The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1

II. Issues Illuminated Through Significant Series of “Two’s”

Within the New Testament a significant series of “two’s” stands forth, augmenting and amplifying the basic teachings begun in the Old Testament. These complete the unique testimony of the Word on the two worlds, two Adams, two progenitors, two births, two covenants, two classes, two kingdoms, two advents, two lives, two deaths, two resurrections, two ways, and two eternal destinies—the irrevocable endings of these divergent ways. CFF1 504.6

Comparisons and contrasts are introduced by Christ and His apostles that throw a floodlight of understanding on this question of the origin, nature, and destiny of man. A survey of the inevitable implications of this series is desirable, because the traditional concept of the continuing persistence of a single, unending life—an innately, indefeasibly immortal life for all men—has tragically blurred or made void those distinctions so sharply drawn in Holy Writ that otherwise would have remained transparently clear. CFF1 504.7

It seems to have been the studied aim of human philosophy to ignore or obscure these distinctions or to mystify and confound them. And the medieval papal church and the Protestant churches that followed in her footsteps here, have so molded their creeds and fashioned their theologies as to perpetuate this confusion. It is therefore incumbent upon us to re-examine this provocative series given to guide us. CFF1 505.1

This additional factor should, however, be noted at the outset. The divine intimations of restoration, early given to man to keep the race from utter demoralization and discouragement, in time became distorted by darkened minds into perverted postulates regarding the soul. These were thenceforth passed on by tradition from generation to generation. This is obviously the origin of those twisted notions of the future state that came to prevail throughout the ancient pagan world. CFF1 505.2

Finally they brought division and ruin to the faith of the Jewish church through their adoption. This occurred shortly before the proclamation of the gospel of Christ began, which was designed to restore the purity of revealed truth and the radiance of inspired light and to put the darkness of perversion to flight. Pressured by hopes and fears, men had given free rein to their imaginations, thus distorting the divine provisions into fanciful notions and fallacious theories concerning the soul, both here and hereafter. Now note this Biblical series of two’s: CFF1 505.3

1. TWO WORLDS: TEMPORAL AND ETERNAL

As to the two worlds, the first one is graphically described in Genesis 1 and 2. Upon creation it was pronounced “very good” (Genesis 1:31), in accordance with its nature. But its nature, cursed because of the fall and sin of man, became dominantly material and earthly. Death and decay came to characterize this present order. CFF1 505.4

Then progressively, first in the Old Testament and next in the New, there is revealed a better, more glorious world to come—eternal in nature and structure, under the divine order, and fitted to continue forever (Hebrews 13:14). It is specifically called the “world to come” (Mark 10:30; Luke 18:30; Hebrews 2:5; Hebrews 6:5). It is the “better country,” the “better land,” desired by the patriarchs of old (Hebrews 11:16). CFF1 506.1

And it is here tied in inseparably with “eternal life,” or “life everlasting,” for its ransomed citizens. Thus, “The things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18). CFF1 506.2

The forecast and nature of this “world to come” were but gradually unfolded in the Old Testament. Isaiah prophesied of the new earth that God had promised to create (Isaiah 65:17). It would supersede the old, and remain forever (Isaiah 66:22). But in the New Testament, Peter tells more explicitly of the coming “new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13). CFF1 506.3

The glories of the second Paradise, of which the Edenic first was a type, are still more fully and clearly unfolded by the seer of Patmos. Here in the Revelation, John portrays the establishment of this “new earth,” to come after the present earth has “passed away” (Revelation 21:1)—a new earth reserved exclusively for the immortally redeemed, with its essential tree and water of life (Revelation 22). And this “better country,” with its immortalized inhabitants, remains forever. CFF1 506.4

2. TWO ADAMS: THE NATURAL, THEN THE SPIRITUAL

Next are the two Adams. The first man was formed out of the “dust of the ground” (Genesis 2:7). He was the highest and noblest of all earthly creatures. Yet he was essentially earthly—as he soon proved himself to be, and as his very name, “Adam,” indicates. He “became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7), endowed with life like the animals beneath him. But he differed from the brute creation in that he was endowed with a capacity for a higher life—the unending life of the spiritual world beyond, as intended for him by his Creator. CFF1 506.5

But this could only be secured by becoming established in holiness, without which he could neither retain Paradise nor enjoy it. Tested, and failing through sin, and thus proving unworthy of the boon prepared for him, he sank to the condition of a perishable earthly creature. And as such he became the progenitor of an earthly mortal posterity. “That was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual” (1 Corinthians 15:46). Another Progenitor was needed. CFF1 507.1

Then came the Second, or Last, Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45-47), born of a woman, yet begotten of God. He was the Son of man, yet was the Son of God. He was both divine and human—Heaven’s provided link between this lower world of darkness and death and that higher world of light and life, of which He is the designated Lord. “In all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15), He overcame where Adam fell, dying as a member of the human family for the redemption of man, yet possessed of absolute, original Immortality in His own right, which could not be lost, and being made perfect through suffering, “he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him” (Hebrews 5:9). CFF1 507.2

And to “as many as received him,” He gives “power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12). That is God’s provision for the redemption of man and the restoration of his forfeited life. CFF1 507.3

3. SECOND ADAM: PROGENITOR OF IMMORTAL RACE

As noted, the first Adam was the progenitor of a race fallen like himself—earthly, carnal, sinful, mortal. It is incontestably clear that Adam’s descendants could not therefore inherit from him an Immortality which he did not himself possess, and which because of his fall he failed to secure for himself. But the Second Adam is the progenitor of a race who, transformed into His likeness, are pure in heart and spiritual in nature, and who are to inherit from Him His own Immortal Life at His second advent. Though now subject to physical death, they will, in due time, enter upon that “inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:4, 5). CFF1 507.4

He, then, is our spiritual progenitor. CFF1 508.1

4. TWO BIRTHS: FIRST FLESHLY, SECOND SPIRITUAL AND ETERNAL

There are thus two births, or begettings. No child of Adam can inherit eternal life except he be born (begotten) “again” (anothen, “by divine power”) from “above,” from Heaven (cf. John 3:3). CFF1 508.2

“That which is born [begotten] of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born [begotten] of the Spirit is spirit .... Ye must be born again” (John 3:6, 7). CFF1 508.3

From Adam we inherited a mortal, transitory life. For a life beyond, we must have a life ingenerated by the Holy Spirit—the life provided from Christ. This is the life uniformly and repeatedly spoken of by our Lord as “the life everlasting”—a life directly from Him, who alone can make us “meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light” (Colossians 1:12). CFF1 508.4

5. TWO COVENANTS: FIRST OF WORKS, SECOND OF FAITH

The dispensation of grace brings us under a new covenant, or ministration. The first covenant was a covenant of works. “This do, and thou shalt live.” It was legal. Its rewards, penalties, and motives were earthly, though elevated. It could “never ... make the comers thereunto perfect” (Hebrews 10:1)—that is, complete. “For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second” (Hebrews 8:7). CFF1 508.5

The second, or new, covenant is a covenant of faith. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31; cf. Acts 13:39). This requires an implicit trust in an omnipotent Saviour. That was necessary that we might receive endless life. The new covenant’s appeals are to the higher nature, now begotten within the new man by the Spirit of God. Its motives and rewards are spiritual, heavenly, eternal (Hebrews 7; 8; 9). And it all centers about restoration of the lost life. CFF1 508.6

6. TWO CLASSES: CARNAL AND PERISHING, HEAVENLY AND ABIDING

Mankind is divided into two classes—those destined for life and Immortality, and those headed for death and destruction. These two classes are always placed in juxtaposition, comparison being made by contrast. The most familiar categories are: CFF1 509.1

Sinners and saints
Wicked and righteous
Unbelievers and believers
Reprobates and heirs
Enemies of God and friends of God
Foolish and wise
Tares and wheat
Dross and gold
Children of this world and children of the kingdom
Children of the wicked one (or wrath) and children of God (or the Highest)
Those who live after the flesh, and those who live after the Spirit CFF1 509.2

The first class is carnally-minded. They live after the flesh, are controlled by worldly motives, seek for worldly gain, and pursue the things that perish with the using. And when the world is finally destroyed, at the last day, they must perish with it, along with their treasures, for they have no portion or inheritance beyond. CFF1 509.3

The second class is spiritually-minded, and led by the Spirit of God. Through the Spirit they mortify the deeds of the flesh (Romans 8:13). They are controlled by spiritual influences, seek those things which are above, that are pure and eternal. Their choice is the “better part,” which shall never be taken away (Luke 10:42). They, and they alone, will have eternal life. CFF1 509.4

7. TWO KINGDOMS: OF GOD AND OF SATAN

There are likewise two kingdoms. Briefly, one is of this world, over which the great enemy of God and man bears rule, as prince of this world (John 12:31; John 14:30; John 16:11). It is a kingdom of evil, disorder, sorrow, darkness, sin, and death. It is a kingdom doomed to overthrow, and to utter and irremedial ruin and destruction. CFF1 509.5

The other kingdom is the kingdom of God, of Heaven, of our Lord, the Prince of life (Acts 3:15). It is a kingdom of light and glory and power. It is a kingdom of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost (Romans 14:17); which, established by the Son of God as His everlasting kingdom, shall endure forever. It is “not of this world” (John 18:36). The immortalized saints will possess it (Daniel 7:27). CFF1 510.1

8. TWO ADVENTS: IN THE FLESH, AND IN POWER AND GLORY

The establishment of this kingdom involves two advents. First, the Son of God came in the flesh, as a babe in Bethlehem, at the appointed time, as the Son of man, to live among men “made under the law” (Galatians 4:4), to suffer and die. And then, victorious over the power of death, He rose and ascended on high leading “captivity [aixmalosian, “body of captives,” “multitude of captives,” margin, Ephesians 4:8] captive.” ² CFF1 510.2

Christ gave His own assurance that He will come again at the appointed time to gather the fruits of His victory, to raise the dead, and execute judgment upon the world, destroying all that is vile and sinful and destructible. Then He will make all things new. “And unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin [apart from sin] unto salvation” (Hebrews 9:28). And in that “new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness,” Christ shall reign as King over His redeemed people forever. So two comings of one Saviour and Lord are necessitated. CFF1 510.3

9. TWO RESURRECTIONS: TO “LIFE” AND TO “DAMNATION.”

Concurrent with the Second Advent comes the resurrection of the righteous dead, or sleeping saints (1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17; 1 Corinthians 15:52). The resurrection is in two installments. “They that are Christ’s [come forth] at his coming” (1 Corinthians 15:23). This is given pre-eminence. It is called the “first,” the “better,” resurrection, the resurrection unto “life.” This is the “hope ... of the dead” in Christ (Acts 23:6). CFF1 510.4

The “rest of the dead” (the wicked) are not called forth until the close of the thousand years (Revelation 20:5). They will then come forth to hear the just decision of the judgment as it affects them and to perish under the execution of that judgment (Revelation 20:13). CFF1 511.1

So all will “hear the voice of the Son of God,” and all who “hear” will live again (John 5:25)—“they that have done good” are brought forth unto the “resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:29). The latter are consigned to the second death, from which there is no recall. Christ will lose none of the trophies of His redemptive grace and work (John 6:39), but will raise each one who believes in Him to “everlasting life”—“raise him up at the last day” (John 6:44; cf. John 11:24, 25). CFF1 511.2

Paul concurs by declaring that there shall be a resurrection both of the “just,” and of the “unjust” (Acts 24:15). And those who rise to everlasting life will have glorified, incorruptible, immortalized bodies (1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 52-55)—bodies changed into the immortal likeness of Christ’s glorious body (Philippians 3:21). In dismal contrast will be those brought forth to hear their sentence of doom, then to pass, after due punishment, into complete cessation of being. CFF1 511.3

10. FINALITY OF SEPARATION OCCURS AT SECOND ADVENT

The final separation of all mankind into the two classes is made manifest and actually takes place at Christ’s second coming in transcendent glory. Then the righteous only are resurrected from the dead, while the wicked (“the rest of the dead”—Revelation 20:5) await their later resurrection turn and summons (1 Corinthians 15:23). The righteous living will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, at His return (1 Thessalonians 4:17), while the living wicked will be smitten down by death through the brightness of His coming (2 Thessalonians 2:8). Thus, under the impressive figure of the “sheep” and the “goats,” so well known at that time “he [Christ] shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left” (Matthew 25:32, 33). CFF1 511.4

Those on the left will, at the appointed time, “go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous [on the right] into life eternal” (Matthew 25:46), to “inherit the kingdom prepared” for them “from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). CFF1 512.1

Mark it well: These final endings do not represent simply two types and conditions of perpetual life (of everlasting happiness, or of eternal misery), but everlasting life on the one hand, in contradistinction to everlasting punishment by the second death, on the other, from which there is no resurrection. The first death cuts off from temporal life; the second death cuts off from eternal life. It ends all hope of further life forever. CFF1 512.2

11. TWO DEATHS: FIRST DEATH FOR ALL, SECOND ONLY FOR WICKED

There are thus the first and second deaths. These are given great prominence in the Biblical depiction. But confusion and misunderstanding arose from imbibing the principles of the Platonic philosophy, which denies the actuality of the first death by assuming that man is an immortal being. Consequently, for such there is no place for a second death. CFF1 512.3

The natural, or first, death is in consequence of the sin of the race rather than as punishment of personal transgressions. All die, good and bad alike. To put it another way, we die the first time primarily because of Adam’s generic sin. The punishment for personal sins is the “second death” (Revelation 20:6, 14; Revelation 21:8). Or to put it still another way: The portion of the saved will be the second life, eternal life, immortal life, while the portion of the lost will be the second death of utter destruction. CFF1 512.4

According to the uniform testimony of the Word, the second death itself is the final end of the sinner’s career. “Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:15). Furthermore, if there be no actual death in the first “death,” there can, perforce, be no actual resurrection from the “dead.” CFF1 513.1

Consequently, all the awe-inspiring depictions of the Second Advent—the power and glory, the hosts of resplendent attending angels, the opening of the graves, the dead coming forth, and the glad reunions for the righteous forevermore—are looked upon as simply Oriental figures of speech. They are construed to mean nothing more than the emergence of the spirit from its encumbering body-prison, released like a balloon when the cord is cut that ties it to earth, so that it can soar above to the realms of bliss. That is the fanciful picture inherited from pagan philosophy and Christian deviation. CFF1 513.2

12. SECOND DEATH FOLLOWS SECOND RESURRECTION

The “second death”—named only in the Apocalypse, but referred to in principle many times elsewhere—is not merely the natural death that comes upon all men at the close of this life, but is a death coming after the resurrection, restricted to those who are adjudged unworthy of eternal life. Four times this term “second death” is employed—and invariably placed in contrast with life everlasting, which is given to the righteous. Note them again: CFF1 513.3

“Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life .... He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death” (Revelation 2:10, 11). CFF1 513.4

“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power” (Revelation 20:6). CFF1 513.5

“And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:11-15). CFF1 513.6

Then, after a glowing description of the glories of the heavenly Paradise, when God shall “wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away”—the revelator declares: CFF1 514.1

“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8). CFF1 514.2

13. SECOND DEATH FOR IRRECLAIMABLY WICKED ONLY

Now it is undeniable that there can be no second death without a first death. And the second must be an actual death, like the first, otherwise there could be no propriety in employing the term “second.” As stated, the first death is the death to which all earthly creatures are subject. Man alone has a resurrection, and another life offered by an omnipotent Saviour through a resurrection from the dead. So the first death is the common lot of all men from Adam onward, irrespective of character or conduct as individuals. But “as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22). CFF1 514.3

The “second death” is the destiny only of those who “neglect so great salvation” (Hebrews 2:3), offered through Christ. Consequently, the second death is solely for the irreclaimably wicked. We who live in the present life are all born to die once. But we must be born again, by a heavenly spiritual birth, if we are to avoid the second death, and thus live forever. As the first death puts an end to man’s earthly life, and he reverts to the dust from which he was formed, so the second death precludes entrance upon the life beyond, and remands all who fall under its doom of destruction, both “soul and body” (Matthew 10:28), to the nonexistence from which they were first called. CFF1 514.4

Whether the process of destruction be longer or shorter, according to the just mandates of the judgment, the end of the process is death. As Paul says, “whose end [of the “enemies of the cross,” Philippians 3:18] is destruction” (Philippians 3:19), and “the end of those things is death” (Romans 6:21; cf. Romans 1:32). Death is therefore the final end of sin, the final issue of the conflict between Christ and Satan, the final consummation of the cruel experiment of sin, so vividly pictured in the Revelation. For the righteous the first death lasts only until the first resurrection. For the wicked, the second death, following the second resurrection, lasts forever. CFF1 514.5

14. THE TWO WAYS: WAY OF LIFE, AND WAY OF DEATH

Two opposite “ways” are set forth in Scripture, along with the fact that all men tread one or the other. Moses of old was called upon to declare to God’s ancient people: “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I [the Lord] have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19). CFF1 515.1

In verse 15 “life and good” and “death and evil” are tied inseparably together in the contrasting couplets. Later, Jeremiah repeated the same solemn dictum, broadening each into a “way“: “Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death” (Jeremiah 21:8). CFF1 515.2

But how, it might be asked, could the way of holiness be called the “way everlasting,” as the psalmist puts it, in contrast with the “wicked way” (Psalm 139:24), if both ways are everlasting—one with everlasting holiness and happiness, the other everlasting sin and misery? Then the wise man warns, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12; Proverbs 16:25). It has one end. Next, Ezekiel throws these ways into vivid contrast, declaring that “the soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20), but the repentant righteous shall “save his soul alive” (Ezekiel 18:27). And he declares: “I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye” (Ezekiel 18:32). CFF1 515.3

Christ Himself picks up and presses this theme of the two “ways“: CFF1 515.4

“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13, 14). CFF1 516.1

And as might be expected, Paul likewise stresses the end of the two ways: CFF1 516.2

“For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Romans 8:13). CFF1 516.3

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Galatians 6:7, 8). CFF1 516.4

15. DESTINED ENDINGS OF THE TWO WAYS

Summarizing: After His resurrection Christ was received up into Heaven as a pledge of the coming restoration of humanity, and as proof of the eternal union now established between God and redeemed man. When Christ appears again, the second time, He will raise the sleeping saints and translate the living ones (1 Corinthians 15:21-24, 51-57). And when the appointed hour shall come, the wicked dead—whose names have been blotted out of the book of life—will be brought forth from their graves to receive sentence and to be consumed by the second death, which involves utter destruction of body and soul, along with the obliteration of Satan, the malign author of sin, ruin, and death (Matthew 25:31, 32, 41, 46)—and all his evil cohorts with him. CFF1 516.5

He and his evil minions and all men and demons who follow him will perish utterly in the lake of fire and brimstone (Revelation 20:5-15). And all this because of choosing the evil and rejecting the good. This involves the extinction of all life, the utter end of the individual human personality. Nothing remains but the elements of which it was composed. And these disintegrate, and the person becomes as though he had not been. CFF1 516.6

The promised new heaven and new earth will replace this age-old, sin-scarred battleground, and a clean universe will be brought into being—without sin, sinners, or Satan to mar (Revelation 21; 22). The righteous will have all received Immortality and incorruption. Then it is that they will “shine forth as the sun” (Matthew 13:43), and “as the stars for ever and ever” (Daniel 12:3). Then God will be “all in all,” and the glory of the Lord will fill the earth forever (Habakkuk 2:14; cf. Isaiah 11:9). Those are the ultimate issues, the outcome of the two ways of Life and Death. CFF1 516.7