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Philip B. Brown For
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Introduction to the Book |
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Calvinists tell us that God has chosen, before we were even born, who will go to heaven and who will go to hell. God chooses who He will draw to Himself to so that we will ask for Christ’s forgiveness and salvation. This means that God creates souls knowing that they will have no chance to ever be saved, and will spend eternity in hell. It would have been better for these souls to have never been created. For many people, this simply does not fit with the character of a loving, caring, and merciful God. Armenians tell us that we have the free-will to accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, and thus we can individually choose go to heaven and not hell. This would seem to be a little more in line with the character of a loving God. But many of us still have problems with this view. What about those who have lived and died in cultures, generations, and times where it would have been simply impossible to learn about the saving blood of Jesus Christ? Even if they had the theoretical ability to accept Christ as Savior, they would not have had the opportunity to learn about Christ. Would a loving, caring, and merciful God create souls and place them in environments such as theses? How is doing so any different than God simply creating the soul and making the choice that the soul will spend eternity in hell? If a person dies without hearing about Christ, one could argue, God will make special provisions to save the person. Let’s take a look at the various types of special provisions which have been developed to address this problem.
There are many problems with these views. Some are assumptions that are made without much Scriptural evidence. Others require stretching the natural meaning of Scripture. Others simply disregard Scripture’s requirement for a meaningful personal relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All of these systems, including traditional Calvinism and Arminianism, seem to make one assumption that is not taught by Scripture. All these systems assume that when we die, we go straight to heaven or hell. This makes death be the end of our journey. This teaching is ingrained into our culture. When we go to funerals, the preacher tells us our loved one is in a better place (hopefully). But what does Scripture teach? What did the ancient Jews believe? When Martha was grieving over the death of her brother Lazarus, did she seek comfort in knowing Lazarus was in heaven? Or did she seek comfort in knowing he would be raised on the last day (John 11:24)? The debate between the Pharisees and the Sadducees was not in whether or not there is a heaven and a hell. The debate was whether or not there would be a resurrection. Paul constantly holds to and preaches the hope of the resurrection, and seeing Christ when he returns. Paul hopes that we will be pure and blameless until the day of Christ (Philippians 1:10). The teaching of Scripture is to focus on the resurrection. Preachers today, on the other hand, hold to the hope of going to heaven when we die. The resurrection, if mentioned at all at funerals, is a kind of secondary hope. This teaching, of everybody going straight to heaven or hell, probably developed as a result of the early Church trying to distance themselves from the Jews. The school at Alexandria was all about interpreting the Bible in a way that was more acceptable to the Greeks. The Greeks believed in an immediate afterlife, and not a resurrection. Philo, Clemet of Alexandria, and Origen were famous early-church fathers from the school of Alexandria. (Actually Philo was Jewish before Christ.) Clemet and especially Origen interpreted Scripture in a very allegorical way. The events themselves were not important. The important things were the moral meanings to be found in Scripture. It was like Greek mythology, which was not to be taken literally, but was to show moral values. This was especially true of the Old Testament, the stores of which Greeks considered to be barbaric. Augustine was also from Alexandria. He brought the teaching of the Bible into a more literal interpretation, except in the area of Bible prophecy. The writings of Augustine were considered to be almost like Scripture by the early Catholic Church. Augustine believed in salvation election. Luther was also a big fan of Augustine. Luther and the Reformation, including Calvin, also believed in salvation election. But how much of this was originally influenced by the Greek belief in the afterlife? In the Greek culture, the Greek word ‘Hades’ was the place where bad people went after they died. In Jewish culture, Sheol (Hades) was the place for both the righteous and the wicked. The New Testament was written in Greek. And the Greek word ‘Hades’ was used for the Hebrew word ‘Sheol.’ In New Testament times, the Jews understood there to be different regions in Hades for different types of people. But everyone, both the righteous and the unrighteous, still went to Hades when they died. Everyone awaited the resurrection. For the Greeks, Hades was only the place for the wicked. The word ‘Hades’ in the Bible began to be translated as Hell. This is not to say that there is no hell. The Greek word Gehenna should be translated as hell. But people do not go to hell (the lake of fire) as soon as they die. People do not go to hell (the lake of fire) until after they are judged. And the final Judgment is not until a thousand years after the resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous. The New Wine System interprets Scripture much more like the ancient Jews would have done. The hope is in the resurrection, and in the Messianic reign of Christ. The blood of Christ was atonement for everybody’s sins. Our sins were not forgiven on the specific date when we first accepted Christ as Savior. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Our sins were forgiven at the cross, before we were even born. This is true for all people, of all ages, all generations, and all cultures. Everyone, from Adam on down, is on a journey towards salvation. Our journey might or might not include an encounter with Jesus Christ during this lifetime. But our journey hopefully brings us closer to the person God wants us to be. Death does not end this journey. Everyone will be resurrected. When Christ returns to reign as King of Kings, everyone will have the opportunity to put their faith in Christ and to continue their journey towards salvation. When we complete our journey, through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, we will be given eternal life with new spiritual bodies. Those of us who complete this journey with Jesus Christ in this lifetime will be resurrected with spiritual bodies and will reign with Christ when He returns. This is the Bride of Christ. People from every nation, tribe, people, and language will be in the wedding banquet, and will be the Bride of Christ. But this is just a tip of the iceberg as compared with the total number of people, from all past generations, who will be saved during the millennium. The problem all along has been in the way we have been trained to think. We think of salvation as being something that is given to people when they accept Christ as Savior. However, the blood of Christ puts everyone on this path, on this journey, even before we are born. As long as we desire to continue this journey, we will have the continued opportunity for eternal salvation. There is no need for infant baptism. Nor is there a need for an age of accountability for children. Neither of these is found in Scripture. The sins of children are already forgiven. If the child dies, he or she will simply continue his or her journey towards salvation after the resurrection. All people were born already on their journey towards salvation. Jesus said, "When I am lifted up from the earth, [I] will draw all men to myself" (ESV John 12:32). In other words, the Holy Spirit will reveal Himself and His Son to everybody. Everyone’s name was written in the Lamb’s Book of Life from the foundation of the world. However, as Old Testament Scripture shows, some are blotted out, because they reject Christ’s salvation. Those who explicitly and knowingly reject Christ as Savior will eternally forfeit their opportunity for salvation. This is called the unpardonable sin. One form of the unpardonable sin is to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. This is the same as in the days of Moses, when they worshiped a golden calf after having seen all the miracles of Moses (Exodus 32:32-33). Another form is described in Hebrews 6:4-6, which is an intentional rejection of Christ after having received the Holy Spirit. Another form is taking the mark of the beast. And after the millennium, when Satan is released, those who march against Jerusalem will be committing the unpardonable sin. All of these are examples of the explicit and knowledgeable rejection of Jesus Christ as Savior. Everybody continues on their journey towards salvation unless and until he or she commits this unpardonable sin. It’s not sin in a weak moment. It’s a deliberate and knowledgeable decision. This sin cannot be forgiven, in this age or in the age to come (Matthew 23:32, Mark 3:28-29, Luke 12:10), because it would require Christ to be crucified again (Hebrews 6:4-6). The unpardonable sin is a decision that men can make out of our own free will, just like Adam. And it has the same consequence as Adam’s sin. God does not show favoritism (Romans 2:11). The New Wine System is the only system that has no favoritism for anybody of any generation, without the use of after-death-punishment or Purgatory. The New Wine System is the only system that truly reflects the character of a loving, merciful, and caring God, while at the same time giving men the true free-will ability to reject Him. The New Wine System is the simple application of Jewish eschatology to the Church. When the Messiah comes, Israel will rule the world and salvation will be brought to all the nations through that rule. Likewise, when Christ returns, the Church (which is Israel) will rule the world with Christ. The Church is the firstfruits (Romans 8:23, James 1:18). The Church is the Bride, who gets into the wedding banquet. The Church will be the priests and kings who lead the nations to eternal salvation during the millennium. We are told to seek first the kingdom of heaven and his righteousness. Those who seek righteousness will find it. Those, in Christ, who seek the kingdom, will find it. But if you don’t seek the kingdom, you won’t find the kingdom. If you don’t seek the kingdom, you won’t inherit the kingdom. We have been taught that to inherit the kingdom is the same as salvation. However, “Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God” (NIV 1 Cor. 6:9-10). Yet all of these sins have already been forgiven by the blood of Christ. We confuse inheriting the kingdom with “getting saved” because we incorrectly assume that our journey towards salvation ends with death. Those who complete this journey before they die are the elect. But the elect are not the only ones who will be saved. Everyone else still has the free will opportunity to continue their journey towards salvation, even after the resurrection. The elect are those who commit their lives totally to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We must have a “Purpose Driven Life.” We find God’s purpose for us as individuals, and then we get excited about fulfilling that purpose. Nothing else matters, even if it would cost us our lives. In doing so, we help others that God brings into our journeys. In doing so, we overcome sin and find Christ’s righteousness. In finding Christ’s righteousness, we will inherit the kingdom when Christ returns. Those who confuse “getting saved” with election will tend to water down the gospel, of what it takes to inherit the kingdom. If you confuse “getting saved” with election, and you are told this is what it takes to be the elect, you will say very few people will “get saved.” But the narrow gate that few find is that of election. It’s for inheriting the kingdom. It’s not for the continuation of one’s journey towards salvation. This is the prize for which Paul ran the race. This alone leads us to inheriting spiritual bodies when Christ returns. Others, however, will continue their journey towards salvation during the millennium, unless they reject Christ’s salvation by taking the mark of the beast. These and many other Scriptural problems are solved by this one simple application of Jewish eschatology to the Church. The people of Israel are a “chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own purposes” (1 Peter 2:9, Exodus 19:5-6). The people of Israel are the elect. To be chosen does not simply mean you are saved. The people of the nations can be saved and yet not be chosen to rule the world. New Testament Jewish writers like Peter quoted Old Testament verses, such as this one from Exodus 19:5-6. They applied Old Testament prophecies about Israel to the Church. If we do likewise, then the Old Testament prophecies about Israel must be literally fulfilled in the Church. Therefore, the Church will rule the nations with Christ during the millennium (Revelation 2:26-26, 5:10, 20:6). Scripture is to be interpreted as literally as is reasonable, with careful consideration for context, allowing for symbolism only where symbolism is obvious, with the culture of the ancient Jews of primary importance. It’s my hope that every student of Scripture will read this book prayerfully, letting the inerrancy of Scripture be the final word. Jesus told a parable about pouring new wine into new wine skins. New understanding doesn’t necessarily fit traditional interpretations. Thus, the title of the book is, “New Wine for the End Times.” The New Wine System is a new understanding of Scripture that’s based on old understandings about the End Times.
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(Second Edition)
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Overcome Sin,
for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!