The Church f the Servant King Sterilgy Series SO_4_Eternal Security & Frequently Misunderstd Passages Part 5 We have previusly studied several passages that are used by thse whm I wuld categrize as insecurity teachers t attempt t supprt a view that a believer can lse his/her salvatin. A list f thse passages fllws: Apply t rewards and nt t salvatin 1 C 3:11-15; 9:24-27; 2 C 5:9-10; Cl 3:24-25 Warn believers f things they may lse 1 C 3:1-3; Cl 2:18 Warn unbelievers Rm 11:21 Applicable t the Jewish unbeliever during Matt 24:13, 44-51; 25:1-13, 41-46 Israel s last days Applicable t unregenerate teachers f the last 1 Tim 4:1-2; 2 Pe 2:22; Jude 17-19 days Affirm the Eternal Security f the Believer R 3:19-28; 4:1-5; 8:33-39; 1 C 3:11-15; Eph Affirm Gd s desire that the believer be assured f his/her salvatin 2:8-9; 2 Tim 2:11-13; Titus 3:5 1 Thess 1:5; Cl 2:2; He 6:17-18; 10:22; 1 Jn 5:13 In this lessn, we will be examining additinal special passages, the meaning f which have als been misunderstd t teach r imply that a believer culd lse his/her salvatin. Matthew 24:13 But he wh endures t the end shall be saved. Thse wh have been thrugh the Matthew Survey series with us shuld already be able t explain this passage. Its prper interpretatin is cntingent upn the dispensatinal setting cntained in its cntext. This passage demands that the reader be able t answer tw critical questins: What is the end? What type f salvatin? The cntext f this passage is set in a series f verses (24:4-31) in which Jesus is answering His disciples questins regarding the destructin f the temple in Jerusalem and signs assciated with His Secnd Cming and the end f the age? (See 24:3) Prphetic Timeline Prir t Any Church Age Revelatin Eternity Past Age f Gentiles Age f Israel Tribulatin (a.k.a.daniel s 70 th Week) Messianic Kingdm Reign n Earth Eternity Future Creatin f Man (date unknwn) (Ge 2:7) Abraham begins natin f Israel (c. 2200 B.C.) (Ge 12:1-3; 17:5) (Dan 7:1-7 cf. 9:27) Messiah s Sacrificial Death (Ge 3:15; Deut 18:15-18 cf. 21:23; Psa 22; Isa 53) 2 nd Advent (Dan 2:44-45; 7:11-14) (Deut 30:1-10; Psa 2; 96-99; Isa 2:3-5; 9:2, 4, 7; 11:10; 52:13; 53:12; Jer 23:5-8; 31:23-25; 31:31-34; Ezek 40:1-43:27; Dan 2:44-45; Micah 4:1-8; Zech 9:9-17; 14:9-21 plus many thers) Final Judgment (Dan 12:2-3) Jesus based His respnse upn the Scriptural Truth that He had in his frame f reference regarding Israel s future as a chsen peple f Gd such as Daniel 9:24-27; 11:31; 12:11 and Haggai 2:22. 1
In Daniel 9:24-27, we find a prphecy related t the number f years that remain fr the Age f Israel until the beginning f the Messianic Kingdm n earth ruled by Jesus Christ. On the basis f that passage in particular, Jesus knew that He fulfilled the prtin regarding Messiah the Prince (v. 25) and the sixty-nine weeks (483 years) that extended frm the ging frth f the cmmand t restre and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince (v. 25). He als knew that after His death, there wuld be ne additinal week f years (seven years) f the Age f Israel als knwn as the Tribulatin since the ttal number f years predicted by Daniel fr the Age f Israel was 490 years (v. 24 cf. vv. 25-27). [Nte: ne week equals seven years]. N dubt, the disciples equated Jesus predictin in Matthew 24:2 regarding the Temple t Daniel s prphecy in Daniel 9:26 that the city and the sanctuary wuld be destryed by the prince wh is t cme. Ca. 444 B.C. Decree f Artaxerxes T Restre & Rebuild (Neh. 2:2) 69 Weeks Ca. A.D. 33 1 Week Secnd Cming (Hag 2:2) Messiah the Prince Is Cut Off (Dan 9:25-26) Antichrist destrys The city and the Sanctuary The Abminatin f Deslatin (Dan 9:26-27) Daniel 9:24-27 explained: The Hebrew wrd fr week is shabua and literally means a seven. Therefre, the meaning f seventy weeks in Daniel 9:24 is seventy times seven, i.e. 490. We can supprt the interpretatin f the 490 as a reference t 490 years based upn the fllwing: Leviticus 25:8 equates seven Sabbaths f years with seven times seven years r frty-nine years. Seven (every seventh year was a Sabbatical year) times seven Sabbaths equals 49 years (every 49 th year was a special Sabbatical year f Jubilee). The idea is that a Sabbath day ccurs nce a week and Gd als established a Sabbatical year every seventh year. Therefre, there was a precedent in the Msaic Law prir t Daniel fr equating a week with seven years. Daniel had been thinking in terms f years and multiples f years earlier in the chapter (Dan 9:1 cf. 9:2). Daniel had been reflecting upn Jeremiah s prphecy regarding the duratin f the Babylnian captivity f which Daniel was a part in Jeremiah 25:11, 12 and 29:10-14. Daniel knew that the Babylnian captivity was based upn a vilatin f the Sabbatical year as indicated by Leviticus 26:32-35. When cmbined with Jeremiah s prphecy f seventy years f captivity, Daniel knew that the perid f captivity in Babyln 2
was related t Israel s failure t bserve the Sabbatical year ver a 490 year perid prir t the Babylnian captivity. Therefre, the revelatin t Daniel thrugh the angel Gabriel f seventy weeks cnstituted a secnd chance f srts fr Israel. The seventy years f Daniel 9:24 began with the destructin f the Temple in 586 B.C. and ended with the rebuilding f the Temple in 516 B.C. The Jews began ging int Babylnian captivity in 605 B.C. and began returning t the land in 538 B.C. after Cyrus decree. Hwever, the Temple represented the spiritual life f Israel, s the seventy year perid f captivity is viewed by mst cnservative schlars t be the years 586 t 516 B.C. The cmmand t restre and rebuild Jerusalem in verse 25 is best understd t refer t the decree f Artaxerxes in circa 444 B.C. in which he authrized Nehemiah t rebuild the walls f Jerusalem (Neh 2:2). The end f the 69 week perid ( seven weeks and sixty-tw weeks ) f verse 25 is A.D. 33 r the year f Christ s death based upn the Jewish lunar calendar f 360 days. The actual terminal event wuld have therefre ccurred in April f A.D. 32 r 33 depending upn whether ne accepts the date f Artaxerxes decree as 444 r 445 B.C. In verse 25, the separatin f the 69 weeks int a perid f 7 weeks (49 years) plus 62 weeks (434 years) is best explained as fllws: It tk a perid f years t rebuild the city and walls after Artaxerxes decree and verse 25 might suggest 49 years. The last bk in the OT (i.e. Malachi) is ften dated in clse prximity t a perid 49 years after 444-445 B.C., i.e. circa 400 B.C. The end f the 69 week (483 years) perid is prphesied in verse 26 and is assciated with the cut ff f the Messiah. This is best understd t be a prphecy f the Messiah s death n the Crss. In verse 26, the peple f the prince wh is t cme has been a difficult phrase t interpret as well as the last half f verse 26. The best explanatin that I have at this pint is that it is a reference t the destructin f the city f Jerusalem during the last half f the Tribulatin by the frces f the Antichrist. This seems t be supprted by Revelatin 11:2 and Zechariah 14:1-3 which prphesy at least a partial destructin f Jerusalem during the Tribulatin. Zechariah 14:1-3 indicates that the city is in existence althugh it is vertaken by war at the very mment that Christ cmes back at His Secnd Advent. This wuld explain the phrase in verse 26 that till the end f the war deslatins are determined. The he f verse 27 is the Antichrist and refers t its antecedent in verse 26, i.e. the prince wh is t cme. He is the future enemy f Gd s wn identified by Jesus in Matthew 24:15-26. The Antichrist makes a cvenant with the many wh are unbelieving Jews wh enter int alliance with the Antichrist. The cvenant is fr a perid f ne week r seven years. Verse 27 indicates that the Antichrist will put an end t sacrifices and fferings. This is the abminatin f deslatin that Jesus referred t in Matthew 24:15 after which wuld ccur the great tribulatin per Matthew 24:21. The same divisin f the seven year Tribulatin int tw halves t include the wrship f the beast is fund in Revelatin 7:14; 12:14; 13:1-18; 14:11; 16:2; 19:20 and 20:4. In Matthew 24:4ff, Jesus is explaining things that will precede His Cming. In Matthew 24:6, He says the end is nt yet. The famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in Matthew 24:7are mre fully described in Revelatin (e.g. Re 6:1-8; 8:5-13; 9:13-21; 16:2-21). 3
The wrd srrws in verse 8 literally means birth pangs and refers t the perid f intensified travail that the earth will g thrugh just prir t the dawn f the Messianic restratin f the earth at Jesus Secnd Advent. The earth is experiencing birth pangs tday (R 8:22); hwever, they will be intensified just prir t delivery f the restred earth f the Millennium. The lve f many will grw cld (v. 12) refers t the cwardly acts f believers t preserve themselves during the pressures f the Tribulatin. Many will accept the mark f the beast and even turn against ther believers. On the ther hand, it is very likely that sme wh have accepted the mark f the beast as unbelievers and wh later becme believers will use their mark t btain fd, clthing, etc. and thereby prvide assistance t believers wh have nt accepted the mark f the beast. The ne wh endures t the end (v. 13) is a reference t the believer wh makes it t the end f the Tribulatin withut being killed. It has n reference t the Church Age believer and t interpret it in that manner is t vilate all cnsideratin f cntext. Ntice in verse 14 that the Gspel that will be preached is the gspel f the kingdm. During the Tribulatin, peple will be evangelized lking frward t the Secnd Cming f the Messiah Wh died n the Crss. The Age f Israel will end with the Secnd Cming f Christ. There will be n Church Age believers n earth during the last 7 years f the Age f Israel; therefre, this passage has n applicatin t the CA believer. The Rapture will have remved all CA believers frm the earth. Galatians 5:4 Yu have becme estranged frm Christ, yu wh attempt t be justified by the law; yu have fallen frm grace. This verse is ften quted t teach that a Christian wh cmmits sin falls frm grace. Thse wh interpret this verse in such a fashin interpret fall frm grace t mean that the believer lses his/her salvatin. Hwever, Galatians was written circa A.D. 48 shrtly after the Apstle Paul received the mystery dctrines f the newly inaugurated Church Age (Eph 3:9). Paul s new teaching was directed t a new entity that cnsisted f bth Gentile and Jew, i.e. the Bdy f Christ. This new teaching was being challenged by a grup knwn as the Judaizers. The Judaizers taught a wrks riented means f salvatin that included keeping the Msaic Law. The Galatian grup f believers were in danger f being seduced by the Judaizers t depart frm Paul s teaching f faith alne in Christ alne fr salvatin (3:2-3). Salvatin by means f keeping the Law (r any ther frm f wrks) and salvatin by grace thrugh faith alne in Christ alne are mutually exclusive teachings. Anyne wh returns t the Law as a means f staying saved has fallen frm the grace teaching assciated with the Church Age truth f salvatin by faith alne in Christ alne. Jhn 15:6 If anyne des nt abide in Me, he is cast ut as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and thrw them int the fire, and they are burned. Sme try t interpret this passage t mean that a believer can lse his/her salvatin. Hwever, Jhn has a tendency t emphasize truths cmmn t bth the believer f the Messianic Age and the Church Age believer (e.g. the teaching in Jhn 14-17 regarding the Hly Spirit s indwelling f the believer). We knw that the Church Age believer will underg a judgment f fire at the Bema Seat Judgment (1 C 3:11-15 cf. Rm 14:10). We als knw that believers can underg divine discipline in time prir t judgment at the Bema Seat in eternity (1 C 11:30; 1 Jn 5:16). Branches (believers) wh d nt abide in Christ (15:2) are taken away, i.e. the sin unt death. 4
Jesus is nt teaching smething different than what He taught in Jhn 6:39-40; 10:27-28; 17:11-12. Clssians 1:23a If indeed yu cntinue in the faith, grunded and steadfast, and are nt mved away frm the hpe f the gspel... A better translatin f this passage wuld be since yu cntinue in the faith This translatin is based upn the fact that the if is a 1 st class cnditin if in the Greek. The 1 st class cnditin f if in the Greek f the New Testament is the Greek prepsitin + the indicative md. Paul was nt casting dubt upn whether the Clssians had been crucified with Christ r had risen with Him. Rather, Paul is affirming the certainty f that fact. 5