In this issue:

i) Now give thought - J.Carattini

ii) The Judgement Seat (Bema) of Christ (7/10) - J.H.Keathley

Now give thought

Jill Carattini

Centuries before there was ice cream, Hollywood, or extreme sports to distract oneself from thinking, Socrates taught that the unexamined life was not worth living. His words speak into the tragedy of going through life having not pursued its meaning, remaining indifferent to truth, giving little thought to self-examination. Living the unexamined life, Socrates said facing the end of his own, is something less than living. Yet in our day, between nihilist and materialist outlooks, we seem to reflect more the attitude that life is not worth examining. Or else, we move from self-help book to self-help book, reflecting the attitude that examining life is a pastime or project.

Like Socrates, the Scriptures teach it is a way of life. Five times throughout the short book of Haggai, God implores the people of Israel to "give careful thought" to themselves, their behavior, their hearts and minds. The prophet instructs them to take stock of their lives and see the inconsistencies they were living with: "Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it'" (1:5-6). It is far too easy to be blind to the incoherent philosophies and inconsistent ways we live with. It is far too easy to think of the examined life as something we will find time to embrace later.

The prophet Haggai wrote during a time W.H. Auden might have called, "The Time Being." In a poem Auden writes,

To those who have seen
The Child, however dimly, however incredulously,
The Time Being is, in a sense, the most trying time of all.

Yet, it is, in a sense, the most significant time of all, particularly when it comes to living aware of self and awake to the presence of God. For the people of Israel, the time being had become the stagnant crossroad between remembering God in the past and wanting to find Him in the future. Coming out of a painful time of exile, the people immediately set up an altar remembering the Lord. Compelled by a longing to exalt the God they came to see through blinding trouble, within a year, they had laid the foundations to rebuild the temple. But when they were ordered by the Persian court to stop building, understandably, they yielded to the command. And yet, long after the opposition had subsided, they continued in their hesitation. They had become indifferent to the task they had once started with enthusiasm. They had no will, courage, or interest to set their minds to build again. Whether out of complacency, fear, or comfort, at the time being, they found themselves not ready. They wanted to finish the temple; they wanted to experience God and find Him in his sanctuary, but not yet.

Such are the ways I would rather not examine in myself. It often seems easier to avoid taking stock than to face the shelves of bankrupt longings, irrationalities, and empty motions. Yet, "we must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard," cautions the writer of Hebrews, "so that we do not drift away" (2:1).

Whether it is the unrecognized hope in material things, the looming certainties of fear, or the undiagnosed putting off of certain questions, each is a sight barring our eyes from the present, with towering mountains of the future. "What if I fail at that job?" "Once I have this, I will be happy." "I'll deal with that later." Through the prophet Haggai, God stirs us back to the urgency of the present, and the call to examine our hearts before the one with whom there is no hiding. "Now give careful thought to this from this day on," declares the LORD Almighty (2:15).

Now is when God calls. Now is when Christ carries our sorrows, or fears, or disappointment. Now is when we must respond with careful thought to our ways, and careful attention to what we have heard. For God is here. Our stories may seem bound by daily pressures, fears, and longings, but our lives are woven together with the one who promises again and again: "Return to me, and I will return to you."

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[Copyright(c) 2004 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. A Slice of Infinity is a ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.]

The Judgement Seat (Bema) of Christ (7/10)

J.Hampton Keathley

The Negative Aspects of the Bema: There are a number of passages that refer to the negative aspects of the Bema which need to be mentioned and explained. In these passages we read such things as “give account of himself,” “suffer loss,” “shrink away from Him in shame,” and “recompense for his deeds … whether good or bad.”

Will believers experience shame, grief, remorse at the Bema? If so, how do we reconcile this with passages like Revelation 7:17, “God shall wipe away every tear from their eye,” and Revelation 21:4, “and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away,” or with Isaiah 65:17, “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind”?

The negative effects involve the following:

(1) The loss suffered in 1 Corinthians 3:15 refers to the loss of rewards, not salvation as the verse goes on to make clear. Please note that the clause “he shall suffer loss” would be better rendered “it (the reward) shall be forfeited.”

(2) The disqualification mentioned in 1 Corinthians 9:27 means disqualified from rewards, not loss of salvation. This is clear from the context and the analogy to the Greek athletic games.

(3) The “recompense” (NASB) or the “receive back” (KJV) of 2 Corinthians 5:10 refers to the dispensing of rewards or their loss. The verb used is komizo and means “to carry off safe,” “to carry off as booty.” In the middle voice as here, it meant “to bear for oneself,”16 or “to receive back what is one’s own.”17 Compare Matthew 25:27 and Ephesians 6:8.

(4) That dispensing of rewards is in view is also evident from the Greek words in 2 Corinthians 5:10 translated “good” (agathos—valuable like good fruit) and “bad” (phaulos—unacceptable like rotten or spoiled fruit). The idea is not good in the sense of righteousness versus bad in the sense of evil or sinfulness. For those ideas Paul would have most likely used kalos, “good,” and kakos, “evil.” For good works, those valuable like good fruit, we will receive back rewards, but for bad works, those rotten and worthless, we will receive no rewards or the loss of rewards.

This is no more a punishment than when a student turns in a worthless assignment and receives an F or a D. His poor work results in a just grade or recompense. This is what his work deserves. There used to be a sign in the registrar’s office at Dallas Seminary which read, “Salvation is by grace … Graduation is by works.”

(5) 1 John 2:28. This verse undoubtedly refers to the Bema and shows there will be both boldness as a result of abiding, and shame before the Lord as a result of failing to abide.

“And now little children.” John is writing to believers. This is his term of endearment for his readers as born again people.

“Abide in Him.” “Abide” is a synonym for fellowship which is the subject of the book (1:3-7). It means to remain in Him from the standpoint of drawing on His life as the source of ours and then to obey Him out of that relationship of dependence. This is the basis of rewards or the cause of their loss, the abiding, Christ-dependent life.

“So that” points us to the purpose, the return of the Savior and what it will mean.

“When He appears.” The “when” points to the imminency of the return of the Lord. It is literally “if He appears.” The conditional clause does not question the reality of Christ’s coming, only the time of it and thereby points to its imminency. “Appears” refers to the rapture which leads quickly into the Bema.

“We may have confidence.” “Confidence” is parrhesia and means “courage, boldness to speak.” Point: Though none of us are perfect or ever will be, still, faithfulness to abide and obey the Lord will give confidence of rewards.

“And not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming (presence).” Please note several things here. (a) The verb is what we call in Greek an aorist subjunctive, and with the basic meaning of this verb, the grammar points to a future act, but not a continuous state. This in no way suggests a permanent condition. (b) The voice of the verb is passive. The subject receives the action, that is, he is made to feel shame. But how? (c) There are two views:

(1) The believer who fails to abide is made to feel shame by the Lord, i.e., the Lord puts him to shame. This would be somewhat punitive and does not fit the concept of the Bema nor the promises of the Lord that we will not come into judgment.

(2) The believer who fails to abide experiences shame by the revelatory nature of Christ’s presence at the Bema. This is caused by the realization of what his own failure and sin has cost him in terms of the loss of rewards and loss of glory to the Lord. But this will only be momentary or short-lived at best in view of passages like Revelation 7:17; 21:4 and Isaiah 65:17. [To be concluded]

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[Courtesy: J.Hampton Keathley, III, Th.M.]

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