The Discerner’s Tavern: 2017

Thursday, December 28, 2017

Every Knee Shall Bow...or Else!

“Wherefore God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil. 2:9-11)

This verse, stating an eventual fact, is often not cited as the truly remarkable thing that it will be, in the future. Instead, it is often presented as a threat; and a future confession made grudgingly and under duress and force.

For those who remember Superman II, (yes, things always come back to geek movies for me) you will remember the primary villain, Zod, from Superman’s home world of Krypton. Zod and his two minions have been wreaking havoc with impunity on Earth, with no one stopping them. Zod goes to the White House and demands that the President kneel before him and swear loyalty to him. And, if the President decides not to kneel, what happens? Well, that would be a very bad idea…and he knows it.

Is this scene of villainy really what the fulfillment of this famous, often quoted passage will be like? Will Christ Jesus be standing, arms crossed, tapping His foot; God, The Father, seated behind Him on an imposing throne, just waiting to inflict unending pain upon the fool who refuses to bow the knee and confess Jesus Christ as Lord?

Christianity, the institution, that bears The Lord’s name and claims to represent Him, has managed to misrepresent Him to the world. Christ, being the Word of God, was God’s designated Spokesman to perfectly reveal Him to the world. While the scriptures do speak of Christ Jesus judging, that is not His primary role; nor is His judging to mete out punishment; for punishment’s sake. Everything God does and certainly everything His Son did during His earthly ministry; was done to show God’s love for the world. At this point, it might be helpful for you to do a word study on the word, “world”. In almost every occurrence of that word in the New Testament, something bad is in view. And often, the word “world” is used in comparison or contrast to “believers”. That pretty much does away with the Calvinist argument that states that when “God so loved the world”, “world” means “the elect”. Nonsense.

Just as any good father, corrects a child who needs correction, our Heavenly Father does the same. God does not “punish” for punishment’s sake, doesn’t do so “forever” and certainly not “forever and ever”.

At some point, prior to God becoming All in all (1 Corinthians 15:28) something will happen. What will happen is what is detailed in Philippians 2:9-11. This is the outcome; the eventual outcome of 1Timothy 2:3-6, where we read:

“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”

(1 Tim. 2:3-6)

This will happen at some point. All, in God’s timing will come to a realization of the truth. A key aspect of that truth is the person of Jesus Christ and His role, given by God; as the one Lord and the Mediator between God and man.

So, will the event when everyone confesses this truth, that Jesus Christ is Lord (to the glory of God, the Father) be a joyful event or a frightening event? I can find no scriptural reason for this event to be one of terror; an “I told you so!” moment that many Christians make this to be. For many, this is the verse that is used in memes on Facebook and in sermons, often times, pointed at unbelievers as a “pay day”. But, is God not responsible for the faith that one has or doesn’t have? I have written about this many times, but the scriptures are replete with God being pointed to as the provider and withholder of belief and faith. Ephesians 2:8-9 points out that we are saved by grace through faith and this is “NOT OUT OF YOU”, lest any should boast. But, do Christians not hold out Philippians 2:9-11 as a boast? Do most not insinuate that unbelievers are to blame for not coming to belief and acknowledging Christ Jesus, now; while they did (“did” indicates past action; and would probably be considered “doing” something; a work).

Speaking of being given belief, there is a pre-requisite to confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord. Not surprising, the ability to make this claim isn’t conjured up from out of nowhere by the one making the confession. Notice what Paul says below (emphasis added):

“Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. (1 Cor. 12:3)

Wow! If no man can say that Jesus Christ is Lord, but by the Holy Spirit; what does that indicate? Yes, it means that the Holy Spirit leads the person to that truth. And (stay with me here, we’re building to something) what must a person do to be saved:

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” (Rom. 10:9)

I’m anticipating your objection here. “Yeah, ok, but you also have to believe that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, and I don’t see that.” Would anyone reasonably conclude that if he is raised from the dead, kneeling before Jesus Christ, that he will not believe that Jesus was raised from the dead?!

Some will further object, “Well, at that point it is too late because being face-to-face with Jesus means that they didn’t have to believe it. They see it. Well, let’s see about that. I am positive that is addressed in the scriptures. Have you ever heard of Thomas, aka “Doubting Thomas”? When told of the Lord’s resurrection, Thomas told the fellow disciples that he would not believe unless he saw Jesus. Read the account below (emphasis added):

“The other disciples, therefore, were saying unto him—We have seen the Lord! But, he, said unto them—Except I see, in his hands, the print of the nails, and press my finger into the print of the nails, and press my hand into his side, in nowise will I believe. 26 And, eight days after, his disciples again were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus cometh—the doors having been made fast—and stood in the midst, and said—Peace be unto you! 27 Then, saith he unto Thomas—Reach thy finger hither, and see my hands, and reach thy hand, and press into my side,—and become not disbelieving, but believing. 28 Thomas answered, and said unto him—My Lord, and my God! 29 Jesus saith unto him—Because thou hast seen me, hast thou believed? Happy, they who have not seen, and yet have believed!” (John 20:25-29)

Now, upon Thomas seeing and touching the risen Jesus Christ (not believing beforehand) did Jesus refuse him? Jesus Christ did not say, “Yeah, well, you should have believed beforeI showed up. Too late now…” No, and the Lord pointed out that Thomas did believe. The acclamation and acknowledgment by Thomas was called “believing” by Jesus.

Some will object further and say, “Yeah, well, Thomas believed before he died. So, the reasoning goes that if Thomas had been in a chariot accident and had died before Jesus came to him, it would have been too late for Thomas.” Where in the scriptures, is it stated that there is a “time limit” or a “drop-dead date” or a “cut-off” for believing the truth? The teaching that one cannot be given the truth after death and after being resurrected is unscriptural nonsense; completely alien to the scriptures. As a matter of fact, most will not be made believers until their resurrection from the dead (see 1 Cor. 15:21-28).

Now, we have several facts:

A. God wills that all (not “some” or a “few”) will be saved and come to a realization of the truth. (1 Tim. 2:3-6)

B. All (not “some” or a “few”) will bow the knee and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God, The Father. (Phil. 2:9-11)

C. No man can confess that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:3)

D. That if one confesses this with one’s mouth and believes that God raised the Lord from the dead, one will be saved. (Rom. 10:9)

E. One can still believe even though one is shown. (John 20:25-29)

F. This life is not a scriptural “cut-off” for belief.

The acclamation that Jesus Christ is Lord, is made “to the glory of God, the Father”. I wonder what would bring God more glory, between the options of most people being forced to make this confession (like the poor kid who has his arm twisted behind his back by the school bully until he yells,“Uncle!!”) or this being a glad and happy confession made by those welcomed into the arms of their Savior and coming to a knowledge and making acknowledgment of what was done for him?

God is not satisfied with even one being lost; much less, the vast majority of humanity. Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, pictured this in the parable of the lost sheep. The Good Shepherd goes out and hunts to find the lost sheep. He doesn’t sit around, cross his fingers, and hope that the lost sheep finds his way back. Similarly, God through His Son is the Savior (not passive) of the world (a bad thing) and the pre-requisite to being saved, is first; being lost.

Thursday, December 14, 2017

His People?

“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matt. 1:21)

This article is being written a week before Christmas and the above verse will be recited, read, remembered, and sadly, glossed over as Christmas draws closer. I wonder if many, professing faith in the Savior, have actually contemplated what this verse is saying. Even as a young teenager, this verse gave me problems and caused me to think. You see, I was raised in the Southern Baptist denomination which believes that the Jewish people are God’s chosen people (“his people” by implication) and that due to their unbelief, stubbornness, and not getting with God’s program, will burn in eternal fire. I always wondered why God would choose such a stupid people. Then, I began to wonder what good it was to be God’s “chosen people” if the overwhelming majority will ultimately not be His people. If so few of God’s “chosen people” will be saved; how could the announcement of the Savior’s birth, truly be a “message of great joy”? Something was certainly amiss.

Does anyone remember, President Obama recently remarking, “ISIS is not getting stronger; we have containedthem.”? Now, I remember the incredulity (and rightfully so) that that comment was met with. Was it just wishful thinking? Was it an outright lie? Was it the comment of an insane person? Was it the comment of a person saying something he knew to be patently absurd but (knowing the ignorance of his audience) decided to make it anyway? My question is, “how do mainstream Christians, who believe that the Jews are God’s chosen people and believe that God will ultimately lose the overwhelming majority of “His people”; not regard the declaration in Matthew 1:21 in the same way as the claim made by Obama on the state of ISIS?”

As a percentage of the people of Israel, going back to the time of Abraham, through the years of Israel’s idolatry, stubbornness, rejection of the Messiah, and all the way to the present; how do we regard Matthew 1:21? Who would be generous enough to say that as many as 5% of all the Jews of all time will ultimately be saved from their sins; given the mainstream teaching from evangelical pulpits?

It is my conviction that people simply gloss over this verse and ultimately do not give it any thought whatsoever. The Christians who do think about it objectively (I think) have to be confused. If eternal torment is real and salvation from sin can only be rectified by “accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior” in this life, then God’s chosen people are in a hell of a predicament (forgive the pun)!

What solution do mainstream Christians use to legitimize the prophecy of Matthew 1:21? Most, simply ignore it, except as a part of the “Christmas story”. Some ignore the immediatecontext and assume that “his people” refers to Christians. This interpretation, however; is not possible given the immediate context, the context of Matthew’s gospel, or the context of the Hebrew scriptures. This is simply the basest form of replacement theology. This theological doctrine believes that God has chosen to renege on His promises to Israel, due to unbelief on their part, and that He has changed the definition of “His people” to be defined as “those people who make a wise decision to cooperate with Him in His plan”. Replacement Theology completely ignores and disregards the Apostle Paul’s national scope of Romans 11. Please take a look, below, at Romans 11:11-12:

“I say then, Have they (Israel) stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.12 Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?”

In addition, we are told by John (whose gospel was a history of the Lord’s earthly ministry) that Jesus was rejected by “His own”. John, in John 1:11 defines “His own” as those Jesus was commissioned to and who “received Him not”. This, by definition, negates Christians being the “His people” of Matthew 1:21).

Paul was commissioned by the risen and glorified Lord to carry the gospel of God’s grace to a different group of people; a people who God washed His hands of in Genesis 12. Has God abandoned His chosen people? Let’s see:

“And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the father's sakes. 29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. 30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: 31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. 32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.” (Rom.11:26-32)

Christians who hold fervently to the doctrine of salvation via free will jump through all kinds of hoops and do linguistic gymnastics and outright twisting of the plain reading of the passage to fit their false paradigm. How can you honestly read the above passage and reach the conclusion that:

a. Israel had an honest free will “opportunity” to accept their Messiah.

b. Israel’s rejection of their Messiah was due solely to their obstinence and unbelief

c. “they” (Israel) whose sins, God will take away; somehow become the “your” (Gentile believers) by God jumping ship and abandoning unbelieving Israel; only to save believers.

d. God being merciful to “all” somehow constitutes being merciful to a small remnant.

Words either mean things or they don’t. This is especially true when it comes to the authority of scripture and whether or not we can believe God’s promises. If God does not save all of His chosen people, what confidence can we have?

Christians, (who profess to believe scripture), are essentially,” religious agnostics” when it comes to what the scriptures actually say about not only unbelieving Israel, but unbelievers in general. Those, like me, who hold to the theology that God, through His Son, will eventually reconcile all of creation to Himself, are condemned for “making a mockery of God’s word”; when in reality, we are the only people taking Him as His word. This reconciliation has nothing to do with the actions of those being reconciled but was instead was the act of one which undid the act of another. This undoing of the condition of condemnation is just as universal as the act which brought the condemnation in the first place.

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless deathreigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. 15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. 17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) 18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” (Rom. 5:12-18)

So, what is the primary reason that Christians do not believe this? The simple answer is that God has not given (Eph. 2:8-9) them the faith to believe it. He will one day. Again, this part of God’s plan in concluding the “all” in unbelief, so that He can be merciful to “all”. Relatively speaking, the reason that most Christians do not believe that unbelieving Israel and unbelievers in general will be reconciled (notwithstanding God saying that He will reconcile them) is due to not studying diligently when it comes to the mistranslation of certain words in the Bible and Pagan concepts forced into the Bible and Christian doctrinal creeds.

The best example I can think of is how the Pagan concept of “hel!” has been adopted into the Christian religion via tradition and the acceptance of myth (2 Timothy 4:4) as fact. What affect has this had? The belief that all will not be reconciled back to the Father is a denial of the gospel. Let me say that again. The belief that all will not be reconciled back to the Father is a denial of the gospel. By very subtle means, belief in eternal torment or the slightly less heinous belief in annihilation causes one to believe that man either must cooperate in his own saving; (making Jesus’ work necessary but not enough) or it causes one to believe that God did not send His Son to die for all but only for an elect group.

Calvinism and Arminianism both disbelieve scripture and both disbelieve it because every doctrinal concept they view (judgment, predestination, salvation, justification, reconciliation, etc.) is seen through the lens of an unscriptural concept; “hel!”. However, the Western concept of “hel!” is completely foreign to scripture. It takes work, but, an honest, contextual word study will show that this concept of “hel!” is unfounded and unscriptural. Judgment, God’s judgment, is very much real but serves a practical purpose. Unfortunately, people tend to mistake His purposes for His goal.

As a friend of mine pointed out, “the Bible is a love letter, not a horror story.” Beyond that, it is the account of how God will magnify and glorify Himself through His Son, Who He gave a task which will be (and already is in the foreknowledge of God) completely successful. The good shepherd will not rest until all of the lost sheep are found and true to the work of a good Shepherd, will not depend on the lost sheep to find Him.

Friday, December 1, 2017

Might Be Saved: John 3:17

Does God leave things to “chance”? Are things God declares, ever uncertain? If God declares something, will it not come to pass? Is there even a chance that something God wills, will not come to pass?

“For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:17)

Well, the world “might” be saved, so, there must be a chance that it “might” NOT be saved, right?

We don’t generally speak this way today, but in earlier times, we did. Many, many times in the scriptures; when you see the word “might” used; it is not saying that something is uncertain. Instead, it is pointing out a causative that makes something else occur.

That is what we have in John 3:17. The causative for the world being saved is that God sent His Son to do something. The fact that the Son performed the prerequisite action; is causing the world to be saved. Adam did something that caused all to be brought under condemnation. He disobeyed. The Second Adam, Jesus Christ, was obedient and this obedience will cause all to receive justification unto life. See below:

“Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” (Rom. 5:18)

If we were to use might as it is used in John 3:17 in an everyday sort of situation, we may say:

“I have bought a ticket so that I might see the movie.”

There are over 400 occurrences of “might” being used in the scriptures. Sometimes, the word might has to do with strength, but that is a different Hebrew or Greek word. That word is sometimes translated as “strength”. It is the Greek word, “ICXYC”, “ischus”.

Now, since we are discussing the fact that the scriptures were not written in English, but written in Hebrew and Greek, it is important to know that in most occurrences of the word “might”, there was no Hebrew or Greek word. In other words, the English word “might” was inserted in order to help build an English sentence. “Might” was not there, in the originals. If you were to read John 3:17 in a very literal manner, it would read something like:

“For sent not God, His Son, into the world that He condemn the world, but that saved the world through Him.”

Of course, this makes for difficult reading. So, English words were added to the translations to aid the reader. Sometimes, translation additions, deletions, and alterations actually have the effect of causing more confusion or hiding the truth. This is certainly the case in which the English words, “hell”, “punishment”, “ever”, “forever”, “eternity”, “eternal”, and “everlasting” are found.

But, since we are reading in English, and the English translations do have the word “might”, let’s examine that word and whether or not, “might” means “maybe”, “possibly”, “hope so”, “maybe so” ect.

What I have found is that when the word is used in the perspective of things man does, it can mean that what follows “might”, may not occur. There are also many examples of “might” being used for things man does that are meant in the causative sense and not in the sense that it is uncertain. Interestingly, (but not surprisingly) when it comes to what God does or ordains, I can’t find instances where there is the possibility of what follows the word “might”, not coming to pass. Instead, it is a certainty.

If the reader would like to look at other scriptural examples in which “might” is used with respect to things God declares, does, ordains, directs, etc. please look up the following references:

Exodus 10:1, Lev. 26:45, Deut. 2:30; 4:36; 6:23, Joshua 11:20, 2 Sam. 17:14, 1 Kings 2:27; 12:15, 2 Kings 7:19; 22:17, 2 Chronicles 36:22, Ezra 1:1, Nehemiah 7:5, Psalms 68:18, Jeremiah 27:15, Jonah 4:6, Malachi 2:4, Matthew 1:22, Luke 8:10, John 3:17, Romans 3:26; 5:20, etc, etc, etc.

The above examples are not exhaustive, but a good sampling.

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

The Age of Accountability: A Loophole Created to Answer Bad Doctrine

You may be eagerly waiting for a verse of scripture which defines “the age of accountability”. There is no need to jump ahead to the end of the article; as I will not keep the reader in suspense. There is no such verse. The reader who has been raised in church is probably thinking at this point, “Well, there may not be a specified age in the scriptures, but certainly the scriptures would state that prior to a certain point in life; a child who dies, is guaranteed to go directly to Heaven!” Again, no, you will not find such a verse.

Preachers who believe that at least some (if not, “most”) of the descendants of Adam will be forever lost to God have attempted to provide people with palatable answers to tough questions. Sometimes it is a grieving parent or other family member, who has lost a child. The parent was raised in church themselves and having heard the teaching that all who “do not accept Jesus Christ” will go to hell are understandably terrified that their child; whom they loved with all their heart may be tormented forever and ever and ever and ever and ever. Sometimes, it is a curious Bible student who will ask such questions. I have often wondered if the preacher or theologian varies his answer depending on who is asking or depending on the audience. Many preachers will go on and on about eternal torment but suddenly sound like a “Universalist” at a funeral.

I can remember, as a child, hearing a preacher who was preaching about hell, and he described “eternity” in the following manner: “When you die, eternity begins (which is nonsense, but it gets worse). And if you can imagine a seagull that takes a single grain of sand, at a time, from the East Coast to the West Coast and back, after the seagull has moved all the sand from the East Coast to the West Coast and all the sand from the West Coast to the East Coast; that amount of time would be the first second in eternity!”

The question of where children, the mentally handicapped, and people who have never heard the gospel, “end up” has very likely been asked as long as the topic of “hell” has been taught. It may interest you to know that this is not a question asked by people in the Bible. But, if Jesus “preached more about hellthan He did about heaven’ (as so many preachers love to say, and which is also, incorrect), certainly some concerned parent would have asked Jesus Christ or pulled one of the disciples off to the side and asked them. But, no, the scriptures record no such conversation.

Those, like me, who believe that all will eventually be saved through the Plan God carried out through Christ Jesus are accused by many Christians of “inventing a way to God, other than His Son”. They will quickly refer to Christ’s words in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”, as if we disagree with that. I have yet to meet a believer in biblical universal reconciliation who does not believe that Jesus is the way. We simply, readily believe that passages like Philippians 2:10 are referring to everyone eventually coming to the truth, and gladly making acclamation of the fact that Christ Jesus is Lord, to the glory of the Father. 1Corinthians 12:3 says no one can make that acclamation apart from the Holy Spirit. Paul states in 1 Timothy 2:3-6 that God wills that all will be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.

In actuality, it is evangelical doctrines like the age of accountability which make “another way to God”. Think about it. I haven’t heard one Christian who believes in the age of accountability say that a child is not born with sin. They will also say that the only way to Heaven is to “accept Jesus”. Well, it is the only way, unless you fit into one of evangelical Christianity’s loopholes. With the age of accountability doctrine, they have created the loophole of “incapacity”. The child or mentally handicapped didn’t have the capacity to “accept Jesus”, therefore, incapacity is the way they “go to heaven”. Some have created a similar loophole for those who died never hearing of the gospel. For them, the loophole is “ignorance”.

Instead, I think it is safer to go with what the scriptures actually say. Below is one such statement from scripture:

“Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life” (Rom. 5:18)

I can’t think of one person group that the “all” of both clauses above, does not cover.

Does the Bible address the death of infants? King David lost an infant son, prior to the birth of Solomon. The two verses which record what David had to say about this are quite interesting.

“And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore, should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.” (2 Sam. 12:22-23)

When we read this passage, what is not said is as informative as what is said. David doesn’t say, “My child is in a better place.”, nor does he say, “My child is walking the streets of gold.”, nor does he say, “My child went to be with God.” Instead, David shows a contrast between his actions when the baby was still alive, versus, after the baby had died. He says that there is no point in fasting or praying now. He also says that the baby will not return to him, but “I will go to him.” Go to him, where? Surely, David is saying that he will go to heaven to be with his baby, right? To read that into the passage would be to take great liberties with the passage. There is no joy hinted at with David’s saying. As a matter of fact, that kind of language is used throughout the scriptures as a figure of speech for the death state. Throughout the Old Testament, when it speaks of someone who died, this kind of language is used. Thirty-six times, when someone died, the scripture states that person “slept with his fathers”. The writer of Genesis records that God spoke to Abram, saying:

“And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.”

When Jacob was near death, he wanted Joseph to bury him with his fathers and not in Egypt,

“But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace. And he said, I will do as thou hast said.”

When David’s baby died, he also didn’t wonder if the child were in heaven or hell. Why is that? Did the scriptures indicate that babies who die “go to heaven”? No, they do not. When studying the scriptures, no Israelite seems to have ever anticipated “going to heaven”. It’s true. Nowhere, in the Old Testament scriptures does an Israelite ever mention “going to heaven”. Also, in the Old Testament, there are no warnings of “going to hell”.

The Israelites who knew the scriptures and knew the “One true GOD” knew that the wages of sin, was not “eternity” in a place of torment. Adam and Eve were never warned about a place of “eternal torment” for disobeying God. Moses never warned the children of Israel of a place of eternal torment if they disobeyed the laws of God. The prophets never once warned the Kings of Israel or the priests about a place of eternal torment,not-even-once.

God warned Adam and Eve of death for disobeying the one commandment given to them. Moses warned the children of Israel of God removing His blessings from them, bringing judgments against them, and death for disobeying God’s laws. The prophets warned the Kings and priests of the same things. All the warnings were temporal and dealing with life and death.

The reason why David didn’t speak of his baby walking on the streets of gold, or worry that his baby may be tormented forever, was simply because unlike the Christians of today, David knew the scriptures. The false teachings of “immortality of the soul” and eternal torment have replaced scriptural teaching. Since death has been made to be just another form of life, or life in another place; the “wages of sin” being death, has lost all meaning.

In the New Testament, Jesus Christ spoke of resurrection. He comforted Martha, the sister of Lazarus, that he would be raised again at the last day. The apostle Paul encouraged believers not to grieve as those who have no hope. Paul also, did not talk about dead believers being alive in another place, having gone to heaven, walking the streets of gold, having “gone to be with the Lord”, or any such unbiblical thing. Instead, like Jesus Christ, Paul used the typical expression of sleep to talk about those who are dead. Below are some examples of sleep being used as a figure of speech for death:

“Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may wake him out of sleep.” (John 11:11)

“For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption.” (Acts 13:36)

“Behold, I shall show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,” (1 Cor. 15:51)

In what way can sleep be used figuratively for the death state, if when we die we are fully conscious, aware, experiencing bliss or pain, speaking, thinking, and any other activity people claim the dead are “doing”? What is the need of resurrection if we are actually alive when we are dead? It is utter Pagan, unscriptural, nonsense. It makes resurrection redundant and unnecessary. It makes death a friend, rather than an enemy (which the scriptures call it in 1 Corinthians 15:26).

We experience a type and shadow of death and resurrection every night and every morning; assuming that you aren’t currently suffering from insomnia. We go to sleep (a figure of death) and then we wake up (a figure of resurrection).

It is truly amazing to what extent “learned” theologians and pastors will go to attempt to make a biblical case for the age of accountability doctrine. Dr. John MacArthur does an excellent job of pointing out the buffoonery and twisting of scripture by the likes of Charismatic preachers like Kenneth Copeland and Joel Osteen, but he is no better when it comes to issues like the age of accountability (and other very important scriptural topics). There is absolutely zero scriptural support for it. It is actually a knee-jerk reaction to the horrible teaching that if an “un-elect” child dies (even a baby) that child will burn in helljust like any other unsaved (un-elect) individual. John MacArthur, deep down, knows how repugnant that teaching is; so making a philosophical argument, he clings to the false doctrine of the age of accountability, in the hopes that he can string enough out-of-context scriptures and logic together; to save God’s good name, from such malign.

MacArthur says, “So, I have always felt that somewhere around age twelve, the transition from childhood to adulthood takes place.”

The emphasis on “felt” and “twelve” is mine. “Felt” is a good word for MacArthur to use in this context, because much like the Charismatics who he beats up on, he is arguing from an emotional perspective here. He picks the age of ‘twelve” to be the approximate age in which the age of accountability may be found. Interestingly, MacArthur uses the ripped from the context Numbers 32:11 as a quasi-proof text for the age of accountability. See the verse below,

“None of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and upward shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob; for they did not follow Me fully” (Numbers 32:11)

If this passage is a proof of the age of accountability, God set the threshold to be age 20 for those who would not be allowed to enter the Promised Land. MacArthur, on the other hand, believes that age 12 is more accurate. Maybe kids are more mature today than they were back in the day of wandering in the wilderness. Of course, depending on when MacArthur remarked on this, perhaps that age is closer to 9 years old now. Who knows?

MacArthur grabs another passage to bolster his reason for using the age of 12, and this is an amazing feat of eisegesis and hermeneutic on his part.

“Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast” (Luke 2:41-42)

Rather than reading from the text and recognizing that it is setting the stage to describe the life of Jesus Christ and giving us the background for when, why, and how old He was when a certain key event took place; MacArthur interprets it this way:

“The Jews had identified about the age of twelve, and that was when Jesus was taken by His parents to Jerusalem for the Passover and the Feast.”1

Picture the ridiculousness if you will. Joseph looks at Mary and says, “You know, Jesus is twelve now and we really need to be thinking about his eternal destiny. We haven’t taken Him to the Temple, so we better take Him when we go this year; after all, we Jews have identified about the age of twelve…”

So, John MacArthur uses two passages of scripture which use two varying measuring points for a doctrine which neither passage is teaching; to support a doctrine that is non-existent in scripture. Dr. MacArthur says the following when it comes to infants and children who die prior to making a “decision for Christ”:

“But, I also believe, that up until that point of real saving faith, God in His mercy, would save that child, should that child die.”2

MacArthur is simply attempting to throw a coat of whitewash onto his very adamant views on salvation being entirely of God, but in his heart of hearts believing it would be unjust of God to allow a child to be lost. He has spoken and written at length about how it is of God’s choosing; who is elect for salvation. MacArthur adeptly hits all the pertinent and undeniable passages of scripture which state emphatically that it is not the sinner, but rather, God Who “in eternity past” (another nonsense phrase)determines whom He will harden and upon whom, He will have mercy. Read MacArthur’s words below about salvation and predestination:

“And I have often said, if you believe the bible, you believe in predestination. If you believe the Bible, you believe in God choosing who would be saved. If you believe the Bible, you believe that God determined who would be saved...”3

MacArthur apparently has no qualms with stating that before a sinner comes into being that God has predestined that sinner for either Heaven or hell; but when it comes to the actual question of what happens to a baby or child who dies, MacArthur’s conscience and emotion take control. On that philosophical point, he scrounges and scratches and rips any verse from context in the hopes of vindicating God from the vile idea that while a baby may be predestined by God to burn in hellfor eternity; it only becomes repugnant if the un-elect baby actually dies as a baby. If the baby, whom God chose to harden, grows to adulthood (or the age of 12 or 20) and then dies; it becomes not only just for God to torture the young man in hellfor evermore; but it becomes a part of the mystery of the goodness of God, at that point.

That is how depraved most Christians are when it comes to the ultimate outcome of God’s creatures. They have bought the lie that God will allow any to be forever lost. Due to the spurious mistranslation of a handful of words, they completely ignore the statements about God’s unending mercy, God’s will that all be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth, that anything God wills; He will do; that He charged His Son with taking away the sin of the world, that He charged His Son with finding that which was lost, that He will reconcile all things through the blood of the cross. No, none of these things will happen in the minds of most Christians who claim to believe the Bible. For the Calvinist, God’s love, His plan, and Christ’s work was only for the elect. For the Arminian, these passages are merely the whimsical hopes of a “god” who impotently wants, wills, desires, and hopes, for all to be reconciled to him; but is completely incapable of bringing it to pass; due to his plan’s self -inflicted wound of giving his creatures a free will which can override his will.

I think that MacArthur naturally recoils at the horror that God would torment a baby who dies without saving knowledge; but does so at the cost of his intellectual honesty. For MacArthur, in God’s sovereignty, all those who die prior to reaching this mythical “age of accountability” were the elect. He can’t find a verse for it; but…it just must be so!!! He has reasoned that all who have died before reaching this age of accountability are elect.

MacArthur is correct when it comes to God’s sovereignty in salvation. I do believe that God elects some to belief, during this life. But, MacArthur, and most other Calvinists make the mistake of assuming that only the elect will ultimately be saved. On that, he is incorrect. All the elect are saved; but not all the saved are elect. It is the job of the elect to bring in the rest. Who do you suppose believers will reign over when the knowledge of God is to fill the earth (Hab. 2:14)? God has allowed the elect to have a special role in bringing others to a knowledge of the truth. This is the “especial” (not “exclusive”) salvation spoken of by Paul in 1 Timothy 4:10.

God does not elect a handful and wash His hands of all the rest.

For those who have been troubled by the worry that a loved one died and wasn’t a believer; rest in the knowledge that God loves that loved one of yours, even more than you. While He may have not given him or her faith (Eph. 2:8-9) in this life, He will do so. Read the below verse and keep in mind that God is not impotent. What He decrees, will stand. His Word will not return to Him void. He will accomplish His good pleasure and we need not invent a “loophole” to have the confidence it will happen.

MacArthur, John, “The Age of Accountability” last modified on unspecified date.

https://www.gty.org/library/Articles/A264

2 MacArthur, John, “The Age of Accountability” last modified on unspecified date.