01.02. Part 1.2
The parable of the talents My comments on this passage is what gave you concern about my teaching on the Judgment Seat, and I have saved it to last. Your feeling is that the “unprofitable servant” is an unbeliever, and that “outer darkness” pictures hell. I will now expound this passage, and it is hoped that in light of all of the foregoing commentary you can more readily see the meaning that I feel matches the parable. For it is as when a man, going into another country, called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one; to each according to his several ability; and he went on his journey. Straightway he that received the five talents went and traded with them, and made other five talents. In like manner he also that received the two gained other two. But he that received the one went away and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money. Now after a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and maketh a reckoning with them. And he that received the five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: lo, I have gained other five talents. His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will set thee over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy lord. And he also that received the two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: lo, I have gained other two talents. His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will set thee over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy lord. And he also that had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou didst not sow, and gathering where thou didst not scatter; and I was afraid, and went away and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, thou hast thine own. But his lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I did not scatter; thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the bankers, and at my coming I should have received back mine own with interest. Take ye away therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him that hath the ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken away. And cast ye out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 25:14-30 ASV) The parable opens with the picture of a master giving his servants certain goods, over which they should exercise responsibility while the master was to be away on a long journey. Are unbelievers granted spiritual gifts and responsibilities while Jesus is away? Does the New Testament recognize unbelievers as Christ’s servants, or as His enemies?
“Now after a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and maketh a reckoning with them.” (Matthew 25:19). This surely portrays the Lord’s return and his reckoning at the Judgment Seat, according to works. The servants who received two and five talents (measures of money) had gained some spiritual profit for their lord through the exercise of their God given abilities (Matthew 25:15). To these profitable servants their lord stated “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21, Matthew 25:23) Further, their lord promised them increased responsibility in the lord’s sphere at that time (the millennium). This would picture rulership in the coming Kingdom based upon current faithfulness (2 Timothy 2:12; James 1:12; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Revelation 2:10; Revelation 2:26; Revelation 3:11; Revelation 3:21).
Also, their lord told them to “enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” (Matthew 25:21, Matthew 25:23). This joy would picture the salvation of the soul, the utmost satisfaction to the rewarded believer, and the “entry” would signify entry into the blessed Kingdom realm of the Lord Jesus. The “reckoning” (Matthew 25:19) of the lord with his servants speaks of the Judgment Seat of Christ, and the parable indicates all three servants are dealt with at this “reckoning.” Do unbelievers appear at the Judgment Seat of Christ? The unprofitable servant knew that his lord had an expectation of profit from him, yet hid his “talent”, the entrusted goods and responsibilities, “in the earth” (does this perhaps picture letting our responsibility as believers be buried by the things of this world?) His lord called him “wicked and slothful”, and indicated that the servant could at least have had some minimal return on the investment if he had tried. The responsibility was taken from him, indicating loss of rulership and responsibility in the coming age due to lack of responsibility demonstrated in this age, and then the unprofitable servant was cast into “outer darkness”, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
I submit that “outer darkness” signifies a position outside of the Lord’s coming glorious Kingdom, and the “weeping and gnashing of teeth” signifies the loss of satisfaction to the soul [it may also indicate severe regret and self-blame]. The position outside of the Kingdom would be in contrast to the entry “into the joy of thy lord” (Matthew 25:21, Matthew 25:23) awarded the faithful servants, and the “weeping and gnashing of teeth” would be in contrast to the “joy”, the blessing experienced in the Kingdom. The theme of the entire parable is faithfulness in responsibility. If the unprofitable servant stands for an unbeliever, then this teaching by Jesus indicates one becomes “lost” by not carrying out responsibilities for God, and one becomes “saved” by carrying out such responsibilities. Such an interpretation of the failed servant, then, introduces the significant problem of salvation by works. The teaching was given by Jesus to provoke His disciples to be diligent in serving their Lord, with the promise that proper service will be positively rewarded at the Judgment Seat, but slothful service will result in a loss graphically depicted by verse 30.
There are other verses that constitute warnings to believers, but I believe we have covered this topic sufficiently to prove the point. If you do not feel these warnings are for genuine believers, then our discussion of this matter cannot possibly proceed further. I sincerely feel that honest exegesis leads me to conclude these verses must apply to believers, with the negative possibilities to be interpreted as losses or penalties that a genuine believer may suffer, short of loss of eternal salvation.
FORGIVENESS OF SINS A discussion of this topic is probably needed in order to fully confirm the issues explained above. The forgiveness of our sins by God is included in the New Covenant (Matthew 26:28; Hebrews 10:17), and it is only natural for one to wonder how forgiveness by God fits into the picture of temporal penalties.
Usually, two Greek verbs are used in the New Testament for both God’s forgiveness of man and man’s forgiveness of man. The two words are aphiemi (Strong’s # 863) and charizomai (Strong’s #5483). Aphiemi, following its root words, carries a basic meaning of “to send away.” Charizomai is defined by Strong’s as “to grant as a favor”, and is translated as forgiveness in some cases.
Many teachers like to use the idea of “release” as an equivalent. It is clear that we have eternal forgiveness in Christ’s redemption: “in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.” (Ephesians 1:7 ASV) This eternal forgiveness through redemption releases us from the penalty of eternal death, as already discussed. In time, however, the Bible reveals some other aspects to the matter of forgiveness, which will be discussed below.
Concerning God’s forgiveness of our sins, Scripture shows that there is initial forgiveness and there is also repetitive (or continuing) forgiveness. The risen Christ commissioned His disciples to preach the gospel, declaring that “and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” (Luke 24:47 ASV). When a person accepts this good news, then he receives the forgiveness of sins he committed (as an unbeliever) up to that point in time. This view is confirmed by Peter’s assessment of a typical believer who is not maturing, where Peter states that part of the believer’s problem is that he has “forgotten the cleansing from his old [former] sins.” (2 Peter 1:9 ASV) Following this initial forgiveness at the moment of regeneration, the Bible clearly reveals that there is further, or repetitive, forgiveness that can be experienced by the believer after regeneration. Note just the following examples:
“And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12 ASV, part of the “Lord’s prayer” taught to the disciples). “And whensoever ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any one; that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” (Mark 11:25 ASV) “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9 ASV) The verses above also demonstrate that there is a type of post-regenerational forgiveness that is conditional (if the believer confesses, or if the believer forgives those who offend him, then forgiveness is granted to him by God). Does this mean that if the believer does not fulfill these conditions he then stands, once again, unforgiven and under God’s eternal condemnation? No, because to accept this view would violate God’s principle of eternal salvation by grace, not works. To understand this conditional forgiveness, we must see that there is more complexity to the matter of forgiveness than just initial forgiveness and repetitive forgiveness.
One helpful explanation is offered by Wendell E. Miller in his book entitled, Forgiveness: The Power and the Puzzles. In this book, Miller categorizes man’s forgiveness by God into four kinds:
Initial judicial forgiveness -- release from the penalty of sins committed before saving faith and justification -- dependent upon saving faith
Initial fellowship forgiveness -- release from alienation of fellowship caused by sins committed before saving faith and justification -- also dependent upon saving faith
Repetitive judicial forgiveness -- release from the penalty of sins committed after saving faith and justification -- unconditional (dependent only upon the faithfulness of our Advocate, Jesus Christ)
Repetitive fellowship forgiveness -- release from alienation of fellowship by sins committed after justification -- dependent upon our confession of our sins
Admittedly, Scripture does not describe forgiveness with labels such as “judicial” and “fellowship”. Yet, the conclusion of many Bible students is that there seems to be one aspect (or category) of forgiveness that deals with the believer’s eternal and positional standing before God and another aspect that seems related to our experience of temporal fellowship with Him.
Wendell Miller sees God’s “judicial forgiveness” of sins as a release from the penalty of sin. I agree with this idea, but would further state that it is a release from the penalty for our sins (eternal separation from God), but not a release from temporal, lesser penalties which God may call for upon His disobedient children in His righteous governance. This judicial forgiveness is initially granted to the unsaved sinner at the moment of belief.
Judicial forgiveness is thereafter kept vitally effective for us on a repetitive basis by Jesus Christ as our Advocate and High Priest. Christ is seen as our Advocate (parakletos, Greek) in 1 John 2:1 : “My little children, these things write I unto you that ye may not sin. And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Miller points out that the only condition here for Christ’s work of advocacy is our sin. As our Advocate, Christ is our legal representative presenting our case before the Father. Whenever we sin, He obtains continuing judicial forgiveness for us based upon His work on the cross. His function of advocacy for forgiveness in First John is essentially the same as His priestly work in Hebrews where He is the mediator of the New Covenant (Hebrews 8:6), which guarantees God’s forgiveness of our sins (Hebrews 8:12). In Romans, Christ is also portrayed as the One who maintains our eternal, positional justification by His action of intercession at the right hand of God (Romans 8:33-34).
It is important that we understand what is accomplished through confession and what is not. 1 John 1:9 says that “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Firstly, due to our confession God can release us from the alienation that our sin causes in our fellowship with a holy God. Confession restores the fellowship.
Secondly, He cleanses away the stain caused by the defilement of our sin. Although we may subjectively feel the “stain” of our unrighteous actions, it is God’s view of this stain upon the “garment” (Jude 1:23; Revelation 3:4) of our conduct that is the real concern here. The stain of sin upon us is seen by a holy God and hinders our fellowship with Him. Our action of repentance and confession is our part of the cleansing process, and, once cleansed by God, we can again have true fellowship with Him (2 Corinthians 6:16-18; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Hebrews 9:22; Hebrews 10:22; James 4:8).
There is another benefit of this cleansing, however, that appears to point to Christ’s evaluation of us at His Judgment Seat. When speaking of the coming day of the Lord, Peter admonished the recipients of his letter: “Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness, . . . Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for these things, give diligence that ye may be found in peace, without spot, and blameless in his sight.” (2 Peter 3:11; 2 Peter 3:14 ASV) The Greek word here for without spot is aspilos [Strong’s #784], which is used figuratively in these verses for moral conduct. When Christ returns and we are summoned to His Bema, how can we be found spotless by Him? Surely, throughout our earthly experience as a believer we have many times had our “garment spotted by the flesh” (Jude 1:23, ASV), when we yielded to the lusts of our flesh. Also, there have been times when we loved the world and indulged ourselves in its pleasures, rather than obeying God’s command “to keep oneself unspotted from the world.“ (James 1:27 ASV)
How can these spots be washed away? The way to be found spotless by Christ at His coming is to confess our sins now. If we confess our sins, agreeing with God’s condemnation of them, then He will “cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) Later in his first epistle, the apostle John specifically urges us to be cleansed in preparation for the Lord’s appearing: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him: for we shall see him just as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth [cleanses] himself, even as he is pure.”(1 John 3:2-3 KJV)
We believe, therefore, that sins which are repented of and confessed now will not be judged with a specific negative judgment at Christ’s Judgment Seat. Conversely, if we do not confess our sins now, these sins will be manifested at the Bema and recompensed (1 Timothy 5:24; 2 Corinthians 5:10). From the comments above, we can realize that there is much benefit for us in the confession of our sins. Yet, we must understand that such confession does not resolve all the problems that our sins create for us. Confession does not necessarily remove from us the natural consequences of our sins. For example, if a Christian commits a crime he may be imprisoned. God is not obligated to miraculously release such a believer from prison just because he confesses his sin.
Also, even though we confess a sin we still may receive some temporal discipline from our heavenly Father while here on earth. Consider David’s sin with Bathsheeba. When Nathan the prophet confronted David regarding his sins in this matter (2 Samuel 12:1-13), David was truly repentant and his confession recorded in Psalms 51:1-19 is one of the great Bible passages on confession and repentance. Yet, even after David’s confession the Lord spoke through Nathan of a negative penalty that God had determined appropriate for that situation: “And David said unto Nathan, ‘I have sinned against Jehovah.’ And Nathan said unto David, ‘Jehovah also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of Jehovah to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die’” (2 Samuel 12:13-14 ASV).
Notice that Nathan assured David that there was forgiveness from God, and, hence, David would not die. Finally, it should be noted that although no specific negative judgment should befall us at Christ’s Judgment Seat for confessed sins, we could still experience a loss of positive rewards that potentially could have been gained if we had proven faithful.
Aside from the need of confession in order to receive forgiveness, it is very interesting that God has another requirement in order for us to receive His forgiveness. We must forgive others before God can forgive us. Note the following Scriptures:
“Forgive and ye will be forgiven.” (Luke 6:37, KJV) “And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12 ASV) “And whensoever ye stand praying, forgive, if you have aught against any one; that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespassses.” (Mark 11:25-26 ASV) In his book, Forgiveness: The Power and the Puzzles, Wendell Miller describes two types of forgiveness that relate to the believer’s forgiveness of others. Here are his summary comments:
Vertical forgiveness -- unconditional release to God through prayer of the offended believer’s supposed right to get even -- release of the penalty that he might want to inflict on the offender
Horizontal forgiveness -- conditional (dependent upon repentance of the offender) release from alienation caused by the offender’s offense
Vertical forgiveness is upward in direction -- man unconditionally (without the necessity of the offender’s repentance) releases to God whatever penalty he might want to inflict, or might erroneously think that he has a right to inflict, on the offender. Horizontal forgiveness is horizontal in direction -- in response to the offender’s repentance, the offended person grants forgiveness to the offender - releasing him from the alienation caused by his offense. . . . Fellowship with God is dependent upon the faithful obedience to God’s commands -- practicing both vertical forgiveness and horizontal forgiveness.
Vertical forgiveness is seen in Mark 11:25 and horizontal forgiveness is seen in Luke 17:3. Our concern here, however, is not the study of these two types of forgiveness, but rather how God’s forgiveness is predicated upon our willingness to forgive others.
It is apparent from the Scriptures that God’s temporal forgiveness of believers is dependent upon their willingness to forgive others. Such a matter does have an effect upon the believer’s prospect at the Judgment Seat of Christ, and I believe this is illustrated by the following parable in Matthew: Then came Peter and said to him, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? until seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times; but, Until seventy times seven. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, who would make a reckoning with his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, that owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not wherewith to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And the lord of that servant, being moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. But that servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants, who owed him a hundred shillings: and he laid hold on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay what thou owest. So his fellow-servant fell down and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay that which was due. So when his fellow-servants saw what was done, they were exceeding sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord called him unto him, and saith to him, Thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou besoughtest me: shouldest not thou also have had mercy on thy fellow-servant, even as I had mercy on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due. So shall also my heavenly Father do unto you, if ye forgive not every one his brother from your hearts. (Matthew 18:21-35 ASV)
Here Jesus was plainly teaching Peter that forgiven sinners should forgive their offending brothers. In Matthew 18:32-33, the lord (Christ) of the servant (the believer) called the servant to account as respects his unforgiveness. This is a picture of Christ calling us to account at the Bema. Since the servant had no mercy on the fellow servant, “his lord was wroth, and delievered him to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due” (Matthew 18:34). The unforgiving servant had already been released from his debt (Matthew 18:27), yet now the lord handed him over to the tormentors until repayment was made. This is a perfect illustration of the truth concerning forgiveness of the believer. On the one hand, our judicial forgiveness has been accomplished for us eternally by Christ’s redemption (Matthew 18:27; Ephesians 1:7), and it is kept effective by Christ’s advocacy. On the other hand, our fellowship with God is disrupted by sin (the sin of unforgiveness of others in the parable, Matthew 18:30), and we can experience temporal penalties as a consequence (Matthew 18:34).
Notice that the judgment of the tormentors is implied as being temporary (“till he should pay”, Matthew 18:34). The temporal penalty here is graphically portrayed as torment. Although this is a parable and the term “tormentor” [“torturer” in some versions] is not strictly literal, this picture was chosen by the Lord to convey a grave reality. This parable should make us very sober and concerned about the matter of forgiving others. We are warned that this consequence may befall us (Matthew 18:35). Therefore, we should have mercy towards others (Matthew 18:33) since an action of mercy now will affect Christ’s judgment upon us at His Judgment Seat. “For judgment is without mercy to him that hath showed no mercy; mercy glorieth against [“triumphs over”, NASB] judgment” (James 2:13 ASV).
I hope the discussion above shows how forgiveness of a believer’s sins fits into the matter of temporal, governmental judgment by God, particularly as respects the coming Judgment Seat. Finally, please note that none of the severe judgments we have discussed here should be confused with the erroneous Roman Catholic doctrine of “Purgatory.” The reward passages clearly teach that the believer’s bad works can be subject to recompense by the righteous Judge. However, through confession to God, the disciple can be cleansed by Jesus’ blood and any specific negative recompense avoided. The Catholic doctrine severely perverts this truth by claiming that the Christian himself must “atone” for his sins in order to effect his cleansing. Further, the doctrine of Purgatory claims that good deeds can be done, or money given, to the Roman Catholic church by the still living “faithful” in order to lessen the intensity or duration of punishment upon souls suffering in Purgatory. This proposition is patently unscriptural. For further commentary on this matter, you may consult the “Note on Purgatory” in D. M. Panton’s book, The Judgment Seat of Christ, beginning on page 67. I can give you a copy of this book if you would like to have one.
REASONS FOR REWARD FOR THE BELIEVER
Besides demonstrating the faithfulness of God in His righteous governance, one may ask the question of why both positive and negative rewards are held out as incentives to the believer. Firstly, the prospect of future reward should act as a strong motivation to holiness for the believer. A clear view of the reality of both positive and negative rewards to be realized in the future can surely act as such a stimulus. It has done so in my life and the lives of others I have known. Without a clear view, however, believers are not so motivated to live in holiness, although some surely do solely on the basis of love for their Lord.
Further, when the positive rewards only are seen, the negative reward possibility loses its power to generate a true “fear of the Lord”, which is a genuine deterrent to sin (Proverbs 16:6 b). Thus, the lack of proper teaching on these truths is certainly a prime cause for the carnality and immaturity of today’s believers as a whole. On this point, I would like to quote D. M. Panton, a godly English minister who lived much earlier in this century and taught these truths: The denial of these solemn truths paralyses and destroys some of the most powerful stimulants God has supplied to His Church in its deadening struggle with the world, the flesh, and the devil; it empties of all horror the dread warnings to the backslider, and leaves him, if it does not put him, in a drugged sleep; and it drives privilege over the precipice of responsibility - a disaster of which the Church has had direct warning; - “continue thou in His goodness, otherwise thou also shalt be cut off” (Romans 11:22).
Secondly, while we are in our earthly journey we are being tested by God to see which believers are suited for future responsibility, as illustrated by the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30) , the parable of the minas (Luke 19:11-27) and other Scriptures (Luke 16:1-12, for example). I again quote Panton in this regard:
Officers are required for the administration of a kingdom: so God has deliberately interposed a prolonged period between the two advents, that our Lord might be enabled to so test His servants, in His absence, as to discover which are fitted for positions of responsibility and trust at His return The Nobleman, before He departed, laid plans for the selection of officers to aid Him in the administration of the Kingdom; He devised a plan for bringing to light who those officers are on His return; this plan is in operation at the present moment, purposely so contrived as to reveal individual capacity for office, and personal fitness for trust; and - most impressive of all - the Long Journey is now nearly over, and at any moment the investigation may begin. May the Lord bless you as you consider these things and as you seek Him and His truth.
Yours in Christ,
Tom Finley
[THIS LETTER IS REPRODUCED AS ORIGINALLY WRITTEN. HOWEVER, SOME IMPROVEMENTS AND CLARIFICATION IN THE MATTER OF THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS HAVE SINCE BEEN MADE BY MR. FINLEY. THESE IMPROVEMENTS MAY BE READ IN CHAPTER 8 OF THE BOOK ENTITLED “WORTHY OF THE KINGDOM” BY MR. FINLEY.]
"Permission is granted to quote, copy or distribute material in this book, but such material may not be sold without the express permission of the author. Proper credit should be given as respects title and author. All copyright laws should be observed."
Enclosure EXCERPT FROM THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS BY G. H. LANG :
ETERNAL SECURITY The strength of the case for the doctrine of the eternal security of the believer is not always realized, and some of its grounds are not understood by all.
1. Justification. This security is involved in the nature of the justifying act of God. To justify is the act of a judge when he declares that, having examined the charge brought against the accused , he finds him not guilty before the law. The ground upon which God declares righteous the sinner who puts faith in Christ is that Christ as his Surety satisfied the demands of the law against the sinner. The atoning death of Christ which satisfied the demands of the law is imputed to, or put to the credit of , the sinner who puts his reliance upon the Surety as having suffered on his behalf the highest penalty imposed by the law. The actual offender is reckoned in Divine law to have expiated his offences by having died for them, because his Substitute died for them. “I through the law died unto [out of reach of] the law . . . I have been crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:19). See Note at end. The question , therefore, as it concerns the sinner, is for how many of his sins did Christ by His death accept responsibility and render satisfaction for? If it was for those sins only which he had committed up to the time when he first placed his faith on Christ and was justified by that faith, then, as to his future from the hour, one of two features must characterize it, namely, either he must never sin again, or, if he sin even once, then he must suffer eternal death, since, in the case supposed, Christ did not bear these post-conversion sins and no atonement can ever avail in respect thereof, for Christ will not die again (Romans 6:9-10; Hebrews 7:16). In other words: in the case now postulated, sin after conversion must inevitably cancel salvation for most believers. 1 For all these Christ might as well not have died for their pre-conversion sins because they will be eternally lost for their post-conversion sins. As regards men who died before Christ died, and who had looked forward by faith to the coming Redeemer, all their sins of their whole life were past when He died for them. As regards men who were alive when Christ died, some of their sins were past and some were future. As regards those born since He died, and who have believed on Him, all their sins of their whole life were future when he died. By what process or to what purpose could a division have been made by Divine counsel and the Surety have been made responsible for a part only of their sins? In all of these cases if He did not accept and discharge the full legal penalty of all their sins then he did not provide salvation for any one: the whole stupendous transaction would be void and valueless. But inasmuch as He did in fact satisfy the law of God in respect of the sins of the whole life of the one who relies on Him, therefore the acquittal by the Judge of all the earth, that is to say, His declaration that the accused is not guilty before the law, sets him free from the eternal penalty due to the sins of his whole life.
Further, it is deeply important that (according, e.g. to the law of England) when a person has been tried for a crime and acquitted he cannot be again tried for the same offence or offences. Fifty years ago there was a barrister famed for his success in defending criminals. He relates that on one occasion he secured the acquittal of a man charged with murder, and afterwards did not cease to be sorry, for the culprit boasted, that, though his lawyer got him off, his was the hand that did the crime. Yet the man was secure from the law as regards that offence because he had been tried and (wrongly) declared not guilty. In like manner Christ declared that the one who believes God’s message of salvation “cometh not into judgment, but hath passed out of death into life” (John 5:24). For him the door of the condemned cell has been opened and he has stepped out into life and liberty. “There is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Who shall impeach again God’s chosen ones, seeing that God Himself has declared them to be righteous in law? (Romans 8:33). So long as the work of the cross retains its virtue before God, so long will the righteousness imputed to the believer stand, that is, both are eternal.
2. Temporal Penalties for the Justified. Here enters the vast importance of the truth before urged, that the work of the cross delivers the believer from the eternal penalty of sin but not from any temporal punishments which may attach under the disciplinary government of the universe by God. And these may prove severe and prolonged, though not eternal in the case of the justified. Various scriptures present this serious and balancing aspect. For example:
(1) There is the private realm of the father and his family, wherein the children are chastised by the father. This will be considered when we reach ch. xii of our Epistle. It is a manifestly different case from that of a criminal before a Court on trial for his life.
(2) There is the case of a king and his own household. It is set forth in our Lord’s parables in Luke 19:11-27 and Matthew 25:14-30. The unfaithful servant was deprived of further service and prospects and was cast out of the house into the darkness of the night during the temporary festivities connected with the king’s return. He might even be severely scourged (Luke 12:41-48). But these penalties were not the capital punishment inflicted upon the king’s enemies. That is stated in immediate contrast: “Howbeit these mine enemies, who would not hat I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me” (Luke 19:27).
(3) There is the parallel instance in Matthew 18:21-35 of the servant who refused mercy to his fellow-servant though himself had received mercy from their lord. In this case the master revoked his mercy and the remission of the debt, and commanded that the latter be exacted. If this be applied to the unregenerate and eternity it will mean that the sinner can ultimately “pay all that is due” by his own sufferings; a way of salvation repugnant to Scripture and which would render needless the sufferings of the Redeemer. But it is evident that this measure taken by the lord operated within the same restricted sphere of his personal household. The teaching was an answer to the inquiry as to how often a brother ought to forgive a brother (Matthew 18:21), and the application which Christ made of the instruction carries the same limit of the father and family: “So shall also My heavenly Father do unto you, if ye forgive not every one his brother from you hearts” (Matthew 18:35).
None of such cases raises the matter of the legal status of the children or the family servants before the criminal courts. This status remained unaffected by the disciplinary dealings of the father or the retributive measures of the master. Christ gave no challenge to His own statement that the believer passes out of death into life and will not come into judgment as to that question (John 5:24). None of these servants lost his life by his carnality. 2 _________________________ Wendell E. Miller, Forgiveness: The Power and The Puzzles (Warsaw, In.: ClearBrook Publishers, 1994), p.31.
Miller, p. 53-54.
D. M. Panton, The Judgment Seat of Christ (Hayesville, NC: Schoettle Publishing Co. Inc., 1984), p.77. ibid., p. 35.
1 An exception may be supposed possible in a case where death occurs immediately after conversion.
2 G. H. Lang, The Epistle to the Hebrews (Miami Springs: Conley &Schoettle Publishing Colossians, 1985), pp. 196-198.