[UntoHim]

For the better part of a quarter of a century my "viewpoint" regarding rewards and punishment was wholly captivated by the teachings of Witness Lee. If Lee taught that servants, slaves and virgins represented true born-again believers, that is what I believed. If Lee taught that genuine Christians were going to be cut into pieces, and will be weeping and gnashing their teeth for 1,000 years, that is what I believed. The apostles themselves could have appeared in the flesh and told me "this is not what Jesus meant to convey in these parables" and I would have told them that they were "moo cows who are not able to understand the heavenly music!"

At some point, despite my hardened heart and confused mind, God had great mercy on me and convinced me that many of my viewpoints were not based upon the Word of God, but based in the person and work of a mere man. The convincing did not happen over night, but over a long period of time. At some point I realized that my viewpoint was more influenced by "the tradition of men rather than the Word of God" (cf: Mark 7:8) I also realized that to ignore the teachings and viewpoints of 2,000 years of Christian history was foolish at best, and actually very dangerous. I realized what had to be "recovered" was not the truth (as if God would have ever allowed his truth to be lost) but what needed to be recovered was my hardened heart and confused mind.

So what is my viewpoint? I'm not sure you really want to know my viewpoint. At the risk of sounding flippant, my viewpoint can be found in the orthodox teachings that have been passed down to Christians (and anyone else who cares to read them) over the passed 2,000 years. I do find it quite telling that in Revelation 22 the Lord Jesus proclaimed "My reward is with me" (vrs 12) and not "your punishment is with me". Nevertheless, there will be a day of reckoning. Too be sure, God will not be mocked - he will not be mocked by those who reject him - neither will he be mocked by those who believe but fall short. In the meantime, "Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy."(vrs 11)
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