Examining "A More Christlike Word"
by Brad Jersak
Day 55
“For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.” (Paul’s concern from 2 Corinthians 11:4)
|
The False Filter |
The Biblical Filter |
|
The word OR the Word |
The Word THROUGH the word |
Lake of Fire or All People
Saved (p. 115ff)
I can
already see that BJ is continuing to show the two pendulum extremes and
demanding we choose between them. I will add the plumbline to show that there
is a far better option, one that does not require any picking-and-choosing
which Bible verses we will believe.
|
BJ’s Literal Sense |
The Historical-Grammatical Sense |
BJ’s Literalism |
|
Claims “literal” but means “tropological” (moral of the story), his
“different gospel” (from outside of the Scriptures), and “typological”
(allegorical), none of which mean "literal". |
The grammatical-historical method means reading the Bible in a plain
manner, respecting grammar, word meanings, and other factors with an emphasis
on context, Context, CONTEXT. |
BJ puts people here who ascribe to the plain meaning of Scripture as
if they are stifling the Holy Spirit and missing the point of the divine and
human authors.
|
I see
that BJ’s section contrasting the apparent conflict between divine judgment and
all people being saved is full of his pattern of strawman innuendos that make
him sound like he’s got a good point. Instead of exposing all of them, I’m
simply going to look at the Scriptures he uses to present his case. If they do
not say what he wants them to say, and they do not prove that we are
mishandling the texts when we believe what they say in context, then his whole
section is just one more misleading segment of the garden path. So, let’s take
a look.
However, remember that BJ is writing this section believing
·
That
he has discredited the Bible’s teaching summarized as Penal Substitutionary
Atonement when he was completely wrong about that one.
·
That
he discredited Isaiah as a prophet for writing Isaiah 53 as an expression of
how much Jesus would suffer for our sins, that it would be Yahweh who laid our
sins on his Son for judgment, and that this would result in our atonement when
he didn’t even come close to making his case.
·
That
he proved God does not feel wrath against sin when we saw how clearly the Bible
teaches that God does indeed feel wrath against sin and that he did indeed pour
out his wrath on his Son for the forgiveness of our sins (that is what the word
“propitiation” means).
So
keep in mind that he has tried to prove these points to lead up to what he is
now teaching, but he was wrong 100% of the time. So, what will we find when we
examine his claims in this next section? I’m no prophet, but I thoroughly
expect more of the same misrepresentations of Scripture.
Because BJ began with the sheep and goats, let’s simply ask whether he
is correct that we have done something wrong to believe that sheep represent
the elect and goats represent the damned. Or is he pushing his pendulum-extreme
non-literal Literal Sense on us once again?
All we
must do to find out what the Bible says about this is type “sheep and goats” into
our Bible search engine (like www.biblegateway.com). What we find is that Matthew 25 tells us all about this and in Jesus’
own words! I included the link to Matthew 25 here in this footnote.[1] For now, let’s just take note of what is written in the breathed-out
words of God by Matthew as he was carried along by the Holy Spirit to write
them down.
Matthew
25:31-46 – The Sheep and the Goats
·
This is the “Word of God” speaking the “words of God” as recorded in the “word of
God”, the Scriptures. It is more authoritative than BJ and me.
·
Jesus
is speaking of “the Son of Man”, which means he is talking about himself in
fulfilment of Scripture (Daniel spoke of the coming of the Son of Man).
·
Jesus
says the focus is when he “comes in his glory”, referring to his second coming.
·
He
says he will have “all the angels with him”, signifying an amazing gathering.
·
And
he wants us to picture him taking his seat “on his glorious throne”.
So far,
we have a very clear scene. Jesus is on his throne. All the rest of this
describes what he does from his throne.
·
What
we now see is that “before him will be gathered all the nations”. This is a
clue to what Paul is talking about as well, so keep this in mind, that “all the
nations” are gathered before Jesus who is seated on his throne.
·
The
primary action of King Jesus will be “and he will separate people one from
another”. This is talking about the people who make up all these nations. We
must note that it is not “peoples” as in saying that one nation is “Christian”
and another is not, but that the people of all the nations are before him, and
he is the one who separates the people “one from another”. We know that this
may even happen within families since Jesus spoke of this kind of division.
·
This
action of separating “people one from another” is now presented in a simile
illustration “as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” Right away we
have Jesus himself giving us the words “the sheep and the goats”, and it is a
simile (it is “as” a shepherd…), meaning an illustration of what he will do
with the people of the nations in separating them one from another.
· The sheep are placed on the King’s right and the goats on his left. Immediately we see an inescapable division into two very separate groups.
·
For
the sake of BJ’s emphasis on whether Jesus really is Christlike in judging the
people, I will skip the details describing both groups because they are simply
opposites. The sheep are “the righteous shall live by faith” and the goats are
the “people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were
evil”. BJ’s point is centered on what Jesus does to each group of people, so
that is my focus. Everyone can read the details for themselves.
·
Regarding
the sheep on his right, the King says, “‘Come, you who are blessed by my
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’”
This speaks of blessing, it speaks of the kingdom that has been the focus of
“the gospel of the kingdom”, and it fulfills God’s plan that was in place from
the very beginning of creation.
·
Regarding
the goats on his left, the King says, “‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the
eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’” This speaks of the
unresolved curse, the eternal fire, and the judgment that was prepared for
Satan and his demons.
·
Jesus
concludes with the very clear contrast: “And these (the goats) will go away
into eternal punishment, but the righteous (the sheep) into eternal life.”
Conclusion: if we take this the way it is written, and we believe Paul
when he wrote that “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for
teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that
the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (II Timothy
3:16-17), then this is the breathed-out words of God telling us what Jesus the
Word of God said in the words of God as recorded in the word of God. It fits
every nuance of what “authoritative” means and should be treated as such. No
matter how we feel about it, the point is that Jesus said it, and there is no
“more Christlike” version of Jesus than what is in the Bible!
I
began this section by asking whether BJ was correct in stating that we are
doing something wrong to believe that sheep represent the elect and goats
represent the damned. The answer is clear: no, BJ was not correct since we are
taking to heart Jesus’ own words.
The
other half of my intro statement was asking whether BJ would be found pushing
his pendulum-extreme non-literal Literal Sense on us once again. The answer is
clear: yes, BJ is pushing his non-literal Literal Sense on us once again,
urging us to deny the plain words of our Savior as if taking Jesus at his word
is a bad thing. That speaks volumes to what kind of person Brad Jersak is.
Now let’s take a look at what Paul wrote in the verses BJ presented. We will begin with the first verse, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (I Corinthians 15:22). BJ is clearly suggesting that the “all be made alive” is one of “two obviously universal inclusion verses” (p. 115). He wants the “all” to mean “everyone everywhere from all time” (my definition). Jesus already disagrees with that since the goats will suffer the fullness of death while only the sheep will experience the fullness of eternal life. So, let’s see whether this verse preaches universal inclusion when Jesus just taught us that the people of the nations will be separated into sheep and goats, life and death which cannot mean universal inclusion.
Notice
some important details from the context of I Corinthians 15, things that
pertain to what Paul meant in the verses in question.
·
“For
if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised” (vs 16). Paul was
obviously dealing with some kind of questions regarding the resurrection of
Christ and is clarifying both the reality and the necessity of his
resurrection.
·
“And
if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your
sins” (vs 17). I’m simply showing that Paul saw a situation in which people
could be “still in your sins”. This is in contrast to what he knows to be true
of the gospel, that anyone who believes in Christ, “if you confess with your
mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the
dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). But if the false teachers are right
that there is no resurrection, meaning no resurrection of Christ either, then
people could believe anything they want, but they would not “be saved”. This
makes it clear that there is a state that is “saved” and one that is “still in
your sins”.
·
“Then
those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished” (vs 18). For those
who are alive but believed in Christ, if there was no resurrection, they were
still in their sins. But for those believers who have died, if Christ has not
been raised, then they “have perished” since there was no Savior to save them
from their sins. Again, this shows that there is a belief in “eternal life” for
those who have confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and believed in his resurrection,
but there is “perished” if there is no salvation (you know, exactly like in
John 3:16!).
·
“If
in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be
pitied” (vs 19). If all the Christians who have ever lived were wrong about the
resurrection of Jesus Christ, then all they had was a hope that made this life
feel better, but they had nothing more.
·
Now,
look at the significance of what Paul said next, “But in fact Christ has been
raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (vs 20).
It looks to me like Paul is focused on “those who have fallen asleep”. He just
mentioned them in verse 18, and we can see how this would be a huge concern for
Christians who had lost believing loved ones if there was no resurrection to
look forward to. With these believers as his focus, look at how he continues.
·
“For
as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead”
(vs 21). Those who have fallen asleep are dead because of Adam. But they are
awaiting the resurrection of the dead because of the second Adam, Jesus Christ.
·
“For
as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (vs 22). Because
of Adam, all believers die, as it is with those who have fallen asleep. But pay
close attention to the words Paul uses. “So also” continues the contrasting
parallelism that what we inherited from Adam in one way, we inherit from Christ
in the opposite way. But now Paul uses an amazingly familiar expression, “in
Christ” (yes, that is the expression in the Greek). So, if the context didn’t
give this away clearly, using the phrase “in Christ” means everything “in
Christ” means. In other words, those believers who are asleep in the Lord, who
have died physically but are awaiting the resurrection, ALL of them were “in
Adam” and so inherited death. But ALL of them (those who have fallen asleep in
the Lord) were “also in Christ”, and so they “shall ALL be made alive”. And,
contrary to BJ’s slanted wording against those who see what this verse means,
the “all” cannot refer to every human being since not every human being is “in
Christ”. We are all “in Adam”, but only believers are “in Christ”. Here is a
link to www.biblegateway.com looking up the phrase, “in Christ”,
so you can check out the way it is used.[2] Many of the expressions “in him” in the New Testament also apply to
being “in Christ”.
To
show that “in Christ” and “in him” speak of a distinctive experience that can
never refer to unbelievers, consider these verses.
In
Christ
·
“But
now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although
the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through
faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by
his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith”
(Romans 3:21-25). Notice the amazing themes of righteousness that is only by
faith, justification that is only by grace, redemption that is only “in Christ
Jesus”, God gave his son “as a propitiation” in rebuke of BJ’s claim to the
contrary, and it is only applied when it is “received by faith”. There is no
redemption, eternal life, propitiation, or salvation for those who are not “in
Christ Jesus”, so I Corinthians 15:22 is not speaking of all people everywhere
throughout all time, but all who are “in Christ Jesus” by faith, specifically
referring to the ones who are “asleep” or passed away.
·
“For
if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much
more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of
righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17).
This is a parallel to I Corinthians 15 where Paul was contrasting the “one man”
Adam to the “one man” Christ”. Here it is very clear that the “reign in life”
is only for those “who received the abundance of grace and the free gift”. It
cannot be applied to people who have continued in their sins since they are not
“in Christ”.
·
“There
is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”
(Romans 8:1). We already saw that those who are not “in Christ Jesus” are
“condemned already”.
· There are lots more references in the link in the footnotes, but these were just to make sure we saw the essence of what it means to speak of anyone being “in Christ”. It can only refer to those who have received Christ in repentance and faith, and it absolutely cannot mean anyone who is still living in their sins.
In
Him
·
“In
him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4). This speaks to
I Corinthians 15 because it shows that in Jesus is life just as in Adam is
death.
·
“This,
the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory.
And his disciples believed in him” (John 2:11).
·
“And
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be
lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (John
3:14-15). We don’t need to believe in Adam to have death because of him, but we
must believe in Jesus to have the eternal life he gives.
·
“For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in
him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). It is only those
who believe “in him” that won’t perish but have eternal life, and, as if
knowing the BJs would come, Jesus clarified,
· “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:18). Those who do not believe in Jesus are “condemned already” because they are “in Adam”. But only those who believe “in the name of the only Son of God” are “not condemned” to perish in their sins. This is obviously not universal inclusion!
·
Here
we have another variation of “in Christ” and “in him” with “Whoever believes in
the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life,
but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36). To believe “in the Son” gives
eternal life. To not believe (which means they have not obeyed the command of
the gospel to believe in the Son) means “whoever” this is “shall not see life”
(denying BJ’s claim that Paul meant everyone would see life whether or not they
believe in the Son), and the reason that unbelievers will not see life is “the
wrath of God remains on him”, another thing BJ insists is not in the Bible even
though it is once again Jesus speaking the very words that come from the mouth
of God.
·
“For
this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in
him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day”
(John 6:40). So very clear that it is only those who believe in Christ who have
eternal life, and it is those people Jesus “will raise him up on the last day”,
just as Paul said about those who had fallen asleep in the Lord.
·
“To
him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him
receives forgiveness of sins through his name” (Acts 10:43). This not only
rebukes BJ for claiming that Paul’s statement in I Corinthians 15 refers to all
people being raised to life, but it also reproves his claim that there was
anything wrong with any of the prophets and what they prophesied about Jesus
and his gift of salvation. The message is always that it is “everyone who
believes in him” who “receives forgiveness of sins through his name”.
·
“For
our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might
become the righteousness of God” (II Corinthians 5:21). It is only “in him”
that we “become the righteousness of God”.
·
“In
him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our
trespasses, according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7). Only in this
redemption do we receive the forgiveness of our trespasses which is the only
way God can receive us without violating his own justice.
·
“But
I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ
might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in
him for eternal life” (I Timothy 1:16). Paul of all people knew what it was
like to try to be righteous enough to earn God’s acceptance apart from Christ.
What praise to God for Paul to be the one through whom God would reveal his
“perfect patience” to believers. But, again, “eternal life” is only for those
who “believe in him”.
I hope
this is enough to show what Paul and the others meant by “in Christ”. When Paul
said that “in Adam all die”, that means we all die because we all are in Adam.
But when he said “in Christ shall all be made alive”, the “all” refers only to those
who are “in Christ”, which can only mean believers. And this is specifically
related to “all” who had fallen asleep in the Lord, meaning believers who had
died and were waiting for the resurrection of the dead. And it isn’t twisting
Scripture to believe that!
Let me
illustrate how “all” applies to those who are “in Adam” and to those who are “in
Christ”. In both examples, the whole pie-graph includes all the people who have
ever lived through all the ages of time.
In the
first illustration, “all” means 100% of the people because all human beings
have inherited Adam’s sin, his sin nature, and the curse of sin on our planet.
In the second illustration, the “all” Paul is speaking about only applies to
those “in Christ”. All the rest are still “in Adam” and still under the wrath
of God against their sin.
So,
let’s look again at the verse BJ presented as somehow speaking of “universal
inclusion”: “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive”
(I Corinthians 15:22). Because 100% of people are “in Adam”, 100% of people “all
die”. But because it is only the “few” who believe in Jesus and are “in Christ”,
they are the “all” who shall be made alive in the resurrection.
Now, just another interesting observation: did you notice that when BJ referred to Jesus’ teaching about the sheep and the goats, he used derogatory terms, but when he switched to the verses he likes he questioned, “how could we authentically hear Paul when he says…?” (p. 115). My question is, why does he not want to “authentically hear” Jesus in what he said about the sheep and the goats and anything else that makes it clear that those who believe are saved and those who do not believe are condemned?!
And why does he not want us to
authentically hear the whole context of what Paul was teaching, and everything
the Scriptures tell us it means to be “in Christ” so that we could see that
Paul would never teach universal inclusion, but he would assure us that our
believing loved ones who died “in Christ” will “all” be “made alive” at the
return of Christ.
I was
going to go into the second Scripture BJ referred to. However, in doing so, I
was getting far too long for one day’s journal journey, and BJ had some
fightin’ words waiting for me in the next paragraphs, so I will conclude this
section and call it a night, as they say. In this first verse BJ presented as a
preconditioned conflict between Jesus’ words and Paul’s words, he is (drum roll
please) once again WRONG! No conflict. Both saying the same thing.
© 2024
Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8
Email: in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the
English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text
Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers.)
A More Christlike Word © 2021 by Bradley Jersak Whitaker House 1030 Hunt
Valley Circle • New Kensington, PA 15068 www.whitakerhouse.com
Jersak, Bradley. A More Christlike Word: Reading Scripture the
Emmaus Way. Whitaker House. Kindle Edition.
Definitions from the Bible Sense Lexicon (BSL) in Logos Bible
Systems
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