discloses, the sole exercise of one of God’s most conspicuous attributes, his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the
namely, His grace. Not only must salvation provide an adequate scope saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who
for the exercise of this attribute – measuring its amplitude completely – believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought
but it must satisfy God to an infinite degree. As for the amplitude, the in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right
divine undertaking begins with that which is perfectly lost. On this hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and
subject, humanity can have no worthy opinions. To them, at worst, man might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this
is in need of much divine consideration. They cannot approach in world, but also in that which is to come” (Eph 1:17-21).” 238
thought the unfathomable reality of the lost and doomed estate of man.
Such words as are written down in Romans 3:9-19 are seldom accepted
by men at their intended meaning. To be lost is to be utterly condemned
of God, to be joined to Satan, and to be consigned along with Satan to the
lake of fire. Such a judgment is not pronounced over some trivial failure
of men. The very fact that the utmost judgment must be meted out upon
him discloses in unmistakable terms the depth of meaning which God
assigns to man’s lost estate. Over against this, salvation lifts the saved
one to the heights of heaven – with reference to eternal abode – and
transforms that one into the image of Christ. To have made any being
like Christ is the most consequential undertaking in the universe. It
represents the limit to which even infinity may go. It is this distance
between the abysmal depths of the lost estate and conformity to Christ in
heaven, which not only exercises the divine attribute of grace, but
measures it completely. As for the divine satisfaction, reason alone
dictates that, since God cannot fail of any purpose, His measurements of
His grace in the salvation of a soul will satisfy Him to infinity. So
completely is the demonstration of grace set forth in each saved
individual that, were but one saved thus by grace, that one would answer
entirely the divine expectation and serve as a conclusive display before
all intelligences of the exceeding, superabounding grace of God; not of
works, lest any man should boast.

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PART SEVEN - THE FINISHED WORK OF CHRIST
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the
host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work
which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day
from all his work which he had made.

Genesis ii. 1, 2.

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And to whom sware he that they should not enter his rest,
but to them that believed not? So we see that they could
not enter in because of unbelief.

Hebrews iii. 18, 19.

For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto

them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being
mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have
believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in
my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the
works were finished from the foundation of the world
[earth] … For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he
not afterward spoken of another day. There remaineth
therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that entered
into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as
God did from his. Let labour therefore to enter into that
rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

Hebrews iv. 2, 3, 8-11.

Universal was the doom, neither rich nor poor escaped:

the learned and the illiterate, the admired and the
abhorred, the religious and the profane, the old and the
young, all sank in one common ruin … There was not one
wise man upon the earth out of the ark. Folly duped the
whole race, folly as to self-preservation – the most foolish
of all follies. Folly in doubting the most true God – the most
malignant of fooleries. Strange, my soul, is it not? All men
are negligent of their souls till grace gives them reason,
then they leave their madness and act like rational
beings, but not till then.239

C. H. SPURGEON

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FINAL ARGUMENT AND WITNESSES FOR THE PROSECUTION
MORNING June 26
“Art thou become like unto us?” – Isaiah xiv. 10.

WHAT must be the

apostate professor’s doom
when his naked soul appears
before God? How will he
bear that voice, “Depart, ye
cursed; thou hast rejected
me, and I reject thee; thou
hast played the harlot, and
departed from Me: I also
have banished thee for ever
from my presence, and I will
not have mercy upon thee.”
What will be this wretch’s
shame at the last great day
when, before assembled
multitudes, the apostate shall
be unmasked? See the
profane, and sinners who
never professed religion,
lifting themselves up from their beds of fire to point at him. “There he
is,” says one, “will he preach the gospel in hell?” “There he is,” says
another, “he rebuked me for cursing, and was a hypocrite himself !”
“Aha!” says another, “here comes a psalm-singing Methodist – one who
was always at his meeting; he was the man who boasted of his being sure
of everlasting life; and here he is!” No greater eagerness will ever be
seen among satanic tormentors, than in that day when devils drag the
hypocrites soul down to perdition. Bunyan pictures this with massive but
awful grandeur of poetry when he speaks of the back-way to hell. Seven
devils bound the wretch with nine cords, and dragged him from the road
to heaven, in which he had professed to walk, and thrust him from the
back-door into hell. Mind that back-way to hell professors! “Examine
yourselves, whether ye be in the faith.” Look well to your state; see
whether you be in Christ or not. It is the easiest thing in the world to give
a lenient verdict when oneself is to be tried; but O, be just and true here.
Be just to all, but be rigorous to yourself. Remember if it be not a rock on
which you build, when the house shall fall, great will be the fall of it. 240

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1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given
us insight to know him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his
Son Jesus Christ. This one is the true God and eternal life.
John 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; no one
will snatch them from my hand. 10:29 My Father, who has given them to
me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them from my Father’s
hand. 10:30 The Father and I are one.”
John 14:19 … Because I live, you will live too. 14:20 You will know at
that time that I am in my Father and you are in me and I am in you.
John 17:3 Now this is eternal life—that they know you, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent.
The Sabbath and the Life Giving Work of God for Man
John 5:16 Now because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the
Jewish leaders began persecuting him. 5:17 So he told them, “My Father
is working until now, and I too am working.”33 5:18 For this reason the
Jewish leaders were trying even harder to kill him, because not only was
he breaking the Sabbath, but he was also calling God his own Father,
thus making himself equal with God.
5:19 So Jesus answered them, “I tell you the solemn truth, the Son
can do nothing on his own initiative, but only what he sees the Father
doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise.39 5:20 For
the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he does, and will
show him greater deeds than these, so that you will be amazed. 5:21 For
just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son
gives life to whomever he wishes. [41 Grk “the Son makes whomever he
wants to live.”] 5:22 Furthermore, the Father does not judge anyone, but
has assigned all judgment to the Son, 5:23 so that all people will honor
the Son just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the
Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
5:24 “I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and
believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned,
but has crossed over from death to life. 5:25 I tell you the solemn truth, a
time is coming—and is now here—when the dead will hear the voice of
the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 5:26 For just as the Father
has life in himself, thus he has granted the Son to have life in himself,
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5:27 and he has granted the Son authority to execute judgment, because
he is the Son of Man.
5:28 “Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all
who are in the tombs will hear his voice 5:29 and will come out—the
ones who have done what is good to the resurrection resulting in life, and
the ones who have done what is evil to the resurrection resulting in
condemnation. NET
33sn “My Father is working until now, and I too am working.” What is the
significance of Jesus’ claim? A preliminary understanding can be obtained
from John 5:18, noting the Jewish authorities’ response and the author’s
comment. They sought to kill Jesus, because not only was he breaking the
Sabbath, but he was also calling God his own Father, thus making himself
equal with God. This must be seen in the context of the relation of God to
the Sabbath rest. In the commandment (Exod 20:11) it is explained that “In
six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth…and rested on the seventh
day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Philo,
based on the LXX translation of Exod 20:11, denied outright that God had
ever ceased his creative activity. And when Rabban Gamaliel II, R. Joshua,
R. Eleazar ben Azariah, and R. Akiba were in Rome, ca. a.d. 95, they gave
as a rebuttal to sectarian arguments evidence that God might do as he willed
in the world without breaking the Sabbath because the entire world was his
private residence. So even the rabbis realized that God did not really cease to
work on the Sabbath: Divine providence remained active on the Sabbath,
otherwise, all nature and life would cease to exist. As regards men, divine
activity was visible in two ways: Men were born and men died on the
Sabbath. Since only God could give life and only God could deal with the
fate of the dead in judgment, this meant God was active on the Sabbath. This
seems to be the background for Jesus’ words in 5:17. He justified his work
of healing on the Sabbath by reminding the Jewish authorities that they
admitted God worked on the Sabbath. This explains the violence of the
reaction. The Sabbath privilege was peculiar to God, and no one was equal
to God. In claiming the right to work even as his Father worked, Jesus was
claiming a divine prerogative. He was literally making himself equal to God,
as 5:18 goes on to state explicitly for the benefit of the reader who might not
have made the connection.
39sn What works does the Son do likewise? The same that the Father does—
and the same that the rabbis recognized as legitimate works of God on the
Sabbath (see note on working in v. 17). (1) Jesus grants life (just as the
Father grants life) on the Sabbath. But as the Father gives physical life on the
Sabbath, so the Son grants spiritual life (John 5:21; note the “greater things”
mentioned in v. 20). (2) Jesus judges (determines the destiny of people) on
the Sabbath, just as the Father judges those who die on the Sabbath, because
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the Father has granted authority to the Son to judge (John 5:22-23). But this
is not all. Not only has this power been granted to Jesus in the present; it will
be his in the future as well. In v. 28 there is a reference not to spiritually
dead (only) but also physically dead. At their resurrection they respond to
the Son as well.
Summary Address to the Jurist
This writer: intro argument
John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The
one who believes in me will live even if he dies, 11:26 and the one
who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
11:27 She replied, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the
Son of God who comes into the world.” NET
1 John 5:9 If we accept the testimony of men, the testimony of God
is greater, because this is the testimony of God that he has testified
concerning his Son. 5:10 (The one who believes in the Son of God
has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has
made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that
God has testified concerning his Son.) 5:11 And this is the testimony:
God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 5:12 The one
who has the Son has this eternal life; the one who does not have the
Son of God does not have this eternal life. NET
1 Pet 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By
his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 1:4 that is, into an
inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. It is reserved in
heaven for you, 1:5 who by God’s power are protected through faith
for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. NET
“Art thou become like unto us?” No matter what height of earthly
success is obtained as a so-called blessing, one will remain as they are if
one hears and follows only a false gospel. This is irrespective of any and
all effort and sincerity. Is a Mormon, a Seventh Day Adventist, a Jehovah
Witness, a Unitarian, a Muslim, a Jew, a Buddhist, a Hindu, and
members of many other such religions – a Christian? How is one to know
the only true God and trust in Jesus the Christos (the Messiah, the
anointed One) whom He sent to give eternal life to those who believe in
His name? Eternal life is in the Word of God, “the message,” and cannot
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be contained in a “false message”: “For it is not those who hear the law
[hear and follow a false message] who are righteous before God, but
those who do the law [obey the true message - trust in the Son the Father
sent for forgiveness and salvation] will be declared righteous” (Rom
2:13, brackets mine). Among the many beggarly and superficial religious
perceptions of what constitutes a Christian, now and in the future, the
reality far, far exceeds the many facts that are revealed in the Oracles of
Truth. What mean and lowly manner of destitute pride in a professing
Protestant Christian theology would scoff at God’s glorious grace which
makes a Christian what they are and will be? Without the crowning event
of the resurrection of Christ who says, “I am the resurrection and the
[eternal] life,” who is “highly exalted” above every name in heaven,
there would be no Christian, no New Creation, and no true gospel to
obey. Over against these magnificent truths, at the root and core of
Christian transformation is the gift of eternal life for the salvation of
mankind. The possession of the gift of eternal life is the single difference
between the saved and the unsaved in God’s Book of (Eternal) Life that
will be used to determine who spends eternity in perdition (Ex 32:32-33;
Dan 12:1; Phil 4:3; Rev 3:5; Rev 20:14-15). Knowing this as a
foundational truth, can any true Christian seriously trust in himself to the
extent that he believes salvation and the gift of eternal life is earned,
kept, or maintained by personal behavior? Or that the gift of eternal life
may be voluntarily forfeited, as in “return to sender,” by any one who has
been made spiritually alive and placed into union with all who are in the
Body of the resurrected Christ by the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Might
the perfect and complete Body of Christ, in which Christ is the Head of
the Body, cut-off a part of His own Body?
Dr. John Walvoord: Regeneration
As the Christian’s life of faith begins with being born again,
regeneration is one of the fundamental doctrines in relation to
salvation. Accurate definition of this work of the Spirit and an
understanding of it’s relation to the whole Christian life are important
to effective evangelism as well as to spiritual maturity.
A. REGENERATION DEFINED. In the Bible the word “regeneration”
is found only twice. In Matthew 19:28 it is used of the renewal of the
earth in the millennial kingdom and does not apply to the Christian’s
salvation. In Titus 3:5, however, the statement is made, “Not by
works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His
mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of
the Holy Ghost.” On the basis of this text, the word “regeneration”
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has been chosen by theologians to express the concept of new life,
new birth, spiritual resurrection, the new creation, and, in general, a
reference to the new supernatural life that believers receive as sons of
God. In the history of the church, the term has not always had
accurate usage, but properly understood, it means the origination of
the eternal life which comes into the believer in Christ at the moment
of faith, the instantaneous change from a state of spiritual death to a
state of spiritual life.
B. REGENERATION BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. By its nature, regen-
eration is a work of God and aspects of its truth are stated in many
passages (John 1:13; 3:3-7; 5:21; Rom 6:13; 2 Cor 5:17; Eph 2:5, 10;
4:24; Titus 3:5; James 1:18; 1 Pet 2:9). According to John 1:13, the
regenerated one is “born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor
of the will of man, but of God.” It is compared to spiritual
resurrection in several passages (John 5:21; Rom 6:13; Eph 2:5). It is
also compared to creation in that it is a creative act of God (2 Cor
5:17; Eph 2:10; 4:24).
All three persons of the Trinity are involved in the regeneration of
the believer. The Father is related to regeneration in James 1:17-18.
Jesus Christ is frequently revealed to be involved in regeneration
(John 5:21; 2 Cor 5:18; 1 John 5:12). It seems, however, that as in
other works of God where all three persons are involved, the Holy
Spirit is specifically the Regenerator as stated in John 3:3-7 and Titus
3:5. A parallel may be observed in the birth of Christ in which God
became His Father, the life of the Son was in Christ and yet He was
conceived of the Holy Spirit.
C. ETERNAL LIFE IMPARTED BY REGENERATION. The central
aspect of regeneration is that a believer who formerly was spiritually
dead now has received eternal life. Three figures are used to describe
this. One is the idea of being born again, or the figure of rebirth. In
Christ’s conversation with Nicodemas He said, “Ye must be born
again,” or as sometimes translated, “Ye must be born from above.” It
is thus in contrast with human birth in John 1:13. In a second figure,
that of spiritual resurrection, a believer in Christ is declared to be
“alive from the dead” Rom 6:13). In Ephesians 2:5 it is stated that
God, “even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together
with Christ,” literally, “made us alive together with Christ.” In the
third figure, that of the new creation, the believer is exhorted to “put
on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true
holiness” (Eph 4:24). In 2 Corinthians 5:17 the thought is made clear:
“Therefore if any be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are
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past away; behold, all things are become new.” All three figures
speak of the new life which is received by faith in Christ.
From the nature of the act of new birth, spiritual resurrection, and
creation, it is clear that regeneration is not accomplished by any good
work of man. It is not an act of the human will in itself, and it is not
produced by any ordinance of he church such as water baptism. It is
entirely a supernatural act of God in response to the faith of man.
Likewise, regeneration should be distinguished from the
experience which follows. Regeneration is instantaneous and is
inseparable from salvation. A person genuinely saved will have a
subsequent spiritual experience, but the experience is the evidence of
regeneration, not the regeneration itself. In a sense it is possible to say
that we experience the new birth, but what we mean is that we
experience the results of the new birth.
D. THE RESULTS OF REGENERATION. In many respects, regen-
eration is the foundation upon which our total salvation is built.
Without new life in Christ, there is no possibility of receiving the
other aspects of salvation such as the indwelling of the Spirit,
justification, or all the other subsequent results. There are some
features, however, that are immediately evident in the fact of
regeneration.
When a believer receives Christ by faith, he is born again and in
the act of the new birth receives a new nature. This what the Bible
refers to as “the new man” (Eph 4:24) which we are exhorted to “put
on” in the sense that we should avail ourselves of its contribution to
our new personality. Because of the new nature, a believer in Christ
may often experience a drastic change in his life, in his attitude
toward God, and in his capacity to have victory over sin. The new
nature is patterned after the nature of God Himself and is somewhat
different than the human nature of Adam before he sinned, which was
entirely human even though sinless. The new nature has divine
qualities and longs after the things of God. Although in itself it does
not have the power to fulfill its desires apart from the Holy Spirit, it
gives a new direction to the life and a new aspiration to attain the will
of God.
While regeneration in itself is not an experience, the new life
received in regeneration gives the believer new capacity for
experience. Once he was blind, now he can see. Once he was dead,
now he is alive to spiritual things. Once he was estranged from God
and out of fellowship; now he has a basis for fellowship with God and
can receive the ministry of the Holy Spirit. In proportion as the
Christian yields himself to God and avails himself of God’s
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provision, his experiences will be a wonderful, supernatural
demonstration of what God can do with a life that is yielded to Him.
Another important aspect of having eternal life is that it is the
ground for eternal security. Although some have taught that eternal
life can be lost and that a person once saved can be lost if he defects
from the faith, the very nature of eternal life and the new birth forbids
a reversal of this work of God. It is first of all a work of God, not of
man not dependent on any human worthiness. While faith is
necessary, faith is not considered a good work which deserves
salvation but rather is opening the channel through which God may
work in the individual life. As natural birth cannot be reversed, so
spiritual birth cannot be reversed; once effected, it assures the
believer that God will always be his Heavenly Father.
In like manner, resurrection cannot be reversed, as we are raised to
a new order of being by an act of God. The new birth as an act of
creation is another evidence that once accomplished it continues
forever. Man cannot uncreate himself. The doctrine of eternal
security, accordingly, rests upon the question the question of whether
salvation is a work of God or of man, whether it is entirely of grace or
based on human merit. Although the new believer in Christ may fall
short of what he ought to be as a child of God, just as in the case of
human parentage, it does not alter the fact that he has received life
which is eternal. It is also true that the eternal life which we have now
is only partially expressed in spiritual experience. It will have its
ultimate enjoyment in the presence of God in heaven. (Major Bible
Themes, revised by John Walvoord, pp 97-100)
This writer: intro
Gathering all that has been presented, into one single victory, is the
triumph of the death that defeated death – the death and resurrection of
our Lord Jesus Christ. In his Systematic Theology, Volume 4, Dr. Lewis
Chafer gives witness to the untold value of the resurrection of Christ in
the following abridged testimony on the true Church as the New Creation
in the resurrected and glorified Son of God, Jesus Christ.
Dr. Lewis Chafer: resurrection and New Creation
“Far more than is true at the end of the age, the early church was
sustained by the fact of the resurrection and magnified it above all
else. The influence of that great event is seen in the change on the
part of the saved Jews from the celebration of the seventh day to the
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celebration of the first day – the day of resurrection. The great power
with which the Apostles witnessed to the resurrection at Pentecost,
and after, can alone account for the fact that thousands, including a
great company of the priests, were obedient to the gospel. - P. 82
The true Church as a New Creation with the resurrected Christ as
its federal Head introduces a body of truth unsurpassed both in its
importance and its transcendent exaltation. Naturally several vast
themes combine under this conception: (a) the resurrected Christ, (b)
the New Creation, (c) two creations require two commemoration
days, and (d) the final transformation. As before indicated, the New
Creation, as a designation of the true Church, includes more than is
comprehended in the idea of the Church as Christ’s Body. In the New
Creation reality, Christ is seen to be the all-important part of it,
whereas, in the figure of the Body, that entity is viewed as a thing to
be completed in itself and separate from, and yet [future, this writer]
to be joined to, the Head. The Body is an entire unit in itself, which is
vitally related to Christ. Over against this, the New Creation is a unit
which incorporates the resurrected Christ and could not be what it is
apart from that major contribution – the Source of all the verity which
enters into it. …
The student who examines the existing works on Systematic
Theology will discover that the subject of Christ’s resurrection is
almost wholly absent from these writings. Extended consideration is
accorded the general theme of Christ’s death; but no more than a
passing reference is made, if any at all, to Christ’s resurrection. In the
contemplation of these writers, Christ’s resurrection, at most is no
more than a reversal of His death, a mere getting up out of death since
He could not and should not “be holden of it” (Acts 2:24). That Christ
arose into a new sphere of reality which incorporates His glorified
human body, that He became a type of Being that had not existed
before, and that He became the pattern of that which glorified saints
will be in heaven, are apparently themes which are little recognized
by theologians of the past. There is a sufficient reason for this neglect.
It lies in the fact that the whole meaning of the resurrection is
embodied in the doctrine of the New Creation and the fact that
theology, almost without exception, has considered the Church to
have been in existence throughout the period covered by the Old
Testament, and continuing without appreciable change into the New
Testament. Under such a conception, there is no occasion for a new
federal Headship since, it is assumed, there is no New Creation which
requires that Headship. In other words, the resurrection of Christ is
slighted in theological courses simply because the system as
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presented – drawn from Roman sources – does not require a
resurrection more than that the Savior of men may live forever. It is
but one more evidence of the confusion which arises when the whole
field of a Pauline, Biblical Ecclesiology is disregarded. It is certain
that these great writers on Systematic Theology – mighty, indeed, in
certain aspects of divine truth – have not intended to neglect the Word
of God; yet, because of the system they inherited, they could not
make a place for a new beginning. If the Church began with Adam or
Abraham, why should there be a new beginning? – Pp. 79-80
If the declarations of the Scriptures are accepted – which assert
that for the purposes of redemption the Second Person of the
Godhead became incarnate, suffered and died on a cross, and that He
is appointed to sit forever on David’s throne – the resurrection of
Christ is not only reasonable in itself, but is required. To a mind
which excludes all that is supernatural, the anthropic Person is
excluded as well as the undertakings which are predicated of Him. To
die is a human experience within the range of human observation;
hence the death of Christ is allowed by many who cannot accept the
resurrection, since that is not within the range of present human
experience and observation. In reality, and as will be seen, the
experience of resurrection is yet to be the actual experience of every
person that will have lived on earth and who has passed through
death. Looking backward from the ages to come, resurrection must be
recognized to be a as universal as death has been.
Christ is the fountain source of life. He declared, and in
connection with His rising from the dead: “Verily, verily, I say unto
you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the
voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the
Father hath life in himself; so hath he given the Son to have life in
himself” (John 5:25-26). He also said, “I am come that they might
have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
In the same context He also stated, “No man taketh it [life] from me,
but I lay it down of myself. I have power to take it up again. This
commandment I have received from my Father” (10:18). It is
significant that He, as no man has ever been able to do, had power to
take His life again after His death. At least twenty-five passages after
that He was raised by the Father (cf. Acts 2:24). Adam was a life-
receiving person, but the last Adam is a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor
15:45). By the first Adam came death; by the Last Adam came life (1
Cor 15:22). All of this testimony converges upon one important truth,
which is, that death, however possible within the range of His
humanity, was utterly foreign to the Son of God. Death was permitted
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to intrude only that redemption might be consummated. When that
purpose was realized, the One who is deathless by nature returned to
His normal estate. It was not possible that He should be holden of
death (Acts 2:24). It is thus the testimony of the Scriptures that the
resurrection of Christ is reasonable. – Pp. 83-84
… The Savior who died and rose again is no less than a member
of the Godhead, and, as such, is from everlasting to everlasting (Mic
5:2), the Father of eternity (Isa 9:6). His death was, therefore,
extrinsic to all that belongs to Deity. A very special and exceptional
undertaking was necessitated which was without precedent in the past
which could never occur again. It is written: “Knowing that Christ
being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more
dominion over him” (Rom 6:9); “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and
to day, and for ever” (Heb 13:8). This voluntary excursus into the
realms of death - death which is itself the divine judgment upon sin
(Gen 2:17) – was an Immeasurable demand upon each Person of the
Trinity. The Father “gave” and “spared not” His own Son; the Son
“endured the cross, despising the shame”; and it was through the
eternal Spirit that the incomprehensible sacrifice was made. It thus
follows that the eternal Son would not, and could not, remain in the
sphere of His own curse and judgment upon sin a moment beyond the
precise time that was divinely indicated as required for the
accomplishment of all satisfaction respecting sin. This time
anticipated in type (Jonah 1:17; cf. Matt 12:40) and measured in
history was “three days and three nights.” It remains therefore true
that the resurrection of Christ was required by the very nature of the
case, for, being what He is, He could not be holden of death (Acts
2:24). – Pp. 85-86
In the sense that the believer is now the recipient of resurrection
life, he is said to be both positionally raised in Christ’s resurrection
and the possessor of that life. Writing to the Colossians, the Apostle
Paul says, “Ye are risen with him” (Col 2:12). In this passage the
truth is being set forth that, being in Christ by the baptism of the
Spirit, the believer partakes of the value of Christ’s death and
resurrection as fully as though the believer had himself died and risen
from the dead. In fact the central reason for Christ’s death and
resurrection is that He might substitute for those whom He would
save. This is the “operation of God” in which the Christian’s faith
rests. Continuing the thought of a coresurrection with Christ, the
Apostle also says, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things
which are above not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your
life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, then shall
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ye also appear with him in glory” Col 3:1-4). Beyond all this and as
an indivisible part of it, is the truth that the believer’s body is yet to
be raised at the return of Christ (1 Thess 4:13-18). - P. 87
Apart from a careful investigation into the New Testament
teaching, it would be natural to assume that the resurrection of Christ
was, like other experiences recorded in the Bible, only a reversal of
death. Every so-called resurrection which the Sacred Text chronicles
was but a restoration. The one who died was returned to the same
sphere of existence which he occupied before, and, eventually, he
died again. There is no parallel in these incidents with the resurrection
of Christ. He did not return to a death doomed estate, nor was He the
same order of Being in resurrection that He had been before. He is not
only the incomparable theanthropic Person, but He has experienced a
marvelous transformation in respect to the nature, structure, and
mutability of the body in which He died. It is now a “glorious body”
in its nature, a body of flesh and bones (but without blood) in its
structure, and immortal and therefore immutable in its endurance. It is
a body suited both to heaven and to eternity. No other human body
has yet experienced such a change. It is written of Christ, “who only
hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach
unto” (1 Tim 6:16). It is needful to remember that, in spite of
incorrect terms which men carelessly employ, the word immortality
refers only to the physical body and not to the soul. Christ died, but
He did not see corruption (Ps 16:10; Acts 2:27); He passed from the
mortal to the immortal even though He died and was in the realms of
dissolution for three days and three nights (cf. John 11:39). Those
believers who have died have seen corruption and they must yet put
on incorruption; that is, they have not yet received their resurrection
bodies. With the same certainty it can be declared, on the authority of
God’s Word, that none of all humanity has “put on immortality,”
which experience is appointed to occur at the moment of translation,
when those who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord (1
Thess 4:17) will be changed. It is, therefore, to be accepted as true
that Christ alone has immortality. He alone represents that marvelous
change which the physical body of the Christian is to undergo; and
nothing more effective could be said of them with respect to their
bodies than is asserted by the Apostle when he said, “For our
conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be
fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working
whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself” (Phil 3:20-
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21); “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal
must put on immortality” (1 Cor 15:53). - Pp. 91-92
The whole New Creation incorporates two factors, namely, the
resurrection of Christ, and that entire company of believers who are
identified as the true Church which is vitally united to Christ – the
new humanity.
1. THE RESURRECTED CHRIST. An effort was made earlier to
clarify the truth that Christ has Himself through His resurrection
entered into a sphere of existence that the universe has never seen
before. When on earth and before His death, He was “God manifest in
the flesh,” but now He is God manifest in a resurrection body of
infinite perfection and glory. There is no implication that Christ is in
any sense a creation of God, but that which He became through an
incarnation has been “highly exalted.” The Apostle John had seen the
Lord possibly in childhood, in manhood, in transfiguration, in death,
and in that form in which He appeared in resurrection when
remaining here for forty days; but when John saw the glorified Christ
- as described in Revelation 1:12-18 – he fell at His feet as dead. This
description of the glorified Christ claims close attention on the part of
those who are His, as, also, every reference in the Gospels to His
resurrection body, since this glorified body is the pattern of that body
which the believer will share (Col 3:4). Christians will not only have
joined the heavenly beings, but will be constitutionally fitted for that
sphere and fellowship. All this, it will be seen, depends wholly on the
Savior and what He is “made” to the believer – the great redemption
through His death, the great transformation through His resurrection,
and partaking of His knowledge-surpassing exaltation in heaven.
Christ is now the Lord of Glory, the rightful Head of the new
humanity which He is gathering unto Himself.
2. THE NEW HUMANITY. Uncounted errors in theological teaching
have been engendered through the failure to comprehend the
distinctive, unrelated, and supremely exalted character of the true
Church. No differentiating quality in this eminent humanity is more
to be apotheosized than the truth that by baptism with the Spirit each
individual of this company, including the entire group, is vitally
joined to Christ in a union which is absolute, and which establishes
identity between Christ and the believer and creates the ground upon
which all that Christ is may be imputed to the one who is in Him.
Doubtless, in logical order, divine forgiveness and divinely wrought
regeneration through the operation of the Spirit serve as a qualifying
preparation for this high estate. The generating work of the Spirit is a
creative work of God; but what is termed a New Creation is
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apparently that which results from the union with Christ which is
accomplished by the baptism with the Spirit. Certain New Testament
texts are a guide in this important issue:
2 Corinthians 5:17-18. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a
new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are
become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to
himself by Jesus Christ.”
It is asserted in this passage that to be in Christ is to become a new
creation in which old things – relative to position rather than
experience – have passed away, and these things are, all of them,
wrought of God.
Galatians 3:27-28. “For as many of you as have been baptized
into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there
is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are
all one in Christ Jesus.”
Thus, again, to be joined to Christ is to put on Christ, and that
relationship results in a unity, since those joined to Christ “are all one
in Christ Jesus.”
Galatians 6:15. “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth
any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.”
The truth is asserted that works of merit are of no avail to the one
who is in Christ Jesus. All that counts – and how immeasurable is its
value – is a new creation which is secured by a vital union with the
Lord of Glory. …
So far as its influence upon the believer’s daily life is concerned,
the New Creation position for the believer is, incidentally, “unto good
works”; but the greater reality is acknowledged in the words “created
in Christ Jesus,” whatever the daily may be.
Ephesians 2:15. “Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even
the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in
himself of twain one new man, so making peace.”
Though this text emphasizes the truth that Jew and Gentile find
peace in the one Body, the purpose is to make in Himself one “new
man” – not new men individually, but one complete unity composed
of Christ and the Church.
Ephesians 4:21-24. “If so be that ye have heard him, and have
been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: that ye put off concerning
the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to
the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in th spirit of your mind; and that
ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness
and true holiness.”
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The Ephesians had been taught by Christ (through His Apostle)
the truth respecting position in Christ, which is, “that ye [did, when
saved] put off … the old man.” The form of the verb places this
putting off as a complete past action. You were taught, the Apostle
says, the truth about being in Christ and that by so much your “old
man” was laid aside. The former Adamic standing is in view, and
with its corrupt practices which are no longer in order. At that time,
also, ye did put on the new man – the last Adam – which after God
(answering to His eternal purpose) is created in righteousness and true
holiness. While this passage presents a challenge to the student for
careful exegesis, its contribution at this point is seen in the declaration
that the believer has been transferred from one Adam to Another. The
term old man, as used here, is not equivalent to the flesh, or the
Adamic nature. The standing in Adam is terminated with salvation,
while the flesh and the nature continue. (cf. Gal 5:16-17).
Gal 5:16 But I say, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the
desires of the flesh. 5:17 For the flesh has desires that are opposed to
the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for
these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you
want. NET
Colossians 3:9-10. “Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have
put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man,
which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created
him.”
On this equally important Scripture, Bishop Moule writes: “The
‘taking off’ and ‘putting on’ here may be explained as meaning,
practically, “you broke connexion (of guilt and helplessness) with the
First Adam, and formed connexion (of acceptance and life) with the
Second.’ … ‘The old Man’ is, so to speak, the parent of the
‘deceitfulness of sin’ in all its phases; connexion with ‘the new Man’
is the deathblow to it, as the anxious conscience is set at rest, the
relation the relation of the believer to God wholly altered, and a
spiritual force not his own given to him. … By union with Him his
members become (be it said with reverence and caution) repetitions
of Him the glorious Archetype. To come to be ‘in Him’ is thus to ‘put
on (Him as) the New Man,’ in sharing His acceptance and His life and
power” (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges – Colossians and
Philemon, p. 124).
From the seven passages, cited above, the truth is established that
there is a New Creation which is engendered directly by organic
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union with Christ. A complete disposition of the former existence in
the first Adam has been accomplished. It has been terminated by
cocrucifixion, codeath, and coburial with Christ. Of this termination it
is written: How shall we who that are dead [who died] to sin, live any
longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into
Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried
with him by baptism into his death: that like as Christ was raised up
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk
in newness of life” (Rom 6:2-4). In this instance, the words of
Ephesians 4:22 and Colossians 3:9 – “ye have put off” – are again in
evidence (cf. Col 2:12-13, 20). In the same actual manner, there is
now a perfect vital union with Christ on the part of all who are in
Christ. It is written: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things
which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set
your affections on things above, not on things on earth. For ye are
dead [ye died], and your life [eternal life, this writer] is hid with
Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life [eternal life, this writer],
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory” (Col 3:1-4).
Similarly, Romans 6:5: “For if we have been planted together in the
likeness of his death, we shall also be in the likeness of his
resurrection.” Here the child of God is assured that as certainly as he
has shared in Christ’s death, he as certainly shares in Christ’s
resurrection. It is thus by the resurrection of Christ that the Christian
is eligible to entrance into the New Creation. Christ did not die, nor
did He rise from the dead, in behalf of Himself; it was substitutionary
and representative. The Christian was truly raised in Christ’s
resurrection. This is the deeper meaning of the words of Christ: “I am
the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). Reference was not made
by Christ to the truth that He Himself would arise from the dead, or
that He would cause the dead to rise at the last day (cf. John 5:21, 25,
28-29); but to the present aspect of truth that all who are in Him are,
by virtue of their place in His resurrection, raised in Him. This
positional truth respecting the child of God is asserted in two
passages: (a) Ephesians 2:4-6, “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his
great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins,
hath quickened [to make alive, this writer] us together with Christ,
(by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us
sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Both with respect to
resurrection and with respect to seating in the heavenly, the believer
is now vitally joined to Christ. The word together, twice used in this
sixth verse, relates Him, not to the fellowship of the saints as in
Thessalonians 4:17, but to the risen and glorified Christ. The Apostle
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is justified in the confidence that the reader will not have forgotten
the setting forth of Christ’s glorious resurrection and exaltation in the
verses immediately preceding (1:20-23), and that he will understand
to some degree the surpassing, heavenly reality and glory which
belong to the one who, because of his union with Christ, is now raised
and seated in Christ Jesus, far above all earthly or heavenly
comparison (1:21). To be in Christ, which is the portion of all who
are saved, is to partake of all that Christ has done, all that He is, and
all that He will ever be. It is to have died in His death, to have been
buried in His burial, to have been raised in His resurrection, to have
ascended in His ascension, and to be now seated with Him (because
he is in Him) in glory. Such is the believer’s present position in Christ
Jesus. Over against all this, and in no way to be confused with it, is
the experimental fact that a bodily resurrection and actual heavenly
exaltation await all who are “alive and remain unto the coming of the
Lord,” the present, unalterable fact of the believer’s position in Christ
being the guarantee of the yet future experience. (b) “If ye then be
risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ
sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above,
not on things on the earth. For ye are dead [ye died], and your life is
hid with Christ in God. When Christ shall appear, then shall ye appear
with him in glory” (Col 3:1-4). Aside from the exhortation to a
worthy manner of life, which the passage enforces, the essential fact
is again revealed that the believer has not only died in Christ’s death,
but is now actually risen with Him.
Generally speaking, all that enters into the reality which
constitutes salvation – already analyzed as representing at least thirty-
three positions and possessions - contributes directly or indirectly to
the fact of the New Creation. However, as the Scriptures, cited
above, demonstrate, the New Creation is specifically the result of the
believer’s position in Christ.
There is probably no word of Scripture which more clearly defines
the essential fact concerning the Christian than the phrase, in Christ;
and as the Christian is the most important fact of all creation, there
has never been a word uttered which is so far-reaching in its
implication, or which is fraught with greater meaning to humanity
than the phrase, in Christ. This phrase, with its equivalents, “in Christ
Jesus, in him, in the beloved, by him, through him, and with him,”
appears in the grace teachings of the New Testament no less than 130
times. This most unusual emphasis upon one particular truth is
arresting, and its import must not be slighted. Over against this
emphasis which is given to this truth in the teachings of grace, is the
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corresponding fact that there is no hint of a possible position in Christ
in any teaching of the law or of the kingdom. The believer’s present
position in Christ was not seen in type or prophecy. In the ages past it
was a secret hid in the mind and heart of God. He “hath blessed us”
with all spiritual blessings in Christ, “hath chosen us in him before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before him in love: having predestined us unto the adoption of
children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of
his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made
us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his
blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
having made known unto us the mystery [sacred secret] of his will,
according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather
together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and
which are on earth; even in him: in whom also we have obtained an
inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of him who
worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: that we should be
the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.” Who can
comprehend the full scope of these eternal wonders? Knowing the
limitation of the human heart, at this point the Apostle breaks forth
into prayer: “Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord
Jesus, and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you,
making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of him: the eyes of your
understanding [heart] being enlightened; that ye may know what is
the hope of his calling, and what [are, this writer] the riches of the
glory of his inheritance in the saints.”
Having thus prayed that the Christian may know by divine
illumination the hope of his calling and the riches of the glory of the
inheritance which God now has in the saints, he continues to pray that
they might also know by the same divine revelation “the exceeding
greatness of his power us-ward who believe, according to the working
of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him
from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly
places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and
dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but
also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet,
and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his
body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all” (Eph 1:3-12, 15-23).
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Growing out of this glorious relationship in Christ is a most natural
responsibility to walk worthy of the calling; but the issues of a daily
life and the character of the conduct which should enter into it,
though important in their place, are lost and forgotten in the blaze of
the eternal glory of that unchangeable grace which has brought the
believer into the New Creation in Christ Jesus. To be in Christ is to be
in the sphere of His won infinite Person, power, and glory. He
surrounds, He protects, He separates from all else, and He indwells
the one in Him. He also supplies in Himself all that a soul will ever
need in time or eternity. The union which is formed in Christ is
deeper than any relationship the human mind has ever conceived. In
His Priestly prayer, in which He had advanced on to resurrection
ground, and where He contemplated the glory of His finished work as
having been already accomplished (cf. John 17:11), Christ spoke of
three unities within the sphere of one relationship: (1) the unity within
the Persons of the blessed Trinity, (2) the unity between the Persons
of the Trinity and all believers, and (3) the unity of the believers
themselves, since they are in Him. We read: “Neither pray I for these
alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their
word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in
thee, that they also may be one in us … I in them, and thou in me, that
they may be made perfect in one” (John17:20-23). Who can fathom
the depths of the revelation that the believer is related to Christ on the
very plane of that oneness which exists between the Father and the
Son?
Again, as before stated, Christ likens the union which exists
between Himself and the believer to the vital, organic relation that
exists between the vine and its living branch. The branch is in the
vine and the life of the vine is in the branch; but the branch possesses
no independent life in itself. It cannot exist apart from the vine. The
human child may outgrow dependence upon its parents and, in turn,
support and sustain them; but the branch can never become
independent of the vine. In like manner, the fruit and every
manifestation of life in the branch is due to the ceaseless inflow of
vitality of the vine. The fruit is as much the fruit of the vine as it is of
the branch (cf. John 15:5; Rom 7:4; Gal 5:22-23). Thus it is with the
one in Christ. Considering the same fact of unity, the Apostle Paul
likens Christ to the head and the believers to members in a body. This
figure illustrates the same vital, dependent relationship. The members
in the body partakes of the merit and honor of the head, and the life
and power of the head is important to the member. So perfect is this
unity between the Head and the members of the Body, that it is
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probable that Christ will never be seen in glory apart from His Body,
and the Body will never be seen apart from Him (cf. 1 Cor 12:12).
From these illustrative Scriptures it will be observed that the unity
between Christ and the believer is twofold: The believer is in Christ,
and Christ is in the believer. The believer is in Christ with regard to
positions, possessions, safekeeping, and association; and Christ is in
the believer giving life, character, and dynamic for conduct.
It has already been pointed out that the Upper Room conversation,
recorded in John 13-16, presents the grace teachings of Christ, and is
the germ of all the truth that is found in the Epistles, which, in turn,
contain the revelation of the essential fact of the New Creation and
the resulting obligation in daily life. The doctrinal truth of the
Epistles, which is the doctrinal truth of grace, is subject to the same
twofold division – what the saved one is in Christ, and the character
and power of the daily life that will be experienced when the
victorious energy of the indwelling Christ is imparted. At one point in
the midst of the Upper Room Discourse, Christ compressed the whole
doctrinal structure of grace into one brief phrase. This phrase is
notable because it is the key to all the facts and relationships under
grace, and because of its simplicity and brevity of language: “Ye in
me, and I in you” (John 14:20). - Pp. 93-100
c. A NEW DAY IS INDICATED BY IMPORTANT EVENTS. Beginning
with the resurrection, and following it, every event recorded in the
New Testament which had important religious significance fell on the
first day of the week, or the Lord’s day. No greater emphasis through
events could be given to this new day than that found in the teachings
of grace, and, added to this, is the fact that in these same Scriptures
the Sabbath is wholly set aside. If it be claimed that there is no direct
commandment for the keeping of the Lord’s day, it should be
observed that there is explicit command against the observance of the
Sabbath day, and that a lack of commandments concerning the Lord’s
day is both in accordance with the character of the new day, and the
entire order of grace which it represents and to which it is related.
Colossians 2:16-17. In the context which this Scripture is found, the
Apostle warns believers against any complicity with the law, or works-
covenant, since they have been transferred to a position under grace. The
passage states that they have been made “complete” in Christ, to which
estate nothing could ever be added; hence, for the one who is in Christ,
the objective of all meritorious works is already gained, and the legal
obligation to do good works is forever met (vs. 10). The believer is also
said to be “circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in
putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of
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Christ.” Therefore, since the flesh – the one thing the law proposed to
control – is, in the sight of God, put away, there is no need of the law.
The Jewish child was circumcised on the eighth day, which was the first
day of a new week following the passing of a completed week. The
circumcision on the eighth day, or first day of a new week, typified the
deliverance from the old creation which would be accomplished for
believers through the resurrection of Christ from the dead; for in that
death He bore all the curse of the old creation. For this reason the
believer under grace is not called upon to celebrate any aspect of the old
creation which was represented by the Sabbath (vs. 11). The one who is
saved has been “buried with him in baptism, wherein [i.e. baptism] also
ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God [his own
faith in God’s power], who hath raised him from the dead.” The use of
the aorist tense in connection with the reference to a burial with Him in
baptism, makes that burial out as being contemporaneous with the
circumcision just mentioned. Therefore it is evident that the baptism with
the Spirit which vitally relates the believer to Christ is in view (1 Cor
12:13; cf. Gal 3:27). In that baptism, as in no other, the Christian par-
takes of all that Christ is, and all that Christ has done. He shares in
Christ’s crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection ( Rom 6:1-10). With
the old creation thus buried in the tomb of Christ, the believer is in no
wise obligated to any observance related to the old creation (vs. 12).
Again, the believer has been delivered from the law by no less an
undertaking than the nailing of the law with its handwriting of ordinances
to the cross. After this great transaction, how can the child of God rea-
sonably recognize the law in any respect whatsoever (vs. 14)? – P. 109
Mention should be made of the great events which fell on the first day
of the week.
On the first day of the week Christ arose from the dead. His
resurrection is vitally relayed to the ages past, to the fulfillment of all
prophecy, to the values of His death, to the Church, to Israel, to
creation, to the purposes of God in grace which reached beyond to the
ages to come, and to the eternal glory of God. Fulfillment of the
eternal purposes related to all of these was dependent upon the
coming forth of the Son of God from that tomb. He arose from the
dead, and the greatness of that event is indicated by the importance of
its place in Christian doctrine. Had not Christ arisen – He by whom
all things were created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth,
visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or
principalities, or powers, He for whom things were created, who is
before all things, and by whom all things consist (hold together) –
every divine purpose and blessing would have failed, yea, the very
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universe and the throne of God would have dissolved and would have
been dismissed forever. All life, light, and hope would have ceased.
Death, darkness, and despair would have reigned. Though the
spiritual powers of darkness might have continued, the last hope for a
ruined world would have been banished eternally. It is impossible for
the mind to grasp the mighty issues which were at stake at the
moment when Christ came forth from the tomb. At no moment of
time, however, were these great issues in jeopardy. The
consummation of His resurrection was sure, for omnipotent power
was engaged to bring it to pass. Every feature of the Christian’s
salvation, position, and hope was dependent upon the resurrection of
the Lord. Very much depended on the death of Christ, but every value
of that death would have been sacrificed apart from the resurrection.
When Christ arose from the dead, Christianity was born, and the New
Creation was brought into existence. There is nothing in the old order
for the believer. He stands on resurrection ground. He belong sonly to
the New Creation. God is faithful to all that He has wrought in Christ
and He, according to His Word, will not suffer the child of the New
Creation to go back and celebrate the beginning of the old fallen
creation from which His child has been saved through infinite riches
of grace. If the children of grace persist in relating themselves to the
old creation by the observance of the Sabbath, it is evidence of their
limitations in the knowledge of the Word and will of God; it is to fall
from grace.
Since the day of Christ’s resurrection is the day in which the New
Creation was formed, and all that enters into the Christian’s life and
hope was brought into being, both according to Scripture and
according to reason the Christian can celebrate no other day than the
Lord’s day.
On the first day of the week Christ met His disciples in the new
power and fellowship of His resurrection-life.
On the first day of the week Christ symbolized the new
resurrection-fellowship by breaking bread with His disciples.
On the first day of the week He gave them instructions in the new
resurrection-ministry and life for Him.
On the first day of the week He commanded the disciples to
preach the new message to all the world.
On the first day of the week Christ ascended into heaven as the
“wave sheaf.” In fulfilling the Old Testament type and the eternal
purpose of God, it was necessary that He should appear in heaven as
the earnest of the mighty harvest of souls whom He had redeemed
and who came out of that tomb with Him to share His eternal life and
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glory. So, also, He must, having accomplished the sacrifice for sin,
present His own blood in heaven (Lev 16:1-34; Heb 9:16-28). Having
not yet ascended, He said to Mary, “Touch me not; for I am not yet
ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I
ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your
God” (John 20:17). How little the import of this message from Christ
was understood then, and how little it is understood even now! That
He ascended on that day is evident; for He said unto them at evening
of that day, “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle
me, and see” (Luke 24:39). He had ascended to heaven, accomplished
His work there, and returned to earth to complete His postresurrection
ministry.
On the first day of the week He breathed on His disciples and
imparted the Holy Spirit to them.
On the first day of the week the Spirit descended to take up His
age-characterizing ministries in the world. – Pp. 116-19
THE FINAL TRANSFORMATION. As stated above, very much that
enters into the New Creation reality is already an accomplished fact
in the believer. Every aspect of his salvation is a distinctive quality in
the new order of being which he is, especially the new position in
Christ. However, there are at least three great benefits which, though
assured by all the faithfulness of infinity, are yet deferred. Though
mentioned before, attention should be given more at length to these
particulars.
1. RELEASE FROM THE SIN NATURE. At the end of his pilgrim
journey, there is for the believer a release from the lifelong conflict
with the sin nature. He will have sustained a warfare with the cosmos
world and with Satan; but these are forces from without whose
pressure will be withdrawn forever. The release from the sin nature
involves a constitutional change – the removal of a force from within
which has been an integral part of the believer all his days. The great
Apostle included himself – and it was true of him at the time of his
deepest spiritual development – when he said, “For the flesh lusteh
against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are
contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things ye
would” (Gal 5:17). The end of this conflict was anticipated by him
when he wrote as the closing testimony of his life, “For I am now
ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have
fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the
Lord, the righteous judge shall give me at that day: and not to me
only, but to all them that love his appearing” (2 Tim 4:6-8).
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2. THE ACTUAL OCCUPATION OF HEAVENLY CITIZENSHIP. In this
aspect of the Christian’s release, there is sa conveyance from this
sphere of ambassadorship, from this existence as a stranger and
pilgrim, into that home-center in glory which has been held by right
and title, though unoccupied, from the moment of salvation through
Christ. No imagination can portray nor can language describe this
stupendous change with its transfer from earth to heaven, from part
knowledge to whole knowledge, from seeing through a glass darkly
to seeing face to face, from association with fallen humanity to
fellowship with glorified saints and angels, from a death-doomed
body to a glorious, eternal body, from earthly hovels to the mansions
He has gone to prepare, and from an existence which is defined as
“absent from the Lord” to that which is characterized by His
immediate presence. The Patmos [John the Apostle, this writer] seer
avers:
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
In my Father’s house are many mansions [dwelling places]: if it were not
so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself;
that where I am, there ye may be also (John 14:1-3, brackets mine); …
3. The Possession of a Transformed Body. The third deferred feature
of salvation to be realized at the end of this life and which makes its
contribution to the sum total of that which constitutes the Christian a new
creation, is the reception and occupancy of a transformed body. In
respect to the physical or material part of the believer, a stupendous
metamorphosis awaits him. Though two possibilities of process are held
before him, the end is the same in either case. He may go by the way of
death and resurrection, or he may go by translation; yet a standardized
reality awaits him. He will have a body like unto Christ’s glorious body
(Phil 3:20-21).
Phil 3:20 But our citizenship is in heaven—and we also await a
savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 3:21 who will transform
these humble bodies of ours into the likeness of his glorious body
by means of that power by which he is able to subject all things to
himself. NET
As is to be expected, there is a central and exhaustive portion of
Scripture bearing on so great a theme as the resurrection of the
believer’s body; and that Scripture is 1 Corinthians 15:20-23, 35-57.
In the first section – 15:20-23 – the resurrection of the believer’s body
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is seen in its order as preceded by the resurrection of Christ, with the
present period between the first and second advents intervening, and
followed by the resurrection of all humanity – which resurrection is
termed “the end” resurrection, or the last in the order of resurrections
(cf. Rev 20:2-15) - and separated from the believer’s resurrection by
Christ’s reign and authority which must continue until all enemies are
under His feet. This period is determined with regard to its duration
by the testimony of Revelation 20, and is declared to be a thousand
years (cf. 2 Pet 3:7-10).In this time the Church, having been raised
and translated, is reigning with Christ (Rev 20:4).
The second section of this central passage presents the essential
facts related to the resurrection of the bodies of those that are
Christ’s. If the question – natural, indeed – be asked, “How are the
dead raised up? and with what body do they come?” (1 Cor 15:35),
the answer is that, as there is a great variety of forms and bodies in
God’s creation, it is not strange that God will give the believer a
transformed body in resurrection, or in translation. Concerning the
transformation that comes by resurrection, there are four contrasts
drawn: (a) that sown – note this significant synonym for the word
burial – in corruption is raised in incorruption; (b) that sown in
dishonor, or humiliation, is raised in glory; (c) that sown in weakness
is raised a powerful body; and (d) that sown as a natural body –
adapted to the soul – is raised a spiritual body, i.e. adapted to the
human spirit. This aspect of truth is concluded with the assuring
words: “And as we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also
bear the image of the heavenly” (vs. 49).
Over against this is the engaging truth that some will not die, or
“sleep,” but will be translated in their living state. They are not to go
to heaven burdened and restricted by this body of limitations. They
being mortal – alive in the flesh – will put on immortality. The
change is sudden and complete. It is wrought “in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye.” The trump shall sound and the dead in Christ
shall be raised incorruptible, but those living – and the Apostle again
rightly includes himself as one who entertained this blessed hope –
shall be changed. The decree and purpose of God cannot fail: “For
this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on
immortality.” All of this, and translation is far better than having to
die first, is stated by the Apostle when he says, “Behold I shew you a
mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet
shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall
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be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this
mortal must put on immortality” (1 Cor 15:51-53).
Though He did not see incorruption (Ps 16:10; Acts 2:27, 31),
Christ’s present body is the pattern of the believer’s resurrection
body. Here it may well be restated that Christ’s resurrection was
vastly more than a reversal of death; and such, indeed, will be the
character of the believer’s glorified body. The Scriptures record
restorations from death back into the present sphere to die again (cf. 2
Kings 4:32-35; 13:21; Matt 9:25; Luke 7:12-15; John 11:43; Acts
9:36-41; 14:19-20). One has but to reconsider the four great changes
listed above which are recorded in 1 Corinthians 15:42-44 to be
assured that a different form of resurrection awaits the body of the
child of God who has died, quite diverse from any restoration ever
accomplished in human history. The transformed, resurrected body
will be limitless in power, infinite in glory, eternal in endurance, and
adapted to the spirit. Such is the particular glory each individual will
contribute to the whole New Creation.
All this is assured both by unfailing promise and by
incomprehensible rights through identification with the glorified
Savior. Being thus in Christ and therefore possessing all the values of
His death and resurrection as fully as those values would be
possessed had one actually died in Christ’s death and been actually
raised in His resurrection, there is nothing unreasonable in the
disclosure that the body, too, will yet be raised and be changed that it
may be like His glorious body (Phil 3:20-21).
The Apostle writes in Romans 8:23 of the “redemption of our
body.” This phrase evidently comprehends the metamorphosis which
is wrought either by becoming incorruptible or immortal. This truth
respecting the redemption of the body closely parallels the
resurrection doctrine; for the saints are redeemed in this present
estate, and yet their bodies are to be redeemed – which is similar to
the fact that, though they are now raised in Christ, their bodies are yet
to be raised or changed. – Pp. 122-26
This writer: intro
The redemption of the believer’s body is a now-but-not-yet feature of
NT Christianity. There is “nothing” the believer need do in order to
inherit this transformation. All is provided by God. This being true,
might the believer simply rest upon this assurance? Or is it incumbent
upon all true believers who are “raised in the knowledge of Christ” to
witness the gospel of the grace of God to a lost world of condemned
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humanity? On this important theme, Dr. Lewis Chafer writes the
following.
Dr. Lewis Chafer: the Church
In contrast to Israel, which nation was an organization or
commonwealth (Eph 2:12), and in contrast to the visible church,
which is merely a human systemization, the true Church is an
organism. The term organism indicates that the thing specified is
permeated throughout all its parts with one common life. It is the
same life in the roots and the upper structure of a tree. It is the same
life which is in every member of a human body. Similarly, it is the
same life that is in the Church. Each individual in that company has
not only been baptized into one Body, but has been made to drink into
one Spirit (1 Cor 12:13). The figure of the head and body with its
many members is employed in the Sacred Text more than any other
and serves to indicate certain essential facts respecting the Church,
namely, (a) that the Church is a self-developing body, (b) that the
members of this body are appointed to specific service, and (c) that
the body is one. … In this age, as in no other, there is a specific
message to be preached to every creature and, while there are
leadership men who are God’s gift to the Church, the obligation to
witness rests upon every Christian alike. … The objective in this
general witnessing on the part of the whole company of believers is to
accomplish a specific task in a prescribed time: “till we all come in
the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a
perfect man, unto the measure the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:13). The “perfect man” here cited is not to
be interpreted to mean perfect men; it is the completion of the Body
of Christ by the adding thereto of all who are His elect people in this
age. The dangers which beset believers who are deprived of the
teaching, that which was referred to in the previous verse 14: “That
we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried
about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning
craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.” Over against this, the
one who is taught will “hold the truth in love.” The word in verse 15
translated speaking is better rendered holding (c.f. R.V. marg.). The
truth is to be held as a controlling possession. Such a one will grow
up into Christ in all things. To conclude this statement respecting the
development of the Body of Christ, the Apostle writes: “From whom
the whole body, fitted together, and connected by every joint of
supply, according to [the] working in [its] measure of each one part,
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works for itself the increase of the body to its self-building up in
love” (vs. 16, J. N. Darby translation).
From the above it will be seen that the Church, like the human
body, is self-developing. Her members, as evangelizing agencies, are
appointed to secure other members. Intelligent soul-winning service
on the part of Christians is the New Testament expectation.” 241
This writer: argument
An example of intelligent soul-winning is the first recorded gospel
message by the Apostle Paul given to the Jews of Antioch in Galatia. The
Jews who had believed on Jesus for salvation were “persuaded to
continue in the grace of God.” At that time, Gentiles asked that the
gospel message might be preached to them on the next Sabbath. “And the
next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of
God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy,
and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting
and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was
necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but
seeing ye put it [Lit. thrust] from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of
everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord
commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that
thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And when the
Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord:
and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:44-48).
The gift of God to those who trust in Jesus as Savior is eternal life
which He has been granted by the Father. By this means, the believer is
“in Christ.” The biblical teaching with regard to eternal life is
summarized by Dr. C. I. Scofield in the following: “(1) The life is called
“eternal” because it was from the eternity which is past unto eternity
which is to come - it is the life of God revealed in Jesus Christ, who is
God (John 1:4, 5:26; 1 John 1:1, 2). (2) This life of God, which was
revealed in Christ, is imparted in a new birth by the Holy Spirit, acting
upon the word of God, to every believer on the Lord Jesus Christ (John
3:3-15). (3) The life thus imparted is not a new life except in the sense of
human possession; it is still “that which was from the beginning.” But the
recipient is a “new creation” (2 Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15). (4) The life of God
which is in the believer is an unsevered part of that which eternally was,
and eternally is, in Christ Jesus – one life, in Him and in the believer –
Vine and branches; Head and members (1 Cor 6:17; Gal 2:20; Col 1:27;
3:3, 4; 1 John 5:11, 12; John 15:1-5; 1 Cor 2:12-14).” (Old Scofield Study
System, Dr. C. I. Scofield, p 1353)
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Col 1:27 God wanted to make known to them the glorious riches of
this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of
glory. 1:28 We proclaim him by instructing and teaching all people
with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature in
Christ. 1:29 Toward this goal I also labor, struggling according to his
power that powerfully works in me. NET
John 1:4 In him was life,8 and the life was the light of mankind. NET
8tn John uses zwhv (zwh) 37 times: 17 times it occurs with
aijwvnio" (aiwnios), and in the remaining occurrences outside the
prologue it is clear from context that “eternal” life is meant. The two uses
in 1:4, if they do not refer to “eternal” life, would be the only exceptions.
(Also 1 John uses zwhv 13 times, always of “eternal” life.)
The Spirit empowered Apostles first witnessed the person, deity, and
work of Christ from eye-witness testimony of His words and actions that
revealed the Father and, from OT Messianic prophecies revealed to them
by the resurrected Christ before His ascension. Later, the Apostle Paul
was given further Christ sanctioned revelations concerning the gospel
that were built upon the words of Jesus. In the Gospel of John, Jesus
commanded Thomas: “Do not be faithless and incredulous, but [stop
your unbelief] and believe! … Blessed and happy and to be envied are
those who have never seen Me and yet have believed and adhered to and
trusted and relied on Me. … (John 20: 27, 29 AMP).
After the death of Paul and then Peter, the Apostle John contended
with an internally derived threat to early Christianity – a false gospel.
This false message was a distortion of the man-Christ and therefore could
not truthfully represent the Father. Consequently, this message separated
the Father from the Son. The simple Spirit empowered response to this
false gospel was in the Johannine formula: “Jesus is the Christ.” By the
straightforward fact that this statement is univocal, that it may contain
multiple conceptions, it was then determined that those who cannot
confess either a Jesus or a Christ as revealed by the Spirit of Truth (for us
today, the indwelling Spirit and God’s Word) were an “antichrist,” and
the Truth (of the Spirit) was not in them. Dr. R. E. Brown comments on 1
John 3:23-24: “One may know that God abides in Christians from the
fact that they profess a true faith about His Son, and they can do that only
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if the Paraclete has taught them.i This is in perfect harmony with I John
2:27 where no human teacher is needed because the anointing (with the
Holy Spirit) teaches the Christians about all things.” 242 Regarding
eternal life (regeneration) in the Prologue to the Gospel of John and the
truth encompassed in the “illumination” wrought in the believer by the
Paraclete (Holy Spirit), Dr. Lewis Chafer gives witness.
Dr. Lewis Chafer: illumination by the Spirit
The Gospel written by John in its opening chapter states that a
new thing has come into the range of human experience. This
Scripture declares: “But as many as received the him, to them gave he
power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his
name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor
of the will of man, but of God” (vs. 12-13); and Peter describes a
Christian thus: “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of
incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever”
(1 Pet 1:23). As for the human responsibility in regeneration, Christ
said to Nicodemus: “For God so loved the world [For this is the way
God loved the world: NET], that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life” (John 3:16). As this subject is to be considered later in another
connection, however, it will suffice to add that to be born of God
means an induction into the order of heavenly beings. None, of a
surety, are now able to comprehend the reality in which God becomes
the regenerating and therefore legitimate Father for all eternity and
the one who believes becomes a regenerated legitimate son for all
eternity. Salvation includes a new creation (2 Cor 5:17, R.V. marg.),
which is wrought by the Holy Spirit as the Executor of the Godhead.
… The whole divinely arranged provision whereby the believer may
come to know the things of God and all that enters into a relationship
with God is a system of pedagogy quite unlike anything of which the
this world knows and wholly outside the range of experience into
which the natural man could enter. … Illumination is specifically a
work which is wrought by the Third Person, and, in so far as He
opens the understanding of the Scriptures, He unveils that which He
i
“It is implied in Rom 8:15 and gal 4:6 that the gift of the Spirit makes us (by
adoption) God’s sons. In Johannine theology the gift of the Spirit brings eternal life
that makes us God’s children; but the fact that we are God’s children and that God
abides in us is shown when the Spirit bears witness through us (John 15:26-27). A
closer Pauline parallel to this idea would be 1 Cor 12:3: “No one can say, ‘Jesus is
Lord [Yahweh],’ except in the Holy Spirit.”
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Himself has originated; yet when Christ declared that the Spirit would
guide the believer into all truth, He made clear the Spirit does not
originate the message which He imparts, for He, the Spirit, does not
speak from Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear that shall He speak
(John 16:13). In this instance it is Christ who originates the message.
Christ opened this particular declaration with the words: “I have yet
many things to say to you, but ye cannot bear them now.” Thus in the
sphere of “all truth,” “things to come,” and “all things which the
Father hath,” the message arises with the Son and is delivered to the
mind and heart of the believer by the Spirit who indwells him. To this
end the Apostle declares, “We have received … the spirit which is of
God” (1 Cor 2:12). The position within the heart of the believer
which the Holy Spirit now occupies secures the closest relationship,
so that He, the Spirit Himself, is thus able to create impressions
within the Christian’s consciousness which seem to have occurred
only to his own finite mind. All Spiritual truth must be imparted by
the indwelling Spirit in this way. This particular body of truth, or
threefold group of “things,” will be known by the believer only
through the revelation which the Holy Spirit accomplishes. Of this the
Apostle states: …
1 Cor 2:9 But just as it is written, “Things that no eye has seen, or
ear heard, or mind imagined, are the things God has prepared for
those who love him.” 2:10 God has revealed these to us by the Spirit.
For the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 2:11
For who among men knows the things of a man except the man’s
spirit within him? So too, no one knows the things of God except the
Spirit of God. 2:12 Now we have not received the spirit of the world,
but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things that
are freely given to us by God. 2:13 And we speak about these things,
not with words taught us by human wisdom, but with those taught by
the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people. 2:14 The
unbeliever does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they
are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them, because they
are spiritually discerned. 2:15 The one who is spiritual discerns all
things, yet he himself is understood by no one. 2:16 For who has
known the mind of the Lord, so as to advise him? But we have the
mind of Christ. NET
Using earlier the same term as here, namely, “things,” Christ implied
that “all truth” must be shown to the believer by the Holy Spirit (John
16:12-15). The practical appeal which is here confronted by
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Christians reveals the necessity for adjustment of heart and life to the
mind and will of the Holy Spirit lest all progress in learning spiritual
things be hindered. …
When translators turn from translating to interpreting the result
may be easily misleading. In His Upper Room Discourse (John 13:1-
17:26), for example, Christ refers to the Holy Spirit as the Paraclete
(παράκλητος) several times. The Authorized Version translation of the
word Comforter is the result of interpretation; that is, Paraclete means
helper or one called to one’s side as an aid – and in this case an all-
sufficient One. This includes the idea of comforting, but to restrict it
to comforting is wholly inadequate. … For three and a half years
Christ had been to the disciples to whom He was speaking their
Paraclete, their all-sufficient One. When leaving them He promised
them another Paraclete. It follows, accordingly, that whatever Christ
had been to them, the Holy Spirit would continue. In his Word
Studies, Dr. M. R. Vincent discusses this title Paraclete as follows:
Only [used] in John’s Gospel and First Epistle (14:16, 26; 15:26;
16:7; 1 Ep. 2:1). From which πaρά, to the side of, and κaλέω, to summon.
Hence, originally, one who is called to another’s side to aid him, as an
advocate in a court of justice. The later, Hellenistic use of παρακαλείν
and παράκλητος, to denote the act of consoling and consolation, gave rise
to the rendering Comforter, which is given in every instance in the
Gospel, but is changed to advocate in 1 John 2:1, agreeably to its uniform
signification in classical Greek. The argument in favor of this rendering
throughout is conclusive. It is urged that the rendering Comforter is
justified by the fact that, in its original sense, it means more than a mere
consoler, being derived from the Latin confortare, to strengthen, and that
the Comforter is the therefore one who strengthens the cause and the
courage of his client at the bar: but, as Bishop Lightfoot observes, the
history of this interpretation shows that it is not reached by this process,
but grew out of a grammatical error, and that therefore this account can
only be accepted as an apology after the fact, and not as an explanation of
the fact. The Holy Spirit is, therefore, by the word παράκλητος, of which
Paraclete is a transcription, represented as our Advocate or Counsel,
“who suggests true reasonings to our minds, and true courses of action
for our lives, who convicts our adversary, the world, of wrong, and
pleads our cause before God our Father.” It is to be noted that Jesus as
well as the Holy Spirit is represented as Paraclete. The Holy Spirit is to
be another Paraclete, and this falls in with the statement in the First
Epistle, “we have an advocate with God, even Jesus Christ.” Compare
Romans 8:26. See on Luke 6:24. Note also that the word another is
äλλον, and not ëτερον, which means different. The advocate who is to be
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sent is not different from Christ, but another similar to Himself. – II, 243-
44
In the title Paraclete there is abundant evidence both for the
Personality and the Deity of the Holy Spirit. In his Lectures on the
Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, therefore, William Kelley writes:
But I apprehend the word “Comforter” sometimes fails (perhaps to
most fails) to give adequate notion of what it is our Lord Jesus really
meant us to gather from thus speaking of the Holy Ghost. We might very
naturally draw from it, that the term was in relation to sorrow, that it
intimated a person who would console us in the midst of the distresses of
this lower world. And, indeed, the Holy Ghost does console us and
comfort us. But this is only a very small part of the functions here
conveyed by the word “Paraclete.” This is the expression if one would
give an English reproduction of that which is in point of fact the very
word our Lord employed. But the meaning of that word “Paraclete” is not
merely “Comforter,” but one who is identified with our interests, one
who undertakes all our cause, one who engages to see us through our
difficulties, one who in every way becomes both our representative and
the great personal agent that transacts all our business for us. This is the
meaning of the Advocate or Paraclete or Comforter, whatever equivalent
may be preferred. Manifestly, then, it has an incomparably larger bearing
than either “advocate on the one hand, or “comforter” on the other: it
includes both, but takes in a great deal more than either. In point of fact,
it is One who is absolutely and infinitely competent to undertake for us
whatever He could do in our favor, whatever was or might be the limit of
our need, whatever our want in any difficulty, whatever the exigencies of
God’s grace for the blessing of our souls. Such the Holy Ghost is now;
and how blessed it is to have such an One! But remark here, that it never
was known before. I have already hinted, and indeed plainly expressed
the conviction, that it will never be known again, fully allowing that there
will be, as to extent, a larger outpouring of blessing in the world to come.
But the personal presence of the Spirit here below as an answer to the
glory of Christ at the right hand of God! – such a state of things never
can be repeated. While the High Priest is above, the Spirit sent down
gives a heavenly entrance into His glory as well as redemption; when the
High Priest comes out for the earthly throne, the Spirit then poured out
will give a testimony suited to the earth over which the Lord will reign.-
243
Pp. 87-88
This writer: argument
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The value of the birth of Jesus is realized in His “hour” of death. This
“hour,” since His death, in the sense of its value – the Spirit, and the
water, and the blood - continues into eternity. The biblical prophetic truth
of why and how He was born agrees with how He died, but only in the
NT is the value of His death and resurrection revealed in this unpredicted
age of grace that we live in. An age where the Mosaic Law is fulfilled
and a new age has arrived. Wherein Jew and Gentile are classed together
to enter into the kingdom of God only by receiving eternal life in the new
birth through faith in the power of Jesus to place a believer in
communion (koinōnia) with the Father. A relationship with Christ goes
far beyond a conception of a two-way encounter as in a “vine and a
branch.” A Christian is vitally joined, not only to the God-man Jesus
Christ, rather also, to the source of eternal life who is the Father, and this,
while being eternally indwelt by the Spirit of God. Additionally, as an
undeniable result, this unity exists in and between all Christians. The
man-Christ lived His ministry united to the power of God’s Holy Spirit
and to the will of His Father. This was prophetic of all believers who
have the gift of eternal life and the power from above that allows the
light of God to shine into the world.
2 Cor 3:5 Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything
as if it were coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God,
3:6 who made us adequate to be servants of a new covenant not based
on the letter but on the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives
life.
The life that is imparted to each believer that makes he/she adequate
is “eternal life.” “One of the distinctive New Testament revelations is
that of God as Father of individuals. Whereas the word “Father” is used
of God only fifteen times in the Old Testament, it occurs 245 times of
God in the New.” 244 Regeneration is an action of the Holy Spirit, but is
not the baptism by the Holy Spirit. Christ said in the Gospel of John “Ye
in me [the result of the Spirit’s baptism] and I in you [the result of the
Spirit’s regeneration, the new birth from above]” (John 14:20). The word
“baptism,” may be correctly defined as: “Whatever is capable of
thoroughly changing the character, state, or condition of any object, is
capable of baptizing that object; and by such change of character, state,
or condition does, in fact, baptize it.” 245 Dr. Lewis Chafer writes: “Too
often it is assumed that Christ came into the world so that men might
have a new ideal for daily living, an example of an exalted character, or a
new rule of life. When Christ said, however: “The thief cometh not, but
for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have
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life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10) – but one
of about eighty-five passages bearing on this essential factor in the
Christian’s new being – He was speaking of an imparted life which no
human being has ever received or possessed apart from the regenerating
power of the Holy Spirit. With all reason, God appeals to the saved for a
daily life which is in accord with this high calling in Christ; but the need
for holy living must ever be disassociated from “the gift of God [which]
is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom 6:23). The possession
of eternal life creates the true motive for holy living [by faith in the
power of being “in Christ”; provided by the baptism of the indwelling
Holy Spirit of God – this writer]; certainly holy living will never impart
divine life or substitute for a birth from above by the Spirit. A
commendable daily life represents the purpose of the one who lives it;
the gift of eternal life represents the eternal provision of God for man
which He purposed in Jesus Christ. From this sublime truth the spiritual
mind naturally advances to the contemplation of the fact that the divine
purpose, like all the works of God, will be yet so realized and completed
to infinity that God will be satisfied with it and be glorified by it. Thus it
is concluded properly that salvation from its beginning in the eternal
counsels of God, down through the provision of and exercise of
redeeming grace, and on to its consummation in glory is wrought only by
God and with the same purpose ever in view, namely, that it should
redound to His eternal glory.” 246
A contemporary gospel that preaches the externalized, counterfeit
imitation of Christ as a Socinian and Unitarian styled EXEMPLUM for a
future salvation based on continued faith is little more than human
determination measured by personal weakness - not the power of God.
The notion that “regeneration” is a mere indefinite influence for good is
far below that which is set forth in the NT. In truth, this idea has been put
upon the naïve by the mass dissemination of a One Covenant theology,
which would be destroyed by admitting a new dispensation that includes
a new rule of life and the full measure of the works of divine grace
plainly stated in the NT. OT saints were not related to God as are NT
believers. This conception falls far short of the message of life that Christ
manifested as the gospel. This short-fall is strikingly close to the
following: “However, the Pharisees and the experts in religious law
rejected God’s purpose for themselves … They are like children sitting in
the marketplace and calling out to one another, ‘We played the flute for
you, yet you did not dance, we wailed in the morning and you did not
weep’” (Luke 7:30, 32). No matter how forcibly the children insist that
God conform to the music in the Negative gospel - He ignores them.
John the Baptist predicted the future of those who are not in tune and “in
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Christ”: “His winnowing fork is in his hand to clean out his threshing
floor and to gather the wheat into his storehouse, but the chaff he will
burn up with inextinguishable fire” (Luke 3:17).
Mtw 15:6ff You have nullified the word of God on account of your
tradition. 15:7 Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you
when he said,
15:8 ‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me,
15:9 and they worship me in vain,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”
1 Tim 1:4ff Such things promote useless speculations rather than
God’s redemptive plan that operates by faith. 1:5 But the aim of our
instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience,
and a sincere faith. 1:6 Some have strayed from these and turned
away to empty discussion. 1:7 They want to be teachers of the law,
but they do not understand what they are saying or the things they
insist on so confidently. 1:8 But we know that the law is good if
someone uses it legitimately, 1:9 realizing that law is not intended for
a righteous person … 1:11 This accords with the glorious gospel of
the blessed God that was entrusted to me. 6:20 O Timothy, protect
what has been entrusted to you. Avoid the profane chatter and
absurdities of so-called “knowledge.” 6:21 By professing it, some
have strayed from the faith. Grace be with you all. NET
Isa 5:20 Those who call evil good and good evil are as good as dead,
who turn darkness into light and light into darkness,
who turn bitter into sweet and sweet into bitter. NET
The Socinianism of the 17th century became Unitarianism, a
contemporary system that denies the Holy Trinity to be of one eternal
unity and plurality. The Arminian theologian, Dr. John Miley, who in
earlier testimony defended Grotius’ Governmental theory, writes: “The
fundamental error of the Socinian view was found by Grotius to be this:
“That Socinus regarded God, in the work of redemption, as holding the
place of merely a creditor, or master, whose simple will was a sufficient
discharge from the existing obligation.”247 In so far as it goes, Dr. John
Miley holds orthodox doctrines on the preexistence and incarnation of
Christ. At this point, both he and Arminianism depart from Scripture to
ignore the stated value of the death of Christ and to censor the gift of
eternal life given to Christ by the Father, to grant to whosoever will
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believe in His name for salvation: “Just as the living Father sent me, and
I live because of the Father, so the one who consumes me will live
because of me” (John 6:57). Dr. Lewis Chafer writes: “Satan’s doctrine
(1 Tim 4:1, 2; Rev 2:24; cf. 1 Cor 2:10-12) has always been one of moral
perfection secured by self-effort or personal works (Isa 14:14; Gen 3:4,
5). His program of self-fitting, resulting only in self-glory, is in complete
contrast to the true principle of saving faith, through which one depends
on God alone for all needed transformation (Rom 8:29; 1 John 3:2). … It
is clear from the Scriptures that the Gospel of the substitutionary
sacrifice of Christ is the only possible ground of salvation and escape
from “the power of Satan unto God.” It is therefore suggestive that Satan
is imposing his blindness upon the unregenerate mind only at this one
point. The demons in the days of Christ’s earthly ministry bore faithful
testimony to His deity as the Son of God; just so, Satan is now directly
witnessing to the value of the only offers of salvation by thus centralizing
all his blinding power upon the way of the cross.
In addition to the exercise of his own power in directly blinding the
unsaved as to the value of the cross, Satan is increasingly active, through
his ministers, in attempting to exclude this central truth from the
Christian faith. To do this he is now, as predicted, forcing great
counterfeit religious systems and restatements of doctrine upon the
world. It is also suggestive that in all these the only revealed basis of
salvation is carefully omitted.” 248
In the 17th century, Hugo Grotius was not consulted for revelation
concerning “the gospel” by any Apostle chosen by Christ. Neither did
Hugo Grotius consult the Bible for the details of the substitutionary
sacrifice of Christ when he created his scheme of atonement that was
borrowed from the earlier works of Socinius, the father of Unitarianism.
The assertions in the Governmental theory do not confess that “Jesus is
the Christ.” Rather, subjective rationalism is substituted for OT and NT
teachings on His birth and death. This scheme assigns to God an inferior
plan that cannot destroy the works of Satan. This scheme presents a
hopeless Jesus who is unable to save a child of God from his own
weakness and, an unworthy Jesus who must expect the return of the gift
of forgiveness from disillusioned believers. The Negative gospel
apportions no redeeming value (apolutrosis – ransom) for human sin
(apollumi – the lost who will suffer perdition) to the sinless flesh of
Christ on His cross of suffering and in the shed blood of His death. The
flesh of Christ has “human value” only in that: (1) He was the Great
Example in His life and, (2) In His death, He was the frightening scene
of future judgment for believers who continue to sin. The “sympathetic
Rulership forgiveness” proliferated in the Governmental theory is
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foolishness. To define this foolishness, which assigns a false value to the
death of Christ on His cross, Dr. Lewis Chafer gives testimony.
Dr. Lewis Chafer: The suffering of Christ
In its more important use in the New Testament, the term cross
refers to the framework of wood upon which Christ was crucified. It
becomes at once not only a symbol of His death by crucifixion but a
synonym of the words sacrifice, suffering, and death. The unique
manner in which the inanimate timber on which Christ as crucified is
linked with the very Person of the One slain there is to be seen in
Galatians 6:14, where the terminology cross becomes, through use of
the words “by whom,” identified with that which Christ became in
His death. The passage reads, “God forbid that I should glory, save in
the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified
unto me, and I unto the world.”
In its doctrinal significance, the word cross is subject to a twofold
usage, namely, (1) that which relates to Christ’s suffering and death
and (2) that which relates to the believer’s suffering and sacrifice.
1. CHRIST’S SUFFERING AND DEATH. One passage may be cited
under this heading, namely, 1 Corinthians 1:18, which reads, “For the
preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us
which are saved it is the power of God.” Here the whole value of
Christ’s sufferings and death are in view. To the unsaved, apart from
the enlightenment of the Spirit, the message of redemption is
“foolishness.” The Apostle declares in 1 Corinthians 2:14 also, “But
the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they
are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned.” Likewise he states, “But we preach Christ
crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks
foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks,
Christ is the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:23-24).
In this revealing body of Scripture the attitude of the unsaved, here
termed foolishness, is not to be considered an intimation that they are
making light of the cross by ridicule; it is rather that the best
explanation of Christ’s death which they are able to conceive falls so
far below the truth that it proves to be foolishness, that is, it would
have been folly for Christ to die if actuated only by the objective
these unregenerate people assign to His death. The historic fact of
Christ’s death, unique event as that was (the only holy man that ever
walked on earth was forsaken of God and crucified as a malefactor),
does require an explanation on the part of every thoughtful person. To
claim, as some have done, that Christ’s death was to the end that
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divine sympathy might be shown to those who are lost fails of the
truth completely. Though He might display the sympathy of God, in
so doing there would be no relief provided for the one whom Christ
suffered either in respect to the cause of the woe or the woe itself. To
declare that Christ’s death is of value to the extent that it declares the
evil character of sin and with the intent that sinners might turn from
sin, once that is exposed, is to miss the essential truth again; for if all
people could be persuaded to abandon sinful practices and even if
they were enabled to sin no more, there would still not be one person
saved by such an achievement. Efforts to reform the lost apart from
regeneration – the true objective in Christ’s death – are well termed
the folly of the ages. To suppose that Christ died as a martyr, the
unwilling victim of a mob, and that to die for one’s convictions must
be glorious is likewise to be misled about the real meaning of His
death. For Christ was not an unwilling victim, for He said of Himself
that He laid down His life that He might take it up again (John 10:17).
In the second place the death of a hero, no matter how glorious,
provides no reconciliation between God and man respecting sin.
There is but one answer to the question of why Christ died. This has
been stated in the Old Testament thus, “But he was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of
our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we
like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own
way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa 53:5-6),
and in the New Testament by the words, “Behold the lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). To each
individual the death of Christ should mean what it did to the great
Apostle when he said: “The Son of God, … loved me, and gave
himself for me” (Gal 2:20).
2. THE BELIEVER’S SUFFERING AND SACRIFICE. Here all thought
of making satisfaction for sin, as in the death of Christ, is excluded. It
is only as the cross of Christ represents His personal sacrifice and
suffering that it becomes, too, the symbol of the believer’s sacrifice
and suffering. The denial of self that the life may be lived for God is
in view. Christ said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matt 6:24). A true
definition of the believer’s cross-bearing has been given in 2
Corinthians 4:10-11, where it is said: “Always bearing about in the
body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be
made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered
unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made
manifest in our mortal flesh.” By self-adjustment to the will of God,
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being ready even for a martyr’s death, the attitude of Christ Himself
was reproduced in the Apostle who was ministering to the Corinthian
believers (cf. Rom 9:1-3; 12:1-2; Phil 2:5-8; 3:7-9; Heb 10:4-7).
(Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 7, pp 104-106)
This writer: Argument
The penalty for sin is divinely quantified in the objective death of
Christ. Only God could pay the price of sin. The death of Christ becomes
qualitative, based on the character of Christ as the Righteousness of God,
only in the subjective determination that His death was truly
substitutional. In other words, when individual saving faith is given
divine permission to “appropriate” the value of His death in the
cancellation of penalty and the impartation of His Righteousness through
the gift of eternal life. The AMP Bible translation of 2 Corinthians 5:19-
21 reads: “It was God [personally present] in Christ, reconciling and
restoring the world to favor with Himself, not counting up and holding
against [men] their trespasses [but canceling them], and committing to us
the message of reconciliation (of the restoration to favor). So we are
Christ’s ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were through us. We
[as Christ’s personal representatives] beg you for His sake to lay hold of
the divine favor [now offered you] and be reconciled to God. For our
sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and
through Him we might become [endued with, viewed as being in, and
examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved
and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness].”
The life of Christ revealed the “eternal life” in Him that came from
the Father. The ransom for sin is not in Christ as an example or a lord,
but rather in the “death of Christ,” in the flesh that proves those who “do
not confess Jesus Christ come in the flesh” to be false teachers foretold
by Peter, “But false prophets arose among the [OT Jews before the
Captivities] people, just as there will be false teachers among you. These
false teachers will infiltrate your midst with destructive heresies, even to
the point of denying the Master who bought them. As a result, they will
bring swift destruction on themselves” (2 Pet 2:1 brackets mine).
Apostasy is predicted and the believer’s resource in understanding the
seriousness of a false gospel is given in God’s Word for the instruction of
His children. The Apostle Paul revealed in His last letter to his young co-
worker in Christ, Timothy, “This know also, that in the last days perilous
times shall come … Having a form of godliness, but denying the power
thereof: from such turn away ” (2 Tim 3:1, 5). Regarding 2 Timothy 3:1,
Dr. C. I. Scofield writes:
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(3:1) Apostasy, Summary: Apostasy, “falling away,” is the act of
professed Christians who deliberately reject revealed truth (1) as to
the deity of Jesus Christ, and (2) redemption through His atoning and
redeeming sacrifice (1 John 4:1-3; Phil 3:18; 2 Pet 2:1). Apostasy
differs therefore from error concerning truth, which may be the result
of ignorance (Acts 19:1-6), or heresy, which may be due to the snare
of Satan (2 Tim 2:25, 26), both of which may consist with true faith.
The apostate is perfectly described in 2 Tim 4:3, 4. Apostates depart
from the faith but not from the outward profession of Christianity
(3:5). Apostate teachers are described in 2 Tim 4:3; 2 Pet 2:1-19; Jude
4, 8, 11-13, 16. Apostasy in the church, as in Israel (Isa 1:5, 6, 5:5-7),
is irremediable, and awaits judgment (2 Thes 2:10-12; 2 Pet 2:17, 21;
Jude 11-15; Rev 3:14-16). (The Old Scofield Study System, pp 1280-
81)
Any gospel that does not present the correct God-man Jesus Christ
united to His Father and the Holy Spirit of God as the preexistent “only
begotten” and “first begotten” of many “regenerated” sons and daughters
is a psuedogospel. In this name “Jesus” is the original unique, one-of-a-
kind, heavenly man-Jesus and, first of many made into His image.
Herein, is the power and wisdom of God. The man-Jesus was resurrected
by the power of God and glorified. Only in that the man-Jesus was God,
the Word become flesh, may man be ransomed from the power of sin and
perfected into “His image.” Salvation at the moment of saving faith in
Jesus as Savior destroys the works of Satan against men, which is the
power of sin to condemn forever. “There is therefore now no
condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1). This is a
literal completed tense declaration. The immediately preceding passage,
gives full recognition to a sinning believer who still must struggle with a
sinful bend in their human nature: “Wretched man that I am! Who will
rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus
Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind,
but with my flesh I serve the law of sin” (Rom 7:24-25). Can a man
chosen by God as was Paul, admit his sinning flesh and, then, in his next
breath declare the security of his salvation - be a liar? The longer KJV
version of Romans 8:1, that suggests the self-maintenance of a
probationary salvation is a universally recognized scribal addition in the
textus receptus; the underlying Greek manuscript used in the KJV.
Rom 4:7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and
whose sins are covered;
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4:8 blessed is the one against whom the Lord will never count10
sin.” NET
10tn The verb translated “count” here is logivzomai (logizomai). It
occurs eight times in Rom 4:1-12, including here, each time with the
sense of “place on someone’s account.” By itself the word is neutral, but
in particular contexts it can take on a positive or negative connotation.
The other occurrences of the verb have been translated using a form of
the English verb “credit” because they refer to a positive event: the
application of righteousness to the individual believer. The use here in v.
8 is negative: the application of sin. A form of the verb “credit” was not
used here because of the positive connotations associated with that
English word, but it is important to recognize that the same concept is
used here as in the other occurrences.
Christianity, grace, and the Positive gospel are grounded upon the
principles of “imputation” (logizomai – Strong’s Concordance #3049).
The remedy for personal sin is the imputation of the righteousness of
Christ gained through imputed sin that has been judged and redeemed in
His substitutionary death. Stated very simply, a believer cannot go to
perdition as Christ has been there for all who believe. He has redeemed
all demerit for each and every child begotten by God. Christ also judged
the imputed sin of Adam in His death. The sinful bend in human nature is
real. The gospel reveals a twofold remedy for the inherited sin nature; the
cocrucifixion with Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit. Christ was
revealed to “destroy the works of the devil.” Dr. Lewis Chafer writes,
“Infinite favor is extended to those who come under the righteous
provisions for salvation made possible through Christ’s sacrifice for sin.
On this it may be remarked, that at no point is divine justice more
observable than in the plan of redemption. What is done on the divine
side for lost men through Christ’s sacrifice, is wrought in perfect justice
– such justice, indeed, as is consonant with infinite holiness. Justice
demands that the penalty, having fallen on Another and that benefit
having been embraced as the ground of hope by the offender, shall not
fall again upon the offender. Holiness dictates that there shall be no
leniency toward evil on the part of God. It is true that He considers our
frame and remembers that we are dust; but God never condones sin. God
is not said to be merciful or kind when He justifies the one who believes
on Christ; He is said to be just (Rom 3:26). To the same end, when
forgiving and cleansing the Christian who confesses his sin, God is said
to be faithful and just (1 John 1:9; cf. 1 Cor 11:31, 32).” 249
To simply boldly deny imputation is to leave no real necessity for the
death of Christ. To invent a probationary forgiveness, as in the
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Governmental theory - to censor the impartation of eternal life, the true
value of the finished work of the cross for complete forgiveness, and the
gift of the righteousness of Christ which is the ground of justification
(Rom 3:22, 26; 4:5; 10:4) - is apostate teaching grounded in a expurgated
NT that falls far short of half-truth. Additionally, to censor and obliterate
the glorified God-man Jesus Christ in His current session in heaven as
Advocate and Intercessor who secures the gift of eternal life against the
power of sin for each believer, is to deny, and not confess, that “Jesus is
the Christ” of Scriptural revelation. The Governmental theory depicts a
characterization of the redeeming value in the death of the God-man
Jesus and compounds this error with a prejudiced, biased, bigoted, and
intolerant assessment of the worthiness of the risen and glorified Christ.
This is the spirit of the antichrist: “every spirit that does not confess Jesus
as the Christ who has come in the flesh” (1 John 4:3).
The key thought is “my flesh,” as in “a body thou hast prepared for
me,” and typified in Abraham and Isaac, the son of Promise, on Mt.
Moriah, where the “ram caught in the thicket” was the substitute for the
life of Isaac. The scapegoat who took away sin. And sin is surely the
power of death that was given to Satan as a consequence of the one act of
Adam. Jesus was the substitute that takes away sin, “For my flesh is true
food, and my blood is true drink. The one who eats my flesh and drinks
my blood resides in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me,
and I live because of the Father, so the one who consumes me will live
because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not
like the bread your ancestors ate, but then later died. The one who eats
this bread will live forever.”” (John 6:55-58 NET). God the Father is the
source of eternal life.
James 1:16 Do not be led astray, my dear brothers and sisters. 1:17
All generous giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming
down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the
slightest hint of change. 1:18 By his sovereign plan he gave us birth
through the message of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of
all he created. NET
The following, though extended, is vital testimony to the veracity of
the gift of eternal life, of which God the Father is the source. Eternal life,
received by each believer, argues conclusively against the false negative
gospel that is devolved from the Governmental theory which denies the
gift of eternal life. This theory is well likened to a degeneration of the
gospel of the grace of God. On the doctrine of regeneration Dr. John
Walvoord gives witness.
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Dr. John F. Walvoord: Eternal Life
Few doctrines are more fundamental to effective preaching than
the doctrine of regeneration. Failure to comprehend its nature and to
understand clearly its necessity will cripple the efficacy of Gospel
preaching. Both for the Bible teacher and the evangelist an accurate
knowledge of the doctrine of regeneration is indispensable. The
Biblical concept of regeneration is comparatively simple, and a study
of its theological history is not entirely necessary to accurate
preaching. The history of the doctrine, however, reveals its pitfalls
and may warn the unwary of the dangers of a shallow understanding
of regeneration. The doctrine of regeneration offers a rich reward to
those who contemplate its treasures and live in the light of its reality.
… The word regeneration is found only twice in the New Testament
(Mt 19:28; Titus 3:5), but it has been appropriated as the general term
designating the impartation of eternal life. Only one of the two
instances in the New Testament is used in this sense (Titus 3:5),
where reference is made to “the washing of regeneration, and
renewing of the Holy Ghost.” The Greek word παλιενεσία is properly
translated “new birth, reproduction, renewal, re-creation” (Thayer).
It is applied not only to human beings but also to the renewed heaven
and earth of the millennium (Mt 19:28). In relation to the nature of
man, it includes the various expressions used fro eternal life such as
new life, new birth, spiritual resurrection, new creation, new mind,
“made alive,” sons of God, and translation into the kingdom. In
simple language, regeneration consists of all that is represented by
eternal life in a human being. Theological usage of the word
regeneration has tended to confuse rather than enrich the word.
Other words such as conversion, sanctification, and justification have
been either identified or included in the concept of regeneration.
Roman Catholic theologians have regarded regeneration as including
all that is embraced in salvation, not only justification and
sanctification, but even glorification. Regeneration is taken to include
the means, the act, the process, and the ultimate conclusion of
salvation. Protestant theologians have been more cautious in
extending the meaning of regeneration. The early Lutheran theo-
logians used regeneration to include the whole process by which a
sinner passed from his lost estate into salvation, including
justification. Later Lutherans attempted a clarification of the doctrine
by holding that justification did not include a transformation of life,
thereby excluding sanctification from the doctrine of regeneration.
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The Lutheran Church continues to hold that infants are regenerated at
the moment of water baptism, however, at the same time affirming
that this regeneration signifies only their entrance into the visible
church, not their certain salvation. Regeneration becomes then merely
a preparatory work of salvation. On the subject of infant regeneration,
the Lutheran theologian Valentine writes: “May the child be said to
be regenerated by the act of Baptism? We may properly answer,
Yes; but only in the sense that the established vital and grace-
conveying relation, under imputed righteousness and the Holy Spirit,
may be said to hold, in its provisions and forces, the final covenanted
development” (Christian Theology, Vol II, pp 329-30). Valentine
objects, however, to the statement that baptism regenerates children.
Elsewhere, Valentine writes, “Justification precedes regeneration and
sanctification” (Ibid, p 237). It is clear that Lutheran theology does
not use the term in the Biblical sense of impartation of eternal life.
The Lutheran theology does, however, exclude sanctification from the
doctrine of regeneration. Reformed theologians have failed to be
consistent in usage also, and have shared to some extent the errors
embraced by others. During the seventeenth century, conversion was
used commonly as a synonym for regeneration. This usage ignored a
most important fact, however – that conversion is the human act and
regeneration is an act of God. Further, conversion, while usually
related to regeneration, is not always so, as demonstrated by its use in
connection with Peter’s repentance and restoration (Lk 22:32), as
prophesied by Christ. Even Calvin failed to make a proper distinction
between regeneration and conversion. Charles Hodge, however,
argues effectively fro the necessary distinction in the meaning of the
terms (Systematic Theology, Vol III, pp 3-5). Shedd agrees with
Hodge and cites the following contrasts: “Regeneration, accordingly,
is an act; conversion is an activity, or a process. Regeneration is the
origination of life; conversion is the evolution and manifestation of
life. Regeneration is wholly an act of God, conversion is wholly an
activity of man. Regeneration is a cause; conversion is an effect.
Regeneration is instantaneous; conversion is continuous” (Dogmatic
Theology, Vol II, p 494). For the last century, Reformed theologians
have agreed that regeneration properly designates the act of
impartation of eternal life. As Charles Hodge states it: “By a consent
almost universal the word regeneration is now used to designate, not
the whole work of sanctification, nor the first states of that work
comprehended in conversion, much less justification or any mere
external change of state, but the instantaneous change from spiritual
death to spiritual life” (Op. cit., Vol III, p. 5). In a study of the
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doctrine of regeneration, then, the inquirer is concerned only with the
aspect of salvation related to the impartation of eternal life. Other
important works which may attend it, be antecedent to it, or
immediately follow it, must be considered as distinct acts of God.
Regeneration by its very nature is solely a work of God. While
sometimes considered as a result, every instance presumes or states
that the act of regeneration was an act of God. A number of important
Scriptures bear on the subject of regeneration (John 1:13; 3:3-7; 5:21;
Rom 6:13; 2 Cor 5:17; Eph 2:5, 10; 4:24; Titus 3:5; Jas 1:18; 1 Pet
2:9).It is explicitly stated that the one regenerated is “born, not of
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God”
(John 1:13). Regeneration is likened unto resurrection, which by its
nature is wholly of God (John 5:21; Rom 6:13; Eph 2:5). In other
instances regeneration is declared to be a creative act, the nature of
which assumes it to be the act of God (Eph 2:10; 4:24; 2 Cor 5:17). It
may be seen clearly, then, that regeneration is always revealed as an
act of God accomplished by His own supernatural power apart from
all other agencies. The work of regeneration is properly ascribed to
the Holy Spirit. Like the work of efficacious grace, regeneration is
often ascribed to God without distinctions as to Persons, and in
several instances is ascribed to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy
Spirit severally. The First Person is declared to be the source of
regeneration in at least one instance (Jas 1:17, 18). Christ Himself is
linked with regeneration several times in Scripture (John 5:21; 2 Cor
5:17; 1 John 5:12). Again, the Holy Spirit is declared the agent of
regeneration (John 3:3-7; Titus 3:5). As in other great undertakings of
the Godhead, each Person has an important part, in keeping with
Their essence. As in the birth of Christ, where all the Persons of the
Godhead were related to the conception of Christ, so in the new birth
of the Christian the First Person becomes the Father of the believer,
the Second person imparts His own eternal life (1 John 5:12), and the
Holy Spirit, the Third Person, as the efficient agent of regeneration.
The work of regeneration can be assigned to the Holy Spirit as
definitely as the work of salvation can be assigned to Christ. …
As the word itself implies, the central thought in the doctrine of
regeneration is that eternal life is imparted. Regeneration meets the
need created by the presence of spiritual death. The method of
impartation is, of course, inscrutable. There is no visible method or
process discernable. By its nature it is supernatural and therefore its
explanation is beyond human understanding. The Scriptures in
presenting the impartation of eternal life use three figures to describe
it. Regeneration is sometimes presented in the figure of new birth. As
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Christ told Nicodemas, “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7). In
contrast to human birth of human parentage, one must be born “of
God” (John 1:13) in order to become a child of God. According to
James 1:18, “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that
we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures.” The figure is
eloquent in portraying the intimate relation of the child of God to his
heavenly Father and in relating the kind of life the believer in Christ
receives to the eternal life which is in God. Frequently in Scripture,
regeneration is portrayed as spiritual resurrection. The Christian is
revealed to be “alive from the dead” (Rom 6:13), and God “even
when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ”
(Eph 2:5). Christ Himself said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The
hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the
Son of God: and they that hear shall live” (John 5:25). The fact of our
resurrection is made the basis for frequent exhortation to live as those
raised from the dead (Rom 6:13; Eph 2:5, 6; Col 2:12; 3:1, 2).
Regeneration is also presented in the figure of creation or re-creation.
We are “created in Christ Jesus unto good works” (Eph 2:10), and
exhorted to “put on the new man, which after God is created in
righteousness and true holiness” (Eph 4:24). The revelation of 2
Corinthians 5:17 is explicit, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are
become new.” The figure of creation indicates that regeneration is
creative in its nature and results in a fundamental change in the
individual, a new nature being added with its new capacities. The
individual becomes part of the New Creation which includes all the
regenerated ones of this dispensation and Christ its Head. The new
life given to the Christian is manifested in the new capacities and
activities found only in those regenerated, forming the source and
foundation of all other divine ministry to the saved. The important
fact, never to be forgotten in the doctrine of regeneration, is that the
believer in Christ has received eternal life. This fact must be kept free
from all confusion of thought arising from the concept of regeneration
which makes it merely an antecedent of salvation, or a preliminary
quickening to enable the soul to believe. It is rather the very heart of
salvation. It reaches the essential problem of absence of eternal life
without which no soul can spend eternity in the presence of God.
Regeneration supplies this lack of eternal life as justification and
sanctification deal with the problem of sin specifically. It is a
smashing blow to all philosophies which hold that man has inherent
capacities of saving himself. Regeneration is wholly of God. No
possible human effort however noble can supply eternal life. The
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proper doctrine of regeneration gives to God all glory and power due
His name, and at the same time it displays His abundant provision for
a race dead in sin. …
Until the matter has been considered carefully, it is a striking
thought regeneration is not experimental. In Christian testimony,
much has been said of the experience of regeneration. If regeneration
is instantaneous and an act of divine will, it follows that regeneration
in itself is not experimental. It may be conceded freely that abundant
experimental phenomena follow the act of new birth. The experiences
of a normal Spirit-filled Christian may immediately ensue upon new
birth. This fact does not alter the non-experimental character of
regeneration. If it be admitted that regeneration is an instantaneous
act of God, it is logically impossible for it to be experimental, in that
experience involves time and sequence of experience. It may be
concluded, therefore, that no sensation attends the act of new birth, all
experience proceeding rather from the accomplished regeneration and
springing from the new life as its source. In the nature of the case, we
cannot experience what is not true, and regeneration must be entirely
wrought before experience can be found. While the regenerated soul
may become immediately conscious of new life, the act of
regeneration itself is not subject to experience or analysis, being the
supernatural instantaneous act of God. The non-experimental nature
of regeneration if comprehended would do much to deliver the
unsaved from the notion that an experience of some sort is antecedent
to salvation, and in turn, it would prevent those seeking to win souls
of expecting in partial form the fruits of salvation before regeneration
takes place. The popular notion that one must feel different before
being saved has prevented many from the simplicity of faith in Christ
and the genuine regeneration that God alone can effect. The non-
experimental nature of regeneration has also, unfortunately, has
opened the door for infant regeneration as held by the Lutheran
Church. It is argued that if regeneration is not experimental, there is
no valid reason why infants cannot be regenerated. Even Shedd
approves the idea infant regeneration on the ground that regeneration
is not experimental in the following statement: “Regeneration is a
work of God in the human soul that is below consciousness. There is
no internal sensation caused by it. No man was ever conscious of that
instantaneous act of the Holy Spirit by which he was made a new
creature in Christ Jesus. And since the work is that of God alone,
there is no necessity that man should be conscious of it. …” (Op. cit.,
Vol II, pp 505-6). It is doubtful if any of the proof texts offered by
Shedd really prove infant regeneration. While it is true that many
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Christians never know a crisis-experience to which the act of new
birth may be traced, there is no certain Scripture warrant for affirming
infant regeneration, at least in the present age. The normal pattern for
regeneration is that it occurs at the moment of saving faith. No appeal
is ever addressed to men that they should believe because they are
already regenerated. It is rather that they should believe and receive
eternal life. Christians are definitely told that before they accepted
Christ they were “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph 2:1). The case of
those who die before they reach the age of responsibility is a different
problem. The proper position seems to be that infants are regenerated
at the moment of their death, not before, and if they live to maturity,
they are regenerated at the moment they accept Christ. Infant baptism,
certainly, is not efficacious in effecting regeneration, and the
Reformed position is in contrast to the Lutheran on this point. The
doctrine of infant regeneration, if believed, so confuses the doctrine
as to rob it of all its decisive character. No one should be declared
regenerated who cannot be declared saved for all eternity. …
The work of regeneration is tremendous in its implications. A soul
with once dead spirit has received the eternal life that characterizes
the very life of God. The effect of regeneration is summed up in the
fact of possession of eternal life. All other results of regeneration are
actually an enlargement of the fact of eternal life. While life itself is
difficult to define, and eternal life is immaterial, certain qualities
belong to anyone who is regenerated in virtue of the fact that eternal
life abides in him.
In the nature of eternal life, it involves first of all the creation of a
divine nature in the regenerated person. Without eradicating the old
nature with its capacity and will for sin, the new nature has in it the
longing for God and His will that we could expect would ensue from
eternal life. The presence of the new nature constitutes a fundamental
change in the person which is denominated “creation” (2 Cor 5:17;
Gal 6:15) and “new man” (Eph 4:24). A drastic change in manner of
life, attitude toward God and to the things of God, and in the desires
of the human heart may be expected in one receiving the new nature.
The new nature which is a part of regeneration should not be
confused with the sinless nature of Adam before the fall. Adam’s
nature was a human nature untried and innocent of sin. It did not have
as its source and determining its nature the eternal life which is
bestowed on a regenerated person. The human nature of Adam was
open to sin and temptation and was peccable. It is doubtful whether
the divine nature bestowed in connection with regeneration is ever
involved directly in sin. While the Scriptures are clear that a
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regenerated person can sin, and does sin, the lapse is traced to the sin
nature, even though the act is that of the whole person. This must not
be confused with various statements to the effect that a Christian can
be sinless or unable to sin. The state of sinless perfection can never be
reached until the sin nature is cast out, and this is accomplished only
through the death of the physical body or the transformation of the
body without death at the rapture. Even the new nature, though never
the origin of sin, does not have the ability sufficient to conquer the
old nature. The power for victory lies in the indwelling presence of
God. The new nature provides a will to do the will of God, and the
power of God provides the enablement to accomplish this end in spite
of the innate sinfulness of the sin nature. The state of being in the will
of God is reached when the will of the new nature is fully realized.
Eternal life and the new nature are inseparably united, the nature
corresponding to the life which brings it into being.
While regeneration in itself is not experimental, it is the fountain
of experience. The act of impartation of eternal life being
instantaneous cannot be experienced, but the presence of eternal life
after regeneration is the source of the new spiritual experience which
might be expected. New life brings with it new capacity. The person
who before regeneration was dead spiritually and blind to spiritual
truth now becomes alive to a new world of reality. As a blind man for
the first time contemplates the beauty of color and perspective when
sight is restored, so the new-born soul contemplates new revelation of
spiritual truth. For the first time he is able he is able to understand the
teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit. He is able now to enjoy the
intimacies of fellowship with God and freedom in prayer. As his life
is under the control of the Holy Spirit, he is able to manifest the fruit
of the Spirit, utterly foreign to the natural man. His whole being has
new capacities for joy and sorrow, love, peace, guidance, and all the
host of realities in the spiritual world. While regeneration is not an
experience, it is the foundation for all Christian experience. This at
once demands that regeneration be inseparable from salvation, and
that regeneration manifest itself in the normal experiences of a
yielded Christian life. Regeneration that does not issue into Christian
experience may be questioned.
One of the many reasons for confusion in the doctrine of regen-
eration is the attempt to avoid the inevitable conclusion that a soul
once genuinely regenerated is saved forever. The bestowal of eternal
life cannot be revoked. It declares the unchangeable purpose of God
to bring the regenerated person to glory. Never in the Scriptures do
we find anyone regenerated a second time. While Christians may lose
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much of a normal Christian experience through sin, and desperately
need confession and restoration, the fact of regeneration does not
change. In the last analysis, the experiences of this life are only
antecedent to the larger experiences the regenerated person will have
after deliverance from the presence and temptation of sin.
Regeneration will have its ultimate display when the person
regenerated is completely sanctified and glorified. Our present
experiences, limited as they are by the presence of a sinful nature and
sinful body, are only a partial portrayal of the glories of eternal life.
Through the experiences of life, however, the fact of regeneration
should be a source of constant hope and abiding confidence “that he
which hath begun a good work … will perform it until the day of
Jesus Christ” (Phil 1:16). – The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, Dr. John
F. Walvoord, pp 140-151 (cited in Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis
Chafer, Vol 6, pp 114-21)
This writer: Argument
The Rectoral or Governmental theory for the necessity of the
atonement claims as “the gospel” - that the “flesh” and “blood” of Christ
did not, and could not redeem or ransom, nor pay the price in full for all
sin – once and for all the world - but that sin may be forgiven (passed
over) because He freed the Father’s salutary rights as the benevolent
Ruler over His properly penitent subjects. Christ Himself would declare
the gift of eternal life and respond to that claim by saying, ““The Spirit is
the one who gives life; human nature is of no help! The words that I have
spoken to you are spirit and are life”” (John 6:63 NET). Dr. John
MacArthur writes: “There is obviously such a thing as relative human
goodness. Many unbelievers live on a high moral plane compared to
most people. But that is not the kind of goodness that satisfies God,
because nothing is truly good that is done for any motive other than His
glory and done in any power but His own. Everything that is done in the
flesh can only serve the flesh and is by nature tainted with imperfection
and self-interest. It cannot be done out of the only right motive, that of
pleasing and glorifying God. Whether done to impress others with one’s
goodness, to react to peer pressure, to alleviate guilt feelings, or simply
to feel better about oneself, anything that is not done for God and
through His power is basically sinful and unacceptable to Him – no
matter how outwardly good and self-sacrificial it may appear to be.”250
If you will, think back and hold the thought of “Rulership” and
salutary rights alleged to God in the words of Dr. John Miley, and then
turn them in your mind. How might they weigh against the forty effects
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of grace declared by God? How do the two differing external, revealed
natures of God compare - the one to the other? “I tell you the solemn
truth, the one who believes has eternal life” (John 6:47 NET).
To obey the Negative gospel for the forgiveness of personal sins is to
enter into idolatry. The idolatry of excessive admiration of one’s own
“nature” to replace the “flesh of Christ” in an effort to secure salvation.
In Arminian theology, the only distinction drawn between the saved and
the unsaved is willpower. This is a Christianity that is made to be a
“your” and “my” Christianity, in contradiction to the unity of eternal life
in one faith, one baptism, one mystical Body of Christ, one Spirit that
indwells and seals all Christians “until the day of redemption,” and the
one Father of all who are in Christ.
1 John 5:18 We know that everyone fathered by God does not sin,
but God protects the one he has fathered, and the evil one cannot
touch him. 5:19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world
lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God
has come and has given us insight to know him who is true, and we
are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This one is the true
God and eternal life. 5:21 Little children, guard yourselves from
idols.53 NET
sn The modern reader may wonder what all this has to do with idolatry.
In the author’s mind, to follow the secessionist opponents with their false
Christology would amount to idolatry, since it would involve worshiping
a false god instead of the true God, Jesus Christ. Thus guard yourselves
from idols means for the readers to guard themselves against the
opponents and their teaching.
R. E. Brown – These last words of I John present us with a final
obscurity. The definite article implies that the writer was quite clear
about which idols he meant, but interpreters are in complete disarray
in reading his mind. … (10) Under idolatry there may be a reference
to the secession from the Community, which has led former brothers
to a different understanding of God reflected in Christ (Balz,
Houlden, Ska, B. Weiss) and to underplaying the importance of moral
behavior in their own lives – a secession that makes them children of
the devil. … (Indeed, as a deduction from such expressions D. N.
Freedman suggests that “idols” came to designate the people who
pursued such idolatry [Jer 2:5], i.e., the secessionist themselves.)
Some scholars who hold (8) above cite these texts as showing that
idols are the equivalent of sins, but the sins are idolatrous precisely
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because they lead the person out of the Community. The several
references to a “stumbling block” alongside “idols” are interesting in
light of the use of the same term in I John 2:10 in the dualism
between the Community and the secessionist, between those who love
their brothers and those who do not. Elsewhere, a NT passage (II Cor
6:14-7:1), which has been regarded as a quotation from a (lost)
Qumran writing, lines up on one side righteousness, light, Christ, and
God; and on the other side iniquity, darkness, Belair, and idols. The
terms “iniquity,” “darkness,” and “Evil One [= Belair]” are associated
with the secessionist in I John, and so it is logical that the “idols” of
5:21 share this association. … In my judgment interpretation (10)
makes perfect sense … it connects 5:21 tightly to the mention of sin,
the Evil One and the world in 5:18-19. rather than demanding any
extraneous guesses about the identity of the audience or the
adversaries, this interpretation relies on information supplied by I
John itself, namely, that there are false prophets and liars who have
left the Community because they have a false notion of Jesus Christ,
and who, because they do not possess Jesus Christ, do not know or
possess God. They belong to the world and seek by their teaching to
seduce the author’s adherents. The warning “Guard your selves
against idols” resembles other I John warnings: “Have no love for the
world” (2:15); “You have no need for anyone to teach you” (2:27);
“Do not believe every Spirit; rather put these Spirits to a test to see
which one belongs to God” (4:1). The examples cited under (10)
make it clear that, in speaking of joining the secession and accepting
its theology as “going after idols,” the author would have been
intelligible to a Christian Community whose language and thought
had Jewish parallels – a background we have found in both GJohn
and I John.251
John 1:4 In him was life,8 and the life was the light of mankind. NET
8tn John uses zwhv (zwh) 37 times: 17 times it occurs with
aijwvnio" (aiwnios), and in the remaining occurrences outside the
prologue it is clear from context that “eternal” life is meant. The two uses
in 1:4, if they do not refer to “eternal” life, would be the only exceptions.
(Also 1 John uses zwhv 13 times, always of “eternal” life.)
To believe in Christ for a salvation from the ruined estate and destiny
of all mankind, a salvation man could never earn in any given number of
lifetimes, is to understand and obey the gospel of the grace of God that
rests upon the “Lamb that was slain for the sins of the world.” The Lamb
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who died to redeem all sin and gives the “free gift” of the righteousness
of God and eternal life that is “life more abundantly” is not the same
Lamb who died to release His Father that men may be forgiven of past
personal sin for a future chance try at salvation. Additionally, the thirty-
three immediate and seven future divine transformations wrought upon
the individual, combined with the present and ongoing ministries of
Christ and the Spirit of God, forever sustain and change that individual.
“For this is the will of my Father—for everyone who looks on the Son
and believes in him to have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last
day” (John 6:40 NET). Eternal life that is given to each believer has its
origin in eternity and its primary importance cannot be overemphasized,
nor overstated. It is a gift of divine grace received through trust in God,
the eternally begotten Son, from the eternally existing God the Father
who is the revealed source of eternal life in the Godhead. Concerning
the gift of eternal life, Dr. Lewis Chafer testifies.
Dr. Lewis Chafer: eternal life
Life represents something mysterious and undefined, but more
especially that which is conscious, energy, and existence. … Life is
that which gives sensation to the whole body whereby all functions of
the body continue in their orchestration. With the passing of life,
however, every function of the natural body ceases.
From a Biblical viewpoint, life may signify: (1) that which is
natural and animal or (2) what is divine and eternal.
1. NATURAL. This form of life is subject to death and is derived by
human generation. It is nevertheless endless in every human being,
that is to say, a continuing on forever in the future of everyone born
into this world. Natural life has a beginning, but no end.
2. ETERNAL. This priceless treasure, which is the gift of God,
should not be confused with the mere endless existence which all
possess. It is a life added to that which has been experienced before
by itself. Christ said: “I am come that they might have life, and that
they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). This life is no less
than “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27). It comes free
because a gift of His love. It at once relates the one who has received
it to God and to things eternal. Christ likened it to a birth from above
(John 3:3, R.V. margin) “for those which were born … of God” (John
1:13).
Thus, all depends upon receiving Christ and being saved through
Him. John has said so again: “He that hath the Son hath life; and he
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that hath not the Son hath not life” (1 John 5:12). (Systematic
Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 7, pp 226-27.)
Under this general theme consideration is properly given to
eternity itself, eternity in relation to God, to time, and to “the gift of
God [which] is eternal life.”
1. DEFINITION. No thought ever confronts the finite mind which is
less intelligible than that of eternity, and it is probable the idea that
eternity will never end is more comprehensible than that it never had
a beginning. In fact, the human mind cannot grasp the extent of that
which is eternal. Philosophers and theologians alike have met with
defeat when attempting to portray eternity. A slight increase of
apprehension may be secured when it is contemplated in its relation
to the eternal God.
2. IN RELATION TO GOD. Little will be gained in attempting to
contemplate eternity as a mere negative idea, the absence of time. It is
best considered as the mode of existence of the eternal God.
Abundant testimony has been given in the Scriptures respecting the
eternal character of God. He is never presented in the Bible as
circumscribed by time. He may conform to time with its character of
successions, but His own mode of existence is from everlasting to
everlasting. He is Sovereign Designer and Ruler over all ages of
time. Referring to Christ as very God and Creator of all things,
Hebrews 1:2 declares that He programmed the ages. There is no
reference here to Christ as Creator of material things, as later in verse
10, but rather to the fact He originated and ordered the progression of
all time periods. The mode of existence which belongs to God is
fundamental and basal, compared to which any other manner of
existence such as that related to time may be considered something
unusual or exceptional. To the finite creature, however, who is homed
in time there is no other fashion of life than his own which is
comprehensible to him. Such natural limitations should not blind the
mind to divine revelation or to those conclusions which may be
reached at least by the help of reason. It should be recognized that
there are other modes of existence than that which is related to time,
even those these cannot be comprehended in their essential features.
An eternal existence belongs to the Creator; hence to that mode of life
alone belongs ascendancy and supremacy. Thus the occurrence of a
period of time with its finite creatures and its successions is properly
to be rated as exceptional or inferior.
3. IN RELATION TO TIME. The prevalent notion that time
represents an intercalation which has interrupted the flow of eternity,
that it is “a narrow neck of land between two shoreless seas of
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eternity,” seems much at fault. Such a conception involves the
absurdity that eternity too may have a beginning and an ending.
Whatever time may be and whatever its relation to eternity, it must be
maintained that no cessation of eternity has occurred or will. God’s
mode of existence remains unchanged. Time might be thought of as
something superimposed upon eternity were it not that there is ground
for question whether eternity consists of a succession of events, as is
true of time. The consciousness of God is best conceived as being an
all-inclusive comprehension at once, covering all that has been or will
be. The attempt to bring time with its successions into a parallel with
eternity or to give time the character of a segment in the course of
eternity is to misconceive the most essential characteristic of eternal
things.
4. ETERNAL LIFE. A sharp distinction must be made between
human existence which by its nature continues forever and the gift of
God which is eternal life. In the last analysis, humanity is not wholly
conformed to time. Every human being will be living on forever, even
after it has been decreed that time shall be no more. Thus humanity
intrudes into eternity and must, in the end, conform to the eternal
mode of existence. Each human being has a beginning. Each human
being, however, has no end of his existence. In this respect he is to
some extent like God. That human beings have no end is a solemn
thought; but on those who receive God’s gift of eternal life the very
life of God is bestowed. That life is partaking of the divine nature. It
is no less than “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Thus by
regeneration all who believe become possessors of that which in God
is itself eternal. In 1 Corinthians 13:12 it is declared, accordingly, that
the believer will one day know even as he has been known of God,
that is, the finite mind will be superceded by the mind of God. Even
now it is said that he has the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16). Little,
indeed, may be anticipated respecting the coming transcendent
experience of those who now possess eternal life when they shall
enter into the experience of eternal life in full. (Systematic Theology,
Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 7, pp 140-142)
This writer: Argument
The Governmental theory may only offer a limited and probationary
salvation based on the merits of future behavior after saving faith. For
this reason,252 Arminianism denies the impartation of eternal life and, the
subsequent transformations, to create a false theory of atonement that
fulfills all the limited requirements that religious humanism would
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demand. Is-ra-el means “a child of God” born into the relationship of the
old covenant of Mosaic Law that was fulfilled and completed on the
cross. Under the new covenant “made in the blood of Christ,” unless one
is irreversibly begotten by God - born from above with the seed of God
abiding - one is not a Christian and remains condemned to the everlasting
destruction of the Sons of Disobedience.
Why is the Governmental theory so dangerous? Because it is more
deadly than any living threat. It is deadly as nothing else can be, to those
who are the closest, but as far away as any non-believer, to true
Christianity. This theory denies that all souls who believe the Truth
become eternally joined to the Truth. This theory denies that Love has
manifested this Truth, by an act of divine Justice. The Negative gospel
will blind the religious unsaved from the truth of a Christian birthright.
The Arminian doctrine contained in the Governmental theory is not an
interpretation of phenomena in the NT. There are no intrinsic rules to say
that fiction cannot be logical, nor rational. Jesus declared this to be true
when He said to His disciples, “Then the disciples came to him and said,
“Do you know that when the Pharisees heard this saying they were
offended?” And he replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father did not
plant will be uprooted. Leave them! They are blind guides. If someone
who is blind leads another who is blind, both will fall into a pit.” (Mtw
15:12-14). The “phenomenon” in this passage from the NT can be
“observed,” time and again, in the OT warnings that foretold the future
destruction of the Northern and Southern Kingdoms of Israel. These
warnings were given by the prophets of God before the Jewish
Captivities actually occurred. These prophets were the foreshadowing of
the great Prophet – Jesus Christ. The false prophets in the Northern and
Southern kingdoms invariably opposed “the message” and incited with
“peeps and murmurs” the persecution of God’s anointed prophets who
“foamed at the mouth” when caught up in the power of the Spirit
declaring, “Thus saith the Lord.”
The gospel of the grace of God, when evaluated in its proper place, is
the most worthy birthright on earth. There is no larger inheritance, no
family more esteemed, and no greater good than the “eternal life” that is
the very nature of God. Raymond Brown writes: “In many ways, then,
high christology was an identity factor in the Johannine Community over
against Jews and various Christian groups. Theologically, it was the
cornerstone of Johannine soteriology: If Jesus had not come forth from
God, he could not have brought eternal life, which was God’s own life,
and Christians would not be God’s children (3:13,16; 6:57; 1:12-13).” 253
How then may one believe in Jesus for this birthright if the wrong
message concerning Jesus is preached?: “And how are they to preach
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unless they are sent? As it is written, “How timely is the arrival of those
who proclaim the good news.” But not all have obeyed the good news,
for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report [message]?”
Consequently faith comes from what is heard, …” (Rom 10:15-17ff,
brackets mine). The message of Isaiah 53:1 is here taken to be prophetic
of “obey the gospel;” the one command of God incumbent upon the
unsaved.i The last words in verse 17 contain an anomaly. True saving
faith may only come from the “spoken words of Christ.” The NET
translation notes read: “20tn … (rJhma), which often (but not
exclusively) focuses on the spoken word. 21tn … Internal evidence is
also on its side, for the expression rJh'ma Cristou' (rJhma
Cristou) occurs nowhere else in the NT; thus scribes would be prone to
change it to a known expression.” The last words in the NET translation
are: “and what is heard comes through the preached word20 of
Christ.21.” The AMP Bible reads: “and what is heard comes by the
preaching [of the message that came from the lips] of Christ (the Messiah
Himself)” (10:17ff). The KJV simply reads: “and hearing by the word of
God.” The NASB reads: “and hearing by the word of Christ.” It is
commonly conceived that this verse means simply anything in the “word
of God.” My proposal is the verse is far from nonspecific. If a gospel
message cannot be reconciled with and is not faithful to the words of
Jesus in the Gospel of John, specifically written to prove “Jesus is the
Christ” so “… that through believing and cleaving to and trusting and
relying upon Him you may have life through (in) His name [through
Who He is]” (AMP 20:31ff) - that gospel message is unfaithfully
misleading to the point of being ineffective for salvation. In 1 John the
author is warning those who remain faithful to the “commandment they
had heard from the beginning” not to pray for the group that had “went
out from among them,” those who “did not love their [Christian]
brother.” He writes: “There is a sin resulting in death. I do not say that he
should ask [pray] about that” (5:16). Raymond Brown writes in his
commentary on 1 John:
Among the parallels between 1 Peter and this unit of 1 John (p.
422), we find in 1 Peter 2:9 that Christians have been “called out of
darkness into God’s marvelous light.” Since “world,” “death,”
“darkness,” and “hatred” cover virtually the same realm, it was
probably part of the common Christian baptismal teaching that
i iv
covered extensively in Book One – Glorious Grace (see Appendix – Obey the
Gospel Verses).
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Christians had passed into a realm of life, light, and love in Christ.i
The fulfillment of the basic commandment or wordii to love was an
excellent criterion of whether one had truly made such a passage,
because that commandment was so stressed at one’s entrance from
the world into the New Covenant. Notice the contrast in Jesus’ prayer
to His Father in John 14:14: “I have given to them your word, and the
world has hated them because they do not belong to the world” (also
15:18-19). In the epistolary author’s mind may be Jesus’ saying
(5:24), “The man who hears my word and has faith in Him who sent
me … has passed from death to life”; for in 1 John 3:23 the author
will interpret the commandment (or word) as both faith and love.
But does not the charge, “The person who does not love remains
in the abode of death” (3:14c), challenge my contention that the
author is referring to the secessionist? Should he not have said that
they (the secessionist) have committed the sin that is unto death (to be
mentioned below in 5:16-17) and so have passed from life to death?
This objection overlooks two aspects of the author’s thought. First, it
is not clear that in Johannine theology one can lose eternal life (zōē),
iii
for by its very nature “life” abides. This means that the sin unto
death may not be a sin which has the power to take away life, but a
sin of unbelief which reveals that one never had life. iv Second, in the
author’s thought, the secessionist (despite appearances) never really
belonged to the Community (2:19b) and so never had received life.
They turned away from the light because their deeds were evil (John
3:20), just as Cain’s deeds were evil (1 John 3:12d); and their failure
to love, exhibited in murderous hate of their brothers, illustrates that
they do not have life abiding in them (3:15). (The Anchor Bible - The
Epistles of John, Dr. R. E. Brown, pp 472-73)
The OT Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O Israel” is considered to
be the central theme of the Jewish faith. There is a curious similarity to
the NT Johannine formula of faith – Jesus is the Christ. There is a
striking example of this which goes much deeper than the typical
i
“While 1 John 3:14a speaks of our passing from death to life, John 13:1 speaks of
Jesus passing from this world to the Father.”
ii
“For the interchangeability of “word” and “commandment,” see the end of the
Note on 2:3b.”
iii
“The Johannine writings psychē, “soul, life,” 13 times in the context of losing or
giving up one’s life, but never zōē. Jesus says in John 11:26: “Everyone who is alive
[verb related to zōē] … shall never die at all.””
“One is not to pray fro the one who has committed the sin unto death (5:16), and
the Johannine Jesus prays only for believers (John 17:9,20).”
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conception of a “doubting Thomas.” The OT names of God Yahweh
[Jehovah] and Elohim are important considerations. Dr. Lewis Chafer
writes:
The doctrine of God in the Old Testament is set forth in three
primary names which He bears. These are:
1. EL, meaning strength, and its two cognates - Elah, meaning a
covenant keeping God, and Elohim, a plural name that is used
constantly as if a singular grammatical form. It seems evident that the
doctrine of the Trinity is foreshadowed in this plural name. The one
passage – Deuteronomy 6:4 – is most revealing and might be trans-
lated: “Jehovah [a singular form] our Elohim [a plural] is one
Jehovah.” The word for one here may signify an integration of
constituent parts as for instance when it is said, “And the evening and
the morning … one day,” “And they [two] shall be one flesh” (Gen
1:5; 2:24).
Many modern scholars assert that the plural form of Elohim does
not intimate the Trinity. Oehler, for one, asserts that it is a case for the
plural of majesty – some kind of attempt to multiply the force of the
title. However, he gives no sufficient reason, nor do others succeed in
proving that a trinitarian thought is not present. It all seems, then, to
be a form of unbelief. The Old Testament certainly does not lack for
emphasis upon the majesty of God. …
2. JEHOVAH. The meaning of this term is ‘Self-Existent One.’ As
an exalted title it was so sacred to the Jew that use of it was avoided
by the people for many generations. The moral implications of God
seen in this name are dwelt upon by T. Rees in his article “God”
written fro the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia:
The most distinctive characteristic of Jehovah, which finally rendered
Him and His religion absolutely unique, was the moral factor. In saying
that Jehovah was a moral God, it is meant that He acted by free choice, in
conformity with ends which He set to Himself, and which He also
imposed upon His worshippers as their law of conduct.
The essential condition of a moral nature is found in His vivid
personality, which at every stage of His self-revelation shines forth with
an intensity that might be called aggressive. Divine personality and
spirituality are never expressly asserted or defined in the Old Testament;
but nowhere in the history of religion are they more clearly asserted. The
modes of their expression are, however, qualified by anthropo-
morphisms, by limitations, moral and physical Jehovah’s jealousy (Ex.
20:5; Deut. 5:9; 6:15), His wrath and anger (Ex. 32:10-12; Deut. 7:4) and
His inviolable holiness (Ex. 19:21-22; 1 Sam. 6:19; 2 Sam. 6:7) appear
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sometimes to be irrational and immoral; but they are the assertion of His
individual nature, of His self-consciousness as He distinguishes Himself
from all else, in the moral language of the time, and are the conditions of
His having any moral nature whatsoever. Likewise, He dwells in a place
and moves from it (Judg. 5:5); men may see Him in visible form (Ex.
24:10; Num. 12:8); He is always represented as having organs like those
of the human body, arms, hands, feet, mouth, eyes, and ears. By such
sensuous and figurative language alone was it possible for a personal
God to make Himself known to men. – II,1256
3. ADONAI, meaning ‘Master’; used of God and of men.
The New Testament presents God as Father of all who believe and
as one to be known through His personal interrelations. The name of
God in the New Testament is again a threefold revelation: Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. Not just one of these but all are required to
present the one God.
Though God exists in a threefold mode of being, He is represented
in the New Testament as one God, and so the Christian is as much
under obligation to defend the doctrine of one God as the Unitarian,
the Jew, or the Mohammedan. (Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis
Chafer, Vol 7, pp173-75)
The Apostle Thomas, in a significant passage that illustrates what the
OT Jew, who was raised with reciting the Shema three times daily,
would realize as primary when coming to faith in Christ – the plurality
and the unity of the onliness of God.
John 20:28 Thomas replied to him, “My Lord and my God!”52 NET
52sn Should Thomas’ exclamation be understood as two subjects with
the rest of the sentence omitted (“My Lord and my God has truly risen
from the dead”), as predicate nominatives (“You are my Lord and my
God”), or as vocatives (“My Lord and my God!”)? Probably the most
likely is something between the second and third alternatives. It seems
that the second is slightly more likely here, because the context appears
confessional. Thomas’ statement, while it may have been an exclamation,
does in fact confess the faith which he had previously lacked, and Jesus
responds to Thomas’ statement in the following verse as if it were a
confession. With the proclamation by Thomas here, it is difficult to see
how any more profound analysis of Jesus’ person could be given. It
echoes 1:1 and 1:14 together: The Word was God, and the Word became
flesh (Jesus of Nazareth). The Fourth Gospel opened with many other
titles for Jesus: the Lamb of God (1:29, 36); the Son of God (1:34, 49);
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Rabbi ; Messiah ; the King of Israel ; the Son of Man . Now the climax is
reached with the proclamation by Thomas, “My Lord and my God,” and
the reader has come full circle from 1:1, where the author had introduced
him to who Jesus was, to 20:28, where the last of the disciples has come
to the full realization of who Jesus was. What Jesus had predicted in John
8:28 had come to pass: “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will
know that I am he” (Grk “I am”). By being lifted up in crucifixion (which
led in turn to his death, resurrection, and exaltation with the Father) Jesus
has revealed his true identity as both Lord (kuvrio" [kurios], used by
the LXX to translate Yahweh) and God (qeov" [qeos], used by the LXX
to translate Elohim).
The confession of faith from Thomas came only as a response to a
command from Jesus, “Do not continue in your unbelief, but believe”
John 20:27ff). On resurrection Sunday, eight days prior to the confession
of faith by Thomas, Jesus had breathed “eternal life” into the ten
Apostles who believed - only after seeing Him.
John 20:19-22 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week,
the disciples had gathered together and locked the doors of the place
because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Jesus came and stood
among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had
said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples
rejoiced when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, “Peace
be with you. Just as the Father has sent me, I also send you.” And
after he said this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy
Spirit.37 NET
37sn He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” The use
of the Greek verb breathed on (ejmfusavw, emfusaw) to describe the
action of Jesus here recalls Gen 2:7 in the LXX, where “the Lord God
formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life; and man became a living being.” This time, however, it
is Jesus who is breathing the breath-Spirit of eternal life, life from above,
into his disciples (cf. 3:3-10). Furthermore there is the imagery of Ezek
37:1-14, the prophecy concerning the resurrection of the dry bones: In
37:9 the Son of Man is told to prophesy to the “wind-breath-Spirit” to
come and breathe on the corpses, so that they will live again. In 37:14 the
Lord promised, “I will put my Spirit within you, and you will come to
life, and I will place you in your own land.” In terms of ultimate
fulfillment the passage in Ezek 37 looks at the regeneration of Israel
immediately prior to the establishment of the messianic kingdom. The
author saw in what Jesus did for the disciples at this point a partial and
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symbolic fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy, much as Peter made use of
the prophecy of Joel 2:28-32 in his sermon on the day of Pentecost as
recorded in Acts 2:17-21. What then did Jesus do for the disciples in
John 20:22? It appears that in light of the symbolism of the new creation
present here, as well as the regeneration symbolism from the Ezek 37
passage, that Jesus at this point breathed into the disciples the breath of
eternal life. This was in the form of the Holy Spirit, who was to indwell
them. It is instructive to look again at 7:38-39, which states, “Just as the
scripture says, ‘Out from within him will flow rivers of living water.’
(Now he said this about the Spirit whom those who believed in him were
going to receive; for the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was
not yet glorified.”) But now in 20:22 Jesus was glorified, so the Spirit
could be given. Had the disciples not believed in Jesus before? It seems
clear that they had, since their belief is repeatedly affirmed, beginning
with 2:11. But it also seems clear that even on the eve of the crucifixion,
they did not understand the necessity of the cross (16:31-33). And even
after the crucifixion, the disciples had not realized that there was going to
be a resurrection . Ultimate recognition of who Jesus was appears to have
come to them only after the postresurrection appearances (note the
response of Thomas, who was not present at this incident, in v. 28).
Finally, what is the relation of this incident in 20:22 to the account of the
coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2? It appears best to view these as two
separate events which have two somewhat different purposes. This was
the giving of life itself, which flowed out from within (cf. 7:38-39). The
giving of power would occur later, on the day of Pentecost—power to
witness and carry out the mission the disciples had been given. (It is
important to remember that in the historical unfolding of God’s program
for the church, these events occurred in a chronological sequence which,
after the church has been established, is not repeatable today.)
Final Argument and Disclosure
This writer:
By faith in God’s illumination and guidance, I have endeavored to
categorically prove why the Governmental theory is an imitation and a
fraud. The methods employed exposed the non-biblical source of
commonly held false conceptions about “Jesus the man” and “Christ the
Savior” to the truth of NT teachings regarding His substitutionary death
and the expiation of sin. Were that enough, the contradiction of a
counterfeit Truth, Light, Love, Life, and Grace embodied in a
Christianity that professes Christ would not exist. It is not enough - but it
is the necessary ground upon - which to accept that heaven may not of
1216

itself be a future reward, but will serve its intended purpose as the future
family home of God’s children who have received eternal life (zōēn
aiōnion).
The promise and teachings of NT Christianity are summed up within
the completely comprehensible and heart felt engagements of relation
and family. The divine Character of God is eternally active within His
attributes and the reciprocity of agent and object, that demands that God
need be three co-equal and distinct Persons sharing One Absolute
Essence in relationship. The Spirit of Truth within me testifies to the
veracity of the gospel of the grace of God. This is the same Spirit that
energized the early church and defenders of the message of life that
Christ brought to the world. For this reason, prior to presenting what are
reasonably complex and sophisticated “primitive church” arguments
against today’s counterfeit Negative gospel, in the interest of providing a
basis of understanding for you - the unique jurist - I submit supporting
evidence in the following extended discussion concerning the
enlightenment provided to all of God’s children. Dr. Lewis Chafer
testifies conclusively and with the authority of Scripture.
Dr. Lewis Chafer: illumination by the Holy Spirit
The period of time between the two advents of Christ is often
designated as The Age of the Holy Spirit, and properly so, since these
days are characterized by the activity and administration of the Spirit.
In these specific days, also, the child of God is blessed to no small
degree by the fact that the Holy Spirit indwells him, and the Spirit is
thus residing in the Christian to the end that supernatural power may
be ever available. Were it not for this divine resource and sufficiency,
the superhuman manner of life now expected from each believer
would be an impossible and, therefore, inconsistent requisition.
Among the age-characterizing operations of the Spirit is that of
teaching or enlightening the individual in whom He dwells. This
reception of truth is not confined to commonplace issues, but may
reach out into the “deep things of God,” and the experience of the
believer when thus taught by the Spirit is peculiar in this respect, that
the divine Teacher is within his heart and he therefore does not hear a
voice speaking from without and at stated times, as in the method of
human teachers, but the mind and heart are supernaturally awakened
from within to apprehend what otherwise would be unknown. It need
only be observed here that, of necessity, this awakening ministry of
the Spirit may be greatly hindered by sin or by unspiritual ways on
the part of the child of God. This truth alone accounts for the existing
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difference between the spiritual Christian who “discerns all things”
and the carnal Christian who cannot receive the deeper and more vital
truths which are likened to strong meat (1 Cor 2:15; 3:1-3).
On the day of His resurrection, Christ walked with two of His
disciples on the Emmaus road (Luke 24:13-35) and it is recorded that
He “expounded” and “opened” the Scriptures to these disciples.
Similarly, at evening when He appeared to the whole company of
disciples He opened their understanding to the Scriptures (Luke
24:45). Until the crucifixion, these men had not believed that Christ
would die (Matt 16:21-23), and it was to the end that they might
know something of the meaning of His death and resurrection that He
opened their understanding (Luke 24:46). Thus a limitless field of
truth came to them, even the gospel which they were to proclaim
(Luke 24:47, 48); but not without the power which the Spirit coming
upon them would secure (Luke 24:49). On the Day of Pentecost,
Peter, who had so recently rejected the prediction concerning Christ’s
death (Matt 16:21-23), preached the value of that death with such
convincing power that three thousand were saved. It is evident that
Peter’s understanding had been opened concerning Christ’s death;
this, however, was not Peter’s first experience with the penetrating
power of a divine revelation. In answer to Christ’s question, “But
whom say ye that I am?” Peter replied, “Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God.” And to this Christ responded, “Blessed art thou,
Simon Bar-Jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee,
but my Father which is in heaven” (Matt:16:15-17). Though in the
Scriptures, above cited, the father and the Son are declared to have
revealed definite aspects of truth to various men, the Spirit of God is
the divine teacher since His advent on Pentecost, and a very extensive
body of Scripture bears on this specified ministry of the Spirit.
After having pre-announced the illuminating power of the Spirit
upon the unsaved by which the satanic veil concerning the gospel is
lifted and apart from which none could ever receive Christ as their
Savior (John 16:7-11), the Lord proceeded to say, “I have yet many
thing to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when
he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he
shall not speak of [“from” – as originator] himself; but whatsoever he
shall hear, that he shall speak: and he will show you things to come”
(John 16:12-15). The primary statement of this crucial passage is that
Christ, who has been teaching these disciples throughout three and a
half years, is going on teaching them, but by a new way of approach
to their hearts. The phrase, “when he, the Spirit of truth, is come,” no
doubt anticipates the advent of the Spirit on Pentecost and the new
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undertakings that would be made possible by His indwelling presence
in their hearts – not the least of which is His service as Teacher. But it
must be recognized that the Spirit purposely originates nothing. It is
“whatsoever he shall hear, that he shall speak,” and, “he shall receive
of mine [including the all things of the Father], and shall show it unto
you.” It is thus by presenting the message of the ascended Christ that
the Spirit will “glorify Christ.” Apart from this so definite yet
unprecedented manner of imparting truth, the disciples – as is equally
true of all believers from that day until now – could not “bear” the
“may things” which, evidently, were still not apprehended after the
three and a half years of unbroken schooling. Language could not
more explicitly convey the fact that certain aspects of truth –
immeasurable indeed – cannot be gained by usual didactic methods.
These supermundane revelations must be disclosed from the ascended
Lord through the mediation of the Spirit and only then as the Spirit
speaks from His incomparable position of nearness – within the heart
itself.
The Upper Room Discourse, in which the above passage is found,
is the seed-plot of that form of doctrine which is later developed in
the Epistles. It is not strange, therefore, that the Apostle Paul takes up
this great theme for further elucidation. This is found in 1 Corinthians
2:9-3:4. It reads: …
But just as it is written, “Things that no eye has seen, or ear heard,
or mind imagined, are the things God has prepared for those who love
him.” God has revealed these to us by the Spirit. For the Spirit searches
all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the
things of a man except the man’s spirit within him? So too, no one knows
the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have not received the
spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know
the things that are freely given to us by God. And we speak about these
things, not with words taught us by human wisdom, but with those taught
by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people. The
unbeliever does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are
foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them, because they are
spiritually discerned. The one who is spiritual discerns all things, yet he
himself is understood by no one. For who has known the mind of the
Lord, so as to advise him? But we have the mind of Christ. So, brothers
and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but instead as
people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you milk, not solid food, for
you were not yet ready. In fact, you are still not ready, for you are still
influenced by the flesh. For since there is still jealousy and dissension
among you, are you not influenced by the flesh and behaving like
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unregenerate people? For whenever someone says, “I am with Paul,” or
“I am with Apollos,” are you not merely human? (verse number omission
mine) NET
The central truth of this context is presented in the opening verse
where it is stated that God hath prepared certain “things” for them
that love Him – things which are not gained by the eye, the ear, or the
heart (reasoning power; cf. Isa 52:15; 64:4; 6:9, 10; Matt 13:15). This
negative declaration concerning the eye, the ear, and the heart is
abundantly sustained in the following verse, where it is asserted that
these specific “things” are revealed unto us by the Spirit. These
“things” are a present reality, and not, as sometimes supposed, an
array of future glories to be experienced in heaven. The Spirit who
reveals these “things” is One who “searcheth all things, yea, the deep
things of God.” It is not difficult to believe that the Third Person of
the Godhead is in possession of all truth; the marvel is that this Third
Person indwells the least Christian, and thus places that Christian in a
position to receive and understand that transcendent truth which the
Spirit knows. Within his own capacity, the child of God can know no
more than “the things of a man,” which are within the range of “the
spirit of man which is in him.” Amazing, indeed, is the disclosure that
“the Spirit which is of God” has been received, and for the express
purpose in view that the children of God “might know the things that
freely given to us of God.” And as written elsewhere: “But the
anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need
not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you all
things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it [He] hath taught you,
ye shall abide in him” (1 John 2:27).
Following the stupendous disclosures that the Christian is indwelt
by the Supreme teacher and is therefore already admitted into an
inimitable seminary where the instruction is said to be “freely given,”
i.e., without limitation, the Apostle proceeds to point out, as before
noted, a threefold division of humanity -, and to disclose the proof
concerning the classification of each man as found in his attitude
toward the Word of God. (a) The natural or unregenerate man cannot
receive the Scriptures, since they are by the Spirit discerned, and the
natural man, though educated with all that the eye, the ear, and the
reasoning power can impart, has not received the Spirit (cf. Jude 1:19
where sensual is the translation of the same designation – ψυχικός.
Cf. 1 Cor. 15:46; James 3:15), and therefore all revelation is
“foolishness” to him. Should this natural man, because of human
attainments and ecclesiastical authority, be placed where he molds or
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directs the affairs of the Church of Christ on earth, his influence must
ever be a peril to the things of God. Even reverence and sincerity may
not be wanting, but these cannot substitute for the revelation which
can come only from the indwelling Spirit. (b) The spiritual man is a
position to receive all truth (there is no implication that he has already
attained to it). He is indwelt by the Spirit and all adjustments
concerning his daily life are made with the end in view that the Spirit
may not be hindered in His teaching ministry within his own heart.
And (c) the carnal Christian demonstrates his fleshiness by his
inability to receive the deeper truths which are likened to strong meat
as in contrast to milk. The need of the carnal man is sanctification and
not regeneration.
Lest that which the Spirit teaches be deemed a small feature in the
vast field of human knowledge, it is well to recount what is included
in the category of “things” which are taught by the Spirit. These are:
“things” related to the Father, “things” related to the Son, “things”
related to the Spirit, “things’ to come, and “things” related to the
kingdom of God; for “except a man be born again [‘from above’], he
cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Thus, by comparison, the
sum total of human knowledge is reduced to the point of
insignificance.
There is no didactic discipline in the world comparable to the
teaching of Christ by the Holy Spirit, both because of the fact that
infinity characterizes the themes which are taught, and because of the
Teacher’s method of approach by which He, by the Spirit, enters the
innermost recesses of the heart where impressions originate and there
not only tells out the truth of transcendent magnitude, but causes the
pupil actually to grasp the things thus revealed. “By faith we
understand” (Heb 11:3 R.V.). That Christ would continue the
teaching begun while here on earth was clearly promised (John 16:12-
15), and implied in Acts 1:1 where reference is made to “all that Jesus
began both to do and teach.”
In view of the fact that the minister’s distinctive and essential
message is in the realm of spiritual truth which can be discerned only
by the Holy Spirit and that the Holy Spirit must require a yieldedness
to Himself on the part of the one whom he teaches, the minister or
theological student may well seek by heart-searching and confession
to be in right relation to the One upon whom all progress in the
knowledge of God’s truth depends. A requisite life in conformity to
the will of God, on the student’s part, is neither incidental nor
optional; it is arbitrary, determining, and crucial. There is not the
slightest possibility that the most educated and brilliant mind can
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make one step of progress in the understanding of spiritual truth apart
from the direct, supernatural teaching to the individual heart by the
indwelling Spirit. Hence the imperative aspect of the new birth. In
like manner, there can be no full or worthy apprehension of God’s
revealed truth by the Christian who is unspiritual or carnal. Hence the
imperative of a yielded life. (Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer,
Vol 1, pp 109-13)
This writer: statement
Hereafter, the method used to recognize counterfeit currency will be
employed against the Negative gospel. One “primitive counterfeit” will
be compared to a “contemporary counterfeit.” If even brief consideration
is given to the problem of a false profession of faith, then it must be
admitted that patently this “profession” would be attracted to a false
gospel that would appear to be the true gospel of the grace of God, but in
reality, it is the nebulous of an indefinite “full gospel,” tailor-made to fit
snugly on the shoulders of pride. In the appearance of shape and form -
the same - but the cloth of the cheapened counterfeit would be far less
than the infinite righteousness of God - the snow white wedding garment
provided by the covering of blood from the Righteous One, Jesus Christ -
the author, pioneer, captain, and forerunner of our faith.
My argument against the false Negative gospel leads me, time and
again, to the Epistle of 1 John where it is said: “concerning the word of
life—and the life was revealed, and we have seen and testify and
announce to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was
revealed to us” (1 John 1:1ff-2 NET). In this Epistle the first schism
within Christianity, not of external Jewish or pagan origin, is recorded.
Whereas, the book of Romans gives the grand theme of the need for
and, the revelation of, justification through faith by grace, faith is not a
central theme.
Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power
for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the
Greek. 1:17 For the righteousness35 of God is revealed in the gospel
from faith to faith,37 just as it is written, “The righteous by faith will
live.”38
35tn The nature of the “righteousness” described here and the force of
the genitive qeou' (“of God”) which follows have been much debated.
(1) Some (e.g. C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:98) understand
“righteousness” to refer to the righteous status given to believers as a
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result of God’s justifying activity, and see the genitive “of God” as a
genitive of source (= “from God”). (2) Others see the “righteousness” as
God’s act or declaration that makes righteous (i.e., justifies) those who
turn to him in faith, taking the genitive “of God” as a subjective genitive
(see E. Käsemann, Romans, 25-30). (3) Still others see the “righteousness
of God” mentioned here as the attribute of God himself, understanding
the genitive “of God” as a possessive genitive (“God’s righteousness”).
37tn Or “by faith for faith,” or “by faith to faith.” There are many
interpretations of the phrase ejk pivstew" eij" pivstin (ek
pistew" ei" pistin). It may have the idea that this righteousness is obtained
by faith (ejk pivstew") because it was designed for faith (eij"
pivstin). For a summary see J. Murray, Romans (NICNT), 1:363-74.
38sn A quotation from Hab 2:4.
Saving faith lies in accepting the very nature of the Righteousness of
God, which is far removed from commitment (viz. Lordship or continued
faith) to Christ. For God the Father is inseparable from the Christ His
Son who came to reveal Him to the world. In 1 John, primitive and
uncontaminated, pure early church arguments are posited against a false
gospel; “the spirit of deceit” which “denies the Father and the Son.” Dr.
C. I. Scofield writes:
First John is a family letter from the Father to His “little children”
who are in the world. With the possible exception of the Song of
Solomon, it is the most intimate of the inspired writings. The world is
viewed as without. The sin of a believer is treated as a child’s offence
against his Father, and is dealt with as a family matter (1:9; 2:1). The
moral government of the universe is not in question. The child’s sin
as an offense against the law has been met in the Cross, and “Jesus
Christ the righteous” is now his “Advocate with the Father.” John’s
Gospel leads across the threshold of the Father’s house; his first
Epistle makes us at home there. A tender word is used for “children,”
teknia, “born ones,” or “bairns.” Paul is occupied with our public
position as sons; John with our nearness as born-ones of the Father.
(Old Scofield Study System, p 1321)
If it be accepted that the nature of man is fallen, then his redemption
is in the nature of One unified Triune God. And this, revealed not fully,
until the appearance and testimony of the Son. The Lord God said to
Moses, “I will raise up a prophet like you for them from among their
fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth and he will speak to
them whatever I command. I will personally hold responsible anyone
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who then pays no attention to the words that prophet speaks in my name”
(Deu 18:18-19 NET). In Hebrews 1:3 the Spirit of God declares: “The
Son is the radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence, and
he sustains all things by his powerful word, and so when he had
accomplished cleansing for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the
Majesty on high.” i
Dr. W. Lindsay Alexander writes: “In proceeding to consider the
Bible revelations concerning God, the first thing that demands our
attention is the Names by which God there designates Himself. As the
Bible professes to make known to us, not God as He is in Himself, but
His Name or outward manifestation of Himself to His intelligent
creatures, so it attaches special importance to the words by which this
manifestation is indicated to us. All the names by which the Bible
designates God are significant; and thus each of them stands as the
symbol of some truth concerning Him which He would have us to
receive. All this renders it of importance to us that we should rightly
apprehend the import of the Divine Name in Scripture.”254 The nature of
the Son’s relationship to the Father, and the Spirit’s relationship to the
Father and Son, is the revealed external aspect of God that is also the
nature of man’s redemption. In the Name of God as – Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of God – much is revealed. Hence, the exceeding importance of a
correct understanding of that Name and aspect of God. The Triune God
may be understood in the following testimony. From which, the
arguments used in 1 John may be presented in this light. In so doing, the
closing and final evidencing proof for the prosecution of the Negative
gospel for denying that “Jesus is the Christ” will be established and
proven.
Dr. Lewis Chafer – The Trinity:
i
tn The Greek puts an emphasis on the quality of God’s final revelation. As such, it
is more than an indefinite notion (“a son”) though less than a definite one (“the son”),
for this final revelation is not just through any son of God, nor is the emphasis
specifically on the person himself. Rather, the focus here is on the nature of the
vehicle of God’s revelation: He is no mere spokesman (or prophet) for God, nor is he
merely a heavenly messenger (or angel); instead, this final revelation comes through
one who is intimately acquainted with the heavenly Father in a way that only a family
member could be. There is, however, no exact equivalent in English (“in son” is
hardly good English style).
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Since the Second Person of the Godhead is revealed as the
concrete declaration or manifestation of God to men (John 1:18; 2
Cor 4:6; 5:19), the investigation into the doctrine of the Trinity by
theologians has too often centered upon the Second Person to the
neglect of the doctrine it self. Such action on the part of men is
natural, for the whole of the Christian faith is – perhaps more than
elsewhere – compressed in the words, “God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them” (2
Cor 5:19). With reference to this text, Neander says: “We recognize
therein the essential contents of Christianity summed up in brief”
(cited by Harris, God the Creator and Lord of All, p. 294). It is in the
work of redemption that the distinctions between the Persons of the
Godhead more clearly arise. … As a summarization of the doctrine of
the Trinity as found in the Old Testament, Dr. W. H. Griffith Thomas
states in his Principles of Theology (pp. 25, 26), and under the
heading “The Doctrine Anticipated”:
At this stage and only here we may seek another support for the
doctrine. In light of the facts of the New Testament we cannot refrain
from asking whether they may not have been some adumbrations of it in
the Old Testament. As the doctrine arises directly out of the facts of the
New Testament, we do not look for any full discovery of it in the Old
Testament. We must not expect too much, because as Israel’s function
was to emphasize the unity of God (Deut. vi. 4), any premature revelation
might have been disastrous. But, if the doctrine be true, we might expect
that Christian Jews, at any rate, would seek for some anticipation of it in
the Old Testament. We believe we find it there. (a) The use of the plural
“Elohim,” with the singular verb, “bara,” is at least noteworthy, and
seems to call for some recognition, especially as the same grammatical
solecism is found used by St. Paul (1 Thess. iii. 11, Greek). Then, too,
the use of the plurals “our” (Gen. i. 26), “us” (iii. 22), “us” (xi. 7), seems
to indicate some self-converse in God. It is not satisfactory to refer this to
angels because they are not associated with God in creation. Whatever
may be the meaning of this usage, it seems, at any rate, to imply that
Hebrew Monotheism was an intensely living reality. (b) The references
to the “Angel of Jehovah” prepare the way for the Christian doctrine of a
distinction in the Godhead (Gen. xviii. 2,17; xviii. 22 with xix. 1; Josh.
V. 13-15 with vi. 2; Jud. xiii. 8-21; Zech. xiii. 7). (c) Allusions to the
“Spirit of Jehovah” form another line of Old Testament teaching. In
Genesis i. 2 the Spirit is an energy only, but in subsequent books an agent
(Isa. xl. 13; xlviii. 16; lix. 19; lxiii. 10f). (d) The personification of
Divine Wisdom is also to be observed, for the connection between the
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personification of Wisdom in Prov. Viii, the Logos of John i. 1-18, and
the “wisdom” of 1 Cor. i. 24 can hardly be accidental. (e) There are also
other hints, such as the Triplicity of the Divine Names (Num vi. 24-27;
Psa. xxix. 3-5; Isa. vi. 1-3), which, while they may not be pressed, cannot
be overlooked. Hints are all that were to be expected until the fullness of
time should have come. The special work of Israel was to guard God’s
transcendence and omnipresence; it was for Christianity to develop the
doctrine of the Godhead into the fullness, depth, and richness that we
find in the revelation of the Incarnate Son of God.
Within the New Testament, the field of testimony and
investigation relative to the doctrine of the Trinity is greatly enlarged.
There are those, and not a few, who declare that no certain proof of
the triune mode of existence can be established from the Old
Testament, that is, apart from the retroactive influence of the New
Testament revelation. (Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 1,
pp 286-302)
… Any true conception of this doctrine must include three major
features, namely, “The oneness and onliness of God; the three eternal
distinctions or modes of being of the one only God – the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit; and the proper deity of each of the three –
God the One indivisible Absolute Spirit in each of these peculiar and
eternal modes of being” (cf. Harris, ibid., p. 232). … A satisfactory
summarization of this great averment of the Bible is made by Dr. W.
L. Alexander as follows:
That as respects the distinction in the one Godhead it is real and
eternal, and is marked by certain properties peculiar to each Person and
not communicable. These properties are either external or internal; the
latter relating to the modes of subsistence in the divine essence, the
former to the mode of revelation in the world. The notae internae are
personal acts and notions; the former being (1) That the Father generates
the Son, etc., and breathes the Spirit; (2) That the Son is begotten of the
Father, and with the father breathes the Spirit; (3) That the Spirit
proceedeth from the Father and the Son. The personal notions are (1)
Unbegottenness and paternity as peculiar to the Father; (2) Spiration as
belonging to the Father and the Son; (3 ) Filiation as peculiar to the Son;
(4) Procession (spiratio passiva) as peculiar to the Spirit. The external
notes are (1) The works in the economy of redemption peculiar to each:
the Father sends the Son to redeem and the Spirit to sanctify; the Son
redeems mankind and sends the Spirit; the Spirit enters into the minds of
men and renders them partakers of Christ’s salvation. (2) The attributive
or appropriative works, i.e. those which, though common to the three
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Persons, are in Scripture usually ascribed to one of them, as universal are in the flesh cannot please God. 8:9 You, however, are not in the
creation, conservation, and gubernation to the Father through the Son; the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. Now if
creation of the world, raising of the dead, and the conduct of the last
anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong
judgment, to the Son; the inspiration of the prophets, etc., to the Spirit. –
to him. 8:10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin,
(System of Biblical Theology, I, p. 104) (Systematic Theology, Dr.
but the Spirit is your life because of righteousness. 8:11 Moreover if
Lewis Chafer, Vol 1, pp 285-86)
the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the
This writer: Summary Trinity, Regeneration, Intro Schism:
one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal
bodies alive through his Spirit who lives in you. NET
Eternal life is in the Father. The Father eternally begets the Son and
breathes the Spirit. The Son eternally does and speaks the Father’s will.
Eternal life begins with the Father and to deny this, is to ignore the
The Father and Son are One. The Spirit eternally proceeds from the
many times Jesus states that He came from, and was returning to the
Father and Son and is the agent of their will. The Father, Son, and Spirit
Father that sent Him for the expressed purpose of revealing the Father to
are one nature, one shared Absolute Spirit. For this reason, man cannot
men. Only Jesus, I AM, has the power by His death, resurrection, and
be saved by the man Jesus alone, but by the complete onliness of God.
ascension to “raise men up” to the Father. A purpose that will not be
The EXEMPLUM of Christ redeems no one. The death of Christ “destroy-
completed until the full number of individuals are called into the family
ed the works of the devil” and canceled the judgment against whosoever
of God. This quite simply, was the reason why He came and, tragically
will believe He came from the Father to save all men from certain
misunderstood, was the reason for the charge of ditheism used to turn
judgment that is inherited from Adam. His words are life. The revelation
Jesus over to Pilate - Jesus had claimed to be “I AM.” A second God
of God given by the Son are Spirit and life that originates with and from
Almighty, a God Almighty in the flesh. The Jews would not accept His
the Father. What is this Spirit and life? Easton’s Bible Dictionary offers
claims of unity with the Father. “The Jewish leaders replied, “We have a
the following explanation of regeneration:
law, and according to our law he ought to die, because he claimed to be
the Son of God!” (John 19:7). The preexistence of the Son brought
Regeneration only found in Matt. 19:28 and Titus 3:5. This word
eternal life to man from the Father: “This is what we proclaim to you:
literally means a "new birth." The Greek word so rendered
what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen
(palingenesia) is used by classical writers with reference to the
with our eyes, what we have looked at and our hands have touched
changes produced by the return of spring. In Matt. 19:28 the word is
(concerning the word of life—and the life was revealed, and we have
equivalent to the "restitution of all things" (Acts 3:21). In Titus 3:5 it
seen and testify and announce to you the eternal life that was with the
denotes that change of heart elsewhere spoken of as a passing from
Father and was revealed to us). What we have seen and heard we
death to life (1 John 3:14); becoming a new creature in Christ Jesus (2
announce to you too, so that you may have fellowship with us (and
Cor. 5:17); being born again (John 3:5); a renewal of the mind (Rom.
indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ)”
12:2); a resurrection from the dead (Eph. 2:6); a being quickened
(1 John 1:1-3).
(2:1, 5).
What foolish theory of theology would separate the humanity of
This change is ascribed to the Holy Spirit. It originates not with man
Christ as an EXEMPLUM from the Deity of the Second Person of the Holy
but with God (John 1:12, 13; 1 John 2:29; 5:1, 4).
Trinity? What foolish vanity would then lower the salvific value of the
As to the nature of the change, it consists in the implanting of a new
death of Christ in an attempt for man to measure himself against God?
principle or disposition in the soul; the impartation of spiritual life to
The christology asserted by the Governmental theory of atonement and
those who are by nature "dead in trespasses and sins."
the Negative gospel is guilty of teaching an ineffectual pseudochristos.
The necessity of such a change is emphatically affirmed in Scripture
No red letter verse makes the absurd statement, “I came to be the Great
(John 3:3; Rom. 7:18; 8:7-9; 1 Cor. 2:14; Eph. 2:1; 4:21-24).
Example of morality for men to follow after I die.” However, after the
“foot washing” demonstration during the scene of the Last Supper, Jesus
Rom 8:7 because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does
did say, “For I have given you an example—you should do just as I have
not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so. 8:8 Those who
done for you” (John 13:15). Contrary to simple-minded Bible teaching,
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this is not a picture of Christian humility. Much like the prophets in the
OT who were instructed by the Lord to act-out a future event, this is a
NT priestly purification “pantomime.” The idea is for the NT priest (the
Christian) who walks in the way of faith to “wash his feet” in confession
to God, as Jesus has purified a NT saint once and for all time. This is the
only named example expressed by Jesus and any other exampling is
conjecture. Only when one is willing to be purified, yielded, and led by
the Holy Spirit to a service and/or ministry chosen by Christ is that
individual living a genuine, and not a false imitation that traffics in the
unlived realities of the man-Jesus. The genuine is the living “out of love”
within the Christian sphere of unity in One God and One Spirit which is
the perfection of Godly love. This love has no place, nor power, between
a Christian and the unsaved. It may only be directed as Godly love
towards the redemption of the unsaved. The Holy Spirit of God
commands Christians as “the temples of God” to remain separate from
the unsaved: “Do not become partners with those who do not believe, for
what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness, or what
fellowship does light have with darkness? And what agreement does
Christ have with Beliar? Or what does a believer share in common with
an unbeliever? And what mutual agreement does the temple of God have
with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said, “I
will live in them and will walk among them, and I will be their God,
and they will be my people.” Therefore “come out from their midst, and
be separate,” says the Lord, “and touch no unclean thing, and I will
welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you will be my sons and
daughters,” says the All-Powerful Lord. Therefore, since we have these
promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that
could defile the body and the spirit, and thus accomplish holiness out of
reverence for God” (2 Cor 6:14-7:1).
Jesus gives the prime directive for a Christian: ““I give you a new
commandment—to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also
are to love one another. Everyone will know by this that you are my
disciples—if you have love for one another”” (John 13:34-35 NET).
Introducing the first “my commandment” to His friends, and a third
restatement, Jesus says, “My commandment is this—to love one another
just as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this—that one lays
down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I
command you.” (John 15:12-14). How may one love their Christian
brother as God loves them? This is a heaven-high human impossibility.
Jesus says again: “This I command you—to love one another” (John
15:17). What might commandments from Jesus mean? Contrary to
popular thought, for this age of the Holy Spirit and the grace of God, the
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commands from the lips Jesus in the Gospel of John are actually few.
The very first sentence, the opening line in the scene of the Upper Room
Discourse, begins by declaring the unity of the Father and Son and the
Son’s love for those that the Father “had given him”: “Just before the
Passover feast, Jesus knew that his time had come to depart from this
world to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he
now loved them to the very end” (John 13:1) and “I have revealed your
name to the men you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you,
and you gave them to me, and they have obeyed your word” (John 17:6).
False ideas regarding the value in the birth, life, and death of “Jesus
as man united to His Father and the Holy Spirit” and “Christ as Savior
and preexistent God” are hardly new. A second generation, secessionist
faction, within 1 John had adopted an opposing view to that held by the
Spirit inspired writings in the Gospel of John. This group had adopted an
“uninspired” rational interpretation of the Johannine confession - “Jesus
is the Christ.” This apostate group and the main body both agreed to the
formula – Jesus is the Christ – but the secessionist by their lifestyle and
teaching proved “they did not love their brother Christian.” The theme of
“assurance” is central and plain. The schism that prompted the need for
“assurance” in the Johannine church is defined in this passage from 1
John.
1 John 2:18 Children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard that the
antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists39 have appeared. We
know from this that it is the last hour. 2:19 They went out from us,
but they did not really belong to us, because if they had belonged to
us, they would have remained with us. But they went out from us to
demonstrate that all of them do not belong to us.44
2:20 Nevertheless you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you
all know.45 2:21 I have not written to you that you do not know the
truth, but that you do know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 2:22 Who
is the liar but the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ [Messiah
49tn]? This one is the antichrist: the person who denies the Father
and the Son. 2:23 Everyone who denies the Son does not have the
Father either. The person who confesses the Son has the Father also.
2:24 As for you, what you have heard from the beginning must
remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you,
you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 2:25 Now this is
the promise that he himself made to us: eternal life.55 2:26 These
things I have written to you about those who are trying to deceive
you.56 2:27 Now as for you, the anointing57 that you received from
him resides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you.
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But as his anointing [Holy Spirit] teaches you about all things, it is
true and is not a lie. Just as it has taught you, you reside in him. NET
(brackets and bold highlights mine)
39sn Antichrists are John’s description for the opponents and their false
teaching, which is at variance with the apostolic eyewitness testimony
about who Jesus is (cf. 1:1-4). The identity of these opponents has been
variously debated by scholars, with some contending (1) that these false
teachers originally belonged to the group of apostolic leaders, but
departed from it (“went out from us,” v. 19). It is much more likely (2)
that they arose from within the Christian communities to which John is
writing, however, and with which he identifies himself. This
identification can be seen in the interchange of the pronouns “we” and
“you” between 1:10 and 2:1, for example, where “we” does not refer
only to John and the other apostles, but is inclusive, referring to both
himself and the Christians he is writing to (2:1, “you”).
44sn All of them do not belong to us. The opponents chose to depart
rather than remain in fellowship with the community to which the author
writes and with which he associates himself. This demonstrates
conclusively to the author that they never really belonged to that
community at all (in spite of what they were claiming). 1 John 2:19
indicates that the departure was apparently the opponents’ own decision
rather than being thrown out or excommunicated. But for John, if they
had been genuine believers, they would have remained in fellowship.
Now they have gone out into the world, where they belong (compare 1
John 4:5).
45sn The statement you all know probably constitutes an indirect allusion
to the provisions of the new covenant mentioned in Jer 31 (see especially
Jer 31:34). See also R. E. Brown, The Epistles of John [AB], 349.
55sn The promise consists of eternal life, but it is also related to the
concept of “remaining” in 2:24. The person who “remains in the Son and
in the Father” thus has this promise of eternal life from Jesus himself.
Consistent with this, 1 John 5:12 implies that the believer has this eternal
life now, not just in the future, and this in turn agrees with John 5:24.
56sn The phrase those who are trying to deceive you in 1 John 2:26 is a
clear reference to the secessionist opponents mentioned earlier in 1 John
2:19, who are attempting to deceive the people the author is writing to.
57sn The anointing. The “anointing” (χρϊσµα, chrisma) which believers
have received refers to the indwelling Holy Spirit which has been given
to them at their conversion.
Dr. W. Hall Harris III - Note on Johannine theology:
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From John’s perspective, a person does not go to hell because
he/she is a sinner. The death of Christ has changed all of that (1 John
2:2). All sin is atoned for except the one (unforgivable) sin of
unbelief. A person goes to hell because he/she does not possess the
life of heaven—eternal life. And this person does not possess it
because he/she has rejected it as God’s free gift. To reject Jesus is to
reject this gift of eternal life, which is (in other words) to commit the
(unforgivable) sin of unbelief.
8:23 kavtw…a[nw Jesus is the one who has come down from above,
from heaven, to enable men to be born from above, and thus to enable
them to possess eternal life. The contrast here is between heaven,
where Jesus is from, and earth, where his opponents are from.
8:24-30 These verses explain the urgency of Jesus’ insistence that,
when he goes away, there will be no other possibility of delivering
them from sin. When Jesus is lifted up (8:28) in crucifixion,
resurrection, and ascension, he will draw all people to himself (cf.
12:32), and in that moment it will be clear to those who have eyes to
see that he truly bears the divine Name, I AM, and that he has the
power of raising people to the Father. But if they refuse to believe—
refuse to see—then there is no other way (cf. 14:6) that leads to the
Father above, and people will go to their graves permanently
separated from the gift and Giver of eternal life.” 255
Luke 8:18 So listen carefully, for whoever has [eternal life] will be
given more, but whoever does not have [eternal life], even what he
thinks he has will be taken from him.” (brackets mine) NET
Mark 4:25 For whoever has will be given more, but whoever does
not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”30 NET
30sn What he has will be taken from him. The meaning is that the one
who accepts Jesus’ teaching concerning his person and the kingdom will
receive a share in the kingdom now and even more in the future, but for
the one who rejects Jesus’ words, the opportunity that that person
presently possesses with respect to the kingdom will someday be taken
away forever
This writer: Intro to 1 John Summary:
From this point of John’s argument against the secessionist, a view of
the background of this Epistle is warranted. First Dr. R. E. Brown will
1232

give testimony and then Dr. Daniel Wallace will testify on the overall
structure of I John.
Dr. R. E. Brown:
The schism in the Johannine Community is being fought over
what one is willing to confess about Jesus – is it salvifically important
that he lived in the flesh? If one believes, one has to be willing to
confess that belief in formulas which may prove costly to one’s
welfare and one’s life! Some scholars would deprecate this Johannine
“dogmatic” faith in favor of the “purer” Pauline concept of faith as
trust in Jesus and obedience to God. Even laying aside the fact that
Paul did not hesitate to formulate the gospel in creedal language
(Rom 1:3-4), one may wonder how long Christians could go on
trusting in Jesus without having to formulate their evaluation of the
one in whom they trusted. In any case, faith is scarcely univocal; and
in the Johannine Community a faith that refused to take a
christological stand would not have been worthy of a disciple.
Another query, less oriented by outside prejudices, may be
directed to the twofold definition of God’s commandment in 3:23.
Granted the inclusion with 3:11, how good a summary of “the gospel”
is this commandment? The double commandment of the Synoptic
tradition (Mark 12:28-31, and par.) offers a parallel attempt to say
what is crucial: love of God and love of neighbor as yourself. I John
offers instead [cf. Gal 5:6, “faith working through love] belief in
Jesus and love of one another, and the differences are not accidental.
As for the first two elements, belief in Jesus (as God’s Son) is a
Johannine interpretation of the love of God: “This is how the love of
God was revealed in us: that God has sent His only Son into the world
… as an atonement [propitiation, satisfaction. this writer] for our
sins” (I John 4:9-10). And for the second of these elements, the
Johannine Community history of persecution has led to a stress on the
love of one’s “brother” or fellow Community member, rather than a
wider love of neighbor [cf. the response of Jesus to the lawyer’s
question in the gospel of Luke, “Who is my neighbor?” was a
reversal. Jesus proposed that the Samaritan was one who “becomes
your neighbor,” as an extension of mercy, rather than someone
recognized beforehand as your neighbor. this writer]. F. Mussner,
“Eine neutestamentliche Kurzformel fur das Christentum, Trier
Theologishe Zeitschrift 79 (1970) 49-52” has suggested that I John
3:23 might serve very well as the NT sentence that best expresses the
essence of Christianity. The theology that underlies it makes clear
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that faith in Jesus is really a faith in God whose Son he is; that
Christian life begins with the vertical action by this God in sending
His Son; that what we do comes after what God has done; and that
our love is a horizontal but essential continuation of the vertical love
that God has shown. In its own way it refutes a dogmatic
conservatism which makes creedal orthodoxy the only criterion, a
fideism [religious knowledge depends on faith and revelation] in
which giving of oneself to Jesus is all that matters, and a liberalism
which defines Christianity simply as a way to live. And it does all this
in a pedagogical order whereby through faith we learn about love.”
The last verse of this unit (3:24) shows how far the author is from
a legalistic understanding of keeping the twofold commandment he
has enunciated, for he relates it to abiding in God, the closest type of
intimate union. The two statements he makes about abiding in God
supply an interesting contrast. On our part the abiding is conditioned
upon keeping the commandments given by God; but on God’s part
our abiding stems from His giving the Spirit, which is not
conditioned. The same God who gave the commandment (3:23c) gave
the Spirit that enables us to live out the commandment. The author
introduces the notion of the Spirit here in preparation for the unit on
testing the Spirits, which is to follow (4:1-6). But the sequence from
commandment to Spirit, which seems strange to some commentators,
is perfectly understandable if the author is commenting upon the Last
Discourse – a comment that in turn is more understandable if Part
Two of I GJohn has in mind Part Two of GJohn [Book of Signs
chapters 1-12, Book of Glory chapters 13-21. this writer]. The
commandment he has spoken of, “Love one another,” is first
proclaimed in John 13:34; and the Paraclete passages come in 14:15-
17,25-26. The commandment to love is reiterated in 15:12,17; and the
next Paraclete passages come in 15:26-27 and 16:7-13. Besides being
associated in the Last Discourse, commandment and Spirit would
have been associated in the catechesis related to conversion/initia-
tion/baptism. If the basic commandment annunciated in 3:23 would
have been the stipulation of the New Covenant, Ezekiel (36:27) had
made an essential an essential part of the newness-to-come: “I will
put my Spirit in your midst.” At Qumran (1 QS 4:21-22) it is
promised that God will pour out the Spirit of truth upon those whom
he has chosen for an everlasting covenant. And I John 2:27 has
already spoken of an anointing (with the Holy Spirit) received by the
Johannine Christians, almost certainly when they entered the Com-
munity. The reference to baptizing with the Spirit in John 1:33 and to
begetting by water and Spirit in John 3:5 makes it very plausible that
1234

the notion of God giving the Spirit was associated with the baptismal
part of the entrance ceremony. Indeed, the frequency with which the
NT uses the verb “to give” in relation to the Spirit may mean that this
a set Christian description for the baptismal conferring of the Spirit.
In NT thought it is not unusual to find the Spirit as a type of
criterion or pledge. For instance, Rom 8:14 states, “As many as are
led by the Spirit are sons of God,” while II Cor 1:22 speaks of God
“having given the pledge of the Spirit that He gave us” (3:24d?). How
does an invisible Spirit that the world cannot see or recognize (John
14:17) show that God abides in us? In the NOTE on 3:24d I mention
some proposals that are not convincing in my judgment. The answer
may be found in the next unit in I John 4:2: “Now this is how you can
know the Spirit of God: Everyone who confesses Jesus Christ come
in the flesh reflects the Spirit which belongs to God.” One may know
that God abides in Christians from the fact that they profess a true
faith about His Son, and they can do that only if they only if the
Paraclete has taught them. This is in perfect harmony with I John 2:27
where no human teacher is needed because the anointing (with the
Holy Spirit) teaches the Christians about all things. In the next unit of
I John the function of the Spirit/Paraclete who bears witness against
the world (John 16:8-11); for according to I John 4:2-6 the true faith
confessed by those who have the Spirit that belongs to God will
unmask the secessionist, who belong to the world. The author’s
argument against the secessionist in 3:23-24 is by way of reminding
his adherents of the time when they left the world to join the
Johannine Community, when they were baptized with water and the
Spirit, when they accepted as part of the New Covenant the command
to love one another, as through the Spirit they professed Jesus as the
Christ, the Son of God, receiving life in His name. (The Anchor Bible
– The Epistles of John, Dr. R. E. Brown, pp 481-84)
Dr. Daniel Wallace: 1 John Summary:
First, the Gospel [of John] has material which would be largely
irrelevant to the Gentile audience, even though its final form was
almost certainly written for Gentiles. As we suggested earlier, this
argues that John had amassed material for his Gospel, without having
a specific audience in mind until the last stage of composition. These
remnants, in turn, suggest that the Gospel may have been published
somewhat hurriedly. Our quite tentative contention is that either the
whole Gospel was produced at Peter’s request (with the appendix
[chapter 21] added after Peter died) or at least the appendix was
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added at Peter’s request, for the sake of Paul’s churches which
otherwise did not have an apostolic voice. John brought the Gospel
with him to Ephesus in 65 CE and added the appendix (with the
approbation of the Ephesian elders in 21.24). Hence, he really was not
fully aware of his new audience, even though he knew that he wanted
to minister to them.
Second, the epistle shows signs of having come later. (1) Its
eschatology is much more futuristic than the eschatology of the
Gospel. Rather than arguing for a more primitive eschatology (a view
held by Dodd) in the epistle, if the same man wrote both books and if
the first was written before war broke out, this suggests that the
epistle was written after 66 CE. Not only does the language reflect
concepts and even verbiage found in the Olivet Discourse, but there is
a tone of urgency found in this letter which is lacking in the Gospel.
The best external cause for this shift in eschatological perspective
would have been the Jewish War. Further, the war would not yet have
culminated, otherwise there would almost certainly have been a let-
down in eschatological expectation. (2) There is an obvious
familiarity with the audience which seems to be lacking in the
Gospel. Indeed, if tradition is correct that John 21.24 is a
commendation by the Ephesian elders of the veracity of the Gospel
(or at least of the truth of chapter 21), this implies that John was
largely unknown to his audience. Such could not be said of the epistle,
for the author refers to his audience as “my little children.” (3) 1 John
2.19 also seems to imply that some time had elapsed from the time
John had come to know his audience, for the opponents had left the
church. This statement (“they went out from us”) suggests that John
had been acquainted with the audience long enough to have not only
established a relationship with them, but even to have established a
relationship with those who defected. This text, in fact, suggests that
1 John was written after 2 John, for the heretics in 2 John were
itinerant preachers who were still considered part of the Church.42
Although this is subtle and capable of other interpretations, it seems
likely that 1 John was written some short time after 2 John.
In sum, we would date 1 John after the Jewish War broke out, but
before it was concluded. John must be given some amount of time to
know his audience and for the heretics to have left the congregation.
Hence, the epistle should probably be dated after 2 John. A date of c.
68-69 CE seems to be the best guess.
42 In this I am not suggesting that both epistles were sent to exactly
the same audience, but that there was a general consensus in 1 John
1236

that they were known in the region to have defected, while in 2 John
warns his readers of heretics who were still itinerating among the
Asia Minor congregations. Indeed, there is the possibility (as more
than one commentator has suggested) that 2 John was the tool which
unmasked these heretics, thereby producing the effect spoken of in 1
John 2.19!
The differences in thought [1 John to GJohn] seem more
significant to most scholars today. Law catalogs seven such
differences, three of which seem to be quite significant: (a) the
Gospel is christocentric while the epistle is theocentric; (b) the
atoning character of the death of Christ is much clearer in the epistle
than in the Gospel; and (c) the eschatology between the two seems to
be different: the Gospel tends toward a realized eschatology (in which
believers have passed out of judgment into life), while the epistle
imbibes in a more futuristic eschatology. These same points are
rehashed by Brown, who argues with some force that “the theological
differences listed above cannot be denied…”
It is our contention that not only can these differences be
explained on the hypothesis of the same author, but that they can
most easily be explained if one takes into account the following
factors: (a) a change in domicile for the author, rather than a (major)
change in audience; (b) the epistle was written at a later time, when a
futuristic eschatology would seem more appropriate; (c) the
adversaries had indeed changed, but this is due primarily to the
author’s better acquaintance with the audience, rather than to a
change in author; and (d) the emphasis on the atoning work of Christ
was due to the impact of the apostle Paul. Although much of this has
been argued (or at least hinted at) in our discussion of the Fourth
Gospel, an overarching reconstruction is still needed. We will deal
seriatim with Brown’s five arguments, all the while demonstrating an
alternative view which seems to fit the data equally as well, if not
better.
First, not much imagination is needed to come up with a reason
for the shift from christocentricity to theocentricity. Law takes one
approach, viz., diminishing the differences. Although it is true that the
Gospel has its theocentric moments and the epistles its christocentric
ones, the general impression is that there is indeed a difference in
emphasis between the two.18 If, however, the author is now
combating a new opponent in the epistle—one he did not encounter in
the Gospel—then the shift is understandable. In his Gospel his
opponent was “the Jews” and his objective was to prove that Jesus
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was the Christ, God in the flesh. In his epistle the opponent already
embraces a high Christology. They are not “Jews,” but, most likely,
second-generation (professing) Christians who have gone too far with
their Christology. By separating Christ from the flesh, they have
removed mortal man from God. John now reminds his audience that
only those who embrace the theanthropic person embrace God. In a
sense, we might say that in the Gospel John needed to show the
divine face of the Son; in the epistle, he needed to demonstrate the
‘human’ face of the Father. The change in opponent, then, readily
accounts for the shift from christocentricity to theocentricity.
Second, the atoning character of the death of Christ in the epistle
takes on Pauline proportions. “‘He is faithful and righteous to forgive
us our sins’ … has a more Pauline ring than any utterance of the
Fourth Gospel…”20 The very statements of Christ’s atoning work
(2.2) sounds very Pauline: “He is our propitiation” (ίλασµός) [21 The
cognate, ίλαστήριον, is used only twice in the NT, once by Paul
(Rom 3.25) and once by the author of Hebrews (9.5), whom we have
argued is an associate of Paul’s. Thus Paul is saying that God
displayed Jesus as the “mercy seat,” the place where propitiation was
accomplished. See N. S. L. Fryer, “The Meaning and Translation of
Hilasterion in Romans 3:25,” EvQ 59 (1987): 99-116, who concludes
the term is a neuter accusative substantive best translated “mercy
seat” or “propitiatory covering,” and D. P. Bailey, “Jesus As the
Mercy Seat: The Semantics and Theology of Paul’s Use of
Hilasterion in Romans 3:25” (Ph.D. diss., University of Cambridge,
1999), who argues that this is a direct reference to the mercy seat
which covered the ark of the covenant.]. Further, God/Christ are
“righteous” (δίκαιος) throughout this epistle (1.9; 2.1; 3.7), and
usually in relation to the forgiveness of the Christian. This, again, is
quite Pauline. Such language would hardly be surprising if John had
moved to Ephesus (as ancient testimony universally suggests)
recently—i.e., between the writing of his Gospel and the epistle.
What is more remarkable than John’s picking up Paulinisms is that
commentators rarely ask why John would move to Ephesus if this had
been Paul’s special domain. Further, what catalyst would prompt him
to do so? We shall pursue this question under “Occasion,” but suffice
it to say that John’s more Pauline-like expressions in the epistle are
understandable if the author moved from Palestine to Ephesus
between the writing of the Gospel and the epistle. …
The immediate occasion for this epistle is that the false teachers
had left the church (2.19), but were harassing the church and enticing
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it from a position outside. John’s audience needed reassurance that what we looked at
what they had embraced—viz., that Christ had come in the flesh— and felt with our own hands –
was true. John assures his audience of this truth—as well as the truth our concern is about the word of life
of the Gospel in general—on two grounds: (1) he was an eyewitness ( 2For this life was revealed
to Christ (1.1-3), and (2) the Spirit bore witness to their spirit that as we have seen and testify,
these things were true (2.20, 27). But the occasion was not just and we proclaim to you
polemical; John had an edificatory objective as well. Thus the almost this eternal life
monotonous refrain “I have written to you in order that/because…” which was in the Father’s presence
The purpose statement in 5.13, on the analogy of John’s Gospel, and was revealed to us.) –
would seem to be the most encompassing one: “I have written these 3
what we have seen and heard
things to you in order that you—that is, to those who believe in the we proclaim in turn to you,
name of the Son of God—might know that you have eternal life.” so that you may be joined in communion with us.
(excerpted from NET Bible Second Beta Edition Resource CD) Yes, for the communion we have is with the Father
And with His Son, Jesus Christ.
This writer: Short Intro to the Prologue of 1 John: 4
Indeed, we are writing this
so that our joy may be fulfilled.
The adversaries of the main body of believers in I John had adopted a
false gospel and a Christianity that did not place them in the unity of GENERAL NOTE ON PROLOGUE
communion with the eternal life in the Father, the Son, and other
believers. They had divorced their beliefs from the onliness of God, General note on the grammar of the Prologue. [I John] … The
expressed in the Hebrew word yahad; Greek koinōnia and hen. It was an reaction of virtually all translators has been captured by in the
alienated, estranged Christianity in the sense that these secessionist observation made by Dodd (Epistles 2): “The sentence is not good
shared many points of Christian profession with the historical group they Greek, and it is only by paraphrase that it can be rendered into good
had left. This alienated group, naturally, did not see themselves as English.” Of course, the epistolary author may have had no interest in
lacking Christian saving faith. They firmly believed in their new non- the coherence achieved by following classical rules, and his own style
historical, fictional Christ whose death had little to no impact upon the may have been more intelligible than “good Greek” to readers
salvation of believers (cf. Governmental theory). The Apostle John familiar with Johannine religious idiom and its facility in
challenged the error of his adversaries in the opening Prologue of I John. interchanging key words. Nevertheless, we who are not of the
Johannine Community must seek as best we can to translate his
Jude 1:4 For certain men have secretly slipped in among you—men composition into logic we can grasp by working with the basis rules
who long ago were marked out for the condemnation I am about to of “good Greek.” Here I shall discuss grammar, leaving the flow of
describe—ungodly men who have turned the grace of our God into a ideas to the COMMENT. Precisely because my translation does attempt
license for evil and who deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. to smooth out some of the difficulties (without, I hope, becoming a
paraphrase, a literal rendering must be given in order to enable the
Dr. R. E. Brown: Prologue of I John: reader to understand the somewhat technical NOTES that follow:
I John 1:1-4: The Prologue 1a What was from the beginning,
1b what we have heard,
This is what we proclaim to you: 1c what we have seen with our eyes,
1 1What was from the beginning, 1d what we looked at,
what we have heard, 1e and what our hands felt
what we have seen with our own eyes, 1f about the words [logos] of life [zōē]
1239 1240

2a and the life was revealed
2b and we have seen and testify
2c and we proclaim to you
2d the eternal life
2e of the sort which [hētis] was toward [pros] the Father
I John 1:1f. our concern is about the word of life. Literally, “about
[peri] the word of life” – my paraphrase is an attempt to smooth out
the grammatical between this prepositional phrase and the four
substantive (“what”) clauses that precede it. Some translations make
them totally parallel as equal objects of the verb in 3b: “Our
proclamation is of what existed from the beginning, of what we have
heard, of what we have seen … of what we looked at and felt …
namely, of the word of life” (Moffatt, Goodspeed, TCNT). However,
the author would have been capable of saying that more
grammatically as we see from 2:7, which deals with the “what” and
the “about what” of writing: “I write to you … an old commandment
which you have had from the beginning: this old commandment is the
word which you already heard.” Only slightly less violence is done to
the Greek of v. 1f when the “about” phrase is made the objective
compliment of the verbs in the “what” clauses of v. 1b-e, as in
Weymouth’s translation: “What we once beheld and our hands
handled concerning the Word of Life.” Surely Bonsirven, Epîtres 67,
is correct when he objects that, while one may hear about the word of
life, it is more difficult to see about the word of life, and quite
impossible to feel with one’s hands about the word of life. I judge it
more likely that the prepositional phrase is an ungrammatical
interruption (indicated in my translation by a dash) introduced for
clarification and is not the object of any verb, whether in 1:3b or
1:1b-e. This is all the more likely since a similar ungrammatical
clarification interrupts the GJohn Prologue in 1:12c (“that is, those
who believe in his name”). So understood, the phrase is resumptive
and analytic of the “what” statements that precede it, as the author
stops to reflect that he is really talking about the life-giving word.
This leads us to a discussion of the meaning of logos, “word,” …
The second major problem in this line is the meaning of zōē,
“life,” suggested by its genitival relationship to logos. … In judgment
on these three meanings, perhaps we should avoid being too precise
about the implications of the genitive: If the one case can express all
three ideas, the author may never have thought out precisely what he
meant by using the genitive. For instance, if logos means “message,”
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the message that concerns life (objective genitive) may for that very
reason be life-giving (qualitative genitive).
I John 1:2a. For this life was revealed. Literally, “And the life …”
The initial kai, “and,” is typical Johannine Prologue style, and the
article is used with demonstrative force referring to a previously
mentioned noun (BDF 2521). In v. 2 then, we have a parenthetical
explanation of “life” mentioned in the last phrase of 1:1, a phrase that,
as we saw, was interruptive. If the GJohn Prologue featured the
becoming flesh of the Word, the I John Prologue speaks of the
revelation of life (zōē). Is it “life” rather than “word” that carries the
personal thrust in this Prologue? Among those who argue for a
personal rendering of zōē are Balz, de Ambroggi, Moffatt, Mussner,
and Rivera. The insight is vividly caught by Stott, Epistles 68, when
he says that “the word of life” is “the gospel of Christ.” While in the
GJohn Prologue zōē is not personal but something that comes to be
and is communicated in the Word (1:14), later in John 11:25 and 14:6
Jesus says, “I am the life.” In I John 5:20 Jesus will be identified as
“the true God and eternal life”; in Rev 1:18 he says, “I am the living
one”; and Ignatius, Eph. 7:2, calls Jesus “true life in death.”
The possibility that zōē is personified in Jesus in I John 1:1-2
increases when we study the verb used in the passive here:
phaneroun, “to reveal, manifest, show”; passive, “to be revealed,
become visible, appear.” Its span covers the making known of the
unknown and the making visible of the invisible. (The related adverb,
phanerōs, “openly,” occurs in John 7:10 as opposed to “in secret.”)
Of the 18 Johannine uses of the verb (9 in GJohn, 9 in I John, out of a
total of 49 NT uses), 11 are christological. In GJohn’s usage, three
times the risen Jesus is said to manifest himself to his disciples
(21:1,14); the passive is used once for the revelation of Jesus to Israel
at the beginning of the ministry (1:31), and once Jesus is challenged
to manifest himself to the world by going to Jerusalem (7:4). The
other four GJohn uses of phaneroun concern the manifestation of
impersonal realities (glory, works, and the divine name). In I John the
nonchristological uses involve the revelation of the love of God (4:9),
of what we believers shall be (3:2), and of the secessionist as not
belonging to the community (2:19). The one Johannine use of the
related adjective phaneros occurs in I John 3:10 for the revelation of
the children of God and of the devil. The clear christological uses of
phaneroun in 1 John involve the parousia of Christ (2:28) and the
manifestation of the Son of God in his earthly career to take away
sins and destroy the works of the devil (3:5,8). The latter uses favor
the thesis that the two revelation of life passages in I John 1:2 refer to
1242

the revelation of Jesus in his earthly career. If zōē is understood as
personified, the first of these passages, “This life was revealed as we
have seen and testify” (1:2ab), becomes a close parallel to the
statement in the GJohn Prologue: “The Word became flesh … and we
have seen his glory” (1:14). The second passage, “This eternal life
which was in the Father’s presence and was revealed to us” (I John
1:2def), echoes another GJohn Prologue statement: “The Word was in
God’s presence” (1:1). In the COMMENT I shall discuss why the
author of the epistolary Prologue may have chosen to personify “life”
rather than “word.” It is difficult to know how far one should press
the significance of the aorist tense of phaneroun in the affirmation,
“This life was revealed.” Some scholars (THLJ 25) think that the
aorist reflects the historical character of the revelation which occurred
at one specific time. An aorist appears in a similar statement, “He was
revealed in the flesh” (I Tim 3:16), and an aorist participle in I Pet
1:20: “He was destined before the foundation of the world but was
revealed at the end of time for your sake” (see also Barn. 14:5).
Nevertheless, a perfect tense appears in Heb 9:26 which does not
seem any less historical or punctiliar, “He has been revealed once for
all at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself”;
and we remind the reader again of Louw’s contention (“Verbal
Aspect”) that there is really no distinction between aorist and perfect
in representing the perfected past. We may note that these examples
of phaneroun applied to Jesus’ ministry by other NT writers
reinforces the case for seeing a similar meaning in “This life was
revealed.”
I John 1:2b. as we have heard and testify. Literally, “and we have
…”; the first verb (horan) is in the perfect tense, the second
(martyrein) is in the present. … The verbs may be related in line 2a
(whence the as in my translation) or to lines 2cde (“and we proclaim
…”) The choice really makes little difference in meaning; in both the
action of the two verbs is related to the revelation of life. The verb
horan was used in 1:1c, “What we have seen with our own eyes” –
evidently the “what” of that line can be considered equivalent to the
revelation of life in Jesus, which is the implicit object of the seeing in
this line. This confirms my thesis that the “what” of 1:1 is a
complexive term for the career of Jesus Christ on earth.
The verb martyrein, “to bear witness, testify,” and noun martyria,
“witness, testimony,” occur a total of 64 times in GJohn and the
Epistles (verb 43 times, noun 21). The 33 uses of the verb in GJohn
may be contrasted to a total of 2 uses in the three Synoptic Gospels, a
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contrast that indicates the extent to which the legal and trial
atmosphere dominates the Johannine thought (ABJ 29, 45, 227-280).
I John 1:2d. this eternal life. Of the 49 Johannine uses of zōē, “life”
(one-third of the NT uses), 23 are characterized by the adjective
aiōnios, “eternal” (17 in GJohn; 6 in 1 John). Indeed “life" is the only
noun modified by that adjective in Johannine Greek (cf. Rev 14:6,
“eternal gospel”). As I explained in ABJ 29, 507, for Johannine
dualism eternal life is qualitatively different from natural life
(psychē), for it is a life that death cannot destroy (John 11:26).
Duration (everlasting, or even without beginning) is not the primary
issue; it is a life from another eon (aiōn, whence aiōnios) or sphere.
Indeed, it is the life of God Himself; and since only the Son has come
down from that sphere and from God, he is the only who can
communicate that life. More simply, Jesus Christ is the eternal life (1
John 5:20). The normal Johannine Greek is zōē aiōnios without any
article …
I John 1:2e. which was in the Father’s presence. This is not the
ordinary relative pronoun (hos) but the more def. relative hostis, “of
the sort that,” which can govern a relative clause expressing a specific
quality. In the NT the masc. and fem. of hostis are virtually confined
to the nominative case, being replaced by hos in other cases; and so
the lines of distinction are blurred (BDF 643, 2932, a blurring
contested by Brooke, Epistles 7). Nevertheless, in a parallel instance
in GJohn (8:53; ABJ 29, 359) hostis is used with precision; and so it
may be meant literally here where “life” is virtually personified, e.g.,
“such as it was in the Father’s presence.” The latter phrase is literally
“toward [pros] the Father,” a phrase I had to debate in discussing the
GJohn Prologue (1:1b) where the Word was “toward God” (ABJ 29,
4-5). It may Hebrew lipnê, “to the face of, before,” which is often
attitudinal and not simply spatial (see E. A. Speiser, Genesis, AB 1,
51). Although Greek pros can simply mean “with” (Mark 6:3; 9:19;
14:49; MGNTG 2, 467), here, besides presence with the Father, it has
the added connotation of relationship toward the Father, for the Son’s
life came from the Father (John 6:57). In my judgment this is the first
reference to preincarnational existence in the 1 John Prologue and
explains the use of eternal in the preceding line. The same expression
will be used in 1 John 2:1 to describe Jesus in the Father’s presence as
a Paraclete after his atoning death; and it will also be used of the
Christian, the child of God, in the divine presence (3:21; 5:14).
Let us consider some significant statistics pertinent to the gospel
use of patēr, “father,” for God: Mark 5 times; Luke 17; Matthew 40;
John 126. Some 23 times in GJohn Jesus speaks of God as “my
1244

Father,” a usage that never occurs in Mark, and only four times in
Luke. The other and more frequent use of the Johannine Jesus,
occurring nearly 65 times, is to speak of God as “the Father,” with an
article but without the clarifying possessive pronoun – a usage that
occurs 12 times in I John, and 3 times in II John, but only a total of 7
times in the three Synoptic Gospels (once in Mark 13:32). … The
frequency of “the Father” in Johannine theology is explicable in terms
of the very clear Johannine view of Jesus as “the Son” (ABJ 29, 408-
9; 29A, 654-55). As Loisy, Evangile-Epîtres 533, points out, for John
“God” is not simply a figure who acts paternally towards people; He
is metaphysically the source of life, which the Son transmits to those
who believe in him and who (alone) are God’s children (John 1:12-
13).
I John 2f. and was revealed to us. This is the same aorist form of
phaneroun that occurred in the first line of v. 2; there the subject was
“life,” while here it is “eternal life.” The possible connotation of
hostis discussed in the previous NOTE applies to this line as well. In
2c (“we proclaim to you”) the “we” was clearly distinct from a “you”;
and presumably the “us” here, like the “we” there, refers to the
Johannine School of tradition bearers, which was distinct from the
rest of the Johannine Community. The whole Community shared in
the revelation, of course, but the share came through the tradition-
bearers and, in turn, from the Beloved Disciple. Such is the
implication of “We proclaim in turn to you” (v. 3b below).
I John 3c. so that you may be joined in communion with us. Literally,
“have communion” (koinōnian echein), which may be stronger than
the simple verb “be in communion” (koinōnein) used in II John 11.
The noun koinōnia, which in the Johannine writings occurs only 4
times, all within the few verses of I John 1:3-7, is most important for
appreciating the self-understanding of the early Christians, especially
in the Pauline writings (which contain 13 of the 15 non-Johannine NT
uses). Yet the word is difficult to translate, e.g., “communion,
fellowship, partnership, community”: See J. Y. Campbell, “Koinōnia
and its Cognates in the New Testament,” JBL 51 (1932) 352-80 … S.
Brown, “Koinōnia as the Basis of New Testament Ecclesiology?”
One in Christ 12 (1976) 157-67. It involves both the dynamic esprit
de corps that brings people together and the togetherness that is
produced by that spirit. (Campbell points out that the parties are in
koinōnia because the have some reality in common). The equivalent
of koinōnia in GJohn is the reference to being “one” in
17:11,21,22,23; and as I suggested in AB 29A, 776-77, both
expressions, the epistolary “communion” (koinōnia) and the Gospel’s
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“one” (hen), may be attempts to render into Greek a notion like the
Hebrew yahad, “oneness, unity, community,” which is the self-
designation of the Qumran Community that produced the Dead Sea
Scrolls. …
I John 3d. Yes, for the communion we have. Literally , “and this
communion of ours, indeed” – a kai … de construction in which one
particle connects the clause to what precedes, while the other
emphasizes the noun … It occurs in John 6:51; 8:16,17; 15:27; and in
III John 12. The possessive adjective form hēmeteros, “ours,” used in
classical Greek for emphasis, is rare in the NT (8 times, including
here and I John 2:2); and its use both lends solemnity and helps to
identify the kind of communion about which the author is speaking.
I John 3de. Is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. In
Greek there is no copula “is,” but simply a juxtaposition of two or
more meta, “with,” phrases, continuing the meta phrase (“with us”) of
3c. The Latin Vulgate mistakenly makes this a part of the preceding
purpose clause: “and this communion of ours may be with the Father
… .” However, normally a subjunctive copula would not have been
omitted, and the de mentioned in the preceding NOTE indicates a shift
from the subjunctive - the communion of the Johannine School with
the Father and with Jesus already exists. The repetition of the
preposition suggests that, although a koinōnia is spoken of, this
communion does not produce a confusion of identities. In Johannine
thought the Father has a certain priority, e.g., “The Father is greater
than I” (John 14:28); “I have life because of the Father” (John 6:57).
Nevertheless, the intermediary role of Jesus between the Father and
the disciple (John 17:23: “I in them and you in me”; see 6:57) might
have led us to expect Jesus to be mentioned first: “with Jesus Christ,
the Son, and with the Father.” Perhaps the sequence used here reflects
a set Johannine phrase and word order, e.g., “the one true God and
Jesus Christ” (17:3).
This is the first instance in the Epistles of two key designations of
Jesus, “Son” (huios) and “Christ” (Christos), which we must discuss
in order. There are 79 instances of huios in the Johannine literature.
Of the 55 in GJohn, some have no theological significance, referring
to ordinary human relationship. In relation to God, however, only
Jesus is called huios, never the Christian (see Note below on 2:1a for
the use of “child, children”). Some 10 times in GJohn Jesus is
described as “the Son of God” or “His Son,” 4 of which are in his
own words (3:18; 5:25; 10:36; 11:4[?]). Another17 times GJohn uses
simply “the Son,” an absolute designation with the article. This
peculiar usage, which is found in only two Synoptic sayings (Mark
1246

13:32, and the “Johannine logion” of Matt 11:27 and Luke 10:22),
may have parable origins (see ABJ 29, 218-19). Of the 22 uses of
huios in I John and the 2 in II John, the form “the Son of God” (“His
Son”) occurs 17 times, and the absolute form, “the Son,” 7 times, a
frequency that is the opposite of what is found in GJohn. For the
theology of the relations between Father and Son, see ABJ 29, 407-8,
and 29A, 654-55; a key statement is John 10:30: “The Father and I
are one.”
De Jonge, “Use,” has made a significant study of the term “Christ”
in the Johannine Epistles where it occurs 11 times, as compared with
19 times in GJohn. Christos means “anointed “ and is a Greek
translation of the Aramaic or Hebrew word for Messiah (with John
1:41; 4:25 being the only NT instances of the transliterated Messias).
The use of the term as a title would have hailed Jesus as “the
Messiah” or “the Christ.” Eventually, however, the frequency of that
designation led to Christos becoming part of the combined name
“Jesus Christ,” which happens twice in GJohn (1:17; 17:3 – the latter
on Jesus’ own lips!) and 7 times in the Epistles. In 4 of these
epistolary instances “Jesus Christ” is combined with the designation
as God’s Son (here; I John 3:23; 5:20; II John 3). As background for
this development we may remember that “Messiah” was am
appropriate designation for the OT king who was anointed with oil,
and it became the designation par excellence for he awaited anointed
king who would be empowered by God to establish a perfect
kingdom for Israel, an anticipation that Christians thought was
realized in Jesus. Similarly the OT king could be thought of as God’s
son or representative (II Sam 7:14; Ps 2:7), and so Jesus as the
Messiah, or anointed king, could bear the same designation. In
Christian usage, however, both “Messiah” and “Son” took on a
coloration from the insight that in Jesus, God had made Himself
present on this earth, and so they became titles expressive of Jesus’
divinity. (In the Johannine Community divinity carried with it an
understanding of preexistence.) Thus, GJohn can express its whole
purpose in terms of these two interchangeable titles: “I have written
these things to you so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God (ABJ 29A, 1059-61). I and II John will insist that the
divine title “Christ” is inextricably tied to the human figure, Jesus (I
John 4:2-3).
I John 4b. so that our joy may be fulfilled. … The author writes as
part of that School which will have its joy fulfilled in and through
koinōnia with those members of the Johannine Community who
accept this writing. …
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The term chara, “joy,” occurs 9 times in GJohn and once in the
three Epistles. (The related verb chairein, “to rejoice,” occurs 9 times
in GJohn, 3 times in II John, once in III John.) Of the total 12
Johannine uses, half involve the passive of plēroun in the sense of joy
being fulfilled. This imagery is applied to John the Baptist (John
3:29), to Jesus (17:13), to the disciples (15:11; 16:24), and to the
writer (I John 1:4; II John 12). Of those 6 instances, 4 involve the
perfect passive participle peplērōmenos; and 3 of them have that
participle in a periphrastic construction which may be a Semitism
(MGNTG 4, 137) – the “so that our/your joy may be fulfilled” of
John 16:24; I John 1:4; and II John 12. It is noteworthy that in GJohn
all instances of “joy” but one are in the last Discourse (15:17; 16:20-
24; 17:13), where it is a future possibility opened up for Jesus’
followers by his victorious death and return. This possibility is
realized in the postresurrectional appearance of Jesus in John 20:20
where we are told, “At the sight of the Lord the disciples rejoiced.”
Such evidence suggests that “joy,” like “peace” (see 14:27; 20:21),
designates an eschatological benefit received on becoming a believer
and entering the Johannine Community. The fulfillment of joy, then,
would be the growth and flowering of the gift received earlier – a
growth achieved through living in koinōnia with God, Christ, and
other Johannine belivers. (The Anchor Bible – The Epistles of John,
Dr. R. E. Brown, pp 151-74)
COMMENT
As exemplified in GJohn and I John, it seems to be a uniquely
Johannine feature in the NT to begin major writings with a
theological Prologue.i However if, as I shall suggest, the I John
Prologue is a deliberate reflection on the GJohn Prologue, the
uniqueness belongs to GJohn. …
Nevertheless, the I John Prologue has had a significant function in
the history of winning for the Johannine corpus of writings their
authority as an eyewitness production. In the late second century, if I
John showed against Gnostic abuse that GJohn could be read in an
orthodox way, the “we have heard … seen with our eyes … looked at
and felt with our own hands” became the hallmark of apostolic
authorship. While not sharing that conclusion, I would contend that
the “what” clauses of the Prologue, though awkward grammatically,
i
“The only NT rival as a Prologue might be Heb 1:1-4, but that is more closely
integrated to what follows than either Johannine Prologues.”
1248

have a rough eloquence and successfully hammer home the point that
the Christian proclamation involves intrinsically the ministry of Jesus
on this earth. Those clauses do not constitute a dispassionate
theological presentation but are rather an urgent manifesto called
forth by struggle. The crescendo of references to sensory experience
in 1:1 reflects defiant exasperation provoked by opposition over the
thrust of the Johannine Gospel. And so, while not an overture, the
Prologue sets the tone for I John in terms of a polemically exclusive
claim, namely, that the proclamation about Jesus made by the author
represents the authentic Gospel stemming from a true witness to
Jesus, and those who refuse to accept it have communion with neither
Father nor Son.
Let me illustrate this analysis by discussing three topics: (A) the
Flow of Ideas in the Prologue; (B) The Prologues Relation to the
GJohn Prologue; (C) the Rationale or “Why” of the Prologue.
A. Flow of Ideas
In the Notes I reached these conclusions: The “we” of v. 1
represent the Johannine School, i.e., the tradition-bearers and
interpreters of the larger Johannine Community who preserved a
witness of auditory, visual, and manual contact with Jesus, probably
stemming from the Beloved Disciple. The “what” in the string of
noun clauses in v. 1 is comprehensive of Jesus’ person, words, and
deeds “from the beginning” of his self-revelation to his disciples after
being pointed out by John the Baptist until his victory over death. The
proclamation of Jesus’ person and ministry is a message of life (1:1f),
for in Jesus an eternal life that had existed in and with God was
revealed on this earth (v. 2). Speaking as a representative of the “we,”
the author addresses this proclamation of Jesus’ ministry, this word of
life, to an audience of Johannine Christians whom he wishes to bind
in communion (koinōnia) with him; for he and the other tradition-
bearers already have communion with the Father and the Son through
the revelation of life they have received (v. 3). Communion among
the Johannine Christians (which, as we shall see, is threatened)
constitutes the author’s goal in writing and will fill out his joy (v. 4).
… was prefaced to GJohn because it summarized well the main lines of
B. Relation of the I John Prologue to the GJohn Prologue
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Many commentators observe that a Prologue is an extraordinary
beginning for an epistle since it violates all the standards of letter
format. …
Dismissing, then, the purported epistolary character of the
Prologue (and of I John), I suggest that it is a reinterpretation of
GJohn Prologue, done in order to refute adversaries who are
distorting the meaning of the GJohn Prologue. In that way the
Prologue, is an essential part of I John, written to refute the same
adversaries who are distorting the meaning of the Johannine tradition
as a whole. …
Each Prologue begins with the theme of a divine reality which was
in the beginning; partway through the two Prologues (John 1:14; I
John 1:1e) the theme of life appears; in each there are double
interruptions that break the grammatical connections; in each the
theme of witness or testifying (martyrein) appears only in the paren-
thetical interruption; each Prologue deals with the visual reaction of a
“we” to the divine reality’s manifestation; and lastly each Prologue
refers to a participation with God brought about by the manifestation
of the divine reality. The passages in the GJohn Prologue that the I
John Prologue most closely echoes are 1:1 and 1:14.
Precisely because there is so much similarity between the two
Prologues, the differences are all the more startling. It is hardly
conceivable that the author who wrote the GJohn Prologue with its
careful staircase parallelism (ABJ 29, 19) and clear line of thought
would later write the more awkward I John Prologue. … Was he
someone who did not understand the GJohn Prologue? Was his
purpose a crude attempt to gain eyewitness authority for his work?
These frequently made suggestions fail to do justice to the flow of
ideas in the I John Prologue as diagnosed in the chart. Let me now
discuss a theory that makes the I John Prologue with its awkward and
careful flow of ideas intelligible.
C. The Rationale of the Prologue
In ABJ 29, 20-22 I suggested that the GJohn Prologue was
originally a hymn widely known in the Johannine tradition and that it
Johannine christology. Above (INTRODUCTION IV) the thesis was
proposed that I John is a response to a struggle with Johannine
adversaries who, although they believed that a divine preexistent
Word had become flesh, attributed little importance to what He had
done in the flesh. In their incarnational soteriology the very coming or
1250

sending of the Son of God, not his life or ministry or death, was what
brought salvation. For such adversaries the GJohn Prologue could
have been a perfect expression of their christology and their gospel: It
stressed the divine origins of the Word and how he brought light and
life into the world, but it said nothing about his early career and
death.i It offered a new status as children of God to all those who
recognized and accepted the Word come into the world.ii The
secessionist adversaries I have posited for I John might well have
made their slogan John 1:1,14,16 (the very verses that closest in
wording to the I John Prologue): “In the beginning was the Word; the
Word was in God’s presence … and the Word became flesh and made
his dwelling among us. And we looked at his glory … and of his
fullness we have all had a share.iii
If such was the case, how could the epistolary author correct his
adversaries’ (mis)use of the GJohn Prologue? He could not reject of
attack that Prologue because it was a prominent item of Johannine
tradition and, as a Johannine Christian, he himself accepted its
christology. But he could comment on the GJohn Prologue so as to
show that one can understand it properly only if one takes into
account the thrust of GJohn itself. Beginning in 1:19, GJohn is the
story of Jesus’ self-revelation in word and deed from the time of his
encounter with John the Baptist until the hour of his glorification in
passion, death, and resurrection. In this process of self-revelation
during an earthly career, it becomes clear that Jesus is the preexistent
Son of God who has come down from heaven. Logically the GJohn
Prologue placed that incarnation first, but such a highlighting of the
incarnation makes sense only if it is seen as a preface to the life and
death of Jesus which it presupposes – that is why the Prologue hymn
is prefaced to the gospel story which now follows it. The adversaries
of I John have ignored the presuppositions and thrust of the gospel
story and thus (in the epistolary author’s judgment) have distorted the
i reinterprets the “Word” from the GJohn Prologue to mean the
“Contrast the emphasis on these features in Philip 2:8-9; Col 1:18b; and Eph 1:20.”
ii
“Later gnostics would contend that through faith people did not become God’s
children but recognized that they were already God’s children (see Introduction V
D1).”
iii
“It is too often thought that the GJohn Prologue was anti-docetic and that the
secessionist who were docetist could not have accepted it. In the Introduction above
(V D2b and IV B3b) I have denied all aspects of that claim. If later the secessionist of
I John became docetist, they would have reinterpreted the “became flesh” of John
1:14 as “”was manifest in the flesh” (footnote 252 above). Ptolemaeus and the
Valentinian gnostics had no problem about interpreting in a gnostice manner the
GJohn Prologue in general and 1:14 in particular (Iranaeus, Adv. haer. 1.8.5).”
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import of the GJohn Prologue. To demonstrate this he reshapes some
of the well known and significant phrases of the GJohn Prologue to
write his own Prologue reminding the reader of the presuppositions of
the gospel story. The awkwardness of the I John Prologue, then,
stems from an attempt to give familiar wording a different emphasis.
Well has Houlden (Epistles 48) remarked, “The incoherence of the
opening of I John is symbolic of the bewildering and perplexing
nature of the challenge.” Let us now see this line by line.
The GJohn Prologue started with “the beginning”; the epistolary
author reuses that expression in another meaning that is just as
authentically Johannine.i He would say that GJohn is correct: In the
beginning before creation there was a divine Word who ultimately
became flesh. But he would add that the only way this can be known
is from another beginning when the Son began to reveal himself to
disciples who could hear him, see him with their eyes, and tough him
with their own hands.ii It is said that in the procedure of Greek courts
an action had to be verified by two senses – I John supplies a third.
But even without that background, in v. 1 there is clearly a crescendo
of verbs to give emphasis to the reality of Jesus’ earthly career. The
GJohn Prologue reacted to the incarnation in v. 14 with the claim,
“We have looked at his glory”; the I John Prologue stresses that the
glory was of one who lived a life so real that it can further be claimed,
“We looked at (him) and felt with our own hands.” The GJohn
Prologue spoke of the experience of a “we” who were the whole
Johannine Community (see INTRODUCTION, footnote 218). The
epistolary author could concede that the whole Community does
share an eschatological existential encounter with the Word become
flesh. But this is possible only because there was a group who
encountered Jesus historically, and so he would maintain that the
“we” of the GJohn Prologue presupposed and included them. To
stress this he reuses the “we” to bring out the eyewitness roots of the
Community experience, and the “looking at” of GJohn 1:14. He
message preached during his ministry by Jesus and afterwards by the
(Paraclete-inspired) witness-bearers of the Johannine School. The
secessionist may rhapsodize about a preexistent Word, but such a
Word can be known only because on this earth Jesus spoke an audible
“word.” The secessionist may rhapsodize about a life that the
i
“John 2:11; 6:64; 15:27; 16:4.”
ii
“We may suspect that the secessionist adversaries would not have appreciated I
John’s stress on seeing and hearing in a sensory manner. …”
1252

preexistent Word brought to believers (John 1:4,12-13), but that is
possible only because God’s Son lived out on this earth a career
which revealed him to be the embodiment of the eternal life that was
in the Father’s presence. In a parenthetical interruption in the GJohn
Prologue (1:6-8) John the Baptist bears witness or testifies to a light
that was coming into the world. In v. 2, a parenthetical interruption in
the I John Prologue, the “we” bears witness or testifies to an eternal
life that has been revealed in the world. It is noteworthy the epistolary
author does not repeat the Word “was in the world” (as in John 1:10),
nor describe the Word as having come or having been sent (typical
GJohn terms) – although true, those images would not do justice to
what happened at the incarnation. Rather, I John states twice that the
life was revealed (to us), using the verb phaneroun that was first
employed in GJohn for the beginning of the public ministry. The
Baptist revealed Jesus to Israel (John 1:31) and Jesus revealed his
glory through the miraculous sign he performed at Cana (2:11; see
also 7:4; 9:3). … I John’s distinction in the Prologue is not
completely foreign to GJohn; for 20:29 distinguishes between those
who have seen and those who have not seen but still have believed,
while 17:6,20 distinguishes between those to whom Jesus directly
revealed (phaneroun) himself and those who would believe in him on
the word (logos) of the first group. Thus, even in the Johannine
Community where the role of the Paraclete in GJohn had earlier been
said about Jesus, so that the paraclete is to Jesus as Jesus is to the
Father. The epistolary author has the same mentality, but he
emphasizes the “we” instead of the Paraclete. In I John 3:31-32 Jesus
describes the “we” in the same language: “We have seen and testify
… what we have seen and heard, we proclaim in turn to you.” The
shift is intelligible if the secessionist were claiming that the Paraclete-
Spirit authenticated their teaching (as we may suspect from the order
in I John 4:1,6 to test the Spirits to distinguish “the Spirit of Truth,”
which is another name for the Paraclete in John 14:7; 15:26; and
16:13). The epistolary author refutes such a claim by pointing out the
lack of secessionist agreement with the human witnesses through
whom the Paraclete speaks, as indicated in John 15:26 where the
witness of the Paraclete is set side by side with the instruction: “You
too should bear witness because you to have been with me from the
beginning.” All of the Johannine background lies behind the author’s
statement, “What was from the beginning … what we have seen and
heard, we proclaim in turn to you.” …
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Mark 1:1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ2 he Son of
God. NET
2tn The genitive in the phrase tou' eujaggelivou *Ihsou'
Cristou' (tou euangeliou Ihsou Cristou, “the gospel of Jesus Christ”)
could be translated as either a subjective genitive (“the gospel which
Jesus brings [or proclaims]”) or an objective genitive (“the gospel about
Jesus Christ”). Either is grammatically possible. This is possibly an
instance of a plenary genitive (see ExSyn 119-21; M. Zerwick, Biblical
Greek, §§36-39). If so, an interplay between the two concepts is
intended: The gospel which Jesus proclaims is in fact the gospel about
himself.
sn The first verse of Mark’s Gospel appears to function as a title: The
beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is not certain,
however, whether Mark intended it to refer to the entire Gospel, to the
ministry of John the Baptist, or through the use of the term beginning
(ajrchv, arch) to allude to Genesis 1:1 (in the Greek Bible, LXX). The
most likely option is that the statement as a whole is an allusion to
Genesis 1:1 and that Mark is saying that with the “good news” of the
coming of Christ, God is commencing a “new beginning.”
Two suppositions by the author are noteworthy: the “we” is
already in communion with the Father and with His Son, Jesus
Christ,i and the “you” is yet to be joined in this communion. It is a
clear teaching of GJohn that Jesus brought the Father’s life to earth
and made possible a union with the Father, the Son, and the believer.
Like life, koinōnia, “communion,” has been brought from heaven to
earth, for there was a communion of the Father and the Son before the
incarnation and it is into that communion that the believers are
brought.ii The author does not need to prove this in I John, for the
secessionist claim such a communion for themselves (1:6; 2:6). The
author challenges that claim by a distinction suggesting that not all
who are the Johannine perspective possess union with God. The “we”
of the tradition-bearers possess it, and so do the more general “you”
when they are united to the “we.” This excludes the adversaries who
i
“In the Note on 3de I showed that the designation “Jesus Christ,” attested in GJohn,
is related to evaluating Jesus as the Son of God. The usage here may be
antisecessionist, since the adversaries will be accused of denying that Jesus (in his
human career) is the Christ (I John 5:1).”
ii
“31 In GJohn this is expressed in terms of “being in” (einai en) or “abiding in”
(menien en) . See John 14:23 and ABJ 29, 511-12; 29A, 602-3.”
1254

“went out from us, not that they really belonged to us; for if they had
belonged to us, they would have remained with us” (2:19). …
This neuralgic difference between the author and the secessionist
about union with God may be reflected in his choice of the term
koinōnia, “communion,” which never appears in the GJohn.
Schnackenburg (Johannesbriefe 64) is right when he says that
koinōnia can serve as a nominal expression for what GJohn covers by
verbs of indwelling (footnote 31 above). However, would the
secessionist who gladly employed the verbs to express union with
God have been happy with this noun which in NT usage was more
frequently used for union among Christiansi than for union with
God? ii As I pointed out in the NOTE on v. 3c, it is a word with a
definite “ecclesiastical” tone that the author may wish to stress
against the secessionist. While the secessionist had a certain sense of
union among themselves, their theology of direct union with God
probably meant that they could not give to a union among themselves
the salvific value attributed to communion among believers in I John
1:3 where it becomes sina qua non of being united to God. Certainly
they did not accept I john’s interpretation of koinōnia, which involved
adhesion to the interpretation of what was seen and heard as
proclaimed by the Johannine School (of which the author was part).
… The goal of the whole revelatory process described in the
Prologue is not only communion but joy: We are writing this so that
our joy may be fulfilled.” Just as the epistolary author has modified
the GJohn tradition of a direct relation between the believers and the
Father/Son (by the introduction of communion with “us” to form a
triangular pattern), so he has modified the tradition about the joy that
binds Jesus and the believers: “I have said this to you that my joy may
be yours and your joy may be fulfilled.” The author has made this
also triangular by speaking of “our joy,” i.e., the joy of the Johannine
School when, with and through them, the believers are joined in
communion with the Father/Son. iii Perhaps once again he could
i
“See Acts 2:42; Philip 1:5; Gal 2:9; II Cor 8:4; 9:13; Rom 15:26; Philem 6; Heb
13:6.”
ii
“With the Holy Spirit in Philip 2:1; II Cor 13:13; with Christ in I Cor 1:9; 10:16
…”
iii
“… Bultmann, Epistles 14, however, is right when he recognizes that the author is
speaking of eschatological joy, which is the same as peace or life (ABJ 29A, 681).
Compare John 10:10: “That they may have life and have to the full.” Moreover, since
the joy comes from bringing the “you" into communion with the Father/Son (through
communion with “us”), compare John 17:3: “Eternal life consists in this: that they
know you the one true God, and Jesus Christ [Messiah], the one you sent.”
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justify this by resorting to the kind of tradition found in John 17
where Jesus distinguishes between his immediate disciples and “those
who believe in me through their word” (17:20) and where he prays
“that they may share my joy to the full” 17:13). For the author that
second generation of Johannine Christians could enter into this full
joy, but they could not bypass those who had seen, heard, and felt.
(The Anchor Bible – The Epistles of John, Dr. R. E. Brown, pp 174-
87)
Dr. R. E. Brown: - Who then is the Liar?:
2:22 Who, then, who is the Liar?
None other than the person who that denies Jesus is the Christ.
Such is the Antichrist:
The person who denies the Father and the Son.
2:23 No person who denies the Son
possesses the Father either,
while the person who confesses the Son
possesses the Father as well.
I John 2:22b None other than. Literally ei mē means “unless” or “if
not.” An exact parallel of the rhetorical question followed by ei mē is
I John 5:5: “Who then is the conqueror of the world? None other than
…” See also I Cor 2:11; II Cor 2:2.
The person that denies that Jesus is the Christ. The literal Greek
construction
I John 2:22d the person who denies the Father and the Son. For the
peculiar Johannine tendency to use “the Father” and “the Son”
absolutely, without modifier, see the NOTES above on 1:2e and 1:3de.
Presumably “the Father” is put first to underline the heinousness of
the denial; in fact, however, the secessionist are never accused of
denying the Father separately from their christology. There is no
evidence that they separated the Father from the Creator, regarding
the latter as a demiurge …
Comments - Anointing as a Reassurance against Secessionist Lies (1
John 2:20-23)
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Hitherto the author’s attacks on boasts and claims (implicitly
against the secessionists) have concerned walking in darkness, not
keeping the commandments, not loving one’s brother, and pretending
to be sinless – ethical issues that gave the lie to perfectionists attitudes
of knowing God, being in communion with and abiding in Him (1:5-
2:11). Only in this subunit does it at last become clear that a
christological issue sparked the secession, something that we might
have guessed from GJohn which is so single-mindedly christological.
Since only one group of secessionist is involved (INTRODUCTION IV
B1), the ethical indifference to commandments, to how one walks,
and to sin must somehow be related to the denial “that Jesus is the
Christ.” In the NOTE on 2:22b I have argued that in this confession
“Jesus” means for the author the incarnate Word in his life and death,
while the secessionists would acknowledge primarily the preexistent
Word as the Christ, the Son of God, with the incarnation adding
nothing essential.i Their failure to appreciate the way he walked,
leads to their failure to appreciate the importance of the way in which
Christians must walk – that is how their christological and ethical
errors are connected.ii Even more disastrously, their failure to
appreciate the death of Jesus on the cross (his blood) makes them
misunderstand that we have become God’s children – not through the
incarnation alone but through the crucifixion. And so their denial of
Jesus (the incarnate Word) as the Christ or the Son is tantamount to a
denial of the fatherhood of God (2:22c-23). iii
In reference to the preexistent Word who is in the world (but
without any emphasis on his career or death) the GJohn prologue says
that those who believe in his name are those begotten by God (John
1:10-12). It is not obvious, then, from GJohn that the secessionist is
unfaithful to Johannine tradition, and understandably the epistolary
author fears that the secessionists may deceive his adherents (1 John
2:26). His first and main support against them is that his adherents
have been anointed with the Holy Spirit, a gift from Christ, when they
i
“I suspect that, being Johannine Christians, the secessionist could say “Jesus is the
Christ” but with different emphasis – the Christ became Jesus. …”
ii
“Walking as Christ walked helped to make the author’s adherents “Christian”; the
failure to do so helped make the secessionists “Antichrists.””
iii
“For the author denying the Son as equivalent to denying the Father is an
intellectual matter but one relative to Christian life itself. In 2:23ab, I followed the
thesis that it may be related to “having” divine realities (God’s life, light, love, word,
etc.) so that through them the believers “have” God within themselves.”
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began their Christian life (2:20a, 27a,e). i The Paraclete/Spirit who
guides along the way of all truth (John 16:3) gives all of them
knowledge about Christ. The author never denies that His adversaries
were once anointed. If that argument were possible, his silence is
most curious since it would have been an excellent polemic point.
Rather, if anointing was received when one became a Christian, the
secessionists as former members of the Community necessarily would
have been anointed. This is consonant with their obvious claim to
possess the Spirit (1 Joh 4:1). In that case how does anointing (with
the Spirit) guarantee a correct knowledge of Christ for the author’s
adherents if anointing did not protect the secessionist from diabolic
deceit? Hidden beneath the oratory in 2:20,27 about the effectiveness
of the anointing as a teacher of the Christian is the author’s
presupposition that the Spirit will confirm the Johannine School’s
interpretation of the Gospel because the Spirit inspired that
interpretation. In other words the author assumes the criterion that he
will make explicit in 4:6: “Anyone who has knowledge of God listens
to us … That is how we can know the Spirit of Truth from the Spirit
of Deceit.” Dodd, Epistles 54, phrases this well: “He writes with
authority just because he is confident that he expresses the Corporate
convictions of the Church, which will be recognized as such by all
humble and sincere believers.” ii
In 2:20b the author says to his adherents, “All of you have
knowledge.” He is clearly contrasting his adherents (the “you”) with
the secessionists of whom he has just said, “None of them belongs to
us”; and his stress on knowledge contradicts their claim to know God
(2:4). Probably the secessionist maintained that they were the only
ones to have such knowledge, charging that those who did not join
them were ignorant and immature. If such propaganda was making
the author’s adherents uncertain of themselves, he is now assuring
them that they know the truth (2:21) and possess the Father and the
Son (2:23). …
i
“In the long NOTE on 2:20a, in discussing four disputed points about “the chrisma
from the Holy One,” I concluded that the chrisma probably means anointing and not
simply ointment, that the anointing may have been physical and was probably
associated with entrance into the Community, that the anointing was symbolic of the
gift of the Spirit, and that the Holy One who was the source of the anointing was
Christ.”
ii
“Dodd continues, “It is to him and to others like him that we owe it that the faith
emerged from the stage of fluidity with new forms of thought and expression adapted
to its wider environment, but with its Gospel intact.””
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The covenant setting of the author’s language, if it goes back to
the Johannine Community patterns of conversion, initiation, or
baptism (or all three), helps to explain the wording of the
christological confessions in 2:22-23. If the author and the seces-
sionist disagree about the meaning of “Jesus” (incarnate Word or
preexistent Word) in the confession, “Jesus is the Christ” (2:22c),
why does he not phrase the christological statement more exactly in
order to exclude the secessionist interpretation, e.g., “The Word-
became-flesh is the Christ”? The answer is that, since he and the
secessionist are arguing about the right interpretation of the Johannine
tradition and since he is claiming to represent what was from the
beginning, he has to remain faithful to confessions that his readers
would remember from their conversion/initiation/baptism. From John
20:31 one may guess that an entrance into the Community, Johannine
Christians confessed, “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God”; and so his
references in 2:22-23 concern those who deny that Jesus is the Christ
or deny the Son. Since his readers were anointed (with the Spirit)
when they first made that confession, such anointing should keep
them faithful to the true christology implicit in the Johannine
understanding of the confession. This is particularly necessary in “the
last hour.” If the secessionist are the fulfillment of the apocalyptic
expectation of the great apostasy and deceit of the last times, the
continuance of those who make a true christological confession
fulfills the tradition that connects a confession of or by Jesus with the
last judgment (Matt 10:32-33; Rev 3:5; Rom:9-10). (The Anchor
Bible – The Epistles of John, Dr. R. E. Brown, pp 368-71)
This writer: Summary John’s Epistles and Intro?:
The short, but terse, Letter of 2 John to the “elect lady” contains this
warning against false teachers: “But now I ask you, lady (not as if I were
writing a new commandment to you, but the one we have had from the
beginning), that we love one another. (Now this is love: that we walk
according to his commandments.) This is the commandment, just as you
have heard from the beginning; thus you should walk in it. For many
deceivers have gone out into the world, people who do not confess Jesus
as Christ coming in the flesh. This person is the deceiver and the
antichrist! Watch out, so that you do not lose the things we have worked
for, but receive a full reward. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not
remain in the teaching of Christ does not have God. The one who
remains in this teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone
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comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into
your house and do not give him any greeting, because the person who
gives him a greeting shares in his evil deeds” (2 John 1:5-11). It is thus
demonstrated, in the primitive church, that teachers had gone out with a
false gospel which “separated” the Son from the Father (seemingly a
early form of adoptionism or dynamic Monarchianism, but certainly not
a matured Gnosticism that suggested a mythic “divine seed” in all men
that may be sparked by secret knowledge. Paul had to contend with a
form of this in his Epistle to the Colossians). These same teachers and
their followers would not confess that Jesus is the Christ. Their error was
not in the predicate of the confession statement, rather it was who the
man Jesus was, i.e., Jesus come in the flesh (viz., the virgin birth) from
the Father. This being a major contradiction to the “intended” meaning in
the GJohn Prologue. The Letter of 1 John was to assure the remaining
church that Jesus Christ had been granted eternal life by the Father to
give to those who would believe that He came from the Father. The
following verses paint the picture of the immutable “eternal life” (zōēn
aiōnion) of God, the “fullness” (pleroma), received at the moment of
salvation by the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Heb 2:11 For indeed he who makes holy and those being made holy
all have the same origin, and so he is not ashamed to call them
brothers and sisters, NET
John 20:31 But these are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life
in his name. NET
John 17:3 Now this is eternal life—that they know you, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent. NET
1 John 3:23 Now this is his commandment: that we believe in the
name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he gave us
the commandment. 3:24 And the person who keeps his
commandments resides in God, and God in him. Now by this we
know that God resides in us: by the Spirit he has given us. NET
John 15:12 My commandment is this—to love one another just as I
have loved you. NET
John 16:27 For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved
me and have believed that I came from God. 16:28 I came from the
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Father and entered into the world, but in turn, I am leaving the world
and going back to the Father.” NET
John 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they
follow me. 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish;
no one will snatch them from my hand. 10:29 My Father, who has
given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them
from my Father’s hand. 10:30 The Father and I are one.” NET
John 15:26 When the Advocate comes, whom I will send you from
the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will
testify about me, NET
What may be stated, so far, is that the Christology of the those who
“went out” from the Johannine church in Asia Minor, after the death of
both Paul and Peter, was a contemporary opinion that denied the writings
and teachings of the Apostles John, Peter, and Paul – that the Father and
Son are one. They denied Jesus incarnate, “begotten by God” and born in
the flesh. They would confess only a preincarnate Son of God.
Furthermore, based on this false assumption - that Jesus became Christ at
His baptism by John the Baptist - their conceptions of the Christian life,
after being “begotten by God,” were radically different than that of the
main body they had separated from. Several commentators infer that this
group of secessionists were the more well to do “young Turks” who
asserted that lifestyle did not matter after being “born from above.” To
this point, the main thrust of the author’s argument is pointed. Because
they misused the authority of Scripture, they deemed their Christian
brothers in error and themselves the more enlightened. The determining
behavior – combined with promoting sinful lifestyles – that proved this
group was unregenerate, was the fact that they did not love their
Christian brothers when they left and sent out false teachers to recruit
others to join them in their unbelief. The author asserts they did not have
eternal life because, “Everyone who has been begotten by God does not
act sinfully because God’s seed abides in him.”
There is one great, paramount condemning sin of the unsaved that is
not redeemed, all other sins by believers are forgiven. Because all sin has
been redeemed by grace in the blood of Christ, and does not, and will not
ever condemn a believer. Thereby a believer may confidently boast in the
Lord Jesus Christ and his God who saved him, declaring openly, without
reservation: Who is the master of my judgment? “Who will bring any
charge against God’s elect [me]? It is God who justifies [me]. Who is the
one who will condemn [me]? Christ is the one who died [for me] (and
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more than that, he was raised), who is at the right hand of God, and who
also is interceding for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ?”
(Rom 8:33-35) (brackets mine). Christ, who is at the right hand of God,
immediately advocates the believer’s sin before the accuser of all
believers – Satan – and pleads His substitution sufficient for that sin. Not
until all believers are removed from this earth will Satan be released
from accusing believers day and night before God. Unconfessed sins by a
believer will ever and always certainly effect communion with God, but
never, never is the union broken between God and a believer. The
Apostle Paul directed the following response to the inherent charge, that
up to this very day, is consistently leveled at God’s salvation by grace:
“And why not say, “Let us do evil so that good may come of it”?—as
some who slander us allege that we say. (Their condemnation is
deserved!)” (Rom 3:8).
To make evil seem good is the standard method of deceit: “the
serpent said to the woman, ‘Surely you will not die’” (Gen 3:4ff). Almost
universally, a heart rending, sentimental, tear-filled request for forgive-
ness appears saintly, but of itself, falls far short of confession to an
adjustment that needs to be made, or a request for help in avoiding sinful
behavior. Herein is the root, the core, the heart of darkness that sustains
the Rectoral or Governmental theory and the Negative gospel that would
demand the insulting requests that are sent to God day and night by those
professing to be Christians. To be free of deception and unbelief, the
primary observation to be maintained by those who would dare to preach
God’s gospel of grace to the unsaved, is here emphatically stated:
No one who belongs to this world need ever ask Jesus to die again.
Forgiveness is secured for the unsaved, but not saving faith in
forgiveness.
No one who does not belong to this world need ever insult God’s grace
and His Son’s death by asking for forgiveness.
Forgiveness is secured for the saved, but not confession and adjustment.
One may well note, the distinction between a singular and plural
reference to sin. The unsaved are guilty of the condemning sin of
unbelief. To ask for forgiveness from God is unbelief. The unsaved are
not required and cannot confess their sins because their personal sins are
redeemed but not forgiven. Nor may the unsaved - to receive salvation -
ask for forgiveness which is the absolute opposite of believing that all
their sins have been paid for by the Savior, Jesus Christ. The saved do
not have the burden to ask for forgiveness - the saved have the burden to
confess forgiven sins of the flesh; the old nature that yet remains an
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adversary along with the world, and the devil. Which encompasses the
combined worldly environment of the cosmos diabolicus. Jesus said of
those who believed in Him, “If you belonged to the world, the world
would love you as its own. However, because you do not belong to the
world, but I chose you out of the world, for this reason the world hates
you” (John 15:18). If anyone belongs to this world, that person belongs
to Satan. The author of 1 John declares, “The one who practices sin is of
the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. For this
purpose the Son of God was revealed: to destroy the works of the devil”
(1 John 3:8).
Dr. R. E. Brown: The Abiding Seed:
1 John 3:9b because God’s seed abides in him. Literally, “his
sperma abides in him,” …
(A) Sperma means offspring. In John 8:33,37 there is a debate
whether the Jews are the sperma of Abraham, while in 7:42 the
tradition is cited that the Messiah is supposed to from the sperma of
David. Thus in three of four Johannine uses sperma means
“offspring.” … But Christians are never called the sperma of God,
even though in the argument in Rom 9:6-9 they are called both the
promised sperma (offspring) of Abraham and ‘the children [pl.
teknon] of God.” Since the Johannine writers think of Christians as
those begotten by God, there would be less objection than there was
in the instance of Christ to their being considered God’s offspring.
But would the term sperma be used for that idea, since sperma as
“offspring” always seems to mean physical descendants for John
(7:42; 8:33, 37)? The pl. of teknon would be the more normal
Johannine terminology for God’s offspring. The most, then, that one
can say for this interpretation of 3:9b is that it does not lack all
possibility.
(B) Sperma means male generating seed. In this case “his seed”
would surely be God’s seed. (Theoretically “his” might refer to the
one begotten by God, but even then he would have received the seed
from God.) The “in him” would refer to the Christian. Some balk at
the crude anthropomorphism involved when speaking of God’s
sperm; but the imagery is no more difficult than that of God begetting
Christians. What spiritual reality is symbolized by “God’s seed”?
There is no agreement among the commentators. … (The RSV
renders “his seed” as “God’s nature.”) Undoubtedly, in Johannine
thought the one begotten by God has both a new life and a new nature
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in the sense of now being from above rather than from below.
However, would not the basic meaning of sperma suggest that we
think of the agent of life rather than life itself, and correspondingly of
that which causes us to be from above? Some of the Greek Fathers
(Severus of Antioch, Didymus the Blind, Maximus the Confessor)
spoke of the sperma as an interior force by which the soul ceases to
be oriented towards sin, and it is a form of this interpretation that
Bonsirven and Charue share. The medieval theologians thought the
author meant grace, and they enunciated the principle that grace and
sin cannot be in the soul at the same time. In this they are articulating
a NT insight in the language of later theology. Closer to the mentality
of the NT period are the theories that sperma represents God’s word
or the Holy Spirit. Commentators usually decide for one or the other.
… Du Preez, “Sperma” 107, has a formula that covers almost every
theory: The sperma is “that new life born of God, given in Christ,
communicated by the Spirit, and realized in practice by the
proclaimed word.” Cautioned that we should not be too narrow in our
interpretation, I think it nevertheless useful to examine the arguments
for giving it a more precise meaning.
(1) God’s word: “because God’s seed [word] abides in him [the
Christian begotten by God].” … Certainly the word of God or of
Christ is an active force in Johannine thought, making the disciples
clean (John 15:3) and abiding in the Christian (15:7; 1 John 2:14, 24).
And since opposition to the devil is in the context here, it may be
noted that the GJohn passage on the devil (8:44) stresses the role of
truth and is preceded by an appeal to abide in Jesus (8:31-32).
However, nothing in Johannine literature associates the word with the
begetting of the Christian even though that is found elsewhere in the
NT, e.g., “He brought us forth by the word of truth” (Jas 1:18); “You
have been born anew, not of perishable seed [spora] but of
imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God” (1 Pet
1:23). In the NT the word of God is called spora (or sporos in Luke
8:11) but never sperma; … The oft-cited passage in 1 Cor 4:15, “I
have begotten you through the gospel,” is not apropos, since Paul, not
God, is the begetting agent. Certainly there is ample biblical evidence
for wisdom, revelation, or truth as a principle fortifying people
against sin, … Overall, however, the evidence is not very strong that
the epistolary author thought of the word of God as a seed that both
begets the Christians and abides in them so that they cannot be
sinners.
(2) Holy Spirit: “because God’s seed [Spirit] abides in him [the
Christian begotten by God].” This view (as the primary interpretation)
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has been held in Reformation times by Calvin and Beza, and in
modern times by Balz, {etc}. … Since I have frequently stressed the
New Covenant setting of 1 John, the promise in the New Covenant
passage in Ezekiel (36:26-27) is worth remembering: “A new heart
will I give you, a new spirit will I put within you … and I will put my
spirit within you.” The Spirit is clearly a factor in begetting in John
3:5 – the kind of passage the author may be presuming when, without
explanation, he relates divine begetting with God’s abiding seed in 1
John 3:9. The risen Jesus breathing forth the Spirit upon His disciples
who are now His brothers in John 20:17, 22 (see ABJ 29A, 1015-16)
could also be invoked. As for the element of abiding, the
Spirit/Paraclete was given by Jesus “to be with you forever” (14:16);
and if in 1 John 2:27 the anointing is with the Spirit, that anointing
abides in the Christian. Also in 1 John 3:24 and 4:13 divine abiding is
associated with the Spirit. If we are told here the Christian cannot be a
sinner, the Spirit/Paraclete is presented as the great opponent of sin,
convicting the world on this subject (John 16:8-9). … Yet overall I
think the evidence favors identifying God’s seed with the Spirit rather
than with His word. But in the long run the exact identification is not
so important, so long as we recognize that the author is talking about
a divine agency for begetting God’s children, which not only brings
us into being but also remains and keeps us His children.
1 John 3:9d has been begotten by God. This is the perfect passive
tense of gennan, “to beget, give birth to,” or “[passive] to be begotten
/born,” followed by the prepositional phrase “from him [autos].”
Grammatically there is no way to know whether autos refers to Christ
as did the three uses of autos in 2:28, or is being used after the
preceding reference to Christ (2:29a – in the verbal form “he is”) to
change the agency to God. A third possibility is that autos refers
imprecisely to both Christ and God the Father (Vincent Cernuda). …
The attention that the epistolary author gives to the phrase “begotten
by God” makes it reasonably certain that the secessionists were using
it, but the suggestion that he borrowed it is from them is quite
unnecessary. John 3:5 makes it more likely that divine begetting was
part of the language of admission to the Johannine Community and
thus a heritage common to both the author’s adherents and the seces-
sionists. What secessionist interpretation of divine begetting is the
author refuting? Since he never attacks a claim that the Christians are
children of God before birth, I deem it unlikely that the secessionist
had moved into the full Gnostic myth. What the author does criticize
is the failure to draw the proper implications of being begotten by
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God. This becomes apparent when we put together the statements of 1
John on divine begetting:
2:29 Everyone who acts justly has been begotten by God
3:9 Everyone who has been begotten by God does not act sinfully
He cannot be a sinner because he has been begotten by God
4:7 Everyone who loves has been begotten by God
5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been begot-
ten by God
5:5 All that is begotten by God conquers the world
5:18 No one who has been begotten by God commits sin
The one begotten by God is protected … the Evil One cannot
touch Him
The statement in 5:1 indicates that right belief is a necessary
condition for being begotten by God; so presumably the author would
deny that the secessionists are thus begotten. The rest of the
statements show that divine begetting not only brings the gift of life
but manifests itself in a way of life, especially in acting justly (and
not sinfully) and in manifesting love. … If one judges a persons
humanity not simply on his having been begotten by human parents
but on his living in a human manner, the same may be said of a
person’s relationship to a God. De la Potterie, La vérité 2, 604ff.,
makes this valid point; but with his usual predilection for the theory
of exact Johannine theological grammar, he would argue that the 6
Johannine uses of gennan in the aorist tense refer to receiving the
divine word which begets, while the 11 uses of in the perfect tense
indicate continuance and express the idea of belonging to God as His
child. … No matter how one modifies or relativizes the 1 John claims
to sinlessness and impeccability, the truth in those claims comes from
the divine principle that begot Christians and that remains active in
them. … No matter what the author thought, the wording of his
affirmations about sinlessness and impeccability is not sufficiently
nuanced. In struggling to understand this, Augustine (In Epistolam
4.8; SC 75, 234) perceptively stressed the relationship of the divine
principle(3:6: abiding in Christ; 3:9a: being begotten by God; 3:9b:
having God’s seed abiding in one) and the claimed power against sin:
“To the extent that the Christian remains in Christ, to that extent he
does not sin.” Others have phrased the idea less succinctly, but this
approach runs through commentators of various times and places. The
Greek church fathers thought of the seed of God as an interior force
by which the soul, no longer oriented toward sin, allows itself to be
1266

led by a dynamism that makes it incapable of choosing evil. A
modern writer (La Rondelle, Perfection 232) states, “John bases the
impossibility of sinning not in the Christian as such, but in the
transforming and keeping presence of God’s Seed, i.e., in the Christus
praesens who is ‘greater than he who is in the world’ (4,4).”
According to Prunet, Morale 92, the author believes that the new
nature given by divine begetting produces a new humanity incapable
of sin. To the extent that the principle of life is active, but only to that
extent, sin is impossible. One may debate about the precise way in
which GJohn has portrayed divine begetting as operative, but for 1
John “having been begotten’ means more than a terminated divine
creative activity of the past. Whether the seed is the Word of God or
His Holy Spirit (Note on 2:9b), it remains active after it has brought
the child of God into being. In John 6:44 Jesus says, “No one can
come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him”; the drawing
towards Jesus continues after one has first come to him.
One is forced, then, to understand the claims to sinlessness and
impeccability in 1 John 3:6,9 in light of the statements on status in
3:1,2. We are God’s children already and there is a freedom from sin
attached to that state. Jesus had issued the challenge, “If you really
are Abraham’s children, you would do works worthy of Abraham”
(John 8:9). The epistolary author has his own variation on that theme,
“You really are God’s children, and so you must do works worthy of
God, and not sin which is the work of the devil.” But in this last hour
he recognizes that we are not yet all that we shall be, and so there is a
growth in God’s children. The divine seed abides and continues to
transform the child of God into the image of God’s Son which is the
image of God Himself, until at the final revelation we are like God
Himself. The more that this divine seed transforms the Christian, the
more impossible it is for the Christian to sin. I have insisted
throughout that the author is attacking a static understanding of divine
begetting that is held by the secessionists, for whom divine childhood
is a once-for-all gift and not a life that has to express itself in the
behavior of the Christian. A further corollary for the author is that this
life not only expresses itself in action but also grows, and increasing
sinlessness is a mark of that growth. At the beginning of their
Christian existence believer’s choose to come to the light rather than
to the darkness (John 3:19-21). But walking toward the light and
away from darkness is an ongoing movement, until finally we come
to the God who is light and in whom there is no darkness at all (1
John 1:5).
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Their [the secessionist] attitude toward sin constitutes the Iniquity
because by finding sin inconsequential they are supposing that God
(who dwells in the Christian) can be manifested publicly in evil
actions. The characteristic of the Antichrist as the distorted mirror-
image of Christ is to make evil seem good, and that is a function of
the Iniquity [lawlessness] as well. Sin as the Iniquity opposed to Jesus
who was revealed to Israel as the Lamb of God who takes away the
sin of the world (John 1:29). In GJohn the singular noun referred to
the basic sin of refusing to believe in the light, but the plural noun of
1 John 3:5 (“Christ was revealed to take away sins”) directs the
opposition to all types of evil that turn people away from the light
(see John 3:20). There was nothing sinful in Christ, and there can be
nothing sinful in the Christian (1 John 3:6).
The author was saying in 3:6 that the person who commits sin is
not a Christian, but he phrases this in terms of never having seen
Christ. He has been talking about a future in which Christians will see
God as He is, but in Johannine thought true believer’s have already
seen God in Christ. “Whomever has seen me has seen the Father,”
says Jesus (John 14:9). Thus the judgment that the epistolary author
passes here is tantamount to denying his adversaries the true Christian
experience of God. This writing began with the author laying claim to
the Johannine tradition about Jesus, “What we have seen with our
own eyes” (1:1c); and now he is excluding the secessionist from all
share in such tradition.
The second hostile judgment (3:6c) adds “nor come to know him”
to the charge of never having seen him. In John 16:3 Jesus judged
“the Jews” in the same way, “They never knew the Father nor me.” In
1 John 2:5 the author denied a (secessionist) claim to know God
which was not based on keeping the commandments; here he denies
knowledge of Christ to those who sin. Clearly there is no halfway
house between the Johannine Community who know both Christ and
the Father (1 John 2:14bd) and the secessionist who know neither.
The failure to know is not ignorance but is culpable, reflecting a
decision to turn away from the light, a decision embodied in going
out from the Community (2:19). Part of the expectation of the New
Covenant was that all God’s people would know the Lord from the
least to the greatest and that God would forgive their sins (Jer 31
[38]:34). The secessionist are excluded on both scores. …
In John 16:8 the task of the Paraclete is to prove the world wrong
about sin, justice (dikaiosynē), and judgment. The theme of judgment
is implied in 1 John 2:28, and the themes of acting justly (doing
dikaiosynē) and acting sinfully (doing sins) are explicit in 2:29 and
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3:4. The epistolary author is playing the role of the Paraclete in
proving the secessionist wrong about sin, justice and judgment. What
was originally a task of defending the Johannine Community against
outsiders (“the Jews”) has now become a task of defending the
author’s adherents against their former brethren. (pp 427-28)
(The Anchor Bible - The Epistles of John, Dr. R. E. Brown, pp 427-
28; pp 408-11; pp 384-87; pp 430-31)
Dr. Lewis Chafer: - Empty: Vol 6 p 45
Dr. R. E. Brown: Catechesis Baptismal Hymns
In formulating the thesis that baptismal hymns influenced 1 Peter,
Boismard compared in detail this unit of 1 John with 1 Peter 1 and
Titus 2-3. … Clearly there is a remarkable number of similarities. …
However, the similarities are more of ideas than of wording. For
example, even in the remarkable idea of begetting through divine
seed shared by 1 John and 1 Peter, two different words for seed
(sperma, spora) are used. A less demanding hypothesis would
recognize would recognize that the similarities between the two
works are neither accidental nor the result of direct copying but are
best explained if these works (and Titus as well) represent
exhortations drawn from a common body of ideas. The most plausible
locus for such a body of ideas would be the process of entrance into
the Christian community. In such an entrance one might well wish to
emphasize: God’s love and mercy in begetting us as His children; that
this was accomplished through the appearance of Jesus Christ; that
there is still a future to be unveiled for which we should hope; that
Christ who was sinless took away sin; that we are challenged to be
holy and pure as He was; and that love of brother was His basic
demand.
The evidence adduced by Boismard’s comparisons strengthens the
case I have been making throughout the commentary that the author
is reminding his readers of the Johannine theology proclaimed to
them and accepted by them when they became Christians. When the
author speaks of “the beginning,” he means the beginning of the
revelation of Jesus to His followers during the ministry, but for his
readers this means the beginning of their contact with the tradition
that came with conversion/initiation/baptism. While the Johannine
theological proclamation had its peculiarities, it shared many features
with other Christian baptismal proclamations, whence the parallels
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just discussed. The secessionist also had heard the Johannine
conversion/initiation/baptismal proclamation; but, in the author’s
judgment, their subsequent stance distorted it. They had shown that
despite their baptism they were children of the devil and not children
of God. (The Anchor Bible – The Epistles of John, Dr. R. E. Brown,
pp 432-34)
Dr. R. E. Brown: Conclusion of I John
18a We know that no one who has ben begotten by God commits
sin;
18b rather, the one begotten by God is protected,
18c and so the Evil One cannot touch him.
19a We know that it is to God we belong,
19b while the whole world lies in the grasp of the Evil One.
20a We know, finally, that the Son of God has come
20b and has given us insight to know the One who is true.
20c And we are in the One who is true,
10d for we are in His Son, Jesus Christ.
20e He is the true God and eternal life.
21 LITTLE CHILDREN, guard yourselves against idols.
The Known Privileges of Christians and a Warning to Safeguard
Them (5:18-21)
Solemnly the author now proclaims three times, “We know.”
Although he has insisted throughout the need to confess one’s belief
(2:23; 4:2,15), he ends his missive with assurance based on
knowledge. He exemplifies his own contention that the best defense
against secessionist teaching is the principle: “All you have
knowledge … you do know the truth … you have no need for anyone
to teach you” (2:20,21,27). In fact, everything he says in 5:18-20 has
already been said earlier in I John. Nevertheless, he does not mean
“We know” simply in the sense of “we have already seen.” Nor
would I agree with Brooke, Epistles 148, that the knowledge is
intuitive, flowing from the nature of God and of divine life. He is
referring once again to what has been known from “the beginning” of
Christian experience, what was part of the catechesis learned as the
readers entered the Community, what was part of the teaching
associated with having an anointing from the Holy One. Particularly
noteworthy are the three privileges of Christian existence that “We
know,” namely, the privilege of having been begotten by God (v. 18),
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of belonging to God (v. 19), and of knowing the true God (20). Early
in I John the author challenged the secessionist on these very
privileges (11:6; 2:4,6); he concludes by insisting that his own
adherents can be sure of them and also of their respective effects:
sinlessness, freedom from the Evil One, indwelling in God and His
Son.
The first “We know” (v. 18) relates sinlessness to the status of the
Christian as one begotten by God who is protected from the Evil One.
It virtually repeats 3:9a, “No one who has been begotten by God acts
sinfully,” with an added touch from 4:4: “He who is in you is greater
than he who is in the world.” Christian sinlessness is not of a
preexistent soul that has been trapped in a material world through
accident of birth, but a status given to the Christian by God through
Jesus. Some who argue for different writers in I John find
confirmation in the contrast in vv. 16-17 which make provision for
brothers who sin and v. 18 which says a Christian brother does not
commit sin. However, this is just more of the single author’s complex
view of Christian life that has been continued throughout I John and
was discussed in detail on pp. 430-32 [above, this writer]. Against the
secessionists’ view of once-for-all perfectionism (which logically
causes them to deny sin) the author has insisted that Christian’s do sin
but the blood of Christ supplies forgiveness (1:8-2:2). But that
pastoral assurance does not reflect his vision of what true Christian
life is. In this eschatological period God is preparing a sinless
generation of believers; and where the vitality of divine begetting is
allowed to manifest himself, it rules out sin, i as affirmed in 3:6, 8-9.
In those passages sin was shown to be the realm of the devil, the final
Iniquity of the last time, while sinlessness was the mark of being on
God’s side. And so it is quite logical that here the author associates
freedom from sin with protection from the Evil One. In a sense, then,
Christians have a twofold confidence: if they sin, the prayers of
brothers of brothers and sisters will give them life; but the very fact of
divine begetting should eventually lead them not to sin at all. ii
i
“Some would stress the force of the perfect in 5:18a (“No one who has been
begotten”) : The begetting work took place in the past but is exercising its continuing
force in keeping the Christian free from sin. But the aorist (“the one begotten”) is
used in 5:18b and may also refer to the Christian, and so the dependence on the exact
connotation is dubious. Nevertheless, on the basis of 5:19 which refers to our belong
to God, it is clear that the sinlessness of the Christian is traced to continuing divine
activity.”
ii
“In the NOTE on 5:18b I argued against the thesis that “the one begotten by God”
is Christ; but those who opt for such an interpretation see a third reason for
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The second “We know” (v. 19) distinguishes between the
Johannine Christians who belong to God and the whole world, which
lies in the grasp of the Evil One, thus rephrasing the distinction in
4:4-5 between those who belong to God and those who belong to the
world. Some think that 5:19 says no more than 5:18, i but it makes
clear that the efforts of the Evil One against the Johannine Christians
in 5:18 are not a matter of personal temptation. A dualism between
the world and the realm of God is involved. The Evil One is the
Prince of this world (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11) who, although he was
said to have no hold on Jesus, is now feared to be gaining a hold on
members of the Community through the secession. In 5:19 it also
becomes clearer that the sin in mind in 5:18a (also in 5:16c) is
primarily that of the secessionist children of the devil with their
doctrinal and moral faults: They have gone out into the world (4:1d)
and belong to the world (4:5a). The true believers in Jesus do not
belong to this world (John 17:16), for “the world” described in John
16:8-11 is one that refuses to believe in Jesus. The secessionist by
denying that Jesus is the Christ (I John 2:22) have added themselves
to it. In discussing the dualism in 4:1-6 (p. 487), we saw its proximity
to the dualism of the Dead Sea Scroll community. Similarly under the
influence of the spirits of truth and iniquity: “All the sons of iniquity
are under the rule of the angel of darkness.”
The third “We know” (v. 20) reminds us of the role of the Son of
God in all this: He is the one who has been able to give insight to
know the one true God because he himself is true God. We are not in
the grasp of the Evil One only because “we belong to God” (5:19a),
but also because “we are in His Son, Jesus Christ (5:20d). I John
contrasts dependencies in terms of “belonging to” (being from) God
and the devil (3:8-10); it also contrasts spheres of activity in terms of
“lying in the grasp of the Evil One” and “being in God and His Son.”
The idea that the Son has “given us insight [dianoia] to know” is
comparable to 2:27e: “His [Christ’s] anointing teaches you about all
things.” There is an interesting mutuality expressed in ch. 5 of I John:
God has testified on behalf of His Son (5:9), while the Son has given
confidence: Christ himself protects the Christian. In my judgment the ongoing role of
Christ is more that of a Paraclete for sinners than of a protector for the sinless. In
John 17:12,15 Jesus has kept his own safe while he has been with them, but he turns
the protective role over to God when he leaves the earth.”
i
“There is a parallelism between 5:18 and 5:19, but it should be carefully analyzed,
for it favors reading 18b as a reference to the Christian (rather than to Christ). Lines
18b and 19a refer to the protected status of the Christian as begotten by and
belonging to God; lines 18c and 19b refer to the machinations of the Evil One.”
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insight to know the Father (5:20). The author is quite far from a
Platonic view where human beings must ascend to heaven to know
the real or the true; rather we know because the Son has descended.
The moment of the giving of the dianoia or revelatory insight is
surely the moment when the author’s readers became Christians, i and
5:20 echoes in several ways covenantal vocabulary and imagery. God
is referred to as “the One who is true,” even as ΄ĕmet, “truth, fidelity,”
is the primary attribute of the covenanting God of the OT; but now in
Johannine dualism the truth of God sets Him off against the Evil One
who is a liar (John 8:44; I John 2:22). As we have seen before (pp.
279-80), knowing God is a motif fulfilling the promise of Jeremiah
about a renewed covenant where “they shall know me from the least
to the greatest” (Jer 31:33-34). And this is not taught knowledge but
flows from intimacy. ii The word dianoia (which Bultmann regards as
a sign that another writer is involved) reflects covenant background;
for frequently in the LXX it translates lĕb, “heart,” e.g., in the
Jeremiah passage: “I shall put my laws into their dianoia." iii In the
covenant picture of the NT Jesus plays a major role alongside God, to
the point that I John 5:20e dares to call him “the true God and eternal
life.” Many commentators point out that surely the author does not
yet mean what Nicaea means by “true God of true God,” even though
the reference in 5:20 to both Father and Son as “true” may have led to
that formula (see p. 228 above). THLJ 130 states: “It does not mean
to say that Christ and God are one and the same being, but that in
Christ we have to do with God.” That may be an insufficient
evaluation of Johannine christology where the terms “God” and
“true” are equally applicable to Father and Son, for we know God
when we Jesus Christ. The difference between Father and Son is that,
while Jesus Christ is the life (John 1:4), he “has life because of the
i
“In I Pet 1:13, a passage often related to baptismal preaching, those who have
received the good news foretold by the prophets are told “to gird up” their dianoia;
and II Pet 3:1 says that the letter is written to rouse their sincere dianoia. This may
mean that for Christians dianoia is the faculty of knowledge enlightened by
revelation. Alfaro, “Cognito Dei” 88-90, argues that dianoia is a faculty.”
ii
“Such covenant background makes intelligible why the epistolary author shifts
from knowing the One who is true (20b) to being in the One who is true (20c). Both
Jeremiah and Ezekiel (37:26-37) stress the indwelling of the divine gift (Law or
spirit) in the renewed covenant.”
iii
“The demand for a new standard of moral behavior in the OT covenant passages
suggests that the I John statement that the Son “has given us insight to know the One
who is true” involves a way of life as well as an understanding of Jesus as the true
God. It involves the ethical and christological elements that have been a key to the
struggle between the author and the secessionist.”
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Father” (John 6:57) - Jesus may be God but he is not the Father. The
fact that both GJohn (20:28) and I John end by confessing Jesus as
God shows just how important this was in Johannine thought – and
not simply in an abstract way, for in each case the confession of Jesus
as God is followed by a mention of the (eternal) life that such belief
brings to his followers. i
Verse 21 is the negative counterpart of the three positive
affirmations in 5:18-20. The covenant background shows that there is
a connection between “the true God” of 5:20 and the “idols” of 5:21
when the latter is understood in terms of the secession (see Note on
5:21, evaluating the many theories). The covenanted people of Israel
were warned many times against leaving the one true God to go after
idols, and against abandoning His commandments for the permissive
life of the worshippers of the false gods of the surrounding nations. In
the author’s judgment, the secessionist are trying to seduce his
adherents to leave the covenanted Community and its understanding
of the God who was revealed in Jesus Christ come in the flesh, and to
adopt a false life-style in which commandments are not important and
sin is not a source of worry. This is the contemporary form of going
after idols, for the secessionists themselves have become “idols.”
(The Anchor Bible – The Epistles of John, Dr. R. E. Brown, pp 637-
41)
Conclusion
This writer: Summary Argument
At this juncture in the final disclosure of evidence against the
counterfeit Governmental theory of atonement, I will introduce the
following argument: It is only prima facie, at first glance, that the
accusation from the Arminian view of salvation - which supposes the
high moral ground to censor the gospel of God’s grace as lewd and
vulgar on a charge of antinomianism – assumes the position of the
Apostle John against the secessionist in the Epistle of 1 John. There is a
great distinction to be made, a turn-about that needs to be defined. The
i
“Although the author has attacked the secessionist for an overly high christology,
namely, the contention that Jesus Christ did not come in the flesh (4:2), he does not
refute them by a low christology. For the author the Jesus Christ who has come in the
flesh is true God. The final statements in I John 5:20 are almost a rearrangement of
John 17:3: “Eternal life consists in this: that they know you, the one true God, and
Jesus Christ, the one whom you sent.”
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Arminian rationally comes to the same humanistic conclusion as the
unsaved secessionist, namely, that a secure salvation means no penalty
for sin. In this the Arminian and his Negative gospel is proven to be of
the same mind as the secessionist, not the Apostle John. Unlike either
John or the secessionist, the Arminian Christian dogmatically maintains a
fear of the day of judgment to motivate his moral conduct above that of
the Apostle John and the secessionist he condemned, who both had a
confidence in the day of judgment.
John does not take issue with the secessionist view of eternal life and
a secured salvation, rather that they have never seen or known God,
because they have assumed a mistaken view of Jesus Christ that validates
their new religion of antinomian Christianity. This counterfeit view,
makes Christ “the Word become incarnate” at His baptism by John the
Baptist. The birth (the Word become flesh), life, and death of Christ had
no value in the secessionist view of Christianity.
The turn-about has become pointed again at the Arminian who
believes salvation by Christ as EXEMPLUM is in continued faith; the anti-
substitutionary religion of humanistic salvation that elevates personal
behavior above a Savior. In this view, in agreement with the libertine
secessionist, the death of Christ has no completed and personal
redeeming value. It matters little in the distinctions of ethics and morality
- the Arminian and the Johannine secessionist are self-exempted from
obligation to Christ for securing their salvation by His death and
resurrection. In the formula “Jesus is the Christ” the secessionist error
was in their conception of Jesus from the Gospel of John which, like
Mark, does not mention the “divine begetting” of Christ. Whereas, the
Arminian has adopted a man-made theory that gives little value to the
death of Jesus who was Christ and the “divine begetting” of each
Christian who has received eternal life from the Word of Christ whose
words are spirit and life.
The Apostle John would accuse today’s followers of the Negative
gospel as “less” Christian than the secessionists, whom he declared to be
“children of the devil.” At least the secessionist believed that eternal life
was real and that it was an eternal possession. The Apostle John would
agree that salvation in Christ is for faith. The secessionist would say,
salvation in Christ the Word become Incarnate is because of faith. The
Arminian maintains that salvation by [EXEMPLUM] Christ is in continued
faith.
To be well noted, as this polemic exists in the forefront of today’s
Christianity, that the acceptance or rejection of eternal life as a doctrine,
is not the criteria for a false Christianity. The defining equivalent
religious humanism - shared by the primitive and contemporary - is that
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the secessionist antinomian Christianity and the Arminian anti-
substitutionary EXEMPLUM Christianity focus on extreme ends of the
same obsession - what is external not internal. One would focus on the
dove that descended on Christ for salvation. The other would focus on
His ministry as revealed in the Synoptic Gospels for salvation. Neither,
primitive nor contemporary idolatry, claim salvation in the value of His
birth, death, and resurrection. Together they deny the revelation that life
proceeds from the Father in the “divine begetting” that brought about the
birth of Jesus. Together they deny the value of the death of Jesus as
Christ who came to manifest the Father. The Father who is the source of
eternal life. Without the possession of eternal life God cannot manifest
Himself through a Christian in this world. For this reason, the Arminian
and the secessionist have separated the Son from the Father. Thereby,
both views are proven imitations of Christianity and the Arminian
remains to proliferate a false gospel about who Christ was and is today.
And by default, who and what a Christian is and will be tomorrow.
The gift of “eternal life,” as John has argued in this Epistle to
Christians, changes one from the inside into the “likeness” of eternal life
to become perfected in love. Faith working through love in the moment
of salvation and continuing in the love for Christian family.
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear,
because fear has to do with punishment.45 The one who fears
punishment has not been perfected in love. 4:19 We love because He
loved us first. NET
45sn The entire phrase fear has to do with punishment may be
understood in two slightly different ways: (1) “fear has its own
punishment” or (2) “fear has to do with [includes] punishment.” These
are not far apart, however, and the real key to understanding the
expression lies in the meaning of the word “punishment” (kovlasi",
kolasis). While it may refer to torture or torment (BDAG 555 s.v. 1) there
are numerous Koine references involving eternal punishment (2 Macc
4:38; T. Reu. 5:5; T. Gad 7:5) and this is also the use in the only other NT
reference, Matt 25:46. In the present context, where the author has
mentioned having confidence in the day of judgment, it seems virtually
certain that eternal punishment (or fear of it) is what is meant here. The
(only) alternative to perfected love, which results in confidence at the day
of judgment, is fear, which has to do with the punishment one is afraid of
receiving at the judgment. As 4:18b states, “the one who fears
[punishment] has not been perfected in love. It is often assumed by
interpreters that the opposite to perfected love (which casts out fear) is
imperfect love (which still has fear and therefore no assurance). This is
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possible, but it is not likely, because the author nowhere mentions
‘imperfect’ love, and for him the opposite of ‘perfected’ love appears to
be not imperfect love but hate (cf. 4:20). In other words, in the
antithetical (‘either/or’) categories in which the author presents his
arguments, one is either a genuine believer, who becomes ‘perfected’ in
love as he resides in love and in a mutually indwelling relationship with
God (cf. 4:16b), or one is not a genuine believer at all, but one who (like
the opponents) hates his brother, is a liar, and does not know God at all.
This individual should well fear judgment and eternal punishment
because in the author’s view that is precisely where such a person is
headed.
As assumed by the Arminian, the fear of punishment is not the high
moral ground, rather, it is yet another deception in the standard method
to make evil seem good. The “individual should well fear judgment and
eternal punishment” because: (1) It makes no difference if one holds to
the 2,000 year old opinion that Christ was not God born in the flesh until
His baptism by John the Baptist. Which demotes Christ in the
eschatological value of His Person in His unique birth and denies the
saving value of His death and resurrection. (2) It makes no difference
that one holds the 450 year old subjective Governmental theory of
atonement, conceived by Grotius, which is an “opinion” that eternal life
– salvation and forgiveness – is mutable and that punishment awaits
those who fail. This mutability denies the immutable source of eternal
life, God the Father and, the immutable source of forgiveness, God the
Son. Which demotes Christ to an EXEMPLUM that died simply to free a
benevolent Father to forgive. (3) Just as wrongly, one may believe in the
1,300 year old opinion that the false prophet Muhammad supercedes the
Son of God who revealed Himself, through the virgin birth, as the Son of
Man, Jesus Christ who died on the cross for “the sins of the whole
world.” Which demotes the Father to a level of foolishness for planning,
predicting, and effecting a unique birth and death for Christ His Son.
What was the underlying error in the secessionist view of “Jesus as
the Word who became incarnate”? Was it not in the denial that “the
Word became flesh”? In their interpretation, they had separated the man-
Jesus from His Father who had had “begotten” Him in the virgin birth
and, thereby had censored the value of His life and death. If one does not
have the Father, he does not have the Son. If one denies eternal life is in
Christ, if one denies the death and resurrection of Christ secures forever
eternal life for the one who believes in Christ for salvation - he does not
have the Son nor the Father. The onliness of God is primary.
Ecumenical brotherhood in one God, without the Son and the Holy
Spirit, is apostate nonsense and makes God the Father a liar because of
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the words spoken by Jesus. When “many disciples departed” Jesus was
speaking of His body as the bread of life, He said, “But there are some
of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus had already known from the
beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who
would betray him.) So Jesus added, “Because of this I told you that no
one can come to me unless the Father has allowed him to come” (John
6:64-65). Beyond any supranatural speculation, there is a very practical
sense to this “allowing,” in that the Father need recognize that the
believer has a proper conception of who He is as well as Jesus His Son to
whom He is One. The plurality of One revealed in the NT by Jesus who
claimed to be the great “I AM THAT I AM.” The same Old Testament I
AM as in, “Listen, Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one. 6:5 You
must love the Lord your God with your whole mind, your whole being,
and all your strength” (sn Verses 4-5 constitute the Shema (after the first
word [Heb.], “hear”), widely regarded as the very heart of Jewish
confession and faith. When Jesus was asked what was the greatest
commandment of all, he quoted this text (Matt 22:37-38)” (Deu 6:4-5
NET). In the final public words of Jesus, He said, “But Jesus shouted out,
“The one who believes in me does not believe in me, but in the one who
sent me, and the one who sees me sees the one who sent me” (John
12:44-45).
As constructed by someone who professed to know Him, how might
the Rectoral or Governmental theory of atonement - epitomized in the
portrayal of God the Father as the one-eyed, half blind Ruler in the fable
of Zaleucus - be an appropriate representation of God? As the Apostle
clearly states in his Epistle - only the children of God can see or know
God. In 1 John the high point and culmination of John’s argument
against the secessionist is in verse 5:12, that resolves into the stated
purpose for this letter in 5:13:
1 John 5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been
fathered by God, and everyone who loves the father loves the child
fathered by him. 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of
God: whenever we love God and obey his commandments. 5:3 For
this is the love of God: that we keep his commandments. And his
commandments do not weigh us down, 5:4 because everyone who has
been fathered by God conquers the world.
TESTIMONY ABOUT THE SON
This is the conquering power that has conquered the world: our faith.
5:5 Now who is the person who has conquered the world except the
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one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 5:6 Jesus Christ is the
one who came by water and blood—not by the water only, but by the
water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because
the Spirit is the truth. 5:7 For there are three that testify, 5:8 the Spirit
and the water and the blood, and these three are in agreement.
5:9 If we accept the testimony of men, the testimony of God is
greater, because this is the testimony of God that he has testified
concerning his Son. 5:10 (The one who believes in the Son of God
has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has
made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that
God has testified concerning his Son.) 5:11 And this is the testimony:
God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 5:12 The one
who has the Son has this eternal life; the one who does not have the
Son of God does not have this eternal life.
ASSURANCE OF ETERNAL LIFE
5:13 I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the
Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. NET
The witness of Scripture to eternal life:
Mtw 11:27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No
one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father
except the Son and anyone to whom the Son decides to reveal him.
NET
John 17:2 just as you have given him authority over all humanity, so
that he may give eternal life to everyone you have given him. 17:3
Now this is eternal life—that they know you, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ, whom you sent. NET
Acts 5:32 And we are witnesses of these events, and so is the Holy
Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.” NET
Titus 1:16 But here is why I [Paul] was treated with mercy: so that in
me as the worst, Christ Jesus could demonstrate his utmost patience,
as an example for those who are going to believe in him for eternal
life.
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Heb 2:11 For indeed he who makes holy and those being made holy
all have the same origin, and so he is not ashamed to call them
brothers and sisters, NET
The witness to eternal life by God the Son:
John 3:36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life. The one
who rejects the Son will not see life, but God’s wrath remains on him.
5:21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also
the Son gives life to whomever he wishes. 5:22 Furthermore, the
Father does not judge anyone, but has assigned all judgment to the
Son, 5:23 so that all people will honor the Son just as they honor the
Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the
Father who sent him.
5:24 “I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and
believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be
condemned, but has crossed over from death to life. 5:25 I tell you the
solemn truth, a time is coming—and is now here—when the dead will
hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 5:26
For just as the Father has life in himself, thus he has granted the Son
to have life in himself, 5:27 and he has granted the Son authority to
execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.
5:28 “Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all
who are in the tombs will hear his voice 5:29 and will come out—the
ones who have done what is good to the resurrection resulting in life,
and the ones who have done what is evil to the resurrection resulting
in condemnation.
5:39 You study the scriptures thoroughly because you think in them
you possess eternal life, and it is these same scriptures that testify
about me, 5:40 but you are not willing to come to me so that you may
have life.
6:37 Everyone whom the Father gives me will come to me, and the
one who comes to me I will never send away. 6:38 For I have come
down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who
sent me. 6:39 Now this is the will of the one who sent me—that I
should not lose one person of every one he has given me, but raise
them all up at the last day. 6:40 For this is the will of my Father—for
everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him to have eternal
life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
6:45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by
God.’ Everyone who hears and learns from the Father comes to me.
6:46 (Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from
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God—he has seen the Father.) 6:47 I tell you the solemn truth, the
one who believes has eternal life. 6:48 I am the bread of life.
6:51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone
eats from this bread he will live forever. The bread that I will give for
the life of the world is my flesh.”
6:57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the
Father, so the one who consumes me will live because of me. 6:58
This is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the bread
your ancestors ate, but then later died. The one who eats this bread
will live forever.”
8:12 Then Jesus spoke out again, “I am the light of the world. The
one who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the
light of life.”
8:51 I tell you the solemn truth, if anyone obeys my teaching, he will
never see death.”134 NET
134tn Grk “he will never see death forever.” The Greek negative here is
emphatic.
sn Those who keep Jesus’ words will not see death because they have
already passed from death to life (cf. 5:24). In Johannine theology eternal
life begins in the present rather than in the world to come.
Appeal to the Jurist for the Final Argument
This writer:
1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has
given us insight to know him who is true, and we are in him who is
true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This one is the true God and eternal life.
5:21 Little children, guard yourselves from idols.53 NET
sn The modern reader may wonder what all this has to do with idolatry.
In the author’s mind, to follow the secessionist opponents with their false
Christology would amount to idolatry, since it would involve worshiping
a false god instead of the true God, Jesus Christ. Thus guard yourselves
from idols means for the readers to guard themselves against the
opponents and their teaching.
The charge of idolatry, posited by John in his “primitive” arguments
against a false gospel - was valid. This is not a matter of opinion, but
surely a matter of divine revelation in the Oracles of Truth. If one
believes the words that came from the lips of Jesus (rhēma Christou) -
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that the saved individual has immediately “passed from death to life” and
“he will never see death forever” - a great contradiction between the
Positive and Negative gospels is disclosed.
One doctrine has not been broached, namely, the great teachings in
the NT regarding positional and experiential sanctification after
salvation. To which this question may be directed: How does one
become worthy in the eyes of God? One most certainly cannot become
worthy to be saved, only afterwards is it possible for God to make the
believer worthy in the merit of Christ. As all the major teachings or
principles in the Word of God are interrelated, one may not separate a
doctrine from others without great harm and violence against other
principles. In this final argument, it has been stated, disclosed, and
asserted that the Negative gospel has separated the Son from the Father,
who is the source of eternal life that is given to a believer who trusts in
Jesus Christ His Son for salvation.
The onliness of God has been presented and disclosed as condemning
evidence against the idolatry of a contemporary anti-substitutional
religious humanism. The forty divine changes have been presented as
proof of the validity of the gospel of the grace of God. The twelve works
of God in salvation have been given as evidence of the security of a
believer’s standing and position before God. The denials and assertions
of the Governmental theory have been presented and disproved time and
again. The Governmental theory itself has been produced for
examination by the jurist. A list of formal indictments have been entered
as the framework and justification for the proceedings in this
prosecution. The question left to be answered is: How may one become
worthy in the eyes of God?
The unworthiness of man may be: (1) denied, as it is omitted in the
Governmental theory, (2) eradicated, either at the moment of belief or
some future time as the indefensible notions of “perfectionism,” held by
the secessionist in 1 John, would suggest, or (3) divinely compensated
for as the gospel of the grace of God plainly declares in the forty effects
of grace. Because of the nature i of man; man’s pride will ever be
offended by the claims of salvation as a work of God’s grace bought in
the surrogate blood and death of Christ for unworthy men.
It would appear, the secessionist in the above disclosure were not
troubled by any notions of personal unworthiness, before or after
salvation. Their gospel would claim “perfectionism” despite personal
i
9. natural state of humankind: the natural and original condition of humankind, as
distinguished from a state of grace Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P)
1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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sins. In this counterfeit conception, the sin nature was neither admitted
to, denied, nor eradicated. Personal sins were divinely compensated for
by a forgiving God who had made them worthy because they believed in
a Christ who became incarnate at His baptism by the Holy Spirit. This
was not a Jesus Christ who was born and died a substitutionary death and
was resurrected to be the Righteous One of God for all believers who are
in the Body of Christ (en Christō). In the final analysis of this conception
– undeniably, man becomes worthy just as he is. Yet in the secessionist
gospel man acquires worthiness only by a false assumption and the
denial of the value of the death of Christ. The end result of their gospel
was - they were not saved and never received eternal life.
In the Arminian view man becomes worthy by self-reformation, yes,
but how may it be claimed he has become essentially different than “just
as he is?” What essential difference exists between the beggarly and
bountiful, the unsightly and beautiful, the cowardly and courageous, the
diseased Job and his healthy condemning friends, Abel and Cain, fallen
Adam and any of his progeny? The Apostle Paul would say this: “For we
would not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who
recommend themselves. But when they measure themselves by
themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without
understanding [unintelligent]. … For it is not the person who commends
himself who is approved, but the person the Lord commends” (2 Cor
10:12, 18). Be there eight or eight thousand, no matter which door of
personal worthiness is entered, one remains in the ark of humanity
descended from Noah and his sons - there is no divine change, no real
new beginning. There remains only one door, one way, one name,
whereby one may enter into the new beginning of imputed and imparted
worthiness in eternal life – by the free gift of grace offered through faith
in Jesus as the Savior and redeemer of unworthy men. Paul addressed the
conflicting “gospels” of another Jesus and a different Spirit, that
abounded during his ministry: “But I am afraid that just as the serpent
deceived Eve by his treachery, your minds may be led astray from a
sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims
another Jesus different from the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a
different spirit than the one you received, or a different gospel than the
one you accepted, you put up with it well enough!” (2 Cor 11:3-4). Jesus
would proclaim and commend Himself to the unsaved: “At that time
Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you
have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and revealed them
to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your gracious will. All things
have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son
except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and
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anyone to whom the Son decides to reveal him. Come to me, all you who
are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on you
and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you
will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is
not hard to carry” (Mtw 11:25-30).
The Arminian claim to a probationary salvation through continued
faith is not to be found in the New Testament. Fear of punishment is not
the moral high ground and, heaven is most certainly not a reward for
good people. Whereas the gospel of the grace of God, that saves sinful
people eternally, is clearly declared in God’s Word. As the evidence
presented here has proven, the Negative gospel is false on every point of
contention and denial. The saved individual, in a most real sense, has
been given eternal life, and is joined eternally to all three Persons of the
Godhead. For this reason, in the most critical sense, the Negative gospel -
which in truth is “another gospel” that denies the power of salvation as a
work of God in a theory that separates the Son from the Father who is the
source of eternal life - must be found guilty on all charges entered against
it. Based on matters of fact and matters of law, this is for you the unique
jurist to decide.
John 17:2 just as you have given him authority over all humanity, so
that he may give eternal life to everyone you have given him. 17:3
Now this is eternal life—that they know you, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ, whom you sent. 17:21 that they will all be one, just as
you, Father, are in me and I am in you. I pray that they will be in us,
so that the world will believe that you sent me. 17:10 Everything I
have belongs to you, and everything you have belongs to me, and I
have been glorified by them. 17:11 I am no longer in the world, but
they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep
them safe in your name that you have given me, so that they may be
one just as we are one. NET
1 Cor 3:22ff Everything belongs to you, 3:23 and you belong to
Christ, and Christ belongs to God. NET
The Sons of Disobedience Who Do Not Obey the Gospel are in Adam
And although you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in
which you formerly lived according to this world’s present path,
according to the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the ruler of the spirit
that is now energizing the sons of disobedience, among whom all of
us also formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh,
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indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature
children of wrath even as the rest… But God, being rich in mercy,
because of his great love with which he loved us, even though we
were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ—by
grace you are saved!— and he raised us up with him and seated us
with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, to demonstrate in the
coming ages the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward us
in Christ Jesus. For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is
not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so that
no one can boast. For we are his workmanship, having been created in
Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may
do them.” 256
The Sons of Obedience Who Have Obeyed the Positive Gospel are in
Christ
“I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live worthily of
the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and
gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making
every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There
is one body and one Spirit, just as you too were called to the one hope
of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father
of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of
the gift of Christ. Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he
captured captives; he gave gifts to men.” Now what is the meaning
of “he ascended,” except that he also descended to the lower regions,
namely, the earth? He, the very one who descended, is also the one
who ascended above all the heavens, in order to fill all things. It was
he who gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists,
and some as pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of
ministry, that is, to build up the body of Christ, until we all attain to
the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God—a
mature person, attaining to the measure of Christ’s full stature. So we
are no longer to be children, tossed back and forth by waves and
carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery of people who
craftily carry out their deceitful schemes. But practicing the truth in
love, we will in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head. From
him the whole body grows, fitted and held together through every
supporting ligament. As each one does its part, the body grows in
love. 257
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Closing Summary Statement by the Prosecution
This writer:
This concludes the public appeal for Grace. From that which has been
presented, from the entirety of this paper, the unique jurist may choose a
black or white stone to place on the Positive or Negative gospel. To
choose no stone, or the wrong stone, is to follow the path of God’s
preordained fate for all men who are born in Adam. Christ declared He
came not to bring peace, but to turn daughter against mother and son
against father. In the face of the overwhelming sad reality of an evil
world system, a cosmos diablocus – it is populism, the ordinary, that
drives religious humanism. It is the extraordinary, the mighty power and
wisdom of God that raised Jesus Christ from the dead to the heights of
heaven as the Head of a new heavenly race of men in the Body of Christ
- that drives His Christianity. Based upon this information, one must
discern the difference and decide between the following to be saved from
an inherited alliance with Satan, the originator of evil rebellion and
personal sins of disobedience. The final question - What is salvation for
the Sons of Obedience?
Is it infinite endless salvation and transformation in life by a work of
grace by God for man, as the Positive gospel of the grace of God
declares, where salvation in Christ is for faith?
Is it limited and probationary salvation determined after death by a work
of man for God, as the Negative gospel derived from the Rectoral or
Governmental theory of atonement which is limited to the forgiveness of
personal sins declares, where salvation by Christ is in continued faith?
John 5:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you he who hears my word and
believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into
judgment, but has passed from death to life” NASB
Acts 26:18 “To open their eyes so that they turn from darkness to
light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive
forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by
faith in me.” NET
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Rom 6:4 Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism
into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead
through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life. NET

Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are
in Christ Jesus. 8:2 For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus
has set you free from the law of sin and death. NET

2 Cor 5:17 So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what

is old has passed away—look, what is new has come! NET

New Father,
Creation Son,
in in Spirit

Adam

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Appendix
Decision

“Winken, Blinken, and Nod,

Went to sea in a wooden shoe.
Floating on a dewy mist,
They sailed into a crystal light sea.” 258

Where is the crystal path to the past?

How does it go from there to here?
Prediction based on bias and wish,
Warms a motive well.

When consequence shapes circumstance,

Experience breathes a chill.
Decision, reluctant to leave a cozy bed,
Invents another wish instead. 259

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Author and Editor’s Afterword

(1) The Mosaic Law had to be abolished to temporarily reduce the Jew to
the alien estate of the Gentile

(2) Christ could not abolish the Law until He fulfilled the Law and He
could not be the object of Gentile faith until after His death, burial, and
resurrection

(3) Peter and Cornelius = Jonah and the Gentile Ninevah in type, The
anti-type is that Christ had to die 3 days before going to Gentiles

(4) The one command to obey the gospel applies to both Jew and Gentile

(5) Eternal Life and the Book of Life = eternal security of salvation

Sociology - culture

(1) Ideas -

(2) Norms – shoulds, rules, etc.

(3) Things – material culture, productions, changes often

Technology – norms and productions, cell phones

Ideologies - norms and ideas, public or home school Ralph Linton fish
and water

Culture Shock

Ethno Centricism

Cultural Relativity

Subculture

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The Author and Editor’s Warrant and Restrictions
The fundamental assertions upon which this writer’s biblical warrant
and witness for the argument of the saving grace of God are detailed in
the citations below:
THE ARMINIAN VIEW OF SECURITY
“Though but little reference has been made in this work to one of
them, three systems of theology have flourished which offer their varying
contentions in the field of Soteriology. These systems are Socinianism,
Arminianism, and Calvinism. Socinianism and Calvinism are as far
removed the one from the other as midnight and noontime. Socinianism
in its day denied almost every feature of Christian doctrine, while
Calvinism adheres rigidly to the revelation God has given. It is
Calvinism which seeks to honor God - Father, Son, and Spirit – by its
views respecting depravity, human guilt, and human helplessness, and
these in the light of divine sovereignty, divine supremacy, and the
sufficiency of divine grace. On the other hand, Arminianism sustains an
intermediate ground between the rationalism of Socinianism and the
determined Biblical character of Calvinism. A certain group of
Arminians have leaned towards Socinianism and were these advocates
consistent, they, like the Socinians, would deny the work of Christ and
much of the Holy Spirit. The more conservative Arminians – such as
Arminius himself – though inconsistent with themselves and steeped
with Socinian rationalism in their approach to every soteriological truth,
do evince a degree of amenability to the Word of God and the doctrines
which that Word exhibits.
There are truths, such as the lost estate of man through sin and the
need of salvation, that are common to Arminians and Calvinist alike. On
the ground of these common beliefs a degree of united effort in
evangelism has been possible between the representatives of these two
systems. The real controversy between the two, however, has not been
abandoned, nor could it be. It will be found that in the case of each major
theme related to Soteriology the Arminian position is weak and
inaccurate and to that extent misleading. The instructed preacher and
teacher will contend for the precise meaning of the Scriptures. What may
be passed over in the interests of harmony in united Christian service
cannot as easily be passed over when a worthy declaration of truth is
called for. Along with this, it should be pointed out – and history will
verify the assertion – that sustained, extended, unprejudiced study of the
Sacred Text must and, therefore, does lead to the Calvinistic position. It
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is conceivable hypothetically that both Arminianism and Calvinism are
wrong, but it is wholly impossible for both to be right. The Bible offers
no contradictions. If one system is right, the other is wrong. There is no
compromise possible. Through extended study uncounted multitudes
have turned from Arminianism to Calvinism; but history offers few, if
any examples of an opposite movement. …
In respect to the truth of eternal security, it will be noted, as of other
major doctrines, that it is impossible to be in agreement with all sincere
men. In light of the disagreement which obtains, the student can do no
more than to be amenable to the Word of God. The two claims – that the
Christian is secure and that he is insecure – present a complete
contradiction and no middle ground of compromise could possibly be
found.
While the doctrine of security may not represent the most important
difference which exists between these two theological systems, neither
the claim respecting security nor the claim respecting insecurity can be
maintained apart from the effort to harmonize each with the whole body
of soteriological truth. Bitterness between the advocates of these
divergent systems could hardly be avoided when there is no way of
reconciliation between them; and this controversy is greatly stimulated
by the immeasurable importance of the question. The issue that is
paramount is whether the saving work of Christ on the cross includes the
safekeeping of the one who trusts Him, or not. This is the central and
precise issue in the controversy. Either Christ did enough by His death
concerning the believer’s sins that it can be said that “there is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (though it is not
said that there is no chastisement), or He did not. Again, either Christ did
enough by His death and resurrection in fulfilling the sweet savor type,
that it can be said that the believer possesses eternal life and the perfect
standing of the Son of God, being in Him, or He did not. If there is no
sufficient ground for the removal of condemnation and no sufficient
ground for the impartation of eternal life and the imputing of Christ’s
merit, then the most vital teachings of the New Testament are rendered
void. It is these so-compelling features of truth which are conspicuous by
their absence from Arminian writings. Arminian theologians are a
product of the limited teachings which are presented in their schools
from generation to generation, and therefore the deeper realities are not
known by them. To know these realities is to embrace them, for they
constitute the warp and woof of the Pauline gospel.” i…
i
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 3, pp 273-75
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“To base the Christian’s continuance in the saved state upon his daily
life is to demand of him that which no Christian ever experienced in this
world – sinless perfection. Holding over Christians the requirement of
sinlessness as the hope of security – as Arminians do – is to call forth
that peculiar form of carelessness or discouragement which is the
reaction of every serious person when confronted with an impossibility.
All of this becomes another approach to the same misunderstanding that
is the curse of that form of rationalism which cannot comprehend the
gospel of divine grace. Such a rationalism plans it so that good people
may be saved, be kept saved because of their personal qualities, and be
received into heaven on their merit. The gospel of divine grace plans it so
that bad people – which wording describes every person on earth – may
be saved, be kept saved as they were saved through the saving work and
merit of Christ, and be received into heaven, not as specimens of human
perfection, but as objects of infinite grace. Arminianism, with its
emphasis upon human experience, human merit, and human reason,
apparently has little or no comprehension of the revelation that salvation
is by grace alone, through faith. … Salvation through Christ is the
essence of Christianity, while salvation through personal worthiness is no
better than any pagan philosophy, and it is of this notion, so foreign to
the New Testament revelation, that Arminianism partakes.” i

i
Ibid., Vol 3, p 288-89
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 rhēma Christou ό λόγος τού Θεού en Christō
Duplicate: Manifesto of Perfect Obedience
design. His solution was to create a salvation that satisfies His judgment
upon the evil in the men that He loves. In the death of a willing perfect
Dear reader, I would ask that
Substitute, His infinite love is liberated to be satisfied by His unlimited
you lay aside all you have heard
gifts of grace to justified men. If you believe in God, you must believe in
about sin and religion and
the Substitute - the Son that always did the will of His Father - in order
understand this guiding
to receive the salvation that He has created for all men. The lessons
principle of perfection – God
whereby man may comprehend the terms of salvation are not fiction, they
has brought man back to Eden
were formed in historical fact. This is a uniquely created period in
in order that man may be
history when the foolish choice of 260 a self-defeating obligation to a
perfected and be with Him
system of Kingdom law is removed from Israel and made once again to
always. The sovereignty of God
be a temptation for men to turn from the grace of God. The mountain was
and man’s free will has been
not deadly until the nation of Israel unwisely accepted the offer of the
designed to meet in one place.
Mosaic law from an undemanding God of grace. By the power of grace
The law is an instrument of God.
they were taken out of Egypt. By the power of grace they will be gathered
Faith is perfect obedience. In
by angels from the four corners of the world at the second Advent of
Grace and Innocence, God has
Christ. The Jews foolishly rejected their Messiah at His first Advent. God
only one command that
revealed His solution for the evil in mankind by the death and the power
guarantees the perfection of
of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our ascended Savoir and Advocate
mankind by the exercise of his
for our sins. His solution became manifest in reality. Gentiles have never
God given free will. In this age
been offered the temporary covering of law. Christ did not die to give the
of Grace we may accept the offer of the upward redeeming obedience of
Jewish Kingdom law to Gentiles. Christ died to remove the covering of
belief to release us from the downward condemning disobedience of the
law from the Jew. The Jew has been stripped and stands naked with the
forbidden fruit of Eden. Salvation began in the loving heart of God
Gentile. Jew and Gentile alike are now condemned by God and placed
before He first created an angel or a man with free will. God never acts
together “under sin.” The new and only law is to obey the gospel. Both
on the legal fiction of perfect foresight. He acts upon the reality of events
may now become the children of promise conceived in Abrahamic faith,
in His creation. Salvation is not a response to sin. Salvation is love that
“understand that those who believe are the sons of Abraham and the
responds only to faith. Sin is not a demand that God can forgive. Sin and
scripture foretelling that God would justify the Gentiles by faith,
death is the result of the inherent defect of evil in a created free moral
proclaimed the gospel to Abraham ahead of time, saying, “ All the
self, that may, in a god-like manner, choose self and independence from
nations will be blessed in you.” 261 Christ, the Head of the New Creation,
God. The Creator, the great I AM, has the freedom of a perfect
was the first to choose to be born, and, in a god-like manner, unsaved
conscience. He may only perfectly choose Himself. Holiness is God’s
men may choose to be born. By the power of grace through faith is one
nature. Perdition is God’s just answer to an independent self will.
born from above. The salvation of each man is the perfecting of his free
Salvation is God’s perfect solution. His problem is self created by His
will by free choice. The choice to be joined to the ascended body of
loving desire to share His presence and infinite life with a creation of His
perfection in the glorified humanity of Jesus Christ, the unique God-man,
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the Righteous One. Faith in the sufficiency of God’s Savoir is perfect are we all for no one ever chose to be born. Saint we become by the gift
obedience to the new law of life given to unsaved men. The flaming of choice to be born from above. The Son of God chose to be born a man
sword of the seraphim guarding the gate to the tree of life in the garden so that He could die in the place of every man, woman, and
of Paradise is the old law that defends the righteousness of God. The new unaccountable child in order that fallen mankind may have a choice. The
law of life satisfies God’s righteousness and the gate to Paradise is open first step is to recognize the abnormal estate into which one is born. The
to all. The truth of Jesus Christ is the power of the gospel of grace. It is challenge water presents to a fish … Peter said, “Where else would we
the new law of Christ that gives eternal life and judges the old law guilty. go Master, only you have the words of eternal life.” God said, “This is
Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath (the law) and the Sabbath (the law) was my Son – Listen to him.” Man’s unregenerate free will is not perfected
made for men. Salvation [to rest] was made by Christ for men to become by predestination. Man’s free will is not perfected by a false future
like Christ. God’s new law is the instrument by which the spirits of existence in heaven that he earned. Man’s natural free will is not
justified men are made perfect. The written will of God is to obey the perfected after he is born from above. It is perfected as the final act of
gospel by believing in the Son that He sent, not self assumed effort in the the believing obedient unregenerate man when he is redeemed. Man is
law of sin and death. The old law is the forbidden fruit that kills in this saved from the “flesh and blood” of himself. A spiritually dead self,
age. The old law is the self righteous enticement “to be as god” is degenerated by the first act of disobedience that caused the spirit of
blameless by personal effort to be blameless. To reject the imputed Adam to die ...
righteousness of Christ is to stand, god-like, in the place of God for
salvation. To deny that Christ was “made sin,” that God did not impute
the sins of the world onto Christ, is to make the precious blood of Christ
into the fiction of icor that ran in the veins of pagan gods. The cleansing
from personal sin by a supposed future forgiveness is the damnation, not
salvation, offered by a well dressed Satan. In all this world of
complications, only saving faith can make you perfect forever in the eyes
of God. The privilege we have been given to be born into this opportunity
is beyond estimation. The New Testament belongs to God and his
children for their instruction, not to differing theologies of religion, and
God most certainly offers a secured salvation in the new creation
through Jesus Christ. Who might offer an unsecured salvation? Please,
do not reject a written guarantee to be clothed by God in the righteous
skins of Christ in the garden of Paradise for the freedom of futility to
dress in the rich robes that appeal to the senses and the pride of an
evolved religion.
God’s positive single law for the unsaved in this age is to follow His By the grace of God a man is born from above, and instantly, beyond
command - obey the gospel. The only unredeemed sin is the greatest sin experiencing, that man becomes a child of God and is no longer in
of all time, unbelief in the redeemer - Jesus Christ. Condemned sinner Adam, in the “flesh,” or sarkikos, and of this earth, but pneumatikos -
1299 1300

dead, buried, and resurrected sinless and righteous in Christ by the
Spirit of God. Thereby, becoming a new citizen of heaven. He has been
delivered by the Alpha and the Omega and he has escaped from a
doomed world of condemned men sentenced to everlasting destruction.
He has conquered the world. He has ascended through Jesus Christ by
the undeserved grace of salvation. And so it goes … “Do not be amazed
... you must be born from above.” 262
Eph 2:1 And although you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2:2
in which you formerly lived according to this world’s present path,
according to the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the ruler of the spirit that
is now energizing the sons of disobedience, 2:3 among whom all of us
also formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging
the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of
wrath even as the rest…
2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which
he loved us, 2:5 even though we were dead in transgressions, made us
alive together with Christ—by grace you are saved!— 2:6 and he raised
us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ
Jesus, 2:7 to demonstrate in the coming ages the surpassing wealth of his
grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 2:8 For by grace you are
saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God;
2:9 it is not from works, so that no one can boast. 2:10 For we are his
workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that
God prepared beforehand so we may do them. NET
1 Pet 1:13 Therefore, get your minds ready for action by being fully
sober, and set your hope completely on the grace that will be brought to
you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1:14 Like obedient children, do not
comply with the evil urges you used to follow in your ignorance, 1:15
but, like the Holy One who called you, become holy yourselves in all of
your conduct, 1:16 for it is written, “You shall be holy, because I am
holy.” 1:17 And if you address as Father the one who impartially judges
according to each one’s work, live out the time of your temporary
residence here in reverence. 1:18 You know that from your empty way of
life inherited from your ancestors you were ransomed—not by perishable
things like silver or gold, 1:19 but by precious blood like that of an
unblemished and spotless lamb, namely Christ. 1:20 He was foreknown
before the foundation of the world but was manifested in these last times
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for your sake. 1:21 Through him you now trust in God, who raised him
from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
1:22 You have purified your souls by obeying the truth in order to show
sincere mutual love. So love one another earnestly from a pure heart.
1:23 You have been born anew, not from perishable but from
imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.
2:4 So as you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but chosen and
priceless in God’s sight, 2:5 you yourselves, as living stones, are built up
as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood and to offer spiritual
sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 2:6 For it says
in scripture, “Look, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and priceless
cornerstone, and whoever believes in him will never be put to shame.”
2:7 So you who believe see his value, but for those who do not believe,
the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, 2:8 and
a stumbling-stone and a rock to trip over. They stumble because they
disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 2:9 But you are a chosen
race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you
may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into
his marvelous light. 2:10 You once were not a people, but now you are
God’s people. You were shown no mercy, but now you have received
mercy. NET
Original discussion of Perfect Obedience
Introduction
The gospel is written down, without the need of an intermediary, for
anyone who cares to read God’s word, and God will most certainly give
loving assistance to anyone’s efforts. The local Negative gospel and the
spoken, televised, broadcasted merchandisers of the gospel in “the power
of the air” is the Christological problem, dear reader, not the Bible. The
internet filth and virus is the problem, not your computer. The very
center verse of the Bible says, “Don’t put your trust in men.” “Knock and
the door will be opened.” My undeniable witness is - one must desire to
work at knowledge. I had desire long before I had faith - not conduct or
behavior - to know the truth about Christ. In spite of my negative
reaction to religious people and incomprehensible slogans about
Christianity, I am blessed with instantaneous unconditional salvation
because I strove persistently to know Jesus and I found that to know Him
is to love Him and to love Him is to be changed and saved eternally. I
obeyed the gospel and I was saved. I found Jesus Christ my Savior in the
Bible. I found grace for my sinning soul. Christ, the great I AM, is the
cosmic junk man who advertised and bought everything and anything
1302

that was drivable long before it was brought smoking, back-firing, and
scrapping the ground into the kingdom of His love, no questions asked.
This is my Christ. A true Christian is a true witness to the salvific
obedience required by the gospel. Who is your Savior?
All men today are under one positive law until they are saved by faith
in the power of Christ alone. At the moment of saving faith one is no
longer a natural man under the condemnation of unfulfilled law, one
becomes a new born child in the heavenly house of the family, the
Church, loved and protected by God the Father Creator of all things. For
these reasons, man is perfectly guilty by self condemnation. He is
responsible for his unregenerate free will that never conformed to the
perfect will of God. The cart and the horse may be incorrectly
configured. One may desire and search for sunken treasure in all the
wrong places. Man has the freedom of futility, but only one choice - to
obey the gospel which is to believe in Jesus. “This is my Son – listen to
Him,” was spoken by God the Father at the transfiguration on the
mountain. This harkens (listen and pay attention, archaici) back to
Deuteronomy, where anyone who did not listen to the promised prophet
would be held responsible.
Discussion
The sovereignty of God in salvation intersects man’s free will at the
new point established by Christ, the point where present positional and
future actual perfection begins. The Ichthyus, the fish, is the intersection
of two curved lines. Christ is God-man. Man becomes like God. The
sovereignty of God always meets the free will of man at one point.
Where faith meets law. Where the will of man freely joins the will of
God. There is freedom and life in obedience and futility and death in
disobedience. Evil is a defect not an effect.
Prior to this point, desire and striving by the man is required to reach
to, to become filled with conviction, to turn to Christ from all other
confidences. This could be while receiving a true gospel presentation, as
rare as they are, or it may be an accumulation of knowledge, or self
study, but however gained, one need must, unequivocally, have a correct
understanding of the value of the death of Christ to have saving faith.
The aforementioned cannot be overstressed. This effort is not without
assistance from God for many obvious reasons – God’s Word, God’s
children who witness the truth, the place and time one is born, the
i finished work of Christ avails grace to work its miraculous changes upon
Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation.
All rights reserved.
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rhēma Christou ό λόγος τού Θεού en Christō
circumstances and consequences of one’s life. Nevertheless, His
assistance is most certainly not an act of coercion, quite the contrary is
true. His purpose is by faith, which is obedience, to perfect His natural
sinfully fallen degenerated man that His Son died for. Which,
simultaneously ensures that man will obtain spiritual perfection. To have
saving faith in Christ is an accomplishment of the unsaved individual. No
other future accomplishments or merit is conceivable, as he is no longer a
spiritually dead natural man subject to the law and merit, he has died
with Christ and fulfilled the one law that would condemn him. He is
regenerated. He is a new man. Any reward subsequent to the moment of
salvation is only possible by the awesome grace of God in the standard
operating procedure of the biblical grace reward system, “saved unto
good works before the foundation of the world.” Thus, all believer’s are
not only a glory from age to age to Our Lord because He has ensured
their eventual spiritual perfection, but also, first and foremost, as His
fallen creatures, they are His “just men made perfect through faith.” A
sinner becomes saint by perfect obedience to God’s perfect will. This is
not predestination nor unlimited free will defined by religion at either
extreme end of established thought. It is neither supralapsarian high
Calvinist nor extralapsarian Arminian. No matter how useful to
theorizers, neither I or anyone one else knows the order of God’s
decrees. I have the Bible and the Holy Spirit for noumenon and the world
for the observation of phenomena. This conclusion is based on the Lapse,
or the Fall, and on the teachings of the doctrine of Complete Satisfaction,
which gives recognition to the very first act of the eternal union of God’s
grace and man in perfect conformance to the will of God. The first baby
step into the imatatio Christos. The angels are witness to the Father’s joy
in heaven. Christ learned obedience. Christ on earth always did His
Father’s will. Christ was impeccable.
God may not choose against His nature. He possesses the freedom of
perfect conscience. Man as creature, like God the creator, may choose
himself - over God. This is sin. Man’s totally fallen free will had only
the freedom of futility, until God provided His Son for man to choose as
the one condition of salvation. Salvation is God’s redemption towards
sin, God’s reconciliation towards man, and God’s propitiation towards
God. This is salvation as defined in the Word of God. The conclusion of
perfect obedience that perfects man’s free will, without dependence upon
a speculative order of God’s decrees, is lapsarian in that the fall of man is
the point from which man is given a choice by God through which the
the ex-convict freed from the law of sin and death.
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 rhēma Christou ό λόγος τού Θεού en Christō
To reaffirm the above, and for the benefit of those not familiar with the Kingdom of the Son of His love, “Where I am, my servant will be
the teachings of NT grace … This saving faith establishes regeneration too,” and that individual is no longer a condemned natural man, but is a
of the natural man and eternal salvation in Christ. Until faith is put in momentary ex-convict that becomes a blameless new born child of God
Christ, Christ cannot cause salvation. NT Salvation is a state of being, for all eternity.
not a verb. Forgiveness is a verb and was secured by an act of voluntary
death two thousand years ago. Forgiveness is the reconciled position of
every living unbeliever that makes salvation possible. To state what is
patent – without the subjective atonement and Complete Satisfaction in
the sin bearing death of Christ there would be no salvation. This is in
direct contrast to, and inconceivable within, the Christ rejection of
unlimited free will and the objective limited atonement in the death of
Christ in a Kingdom which allows for the magnanimous leniency in a
God of love offended Rectorally and Governmentally to forgive sin
committed in faith by wicked guilt ridden properly penitent slaves
dragging the sin and stink of an old dead body into heaven for
redemption that is offered by Arminian self salvation ideologues. Which,
no matter its acceptance, is pure ancient historical sacrificial
humanism.263
God is sovereign in that He provided the choice of Christ, the
knowledge of Christ in His Word, and also provides the change of state,
born from above, which gives one the ability “to see the Kingdom of
God.” The choice and the salvation is all the work of God, yes, but keep
in mind - the effect on the natural man and his free will is such that once
obedience is given to the positive law of perfection, the natural man is
regenerated from the fallen state inherited from Adam. Thus, the new
man in Christ. To obey the positive law, to obey the gospel, is to obtain
the benefit that is already bought by the blood of Christ, and available by
grace to all men. No other part or parcel than the obedience of complete
trust is taken by the believer into salvation. The believer while changed
forever, retains the fallen nature inherited from Adam. Faith is the
channel and grace is the means by which all of the spiritual benefits are
given. This is an eternal change of state, which is salvation. Salvation is
the effect of saving faith caused by Christ.
It is stated by Jesus, in John 12:32, “And when I am lifted up from
the earth (the end result of being “lifted up”, ascended and seated in
heaven), will draw all people to myself.” This moment sets into action
the ministry of the Holy Spirit, at which time “every believer the moment
that he believes in Christ, is regenerated, baptized, indwelt, and sealed
for all eternity, and has a duty and privilege of continually being filled
for life and daily service.” 264 It is God’s purpose to perfect man’s free
will by his obedience to the one law given to the unsaved in this age.
Upon meeting the demands of this one law the individual is translated to
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Bibliography Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Excerpts and references are from: Encarta Encyclopedia 2006
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2006. © 1993-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All
Systematic Theology rights reserved.
Lewis Sperry Chafer, D.D., Litt. D., Th.D
Copyright © 1948, 1976 by Dallas Theological Seminary The MacArthur New Testament Commentary - Romans 1-8
Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI John MacArthur
ISBN 0-8254-2340-6 Copyright © 1991 by the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago
ISBN 0-8024-0767-6
Salvation
Originally published: New York: C. C. Cook, 1917 NET Bible - New English Translation - Second Beta Edition
Published in 1991 by Kregel Publications Copyright © 1996-2003 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.
ISBN 0-8254-2348-1 All Rights Reserved Version 3.902
www.netbible.com
He That Is Spiritual
Copyright © 1918 by Lewis Sperry Chafer The Anchor Bible –The Epistles of John
Revised edition copyright © 1967 by Zondervan Translated with Introduction, Notes, and Commentary
ISBN 0-310-22341-5 By Raymond E. Brown, S.S.
Copyright © 1982 by Doubleday & Company, Inc.
True Evangelism All Rights Reserved
Originally published: 1919 Printed in United States of America
Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI First Edition
ISBN: 0-8254-2384-7 ISBN 0-385-05686-9
Major Bible Themes The Spirit World
Revised by John F. Walvoord Reverend Clarence Larkin
Copyright © First edition 1926, 1953 by Dallas Theological Seminary Copyright © 1921 by Rev. Clarence Larkin
Copyright © Revised edition 1974 by Dallas Theological Seminary All Rights Reserved
Zondervon Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI For sale by Rev. Clarence Larkin Estate
ISBN 0-310-22390-3 P.O. Box 334, Glendale, Pa. 19038
Basic Theology
Dr. Charles C. Ryrie
Copyright © 1986,1999 by Charles C. Ryrie
Moody Bible Press, Chicago
ISBN 0-8024-2734-0

The Scofield ® Reference Bible

Dr. C.I. Scofield, D.D.
Copyright © 1909, 1917, 1937, 1945, 1996
Oxford University Press, NY
1307 1308

Cuts
Power
1849 – exousia - all in John (authority) ☺
1411 – dunamis – (miraculous power) Acts 1:8; 6:8, 10:38; Rom 1:4
most all of Romans
☺ ability abundance, meaning, might (-ily, -y, -y deed), (worker of)
miracle (-s), power, strength, violence, mighty (wonderful) work.
1410 – dunamai - (to be able) Rom 16:25
2904 – kratos – (vigor, great) Eph 1:19 -
– better known as theft (cf. State of California vs. Enron). This writer
was witness to the power industry before, during, and after the Public
Service Commission mandated “reserve power,” which was a benefit to
the citizenry, was turned into a “commodity.” This commodity was then
manipulated for maximum profit by LLC’s created separate from those
who owned the power plants. By comparison, Victor Frankenstein was
horrified when he saw “the dull yellow eye of the creature open.”:
Major Bible Themes Chapter 40
B. THE CHURCH AS THE BODY OF CHRIST. Previous discussion of the
baptism of the Holy Spirit brought out the New Testament revelation of
the church joined together and formed into the body of Christ by the
baptism of the Spirit, as declared in 1 Corinthians 12:13: “For by one
Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles,
whether we be bond or free; and have all been made to drink into one
Spirit.” Three major truths are presented in this figure: (1) the church is a
self-developing body; (2) members of the body are given special gifts
and are appointed to special service; (3) the body is a living union or an
organism.
1. As a self-developing body, the church is presented in Ephesians
4:11-16 as comprising individuals who have spiritual gifts. Hence some
are apostles, others are prophets, evangelists, or pastors and teachers. The
central truth is that believers are not only exhorted to serve God in
various capacities, but they are equipped to do a particular work to which
God has called them. A believer fulfills his proper service when he
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rhēma Christou ό λόγος τού Θεού en Christō
fulfills the particular role in the body of Christ which is assigned to him
and shares in perfecting the body of Christ (Eph 4:13).
2. Members of the body of Christ are appointed to a specific service
in keeping with their gifts. Just as in the human body different members
have different functions, so it is in the body of Christ. It is most
important that each believer examine himself soberly to see what gifts
God has given him and then use these gifts to the glory of God.
Important gifts are mentioned in Romans 12:3-8 and 1 Corinthians 12:28.
Every believer has some gifts, and believers may have more than one.
The spiritual gifts, while sometimes related to natural abilities, are not to
be confused with them. For instance, while a person may have the gift of
teaching naturally, only God can give the gift of teaching spiritual things.
Spiritual gifts are not secured by seeking, but rather by the Holy
Spirit apportioning gifts “to every man severally as he will” (1 Cor
12:11). In the apostolic church some gifts were given which continue
throughout the present age; others were sign gifts which apparently
ceased after the first generation of Christians. Every gift, however, is
subject to regulation by the Word of God, is not a proper basis for pride,
and is a great responsibility for which each believer will have to give an
account.
While local churches may develop extensive organizations, the work
of God is done primarily through the church as an organism, directed by
Christ the Head in keeping with the capacities of each individual
member. While it is not uncommon for a believer in Christ to be required
to do some thing sin areas where he may not be especially gifted,
obviously his highest function is to perform the task for which he has
been placed in the body of Christ. As he presents his body to the Lord as
a living sacrifice, he can know God’s perfect will (Rom 12:1-2).
3. The body is a living organism united eternally to Christ. The unity
of the body comprising Jews and Gentiles and people of various races
and cultures is set forth in Ephesians 1:23; 2:15-16; 3:6; 4:12-16; 5:30.
The church as the body of Christ has a marvelous unity in which the
division between Jew and Gentile is ignored, and Gentile and Jews have
equal privilege and grace. The body of Christ contrasts sharply with the
relationship of God to Israel and Gentiles in the Old Testament and is a
unique situation limited to the present age. Members of the body,
according to Ephesians 3, share in the wonderful truth hidden from Old
Testament prophets but revealed in the New that Gentiles are fellow heirs
and of the same body partakers of the same promise in Christ by the
Gospel as the Jews (Eph 3:6). The unity of the body emphasized in
Ephesians 4:4-7 is an eternal unity which is the basis of Christian
1310

fellowship and service in the present age and the ground for eternal
fellowship in the ages to come.
C. CHRIST AS THE BRIDEGROOM AND THE CHURCH AS THE BRIDE. Of
the seven figures of Christ and the church, only the figure of the
Bridegroom and the bride prophetic significance. In contrast with Israel,
who is the unfaithful wife of Jehovah, the church is pictured in the New
Testament as the virgin bride awaiting the coming of her Bridegroom (2
Cor 11:2). Christ as the Bridegroom is introduced as early as John 3:29
by John the Baptist.
The major revelation, however, is given in Ephesians 5:25-33 to
illustrate the proper relationship between husbands and wives in Christ.
Here the threefold work of Christ is revealed: (a) in His death, “Christ
also loved the church, and gave himself for it” (v. 25); (b) Christ is
engaged in the present work “that he might sanctify and cleanse it with
the washing of water by the word” (v. 26); (c) “that he might present it to
himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing;
but that it should be holy and without blemish” (v. 27). In dying on the
cross Christ fulfilled the oriental symbolism of paying the dowry or
necessary price to secure His wife. In the present age, by the washing of
water, the application of the Word of God, and sanctification to the
believer, Christ is preparing and cleansing His bride for her future
relationship. At the end of the age at the rapture of the church, the
Bridegroom will come for His bride and take her to heaven. There He
will present her as the church which reflects His own glory, perfect,
without blemish, spot or wrinkle, a holy bride suitable for a holy
Bridegroom. The wedding feast which follows, probably fulfilled in the
spiritual fellowship of the millennial kingdom, is one in which all other
saints join in celebrating the marriage of Christ and His church. This
marriage feast is announced in Revelation 19:7-8 at the very time that
Christ is about to come to earth to set up His kingdom.
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rhēma Christou ό λόγος τού Θεού en Christō
Eternal Life Verses
Key Verse
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of
this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book [tree] of 4
life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this
book [of eternal life].
4
(22:19) Eternal life, Summary of the teaching:
(1) The life is called “eternal” because it was from the eternity
which is past unto eternity which is to come - it is the life of God
revealed in Jesus Christ, who is God (John 1:4, 5:26; 1 John 1:1, 2).
(2) This life of God, which was revealed in Christ, is imparted in a
new birth by the Holy Spirit, acting upon the word of God, to every
believer on the Lord Jesus Christ (John 3:3-15). (3) The life thus
imparted is not a new life except in the sense of human possession; it
is still “that which was from the beginning.” But the recipient is a
“new creation” (2 Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15). (4) The life of God which is in
the believer is an unsevered part of that which eternally was, and
eternally is, in Christ Jesus – one life, in Him and in the believer –
Vine and branches; Head and members (1 Cor 6:17; Gal 2:20; Col
1:27; 3:3, 4; 1 John 5:11, 12; John 15:1-5; 1 Cor 2:12-14).” (Old
Scofield Study System, Dr. C. I. Scofield, p 1353)
The seed of the “gospel of the grace of God” designed explicitly for
man’s faith is revealed in Genesis chapter 3. Here God’s promise of a
redeemer, formed from the seed of the woman, who will defeat the
“serpent” is foretold in verse 3:15. It is revealed that Adam believed God
when he named his wife Eve, or “life-giver” in verse 20.
A tree, fountains of water, light, and life are all biblical signs pointing
to God’s “eternal life” of salvation that is given by grace to the New
Testament believer. One may wish to consider the fact, the outstanding
fact, that in the garden of Eden God indicated that Adam and Eve might
“eat” of the tree of life after they had sinned; but only after they had
believed God’s promise and He had “shed blood” and made “coats of
skin” to clothe them in these garments that literally (God had shed the
first blood) and symbolically (for we readers today) typify His
righteousness where Jesus Christ is the antitype revealed in this
1312

historical act of God. Accordingly, Adam and Eve were then sent forth
from the garden with their fallen sin nature into a fallen creation, yes, but
with an assured salvation as the “way” to the tree of life was “kept” by
God’s Cherubims or “living creatures” (Ezk 1:5).
Gen 3:21-24 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make
coats of skins, and clothed them. And the LORD God said, Behold, the
man has become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he
put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live
forever. Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden,
to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man;
and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming
sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
Once again, these angelic beings reappear on the mercy-seat to
witness the “sprinkled blood” that prefigures and typifies the shed blood
of Christ for the salvation of men. Only the blood of Christ may
“vindicate” God’s holiness. A holiness that man cannot achieve, since
man may not “put forth his hand” and eat of the tree of eternal life. This
principle is summarized by the final declaration of Christ to the churches
in Revelation 2:7, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith
unto the churches; To him that overcometh [through faith in the promises
of Christ, John 5:5] will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the
paradise of God.”
Mtw 7:14 But the gate is narrow and the way is difficult that leads to
life, and there are few who find it.
18:8 If9 your hand or your foot causes you to sin,10 cut it off and throw
it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than to have11
two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 18:9 And if your
eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to
enter into life [now] with one eye than to have12 two eyes and be thrown
into fiery hell [later].13
19:16 Now20 someone came up to him and said, “Teacher, what good
thing must I do to gain eternal life?” 19:17 He said to him, “Why do you
ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. But if you
want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
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19:25 The32 disciples were greatly astonished when they heard this and
said, “Then who can be saved?”33 19:26 Jesus34 looked at them and
replied, “This is impossible for mere humans,35 but for God all things
are possible.”
19:29 And whoever has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or
mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as
much43 and will inherit eternal life.
25:46 And these will depart into eternal punishment, but the righteous
into eternal life.”
Luke 10:25 Now83 an expert in religious law84 stood up to test Jesus,85
saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”86
12:15 Then36 he said to them, “Watch out and guard yourself from37 all
types of greed,38 because one’s life does not consist in the abundance of
his possessions.”
John 1:4 In him was life,8 and the life was the light of mankind.9
8tn John uses zwhv (zwh) 37 times: 17 times it occurs with
aijwvnio" (aiwnios), and in the remaining occurrences outside the
prologue it is clear from context that “eternal” life is meant. The two uses
in 1:4, if they do not refer to “eternal” life, would be the only exceptions.
(Also 1 John uses zwhv 13 times, always of “eternal” life.)
sn An allusion to Ps 36:9, which gives significant OT background: “For
with you is the fountain of life; In your light we see light.” In later
Judaism, Bar 4:2 expresses a similar idea. Life, especially eternal life,
will become one of the major themes of John’s Gospel.
3:15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”35 3:16
For this is the way36 God loved the world: He gave his one and only37
Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish38 but have
eternal life.39
3:36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life. The one who
rejects69 the Son will not see [eternal] life, but God’s wrath70
remains71 on him.
1314

4:14 But whoever drinks some of the water that I will give him will
never be thirsty again,35 but the water that I will give him will become in
him a fountain36 of water springing up37 to eternal life.”
4:36 The one who reaps receives pay85 and gathers fruit for eternal life,
so that the one who sows and the one who reaps can rejoice together.
5:24 “I tell you the solemn truth,45 the one who hears46 my message47
and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be
condemned,48 but has crossed over from death to life.
5:39 You study the scriptures thoroughly67 because you think in them
you possess eternal life,68 and it is these same scriptures69 that testify
about me, 5:40 but you are not willing to come to me so that you may
have life.
6:27 Do not work for the food that disappears,42 but for the food that
remains to eternal life—the food43 which the Son of Man will give to
you. For God the Father has put his seal of approval on him.”44
6:28 So then they said to him, “What must we do to accomplish the
deeds45 God requires?”46 6:29 Jesus replied,47 “This is the deed48 God
requires49—to believe in the one whom he50 sent.” 6:30 So they said to
him, “Then what miraculous sign will you perform, so that we may see it
and believe you? What will you do? 6:31 Our ancestors51 ate the manna
in the wilderness, just as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven
to eat.’”52
6:32 Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the solemn truth,53 it is not Moses
who has given you the bread from heaven, but my Father is giving you
the true bread from heaven. 6:33 For the bread of God is the one who54
comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 6:34 So they said
to him, “Sir,55 give us this bread all the time!”
6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. The one who comes to
me will never go hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be
thirsty.56 6:36 But I told you57 that you have seen me58 and still do not
believe. 6:37 Everyone whom the Father gives me will come to me, and
the one who comes to me I will never send away.59 6:38 For I have
come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one
who sent me. 6:39 Now this is the will of the one who sent me—that I
should not lose one person of every one he has given me, but raise them
all up60 at the last day. 6:40 For this is the will of my Father—for
everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him to have eternal life,
and I will raise him up61 at the last day.”62
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6:47 I tell you the solemn truth,71 the one who believes72 has eternal
life.73 6:48 I am the bread of life.74 6:49 Your ancestors75 ate the
manna in the wilderness, and they died. 6:50 This76 is the bread that has
come down from heaven, so that a person77 may eat from it and not die.
6:51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats
from this bread he will live forever. The bread78 that I will give for the
life of the world is my flesh.”
6:53 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the solemn truth,82 unless you eat the
flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,83 you have no life84 in
yourselves. 6:54 The one who eats85 my flesh and drinks my blood has
eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.86 6:55 For my flesh is
true87 food, and my blood is true88 drink. 6:56 The one who eats89 my
flesh and drinks my blood resides in me, and I in him.90 6:57 Just as the
living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so the one who
consumes91 me will live because of me. 6:58 This92 is the bread that
came down from heaven; it is not like the bread your ancestors93 ate, but
then later died.94 The one who eats95 this bread will live forever.”
6:68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You
have the words of eternal life.
8:12 Then Jesus spoke out again,19 “I am the light of the world.20 The
one who follows me will never21 walk in darkness, but will have the
light of life.”
10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill23 and destroy; I have come
so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.24
10:28 I give67 them eternal life, and they will never perish;68 no one
will snatch69 them from my hand.
11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who
believes in me will live49 even if he dies, 11:26 and the one who lives
and believes in me will never die.50 Do you believe this?”
12:25 The one who loves his life50 destroys51 it, and the one who hates
his life in this world guards52 it for eternal life.
12:50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life.107 Thus the
things I say, I say just as the Father has told me.”108
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14:6 Jesus replied,13 “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.14 No one
comes to the Father except through me.
17:2 just as you have given him authority over all humanity,5 so that he
may give eternal life to everyone you have given him.6 17:3 Now this7 is
eternal life8—that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ,9
whom you sent.
20:31 But these59 are recorded60 so that you may believe61 that Jesus is
the Christ,62 the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in
his name.63
Acts 2:28 You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will make me full of joy with your presence.’54
3:15 You killed41 the Originator4 2 of life, whom God raised43 from the
dead. To this fact we are witnesses!44
5:20 “Go and stand in the temple courts44 and proclaim45 to the people
all the words of this life.”
11:18 When they heard this,35 they ceased their objections36 and
praised37 God, saying, “So then, God has granted the repentance38 that
leads to life even to the Gentiles.”39
13:46 Both Paul and Barnabas replied courageously,171 “It was
necessary to speak the word of God172 to you first. Since you reject it
and do not consider yourselves worthy173 of eternal life, we174 are
turning to the Gentiles.175 13:47 For this176 is what the Lord has
commanded us: ‘I have appointed177 you to be a light178 for the
Gentiles, to bring salvation179 to the ends of the earth.’”180 13:48
When the Gentiles heard this, they began to rejoice181 and praise182 the
word of the Lord, and all who had been appointed for eternal life183
believed.
Rom 2:7 eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek
glory and honor and immortality, 2:8 but17 wrath and anger to those who
live in selfish ambition18 and do not obey the truth but follow19
unrighteousness.
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rhēma Christou ό λόγος τού Θεού en Christō
5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through
the death of his Son, how much more, since we have been reconciled,
will we be saved by his life? 5:11 Not11 only this, but we also rejoice12
in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now
received this reconciliation.
The Amplification of Justification
5:12 So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death
through sin, and so death spread to all people13 because14 all sinned—
5:13 for before the law was given,15 sin was in the world, but there is no
accounting for sin16 when there is no law. 5:14 Yet death reigned from
Adam until Moses even over those who did not sin in the same way that
Adam (who is a type17 of the coming one) transgressed.18 5:15 But the
gracious gift is not like the transgression.19 For if the many died through
the transgression of the one man,20 how much more did the grace of God
and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ multiply to the
many! 5:16 And the gift is not like the one who sinned.21 For judgment,
resulting from the one transgression,22 led to condemnation, but23 the
gracious gift from the many failures24 led to justification. 5:17 For if, by
the transgression of the one man,25 death reigned through the one, how
much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift
of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ!
5:18 Consequently,26 just as condemnation27 for all people28 came29
through one transgression,30 so too through the one righteous act31
came righteousness leading to life32 for all people. 5:19 For just as
through the disobedience of the one man33 many34 were made sinners,
so also through the obedience of one man35 many36 will be made
righteous. 5:20 Now the law came in37 so that the transgression38 may
increase, but where sin increased, grace multiplied all the more, 5:21 so
that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through
righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
6:4 Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death,
in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of
the Father, so we too may live a new life.1
6:22 But now, freed21 from sin and enslaved to God, you have your
benefit22 leading to sanctification, and the end is eternal life. 6:23 For
the payoff23 of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ
Jesus our Lord.
8:2 For the law of the life-giving Spirit2 in Christ Jesus has set you3 free
from the law of sin and death.
1318

8:6 For the outlook6 of the flesh is death, but the outlook of the Spirit is
life and peace,
8:10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but8 the
Spirit is your life9 because of righteousness.
2 Cor 2:15 For we are a sweet aroma of Christ to God among those who
are being saved and among those who are perishing— 2:16 to the latter
an odor26 from death to death, but to the former a fragrance from life to
life. And who is adequate for these things?27
4:10 always carrying around in our body the death of Jesus,20 so that the
life of Jesus may also be made visible21 in our body. 4:11 For we who
are alive are constantly being handed over to death for Jesus’ sake, so
that the life of Jesus may also be made visible22 in our mortal body.23
4:12 As a result,24 death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.25
5:4 For we groan while we are in this tent,7 since we are weighed
down,8 because we do not want to be unclothed, but clothed, so that
what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ,59 and it is no longer I who
live, but Christ lives in me. So60 the life I now live in the body,61 I live
because of the faithfulness of the Son of God,62 who loved me and gave
himself for me.
6:7 Do not be deceived. God will not be made a fool.12 For a person13
will reap what he sows, 6:8 because the person who sows to his own
flesh14 will reap corruption15 from the flesh,16 but the one who sows to
the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.
Eph 4:18 They are darkened in their understanding,26 being alienated
from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the
hardness of their hearts.
Phil 2:15 so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God
without blemish though you live in a crooked and perverse society, in
which you shine as lights in the world16 2:16 by holding on to17 the
word of life so that on the day of Christ I will have a reason to boast that
I did not run in vain nor labor in vain.
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4:3 Yes, I say also to you, true companion,2 help them. They have
struggled together in the gospel ministry3 along with me and Clement
and my other coworkers, whose names are in the book of life.
Col 1:27 God wanted to make known to them the glorious47 riches of
this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of
glory.
3:2 Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth, 3:3 for you
have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 3:4 When Christ
(who is your1 life) appears, then you too will be revealed in glory with
him.
1 Tim 1:16 But here is why I was treated with mercy: so that20 in me as
the worst,21 Christ Jesus could demonstrate his utmost patience, as an
example for those who are going to believe in him for eternal life.
4:8 For “physical exercise10 has some value, but godliness is valuable in
every way. It holds promise for the present life and for the life to come.”
6:12 Compete well16 for the faith and lay hold of that eternal life you
were called for and made your good confession17 for18 in the presence
of many witnesses.
6:19 In this way they will save up29 a treasure for themselves as a firm
foundation30 for the future and so lay hold of31 what is truly life.
2 Tim 1:1 From Paul,1 an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, to
further the promise2 of life in Christ Jesus,
1:10 but now made visible through the appearing of our Savior Christ
Jesus. He17 has broken the power of death and brought life and
immortality to light through the gospel!
Titus 1:2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised
before the ages began.4
3:7 And so,5 since we have been justified by his grace, we become heirs
with the confident expectation of eternal life.”6
1320

Heb 7:3 Without father, without mother, without genealogy, he has
neither beginning of days nor end of life but is like the son of God, and
he remains a priest for all time.
7:16 who has become a priest not by a legal regulation about physical
descent20 but by the power of an indestructible life.
1 Pet 3:7 Husbands, in the same way, treat your wives with
consideration as the weaker partners11 and show them honor as fellow
heirs of the grace of life. In this way nothing will hinder your prayers.12
2 Pet 1:3 I can pray this because his divine power12 has bestowed on us
everything necessary13 for life and godliness through the rich
knowledge14 of the one who called15 us by16 his own glory and
excellence.
1 John 1:1 This is what we proclaim to you:1 what was from the
beginning,2 what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what
we have looked at and our hands have touched (concerning the word of
life— 1:2 and the life was revealed, and we have seen and testify and
announce3 to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was
revealed to us).4
2:25 Now this52 is the promise that he53 himself made to54 us: eternal
life.55
3:14 We know that47 we have crossed over48 from death to life49
because50 we love our fellow Christians.51 The one who does not love
remains in death.52 3:15 Everyone who hates his fellow Christian53 is a
murderer,54 and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing55 in
him.
5:11 And this is the testimony: God25 has given us eternal life,26 and
this life is in his Son. 5:12 The one who has the Son27 has this28
eternal29 life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have
this30 eternal31 life.
Assurance of Eternal Life
5:13 I have written these things32 to you who believe33 in the name of
the Son of God so that34 you may know that you have eternal life.
5:16 If38 anyone sees his fellow Christian39 committing a sin not
resulting in death,40 he should ask, and God41 will grant42 life to the
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person who commits a sin not resulting in death.43 There is a sin
resulting in death.44 I do not say that he should ask about that.
5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us
insight to know51 him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his
Son Jesus Christ. This one52 is the true God and eternal life.
Jude 1:20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most
holy faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit,89 1:21 maintain90 yourselves in
the love of God, while anticipating91 the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ
that brings eternal life.92
Rev 2:7 The one who has an ear had better hear what the Spirit says to
the churches. To the one who conquers,20 I will permit21 him to eat
from the tree of life that is22 in the paradise of God.’23
2:10 Do not be afraid of the things you are about to suffer. The devil is
about to have some of you thrown32 into prison so you may be tested,33
and you will experience suffering34 for ten days. Remain faithful even to
the point of death, and I will give you the crown that is life itself.35
3:5 The one who conquers18 will be dressed like them19 in white
clothing,20 and I will never21 erase22 his name from the book of life,
but23 will declare24 his name before my Father and before his angels.
13:8 and all those who live on the earth will worship the beast,26
everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the
world27 in the book of life belonging to the Lamb who was killed.28
17:8 The beast you saw was, and is not, but is about to come up from the
abyss21 and then go to destruction. The22 inhabitants of the earth—all
those whose names have not been written in the book of life since the
foundation of the world—will be astounded when they see that23 the
beast was, and is not, but is to come.
20:12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the
throne. Then33 books were opened, and another book was opened—the
book of life.34 So35 the dead were judged by what was written in the
books, according to their deeds.36
20:15 If40 anyone’s name41 was not found written in the book of life,
that person42 was thrown into the lake of fire.
1322

21:6 He also said to me, “It is done!12 I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the beginning and the end. To the one who is thirsty I will give water13
free of charge14 from the spring of the water of life.
21:27 but66 nothing ritually unclean67 will ever enter into it, nor anyone
who does what is detestable68 or practices falsehood,69 but only those
whose names70 are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
22:1 Then1 the angel2 showed me the river of the water of life—water as
clear as crystal—pouring out3 from the throne of God and of the Lamb,
22:2 flowing down the middle of the city’s4 main street.5 On each side6
of the river is the tree of life producing twelve kinds7 of fruit, yielding its
fruit every month of the year.8 Its leaves are for the healing of the
nations.
22:14 Blessed are those who wash their robes so they can have access32
to the tree of life and can enter into the city by the gates.
22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who
hears say: “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who
wants it take the water of life free of charge.
22:19 And if anyone takes away from the words of this book of
prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life37 and in the
holy city that are described in this book.
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Rom 3:11 there is no one who understands,
there is no one who seeks God.
1 Cor 2:14 The unbeliever9 does not receive the things of the Spirit of
God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them,
because they are spiritually discerned.
Dr. C. I Scofield writes in the Preface of his Old Scofield Study System:
The Central Theme of the Bible is Christ. It is this manifestation of Jesus
Christ, his Person as “God manifest in the flesh” (1 Tim 3:16), his
sacrificial death, and his resurrection, which constitute the Gospel. Unto
this all preceding Scripture leads, from this all following Scripture
proceeds. The Gospel is preached in the Acts and explained in the
Epistles. Christ, Son of God, Son of man, Son of Abraham, Son of
David, thus binds the many books into one Book. Seed of woman (Gen.
3:15) he is the ultimate destroyer of Satan and his works; Seed of
Abraham he is the world blesser; Seed of David he is Israel’s King,
“Desire of all Nations.” Exalted to the right hand of God “he is head over
all to the Church, which is his body,” while to Israel and the nations the
promise of his return form the one and only rational expectation that
humanity will yet fulfill itself. Meanwhile the Church looks momentarily
for the fulfillment of his special promise: “I will come again and receive
you unto myself” (John 14:1-3). To him the Holy Spirit throughout this
Gospel age bears testimony. The last book of all, the Consummation
book, is “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 1:1). – (p. vi)
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Faith - Habakkuk 2:4 AMP
4 Look at the proud; his soul is not straight or right within him, but
the [rigidly] just and the [uncompromisingly] righteous man shall alive
by his faith and in his faithfulness. [Rom 1:17; Gal 3:11.]
a There is a curious passage in the Talmud [the body of Jewish civil land
religious law] which says that Moses gave six hundred injunctions to the
Israelites. As these commands might prove too numerous to commit to
memory. David brought them down to eleven in Psalm 15. Isaiah
reduced these eleven to six in [his] chapter 33:15. Micah (6:8) further
reduced them to three; and Isaiah (56:1) once more brought them down
to two. These two Amos (5:4) reduced to one. However, lest it might be
supposed from this that God could be found only in the fulfillment of the
law, Habakkuk (2:4 KJV) said, “The just shall live by his faith” (William
H. Saulez, The Romance of the Hebrew Language)
Hebrews 11:39 Scofield p 1302
1 lives to intercede for them. Jude 1:24 Now to the one who is able to keep
(11:39) The essence of faith consists in receiving what God has
revealed, and may be defined as that trust in the God of the Scriptures
and in Jesus Christ whom He hath sent, which receives Him as Savior
and Lord [God], and impels to loving obedience and good works (John
1:12; Jas 2:14-26). The particular uses of faith give rise to its secondary
definitions: (1) For salvation, faith is personal trust, apart from
meritorious works, in the Lord Jesus Christ, as delivered for our offences
and raised again for our justification (Rom 4:5, 23-25). (2) As used in
prayer, faith is the “confidence that we have in him, that if we ask
anything according to his will, he heareth us” (1 John 5:14, 15). (3) As
used in reference to unseen things of which Scripture speaks, faith “gives
substance” to them, so that we act upon the conviction of their reality
(Heb 11:1-3). (4) As a working principle in life, the uses of faith are
illustrated in Heb. 11:1-39.
The Security of the Believer
John 10:29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and
no one can snatch them from my Father’s hand. Rom 4:21 He was fully
convinced that what God promised he was also able to do. 4:22 So
indeed it was credited to Abraham as righteousness. 4:23 But the
statement it was credited to him was not written only for Abraham’s
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rhēma Christou ό λόγος τού Θεού en Christō
sake, 4:24 but also for our sake, to whom it will be credited, those who
believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 4:25 He was
given over because of our transgressions and was raised for the sake of
our justification. 8:31 What then shall we say about these things? If God
is for us, who can be against us? 8:38 For I am convinced that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, nor things that are
present, nor things to come, nor powers, 8:39 nor height, nor depth, nor
anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God
in Christ Jesus our Lord. 14:4 Who are you to pass judgment on
another’s servant? Before his own master he stands or falls. And he will
stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. Eph 3:20 Now to him who
by the power that is working within us is able to do far beyond all that
we ask or think, Phil 3:21 who will transform these humble bodies of
ours into the likeness of his glorious body by means of that power by
which he is able to subject all things to himself. 2 Tim 1:12 Because of
this, in fact, I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, because I know the
one in whom my faith is set and I am convinced that he is able to protect
what has been entrusted to me until that day. Heb 7:25 So he is able to
save completely those who come to God through him, because he always
you from falling, and to cause you to stand, rejoicing, without blemish
before his glorious presence,
Heb 10:1 For the law possesses a shadow of the good things to come
but not the reality itself, and is therefore completely unable, by the
same sacrifices offered continually, year after year, to perfect those
who come to worship. 10:2 For otherwise would they not have ceased
to be offered, since the worshipers would have been purified once for
all and so have no further consciousness of sin? 10:3 But in those
sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year after year. 10:4 For the
blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins. 10:5 So when he
came into the world, he [Christ] said,
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared
for me.
10:6 “Whole burnt offerings and sin-offerings you took no delight
in.
10:7 “Then I said, ‘Here I am: I have come—it is written of me in
the scroll of the book—to do your will, O God.’”
1326

10:8 When he says above, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt
offerings and sin-offerings you did not desire nor did you take delight
in them” (which are offered according to the law), 10:9 then he says,
“Here I am: I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first
to establish the second. 10:10 By his will we have been made holy
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. NET
Rom 5:1 Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 5:2
through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace
in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of God’s glory. 5:3
Not only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering
produces endurance, 5:4 and endurance, character, and character,
hope. 5:5 And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has
been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given
to us.
5:6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for
the ungodly. 5:7 (For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person,
though for a good person perhaps someone might possibly dare to
die.) 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we
were still sinners, Christ died for us. 5:9 Much more then, because
we have now been declared righteous by his blood, we will be
saved through him from God’s wrath. 5:10 For if while we were
enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son,
how much more, since we have been reconciled, will we be saved by
his life? 5:11 Not only this, but we also rejoice in God through our
Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this
reconciliation.
The Amplification of Justification
5:12 So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and
death through sin, and so death spread to all people because all
sinned— 5:13 for before the law was given, sin was in the world, but
there is no accounting for sin when there is no law. 5:14 Yet death
reigned from Adam until Moses even over those who did not sin
in the same way that Adam (who is a type of the coming one)
transgressed. 5:15 But the gracious gift is not like the transgression.
For if the many died through the transgression of the one man,
how much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the
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rhēma Christou ό λόγος τού Θεού en Christō
one man Jesus Christ multiply to the many! 5:16 And the gift is not
like the one who sinned. For judgment, resulting from the one
transgression, led to condemnation, but the gracious gift from the
many failures led to justification. 5:17 For if, by the transgression
of the one man, death reigned through the one, how much more will
those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of
righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ!
5:18 Consequently, just as condemnation for all people came through
one transgression, so too through the one righteous act came
righteousness leading to life for all people. 5:19 For just as through
the disobedience of the one man many were made sinners, so also
through the obedience of one man many will be made righteous. 5:20
Now the law came in so that the transgression may increase, but
where sin increased, grace multiplied all the more, 5:21 so that just as
sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness
to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. NET
Rom 5:11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our
LORD Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered the world, and death by sin;
and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. KJV
Rev 2:1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus,1 write the following:2
“This is the solemn pronouncement of3 the one who has a firm grasp on4
the seven stars in his right hand5—the one who walks among the seven
golden6 lampstands:
“To24 the angel of the church in Smyrna write the following:25
“This is the solemn pronouncement of26 the one who is the first and the
last, the one who was dead, but27 came to life:
“To37 the angel of the church in Pergamum write the following:38
1328

“This is the solemn pronouncement of39 the one who has the sharp
double-edged sword:40
2:18 “To59 the angel of the church in Thyatira write the following:60
“This is the solemn pronouncement of61 the Son of God, the one who
has eyes like a fiery flame62 and whose feet are like polished bronze:63
3:1 “To1 the angel of the church in Sardis write the following:2
“This is the solemn pronouncement of3 the one who holds4 the seven
spirits of God and the seven stars:
3:7 “To25 the angel of the church in Philadelphia write the following:26
“This is the solemn pronouncement of27 the Holy One, the True One,
who holds the key of David, who opens doors28 no one can shut, and
shuts doors29 no one can open:
3:14 “To51 the angel of the church in Laodicea write the following:52
“This is the solemn pronouncement of53 the Amen, the faithful and true
witness, the originator54 of God’s creation:
Vol 1, decrees, p239
It is revealed that the perfect manhood of Christ was wholly subject to
the will of His Father. It is written of Him that, “when he cometh into the
world, he saith, … Lo, I come … to do thy will, O God” (Heb 10:5-7; cf.
Ps 40:6-8). There could be no perfect humanity or creaturehood which is
not completely subject to the will of God; and the first step in salvation
on the part of those for whom redemption is provided is that they shall
obey the gospel (Acts 5:32; 2 Thess 1:8; Heb 5:9; 1 Pet 4:7). With this
provision in view there is no need that any should be lost who desire to
be saved.
Rom 2:12-13 is law=obey the gospel? Ref. Chafer Vol 1 page,
predestination and gospel preaching. In v. 16 Paul ends the chapter with
My Gospel. The chapter opens with the condemnation of moralizers.
1329
rhēma Christou ό λόγος τού Θεού en Christō
Deduction, in logic, a process of reasoning in which reasons are given in
support of a claim. The reasons, or justifications, are called the premises
of the claim, and the claim they purport to justify is called the
conclusion. In a correct, or valid, deduction the premises support the
conclusion in such a way that it would be impossible for the premises to
be true and for the conclusion to be false. In this, deduction differs
sharply from induction, a process of drawing a conclusion in which the
truth of the premises does not guarantee the truth of the conclusion.
The actual truth or falsity of the premises and the conclusion is not at
issue in determining whether an argument is a valid deduction. In the
following argument, for instance, two premises are offered in support of
a conclusion:
All the planets in our solar system are equipped with an atmosphere.
Pluto is a planet in our solar system.
Therefore, Pluto is equipped with an atmosphere.
One of the premises in this argument is in fact false, and so is the
conclusion. But the argument is still deductively valid: If the premises
were true, the conclusion would have to be true as well.
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2006. © 1993-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All
rights reserved.
For instance, consider the English sentence “Every event has a cause.” It
can mean either that one cause brings about every event, wherein A
causes B, C, D, and so on, or that individual events each have their own,
possibly different, cause, wherein X causes Y, Z causes W, and so on.
The problem is that the structure of the English language does not tell us
which one of the two readings is the correct one. This has important
logical consequences. If the first reading is what is intended by the
sentence, it follows that there is something akin to what some
philosophers have called the primary cause, but if the second reading is
what is intended, then there may well be no primary cause.
Written in a formalized language, two unambiguous sentences remove
the ambiguity of the sentence, “Every event has a cause.” The first
possibility is represented by the sentence , which can be read as "there is
a thing x, such that, for every y, x causes y." This would correspond with
1330

the first interpretation mentioned above. The second possible meaning is
represented by , which can be read as "for every thing y, there is a thing x
such that x causes y." This would correspond with the second
interpretation mentioned above.
Written in a formalized language, two unambiguous sentences remove
the ambiguity of the sentence, “Every event has a cause.” The first
possibility is represented by the sentence , which can be read as
"there is a thing x, such that, for every y, x causes y." This would
correspond with the first interpretation mentioned above. The second
possible meaning is represented by , which can be read as "for
every thing y, there is a thing x such that x causes y." This would
correspond with the second interpretation mentioned above.
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2006. © 1993-2005 Microsoft Corporation.
All rights reserved.
One may quite honestly resist the idea of divine Providence and find the
overall scope of the concept repugnant. I would say, okay, but who of the
many that find Providence repugnant can say why? Who of the many
have honestly meditated upon the broad ramifications of the concept?
Much as a play written on paper is a two dimensional representation, the
play does not manifest itself rightly until performed before an audience -
until it enters time and three dimensional reality. God does not act on the
legal fiction of foresight. To duplicate the reality on paper and by the re-
performance of a previously filmed segment of life would not be be a
“play.” One may not write, in the strictest sense, a play from a home
movie of a family vacation. A play is a creative act that enters reality.
May the creature deny the Lord and Master Creator His creative
expression? By what “rule” may He be denied? In Providence the awards
do not go to best actors.
1331
rhēma Christou ό λόγος τού Θεού en Christō
Instrumentalism, in American philosophy, variety of pragmatism
developed at the University of Chicago by John Dewey and his
colleagues. Thought is considered by instrumentalists a method of
meeting difficulties, particularly such difficulties as arise when
immediate, unreflective experience is interrupted by the failure of
habitual or instinctive modes of reaction to cope with a new situation.
According to the doctrine, thinking consists of the formulation of plans
or patterns of both overt action and unexpressed responses or ideas; in
each case, the goals of thought are a wider experience and a successful
resolution of problems. In this view, ideas and knowledge are exclusively
functional processes; that is, they are of significance only as they are
instrumental in the development of experience. The realistic and
experimental emphasis of instrumentalism has had a far-reaching effect
on American thought; Dewey and his followers applied it with
conspicuous success in such fields as education and psychology.
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2006. © 1993-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All
rights reserved.
It may readily be observed that the dynamic, or force, that causes the
effect is either self or Christ. The above “truth tables” may be formed
and used in many ways to clarify assumptions and vague notions,
because “by” and “for” are both prepositions with better than twenty
distinctions. Salvation and Christ are both nouns. Unsecured salvation is
to be saved from incremental sin by God’s forgiveness after water
baptism or saving faith. Whereas, secured salvation is to be saved from
unbelief and all the sin attached to it by the baptism of the Holy Spirit
immediately upon saving faith. Whereby, it appears, there are two
different Christ that died. One Christ saves partially and forgives later,
the other Christ saves completely. To be observed is the smooth rhetoric
of the semantically misleading, “by Christ” as opposed to the distinct
“faith for Christ” that must change to “in Christ.” One would say, “I have
an unsecured faith in a future state (effect, salvation) spatial relationship
to Christ because of self.” The other would say, “I have a secure faith in
an instantaneous state (effect, salvation) because of Christ.” Also, the
1332
 rhēma Christou ό λόγος τού Θεού en Christō
differences between the “logical statements of faith” that are drawn from we are liars
the differing set of dynamics are helpful. The simple truth, you cannot and we do not act in truth.
know what you have not been taught, or learned to understand holds true. 7
BUT IF we walk in the light
as He Himself is in light,
we are joined in communion with one another;
Man does not choose to be born into a fallen world of sin. Man has only and the blood of Jesus, His Son,
the freedom of futility without Christ. Man without Christ is doomed. cleanses us from all sin.
God loved fallen humanity. God is man’s Savoir. God in the Person of
Jesus Christ chose to be born. He offers man that same choice. It is 8
IF WE BOAST, “We are free from the guilt of sin,”
man’s only choice. Peter said, “Where else would we go Master, only we deceive ourselves;
you have eternal life.” God the Father said, “This is my Son – Listen to and the truth is not in us.
him.” Man’s unregenerate free will is not perfected by predestination. 9
BUT IF we confess our sins,
Man’s free will is not perfected by a false future existence in heaven that He who is reliable and just
he earned. Man’s natural free will is not perfected after he is born again. will forgive us our sins
It is perfected as the final act of the believing obedient natural man. Man and cleanse us from all wrong doing.
is saved from himself. A fallen self which was created by the sin of the 10
IF WE BOAST, “We have not sinned,”
first man, Adam. Immediately, thereupon, he is born again and receives we make Him a liar;
eternal salvation in Christ, the Last Adam. The federal Head of a new and His word is not in us.
creation of men. In the NT, all believers whether immature or mature,
carnal or spiritual, are never referred to as sarkikos, or natural after 2 1
(My Little Children, I am writing this to keep you from sin.)
saving faith. They are regenerated and justified saints with a new nature But if anyone does sin,
that does battle with the old, the NT antitype of the two loaves of we have a Paraclete in the Father’s presence,
leavened bread of OT type, and Paul’s testimony of an inner struggle in Jesus Christ, the one who is just;
Romans chapter 7. God’s positive single law for the unsaved in this age 2
and he himself is an atonement for our sins,
is to follow this instruction - obey the gospel. The new sin of this age is
and not only for our sins
the sin of unbelief in Jesus Christ as Savior. The lie of this age is to
but also for the whole world.
believe on Jesus Christ as Lord and not as our temporarily ascended
Advocate and Intercessor for our continued secure salvation. Condemned
“The righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thy
sinner are we all for no one ever chose to be born. Saint we become by
heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is to bring Christ down from
the gift of choice to be born from above. Jesus Christ chose to be born so
above:) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and
that He could suffer retribution and die in the place of every man, in thy heart: that is, the word of faith which we preach; that, if thou shalt
woman, and unaccountable child in order that fallen mankind may have a confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart
choice.
that God hast raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For
5 with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth
1 Now this is the gospel confession is made unto salvation” (Rom 10:6-10) KJV
that we heard from Christ
and declare to you: “made unto salvation”
God is light 1. to: used to indicate that something is said, given, or done to
and in Him there is no darkness at all. somebody the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah
6 and they said unto God
IF WE BOAST, “We are in communion with Him,”
while continuing to walk in darkness,
1333 1334
 rhēma Christou ό λόγος τού Θεού en Christō
2. until: used to indicate that something continues until a particular that this man went down to his home justified rather than the
time faithful unto death Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) Pharisee. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he
1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved
who humbles himself will be exalted.” NET (brackets mine)
11tnGrk “believes to righteousness.” 12tn Grk “confesses to
salvation.” NET
(illustrative of misleading contemporary dictionary definitions of KJV
language, that in many verses, is the source of an “unsecured”
reading of righteousness, faith, and salvation, this writer)

Rom 10:10 For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness11
and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation.12 NET
10
for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and
with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. NASB
10
for with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on
Christ) and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God), and
with the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his
faith) and confirms (his) salvation. AMP

Salvation is God’s redemption towards sin, God’s reconciliation

towards man, and God’s propitiation towards God. This is the cross
of Christ. This is what He bought with His blood. Christ crucified
canceled sin, guilt, and judgment. Sin, righteousness, and judgment
is the gospel of good news to be preached to all the world. Man is
guilty only of unbelief. Obey the gospel and escape judgment. Obey
and believe on Jesus Christ as Savior to set you free from sin and
death. Only believe and receive God’s Holy Spirit and you are
blameless and free forever.

Luke 18:9 Jesus also told this parable to some who were confident
that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else. 18:10
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the
other a tax collector. 18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed about
himself like this: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people:
extortionists, unrighteous people, adulterers—or even like this tax
collector. 18:12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.’
18:13 The tax collector, however, stood far off and would not even
look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, be merciful
[“be thou propitiated” R.V.] to me, sinner that I am!’ 18:14 I tell you
1335 1336
 rhēma Christou ό λόγος τού Θεού en Christō

Endnotes

1
Rev 2:7 NET
2
1 John 3:23 NET
3
1 John 5:4-5 NET
4
Revelation 2:11ff NET
5
Reference tc (translation comment) at Rom. 16:25, page 2092, NET Bible
2nd Beta Edition which is too extended to include here.
6
Rev 2:7 NET
7
1 John 3:23 NET
8
1 John 5:4-5 NET
9
Revelation 2:11ff NET
10
1 Corinthians 15:22 NET
11
Ephesians 5:11 NET
12
John 3:36 NET
13
Rom 5:18-21 NET (verse omission mine)
14
Luke 15:10 NET
15
Ibid., Vol 2, pp 176-84, cited in Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer,
Vol 3, pp 147-153
16
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 2, p 362
17
1 Cor 15:47-50 NET (verse omission mine)
18
Salvation: God’s Marvelous Work of Grace, Dr. Lewis Chafer, pp 79-80
19
The Biblical Studies Foundation, Winter 2001, www.bible.org
20
Major Bible Themes, revised by Dr. John Walvoord, pp 126-28
21
Old Scofield Study System, Dr. C. I. Scofield, p 308
22
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 4, p 237-38
23
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 4, P 224
24
Ibid., Vol 4, pp 239-40
25
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 4, pp 168-232ff
26
Ibid., Vol 3, pp 226-27, 228-29
27
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 4, p 430
28
2 Pet 3:7, 10 KJV
29
Rev 20:11-15 NET
30
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 5, pp 363-65
31
Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation.
All rights reserved.
32
Old Scofield Study System, Dr. C. I. Scofield, p 150
33
The Holy Spirit and Prayer, Ray C. Stedman, Copyright ©1995
Discovery Publishing, a ministry of Peninsula Bible Church, requests for
permission – Discovery Publishing, 3505 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, CA.
94306-3695
1337 1338
 rhēma Christou ό λόγος τού Θεού en Christō

34
Vol 1, pp viii-ix, xiii-xxxviii 71
Ibid., p 1242
35
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 5, pp 372-379 72
Major Bible Themes, Dr. Lewis Chafer, revised by Dr. John Walvoord, p
36
John 14:19ff, 20ff 280
37
Col 2:8 NET (brackets mine, this writer) NET 73
Old Scofield Study System, Dr. C. I. Scofield, pp 1280-811
38
Rom 4:2-5 NET (verse omission mine) 74
Systematic Theology,Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 1, p 23, 26-27
39
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2006. © 1993-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All 75
NET Bible 2nd Beta Edition Resource CD
rights reserved. 76
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 3, p 154-55
40
Old Scofield Study System, Dr. C. I. Scofield, pp 1201, 88 77
Isaiah 44:10; 30:8; 40:13; 29:16; 29:15; 41:21; 28:15; 29:8; 44:20; 41:24;
41
Ibid., p1241 32:5-7
42
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer , Vol 7, p 186 78
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 1, p 130
43
Ibid., Vol 7, p 227 79
Systematic Theology,Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 3, pp 120-125
44
Ibid., Vol 7, p 142 80
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 3, p 131
45
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 3, p 335 81
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 3, pp 127-30
46
Morning and Evening Devotions, Dr. C. H. Spurgeon, p 501 82
Ibid., Vol 3, pp 131-35
47
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 3, p 279 83
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 3, p 55
48
Ibid., Vol 3, pp 308-09 84
Cited by R. W. Dale, The Atonement, 4th ed., p 3
49
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 3, p 306 85
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 3, p 48-49
50
The Anchor Bible – The Epistles of John, R. E. Brown, p 570 and pp 594- 86
Ibid., Vol 3, pp 340-41
95 87
The MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Romans 1-8, Dr. John
51
Major Bible Themes, Dr. Lewis Chafer, revised by Dr. John Walvoord MacArthur, p 506, 508-09
52
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 7, p 178-79 88
Ibid., Vol 3, p 58-59
53
Basic Theology, Dr. Charles Ryrie, p 356 89
Old Scofield Study System, Dr. C. I. Scofield, p 1044
54
Old Scofield Study System, Dr. C. I. Scofield, p 1328 90
Ibid., p 1226
55
Ibid., p 1319 91
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 3, pp 342, 344
56
Salvation, Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer, pp 45-52 92
Ibid., Vol 7, pp 85-88
57
Ibid., p 1017 93
Old Scofield Study System, Dr. C.I. Scofield, p 1326
58
Ibid., p 1016 94
Basic Theology, Dr. Charles Ryrie, pp 248-49
59
Ibid., p 1226-27 95
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 1, 28-29, 35
60
Ibid., p. 989-90 96
Ephesians: Introduction, Argument, and Outline, Daniel B. Wallace,
61
Basic Theology, Dr. Charles Ryrie, pp 293-94 Ph.D., NET 2nd Beta Edition Resource CD
62
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 7, p 80 97
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 1, p 47
63
Old Scofield Study System, Dr. C.I. Scofield, p 1089-90 98
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 3, p 126
64
So That You May Believe: A study of the Gospel of John – Lesson 19, 99
Ibid., Vol 3, p 49
Robert L. Deffinbaugh, Th. M., NET Bible 2nd Beta Edition Resource CD 100
Frankenstein Or, The Modern Prometheus, Mary Shelley, Barnes and
65
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 7, pp 82; 21 Nobles ed., p 78
66
- P. 157, The Last Things: Hope for This World and the Next, cited in 101
Old Scofield Study System, Dr. C.I. Scofield, pp 110, 148, 1038, 1300
Heaven, Randy Alcorn, pp 112-13 102
Major Bible Themes, Dr. Lewis Chafer, revised by Dr. John Walvoord,
67
So That You may Believe: A Study of the Gospel of John – Lesson 19, Dr. pp 184-85
Robert L. Deffinbaugh, Th. M., NET Bible 2nd Beta Edition Resource CD 103
Ibid., pp 60-61
68
Liner notes – Listen to Our Hearts Vol. 1, EMI Christian Music 104
Ibid., pp 63-64
Publishing 105
Basic Theology, Dr. Charles Ryrie, pp 355-57
69
Ibid., p 1148 106
Salvation: God’s Marvelous Work of Grace, Dr. Lewis Chafer, pp 37-
70
Old Scofield Study System, Dr. C. I. Scofield, p 1211 39
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107
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 3, pp 274-75 TEV, CEV), and “like men” (KJV).
108
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 3, pp 51-52 21tn The verb rb^u* (’avar) refers here to breaking a covenant and carries
109
Ibid., Vol 4, p 174-75 the nuance “to overstep, transgress” (BDB 717 s.v. rb^u* 1.i).
110
Ibid., Vol 7, 107-08 132
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 7, p 16
111
Romans 5:8-10 NET 133
Ibid., Vol 5, p 195-96
112
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 3, p 198 134
Easton’s Bible Dictionary, shareware
113
Studies in Theology, B. B. Warfield, pp.283-97 cited in Systematic 135
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 7, pp 207-08
Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 3, pp 160-64 136
He That Is Spirtual, Dr. Lewis Chafer, p 19
114
Morning and Evening Devotions, Dr. C. H. Spurgeon, p 538, Morning - 137
Bible Correspondence Course, Dr. C. I. Scofield, pp 428-30 – cited in
Sept. 25 Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 4, p 152
115
True Evangelism, Dr. Lewis Chafer, pp 27-28 138
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 4, p 152-53
116
Basic Theology, Dr. Charles Ryrie, pp 319-22 139
2. K. L. Gentry “The Great Option: A Study of the Lordship
117
The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, Dr. John F. Walvoord, p 149-51 – cited Controversy,” Baptist Reformation Review 5 (Spring 1976) 5: 52.
in Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 6, p 121 140
Arthur W. Pink, Present Day Evangelism (Swengel, Pa.: Bible Truth
118
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 6, p 121 Depot, n.d.), 14-15.
119
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 2, pp 30-31 141
See Charles Ryrie, Balancing the Christian Life (Chicago: Moody,
120
Ibid., Vol 2, p 37 1969), 169-81 and So Great Salvation (Chicago: Moody, 1997)
121
The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, IV, 2695 – cited in 142
Old Scofield Study System, Dr. C.I. Scofield, p 1195
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 2, p 37-38 143
NET study note 117, Luke 24:47
122
He That Is Spiritual, Lewis Sperry Chafer, p 102 144
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 6, p 34
123
Old Scofield Study System, Dr. C. I. Scofield, p 1350 145
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer, Vol 2, p 301
124
Major Bible Themes, Dr. Lewis Chafer – revised by Dr. John Walvoord, 146
The MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Romans 1-8, Dr. John
pp 161-63 MacArthur, p 294
125
Ibid., pp 172-73 147
126 Deduction, in logic, a process of reasoning in which reasons are given
Ibid., pp 174-87
127 in support of a claim. The reasons, or justifications, are called the premises
Ibid., pp 274-78
128 of the claim, and the claim they purport to justify is called the conclusion. In
Ibid., pp 291-295
129 a correct, or valid, deduction the premises support the conclusion in such a
Rev 2:7 NET
130 way that it would be impossible for the premises to be true and for the
Acts 26:13-19 NET
131 conclusion to be false. In this, deduction differs sharply from induction, a
20tn Or “Like Adam”; or “Like [sinful] men.” The MT reads <d*a*K=
process of drawing a conclusion in which the truth of the premises does not
(ke’adam, “like Adam” or “as [sinful] men”); however, the editors of BHS
guarantee the truth of the conclusion.
suggest this reflects an orthographic confusion of <d*a*B= (be’adam, “at
The actual truth or falsity of the premises and the conclusion is not at issue
Adam”), as suggested by the locative adverb <v* (sham, “there”) in the
in determining whether an argument is a valid deduction. In the following
following line. However, <v* sometimes functions in a nonlocative sense
argument, for instance, two premises are offered in support of a conclusion:
similar to the deictic particle hN}h! (hinneh, “Behold!”). The singular noun
<d*a* (’adam) has been taken in several different ways: (1) proper name:
All the planets in our solar system are equipped with an atmosphere.
“like Adam” (<d*a*K=), (2) collective singular: “like [sinful] men”
Pluto is a planet in our solar system.
(<d*a*K=), (3) proper location: “at Adam,” referring to a city in the Jordan
Therefore, Pluto is equipped with an atmosphere.
Valley (Josh 3:16), emending comparative K= (kaf) to locative B= (bet,
“at”): “at Adam” (<d*a*B=). BDB 9 s.v. <d*a* 2 suggests the collective
One of the premises in this argument is in fact false, and so is the conclusion.
sense, referring to sinful men (Num 5:6; 1 Kgs 8:46; 2 Chr 6:36; Jer 10:14;
But the argument is still deductively valid: If the premises were true, the
Job 31:33; Hos 6:7). The English translations are divided: “like Adam”
conclusion would have to be true as well.
(NASB, NIV, KJV margin, RSV margin, TEV margin), “at Adam” (RSV,
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Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2006. © 1993-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights 174

Major Bible Themes, revised by Dr. John Walvoord, pp 108-13
reserved. 175
The Christian Doctrine of Sin, Dr. Julius Müller (Vol 1, pp. 412-17)
148
Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2005 Microsoft 176
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 3, p 329
Corporation. All rights reserved. 177
“There is a very real human love, but all Christian love, according to
149
Basic Theology, Dr. Charles Ryrie, p 255 Scriptures, is distinctly a manifestation of divine love through the human
150
Ibid., pp 120-26, quoted in Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol heart. A statement of this is found in Romans 5:5, “because the love of God
2, pp. 170-72 is shed abroad [lit. gushes forth] in our hearts by [produced, or caused by]
151
Ibid., pp 172-173 the Holy Spirit, which is given unto us.” This is not the working of the
152
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 2, p. 166 human affection; it is rather the direct manifestation of the “love of God”
153
Christian Doctrine of Sin, Muller - cited by Laidlaw, The Bible Doctrine passing through the heart of the believer out from the indwelling Spirit. It is
of Man, p. 185 – Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 2, p. 166 the realization of the last petition of the High Priestly prayer of our Lord:
154
1 John 3:2 NET “That the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them” (John 17:26).
155
Romans 8:28-34 NET It is simply God’s love working in and through the believer. It could not be
156
Phil 3:18-21 NET humanly produced, or even successfully imitated and it of necessity, goes
157
Psalm 45:8-15 NET (paraphrase from KJV mine, this author) out to the objects of divine affection and grace, rather than to the objects of
158
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 2, p 294 human desire. A human heart cannot produce divine love, but it can
159
Titus 3:5-7 NET experience it. To have a heart that feels the compassion of God is to drink of
160
1 Cor 3:20ff NET the wine of heaven. (He that is Spiritual, Dr. Lewis Chafer, p 48)
161
Hegel argued that this dialectical logic applies to all knowledge, 178
Old Scofield Study System, Dr. C. I. Scofield, p 1326
including science and history. Hegel believed this development occurs by a 179
Ibid., p 1297-98
dialectical process—that is, a process through which conflicting ideas 180
2 Cor 5:20-21 NET
become resolved—which consists of a series of stages that occur in triads 181
John 14:20 NET
(sets of three). Each triad involves (1) an initial state (or thesis), which might 182
In 1882 the German mathematician Ferdinand Lindemann proved that p
be an idea or a movement; (2) its opposite state (or antithesis); and (3) a is a transcendental number—that is, it is not the root of any polynomial
higher state, or synthesis, that combines elements from the two opposites equation with rational coefficients (for example, ?x3 - ?x2 - 21x + 17 = 0).
into a new and superior arrangement. The synthesis then becomes the thesis Consequently, Lindemann was able to demonstrate that it is impossible to
of the next triad in an unending progress toward the ideal. square the circle (construct a square whose area equals that of a given circle)
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2006. © 1993-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights using algebra or a ruler and compass because the area of a square can always
reserved. be expressed as a polynomial equation with rational coefficients.
162
Galatians 3:17-25 NET 183
Paraphrased from the John Ankorberg Show (Creator and the Cosmos,
163
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2006. © 1993-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All Dr. Hugh Ross).
rights reserved. 184
Easton’s Bible Dictionary, Providence - The mode of God's providential
164
NET Bible translation note 15, on Genesis 1:3 government is altogether unexplained. We only know that it is a fact that
165
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 7, pp 162-63 God does govern all his creatures and all their actions; that this government
166
Basic Theology, Dr. Charles Ryrie, p 344 is universal (Ps. 103:17-19), particular (Matt. 10:29-31), efficacious (Ps.
167
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 1, p 273. Where he 33:11; Job 23:13), embraces events apparently contingent (Prov. 16:9, 33;
discusses the doctrine of the Trinity. 19:21; 21:1), is consistent with his own perfection (2 Tim. 2:13), and to his
168
The first occurrence of the word grace in the Bible. own glory (Rom. 9:17; 11:36).
169
Shakespeare’s Macbeth 185
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 1, p 222
170
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 7, p 249 186
Old Scofield Study System, Dr. C.I. Scofield, p 1327
171
Ibid. 187
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 1, p 250
172
1 Cor 10:3-4 NET 188
Confessions, Saint Augustine
173
The Old Scofield Study System, Dr. C.I. Scofield, p 1189 189
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 2, p. 166
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190
Christian Doctrine of Sin, Muller - cited by Laidlaw, The Bible Doctrine 217
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 7, p 77
of Man, p. 185 – Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 2, p. 166 218
Ibid., Vol
191
Israel choose law Exodus 19:3-8 219
Ibid., Vol 3, pp144-45
192
Gal 3:7-8 , paraphrase of NET, this writer 220
Ibid., Vol 7, p 153
193
John 3:7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all14 be born 221
Instrumentalism, in American philosophy, variety of pragmatism
from above.’8 NET developed at the University of Chicago by John Dewey and his colleagues.
8sn Or born again. The Greek word a[nwqen (anwqen) can mean both Thought is considered by instrumentalists a method of meeting difficulties,
“again” and “from above,” giving rise to Nicodemus’ misunderstanding particularly such difficulties as arise when immediate, unreflective
about a second physical birth (v. 4). experience is interrupted by the failure of habitual or instinctive modes of
Whatever Nicodemus understood, it is clear that the point is this: He reaction to cope with a new situation. According to the doctrine, thinking
misunderstood Jesus’ words. He over-literalized them, and thought Jesus consists of the formulation of plans or patterns of both overt action and
was talking about repeated physical birth, when he was in fact referring to unexpressed responses or ideas; in each case, the goals of thought are a
new spiritual birth. wider experience and a successful resolution of problems. In this view, ideas
194
this writer and knowledge are exclusively functional processes; that is, they are of
195
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 5, p 249 significance only as they are instrumental in the development of experience.
196
John 3:4 KJV The realistic and experimental emphasis of instrumentalism has had a far-
197
The Pauline ecclesiology secured in the baptism of the Holy Spirit that is reaching effect on American thought; Dewey and his followers applied it
ignored by Catholic, Methodist, and Arminian styled theologies based in self with conspicuous success in such fields as education and psychology.
salvation. Which, in this writer’s opinion, bears witness to the historical truth Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2006. © 1993-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights
of theocratic Inquisitions, murderous prosecutions, and acrimonious reserved.
222
denominational divisions of a “dead” religious humanism. Modern Theories of Atonement, Princeton Review 1903 cited in
198
Rev 19:11-16 KJV Systematic Theology, Dr, Lewis Chafer, Vol 4, p 159
199 223
2 Sam 22:16-17 NET Ibid., Vol 4, pp 153-54
200 224
Old Scofield Study System, Dr. C. I. Scofield, pp 1328-29 Ibid., Vol 4. pp 159-60
201 225
International Standard Bible, I, 321, 1915 edition. Cited in Systematic Modern Theories of Atonement, Princeton Review 1903 cited in
Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 7, p 27 Systematic Theology, Dr, Lewis Chafer, Vol 4, p 158
202 226
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 7, pp 26-27 New Testament Theology, Frank Stagg, pp 135-36 cited in Basic
203
Old Scofield Study System, Dr. C. I. Scofield, pp 1325, 1297 Theology, Dr. Charles Ryrie, p 333
204 227
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 7, p 194 New Testament Faith for Today, Amos N. Wilder, p 134 cited in Ibid.
205 228
Acts 17:16-34 NET (verse omission and bold highlights mine) The Temple, Its Ministry and Service, Alfred Edershiem, pp 13-14 cited
206
Rev 2:7 NET in Basic Theology, Dr. Charles Ryrie, p 330
207 229
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 3, pp 340-354 The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, see
208
Ibid., Vol 3, pp 355-57 Colin Brown, ed., cited in Basic Theology, Dr. Charles Rhyrie, p 331
209 230
Ephesians 5:6-14 ff NET Ibid., Vol 2, pp 176-84, cited in Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer,
210
Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible, Finis Jennings Dake, p164 Vol 3, pp 147-153
211 231
Major Bible Themes, Dr. Lewis Chafer, revised by Dr. John Walvoord, p Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 2, p 362
232
280 Ibid., Vol 3, pp 337-38
212 233
Ibid., p 207 Dictionary ex·em·plum [ig zémpləm] (plural ex·em·pla [ig zémplə]) n
213
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 3, p 319 1. illustrative story: a brief story told to illustrate a moral point or support an
214
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 3, pp 288-89, 312 argument 2. example: an example or illustration (literary)
215
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Herman Bavinck, Vol 2 , [Late 19th century. < Latin (see example)]
1093 cited in Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 7, p 149 Thesaurus exempt (adj)
216
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 7, p 150
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 rhēma Christou ό λόγος τού Θεού en Christō

excused, exempted, excepted, released, off the hook (informal), relieved, not be the salvific value of Jesus’ career in the flesh and the degree to which that
liable, discharged, let off, immune, freed career was part of his identity as the Christ, inevitably the attitude towards
antonym: required his death will be crucial. The author offers a formulation that, when negated,
Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation. indicates the secessionist position: They were content with the notion that
All rights reserved.
234 Jesus came by/in water, whereas the author insists “not in water only, but in
Studies in Theology, B. B. Warfield, pp.283-97 cited in Systematic
water and in blood” (1 John 5:6). 172
Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 3, pp 160-64
235 (172 This passage fluctuates in its use of “in” and “by,” reminding us that
an·ti·no·mi·an·ism [ànti nṓmee ə nìzzəm] n
“come in the flesh” does not have the same force as “come in the water.” In
1. Christian doubting the force of laws: in Christian doctrine, the belief that
the former, “in” means “into the sphere of”; in the latter, “in” means “by
Christians are not bound by established moral laws, but should rely on faith
means of, through.”)
and divine grace for salvation
[this writer – Immediately prior to this verse the ones who “conquer the
2. flexible concept of morality: the belief that it is impossible to apply a
world” are identified as the ones who believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
universal moral code because it will have a different meaning for different
The importance of verse 5:6, that Dr. Brown stresses as an insight into the
people Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2005 Microsoft
secessionist view, may best be found in the AMP translation: “This is He
Corporation. All rights reserved.
236
Major Bible Themes, Chafer/ Walvoord revised, p 10 Who came by (with) water and blood [His baptism and His death], Jesus
237
The reader is directed to Dr. Chafer’s book regarding the daily life of Christ (the Messiah) – not by (in) the water only, but by (in) the water and
the blood. And it is the [holy] Spirit Who bears witness, because the [Holy]
faith and reliance on the indwelling Holy Spirit, He That Is Spiritual,
Spirit is the Truth.”] )
Copyright 1918 by Lewis Sperry Chafer, revised edition copyright 1967 by
Zondervan ISBN 0-310-22341-5 … “Christ came in water” could mean that the incarnation of the preexistent
238 Christ took place in relation to the baptism of Jesus. Could such an
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 3, pp 364-70
239
Morning and Evening Devotions, Charles Spurgeon, p 613 interpretation have been derived from the kind of Johannine tradition known
240
Morning and Evening Devotions, Charles Spurgeon, p 356 to us in the GJohn? Readers of GJohn have usually interpreted “the Word
241
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 6, pp 68-70 became flesh” to mean that the incarnation took place at the conception of
242
The Anchor Bible – The Epistles of John, Dr. R. E. Brown, p 483 Jesus. However, while the conception is a theme of Matthew and Luke, it is
243
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 6, p 37 never mentioned by GJohn. … Against the secessionist the author (1 John
244
Basic Theology, Dr. Charles Ryrie, p 57 5:6) insists: “not in water only, but in water and in blood.” If this implies that
245
Classic Baptism, 2nd ed., Dr. James W. Dale, p354 cited in - Systematic an insistence on the death of Christ corrects the secessionist error, we must
ask whether the presumed secessionist lack of interest in the death of Christ
Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 6, pp 139
246
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 6, pp 112-13 could have sprung from their interpretation of the tradition represented by
247
(cited by Miley, Theology, Vol 2, p 161. quoted in Systematic Theology, GJohn. That Gospel speaks of the “hour” of Jesus (under which rubric it
Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 3, p 146) portrays the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus) as his return to the
248
True Evangelism, Dr. Lewis Chafer, pp 44-45 Father and the manifestation of his glory (13:1; 17:1; 12:23-24). Three times
249
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 1, pp 203-04 in GJohn (3:13; 18:28; 12:32) Jesus looks ahead to his death as a “lifting up”
250
The MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Romans 1-8, Dr. John – an interesting contrast to the three predictions of the passion and suffering
MacArthur, p 144 in the Synoptic tradition (ABJ 29, 145-46). … T. Forestell phrases well the
251
The Anchor Bible – The Epistles of John, Dr. R. E. Brown, pp 628-29 peculiarity of the Johannine outlook on Jesus’ death: “The cross of Christ in
252
Here I begin the final argument against the Governmental theory. As all Jn is evaluated precisely in terms of revelation in harmony with the theology
the major doctrines of substitutionary expiation have been disclosed and of the entire gospel, rather than in terms of vicarious expiatory sacrifice for
sin.” Thus, clearly there are elements in the tradition of GJohn that might
asserted, the last remaining error to be disclosed and evidenced is the
have led the secessionist to deemphasize the crucifixion as a salvific
combination of blood redemption and the impartation of eternal life. Dr. R.
“coming” and to regard it simply as a continuation of that revelation of the
E. Brown in his Introduction to 1 John, writes: “If I am right in diagnosing
glory of the preexistent which began through the Baptist’s baptizing with
the point of difference between the secessionist and the epistolary author to

1347 1348
water (1:14,31). (The Anchor Bible – The Epistles of John, Dr. R. E. Brown,
pp 77-79)
253
In many ways, then, high christology was an identity factor in the
Johannine Community over against Jews and various Christian groups.
Theologically, it was the cornerstone of Johannine soteriology: If Jesus had
not come forth from God, he could not have brought eternal life, which was
God’s own life, and Christian’s would not be God’s children (3:13,16; 6:57;
1:12-13). With such importance given to christology historically and
theologically, it is not surprising, then, that if there was to be an internal
dispute in the Johannine Community, it would be over this subject, and there
would be little tolerance for deviation. The schism from Judaism over
christology made less unthinkable a further inner-Johannine schism. (The
Anchor Bible - The Epistles of John, Dr. R. E. Brown, p 74-75)
254
(System of Biblical Theology, I, 25 - cited in Systematic Theology, Dr.
Lewis Chafer, Vol 1, p 261
255
NET Bible Resource CD - The Gospel of John: Introduction and
Commentary, W. Hall Harris III, Ph.D., Professor of New Testament
Studies- Dallas Theological Seminary
256
Ephesians 2:1-6 verse numbering omitted, bold highlights mine NET
257
Ephesians 4:1-16 verse numbering omitted NET
258
A nursery rhyme
259
This writer
260
Israel choose law Exodus 19:3-8
261
Gal 3:7-8 , paraphrase of NET, this writer
262
John 3
263
Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol Theories of atonement
264
ref. sub-section – quote by Dr. Merrill Unger, baptism of the Holy Spirit

1349