Forgotten Honour: JC Philpot and the 'added guilt' problem.

photo credit: Monergism

Do you know the name JC Philpot?  He lived from 1802 - 1869.

Educated at Oxford University, he became a Fellow of Worchester College, Oxford, who in 1835 resigned from the Church of England and was baptised and became a Baptist.

He served as the Editor of a magazine called the 'Gospel Standard' for twenty years and had a heart to proclaim the gospel that salvation can be found in Christ alone. 

Until recently I don't think I had heard of him, that was until a friend mentioned the YouDevotion App she used and sent me the link. And thus I began to periodically see devotionals written by this man.

Once again, I have found it interesting to note how a preacher of the past looked at Scripture from a far more honour-shame perspective than what we tend to do today.

The recent June 16th devotional was another example of this.

On the App, I have the option of choosing from a few different Bible versions as my 'default' version. I had chosen the NET version to give me the opportunity to read passages and verses with fresh eyes.

The verse for the June 16th App devotional by J C Philpot was Jeremiah 50:20:

When that time comes, no guilt will be found in Israel. No sin will be found in Judah. For I will forgive those of them I have allowed to survive. I, the LORD, affirm it!'" 

I was interested to see what JC Philpot said about the verse.

As well as that, my eye was drawn to the word 'guilt' in the verse. I have become more and more aware of how much more that word appears in more recent translations of Scripture (a topic of concern, but for another blog). Thus I was all the more interested to read what JC Philpot said about it.

Let me share his devotional text (which can be found online at YouDevotion here)

Some have feared lest in the great day their sins should be brought to light, and they put to shame by the exposure of their crimes to open view. But that will not be the case with the dear family of God. We read indeed that "many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake;" and while some awake "to everlasting life," others will awake "to shame and everlasting contempt," because their sins will be remembered and brought against them as evidences of their just condemnation. But the wise, who "shall shine as the brightness of the skies," will rise to glory and honor and immortality, and not one of their sins will be remembered, charged, or brought against them. They will stand arrayed in Christ's perfect righteousness and washed in his blood, and will appear before the throne of God without spot or blemish.

We can scarcely bear the recollection of our sins now. But what would become of us if the spirit of one unburied sin could flit before our eyes in the day when the Lord makes up his jewels? If any one sin of the Lamb's wife could be remembered or brought against her, where would be the voice which John heard in Revelation, as "the voice of a great multitude, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia; for the Lord God omnipotent reigns?" Now what was this voice? "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife has made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white—for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints" (Rev. 19:7, 8).

But suppose that any of the past transgressions of the Lamb's wife could be brought against her on that marriage day, any one instance of unfaithfulness to her plighted troth, would it not be sufficient to prevent the marriage, mar the wedding supper, and drive the bride away for very shame? No, there is no truth in God's word more certain than the complete forgiveness of sins, and the presentation of the Church to Christ at the great day faultless before the presence of his glory, with exceeding joy.

Did you notice something?

There was no mention of 'guilt' anywhere in JC Philpot's devotional notes.

Instead, his immediate assumed context of sin is that of shame. And his encouragement is that to be in the family of God means to be those who have been freed from shame and brought into glory and honour and immortality. In his first paragraph he quotes from Daniel 12:2,3 and Romans 2:7.

You can see that the English word 'guilt' appears in this verse. However, upon my further investigation, I discovered it only appears in some translations (such as NET, NIV, HCSB,CEV), and doesn't appear in others. In most others the Hebrew word  עָוֹן (avon) is rather translated into English as 'iniquity'. In some of the first English translations (like the Coverdale of 1535 or the Bishop's Bible of 1568) the word is translated in English as 'offence'. As JC Philpot read his English Bible, 'guilt' wasn't a word he even saw there.

Because of the way certain words are translated, we can be easily led to believe that the Bible talks more about 'guilt' than it actually does. Sadly, we then develop a 'slanted' understanding about what the Bible is talking about. We are then missing the real biblical meaning, which preachers and biblical scholars of the past readily recognised, understood and practically applied.

JC Philpot was yet another Christian leader from the past who had no trouble at all in seeing that sin was all about shame, and that forgiveness of sins was thus all about restored glory for all eternity, so that honour can once again be given to God, as is His due and will be our joy.

Sometimes it feels as if our modern Christianity has starved us of a richness of grace which previous generations feasted upon. 

I want to continue to alert you to an honour feast—that will enrich your soul, and gladden your heart, and enlarge your gratitude—for all God has done for us in Christ and continues to do through us and will one day bring to culmination for us in heaven.

Let me challenge you to dig into 'old' preachers and writers. Furthermore, don't let your Bible reading be limited to only more modern translations (as helpful as they may be at times). Take steps to let your soul be more enriched….as well as your mind be more equipped, to reach our world. 

We have a current generation of the world who understands the realities of the existence of shame and honour far more than those in the church. That same generation needs to hear the gospel and be discipled in those honour and shame terms and contexts which actually fill our Bibles.

The story of JC Philpot is published as:

• Joseph Philpot, The Seceders: the Story of J. C. Philpot and William Tiptaft,  

by Banner of Truth Trust (1961)

and more of his sermons click the link above under the photo.