Word Definition
‘Lest…I myself should be a castaway.’ What does this mean? The word translated ‘castaway’ is the same word that is rendered ‘rejected’ in, “But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned” (Hebrews 6.8.) It is the bearer of thorns and briars who is rejected: he who ‘falls away’ (verse 6.) The idea conveyed is the same one that comes in at the end of 1 Corinthians 9. It is the apostle, then, who should be a castaway, not just his works, and not just his rewards for his works, if he does not keep under his body. The possibility that a professing disciple be found a castaway should remind us of what Jesus spake in his great Sermon on the Mount: “Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire” (Matthew 7.19.) Not only is the fruit rejected, but the tree is destroyed. “By their fruits ye shall know them” (verse 20.) The tree signifies the person; that person not bearing good fruit will be cast into the fire. A corrupted, rotten harvest will not be accepted, nor the tree that yields it; bad fruit is the kind that is produced by persons who do not keep under their body. John the Baptist singled out the Pharisees and Sadducees when he snarled, “Therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire” (Matthew 3.10.)
The Lord, the Baptist, and the Apostle, therefore, agree as one. That is a scary concurrence for loose livers to discover—hopefully scary enough to encourage temperance in all things, and avoidance of cardinal sins like fornication and idolatry. We have bigger worries from being disobedient than losing a few presents at the throne. The situation is perhaps graver than we think, for we tend to minimize biblical warnings. A runner cannot win a race on a diet of sugar; we cannot get to heaven on a lifestyle of sin. The race to heaven is the race of races; it is the only race of eternal consequence that we will ever run. The fire that the castaway will be turned into is an eternal one. Again, concerning this word ‘castaway’—: It is the same word as ‘reprobate’ in, “God gave them over to a reprobate mind” (Romans 1.28.) These reprobates, “knowing the judgment of God…are worthy of death” (verse 32.) There is a kind of reprobate who is ‘reprobate concerning the faith’ (2 Timothy 3.8.) There is another who is ‘unto every good work reprobate’ (Titus 1.16.) The apostle Paul expresses the following reservation: ‘except ye be reprobates’ (2 Corinthians 13.5) Works, rewards—these are never reprobate. The word concerns persons. To be reprobate is to be condemned and rejected by God: to be cast away. The antithesis of this word and curse is to be ‘approved,’ as in ‘approved in Christ’ (Romans 16.10) or ‘approved unto God’ (2 Timothy 2.15.)
Finally, follow the natural flow of that word ‘castaway,’ taken all by itself, in the nautical sense. The castaway is adrift. He missed the rescue boat. He goes down to destruction. He did not just lose his baggage. He himself is lost. As far as our text is concerned, ‘castaway’ does not mean a saved man who falls overboard. And it does not mean a saved man who lost his baggage, or works. The castaway is a lost man who never gets rescued. The wreck happened in Adam’s sin; and all his descendents are castaways; they need to be saved; and many are not, though in the delirium of drowning they might think they are. At the end of the age, the castaway calls out, ‘Lord, Lord.’ The only reply is, ‘I never knew you.’ There is such a thing as being too sure about the state of one’s soul. To be humble enough to admit a doubt is wise, biblical, and apostolic.
