We continue once again with our subject,

Death and Resurrection

Concerning the second resurrection Seventh Day Adventist have the following to say.

“The second resurrection happens after the thousand years have passed. This resurrection is for those who were unfaithful to Christ. These are the lost people who decided not to follow Christ during their life on earth.

“The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection” (Revelation 20:5, ESV).

Unfortunately, these people are not raised to eternal life, but instead will face the second death.”

We have decided to concentrate on the last three points made here and save the first, the timing of the second resurrect till last.

They state:

1) “This resurrection is for those who were unfaithful to Christ.”

The implication here appears to be that the world (i.e., all the heathen, all non-believers) have been unfaithful to Christ.

Question:

How can they be unfaithful to someone with whom they do not know or believe in?

Yes, it’s possible that some may have heard some mention of a man who supposedly died for our sins that we might be saved, but how many of these actually believed this to be true?

How many thought to themselves, ‘Foolishness! no one in their right mind believes such nonsense’, and went on about their marry way.

Does this make them unfaithful to Christ? Can you be unfaithful to someone whom you don’t know or believe in?

What is the definition of faithful?

Faithful: true to one’s word, promises, vows, etc.; steady in allegiance or affection; reliable, trusted, or believed; strict or thorough in the performance of duty.

So, to be faithful to Christ implies that you are in allegiance or duty bound to him, a servant (a follower or disciple), that you are aware of the terms of service, and have professed (or vowed) to heed or follow his wishes.

What is the definition of unfaithful?

Unfaithful: not faithful; not observant of promises, vows, allegiance, or duty; violating trust or confidence; treacherous; perfidious; as, an unfaithful subject; an unfaithful agent or servant.

So similarly, to be unfaithful to Christ would imply that as a servant (a believer) you are unreliable, that you violate your vows, promises and professions.

The Scriptural definition of one who is unfaithful to Christ is an “evil servant” (Matt 24:48), a “wicked and lazy servant”, an “unprofitable servant” (Matt 25:26, 30).

Has the non-believing world sworn any allegiance to Christ, made any promises, professions or vows of faithfulness to him?

No! we thought not.

Thus, one could not rightly be said to be unfaithful to Christ if they were never a follower, a servant or believer of his in the first place.

So, what then are we to make of our Adventist friends’ statement that the second resurrection is for those who were unfaithful to Christ?

It is our belief that when referring to those unfaithful to Christ they were in fact referring to the non-believing world, and as such it is true the second resurrection or “resurrection of the unjust” is for them, but not only for them but also for those who were in truth unfaithful to Christ, the majority of which were merely nominal Christians, “tares”.

They state:

2) “These are the lost people who decided not to follow Christ during their life on earth.”

If as suggested our Adventist friends are referring to the non-believing world, then we must remind you that not all of these willingly decided not to follow Christ, the vast majority of the world lies in darkness having been blinded by the god of this world, Satan, and as such have little or no faith at all, and even of the few who have some faith most of these have been repelled and disillusioned by the conflicting teachings of the various creeds of Christendom. And then of course there are the billions who lived and died who never even heard of the one name under heaven by which we are saved.

None of these however are eternally lost, for as such none of these have of yet been “brought to an accurate or personal knowledge of the truth”, and this is God’s will for them all.

“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who will have ALL MEN to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Tim 2:3, 4)

God is not some mere man, who merely wishes that something should transpire, as He Himself states:

“So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isa 55:11)

First Timothy states most emphatically that it is God’s will that ALL MEN come to the knowledge of the truth, hence, we know that it has not yet been sent out to convert the world as of yet.

So says the Almighty, “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are NOT YET DONE, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure.” (Isa 46:10)

Who here will argue with God?

We will move on to the third point in our next post.