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DISPENSATIONAL DISINTEGRATION
THE REIGN OF THE SERVANT KINGS A Study on Eternal Security and the Final Significance of Man by Joseph C. Dillow, Th.D.
critiqued by MILES J. STANFORD -- June 1993
DISPENSATIONAL DISINTEGRATION This Paper concerns a contemporary movement that contributes to the kingdomization of the Church, as centered in the Dallas "progressive" Neo-Dispensationalism fostered by Drs. Bock and Blaising via their Dispensationalism, Israel and the Church (Zondervan, 1992). The 650-page textbook of the trend in question is by Dr. Joseph C. Dillow, and is titled THE REIGN OF THE SERVANT KINGS--A Study of Eternal Security and the Final Significance of Man. FALSE BEMA -- The teaching set forth in the above book typifies the erroneous Overcomer movement, which is dominated by "partial," or "split" rapturists. This particular group, however, allows for a complete Rapture, but then splits the Body at the Bema. They teach judgment of the person, as well as the works and deeds done in his body. Their motivation for the growth of the believer is future kingdom reward, or loss of same. In an effort to have the believer persevere in growth they threaten his future. Unless he continues in good works until the very end, he will be judged and suffer loss at the Bema. He will lose his inheritance and privileges in the coming kingdom. If he produces sufficient good works to qualify, he will be an "overcomer," a "servant king" in the millennial kingdom. For them, all is horizontal, earthly, and kingdom-centered. The Body of Christ is thus diverted from her heavenly position and privileges, hidden with Christ in God. TRUE BEMA -- Although the believer's works are both judged and rewarded at the Bema, he himself is in no way judged or condemned. "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in the body, according to that he hath done, whether good or bad" (2 Cor. 5:10). "Judgment seat" refers to the place where winners of contests were rewarded; it was called the "reward seat," or Bema, and never was used as a judicial bench. The word Paul chose to describe the place before which this event took place suggests its character; not judgment, but honor, dignity, authority. Paul did not use the word for "bad" which would signify that which is morally evil, but rather the word which means "unacceptable." It is not the Lord's purpose there to chasten His beloved Bride for her already-for given sins, but to reward her service and way of life. After all, "it is God who worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." And, we are "confident of this very thing, that He who hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 2:13; 1:6). * * * * * * * Many are justifiably concerned about the carnal condition of the Church. Paul wrote Galatians as the scriptural answer--but he is little regarded today, as the following will verify. ARMINIANISM -- Among those who seek to solve the Church problem are the Arminians--creators of problems. Their erroneous and therefore harmful method is to threaten the believer with loss of salvation. COVENANTISM -- Covenant theology utilizes the same threat, but in a different manner. If the believer fails to live consistently to the very end, it is taught that he was not saved in the first place. LORDSHIP -- Dr. John MacArthur, along Covenant lines, seeks to solve the problem by making conversion more demanding, thinking that a Lordship beginning will provide a successful continuation--with the "help" and control of the law. PARTIAL RAPTURE -- This teaching threatens the believer with elimination from the Rapture, being left behind to make up for his lack in order to finally reach heaven. JUDGMENT SEAT --The movement we are about to contemplate grants complete Rapture, but "lays for you" at the Bema, where its damage to the Body is wreaked. All of these overcome-or-else movements rend the Word and tear the Body in their efforts at rectification of the Church. Talk about violation of the rightly-divided Word! Talk about abusing the Bride! Sad to relate, there are some important dispensational names implicated in this disaster. * * * * * * * DR. EARL D. RADMACHER -- In August of 1990, Dr. Radmacher wrote me as follows: Have you come across the writings of Dr. Alden L. Chitwood, of Norman, Oklahoma? He has an organization called The Lamp Broadcast, Inc. He is one of the few people doing any serious writing today on the ongoing implications of the judgment seat of Christ. He made some very helpful material available to me by A. Edwin Wilson. It is my opinion that if many of the Lordship Salvation writers would get their heads straightened around on God's use of rewards as a motivation for moving on to maturity in Christ, they would not need to garble the Gospel as they are doing so horribly. Two men from a previous generation also did considerable writing in this area, namely G.H. Lang, and Robert Govett. Dr. John F. Walvoord, in his book, The Rapture Question, mentions these writers: The modern theory of partial rapture seems to have originated in the writings of Robert Govett who published a book setting forth the theory as early as 1853 (Entrance Into the Kingdom). In this book he expounds his view that participation in the kingdom is conditional and depends upon worthy conduct. The most able exponent of this split rapture teaching in the twentieth century is G.H. Lang (The Revelation of Jesus Christ; Firstborn Sons: Their Rights and Risks). Another was D.M. Panton, editor of The Dawn (London) magazine (pp. 105,106). Many others have succumbed to the partial rapture error, including G.H. Pember, A. Edwin Wilson, J.A. Seiss, Edward Irving, T. Austin-Sparks, and Watchman Nee. I would call your attention to Dr. Radmacher's recommendation of "God's use of rewards as a motivation for moving on to maturity in Christ." We are going to encounter some similar "motivations" further down. But, for the moment we will look into what Dr. Radmacher refers to as Dr. Chitwood's "serious writing today on the ongoing implications of the judgment seat of Christ." DR. ALDEN L. CHITWOOD -- In his book, Judgment Seat of Christ, Dr. Chitwood gives frightful evidence of just where his contemporary Bema trend is leading: Christians are to put that which is vile, corrupt, associated with sin out of their lives for one complete period-- duration of the Christian life (p. 9). Failing in the present race of faith (1 Cor. 9:24-27), a Christian will be disapproved at the judgment seat. He will have failed to overcome, be victorious; and, failing in this manner, he will lose his soul (p. 62). Unfaithful Christians will experience "the second death" preceding the millennium with the 1,000-year reign of Christ in view. They will lose their souls (lives) and be denied positions with Christ in the kingdom (p. 64). It is a good thing that John says, "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years" (Rev. 20:6). "Outer darkness" as referred to in the Parable of the Householder (Matt. 24:45-51) and the Parable of the Talents (Matt. 25:14-30) is the place which will be occupied by those Christians failing in the present race of faith. Those Christians cast into outer darkness see the kingdom; they appear at the marriage festivities; and they are servants of the Lord who, at one time, were in possession of the Lord's goods and in a position to inherit as joint heirs with Christ in His kingdom (p. 173). In his book titled What Time Is It?, Dr. Chitwood continues to rend the Body of Christ: Christ, upon His judgment seat, will reject those Christians who are shown to lack works of a nature resulting in fruit-bearing. They will have failed in their calling as household servants and be disapproved (1 Cor. 9:27; James 1:12). They will not be allowed to ascend the throne with Christ and rule over the nations. Instead, Christ will do exactly as He has stated. He will spew (vomit) them out of His mouth, showing not only their rejection but also His attitude toward their prior unfaithfulness (p. 23). So much for the first of Dr. Radmacher's fulsome recommendations. In a letter written to me in September, 1990, he stated: With respect to your statement: "Complete separation between Israel and the Church is the only scriptural principle," I think one needs to carefully think through the implications of such a statement. One could conclude that they have nothing in common and that would certainly be untrue to the Scripture and would not be true to what Chafer taught, either. For example, anyone who has ever been saved has been saved by grace through faith DR. ROBERT R. COOK -- At the time, Dr. Radmacher sent me class material by Dr. Robert R. Cook. Dr. Cook received his Th.M. and Th.D. from Dallas and had been Professor of Biblical Theology at Dr. Radmacher's Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon, for 25 years. He also served as Academic Dean for 17 years. Dr. Cook's dispensational stand is characterized by the following examples from his class notes titled ''B. School of Hermeneutical Theology": In the dispensationalist's zeal to maintain a distinction between Israel and the Church, which distinction up to a point [emphasis ours] I believe to be valid... (p. 39). Both Israel and the Church may trace their enjoyment of God's blessing to the same source--God's promise to Abraham (p. 40). The strong implication is that there is but one covenant and that both groups are beneficiaries of it. This is true because both Israel and the Church were anticipated in God's pledge to Abraham long ago (p. 48). It seems wholly tenuous to maintain that the Church has a future that is totally distinct from other glorified saints. That she may be continued as a distinct group of believers as a part of the larger whole seems entirely reasonable, but to separate her from the blessing enjoyed by other saints seems to be biblically unwarranted (p. 44). Thus we may conclude that the bride, the Lamb's wife, is composed of glorified saints of the church and the Tribulation periods, at least, and probably of all previous ages as well (p. 43). In his book titled The Theology of John (Moody Press), Dr. Cook wrote: Contrary to some dispensational teaching, which makes a firm distinction between Israel as God's earthly people and the Church as His heavenly people, which distinction is to be maintained throughout eternity, the biblical evidence seems to show a progressive blurring [emphasis ours] of such distinctions as history moves toward its climax. As Chancellor of Western Seminary in Portland, Dr. Radmacher is also President of Western Seminary Phoenix. Of the five professors on the adjunct faculty of the latter, two of them are: Professor Gary Smalley with his Psychology of Matriarchy, and Dr. Lloyd E. Kwast, of Biola-Talbot, who has a demon "Power Encounter" deliverance ministry. DRS. WIM MALGO and ARNO FROESE -- Another aspect of this Judgment Seat/Kingdom movement is headed up by Drs. Malgo and Froese. In the August 1990 issue of their quarterly magazine titled "Midnight Cry" (pp. 9 and 10), Dr. Malgo wrote: Those Christians who are not sanctified, although they were also raptured (the whole Church will be raptured), will forfeit the indescribable experience of seeing the Lord because they did not heed the warning which they heard too often on earth, "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord" (Heb. 12:14). These will have eternal life, as it is written in 1 Corinthians 3:15, "If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." Whether you and I attain to this seeing the Lord and being like Him will be decided after the Rapture before the judgment seat of Christ. That day will make it clear. For all the raptured who belong to the first resurrection, the matter at stake is the "reward," the crown. Then will be revealed whether you and I belong to the "Bride of the Lamb," or to the wedding guests. The bridal couple, particularly the Bride, is the radiant center of attention, and all the wedding guests rejoice in them. They participate in the wedding and all are happy, but they have no part in the indescribable happiness of the Bride at the Bridegroom’s side. We now approach the heart of the problem: the movement that centers the Church in the Messianic Kingdom. The emphasis is set forth in THE REIGN OF THE SERVANT KINGS--A Study of Eternal Security and the Final Significance of Man, by Dr. Joseph C. Dillow -- Schoettle Publishing Company, 1992, 650 pages. DR. JOSEPH C. DILLOW -- Dr. Dillow graduated in Science with a major in Electrical Engineering. He received his Th.D. degree from Dallas Theological Seminary. He served on the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ, Christian Family Life, and as a visiting instructor in Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. For the past 12 years he and his wife Linda have lived in Vienna, Austria, where he has served as founder and director of Biblical Education by Extension International (BEE), a biblical training ministry for church leadership in eastern Europe, Russia, and China. SCHOETTLE PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC. -- This publisher is located in Miami Springs, Florida. Its primary publications are the works of Robert Govett, G.H. Lang, and D.M. Panton, all of whom promulgate the judgment seat/kingdom theme upon which Dr. Dillow's book is based. PROLOGUE -- Here Dr. Dillow provides a brief overview of his thesis: We Christians are to become the Servant Kings. This destiny is often called "salvation" by the OT prophets. This was not salvation from hell, but the glorious privilege of reigning with Messiah in the final destiny of man. In the eternal plan, only those who strive to be servants now can qualify for this great future privilege then. If God’s eternal plan revolves around demonstrating the moral superiority of humility and servanthood, it is of the utmost importance that we learn this lesson now. All Christians are not servants, and only those who are will be great in the Messianic Kingdom. Only those sons of God who are "sons indeed" will be co-heirs with their coming King in the final destiny of man. Many who have been saved by the King are not presently living for Him. Many who have begun lives of discipleship have not persevered. They risk the forfeiture of this great future. We are "partakers (Gk. metochoi) of Christ, [only] if we hold our confidence firmly to the end" (Heb. 3:14). However, those who are obedient and dependent servants now and who persevere in discipleship to the final hour will be among Christ’s metochoi, the servant kings, in the thousand-year kingdom of the Messiah. All Christians will be in the kingdom, but tragically not all will be co-heirs there (p. 6). FOREWORD -- The surprising fact is that Dr. Earl D. Radmacher wrote the Foreword to this book, in which he said: Although a Christian can never lose his justification salvation, there are dimensions of glorification salvation that may be lost or gained if we take seriously passages such as Romans 14:10, 1 Corinthians 3:15, 2 Corinthians 5:10, and 2 John 7,8. The danger of loss is real and to be taken with appropriate fear and reverence in light of eternal implications. The opportunity of rewards, on the other hand, with its glories of ruling and reigning with Jesus Christ in His coming kingdom, are presented in the Scriptures as a great motivation for holy living [emphasis ours] in the present. It is precisely at this point that Joseph Dillow has performed a monumental service to the Body of Christ. The Reign of the Servant Kings may be just the solution to the debate between two major systems of theology [Covenant and Arminian] which have dominated church history for four centuries. I have personally studied through this manuscript several times and found myself most enthusiastic with Dr. Dillow’s exegetical clarity and consistent biblical theology. His contribution to the disciplines of Soteriology and Eschatology are to be applauded. I heartily commend this study to you for gaining growth in accurately understanding your position, practice, and place with Jesus Christ, both now and in His coming kingdom rule (pp. xiii,xiv). BACKWORD -- On the back cover of the book Dr. Radmacher has a further commendation: Here it is at last! For over 25 years I have been waiting for a book that would present Biblical recognition of the doctrine of rewards as it relates to the full-orbed teaching of salvation. This book does it, and does it beautifully! Dr. Dillow’s Reign of the Servant Kings may well be the most significant contribution toward resolving the several hundred year debate between Calvinism and Arminianism. DR. T.K. OBERHOLTZER -- Also on the back cover of the book, Dr. Oberholtzer, associate professor of Biblical Literature at Western Seminary Phoenix, adds his recommendation: Dr. Dillow is making a significant contribution to the church by clarifying for the Christian the theological distinctives of the gospel, discipleship, and rewards. He sets forth the three biblical aspects of the salvation of the believer: justification, sanctification, and glorification. This should be required reading for every believer in Jesus Christ who wishes to fully understand his salvation, his purpose in life, and who desires to share with Christ in the final destiny of man--to reign in the coming kingdom. DR. CHARLES C. RYRIE -- There is no excuse for the above, but what is there to say to this? Former Dean of the Graduate School at Dallas Theological Seminary, Dr. Ryrie states on the back cover: Dr. Dillow has given us a comprehensive discussion of eternal security and rewards. By a constant appeal to Scripture, the biblical doctrine of eternal security is supported instead of the Reformed [Covenant] doctrine of Perseverance. This scholarly and well written book should be read by all pastors and students of the Word who are interested in the doctrines of grace. A truly landmark book! * * * * * * * BEWARE! -- As we shall soon see, the scholarly dispensationalists’ accolades notwithstanding, what we have in this book is a works salvation. It is no different than Covenantism: justified by grace; sanctified by works. If up until the last hour there is failure to faithfully serve and persevere, all is lost, and one is saved so as by fire. Pity the Christian who is subjected to this dispensationless, kingdom-centered teaching: a partaker of Christ, if...! We will comment sparingly, allowing the text of the book to perform its self-incrimination. PREFACE -- In his Preface, Dr. Dillow states: In the [650] pages that follow I will attempt to chart a middle road [the "Partakers"] between the traditional Reformed Covenant approach and that of the Arminian. I accept the Reformed position that those who are truly born again can never lose their salvation. But I also accept the Arminian position that the warning passages of the NT (e.g., Hebrews 6) are directed to true Christians, not merely professing Christians. There is a real danger here. However, contrary to the Arminian, the danger is not loss of heaven but loss of our reward there, and severe divine discipline here in time (p. xvi). ARMINIAN -- In this book the term "Arminian" refers to those followers of Jacobus Arminius who have held that it is possible for a true Christian to lose his salvation. For them the warning passage of Hebrews 6 refers to regenerate people (p. 20). COVENANT -- "Experimental Predestinarian." This is our term for the Calvinist doctrine of predestined perseverance. "Experimental" because the Puritans called themselves "experimentalists." They felt in order to ascertain whether or not one was a Christian, one must perform an experiment. He must ask, "Have I believed?" and, "Are there evidences of works in my life?" If the answer to these questions was yes, he was justified in claiming that he was probably saved. Of course, the final verdict could only be rendered at the end of life when the evidence of the final perseverance was compiled (p. 19). THE PARTAKER – "For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end" (Heb. 3:14). The word "partaker" will designate the third approach to security. The Partaker is one who, like the Calvinist, holds to the eternal security of the believer but, like the Arminian, believes the warning passages of the NT apply to Christians. The Partaker is the Christian who perseveres in good works to the end of life. He is the faithful believer who will reign with Christ in the coming Messianic Kingdom. He will be one of the servant kings. What is in danger, according to the Partaker, is not a loss of salvation but spiritual impoverishment, severe discipline in time, and a forfeiture of reward, viz., disinheritance in the future. For the Partaker the carnal Christian is not only a lamentable fact of Christian experience, but is explicitly taught in the Bible as well (pp. 20,21). Similar to the Dallas progressive, Neo-Dispensational approach, this book subjects the Christian, the Church, to the horizontal, earthly kingdom. (Move over, Israel!) PARTAKER MOTIVATION -- Those who have been born again will always give some evidence of growth in grace and spiritual interest and commitment. This is true because: (1) At conversion a person has repented, changed his perspective about sin and Christ and is therefore predestined to allow Christ to change him; (2) He has been flooded with the new motivation toward godliness accompanied by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit; and (3) The Parable of the Soil says of the first man there was growth, a kind of fruit. But he may soon quench the Spirit, walk by means of the flesh, and thus fail to give visible evidences of these initial inner workings. A life of sanctification will not inevitably and necessarily follow justification (p. 21). Dr. MacArthur and the rest of the Covenanters would not agree to that! It sounds too much like Zane Hodges! Well, he is in this book, all right. Dr. Dillow has a note on page 142: "The following discussion draws from Zane Hodges’ Absolutely Free." And on page 187 his note says, "For much of the exposition to follow, the writer is indebted to Zane Hodges’ Dead Faith: What Is It?" Note the weakness of the conversion description in the above paragraph. INHERITANCE -- Just as OT believers forfeited their earthly inheritance through disobedience, we can also forfeit our future reward by a similar failure. Loss of inheritance, however, does not mean loss of salvation. Two kinds of inheritance were enjoyed in the OT. All Israelites who had believed and were therefore regenerated had God as their inheritance, but not all inherited the land. This paves the way for the notion [!] that the NT may also teach two inheritances. We are all heirs of God. But we are not all joint-heirs with Christ, unless we persevere to the end of life. The former refers to our salvation and the latter to our reward. The relevance of these conclusions to the doctrine of the saint’s perseverance is obvious. First, if this is in fact the OT view, it surely must have informed the thinking of the NT writers (p. 45). These people [Israel] as a group are saved people, the people of God. While some may not have been saved, only two of them will inherit because only two out of two million met the conditions. Thus, all the rest will go to heaven, but forfeit their inheritance (p. 58). OT understanding necessarily informs the thinking of the NT writers. It would be surprising indeed if there was no continuity of thought between their understanding of an inheritance and that found in the Bible (p. 62). A Christian can deny his inheritance rights. This should not come as a surprise because the inheritance in the OT could be forfeited through disobedience. This fact surely informed the viewpoint of the NT writers! (p. 69). Of course the NT writers of the Synoptic Gospels were informed by OT views. As Charles Feinberg said, "The NT is Jewish all the way to the Cross." But the missing person in this book is Paul! Paul, who received the new creation Gospel of the grace of God from the glorified Lord--the heavenly Gospel concerning the heavenly Body, the Church, which neither has nor needs any continuity with the OT whatsoever. As for the believer being co-heir with Christ, that was forever settled and established in heaven before the foundation of the world. So, two out of two million received the inheritance? On the basis of this book, what are one's chances of arriving with more than a handful of ashes?! DISPENSATIONAL DISASTER -- It is barren outside the realm of true dispensationalism. The following several paragraphs exemplify the total disregard, if not ignorance, of the rightly-divided Word of truth. This is some of the "exegetical clarity and consistent biblical theology" extolled by Dr. Radmacher. What are these Christians doing in the Kingdom? Sheep and goats indeed! And why are heavenly Christians seeking to inherit the earthly kingdom of the Jews? "Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance [lit., inherit the kingdom], the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world’" (Matt. 25:34). Why are they being granted this blessing? Because they ministered to Christ’s brethren, the Jews, during the terrible holocaust of the great Tribulation (25:35-40). Here inheriting should be given its full sense of reward for faithful service as the context requires. But there are only two categories of people mentioned as being at this judgement, not three. We see only sheep and goats, Christians and non-Christians, and not two categories of Christians and one of unbelievers (p. 73). The faithful sheep are now being rewarded with the inheritance. This is the fulfillment of the Lord's promise: "But he who stands firm unto the end will be saved." They are they who persevered under persecution unto the end (Rev. 14:12). Jesus had already explained that Christians who annul the least of the commands and teach others to do the same will be in the kingdom but will be "called least" there (Matt. 5:19) (p. 74). All saints will enter the kingdom through faith alone (John 3:3), but only obedient saints who endure, who overcome, and who perform works of righteousness (e.g., minister to Christ’s brethren) will inherit it, i.e., rule there (p. 82). The inheritance can be forfeited because of disobedience, as in the case of Esau (Heb. 12:17), and it is only obtained by perseverance, i.e., by "faith and patience" (Heb. 6:12). Jesus has inherited a superior name to that of the angels (1:4). He achieved this inheritance by persevering in suffering (Heb. 2:10; Phil. 2:9-11). Similarly, His companions (Heb. 1:9, Gk. Metochoi) will "inherit salvation" (Heb. 1:14) in the same way. We share in that future glory, the inheritance-salvation, only if we remain faithful to the end. Christ’s obedience as the condition of obtaining His new name, Lord Jesus Christ (Phil. 2:9-11, "therefore"), seems to be a similar idea to His receiving of His inheritance (p. 82). FIRSTBORN -- Now we stand to lose even our firstborn position and rights in Christ. We are surely to arrive naked and bleeding, if at all! The rights and privileges of the firstborn were given provisionally, at birth. The right of the inheritance was his, but he could lose it. It was necessary that the firstborn maintain his rights. He must be worthy of the elevated status and honor. True Christians fully parallel the description of Esau. We are children of God and we are firstborn sons. Because of that we possess the rights of the firstborn. We do not have to earn those rights. They are given to us through the grace of God. However [they give with the left, and take with the right], we must value and keep these rights and are warned by Esau's example regarding the possibility of not doing so. JOINT HEIR -- If the firstborn position can be lost, can the loss of the joint-heirship be far behind?! "The Spirit Himself 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 be also glorified together" (Rom. 8:16,17). Being an heir of God is unconditional, but being a joint heir of the kingdom is conditioned upon our spiritual perseverance. The inheritance is usually conditioned upon obedience, but salvation from hell is always by faith alone. In order to become a joint heir with Christ, one of His metochoi, we must faithfully endure our sufferings to the end (p. 87). REST -- Now we have the dispensational violation of merging the Church with all of Israel's covenants. This gospel was not only preached to Israel, but it was preached to us! Where? A major theme of the NT is that the Church has been grafted into Israel's covenants and are now heirs of the same promises (Rom. 11:17). God has not set aside His promises to Israel. The promise of the inheritance, the land, is eternally valid, and those Christians who remain faithful to their Lord to the end of life will share in that kingdom along with the OT saints (p. 109). THE NEW COVENANT -- Here Dr. Dillow writes the law upon our hearts as the ultimate of our salvation. Whatever happened to the indwelling Lord Jesus Christ, who is our Life--"Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27)? The [Israel's] New Covenant was certainly inaugurated at the Cross, and we enter into some of its benefits at the time we believe. But its final fulfillment has not yet taken place and indeed will not until the coming kingdom and eternal state. Similarly, the ultimate writing of His law upon our hearts and minds will be characteristic of the believer when he has achieved the goal of his justification and glorification (p. 150). ERADICATION -- The new creation of the heavens and the earth does not refer to a renovation of the old creation, but a new order. Peter tells us to look for the total destruction of the present order (2 Peter 3:12), and the creation of a new heavens and a new earth (3:13). Similarly, the "old man" was crucified. He no longer exists, and we are a new man in Christ. Lloyd-Jones finds evidence for the perfect, sinless, new man in Christ in these Romans Seven verses. He notes that Paul will say, "I am not doing this or that, it is this sin that remains in my member only that does so. Sin is no longer in me, it is in my members only. That is the most liberating thing you have ever heard. Our old self is gone, we should never think of ourselves in those terms again." PRIESTS -- It is clear that not all believers will function as priests: "Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenants, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession...you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Exodus 19:5,6). Only those believers who obey Him are priests. It was and is God’s intent that we all attain to that privilege both here and in the coming kingdom, but to say that a disobedient believer has obtained that part of Christ’s priestly house is not automatic to all Christians. It is the intent, the ideal, but it is actual only in the lives of those faithful Christians who persevere in holiness (p. 202). VICARIOUS LAW-KEEPING -- Many of Dr. Dillow's errors are Arminian, but most of them are Covenant. All of them are dispensationally disastrous. The Reformed [Covenant] faith has commonly held that sanctification of the believer involves the work of God and man. With this the writer agrees. But the only works of obedience which God performs related to our justification are imputed to us and not worked in us. These works are known as the active obedience of Christ, His perfect obedience to the requirements of the law on our behalf. These merits are reckoned to our account in the act of justification (p. 276). MILLENNIAL DISINHERITANCE -- All of the overcomer movements either split the Rapture, or split the Bema. Either way, for them, if you do not overcome, you will surely be undercut! As one has well said about them, "Partial rapturists expect to be taken up in ‘bunches,’ but I have never met one yet who did not expect to be taken up in the first ‘bunch!’" See you later! "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad" (2 Cor. 5:10 NASB). There are negative consequences in the judgment seat of Christ. In the Parable of the Wedding Banquet in Matthew 22:1-14, such a disinheritance is in view. At the marriage feast of the Lamb a great celebration will occur. However, not all will participate in that joy. Jesus describes this lamentable fact in His parable of the unprepared wedding guest. The parable says nothing about those who are not truly Christians being at the wedding banquet. Those who are not truly Christian will never enter the kingdom at all, much less the wedding banquet. Rather, it describes the varying responses different Christians have to the command of their Master. The parable teaches that the unfaithful Christian will be excluded from the light and joy of the celebration. It will become painfully evident that there are those who are regenerate slaves who do not persevere in their efforts to be properly attired at the marriage feast (p. 345). "But when the King came in to look over the dinner guests, He saw there a man not dressed in wedding clothes, and He said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And he was speechless" (Matt. 22:11,12 NASB). What is the indispensable wedding garment? The nature of the garment is made explicitly clear in Revelation 19:7,8: "Let us rejoice and be glad and give gory to Him, for the marriage of the Lame has come and His bride has made herself ready. And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints." What the friend at the wedding banquet lacked was not justification but a life of righteous acts. He was a "friend" and a "servant" of his Master, and responded to the invitation (vs. 10) and had believed in Him. His failure was to persevere in his life of works. The consequences were terrible (p. 246). "The King said to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen" (Matt. 22:13,14 NASB). Several questions are raised by this striking warning. (1) Is the servant a saved man? (2) To what does the "outer darkness" refer? (3) What is the meaning of "wailing and gnashing of teeth"? (1) Is the servant a saved man? -- The basis for believing this man is saved is that (a) he responded to the invitation of salvation (22:10), and (b) he was apparently not only in the kingdom but actually at the wedding banquet itself. According to Jesus one cannot enter the kingdom unless one is born again (John 3:3). (c) The man is addressed as "friend" by the Lord. (2) What is the "outer darkness"? -- The man is said to be bound "hand and foot" and then cast into "outer darkness." Whatever the illustration of binding pictures, it must be severe and causes the cessation of all meaningful activity. Perhaps [!] the point is that, while the servant kings will participate in man’s final destiny, this bound one will not be free to do so (p. 347). This is the darkness outside of the light of the wedding feast! It is not the darkness of hell. In Matthew 8:12 we are told that it is the "sons of the kingdom" who will be cast outside this joyful banquet. The phrase "sons of the kingdom" refers elsewhere in Matthew’s gospel to true believers--the "wheat" in the parable of the wheat and the tares (13:38). Yet there are sons, and there are "sons indeed." All are sons by faith in Christ, but Matthew uses the term in some places in the sense of sons indeed, when he says we must perform good works in order to become "sons of God" (5:9,44,45). There is evidently a difference between being a son of God and being publicly revealed as such, i.e., "called" a son. Those who are peacemakers and who love their enemies are not only sons but "sons indeed." The Synoptics (especially Matthew), the Sermon, and Israel's earthly Kingdom, when applied to the Body, result in mutilation. The Bride of Christ is identified in heaven with her glorified new-creation Head, via the Church Epistles, where alone she is being conformed to the image of the One who is "altogether lovely." Matthew leads us to imagine a great feast of rejoicing. All the faithful Christians in history are there to celebrate victory with their King. This joyful banquet is portrayed by the Lord as occurring in the evening in a brightly lit banquet hall. Outside the banquet where the shining lights of the feast are not present, a relative physical darkness prevails that evening. (3) What is the meaning of "wailing and gnashing of teeth"? Those Christians who are not "sons indeed," who lack wedding garments at the wedding banquet, will not only be excluded from the joy of the banquet but will also experience profound regret, "wailing and gnashing of teeth." This phrase does not refer to the experience of the unsaved in hell in this passage. It speaks instead of the grief experienced by a true Christian over a wasted life. It must be remembered that this is a parable and contains figures of speech. There is no literal "wailing and gnashing of teeth," just as there will be no literal binding and casting. Rather, these Oriental symbols evoke ideas of severe rebuke followed by profound regret. These believers will experience great grief ("wailing") and will be angry with themselves, or despairing because of their wasted lives ("gnashing of teeth") (p. 350). We will spare you the remainder of the tome, nothing more needing to be said concerning what Dr. Ryrie referred to as "this scholarly and well-written book." In closing, Dr. Dillow says: We now come to the end of the matter. The Lord promises to all who really know Him and see Him that they will enjoy unspeakable privilege in the final kingdom of David's Greater Son. The great future must constantly be set before the vision of all who name the Lord Jesus as their King. We should daily evaluate our lives, our priorities, and our hearts in view of how we will feel about our decisions ten thousand years from now. Only those who live like this and who finish their course with the flag at full mast will share in the future reign of the servant kings. Let us lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and "let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." After all, we "have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm unto the end" (Heb. 12:1; 3:14) (p. 605). Dear friend, don't allow anyone to "threaten" you into spiritual growth. Don't allow anyone to lead you down the primrose path to Israel's earthly kingdom. Don't be intimidated, either, concerning the Lord Jesus’ Bema (reward seat). As Mr. Darby wrote: In what state does the believer appear before the Lord at the Bema? He is raised in glory. No judgment can apply to him which can affect his being in glory, for he is in it already when he appears There. What is judgment, if we are completely like the Judge--we in His image, in a body like unto His glorious body, and Himself our righteousness and very Life? "Herein is love made perfect with us [marg.], that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as He is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:17). We shall be in glory. We shall not have the nature, the flesh in which we sinned. But we shall know as we are known, and give account of ourselves to the Father, re-pass our whole life and all His blessed ways with us. We shall see it all as our Father sees it, and wonder at the all-perfect grace which has led us onward from our birth. We shall see the thousands of instances of how His loving eye has watched over us to bless us. It would be a shame not to let Dr. Chafer share a relevant word concerning all this that we have just been subjected to: It has been a constant disposition in the past of certain writers to invest OT saints with the same position, qualities, and standing as those which belong exclusively to the believers who comprise the Body of Christ. And there is more recently a disposition to carry the same qualities which belong to the saved of this dispensation over into the Kingdom dispensation and to Jews and Gentiles alike. Such erroneous assumptions are avoided when it is recognized that to the Church alone is accorded the heavenly position and glory. Of her alone is it declared that each of her members who make up Christ’s Body is made meet to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light (Col. 1:12). But when all is said and done, there is nothing like the glorified Lord Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom, speaking tenderly to His Beloved Bride, through Paul: "If [since] ye, then, be [already] risen with Christ, seek those things which are above [in the Holiest of All, not down in Israel's kingdom], where Christ [and you] sit on the right hand of God. "Set your affection [heart] on things above [all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ], not on things on the earth [millennial, or otherwise]. For ye died [on the Cross], and your life is [now] hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our [Christian] life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory" (Col. 3:1-4).
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MJStanford
Home | MJS | Hungry Heart Devotional | Testimony | Memorial | Order Books | Email Best viewed in Explorer 6+ or Netscape 6+, 1024x768 screen display, 16 bit color or higher, and JavaScript on 900MB (2,000+ pages of text) Copyright © 1996-2012 withChrist.org Last updated: January 28, 2012 (Materials by Miles J. Stanford are republished here under exclusive permission from the author.)
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