Mark 3:14 "And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, 15 And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils: 16 And Simon he surnamed Peter; 17 And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder: 18 And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite, 19 And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him: and they went into an house."
John 6:70 "Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? 71 He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve. 12:4 Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, 5 Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?"
Luke 22:3 "Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. 4 And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him unto them."
John 13:1 "Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. 2 And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him;"
Matthew 27:3 "Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. 5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself."
Acts 1:16 "Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. 17 For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. 1:23 And they (the apostles) appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. 24 And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, 25 That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. 26 And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles."
First off, the apostles before the time of Jesus' resurrection were not "filled with the Holy Spirit". That happened later:
John 20:20 "And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. 21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:"Judas had already committed suicide by this time. Judas never received the Holy Spirit. The question arises before this "Were the apostles Christians before this?" They were disciples, even apostles of Christ, but Jesus is the only one who had received the Holy Spirit and he stayed on him.
John 1:32 "And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.""Abode" is rendered "remained" in most versions, including Young's Literal Translation. It would suggest that on all the others John's Baptism was of the Holy Spirit, but once the baptism was finished, except for Jesus, he left. This is reinforced because after Jesus returned from the dead he breathed on them the Holy Ghost.
I have discerned this because of a difference in context between the Holy Spirit and the Holy Ghost. Although the word pneuma is the same, translators had a different view between the two. It's not one of essence, but of timing. Claiming two would be heresy, but the difference is one of experience. Throughout the Old Testament and up until the death of Jesus he's referred to as Spirit, flowing from God. After Jesus' death, the translators saw fit to readjust. He was now "the Holy Ghost". The difference is one of experience. The Holy Spirit experienced the agony with Jesus and after Jesus died, his Holy Spirit remained. The spirit of a dead person is disembodied and what remains is his Ghost. As such, all the apostle's before Jesus died had the Holy Spirit, but he was not yet the Comforter because he had not yet experienced what all men have to experience.
All the apostles including Judas Iscariot, were ordained (appointed) by Jesus Christ along with God's Holy Spirit. . Only the remaining apostles after Jesus was resurrected were ordained under the auspices of the Holy Ghost. The apostles had power after Jesus' appointed them : " to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils". Before this incident they were like any of the other Jews who had been baptized. The Holy Spirit wasn't there to empower until Jesus shared his Holy Spirit so that the apostles could do miracles. It's not a different Holy Spirits, but works of the Holy Spirit at different times.
As such Judas had the power of the Holy Spirit because like the others, he believed in the future propitiation of Jesus Christ. Their spiritual status at this time was similar to Abraham who was in heaven because he had great faith in what Jesus WOULD DO! Like Abraham they were ordained of God; Abraham to provide the seed for the savior and the apostles to be the seed for Christ's mission; to spread the word; presenting the gospel.
As such, Judas was not a "spirit-filled" Christian with John's Baptism or by Jesus' appointment, but somehow the Holy Spirit aided them in their work because of the presence of Jesus.
It was known by Jesus as he appointed Judas that he would betray him. This is noted early on because Jesus referred to him as "a devil" (John 6:20). Jesus had foreknowledge. He is God and scripture tells us that God is omniscient (all-knowing). He knew that Judas would become "a devil", but appointed him anyhow to serve a purpose. Judas fulfilled scripture because one would betray him! Jesus picked one who believed, but one who would relent to temptation. Later on we find that "Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot" (Luke 22:3).
You can see that Jesus knew in advance that Satan would defeat Judas. Judas was a Christian by the standards before the death of Christ, but the "hope of salvation" had yet to be paid for by the propitiation of Jesus' own blood. Judas had power to do things, but a hedge had not been put about him by the comfort with the filling of the Holy Ghost. It took Jesus' death and the advent of the Ghost to offer the whole armor of God.
My conclusion is that Judas was a Christian as were the other eleven. He doubted just as Thomas did and he denied Jesus as did Peter three times. Thomas and Peter showed doubt. Satan still deceived them. The difference is that Judas succumbed to temptation, but didn't disbelieve in Jesus; he was a traitor to Jesus, knowing that Jesus was indeed the promised Savior! Why so? "Judas, who had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood." (Matthew 27:3-4).
Judas recognized that he was a sinner and repented. He tried to make restitution, but it was before Jesus paid the price with his death! Then in his rejection, Judas killed himself. I understand that.. He sinned so greatly that he could not stand to live. He chose death to the pain of knowing that he killed the Savior of the world.
I can't judge Judas, but Jesus did. How did he judge? With mercy, but fairly. Judas knew that what he did was profound! He understood the temptation of Satan because he endured it! My OPINION was that Judas' heart was contrite and that he was a true believer who allowed Satan to overcome him, not having the protection of the Holy Ghost.
However, it seems that Jesus knew his heart better than me! "Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place." (Acts 1:25). Apparently he did the unpardonable sin. He grieved the Holy Spirit by rejecting Jesus. He was once a Christian, but he fell. His lot at death was "his own place". It wasn't God's mansion, but another place of persecution.
Some would say "But, this was a different economy! Judas didn't commit apostasy!" But he did! God judges everyone by the same measure because he is just. He never changes. Therefore, my conclusion is that Judas is a fallen Christian and Calvin's Point 5 is in error.
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