The Teachings of

Zane Hodges, Joseph Dillow, Robert Wilkin
(The Grace Evangelical Society)

and the extreme teachings of J. D. Faust


Who Are Those Who Take Part in the First Resurrection?  Will Some Believers Be Excluded?

 

"Blessed and holy is he that hath part [portion] in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years" (Rev. 20:6).

"If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead" (Phil. 3:11).

The Teaching of Zane Hodges and Joseph Dillow

The fruitful believer
The partaker or heir
The believing believer
The overcomer

The barren believer
The carnal one (non-heir)
The saved person who stops believing
The non-overcomer

This faithful believer has part in the first resurrection and will inherit the kingdom and reign with Christ. This is the believer who attains unto the resurrection of the dead.

This barren believer will not have part or inheritance in the first resurrection and will not reign with Christ. This carnal believer will not attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

Observations:

Hodges says that Revelation 20:6 does not refer to all believers, but only to those faithful believers who are the HEIRS of the kingdom (Grace In Eclipse, p. 75).

Dillow teaches that Philippians 3:11 refers to a a special class of saved people involved in the first resurrection. Those who attain unto the resurrection are those who will inherit the kingdom: "[Paul] hopes to earn a place among that special class of resurrected saints who have been faithful to their Master to the final hour and will hear Him say, ‘Well done!’" (Reign of the Servant Kings, pages 559-561).

The teaching of Hodges and Dillow resembles the teaching which has come out of the erroneous OVERCOMER movement, which is dominated by "partial," or "split" rapturists. The Overcomer movement allows for a partial rapture, whereas Dillow and Hodges allow for a partial or split resurrection.

Note:  It's of interest that Dillow's book, The Reign of the Servant Kings, was published by Schoettle Publishing Company, the same company that publishes the books of key men who held to the partial rapture theory:  Robert Govett, G. H. Lang, D.M.Panton, G.H.Pember, etc.  It is also the same company that has published J.D.Faust's book, The Rod--Will God Spare It? which teaches that the majority of saved people will be hurt of the second death and suffer torment in the fires of Hades for a thousand years. All of these authors share the common belief that not all saved people will inherit the kingdom of God.

The idea of a split resurrection for believers is reinforced by the teaching of Bob Wilkin, founder and director of the Grace Evangelical Society.

Wilkin's shocking comments regarding Daniel 12:2 are found in the newsletter of GES entitled GRACE IN FOCUS (March/April 2004), pages 2,4.  In this article he says that the phrase "some to shame and everlasting contempt" does not refer to the unregenerate (unsaved) but it refers to OT BELIEVERS: "Some believers will experience shame when resurrected." He likens this to the shame mentioned in 1 John 2:28 (which certainly is not everlasting shame). Wilkin writes: "Now admittedly Daniel does speak of 'everlasting contempt' which is literally 'everlasting abhorrence.' But this is parallel to shame. It simply means that forever this person will live with the consequences of their (sic) unwise life."

Leon Wood, in his commentary on Daniel under Daniel 12:1, says this:

The word for "shame" means literally "reproaches," and the word for "contempt", from the root, dara, "to repel from oneself," means "something abhorrent." "Everlasting" is best taken as modifying both. Reference, clearly, is to the eternal state of the wicked in unending punishment.

Brown, Driver and Briggs define the phrase as "everlasting abhorrence" (p. 201). The only other place in the Old Testament that this term "abhorrence" is found is Isaiah 66:24 where it is clearly a reference to the punishment of the wicked, "for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh."

How Wilkin can describe true believers as those who will be shamed and abhorred forever is incomprehensible. I am reminded of the many errors of J.D.Faust (author of THE ROD--WILL GOD SPARE IT?) who takes numerous passages that pertain to the everlasting punishment of the wicked and wrongly applies them to believers.

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