The Reign of the Servant Kings

By Joseph C. Dillow

A Review-Summary-Outline

www.bibleone.net

 

Chapter 10—The Possibility of Failure

 

The Reformed doctrine of perseverance not only lacks scriptural support for its view of sanctification, it also flies in the face of the numerous warnings against falling away, which are repeated in nearly every book of the New Testament.  Unless it is possible for a true believer to fall away, it is difficult to see the relevance of these passages.  As will be argued elsewhere, the term “fall away” does not refer to falling away from eternal salvation.  It refers, rather, to a falling away from the path of growth, or forfeiture of eternal rewards.


Reviewer’s comment:  Although the reviewer agrees at this point with the premise and arguments within this book, it appears that the “rewards” that await a persevering saint will be applicable during the Millennial Reign of Christ upon the earth alone, which result in itself, is not an unsubstantial incentive for a holy life here and now.  The author though uses the term “eternal rewards,” which may be the case.


 

The New Testament Warnings

 

It will be helpful at this point to peruse a few of these so-called warning passages and sense their importance for this discussion.

 

If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. (John 15:6)

 

[Reviewer:  See 1 John 2:24-28]

 

Jesus is referring to branches that are “in Me,” who do not bear fruit (15:2).  It seems to be possible for men “in Christ” to be unfruitful and be cast into the fire and burned.  Speaking to the Colossians, the apostle Paul warns:

 

And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach before Him— if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. (Colossians 1:21-23)

 

There is a real danger here, a danger of not being presented before Him!  On the Reformed premises, there can be no real danger because all true Christians will continue in faith and will not be moved away from the hope of the Gospel.  He warns them further about the danger of “not holding fast to the head” (2:19) and of being taken “captive through philosophy and empty deception” (2:8).

 

The salvation of the Corinthians seems to be conditioned on their holding fast:

 

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you--unless you believed in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:1, 2)

 

Young Timothy is challenged to guard against the danger of “straying from the faith”:

 

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.  But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.  Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

(1 Timothy 6:10-12)

 

Paul apparently does not feel that perseverance is the necessary and inevitable result of saving faith.  Otherwise, why would he warn this regenerate man of the danger of straying from the faith and need to exhort him to “fight the good fight”?  According to James, it is possible for a true Christian to stray (wander) from the truth:

 

Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. (James 5:19, 20)

 

The “sinner” to which James refers is evidently a Christian brother.  The conditional clause implies that it is by no means inevitable that he will always be turned back.  Likewise, the apostle Peter makes it clear that true Christians can “fall” (stumble):

 

Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 (2 Peter 1:10-11)

 

The conditional participle, “if you do” (Gk. poiountes), holds forth a real danger to the readers of this epistle.  They might “fall” (stumble) and forfeit their rich welcome into the eternal kingdom.  Earlier, he suggested that they can become “barren and unfruitful” (ineffective and unproductive) in their knowledge of Jesus Christ (1:8).  In fact, he teaches the need to have certain character qualities manifested in “increasing measure” and then teaches that true Christians may not have this increasing measure of growth and are nearsighted, blind, and forgetful of their being cleansed from former sins (1:8-9).  The danger of falling away is repeated later in the same epistle:

 

As also in all his [Paul’s] epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.  You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen. (2 Peter 3:16-18)

 

Once again the danger of falling away is something real for true Christians.  Ignorant and unstable people have distorted the epistles of Paul, and this act resulted in their “destruction.”  That the same result can come upon these “beloved” (dear friends) seems to be stated when he warns them “not to be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your steadfast (secure) position.”  Why would this warning be addressed to these “beloved” (dear friends), if in fact it was not possible for them to experience this danger?  And consistent with the other passages presented, the apostle Jude affirms a similar danger:

 

These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.  But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. (Jude 19-21)

 

In contrast to the nonbelievers, who do not have the Holy Spirit and who have caused division, these “beloved” are warned that they must keep themselves in God’s love.  If being kept in God’s love is the necessary and inevitable result of regeneration, why are they commanded to keep themselves?  Surely the command implies that they may not.  And if they may not, then the position of inevitable perseverance of the saints is fiction.

 

Then in 1 John the apostle John, with the danger of failing to abide in Christ in mind, has this to say:

 

Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. . . And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. (1 John 2:24, 28)

 

[Reviewer:  See John 15:6]

 

A believer continues to abide in Christ only if what he heard from the beginning abides in him.  Failure to continue to abide is very real, not hypothetical, and will result in being “ashamed before Christ” at His coming.  And according to the apostle Paul, there is danger that a Christian can “die”:

 

Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.  For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. (Romans 8:12, 13)

 

It goes without saying that the possibility that a “brother” could live “according to the flesh” (sinful nature) is assumed.  Then later, the apostle issues another emphatic warning, a warning against the possibility of being “cut off”:

 

Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear.  For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.  Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. (Romans 11:20-22)

 

In no uncertain terms Paul affirms a real danger of being in some sense “cut off” if a believer fails to “continue in His goodness.”  And in another passage the apostle himself acknowledges the possibility of failure:

 

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? . . . But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. (1 Corinthians 9:24, 27)

 

Paul warns the Corinthians against the danger of failure.  The following passage is instructive.  As demonstrated earlier, the majority of the Israelites were born again, and yet the majority did not persevere in holiness.  Consider:

 

 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.  No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. (1 Corinthians 10:12, 13)

 

He tells them that the experience of the forefathers was intended as a warning for us (10:11).  It is clear that he has Christians in view, and not mere professors in Christ, because he promises them the assistance of God in standing up to temptation.  Also, few verses seem to have impacted popular consciousness as frequently as Paul’s warning about “falling from grace”:

 

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.  Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law.  You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen [away] from grace.

(Galatians 5:1-4)

 

Marshalling his full authority as an apostle, he tells these Galatians that it is possible for true believers to fall from grace, come under the yoke of slavery, and become alienated from Christ!  In fact, the possibility of failure to “continue” is stressed by Paul in the famous passage where he worries that he may have run or labored “in vain” (for nothing):

 

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; . . . so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. (Philippians 2:12, 16)

 

These are “beloved” (dear friends) who previously have “always obeyed.”  They are born again.  Yet these is a possibility of their failure to “continue to work out their salvation,” resulting in the apostle’s labor among them being “for nothing.”  Can a true Christian fail to persevere and thus forfeit the reward?

 

Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind. (Colossians 2:18)

 

A true believer can, by his life, deny the faith and become worse than an unbeliever:

 

But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. (1 Timothy 5:8)

 

This person who denies the faith is contrasted with the “unbeliever.”  Clearly, Paul is saying that a believer can be described in this way.  Also, the love of money can cause true Christians to stray from the faith:

 

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.  (1 Timothy 6:9, 10)

 

The “those” to whom Paul refers include those who have strayed from the faith, i.e., those who have faith but are not in some way persevering in it.  The results of this are many sorrows.  In contrast to these Christians who stray, Timothy is told to “take hold of the eternal life to which he was called” (1 Timothy 6:12).

 

That there is something conditional in the believer’s future and that he faces a danger of not persevering necessarily and inevitably to the end of life could hardly be made clearer than it is in these verses:

 

This is a faithful [trustworthy] saying: if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him.  If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny [disown] Him, He also will deny us.  If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself. (2 Timothy 2:11-13)

 

The possibilities of failure to endure, of disowning Christ, and of being faithless are stark realities.  To say that true Christians do not face these dangers seems contradictory to passages such as this.  The center of the controversy in theological discussion has swirled around the warnings in Hebrews.  Confronted with the stark and drastic nature of these warnings, some of the most ingenious misunderstandings in the history of interpretation have been argued in order to avoid their force.  It is sometimes claimed that these verses apply only to those who have professed Christ, and not to those who have really believed.  This assertion will be responded to in a later chapter, but first, consider the warnings:

 

Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.  For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation . . . . (Hebrews 2:1-3)

 

Notice that “we” are in danger.  The author includes himself as an object of this warning.  Unless there are some contextual indicators to suggest this is an “editorial” we, there is no obvious justification for concluding anything else but that truly born-again people are the subject of the warning.  It is possible for these Christians to drift away and as a result receive a punishment.

 

The apostle exhorts his believers against the danger of a failure to enter rest:

 

Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. (Hebrews 4:1)

 

It is possible that a true Christian will not enter rest.  There is real danger, not hypothetical danger, here.  The warning becomes more forceful in this well-known passage:

 

For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. (Hebrews 6:4-6)

 

These born-again people (see chapter 19) are in danger of “falling away.”  That they are born-again is evident from the descriptive phrases applied to them.  There is no warning in the New Testament that is more forceful and direct than this caution against sinning willfully:

 

For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. (Hebrews 10:26, 27)

 

But are genuine Christians the object of this warning or mere professors in Christ who were never really born-again?  Several things characterize those being warned:

 

  1. They have “received the light” (Hebrews 10:32).  To be “enlightened” (Gk. photizomai) means to be born-again and to have truly and inwardly experienced the heavenly gift and the personal ministry of the Holy Spirit (see chapter 19).

 

  1. They “stood [their] ground in a great contest in the face of suffering” (10:32).  These people had not only responded to the Gospel, they had suffered for it and persevered in their suffering for Christ’s sake.

 

  1. They “were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; and at other times stood side-by-side with those who were so treated” (10:33).  The public nature of their confession of Christ resulted in public ridicule and persecution.  But far from backing away, they pressed on and joined with others who were similarly treated.

 

  1. They sympathized with those in prison (10:34).  Risking danger to their own lives, they visited persecuted brothers and sisters in prison, thereby publicly identifying themselves to hostile authorities as Christian sympathizers.

 

  1. They “joyfully accepted the confiscation of [their] property” (10:34).  Furthermore, they accepted this confiscation for the right motives, “because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.”  They were focused on the eternal inheritance that the faithful will acquire.

 

  1. The apostle specifically says they have been “sanctified”:

 

Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? (Hebrews 10:29)

 

Sanctification in Hebrews looks at the imputation of the justifying righteousness of Christ from the vantage point of being qualified to enter the presence of God to worship and seek help in time of need (Hebrews 10:10, 14, 19).  It is possible for men who have been the recipients of this sanctification to trample under foot the Son of God and insult the Spirit of grace.  Does the writer of this epistle doubt their salvation?  No!  What he worries about is their loss of reward.  He says:

 

Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. (Hebrews 10:35)

 

That he does not consider them mere professors in Christ is proven by the six things he says are true of them.  In addition, one does not warn professing Christians about the loss of reward but about their eternal destiny in hell.  One does not tell non-Christians to persevere in the faith so that they will receive a reward.  Instead, he tells them to believe the Gospel.

 

The exegetical and theological bankruptcy of those who believe in the inevitable-perseverance-of-the-saints’ position is clearly seen by the following act.  In their system of assurance a man can know he is a Christian by reflecting on the truth that (1) he has believed; (2) he has the evidences of works in his life; and (3) the internal witness of the Holy Spirit.  They consider these in Hebrews not real Christians, but all three criteria of their own introspective system apply to them.  These people have believed (10:35, their “confidence”); they have evidenced their belief by perseverance in trials and good works (10:32-34); and they have the inner testimony of the Spirit (“enlightened,” 10:32; 6:4).  If they are not Christians, then the Reformed view of assurance is false, and if they are Christians, the doctrine of the inevitable perseverance of saints is fiction.

 

Only a few of the many warnings of the New Testament have been considered (others are 2 Peter 3:16, 17; 2 John 6-9; Revelation 2:7, 11, 12, 17, 18-26; 3:4, 5, 8-12, 14-22: 12:11; 22:18, 19).  This lengthy presentation, however, has been necessary in order to force a consideration of the breadth of the inevitable-perseverance problem.  It cannot be dismissed by plausible exegesis of a few difficult passages.  It is contradicted by the entire New Testament.

 

The Reformed View of the Warnings


Reviewer’s comment:  At this point the author goes into a lengthy discourse, quoting several theologians and biblical commentators, as to futility of the arguments advanced by those who adhere to the Calvinistic position of the inevitable perseverance of the saints.  In this review only the highlighted conclusions within the discourse will be presented.  The reader is advised to read the full dialogue within the book for its intricacies.


 

In response to these passages that seem to imply that the true Christian is in some kind of danger, that there is something contingent about his future destiny, the Calvinist (referred to as “Experimental Predestinarian” by the author) replies that either (1) the passages are addressed to professing but not true Christians; or (2) they are addressed to true Christians but they are simply a means that God uses to guarantee that they will persevere.  In this system the evidence of the reality of the faith is perseverance in holiness to the end of life.  All who are saved will persevere, and those who persevere, and those alone, are the truly saved.  True apostasy is only possible for those who have never entered into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.  In the discussion to follow, these two pillars of the Reformed response will be analyzed.

 

They Are a Means of Securing Perseverance

 

When faced with the many passages referred to above, Calvinists commonly say they are in many instances addressed to true believers, but they are not to be understood as saying that a true Christian can lose his salvation.  Rather, they are in the New Testament to secure the obedience of final perseverance that has already been decreed for those who are elect.

 

The advocates of perseverance argue that just because there is a cliff along the road that travelers are warned not to drive over, that does not mean they won’t.  God warns simply because humans require motivation.  He therefore appeals to their fears to keep them on the path.  But the warnings do not prove that believers can fall.  On the contrary, they are God’s means of ensuring that they shall not fall.

 

Several objections may be raised against this Calvinist view of the warnings:

 

  1. This view of the warnings lose their force.  This explanation of the warning passages, obviously directed to believers, is unsatisfactory.  The warning passages immediately lose the very purpose and value that they claim for themselves the moment one becomes persuaded the doctrine of unconditional security is correct.  If one becomes sufficiently enlightened to understand that perseverance is inevitable and does not depend upon himself in any manner or degree, how then is he to become alarmed by these admonitions and warnings?

 

  1. This view is logically contradictory.  Not only do the warnings lose their force in this system of Calvinistic thought, but this view of the warnings is logically contradictory.  On the one hand, one is told that his eternal destiny is secure and that he will persevere in holiness to the final hour; and, on the other hand, he is told that there is no guarantee he will persevere to the final hour.  Otherwise, the warning would lose its force!  If it is true that the readers are true Christians and that they are therefore eternally secure, it is ludicrous to think that the warnings would have any significant impact.

 

Our eternal security either depends solely upon God’s guarantees in Scripture, or it depends upon those guarantees plus our perseverance.  If both are necessary, this is contradiction.  If the latter is necessary, it is a salvation by works.  Only an eternal security based upon the promises of God and completely unrelated to the necessity of the believer’s perseverance in holiness can possibly be reconciled with the scores of passages that state the freeness of salvation in Christ.

 

  1. This view fails the test of human consciousness.  In contrast to the doctrine of election, with its doctrine of inevitable perseverance, Calvinism must emerge from the halls of academia and submit itself to the test of the consciousness of men.  If it is true that the warnings are to produce sincere alarm, then it must be conceded that it is impossible for one not to know whether he experiences sincere alarm.  And it is equally impossible to be convinced that apostasy is impossible, on the one hand, and yet to be sincerely alarmed by the warnings against apostasy, on the other.  Is it not ridiculous to say that men can be alarmed by warnings if they have already been consoled by the promise that they are secure?  How can they be alarmed about something that could never happen to them?  Calvinism fails the test of human experience.

 

  1. This view subtly redefines the basis of salvation.  Those within the Reformed tradition insist that works are the results of regeneration, evidence of life.  They are the “fruit,” and saving faith is the “root.”  They are the manifestation that arises out of the essence of the new man in Christ.  In this they seem to be correct.  If a man is truly born-again, he will necessarily and inevitably manifest initial evidence of such rebirth (what is being argued in this book is that this manifestation is inadequate to base assurance upon and will not necessarily continue to the final hour).  By this is meant a general openness to God and disposition of trust.  However, not all Calvinist have been content to leave the matter there.  Some seem to have made perseverance virtually a condition of salvation, and not just an evidence of it.

 

There is a real danger in presenting perseverance in this manner.  By this it in effect makes works a condition of salvation.  Perseverance is not part of the Gospel, and when added to it, the Gospel is changed.  In this, works have crept into the Gospel through the “back door.”  However, discipleship and regeneration are different, and the life of obedience, while obligatory for the Christian, is nowhere necessarily and inevitably united with regeneration as previously discussed.  This double-talk simply veils the other gospel that is being presented.  If, on the other hand, perseverance in works is not necessary for final entrance into heaven and is not included within the compass of the word “faith,” then the Gospel of pure and free grace has been maintained.

 

  1. This view makes God to be a liar.  If God has decreed that His elect will finally persevere in holiness and if warnings are a means He uses to secure that perseverance, then God is threatening His elect with a destiny He knows will never befall them.  He is telling them they might lose their salvation in order to motivate them by fear (read “healthy tension” or “wholesome fear”) to persevere.  How can a God of truth use lies to accomplish His purpose of holiness in His elect?  So God, on the one hand, knows the Christian will never go to hell, but, on the other hand, tells him he might go there if he does not respond to the warning!  Thus, God is lying to this Christian, telling him something God Himself knows to be false!

 

They Apply Only to Professing Christians

 

The second way in which Calvinist (Reformed, Experimental Predestinarians) respond to the problem of the warnings is by claiming they are addressed to professing and not possessing believers.  The warnings are given to warn us against the terrible danger of having a false profession.

 

Often Calvinists appeal to the wheat and the tares, the example of Judas, and the rejection of those who say “Lord, Lord” and yet He never knew them as proof that the writers of the New Testament viewed their readers as a group that was mixed, true Christians and only professors.  However, this approach to the warning passages is fraught with difficulties, such as:

 

  1. Differing contexts.  This view ignores the differing contexts intended by the Lord’s references to the wheat and tares and the New Testament home-fellowships that were in the mind of the writers of the New Testament.  In most cases, if not all, the writers of the New Testament address their readers as “saints,” “brothers,” “brethren,” and “little children” (“beloved”), speaking not to the unknown masses at large but to their intimate friends to whom they had ministered and often led to the Lord—individuals that were assumed and believed to be all born-again.

 

  1. Requires unusual discrimination.  If all the letters are viewed as addressed to professors and not possessors, then both wheat and tares will be required to be very discriminating in their reading of the epistle.  The wheat must come to all the warnings and realize that they apply only to the tares, and the tares must realize that all the commands are only addressed to believers and that the real issue for them is to believe.  Such a requirement almost guarantees that the epistles would be frequently misunderstood by their intended audiences.

 

  1. The writers assume regeneration.  The writers rarely draw the distinction between wheat and tares in the very epistles supposedly addressed by intent to those kinds of groups.  In nearly every case the distinction must be read into the text and read into the author’s mind.  Nowhere, for example, does the writer to the Hebrews say, “How can we who claim to be Christian (and may not really be) escape if we neglect so great a salvation.”  The writers never qualify the warnings and never introduce the distinction that the Calvinist view specifically requires.  Since the writers themselves never explicitly say that they feel their audience is a mixture and since they everywhere make statements to the effect that they are talking to genuine Christians, there is no warrant for reading into their otherwise clear statements qualification that they themselves never made.

 

  1. The warnings exhort believers not to surrender a faith they already possess.  The warnings are never presented as positive commands to begin to be a genuine believer.  They are meant to challenge believers to persevere and continue in their “possessed” faith.  They are never told to go back to the beginning and start over by becoming true Christians, but they are warned to hold fast to true faith to the end of life.

 

  1. The warnings are addressed to people under the New Covenant.  Individuals under the New Covenant are ALL regenerate:  “I will put my law in their minds and will write it on their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33).  This covenant differs in that God declares that “they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest” (Hebrews 8:7-12).

 

Conclusion:  Why are the Warnings Given?

 

Contrary to the Arminian, the warnings are not given to raise concerns about forfeiture of one’s eternal destiny.  Contrary to the Calvinist, they are not the means by which professing believers are to be motivated to examine the genuineness of their salvation.  Nor are they intended to motivate true Christians to persevere by causing them to wonder if they are really saved.  God has more sufficient means than fear of hell to motivate His children.  Rather, the warnings are real.  They are alarms about the possibility of the forfeiture of eternal rewards and of learning at the Judgment Seat of Christ that one’s life has been wasted.