Problems Solved by the New Wine System
Philip B. Brown ( www.newwine.org )

Preterism says the Church is a New Testament continuation of the Old Testament Israel.  So Israel is the Church.  But preterists believe that if you were to interpret the Old Testament prophecies about Israel in the literal way the Old Testament writers would have done, that it would violate principles taught in the New Testament.  Therefore, preterists use symbolism and allegories to reinterpret the Old Testament in light of the New Testament by forcing Old Testament prophecies about Israel be fulfilled in Christ’s first coming.

For example, Zechariah 14 talks about a time after all the nations of the world have attacked Jerusalem.  All the nations of the world must go to Jerusalem each year to worship at the Feast of Tabernacles.  Any nation that does not go up to worship at Jerusalem will not get rain.  It would be hard to argue that Zechariah himself understood this as being anything except for what the text literally says.  But preterists would say this would violate New Testament teaching.

Ezekiel’s temple has way too many details described to think that Ezekiel himself would have considered the temple to be simply symbolic, and never to be a physical temple that will literally be built.  Ezekiel’s temple is described with the details of animal sacrifice.  So how can it be in harmony with the teaching of Hebrews?  Therefore, preterists do not believe the literal temple will be built, even if Ezekiel himself would have disagreed.

Dispensationalists, on the other hand, place emphasis on interpreting Old Testament prophecies about Israel in the same literal way as the Old Testament writers would have done.  In other words, Scripture must be interpreted in the context of the culture and the time of the authors and their immediate audience.

In order to make Old Testament prophecies compatible with traditional interpretations of New Testament teaching, dispensationalists simply separate Israel from the Church.  The Old Testament prophecies about Israel are to be fulfilled with a different group of people than that of the New Testament Church.  New Testament authors, however, often quoted Old Testament prophecies about Israel and applied them directly to the Church. It’s hard to believe that New Testament authors saw any real distinction between Old Covenant Israel and the New Covenant Church.  There is only one body of true believers.  There is only one faith, and one baptism.  All those who are in Christ are Abraham’s seed, and heirs to the promise of Abraham (Gal. 3:29).

Therefore, the Church today, both preterist and dispensational, has trouble applying Old Testament prophecies about Israel to the New Testament Church, if they are to be interpreted literally.  But what if the problem is in how we interpret the New Testament?  For example, what if we do not properly understand everything the author of Hebrews was saying?  Instead of trying to reinterpret the Old Testament prophecies about Israel in the light of the New Testament, what if we were to interpret the New Testament strictly in the context of the Old Testament?  After all, the Old Testament was the Bible for the New Testament authors.

Consider the Jewish Christians who read Hebrews during the first century.  Would they have considered Hebrews to be the world of God if it caused Old Testament prophecies to be interpreted in a way that even the Old Testament authors would have rejected?  Or would the early Jewish Christians have considered Hebrews to be God’s word if it caused a complete separation of God’s people into two separate bodies of believers, one for the Old Covenant and another for the New Covenant?  Could it be that because of their Old Testament background, that they would have interpreted Hebrews a bit differently?

Would the early Jews, who had been raised from their childhood learning the Old Testament Scriptures, have read and interpreted the New Testament in the same way that we have traditionally interpreted it?  The Jews believed in a future Messianic earthly reign, where Israel will rule the world.  The gospel of the kingdom will go out throughout the world as a result of that future Messianic reign.  The early Church, especially after Augustine, did not believe there would be a future earthly reign of Christ.  Could this difference strongly affect one’s interpretation of New Testament Scripture?

The Greeks believed one’s soul went to eternal bliss or eternal punishment immediately after death.  To the Greek, Hades was a place of punishment. Over time, word Hades was translated as hell.  But to the first-century Jew, Hades was the place where both the righteous and the unrighteous went when they died to await the resurrection in the age to come.  They did not go straight to heaven or hell when they died.

For the Jew, the age to come was not simply eternity in heaven.  The age to come was the next phase of God’s redemptive plan.  So for the Jew, one’s eternal destiny would not have necessarily been established at the time of death.  To the Greek, however, one’s eternity had to be established at the time of death, because you either went to heaven or to hell when you died.  But this was not necessarily the case if one had been taught the Old Testament from childhood.  Death was simply a time of rest, for everyone, to await the resurrection.  Could this difference strongly affect one’s interpretation of New Testament Scripture?

The New Wine System literally applies Old Testament prophecies about Israel to the New Testament Church.  Instead of trying to reinterpret the Old Testament in the light of the New Testament, the New Wine System interprets the New Testament in the context of the Old Testament.  There will be an age to come, after Christ returns, where the gospel goes to all the nations as a result of Christ’s earthly reign.  Both the just and the unjust will be raised.  And the final judgment is not until a thousand years after the resurrection.

The details of all the Scriptural evidence for the New Wine System can be found in my book, titled New Wine for the End Times. You can also read the article titled New Wine Premillennialism, which is a focus on why Old Testament Jewish eschatology should be applied to the New Testament Church.  But the purpose of this article is to take a look at four major problems of Scripture that are solved by the New Wine System. Each of these problems has caused the Church to be divided over the centuries. In other words, by simply applying Old Testament Jewish eschatology to the New Testament Church, all these well-known problems of Scripture simply disappear. But you have to be willing to really interpret the New Testament in the context of the Old Testament, even if doing so challenges many of the traditional beliefs about New Testament teachings that have been held over the centuries.

Calvinism vs. Arminianism (Election vs. Free-Will)

The New Wine System solves Calvinism vs. Arminianism (election vs. free-will).  Baptists and other Reformed doctrine denominations have believed that God chose, before the foundation of the world, who will be eternally punished in hell and who will be redeemed and spend eternity in heaven.  Methodists and other Wesleyan doctrine denominations have believed we all have the free will to choose to have faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. This major Church divider is solved without the use of paradoxes, or two sides of the same coin.  This major Church divider is solved by applying Old Testament Jewish eschatology to the New Testament Church.

Old Testament Israel is considered to be God’s chosen nation. Did that mean that only the people of Israel were chosen for salvation?  The Genesis and Hebrews both say that Melchizedek was a priest of the Most High God (Genesis 14:18, Hebrews 7:1).  Jesus Christ was said to be a priest in the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:17).  But Melchizedek was not even Jewish.  He was not part of Israel.  So he was not a part of God’s chosen nation.  Yet it would seem that he was saved.

Genesis 14:18-20 Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine: and he was priest of God Most High.  (19)  He blessed him, and said, "Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth:  (20)  and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand." Abram gave him a tenth of all.

Hebrews 7:1-3  For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God Most High, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,  (2) to whom also Abraham divided a tenth part of all  (being first, by interpretation, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace;  (3)  without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God), remains a priest continually.

Hebrews 7:17  for it is testified, "You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek."

To be a part of Israel, God’s chosen nation, was to be a part of the holy nation that will reign with the Messiah over the world when the Messiah comes.  Then after the Messiah comes, the gospel will go throughout the whole world as a result of that rule. 

Gentiles could convert to Judaism and start taking part in all the religious festivals and observance of the Law of Moses.  So Israel was never strictly about being Abraham’s descendent.  Also, the Jews believed there are righteous Gentiles, who keep God’s commands in their hearts, but who do not follow all the strict rules of the Law of Moses.  Being a part of Israel was never about salvation.  But being a part of Israel was to be a part of God’s chosen people, who will someday rule over the world and bring salvation to the nations.

When the New Testament Church is literally applied to Old Testament Jewish eschatology, the Church is simply Israel.  Those who are in Christ are Abraham’s seed, and heirs to the promise.  Therefore, the New Testament Church is Israel.  The Church, which is Israel, will literally fulfill all the Old Testament prophecies about Israel.  So the Church will reign with Christ, as priests and kings, over the nations when Christ returns. God’s chosen people are the people of Israel, which is the Church.  But if you are not chosen to be a part of Israel, that doesn’t mean you won’t be saved. You can still be a part of the nations that are led to righteousness when Christ returns.

Thus, God chooses those who will reign with Christ over the nations.  God needs people from every nation, tribe, people, and language to reign with Christ over the nations.  But God does not choose who will be saved.  Everyone has the free will opportunity to accept Christ’s reign over them and to mature in Christ.  Everyone has the free will opportunity to mature in Christ and thus eventually receive eternal life.

Those who preach Calvinism and salvation election will usually refer to Romans 9 as their primary text.

Romans 9:6-13  But it is not as though the word of God has come to nothing. For they are not all Israel, that are of Israel.  (7)  Neither, because they are Abraham's seed, are they all children. But, "In Isaac will your seed be called."  (8)  That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as a seed.  (9)  For this is a word of promise, "At the appointed time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.  (10)  Not only so, but Rebecca also conceived by one, by our father Isaac.  (11) For being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him who calls,  (12)  it was said to her, "The elder will serve the younger."  (13)  Even as it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."

As it is pointed out, God chose Abraham and gave him a promise.  Then the promise went down through Isaac, and the Jacob.  Jacob had an older twin brother Esau.  But because of God’s election, Jacob was chosen over Esau before the twins were even born.  Reformed preachers use this passage to point out that salvation election is strictly by God’s choice, before we are even born.

But is God saying that Esau was chosen to go to hell?  How about all of Isaac’s servants?  Were they destined for hell because they were not a part of the blood-line of the promise?  No, Paul is simply saying that the promise that was given to Abraham for the blessing of the nations would be carried out through Jacob and not Esau.  The twelve tribes of Israel were established in Jacob’s twelve sons.

Let’s go back to the context of the passage.  In verses 1-5, Paul is agonizing over the fact that Israel had rejected the Messiah.  How could this possibly have happened?  Remember that Israel is the holy nation of non-metaphorical priests and kings who will reign with Christ and bring the gospel to the world when the Messiah comes.  Did the rejection of the Messiah by Israel mean that God’s word had failed?  In verse 6 (quoted above), Paul concludes that God’s word had not failed because not all who are descended from Israel (Jacob) belong to Israel (the promise).  It is not the “children of the flesh” who are considered to be Israel, but it’s the “children of the promise” who are considered to be Israel, according to the verse.  But again, this is not talking about salvation any more than God’s choice between the two twins was talking about salvation.  Election is simply those chosen to inherit the promise of Abraham and bring the gospel to the nations when Christ returns.

Romans 9:1-5  I tell the truth in Christ. I am not lying, my conscience testifying with me in the Holy Spirit,  (2)  that I have great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart.  (3)  For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brothers' sake, my relatives according to the flesh,  (4)  who are Israelites; whose is the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service, and the promises;  (5)  of whom are the fathers, and from whom is Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God, blessed forever. Amen.

Romans 9:6a ESV But it is not as though the word of God has failed.

Galatians 3:29  If you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to promise.

Therefore, those who are elected are saved and will inherit eternal life.  But those who are not elected still have the opportunity for eternal life.  The elect are simply the chosen as the ones who will bring salvation to everybody else.  The elect are the firstfruits of the harvest.

2 Thessalonians 2:13 ESV  But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.

James 1:18 ESV  Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

The Friction between Grace and Holiness Verses

Salvation is a free gift.  But inheriting the kingdom requires lots of work.  The New Wine System solves the friction between grace and holiness verses.  Catholics, and some Protestant denominations, recognize that many verses require there to be a certain amount of overcoming of sin in order to inherit the kingdom.  Those who are already believers are then told to seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness (Matthew 6:33).  Other denominations put emphases on verses that say salvation is a free gift, and that no amount of work can be done to earn salvation.  But the New Wine System does not equate salvation with inheriting the kingdom.  Salvation is a free gift.  But to inherit the kingdom requires lots of work.  This major Church divider is solved by applying Old Testament Jewish eschatology to the New Testament Church.

Those who will inherit the kingdom are the elect.  They will reign as priests and kings over the nations when Christ returns.  But as we have seen, election is not strictly speaking about salvation.  The people of the nations can be saved without being elected by God to rule over the nations.  The elect are simply the firstfruits of all those who will eventually mature in Christ and receive eternal life.

This misunderstanding of what Scripture says comes about when one reads the New Testament like a Greek, and not like a Jew with Old Testament beliefs and background.  The Greek believed one’s eternal afterlife is determined at the time of one’s death.  The Jews believed that both the righteous and the wicked go to Hades (the grave) to await the resurrection.  So the Greeks naturally read election as salvation and non-election as eternal damnation.  But the Jew would have read election as being a part of the holy nation that will reign with the Messiah when he comes.

This fundamental misunderstanding of Scripture leads to problems in interpreting various other verses of Scripture.  A lot of what Jesus taught was about inheriting the kingdom of God by living holy lives.  A lot of what Paul taught was about salvation as a free gift that requires no work on our parts.  There have been entire books written about these perceived differences between the gospel of Jesus and the gospel of Paul.  Compare and contrast this set of salvation verses with this set of verses about inheriting the kingdom.

Salvation	Inheriting the Kingdom
Romans 10:9 – "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."	Matthew 5:20 – "Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, there is no way you will enter the kingdom of heaven."
Romans 10:13, Joel 2:31-32 – "Everyone who will call on the name of the Lord will be saved."	Matthew 5:48 ESV – "You therefore must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect."
Romans 6:23 – "The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."	1 Corinthians 6:9-10 – Neither the greedy nor drunkards nor slanders will inherit the kingdom of God.
Ephesians 2:8-9 – "By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast."	Galatians 5:19-21 – Here Paul includes sexual immorality, impurity, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy as sins that prevent one from inheriting the kingdom of God.
John 3:16 – Believe on Jesus Christ and you will have eternal life.	Ephesians 5:3-5 – Sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
	Hebrews 12:14b NIV – "Without holiness, no one will see the Lord."
John 1:12-13 - "But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God's children, to those who believe in his name: who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."	The seven letters to the seven churches each have a warning, which says, that it’s only those who overcome sin that will inherit the kingdom.  Each letter gives a different description of what it means to inherit the kingdom.
2 Corinthians 5:17 - "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new."	Revelation 21:7-8 – Only those who overcome sin will inherit the kingdom of God.
2 Corinthians 5:21 - "For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."	1 John 5:18a - "We know that whoever is born of God doesn't sin."
Acts 16:30-31 - "[He] brought them out and said, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' They said, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.' "	1 John 3:5-6 - "You know that he was revealed to take away our sins, and in him is no sin.  Whoever remains in him doesn't sin.  Whoever sins hasn't seen him, neither knows him."
Matthew 10:32 - "Everyone therefore who confesses me before men, him I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven."	Matthew 7:21a - "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven."

Is inheriting the kingdom really the same thing as salvation? Salvation is a free gift.  Nothing that we can do will atone for our sins, or bring us into salvation.  But to inherit the kingdom requires lots of work in order to completely overcome all our sinful habits and thus to reach God’s standard of holiness.

The Greeks believed one’s soul went to eternal bliss or eternal punishment immediately after death.  To the Greek, Hades was a place of punishment.  Over time, word Hades was translated as hell.  But to the first-century Jew, Hades was the place where both the righteous and the unrighteous went when they died to await the resurrection in the age to come. They did not go straight to heaven or hell when they died.

For the Jew, the age to come was not simply eternity in heaven.  The age to come was the next phase of God’s redemptive plan.  To inherit the kingdom was to reign with the Messiah over the nations in the age to come, after the resurrection.  So for the Jew, one’s eternal destiny would not have necessarily been established at the time of death.  Death is not the end of the journey.  To the Greek, however, one’s eternity had to be established at the time of death, because you either went to heaven or to hell when you died.

Therefore, the Jew would have read these verses very differently from the Greek.  The Greek would have read all these verses as being about salvation, and one’s eternal state in the afterlife.  The Jew would have read the verses about the kingdom of heaven and holiness as being verses related to being a member of the commonwealth of Israel (Eph 2:12), who will reign with the Messiah in the age to come.

This fundamental misunderstanding of Scripture leads to major divisions in the Church.  Luther saw the Church’s teaching on holiness as being distorted by the Catholic Church so that the church enslaved the people with guilt and conned them into continuously giving money in order to escape the punishment of fire and purgatory after death.  So Luther saw the teaching about salvation by God’s grace as freeing us from the Catholic Church.  This was the essence of the Protestant Reformation.  The verses about holiness were seen as explained by election.

Later, Jacobus Arminus (1560-1609) argued against salvation election by saying that those God “foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29).  In other words, God did not choose who would be saved and who would not be saved.  However, God knew ahead of time because God knows the future.  Because of that future knowledge God predestined that they would be changed into Christ’s image.

John Wesley (1703-1791) later picked up on this belief and formulated the idea of a “second blessing,” after the initial blessing of salvation.  This “second blessing” is related to holiness and “entire sanctification.”  In other words, without salvation election there must be some kind of second-level of Christianity related to holiness, but not required for salvation.  Wesley was the founder of the Methodist movement, which was the origin of many denominations that were in opposition to the basic Reformed position of salvation election, as defined by Calvinism.

But would all this division have occurred if the Church had understood that inheriting the kingdom (election) is not the same thing as salvation?  Throughout most of Church history, both Catholic and Protest, the idea of a millennial reign of Christ was rejected by the high majority of all Christians.  One’s eternal state of heaven or hell was decided at death. Therefore, there was no alternative but to consider the free-grace salvation verses as being about the same thing as the holiness verses of inheriting the kingdom.  Historically, the Church as interpreted the New Testament like a Greek instead of like a Jew.

A Free-Grace Alternative to Purgatory

The millennium is a free-grace alternative to purgatory.  The New Wine System solves this difference in salvation verses between Catholicism and Protestantism.  The New Wine System sees the millennial reign of Christ as serving the same basic purpose as purgatory in the Catholic system. But the millennium is not a place of punishment or purification by fire.  The millennium maintains the free-grace aspect of salvation.  This major Church divider is solved by applying Old Testament Jewish eschatology to the New Testament Church.

Ephesians 2:4-9  But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us,  (5)  even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ  (by grace you have been saved),  (6)  and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,  (7) that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus;  (8)  for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,  (9)  not of works, that no one would boast.

If one is a drunkard, even if he is in Christ, he cannot inherit the kingdom.  That is the obvious conclusion to those who put merit in the holiness verse.  If death determines a person’s eternal state in the afterlife, and if the millennial reign of Christ has been ruled out, then how do we distinguish between those who have died in Christ and lived a holy life from those who have died in Christ but still have many sinful habits when they die? As far back as Augustine, the concept of a purgatory has been used to solve this problem.  In the book, the City of God, in chapter 21:13, Augustine wrote:

For our part, we recognize that even in this life some punishments are purgatorial,-not, indeed, to those whose life is none the better, but rather the worse for them, but to those who are constrained by them to amend their life. All other punishments, whether temporal or eternal, inflicted as they are on every one by divine providence, are sent either on account of past sins, or of sins presently allowed in the life, or to exercise and reveal a man's graces. They may be inflicted by the instrumentality of bad men and angels as well as of the good. For even if anyone suffers some hurt through another's wickedness or mistake, the man indeed sins whose ignorance or injustice does the harm; but God, who by His just though hidden judgment permits it to be done, sins not. But temporary punishments are suffered by some in this life only, by others after death, by others both now and then; but all of them before that last and strictest judgment. But of those who suffer temporary punishments after death, all are not doomed to those everlasting pains which are to follow that judgment; for to some, as we have already said, what is not remitted in this world is remitted in the next, that is, they are not punished with the eternal punishment of the world to come.

Later, in chapter 21:16, Augustine writes about the age of accountability for children (which is not taught by Scripture.)  The children who take the sacraments, if they were to die, are not to be punished in purgatory.  But after this age of accountability, one must “declare war upon vices” least they be “landed in damnable sins”.

But such is God's mercy towards the vessels of mercy which He has prepared for glory, that even the first age of man, that is, infancy, which submits without any resistance to the flesh, and the second age, which is called boyhood, and which has not yet understanding enough to undertake this warfare, and therefore yields to almost every vicious pleasure (because though this age has the power of speech, and may therefore seem to have passed infancy, the mind is still too weak to comprehend the commandment), yet if either of these ages has received the sacraments of the Mediator, then, although the present life be immediately brought to an end, the child, having been translated from the power of darkness to the kingdom of Christ, shall not only be saved from eternal punishments, but shall not even suffer purgatorial torments after death. For spiritual regeneration of itself suffices to prevent any evil consequences resulting after death from the connection with death which carnal generation forms. But when we reach that age which can now comprehend the commandment, and submit to the dominion of law, we must declare war upon vices, and wage this war keenly, lest we be landed in damnable sins.

But the Jews believed in a Messianic reign during which Israel will rule the world.  And the Jew believed that both the just and the unjust await the resurrection in Hades.  They did not believe we go straight to heaven or hell when we die.  So they didn’t have to insert a temporary punishment in there for those who were not evil and yet had not fully lived up to God’s laws.  When one understands the distinction between salvation by grace and inheriting the kingdom, then one has no need for a purgatory.

Of course the Protestants do not believe in purgatory.  Luther was a big fan of Augustine.  At first Luther considered purgatory to be a possibility.  But later Luther decided against it and focused strictly on salvation by grace alone.  Instead, the Reformed Protestants rejected the idea that you could completely overcome all sin before death, and simply stated that we would automatically lose all our sinful habits when we get to heaven.  But if all our sinful habits are automatically removed when we die and go to heaven, then why did Paul say the drunkard cannot inherit the kingdom?

This major problem, which has divided the Protestants from the Catholics, is solved by the New Wine System.  The millennial reign of Christ is a free-grace alternative to purgatory.  Life under Christ’s reign is not temporary punishment.  It will be much better than life in this age.  So it’s a free-grace opportunity to mature in Christ as Christ rules the world. Death does not change people.  If we have a sinful habit when we die, we will still have that sinful habit when we are raised to life.  Otherwise, we are not really the same person.  So we must change as we live.  We must mature in Christ as we live.  We can’t depend on death to change us.  But we don’t need a purgatory to solve the problem when one recognizes that salvation and inheriting the kingdom is not the same thing.

Those Who Die Having Never Heard about Christ

Would a loving God have a merciful plan for our loved ones who have died having never heard or understood about Jesus Christ?  This basic question has given rise to Unitarian Universalism churches as well as Christian Universalism.  The New Wine System shows how everyone will have the opportunity to learn about Christ during the millennium, and will have the opportunity to mature in Christ to receive eternal life.  This includes Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims.  But unlike Christian Universalism, the New Wine System recognizes that many people will deliberately and knowingly reject Christ as Savior, and will be eternally punished.  This major Church divider is solved by applying Old Testament Jewish eschatology to the New Testament Church.

John 14:6  Jesus said to him, "I am the way [road], the truth, and the life. No one comes [journeys] to the Father, except through me.

Acts 4:12  There is salvation in none other, for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, by which we must be saved!"

With the millennium as a free-grace alternative to purgatory, and with the resurrection of both the just and the unjust a thousand years prior to the final judgment, the millennium provides an opportunity to mature in Christ for even those who have never heard about Christ.  God is a God of second chances.  But traditional doctrines of election have forced the conclusion that God is a God of no chance for most people who have died over the centuries.  Would not a perfect God have a perfect plan that shows no favoritism towards anyone?  Would not a perfect God, who let his Son Jesus Christ die as an atonement for all our sins, provide some way for everyone in the world to benefit from that sacrifice?  The Calvinist doctrine of limited atonement says no.  But our hearts say that was not God’s plan.  That is not the Father’s heart.

Our understanding of the Father’s heart has led many Christians to observe many verses in the New Testament that would seem to say everybody is saved.

1 Timothy 4:10 ESV  For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

1 John 2:2 ESV  He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

1 Corinthians 15:22 ESV  For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

Luke 2:10-11 ESV  And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people.  (11)  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

John 6:33 ESV  For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

Titus 2:11 ESV For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 ESV  For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; (15) and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

John 12:32 ESV  And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself."

Romans 11:32 ESV  For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.

Hebrews 2:9 ESV  But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

1 Timothy 2:3-6 ESV  This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, (4) who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.  (5)  For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, (6) who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

Christian Universalism has concluded that everyone will, sometime in the future, be saved.  They still believe that everyone goes to heaven or hell when we die.  But they have concluded that people can be saved even after spending some time in hell.

But the New Wine System is not trapped by this idea that everyone goes to heaven or hell when we die.  The New Wine System literally applies Old Testament Jewish eschatology to the New Testament Church.  Therefore, like Old Testament Jewish teaching, everyone awaits the resurrection in Hades (the grave) when we die.

An ancient Jew who is trained in Old Testament teaching would not see these verses as talking about a future salvation.  While we were yet sinners Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).  From the Jewish perspective, you are forgiven when the sacrifice is made.  Thus, an ancient Jewish person reading these verses would say that everyone is already saved because Christ already died for all of us.

Without salvation election, there is no basis for the Reformed Protestant position of “once saved always saved.”  If you deliberately and knowingly reject Christ’s salvation, you will forfeit your salvation, and you can’t get it back again.  This is the unpardonable sin, like blasphemy of the Holy Spirit or taking the mark of the beast.

Hebrews 6:4-6 ESV  For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit,  (5)  and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come,  (6)  and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.

This verse cannot be talking about those who were never saved, because it’s about those who “have shared in the Holy Spirit.”  And it’s not talking about a weak moment of sin for which you can repent.  No, this verse says it’s impossible to restore again to repentance because it would require the crucifixion of Christ all over again.  The only possible conclusion to all these verses is that everyone is saved already, but that you can forfeit your salvation.  In other words, God has saved everybody.  Everyone can be resurrected from that grave, which is salvation.  But everybody must eventually mature in Christ to overcome all our sinful habits before we can receive eternal life.  Eventually, everyone will hear Christ’s voice be drawn to Christ by the Holy Spirit.  But some will reject Christ’s salvation and lose it. 

Salvation is not a one-time decision.  Salvation is a journey that everybody is on.  But at some point in that journey, you will hear God’s voice.  Those whose hearts are hardened and are unwilling to change will eventually reject God’s voice and will lose their salvation.  But death is not the end of this journey.  The final great white throne judgment is not until a thousand years after the resurrection of both the just and the unjust.

The Messianic reign of Christ is a climatic and necessary part of God’s plan.  And without it, one’s understanding of Scripture becomes vastly distorted.  But once we place the New Testament Church in the role of Old Testament Israel, it all comes together.  All the problems of Scripture are solved.  No verse of Scripture is difficult to understand.  No verse of Scripture requires elaborate explanations.

There are many systems of interpretation out there.  Everybody believes their system of interpretation is true because they have explanations for every verse.  But what most people don’t realize is that every other system out there has explanations for every verse.  For example, even Jehovah Witnesses have explanations for every difficult verse that their system encounters.  Christians read Hebrews 6:4-6, for example, and find the verse is difficult to understand.  It doesn’t exactly fit what they believe.  But they take comfort in knowing that somebody has some elaborate explanation for this verse and for every other difficult verse in the Bible.  So when some new system comes along that offers explanations for some difficult verses, they just assume there must be other verses that would be difficult for the system.

The New Wine System, however, is different.  When we simply apply Old Testament Jewish eschatology to the New Testament Church, in a literal way, everything in Scripture all of a sudden makes perfect sense without elaborate explanations.  With the New Wine System, no verse of Scripture is difficult to understand or requires elaborate explanations. 

The only thing that holds people back is tradition.  We believe in election because of tradition.  Or we believe that inheriting the kingdom is the same as salvation because of tradition.  Catholics believe in purgatory because of tradition.  And most conservative Christians believe that those who die, having never heard about Christ, are eternally punished in hell because of tradition.

Jesus said, “I am the way (road), the truth, and the life.  No man comes (journeys) to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).  The ancient Jew would not read this verse and conclude that those who die having never heard would be condemned.  Both the just and the unjust await the resurrection in Hades (the grave) when they die.  But the Greek has the tradition that you go to heaven or hell when you die.  So the Greek reads this verse and concludes that if you die without Christ, you automatically go to hell.

New Wine is a parable about new thinking. We need to put off Greek traditions and start considering what it means to inherit the kingdom from a Jewish perspective.  We need to put off Greek traditions and consider new thinking, which is really old thinking.  We need to seriously consider ignoring our traditions and seriously consider the New Wine System with an open mind and a true desire to know God’s heart and truth.

Mark 2:22  No one puts new wine into old wineskins, or else the new wine will burst the skins, and the wine pours out, and the skins will be destroyed; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins."

Philip Brown
www.newwine.org