Systematic Theology, by Louis Berkhof - New Leaven

4. IT IS A RESURRECTION OF UNEQUAL IMPORT FOR THE JUST AND THE UNJUST.
Breckenridge quotes I Cor. 15:22 to prove that the resurrection of both saints and sinners
was purchased by Christ. But it can hardly be denied that the second “all” in that
passage is general only in the sense of “all who are in Christ.” The resurrection is
represented there as resulting from a vital union with Christ. But, surely, only believers
stand in such a living relation to Him. The resurrection of the wicked cannot be
regarded as a blessing merited by the mediatorial work of Christ, though it is connected
with this indirectly. It is a necessary result of postponing the execution of the sentence of
death on man, which made the work of redemption possible. The postponement
resulted in the comparative separation of temporal and eternal death, and in the
existence of an intermediate state. Under these circumstances it becomes necessary to
raise the wicked from the dead, in order that death in its widest extent and in all its
weight might be imposed on them. Their resurrection is not an act of redemption, but of
sovereign justice, on the part of God. The resurrection of the just and the unjust have
this in common, that in both bodies and souls are reunited. But in the case of the former
this results in perfect life, while in the case of the latter it issues in the extreme penalty
of death, John 5:28,29.
D. THE TIME OF THE RESURRECTION.
1. THE PREMILLENNIAL VIEW RESPECTING THE TIME OF THE RESURRECTION. It is the
common opinion among Premillenarians that the resurrection of the saints will be
separated by a thousand years from that of the wicked. They almost seem to regard it as
an axiomatic truth that these two classes cannot possibly arise at the same time. And not
only that, but the type of Premillennialism which is now dominant, with its theory of a
twofold second coming of Christ, feels the need of positing a third resurrection. All the
saints of former dispensations and of the present dispensation are raised up at the
parousia or the coming of the Lord. Those still alive at that time are changed in a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye. But in the seven years that follow the parousia
many other saints die, especially in the great tribulation. These must also be raised up,
and their resurrection will occur at the revelation of the day of the Lord. seven years
after the parousia. But even at this point Premillenarians cannot very well stop. Since
the resurrection at the end of the world is reserved for the wicked, there must be
another resurrection of the saints who die during the millennium, which precedes that
of the wicked, for the two cannot be raised up at the same time.
2. SCRIPTURAL INDICATIONS AS TO THE TIME OF THE RESURRECTION. According to
Scripture the resurrection of the dead coincides with the parousia, with the revelation or
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