The “Meeting
in the Air” vs. Christ’s Return to the Earth
Transitioning now to the content of Ballinger’s
articles (which I will be quoting in red), Ballinger has the following to say concerning his
understanding of the “hope of the Acts believers”: ”The
hope of the Acts believers was the coming of the Lord. Paul mentions it 10
times in his Acts epistles: I Corinthians 1:7; 4:5; 11:26; 15:23; I Thessalonians
2:19; 3:13; 4:15; 5:23; II Thessalonians 1:10; 2:1.”
Although
Paul used the word “coming” (erchomai)
in 1 Corinthians 4:5, 1 Cor. 11:26 and 2 Thess. 1:10, it should be noted that a
different Greek word was used in every other example referenced by Ballinger
(in 1 Cor. 1:7, the Greek word used is apokalupsis
and is better translated “unveiling”; in the remainder of the verses
referenced, the word used is parousia,
or “presence”). Why Ballinger – a teacher of scripture - would prefer and teach
from a translation in which three
different Greek words are all translated “coming” is, to me, inexplicable
(it’s not as if a more consistent and accurate translation wasn’t available to
him). But this practice is, unfortunately, not unusual for those promoting the
Acts 28 position; for whatever reason, Clyde Pilkington (as well as others) also seems to prefer the less accurate
KJV translation when writing
articles in defense of the Acts 28 position.
Among
all of the verses referenced by Ballinger, I submit that only one of them (2
Thess. 1:10) has any reference to the coming of Christ that will involve his
return to earth to restore the kingdom to Israel. The others have reference to
what I will be arguing is a different
event entirely: Christ’s descent from heaven to the atmosphere above the
earth, where all the saints in the body of Christ will snatched away from the
earth to meet him in the air (1 Thess. 4:15-17). Rather than having anything to
do with Israel or the kingdom of God being established on the earth, the
“snatching away” and “meeting in the air” is inseparably connected with the
celestial destiny of the body of Christ.
“Flesh and blood” not able to enjoy an allotment in the kingdom of God
Ballinger and other
Acts 28 proponents would agree that the event described in 1 Thess. 4:15-17 and
the event described in 1 Cor. 15:51-53 both involve a certain group of saints
being made fit to enjoy an allotment in the kingdom of God. What I want to demonstrate
now is that the location of the kingdom of God to which these passages pertain will be in the celestial realm rather than on the earth.
According to the Acts
28 position, the expectation of the saints in the body of Christ to whom Paul
wrote before his house arrest in Rome involved an allotment in the kingdom of
God on the earth - i.e., the kingdom which, in accordance with Israel’s
“prophetic program,” is going to be restored to Israel after Christ’s return
(Acts 1:6). However, the truth that Paul expressed in 1 Cor. 15:50 is not
compatible with this view. There, Paul wrote, “Now this I am averring,
brethren, that flesh and blood is not able to enjoy an allotment in the kingdom
of God, neither is corruption enjoying the allotment of incorruption.” The reason
this truth is problematic for the Acts 28 position can be summarily expressed
as follows:
1. According to Paul
in 1 Cor. 15:50, flesh and blood is not able to enjoy an allotment in the
kingdom of God.
2. However, flesh and
blood WILL be able to enjoy an allotment in the kingdom of God on the earth.
3. Paul was not
referring to the kingdom of God on earth in 1 Cor. 15:50, but rather the
kingdom of God as it will exist in the heavens (where Christ presently is).
To fully appreciate
this argument, it is important that the reader understand that there will be two general categories of righteous
people enjoying an allotment in Israel’s earthly kingdom during the eon to
come:
1. Those who will
take part in what Christ referred to as the “resurrection of the just” (Luke
14:14) and the “resurrection of life” (John 5:29), and what John referred to as
the “former resurrection” (Rev. 20:4-6), and
2. Those who will be
alive on the earth at the time of Christ’s return (such as the 144,000 sealed
Israelites referred to in Rev.7:2-8 and 14:1-5), as well as their posterity.
The “former
resurrection” will only involve those who died before Christ’s return to earth
and (as I’ve argued elsewhere) will occur 75 days after this event takes place.
Those who are raised from the dead by Christ at this time will be “neither
marrying nor taking out in marriage” during the eon to come, “for neither can
they still be dying, for they are equal to messengers, and are the sons of God,
being sons of the resurrection” (Luke 20:35-36). The rest of the saints in the
kingdom during the eon to come - beginning with the generation which will be
alive on the earth at Christ’s return – will be mortal (it should be noted that
a person’s being mortal does not mean
that death will, or must, occur; it simply means that they’re able to die, and that they lack what the
author of Hebrews refers to in Heb. 7:16 as “the power of an indissoluble
life”). For this latter category of saints, marriage and procreation can, and
will, continue.
That
there will, in fact, be mortal, flesh-and-blood Israelites enjoying an
allotment in the kingdom of God on earth during the eon to come is confirmed
from a number of passages in the Hebrew Scriptures where the future kingdom is
in view. See, for example, Isaiah 11:6-8; 65:20-25; Jeremiah 23:3-6; 30:18-20
(cf. v. 3); 33:10-11, 19-22; 59:20-21; Ezekiel 36:8-12; 37:25-26; 44:20-25. In
all of these passages, we read of things said concerning people in the
millennial kingdom during the eon to come - including the priests who will be
ministering in the temple - that can only be said of mortal, flesh-and-blood
Israelites, and in which only those who are mortal will be involved during this
time (such as marrying and “multiplying” in the land).
Not only is Scripture
clear that there will be mortal Israelites enjoying an allotment in the land of
Israel in the eon to come (and further populating the kingdom with the children
they will be having during this time), but we also know that there will be
mortals from among the nations who will be enjoying an allotment in the kingdom
of Israel as well (Ezekiel 47:22-23; cf. Matthew 25:31-34, 46).
Moreover, it can also be reasonably inferred that this will also be the case
for the nations on the new earth during the final eon, as well as Israelites
who “endure to the consummation” and are alive when Christ returns (this would
account for the fact that the “log of life” will be present to provide its
life-sustaining fruit and healing leaves; see Rev. 2:7 and 22:2).
In contrast with what
we know concerning the conditions that will characterize the kingdom of God on
earth during the eons to come, Paul told those in the body of Christ that
“flesh and blood is not able to enjoy an allotment in the kingdom of God” (1
Cor. 15:50). If, when Paul wrote these words, he had in mind the kingdom of God
as it will exist on the earth, then he would’ve been contradicting all of the
passages from Scripture in which it is revealed that there will, in fact, be
flesh-and-blood humans in this kingdom during the eon to come. But of course,
Paul wasn’t contradicting Scripture,
because he didn’t have in mind the kingdom of God as it will exist on the
earth. Rather, what Paul had in mind in 1 Corinthians 15:50 was the kingdom of
God into which the saints in the body of Christ will be entering after the
snatching away and meeting in the air – i.e., the kingdom of God as it will
exist in the heavenly realm.
It is in the heavens
that Christ is, presently (2 Cor. 5:1, 6-8; Phil. 3:20), and we know that the kingdom
of God will be established in this realm after Satan has been cast out. In Rev.
12:7-12 we read:
And a battle
occurred in heaven. Michael and his messengers battle with the dragon, and the
dragon battles, and its messengers. And they are not strong enough for him,
neither was their place still found in heaven. And the great dragon was cast
out, the ancient serpent called Adversary and Satan, who is deceiving the whole
inhabited earth. It was cast into the earth, and its messengers were cast with
it. And I hear a loud voice in heaven saying, “Just now came the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our
God, and the authority of His Christ, for the accuser of our brethren was
cast out…Therefore, make merry, ye heavens, and those tabernacling in them!
Woe to the land and the sea, for the Adversary descended to you having great
fury, being aware that brief is the season that he has.”
Thus, the coming of
the kingdom of God in the heavens will take place at least 3 ½ years (or “a
thousand two hundred sixty days,” Rev. 12:6) before Christ’s return to earth.
It is this celestial
location of Christ’s reign to which Paul was referring when he expressed his
confidence that the Lord would be saving him “for His
celestial kingdom” (2 Tim. 4:18). It is the kingdom of God in heaven – not the kingdom of God on earth – in
which “flesh and blood is not able to enjoy an allotment.” It is because the
kingdom for which we are destined is celestial in location that we (who are
presently “soilish” in nature) must come to wear “the image…of the Celestial,”
and thereby become “celestials” (1 Cor. 15:48-49). Our present “terrestrial”
body must be transformed and made fit for life that is “eonian, in the heavens”
(2 Cor. 5:1-2). It
is in the realm where Christ is presently residing - i.e., the heavens (1 Cor.
15:47) - that we will be “at home with the Lord” after we have been “dressed”
with our “habitation which is out of heaven” (2 Cor. 5:6-9).[1] It
is the heavenly realm for which our glorified bodies will be suited, and it is
here that the kingdom of God in which we will be enjoying an allotment will be
located.
All of the verses
referenced above are extremely problematic for the Acts 28 position, but are
(as far as I can tell) largely ignored by proponents of the Acts 28 position.
"Seen a Second Time"
"Seen a Second Time"
Ballinger:
Now, if the Lord has already come once to die for
sinners, then the coming we have been reading about must be His Second Coming,
right? Why is it so hard for believers to admit that? A believer once told me
that his hope was not the Second Coming of Christ, but it was the “rapture” and
he quoted I Thessalonians 4:15 to me! If my eyes are not deceiving me, doesn’t
Paul say they would be caught up at “the coming of the Lord”? Doesn’t he
mention His coming 10 times in his Acts epistles? If Christ has already come
one time, wouldn’t this be His Second Coming?
Based
on what Ballinger writes above, it would seem that he is either not aware or
does not fully appreciate the fact that the expression “Second Coming” does not
appear anywhere in Scripture. Instead of using an unscriptural expression like
“Second Coming” to support his position, it would have been wiser of Ballinger
to try and stick with what Scripture actually says. And the only time the word
“second” appears in reference to an event involving Christ is in Hebrews 9:28: “…thus Christ also, being
offered once for the bearing of the sins of many, will be seen a second time, by those awaiting Him, apart from
sin, for salvation, through faith.”
The
irony is that, according to Ballinger and other Acts 28 proponents, the “new
hope” of the body of Christ (which supposedly replaced the “previous” and “inferior”
hope found in 1 Thess. 4:15-17 and 1 Cor. 15:50-53) is an event which will
involve Christ’s being manifested to (and, consequently, Christ’s being “seen” by) people who are “awaiting” him (Phil. 3:20; Col.
3:4). Thus we find that the sword which Ballinger has attempted to wield
against the view he is opposing can just as easily be turned against his own
position. Consider the following:
1.
Christ will be seen by people who
are awaiting him at the event referred to by Paul in Philippians 3:21 and
Colossians 3:4.
2.
We’re told in Hebrews 9:28 that Christ “will be seen a second time, by those awaiting him.”
3.
The event referred to in Hebrews 9:28 is the same event referred to in
Philippians 3:21 and Colossians 3:4.
Of
course, I believe this argument to be fallacious; when we understand that two
different categories of people are being referred to in premises 1 and 2, the
conclusion doesn’t follow (in Hebrews 9:28, the author is referring to the
appearing of Christ to the nation of Israel, and to his being seen a “second
time” by believing Israelites; cf. Matt. 23:37-39). But Ballinger’s “Second
Coming”-related questions do not constitute any more forceful of an argument
(if they can even be considered an “argument” at all).
The
fact is that, when we read in scripture of Christ “coming,” his being
“present,” his “appearing,” his being “manifested,” “unveiled” or “seen,” we
cannot simply assume that the same exact event is necessarily in view. Instead,
when reading any verse or passage of Scripture that speaks of Christ “coming”
or “appearing” (or of Christ’s “presence”), we should ask ourselves questions
such as the following: “To which location, and for what purpose, did the author
believe Christ will be ‘coming’? Where, and to whom, did the author believe
Christ will be “appearing” or “manifested?” Where did the author believe
Christ’s “presence” will be, and what is the purpose of Christ’s being present
at this time?” Asking these sorts of questions (and looking to the immediate or
broader context for answers) is crucial to coming to a sound understanding of
what the inspired author had in mind.
The
view that the “coming,” “unveiling” and “presence” of Christ referred to by
Paul in (for example) 1 Corinthians and 1 Thessalonians refers to Christ’s
return to earth to restore the kingdom to Israel is a position for which Acts
28 proponents need to provide convincing scriptural evidence and argumentation,
rather than merely pointing out a few similar details found in other contexts,
or asking rhetorical questions based on unscriptural expressions like “Second
Coming.”
Later,
in the article “The Hope of Paul’s Prison Epistles,” Ballinger states: When Paul wrote his Acts Epistles, under the New Covenant
administration, his hope was the Second Coming of Christ, a hope that could be
found in the Old Testament Scriptures. He mentions the coming of Christ 10
times in his Acts epistles (I Corinthians 1:7; 4:5; 11:26; 15:23; I
Thessalonians 2:19; 3:13; 4:15; 5:23; II Thessalonians 1:10; 2:1.)
As
noted before, the expression “Second Coming” nowhere appears in any of the
verses that Ballinger references above. By merely lumping together several
verses from Paul’s “Acts Epistles” that all refer to a future event involving
Christ and then saying (or implying) that they all refer to the “Second Coming
of Christ,” Ballinger is not providing any scriptural argumentation for his
Acts 28 position.
As
also noted, Paul is not even using the same word in all of the verses
referenced; out of the ten verses referenced, the only ones in which the word
“coming” (erchomai) is used are 1
Cor. 4:5, 1 Cor. 11:26 and 2 Thess. 1:10. Although the “coming” referred to in
2 Thess. 1:10 clearly (based on the immediate context) refers to Christ’s
eon-terminating return to earth to defeat his enemies and restore the kingdom
to Israel, the verses from 1 Corinthians give no indication that the same
“coming” is in view. In fact, I submit that, unless one is already presupposing
the Acts 28 view affirmed by Ballinger, one would not be motivated to
understand all three verses as necessarily referring to the same event.
The
assumption of Ballinger and other Acts 28 proponents seems to be that God would
not have inspired the authors of scripture to use the same Greek word to refer
to two different future events involving Christ. However, this assumption can
easily be shown to be erroneous, and inconsistent with what we actually find in
scripture. Consider, for example, the word phaneroo (which is usually translated
“appears” or “manifested”). Although it’s a fairly common word in the Greek
scriptures (appearing 43 times), Paul only used it twice (in a single verse) in reference to a future event involving
Christ and believers coming to be in his presence. In Colossians 3:4 Paul
wrote, “Whenever Christ,
our Life, should be manifested [phaneroo], then you also shall be manifested [phaneroo] together with Him in glory.”
Although Paul used
this word 18 other times in his letters, in no other verse did Paul use this
word in reference to the same future event involving Christ and believers that
is in view in Colossians 3:4. And yet, both the apostle John and the apostle
Peter used this same word to describe
Christ’s return to earth at the end of the eon.
1 Peter 5:4
“…and, when the Chief Shepherd is manifested [phaneroo], you
shall be requited with an unfading wreath of glory.”
1 John 2:28
“And now, little
children, remain in Him, that, if He should be manifested [phaneroo], we should be having boldness and not
be put to shame by Him in His presence.”
1 John 3:2
“Beloved, now are
we children of God, and it was not as yet manifested [phaneroo] what we shall be. We are aware that,
if He should be manifested [phaneroo], we shall be like Him, for we shall
see Him according as He is.”
In these verses,
Peter and John had in view the same event referred to in Hebrews 9:28 where
we’re told that Christ “will be seen a second time, by those awaiting him…” We therefore
have an example of the same word being used in scripture to refer to what
Ballinger and other Acts 28 proponents would agree are two different events
involving two different categories of saints at two different times.
“Heaven Must
Receive Him”
While
we’re on the subject of Christ’s return to earth, I’m actually going to “help”
Ballinger and other Acts 28 proponents out a little by giving an example of what
I believe to be a somewhat better argument that an could be employed in support
of their position. Consider the following:
1.
In Acts 3:21, Peter referred to the return of Christ to the earth (when the
kingdom will be restored to Israel) as follows: “…heaven
must indeed receive [Christ] until the times of restoration of all which God
speaks through the mouth of His holy prophets who are from the eon.”
2.
In 1 Thess. 4:16, Paul wrote that “the Lord Himself
will be descending from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the
Chief Messenger, and with the trumpet of God…”
3.
Since Paul was referring to an event that will involve the descent of Christ
from heaven, he was referring to the return of Christ to the earth, when the
kingdom will be restored to Israel.
As
compelling as it may seem on the surface, even this argument does not succeed
in supporting the Acts 28 position. If the “heaven” referred to by Peter in
Acts 3:21 refers exclusively to the “highest heavens” (or the “heavens of the
heavens”), then it would mean that Peter’s prophecy concerning the “times of
restoration” was fulfilled when Christ appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus
(Acts 9:3-6; 22:6-10; cf. 1 Cor. 15:8). But no proponent of the Acts 28
position would affirm that Christ’s appearance to Paul from heaven was the
fulfillment of Peter’s words in Acts 3:21.
What
Peter is recorded as saying in Acts 3:21 should remind the reader of what had
previously been said in Acts 1:9-11: “And saying these things, while they are
looking, He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him up from their eyes. And as they
were looking intently into heaven at His
going, lo! two men stand beside them in white attire, who say also,
"Men! Galileans! Why do you stand, looking
into heaven? This Jesus Who is being taken up from you into heaven shall come
thus, in the manner in which you gaze at Him going into heaven.”
In
this passage, “heaven” includes the atmosphere above the earth that is visible
to humans, and is not a reference to (or, at least, not an exclusive reference to) any region beyond the highest region of
earth’s atmosphere that is visible to humans on earth (cf. Acts 2:2, 5, 19;
4:24; 7:55; 9:3; 10:12; 11:6; 22:6; etc.). Thus, in Acts 3:21, “heaven” can be
understood as referring to (or at least as including)
this relatively large region above the earth. That which Peter had in mind here
can therefore be understood as remaining unfulfilled until Christ comes back to earth (as prophesied in Zechariah 14:4).
Given
this fact, what we read in 1 Thess. 4:15-17 is perfectly consistent with the
view that the coming of Christ prophesied in these verses is distinct from
Christ’s return to earth, and does not involve the commencement of the “times
of restoration of all which God speaks through the mouth of His holy prophets
who are from the eon.” As even the Acts 28 proponent cannot deny, there is
nothing said in 1 Thess. 4:15-17 (or in 1 Corinthians 15:50-53) about Christ’s
returning to earth, or of his descending to a region of the atmosphere that is
any lower than the highest point in which clouds may be found.
Part 3: http://thathappyexpectation.blogspot.com/2017/05/restoring-unity-to-pauls-epistles_11.html
Part 3: http://thathappyexpectation.blogspot.com/2017/05/restoring-unity-to-pauls-epistles_11.html
[1] The
expression “out of heaven” does not mean our glorified bodies presently exist
in heaven and will have to leave heaven when the time comes for us to be
vivified. Concerning the word translated “out of” here (ek) we read the following on Biblehub.com (http://biblehub.com/greek/1537.htm): “Ek ("out of") is one of the most
under-translated (and therefore mis-translated) Greek propositions – often
being confined to the meaning “by.” Ek
has a two-layered meaning (“out from and to”) which makes it out-come oriented (out of the depths of the
source and extending to its impact on the object).”
According
to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, one of the meanings given for the preposition ek is, “of the material out of which a thing is made.”
The following verses are referenced as Scriptural examples of this usage:
Matthew 27:29; John 2:15; 19:2; 9:6; Romans 9:21; 1 Corinthians 11:12; 15:47;
Revelation 18:12; 21:21. Of especial relevance to Paul’s words in 2 Cor. 5:3
are the two verses from 1 Corinthians that are referenced above. In 1 Cor.
11:12 we read that “the woman is out of (ek)
the man,” and in 15:47 we read that “the first man was out of (ek) the earth…the second Man is the Lord
out of (ek) heaven.”
In these examples,
that which is in view is the source of the material from which something is
formed, and of which it consists. Adam did not originally exist in the earth,
and nor was he himself removed from it. Similarly, Eve did not originally exist
in Adam, and nor was she herself removed from him. Rather, just as Eve was
formed from material which was taken from Adam, so Adam was formed from
material which was taken from the earth (i.e., soil). In the same way, Christ’s
glorified, resurrected body consists of material that is heavenly in its source
and nature, and which is, consequently, suited for life in the heavens. It is
for this reason that Paul referred to Christ as “the Lord out of (ek) heaven”
(1 Cor. 15:47) even though Christ was, at the time of Paul’s writing (and
continues to be to this day), in
heaven.
Thus, to say that
our future resurrected body is “out of heaven” simply means that heaven will be
the source of the material of which it will consist (making us fit for eonian
life “in the heavens”). The “soilish” material of which our body presently
consists will, at the moment of our vivification, be replaced with material
that is heavenly in source and nature. It is in this way that the “body of our
humiliation” will be “transfigured” (Phil. 3:21) and “delivered” (Rom 8:23)
when we’re vivified in Christ.
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