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The epistles in the New Testament offer readers a picture of the gospel in missions and church context. We seldom read them that way, choosing rather to pick a verse here, a paragraph there, and try to apply those isolated texts to our personal lives. That usually works, though, because God’s word does have implications for our personal lives. It would be helpful, however, for us to read through an entire epistle every once in a while, and try to figure out its message to the people it was written to.

We conditionalists often quote 1 Timothy 6:16, because it teaches that God’s immortality is exclusive. That is a great proof-text for our message, because it blows a hole in the concept of innate immortality in humans. But are we taking that text out of its context? The only way to answer that question is to actually look at the epistle as a whole. Once we understand the message of 1 Timothy, we can then see how 6:16 fits within that message.

the context

Ephesus was a major city in the Roman world during the first century, and the church founded there would be a major player in the task of evangelizing that world. We read about Ephesus in the book of Acts,[1] 1 Corinthians,[2] Ephesians,[3] the epistles to Timothy,[4] and The Revelation.[5] Ephesus was an important city financially for the empire, located on a port at “the greatest harbor in Asia,”[6] and serving as an economic center for the province of Asia Minor. Roman inscriptions from the time of the emperor Claudius indicate that the city had a problem with corrupt leaders, stealing funds earmarked for the preservation of its great temple.[7] Ephesus had bad stewards.

the apostle

Reading the letter, it is not difficult to point out the major characters it presents. There is, of course, Paul the apostle, sent by God and seeking to obey his command to spread the gospel and plant churches among the Gentiles. Paul was never the “pastor” of the church at Ephesus. Neither was he a duly registered representative of a governing body of elders. His authority was his message, and the fact that many in Ephesus first heard the gospel as a result of his ministry.

the missionary

He addresses the book to Timothy, whom he regards as his true child in the faith. Timothy is a disciple of Paul as Paul is of Christ. He was sent by the apostle to proclaim the gospel, to evangelize, and to maintain the work of the churches already planted. He served as a representative of the churches to Paul, and a representative of the apostle to the churches. Timothy was not the “pastor” of the “church in Ephesus.” He was more of a missionary, seeking to further establish the church – which consisted of several congregations meeting in several places throughout the city.

the false teachers

The antagonists in 1 Timothy are a group of people who are influencing the church to be something other than what God and Paul intended them to be. They are referred to as “certain persons” who are teaching a “different doctrine.” [8] They are false teachers, but the exact content of their false teachings is not revealed, and has been a matter of a great deal of speculation. It is not too difficult to get an idea of what they taught by paying close attention to what Paul said against them. They are people who know the gospel message, but swerve from it,[9] wandering away into vain discussion.[10] They do not understand what they are talking about,[11] but still keep talking. They have rejected their former faith and have shipwrecked it.[12] They lie like demons,[13] perpetuating silly myths[14] instead of the gospel. These guys are bad news, yet they are teaching within the congregations of Ephesus.

the gospel as truth entrusted

1 Timothy proclaims the good news of life only in Christ as the most valuable thing the world has ever known. This “glorious gospel” is a truth which has been “entrusted” to Paul, and he has passed it on to the Ephesians.[15] Paul was formerly a blasphemer, rejecting that truth, but he was forgiven, and is now charged with proclaiming it. He tells the world that Christ came to save sinners,[16] and that whoever believes in him will gain eternal life.[17]

As he declares this truth, Paul cannot help but stop and glorify the only God, who is the King of ages, immortal, and invisible.[18] God wants all people to be saved and to come to know this gospel truth.[19] He wants his church to serve as a pillar and buttress of this truth.[20] If people within the churches do not discipline themselves to act appropriately, it is like they are denying their faith.[21] The truth entrusted is the message that the church must pass on to their generation, and the next. Anything that people do within the church that hinders that proclamation needs to be confessed and corrected.

stewardship as a motif

Paul describes that obligation to protect and proclaim the gospel as the theme for the epistle. Scattered throughout its six short chapters are terms that reflect the concept of stewardship. The false teachers are promoting speculations (distractions) rather than the “stewardship from God which is by faith.”[22] The term stewardship in Greek is a combination of the word for house, and the word for law. It is also the word from which we get the English term economy. Stewards in rich households were usually trustworthy slaves that were given management responsibilities. When Paul used the term, he was referring to the valuable gospel that has been entrusted to the church. The false teachers were not living up to that trust.

By contrast, Paul says that God found him faithful, and appointed him for service (as a steward of the gospel).[23] Paul, in turn, entrusted that mission to Timothy,[24] who was commanded to entrust it to the faithful leaders in Ephesus.[25] These leaders must not be lovers of money or greedy for dishonest gain.[26] They must have proved themselves by managing their own households well, before being appointed to manage God’s household.[27] These leaders are valuable assets to the church as well, and should be well provided for financially, because the Scriptures teach “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.”[28]

Key to the strategy of winning Ephesus to Christ was the personal godliness of the church members. While training for physical fitness is valuable, training in godliness is valuable in every way.[29] That godliness is not just spiritual piety. It works its way into everyday life, by producing a love for family that takes care of aging parents.[30] By properly managing their households, believers “give the adversary no occasion for slander.”[31]

Those members of the congregations in Ephesus who actually are slaves should do well by their masters, and not take advantage of them if they are believers as well. Instead, “they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved.”[32] Their masters, the “rich in this present age” are encouraged not to put their hopes on “the uncertainty of riches” but on their Master, God, “who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.”[33]

The false teachers are described as people known for their heated arguments and personal vices, and for their mistaken assumption that godliness will necessarily make someone rich.[34] Paul encourages Timothy to be financially content, but to pursue the attributes of godly living: “righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.”[35] These attributes point people to the LORD who made them possible by his grace. This was the stewardship from God, the strategy to win people to eternal life by means of showing God’s miraculous work in the lives of believers.

6:16

The point of mentioning God’s exclusive immortality in this epistle is to show that the only thing of real value in this life is the promise that we, too, might someday share that attribute. Presently, God is invisible, immortal, and dwells in unapproachable light. But those who are being saved have his promise that someday we, too may share in his immortality. Since that is the case, the last thing believers would want to do is get sidetracked by false teachings, and miss out on the only thing of eternal value this life offers – hope of the next life.

Sharing the gospel is a stewardship from God. We are called to manage his household by providing for the needs of those within it, and by bringing others into it. Like Timothy, we are charged with the task of guarding the deposit entrusted to us.[36] The gospel is our resource. Faith in Christ is our currency.

[1] Acts 18:19, 21, 24; 19:1, 17, 26, 35; 20:16f.

[2] 1 Cor. 15:32; 16:8.

[3] Eph. 1:1.

[4] 1 Tim. 1:3; 2 Tim. 1:18; 4:12.

[5] Rev. 1:11; 2:1.

[6] Robert C. Linthicum, City of God, City of Satan. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1991), 296.

[7] Robert McQueen Grant, Gods and the One God. (Philadelphia: Westminster John Knox Press, 1986), 27.

[8] 1 Tim. 1:3,6.

[9] 1:6; 6:21.

[10] 1:6.

[11] 1:7.

[12] 1:19.

[13] 4:1.

[14] 4:7.

[15] 1:11.

[16] 1:15.

[17] 1:16.

[18] 1:17.

[19] 2:4.

[20] 3:15.

[21] 5:8.

[22] 1:4.

[23] 1:12; 2:7.

[24] 1:18.

[25] 3:1-13.

[26] 3:3, 8.

[27] 3:4, 12.

[28] 5:18.

[29] 4:8.

[30] 5:4.

[31] 5:14.

[32] 6:2.

[33] 6:17.

[34] 6:2-5.

[35] 6:11.

[36] 6:26.

Apologist Dinesh D’Souza spent years studying how the various cultures of the world viewed the afterlife. Among his conclusions was that there was remarkable similarity among the three “Abrahamic” religions. He said “… in all three cases (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) there is an official teaching and an unofficial teaching. … The official teaching is bodily resurrection. … The alternative, unofficial, view – is the immortality of the soul. In this view the body perishes but the soul lives on. Oddly enough, this idea is first articulated not in biblical or Quranic sources, but rather in Greek philosophy.” [1]

He attributes the view’s popularity to Plato. He states that “Life after death is not exclusively a religious belief but is also one that is shared by Western philosophy going back to Plato.”[2] He credits Augustine for making it standard doctrine within Christianity. It was a slight twist of emphasis in theological anthropology. According to D’Souza, “Christianity since Augustine does not espouse life ‘after’ death, but rather life ‘beyond’ death.”[3]

D’souza was ready to concede that this evolved view is more appropriate for Christianity, and set out to prove it by means of science, philosophy, and practical reason. His arguments only prove what we conditionalists have championed all along: the doctrine of innate immortality is not proven by Scripture, because Scripture teaches something else. It makes a great deal of difference whether one believes in life after death (all conditionalists do), or life beyond death.

theology proper

To suggest that all human beings continue to live beyond their apparent deaths is to say that all human beings are immortal. The Bible clearly claims that only God has the attribute of immortality.[4] The only way the proponents of traditionalism have of responding to this fact is by borrowing another idea from Plato – the concept of dualism. Dualism teaches that human beings are made up of two parts, the body and the soul. Plato taught that the body dies, but that the soul lives on, and always will. Traditionalists imagine that when Paul asserted that only God has immortality, he must have referred to the fact God never experiences bodily death, the way his creatures do. However, conditionalists see Paul making a more fundamental statement. Plato’s claims had been taught for four centuries. The readers of 1 Timothy knew about his claims. Paul’s claims about life after death had to either agree with Plato’s or reject them. Paul rejected the concept of life beyond death. God’s attribute of immortality was exclusive to him alone.

anthropology

The notion of life continuing beyond death instead of being revived by resurrection after death suggests that human beings are endowed by their Creator with not only a right to life, but also with the inability to actually die. The Bible teaches the opposite: that human beings are mortal.

“Then the LORD said, “My Spirit will not put up with humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal flesh.”[5]

“Take note of my brief lifespan! Why do you make all people so mortal?”[6]

“Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.”[7]

The Resurrection

The only biblical teaching that suggests a possibility of changing our destiny of death is the hope of the resurrection. Paul taught the Corinthians that our resurrection day will be our day of victory.

“For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory.”[8]

The proponents of the life beyond death philosophy would have us believe that the real victory has already happened. As they would have it, we do not have to wait for the resurrection to swallow up death, because death is merely an illusion. Our victory over it is found in the fact that we were created to survive it. Yet, that is not what the apostle said. Paul said that the victory will happen if and when the resurrection occurs.

Translators, seeking to justify their own view of life beyond death, simply insert the word “body” or “bodies” in the text of 1 Corinthians 15:53.[9] The word is not in the original Greek text, nor is it implied. Paul was not talking about a partial victory. The whole person (not just his body) will become imperishable and immortal at the resurrection, because the whole person is perishable and mortal before the resurrection.

It is for that very reason that Paul claims his purpose in life is not to survive death, but to be raised to life after death.

“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith – that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”[10]

The Wages of Sin

The Bibles teaches that the wages of sin is death,[11] but if people are found to survive it, and have an automatic eternal life beyond it, then death is not real. The wages are paid with bogus, fake, Monopoly money. If people just “cross the Jordon” and are found on the other side of “the great divide” — then death turns out to be a blessing, not a punishment. Yet, the Bible is clear that death came upon all people as a consequence of our ancestors’ sins. The Bible says “in Adam all die.”[12] The tactic that many people take in evangelization is to immediately deny that fact. The first thing they tell the unbeliever is that they will never die, no matter what. No wonder that so many people reject their “good news.” They immediately deny the “bad news.”

The truth is, we all die. Those cemeteries are full of people, not just bones. Those tombs will one day be opened at the sound of Christ’s second coming, and the people within them will come out. Jesus said “Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.”[13] They are bound to those graves until then. They are imprisoned in a dark, silent place, which the Hebrews called Sheol. The Greeks called it Hades. We call it the grave.

The good news of the gospel is that Jesus has the keys to that place. He can set people free from their imprisonment. He proclaimed “I have the keys of Death and Hades.”[14] To suggest that death is really not a prison in which people are confined before the resurrection is to – again — reject the Bible’s good news for some other good news. It is to say to Jesus, “you can keep your keys, death and Hades are not so bad.” To relish in life beyond death is to reject God’s plan to rescue us by Jesus. It is to swallow the original lie of Satan in the garden, that we will not surely die.[15] It is to presume that we are all born without the need of rescue. It does not do justice to what God actually says about death. Death is not a friend, giving us entrance into the Father’s presence. It is an enemy,[16] keeping us from our eternal destiny with him.

Final Punishment

Insisting that everyone continues to live beyond death also circumvents the great warning that reverberates throughout Scripture. People are constantly challenged to repent of their sins and turn to God because he will ultimately and permanently judge and destroy all those who do not. The wages of our ancestors’ sin is the first death, but the wages of our personal sins is the second death.[17] The difference between the two deaths is made clear: from the first death everyone will be raised,[18] but the second death is in a lake of fire. The fire cannot be put out until it has destroyed all within it. From that death there will be no resurrection. Those who are found in that fire will suffer the “punishment of eternal destruction.”[19]

Life After Death

The good news that the Bible proclaims is that through Jesus Christ those who believe in him can have resurrection life after their deaths, not a continuation of disembodied life beyond death. One advantage of holding to this good news rather than accepting the counterfeit good news is that it is what D’Souza calls the “official teaching” of the Bible, rather than the popular “alternative, unofficial view.” We conditionalists need never resort to having to prove our view by practical reason and science alone. We have God’s word on it.

Another advantage of proclaiming life after death through the resurrection is that it is actually what people are really after. As much as a traditionalist might boast about his desire for going to heaven, he will spend his entire fortune to delay the trip. What people really want is to be alive – fully and functionally alive, and to enjoy God and the universe that he created for us. His plan for us is a new heaven and a new earth, restored to its holiness and spiritual vitality. That is our destiny, and it is a certainty for all who are in Christ. But that great event will not happen when we die. It will happen when death dies. It will happen after our Savior returns. Come, Lord Jesus.

[1] Dinesh D’Souza, Life After Death: The Evidence . (Washington: Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2009), 42.

[2] D’Souza, 35-36.

[3] D’Souza, 48.

[4] 1 Timothy 6:16-17.

[5] Genesis 6:3 (NLT)

[6] Psalm 89:47 (NET)

[7] Romans 1:22-23 (NET)

[8] 1 Corinthians 15:53-54 (NASB).

[9] See ESV, NET, NLT, NRSV.

[10] Philippians 3:8-11 (ESV).

[11] Romans 6:23.

[12] 1 Corinthians 15:22.

[13] John 5:28-29 (ESV).

[14] Revelation 1:18.

[15] Genesis 3:4.

[16] 1 Corinthians 15:26.

[17] Revelation 20:14; 21:8.

[18] John 5:28-29.

[19] 2 Thessalonians 1:9.

A Mayan calendar ends its record of time on December 21st, 2012.  People start to wonder if this means the world is coming to an end. Just like a few years ago, when Y2K  madness hit the world by storm. No one is old enough to remember Y1K madness. The historian tells us…

The year 1000 was marked by widespread fear and anxiety throughout almost every part of the Christian world. It was extensively believed that the period of the Church was to last just one thousand years, and that, … this period was just about to come to a close. The end would be announced by fearful calamities, and then the last and terrifying judgment would begin. In point of fact, nothing very much happened…¹

Sound familiar? Although much of the Y2K madness centered on possible economic problems, there was an increase in eschatological interest among people the world over. Generally, that is a good thing. There is always a need for good biblical preaching on the 2nd coming of Christ, and now is as good a time as any to blow the dust off our prophetic charts, and hit the camp meeting trail.

But before we quit our day jobs, perhaps we should pay another visit to William Miller, and learn some very important lessons. Miller’s zeal was unsurpassed. He had something we all need to cultivate – call it eschatological courage. He had the courage to voice his convictions about the future because he knew that the God who gave us prophecies would see to it that they were fulfilled. Miller was not a David Koresh – wildly misapplying entire books of the bible to himself. He was enthusiastic, he was zealous, but he was not a raving heretic.

Miller made a mistake when he proclaimed that Christ would come back in the 1840s. Many like him were saying that Christ will come back in the 1990s. These were not all lunatics. They were just convinced by the evidence they saw that the time is at hand.  Like Miller, they were proven wrong. It seems that every year someone proclaims “This is it!” and gets a following. Sooner or later, one of these is going to be right – probably by accident. Eschatological courage is a good thing, but it needs to be balanced with a healthy restraint. Otherwise, we will face a series of disappointments which can only damage our witness for Christ.

I affirm without hesitation the doctrine of the Imminence of Christ’s Return.

Christ could come at any moment. His coming is due. This is what theologians mean by the doctrine of the imminence of Christ’s return. My affirmation goes a bit further. I believe Christ could come back personally, visibly, and loudly at any second. I base this expectation on 1 Thess 4:16-17. Here is a list of my expectations based on that passage.

• The Lord Himself will come down.
• He will come down from heaven.
• He will come with a loud command.
• He will come with a shout from the Archangel.
• He will come with a Trumpet Call of God.
• He will raise those who have fallen asleep in Him.
• He will rapture the rest of believers.

The Lord Himself will come down. He will not send a delegation. He will not call me up to Him. He will come to me. The Father has set a day on which this will happen. I don’t know what that day is, but I believe it will be soon!

He will come down from heaven. He is alive in heaven today. He is my king today, and I am in his kingdom today, but he has not yet begun his reign on earth. His present reign is in heaven. But in order to fulfill the prophecies written about him in scripture, he must come to earth.

He will come with a loud command. He will come with a shout from the Archangel. He will come with a Trumpet Call of God. What follows is a list of three rhetorical questions.

1. How can a loud command be secret?
2. How can a shout be secret?
3. How can a trumpet blast be secret?

If Christ’s coming for his saints is secret, it will be the worst kept secret in the history of communication. This is the coming described by Paul in which he says the saints will be “caught up” (vs. 17). If your prophetic system does not allow for a visible, personal, and loud coming of Christ – perhaps you need to reevaluate your prophetic system.

He will raise those who have fallen asleep in Him. The issue Paul was addressing was that of dead believers (vs.13). He affirms that the dead in Christ will be raised at the second advent.

He will rapture the rest of believers. The rapture will not be secret, but there will be a rapture. The dead in Christ will be raised and the alive in Christ will be caught up, so that all believers of all times will be with the Lord from that time on – never to be separated again.

Many theologians today agree in principle to the doctrine of imminence, but then proceed to add so many restrictions that what they finally describe is a coming which is far from imminent. There were a great many prophecies about the interval between Christ’s first and second coming. Here is a short list:

• Jerusalem’s Unequaled Distress and Desolation (Mt 24:15-22; Lk 21:20-24)
• A Worldwide Great Tribulation, lasting Centuries  (Mt 24:4-13; Rev 7:13-17)
• A Great Apostasy in the Church, resulting in the Revealing of Antichrist. (2 Th 2:1-12; Rev 13:11-18)
• The Restoration of Israel to the land (Jer 30; Lk 21:24)

Jesus gave a time limit of one generation (40 years) for the fulfillment of Jerusalem’s Unequaled Distress and Desolation. He gave the prophecy in the year of his death. 40 years later (70 AD) a Roman siege destroyed both Jerusalem and its temple. It has been desolate ever since. In fact, an Islamic mosque stand on the site.

The distress felt during the  worldwide Great Tribulation would not be constant, but would appear and disappear many times over many ages. Jesus called these signs birth pains. He warned his listeners not to get excited when wars, famines, and earthquakes happened. These birth pains only showed that the end is coming. They could not foretell when the end would come.

John, in Rev 7 sees a vision of all believers from every nation, tribe, people, and language (vs.9). These are those who went through the Great Tribulation (vs. 14). God’s message to them is “Never again…” (vs. 16). This shows that these people are you and me. Therefore, this prophecy is being fulfilled now.

Paul tells us that before Christ comes, an Apostasy (rebellion) must occur. John calls the leader of this Great Apostasy – Antichrist (1Jn 2:18). He implies that Antichrist will lead the Church astray (2:20). This apostasy occurred around 500 AD, and the Church of Jesus Christ has yet to fully separate from the tremendous cult that emerged. The unclean spirit who has masterminded this rebellion is called The False Prophet, and his place is reserved in the fiery lake of burning sulfur (Rev 9:20). This will happen at the Return of Christ (2 Th 2:8).

And what of The Restoration of Israel? In case you haven’t noticed, there is a tiny spot of land between Africa and Asia which is once again called Israel. Since 1948 the descendants of Jacob have been migrating to that land. Since the 1967 Six Day War the land has included the city of Jerusalem. It appears that the “times of the Gentiles” are fulfilled.

I Deny that Christ Has to Come Back on December 21st in the Year 2012

With all this evidence I have presented for the imminence of Christ’s return, my title for this article seems a bit ridiculous. But there is method to my madness. I sincerely wish to be proven wrong on that title. Nothing would make me happier than to see the body of a Jewish carpenter’s stepson break the clouds with celebration. He is coming back, and I, with all my heart want it to be sooner, rather than later.

But what I want is not at issue here. The fact is that the year 2012  is prophetically insignificant. There is no biblical support whatsoever for dating the coming of Christ. No one knows when Christ will return (Mt 24:36).

In fact, the odds are against Christ returning on such a noteworthy date. What little we do know about that day suggests that it will be an ordinary day. No fireworks will precede it, no fanfare. Christ will come when he is not expected (24:37, 44, 50). The parables Jesus used to illustrate this eschatological discourse are all built around the premise of an unexpected arrival. Five foolish virgins are caught a midnight cry (25:1-13). A wicked, lazy servant is not prepared when his master comes back to settle accounts (25:14-30). Two are working in a field. One is taken, the other left (24:40). Two women are grinding. One is taken, the other left (24:41). The master comes when the stewards are not ready, so they are punished (24:45-51).

There is also that little matter of the gospel going out into all the world (Mt 24:14).  However, no one knows whether those ethnic groups listed as unreached now have never been exposed to the gospel. We only assume that those few thousand remote or hostile groups who do not have a viable church have never heard. Only God knows for sure.

And only God knows the day and the hour … and the YEAR of Christ’s return. My plea is that our eschatological zeal be balanced with humility’s restraint. After all, the best way to welcome my Master is not with the date of his arrival marked on my calendar (or anyone’s calendar). The best way to welcome him is with my work accomplished. Then he will say “Well Done!”

¹ Neill, Stephen. A History of Christian Missions. 1990 . NY: Penguin Books, 2nd edition reprint. p. 85.

This article is adapted from a previous one by the author which first appeared in The Advent Christian Witness

The biblical prophets had a double role. As representatives of the LORD, they were free to pronounce blessing upon the people if God willed it. Often, however, they predicted his impending judgment. John the Baptist was no exception. As the forerunner to the Messiah, he proclaimed the marvelous good news (or gospel) that Christ was coming to this earth. Yet the people were not ready for their king. Consequently, John’s message was one of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The good news of the Christ to come had to be taught alongside the bad news of the wrath to come. Two very similar verses from the record of John’s ministry in the New Testament highlight this message.

These are the first major texts in the New Testament that address the issue of final punishment of the wicked. They reflect the fact that John encountered multitudes of Israelites who felt ready to embrace the coming of their Messiah, but they were actually not ready. So, John’s message was to get ready for him or face his wrath.

The crowds, and particularly the religious elite, felt that the Messiah’s coming would bring victory against Israel’s enemies, and blessing to all of those who were physical descendants of Abraham and Jacob. John’s message was that physical lineage meant nothing. If God wanted to, he could produce children to Abraham out of stones. In fact, being children of Israel meant that these people stood to be the first to fall when God’s wrath is unleashed. Thus, John’s message was that the nation had to get right with its God.

the wrath of the orchard owner

The nature of this wrath is spelled out by John with two familiar images. First, he pictures the Messiah as an orchard owner, whose axe is laid at the root of the trees.[3] He had planted the trees for the purpose of bearing fruit. If they are fruitless when he comes, they will serve as firewood. Their destruction would be fair because they will have not served their master’s purpose.

The threat that these people face could in no way be construed as any kind of eternal existence at all. They were in danger of being cut down and destroyed. The wrath that John described was not an ongoing process of perpetual wrath, but an event. That event would be eternal, in the sense of permanent. It would result in death forever – the second death.

the wrath of the wheat farmer

The second image John uses to describe the wrath to come is that of a wheat farmer during harvest time. The Messiah would gather the authentic wheat into the barn for preservation. He will then set out to remove all the chaff that is left over. He will do this by burning the chaff up.[4]

The image illustrates essentially the same teaching as the axe image did. Those who are not prepared for the Messiah’s arrival will not take part in his kingdom. They will be excluded from it because they will have been destroyed by the Messiah’s wrath. Mere appearance will not save them. Unfruitful chaff will be eliminated in the same way that the unfruitful trees will. The wrath is fire, and the fire destroys.

But John’s use of the wheat farmer imagery adds one more element to the theology he is defining. This element makes explicit what was merely implied in the use of the orchard owner image. John further describes the fire of God’s wrath as “unquenchable.”[5]

Piper insists that “the term “unquenchable fire” implies a fire that will not be extinguished and therefore a punishment that will not end.”[6] Neither the image, nor the teaching of John the Baptist support that assumption. The adjective asbestos only appears three times in the New Testament.[7] In each reference, the word describes the nature of the fire, not the process of burning. It is a warning that anyone thrown into the fire will not be able to extinguish it. It contains no promise that the process of burning will go on forever.

In both of the images John the Baptist uses, it is clear that the subjects thrown into the fire are destructible – that is the point. The trees and chaff are not thrown into fire to be tortured, but to be destroyed. The punishment is destruction. The masters of the orchard and wheat fields gain neither pleasure nor profit from this fire. It is only there to eliminate what will not meet their objectives. Likewise, God will not be pleased when he puts people into the fire of Gehenna hell. His wrath only exists because eternity is for the recipients of his grace alone. His wrath is subservient to — not coequal to – his love.

The conditionalist teaching on hell is that it will be a necessary reality at the end of the age. It does not take place at death. It takes place in conjunction with the second coming of Christ. This is in line with John the Baptist’s teaching on the wrath to come. John never mentioned the intermediate state. To him, what happens at death is eschatologically insignificant. Judgment will happen when the Judge returns.

Traditionalists have bought into the unbiblical concept of immortal souls, and must do something with those souls in the intermediate state. Thus, they highjack passages like these, and make them serve another purpose. For them, the wrath of God is not something that Christ brings with him, it is something that the wicked go to. In so doing, major elements of the text have to be explained away, because they do not fit the new referent.

1. John taught that the wrath is coming from God. Traditionalists teach that God’s wrath is something that souls go to.

2. John taught that the wrath will accompany the Messiah when he returns. Traditionalists teach that God’s wrath is currently ongoing, and is experienced immediately after death.

3. John taught that the subjects of the wrath will be destroyed by fire (burned up). Traditionalists teach that the subjects are immortal souls, who cannot be destroyed, and therefore must continue to suffer eternally.

4. John taught that the masters of the orchard and wheat farms had complete control over their dominions. They had unproductive elements which they intended to remove by destruction, and nothing could stop them. They would put an end to the problems. Traditionalists teach that God’s wrath is a process that cannot ever end. It will never stop tormenting the lost because it cannot.

Rob Bell questioned how God could be a winner in such circumstances.[8] He was right to do so. The traditionalist doctrine of hell makes God’s wrath the end. John taught that the Messiah’s wrath would be necessary, but the purpose was different. Wrath is necessary to make room for eternal peace and love. In the traditionalist approach, God’s wrath never makes an end of sin. It is eternally affected by it.

the purpose of the wrath to come

These snapshots from John the Baptist’s ministry teach of a wrath which will accomplish the greater purpose of establishing a world without evil and sin, where love and righteousness will reign eternally. They envision a harvest that will outlast the judgment. They see fruit trees productive forever, and wheat gathered safely into the barn forever. The burning fires that remove the impediments in this vision are inevitable, and they cannot be put out until they accomplish this vision of forever. But the fires are not the purpose. They will be unquenchable until they accomplish the purpose.

If this is not so, then the coming wrath serves absolutely no purpose. Today we live in a world where good and evil already coexist. There are productive trees, and hypocritical trees. There is wheat, and there is chaff. Both exist together, so God’s glory is limited by the unholy combination. The traditionalist teaching is that God’s wrath will merely separate the unrighteous, but that they will continue to live eternally in the same universe as the righteous. God’s universe will be eternally marred by the existence of this blight, and his wrath will not be able to change that. The God who once saw all creation and pronounced it “very good” will never be able to say that again.

Conditionalists suggest a different scenario. we suggest that John’s description of hell is much more realistic. Hell is a tool God uses for eliminating the undesirable elements, and that is all. The fire is real, and it does what fires do. It destroys, and makes way for something better, something indestructible. God’s love will win, not because he eventually pulls people out of hell, but because after hell has served its purpose, there will be no need for wrath. The Christ whose wrath will destroy the old things will make “all things new.”[9]

[1] Matthew 3:7 ESV.

[2] Luke 3:7 ESV.

[3] Matthew 3:10; Luke 3:9.

[4] Matthew 3:12; Luke 3:17.

[5] Matthew 3:12; Luke 3:17.

[6] John Piper, Let The Nations Be Glad. (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1993), 121.

[7] Matthew 3:12; Mark 9:43; Luke 3:17.

[8] Rob Bell, LOVE WINS: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. (Robert H. Bell, Jr. Trust, 2011). See my review here: http://www.afterlife.co.nz/2011/featured-article/review-of-love-wins-by-rob-bell/

[9] Revelation 21:5.