Will Babes in Christ be in the First Resurrection?
Dear Mike,
I hope this letter finds you well.
I was speaking to a sister on the weekend, and I was telling her about a nutritional supplement I just started. I made a joke that I won’t tell her what it is yet just in case it kills me.
Then I said, I sure hope I won’t die today, because then I won’t be in the first resurrection. She said of course you will be as long as you endure until the end. I said based on my understanding I am unskilled in the word. She said that you believe that you will be saved by works, and that does not sound right. She said I will just end up being worried about my future. I want to be in the first resurrection, but much maturation needs to take place before that can happen. I am also not worried about it. I based my understanding on this article.
http:// www. iswasandwillbe. com/ New_ converts_ in_ first_ resurrection. php
Please correct me if I am wrong. I thought I was just recognizing the fact that I just discovered these truths four months ago.
Sincerely,
M___
Hi M____,
Thank you for your question.
Your assessment of your situation is in complete accord with the scriptures. That e-mail you reference gives the scriptures 1Co 3:1-4 and Heb 5:1.
1Co 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
1Co 3:2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
1Co 3:3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
1Co 3:4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?Heb 5:12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Here is one more verse that adds great weight to the doctrine that “carnal… babes” will not be in that “blessed and holy… first resurrection”:
Mat 24:19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
The words “to them that give suck” are all translated from the one Greek word G2337, and would better be translated with the single English word ‘suckling’.
The ACV is a much better translation of this particular verse than is the KJV.
Here is the ACV:
Mat 24:19 And woe to those who have in the womb and to those who suckle in those days.
Those who are “in the womb and… suckle in those days” are spiritually the same as “carnal… babes in Christ” who “[are] not skillful in the word of righteousness” and certainly are not “overcome[rs]” who have been “saved yet so as by fire”.
So simply believing in Christ does not qualify us for rulership. We are specifically told that we must also be overcomers, saved by fire, and we must first “fulfill… the seven plagues of the seven angels”. Our opinions of who will and who will not be in that blessed and holy first resurrection are of no consequence, but these scriptures are the opinion of our Lord, and His opinion is of great consequence:
1Co 3:15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
No babe in Christ has endured any fire and indeed is not capable of doing so until he is past being a “suckling”.
Rev 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
Babes in Christ are not yet capable being overcomers. They must get past those milk doctrines and “go on unto perfection” (Heb 6:1-2).
Rev 15:7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.
So there it is. “No man [is] able to enter into the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels [are] fulfilled” in that man’s life. That obviously excludes “carnal… babes in Christ [ and] sucklings” who are still on “the milk of the world”.
I hope this clears it up for you. You can be well aware of all of these scriptures and not be the least bit involved in thinking that you are saved by your works.
Your brother in Christ,
Mike
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