Given my passion for the truth that Paul’s entire ministry among the nations as the “apostle of the nations” pertained to a single administration given to Paul for the nations (and that his thirteen letters to the body of Christ form a harmonious unit that ought not be divided into two distinct, “dispensational” categories), it’s hard to believe that it’s been more than two years since I’ve posted any articles on my blog that were written to directly refute the so-called “Acts 28:28” position (although it could be said that my recent articles concerning the timing of the snatching away of the body of Christ in relation to the “beginning of pangs” and the future 70th “week” prophesied in Daniel constitute indirect refutations of this position, since they demonstrate that the body of Christ will be removed from the earth before these future prophesied events involving Israel will begin to occur). However, since the Acts 28 position likes to occasionally rear its ugly head within the community of believers of which I am a part (and will likely continue to do so until the snatching away brings this present administration of the grace of God to a close), I think it would be worthwhile to do some “weed-pulling,” and devote yet another article to refuting a theory that has led certain believers within the body of Christ to affirm erroneous (and, in some cases, ridiculous) views such as the following:
1. That the nations to whom Paul heralded his “evangel of the
uncircumcision” prior to his imprisonment in Rome were merely Greek proselytes
who were “for all intents and purposes, ‘Jewish,’” and that Paul was not able
to begin heralding his evangel to non-proselytized Gentiles until after his
imprisonment in Rome began (click
here for a refutation of this view).
2. That “Paul’s message in his earlier epistles
contained a call to repentance, whereas his latter epistles stressed
justification through faith” (click
here for a refutation of this view).
3.
That the information communicated to him by the ascended Christ concerning the
snatching away (and which he referred to as “the word of the Lord” in 1 Thess.
4:15) had already been revealed before
it was made known to Paul, and can be found outside of Paul’s letters (click
here for a refutation of this view).
4.
That, prior to his imprisonment in Rome, Paul didn’t teach anything during his ministry among the nations that went beyond, or
wasn’t prophesied in, “the Law and the Prophets” (click
here for a refutation of this view).
5.
That the “last trump” referred to in 1 Cor. 15:50-52 refers to the sounding of
the trumpet by the seventh messenger referred to in Rev. 11:14-15, and that the
event associated with the last trump (i.e., the vivification of everyone in the
body of Christ, and our being snatched away to meet Christ in the cloud-filled
atmosphere above the earth) will be fulfilled at the time that the “third woe” occurs (click
here for a refutation of this view).
6.
That the “olive tree” referred to by Paul in Romans 11:16-24 has been “cut down”
(yes, one Acts 28 theorist actually said this; click
here for a refutation of this view).
Those
who have read my other articles against the Acts 28 position will likely find
some of the content of this two-part article familiar (hopefully I’ve included
enough extra information in this article to justify its existence). For those
who haven’t read my previous articles on this subject – or who may want to
re-visit them – here are some links:
A Response to “The Hope of Israel vs. That Blessed
Hope”:
http://thathappyexpectation.blogspot.com/2015/04/a-response-to-hope-of-israel-vs-that.html
Wrongly Dividing Paul: A Response to “Right Division
Includes Paul”: http://thathappyexpectation.blogspot.com/2015/04/wrongly-dividing-paul-response-to-right.html
The Status of the Body of Christ Prior to Acts
28:28: http://thathappyexpectation.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-status-of-body-of-christ-prior-to.html
A Response to Charles Welch: http://thathappyexpectation.blogspot.com/2015/07/a-response-to-charles-welch.html
A Response to “Proof of Paul’s Progression” (Part 1
of 4):
Restoring Unity to Paul’s Epistles: A Refutation of
Tom Ballinger’s Defense of the “Acts 28” Theory (Part 1 of 7): http://thathappyexpectation.blogspot.com/2017/05/restoring-unity-to-pauls-epistles.html
Before the Pangs Begin: A Defense of
the Imminence of the Snatching Away (Part 1 of 2): http://thathappyexpectation.blogspot.com/2019/05/before-pangs-begin-defense-of-imminence.html
The Timing of the Snatching Away in
Relation to the 70th Week (Part 1 of 2): https://thathappyexpectation.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-timing-of-snatching-away-in.html
Two
Gentile expectations contrasted
For those
readers who may be unfamiliar with the Acts 28 position, the following
statement by Clyde Pilkington (a proponent of this theory) could be considered
a succinct explanation of what the position affirms: “In the first half of Paul’s ministry
(during the period covered by the Book of Acts and in his preparatory epistles)
he labored as a priest to the nations (“Gentiles,” Romans 15:16) under a Jewish, prophetic economy
(Romans 15:9-12).”
The
words I placed in bold get at the heart of what I believe to be the error of
the Acts 28 position. According to this position, the status and expectation of the Gentile
believers to whom Paul ministered as the “apostle of the nations” during “the
period covered by the Book of Acts” (up until the events of Acts 28:23-28) was
in accord with a “Jewish, prophetic economy.” So what are the implications of
this? Well, if Paul labored “under a Jewish, prophetic economy” during the
period covered by the book of Acts, then the expectation of the believing
Gentiles in the body of Christ during this time must have been in accord
with Israel’s “prophetic program.” And this, in turn, would mean that, prior to
the events of Acts 28:23-28, the expectation of the Gentiles in the body of
Christ at this time involved a subordinate place in the
earthly kingdom that’s going to be restored to Israel (as had been prophesied
concerning the nations in the Hebrew scriptures; see, for example, Isaiah
60:10-12; 61:5-6; Zechariah 8:20-23).
One way of demonstrating the error of this view is
to simply contrast the revealed expectation of the Gentiles in the body of
Christ during the “Acts era” with the expectation of those among the nations
who will be enjoying an allotment in the kingdom that is going to be restored
to Israel during the eons to come. In my study on Matthew 25:31-46 (http://thathappyexpectation.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-judgment-of-sheep-and-goats-study_14.html), I argued that the category of Gentiles referred to as “the
sheep” will consist of people from among the nations who, because of their
righteous treatment of God’s covenant people during the time of Israel’s “great
affliction,” will be judged worthy by Christ to receive eonian life in the
kingdom that is to be restored to Israel.
A good example of a righteous
Gentile who will be enjoying the eonian allotment that will be given to the “sheep”
is, I believe, the Roman centurion, Cornelius. With the events described in Acts 10, Peter learned that any
Gentile who was “fearing God and acting righteously” (i.e., by conducting
themselves as Cornelius and his house did) could qualify for eonian life in the
kingdom by obtaining the pardon of sins. Thus, Peter learned that Gentiles did
not have to become members of God’s covenant people (by getting circumcised and
keeping the law of Moses) in order to be saved; if they “feared God and acted
righteously” (as Cornelius and his house did), they were acceptable to God, and
could be saved through faith in the evangel of the Circumcision, right along
with believing Jews (for more on this important subject, see my two-part study
on the Jerusalem Conference: https://thathappyexpectation.blogspot.com/2018/10/gods-covenant-people-response-to.html).
Given the
fact that Cornelius and his house were called by God through the evangel
entrusted to Peter (the evangel of the Circumcision),
we can reasonably conclude that the salvation of Cornelius and his house was
(and is) inseparably connected with God’s covenant people (this also follows
from the fact that their “acting righteously” was inseparably tied to their
relationship with God’s covenant people). That the calling and
eonian expectation of Cornelius and his house were understood by Peter and
James as being tied to Israel’s covenant-based expectation is further evident
from what James went on to say in Acts 15:13-17:
“Men! Brethren! Hear me! Simeon unfolds how God
first visits the nations, to obtain out of them a people for His name. And
with this agree the words of the prophets, according as it is written, After
these things I will turn back, ‘And I will rebuild the tabernacle of David
which has fallen... And its overturned structure will I rebuild, And I will
re-erect it... So that those left of mankind should be seeking out
the Lord, And all the nations, on them over whom My name is invoked, Is
saying the Lord, Who is doing these things.’”
In these verses, it’s evident that James was not referring to
events that will be taking place “in the heavens” and “among the celestials” in
the eon to come. Rather, James was
referring to the future kingdom of God on the earth – i.e., the kingdom that is
to be restored to Israel, following Christ’s return to earth. And James clearly
understood Cornelius and his house as being representative of that class of
righteous Gentiles who – like the “sheep” of Matthew 25:31-46 – will be
enjoying an allotment in the kingdom of God after it’s been established on the earth.
Based on
this fact alone, it can be concluded that Cornelius and his house (and, by
implication, Peter as well) were not in the body of Christ. Consider the
following argument:
1. Every
member of the body of Christ has an expectation that is distinct from Israel’s
covenant-based expectation.
2. The
expectation of Cornelius and his house is in accord with Israel’s
covenant-based expectation.
3. Cornelius
and his house are not in the body of Christ.
Now,
another important point that needs to be made is that there will be two general
categories of righteous Jews and God-fearing Gentiles who will be enjoying an
allotment in Israel’s earthly kingdom during the eon to come: (1) Those who
will take part in what is called the “resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:14) or
“former resurrection” (Rev. 20:4-6; cf. John 5:29), 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 believing Israelites and Gentiles
(such as Cornelius) who died before Christ’s return to earth, and – as I’ve
argued elsewhere – is a resurrection that will occur 75 days after the return of Christ (click here for an article in which this view is defended). Those who are raised from the
dead by Christ at the “former resurrection” 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).
In
contrast with those who will take part in the “former resurrection,” 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
human beings. They will enjoy eonian life in the kingdom of God, but – in
contrast with those who are to be resurrected after Christ’s return – will not
be immortal during the eons to come. The following passages make it clear that
there will, in fact, be mortal, flesh-and-blood human beings enjoying an
allotment in the kingdom of God during the eon to come: 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 – 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). In fact, both before and after the “resurrection of
the just” takes place, the mortal, flesh-and-blood Israelites who will be
enjoying their eonian allotment in the kingdom of God on earth will likely
outnumber the resurrected Israelites who will be enjoying their eonian
allotment there. Moreover, 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). It can also be reasonably
inferred that those among the nations who will be enjoying an allotment on the
new earth during the final eon (as well as those Israelites who “endure to the
consummation” and are alive when Christ returns) will be mortal during this
time. Not only is this implied by Paul’s words in Eph. 3:21 (where Paul
referred to “all the generations of the eon of the
eons”), but it accounts for the fact that the “log of life” will be
present in the New Jerusalem to provide its life-sustaining fruit and healing
leaves for those who will need it during this time (see Rev. 2:7 and 22:2).
Now, Acts
28 proponents would agree that the event we find described in 1 Thess. 4:15-17
and 1 Cor. 15:51-53 will involve a certain group of saints being made fit to
enjoy an allotment in the kingdom of God. What they fail to appreciate,
however, is that the location of the kingdom of God to which these passages
pertain will be in the heavenly realm rather than on the earth. In 1 Cor. 15:50
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.”
Consider,
now, the following argument:
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).
It is in
contrast with the conditions that will characterize the kingdom of God on earth
during the eons to come that Paul told those in the body of Christ that “flesh
and blood is not able to enjoy an allotment in the kingdom of God.” 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 the scriptural fact that there will, in fact, be mortal,
flesh-and-blood humans in this kingdom during the eon to come. But of course,
Paul wasn’t contradicting scripture, since 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 (and which he referred to in 2 Tim. 4:18 as
the Lord’s “celestial kingdom”).
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 mortal, “terrestrial” body must
be transformed into a body that is fit for the realm where Christ, the
Celestial One, resides and inherently belongs – i.e., the heavens (1 Cor.
15:47). Moreover, since it was in the heavens that Christ was located when Paul
wrote to the saints in Corinth (Heb. 8:1; 9:24; Phil. 3:20), we can conclude
that it is also in the heavens – and
not on the earth – that those to whom Paul wrote will be “at home with the Lord”
(2 Cor. 5:6-9), and where they will be “manifested
in front of the dais of Christ” (v. 10).
Hence, the future, vivified body that the saints will possess after “the mortal
may be swallowed up by life” is described as being “eonian, in the
heavens.” (2 Cor. 5:1).[1]
Since the future body (and thus the future life) of the saints in Corinth to whom Paul wrote will be “eonian,
in the heavens,” it follows that the expectation and allotment of these
believers was, at the time Paul wrote, just as heavenly in location as the
expectation and allotment of those to whom Paul wrote his “later
letters.” Thus, what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:46-50 and 2
Corinthians 5:1-9 provides just as much evidence for the view that the eonian
destiny of those in the body of Christ is distinct from Israel’s expectation as
do Paul’s words in (for example) Philippians 3:20 and Colossians 1:5:
Phil. 3:20: “For our realm is inherent in the heavens, out of which
we are awaiting a Saviour also…”
Col. 1:5:
“…because of the expectation reserved for you in the heavens…”
2 Cor. 5:1: “…we have a building
of God, a house not made by hands, eonian, in
the heavens.”
Based
solely on what we read in Paul’s letters to the Corinthians, then, we can
conclude that the location in which the saints in the body of Christ will be
enjoying their eonian allotment is “in the heavens.” One could,
therefore, argue that Paul had just as much to say concerning the heavenly
expectation of those in the body of Christ in his letters to the saints in
Corinth as he did in his later letters to the saints in Philippi and Colossi.
One could also argue that Paul revealed more in 1 and 2 Corinthians concerning
our heavenly allotment than he did in 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon combined
(which are considered as being among Paul’s “later letters” by most proponents
of the Acts 28 theory).
Did Gentile believers have an
“inferior status” during Paul’s “Acts era” ministry?
Another
related implication of the view that Paul’s ministry among the nations during the period covered by the
book of Acts was in accord with a “Jewish, prophetic economy” is that the
status of Gentile believers in the body of Christ was inferior to that of
Jewish believers. Another proponent of the Acts 28 theory (Adlai Loudy) explains this view as follows:
”…at no time or
place, during the readjustment administration, or in the millennial kingdom in
the future day of the Lord, will Gentile
believers ever be considered on the same standing or level with the Jews or
Israelites.”
In case the reader is wondering
what Loudy meant by “the readjustment administration” here (which is an
expression he apparently coined), this refers to a theoretical administration
that Acts 28 proponents believe coincided with Paul’s “Acts era” ministry
(i.e., from Acts 13:2 to Acts 28:28).
The idea that Gentile believers had an inferior
status and weren’t “…on the same standing or level with the Jews or
Israelites” during the period covered by the book of Acts
is completely contradicted by what Paul wrote. In stark contrast with this view, it’s revealed in Paul’s
“early letters” that there was “one body” into
which everyone who believed his evangel – whether Jew or Greek – had been spiritually
baptized and made to “imbibe one spirit” (1
Cor. 12:12-13). During this time of Paul's ministry, it’s clear that both those
who were circumcised and those who weren’t had an equal standing in the body of
Christ. Writing to the saints in Galatia (at least some of whom were Gentiles
with a pagan, idol-worshipping background), Paul declared that “…in [Christ] there is no Jew nor yet Greek, there is no
slave nor yet free, there is no male and female, for you all are one in Christ
Jesus”(Gal. 3:28; cf. Col. 3:11). In accord with this fact, Paul made it
clear that neither circumcision nor uncircumcision was of any consequence for
the company of saints to whom he wrote (Gal. 6:15). This means that, within the body of Christ during
the “Acts era” of Paul’s ministry, circumcision
was of no advantage whatsoever, and those who were circumcised had no
advantage over those who were uncircumcised (Gal. 5:6; 6:15). Within the one
body of Christ, all “fleshly” distinctions (whether ethnic, sexual or
socio-economic) were irrelevant (2 Cor. 5:16).
In
contrast with Acts 28 proponents today, A.E. Knoch believed that, even before Paul’s imprisonment in Rome, the
apostle of the nations revealed truths that did not pertain to Israel and her
eonian allotment, but rather to the body of Christ exclusively (and which continue
to apply exclusively to those in the body of Christ today). At the same time
(and as I’ve noted in previous articles on this subject), it’s clear that Knoch
was highly influenced by the Acts 28 theorists of his day (e.g., E.W. Bullinger
and C.H. Welch), and may be said to have had “one foot in the Acts 28 camp.”
One example of this can be found in his comments on Ephesians 2:11-22:
“The latter half of the second
chapter of Ephesians (2:11-22), is an elaborate statement showing that, in the
present administration of God's grace, the nations are no longer in the
inferior position accorded them in Paul's earlier ministry…it was not until
Paul's imprisonment that we were brought nigh and enter the family of God (Eph.
2:18, 19). Until then we were still guests at Israel's table, if not puppies under
it.”
In accord with the Acts 28 theory, Knoch believed
that the nations in the body of Christ were in an “inferior position” compared
with that of believing Jews. These statements by Knoch (in support of which, it
should be noted, he provides no argumentation)
are based on the assumption that Paul was contrasting the status of the
nations since the beginning of his imprisonment in Rome with their status prior
to this time (during his “earlier ministry”). But this assumption is
completely unwarranted. Paul nowhere said that the nations were not brought
near or able to enter the family of God until after he became a prisoner in Rome. Nowhere in Ephesians 2:11-22 or
in the surrounding context does Paul say anything that suggests the beginning
of his imprisonment in Rome marked the beginning of the state of the affairs
described in verses 13-22. Assuming that this letter was even written while
Paul was under house arrest in Rome (which is simply conjecture and has not
been proven by Acts 28 theorists), the conclusion which Knoch draws here simply
does not follow from anything Paul wrote.
Now, in the verses from Ephesians referred to
above, Paul declared that the nations were once, “in that era,” apart from
Christ, etc. What “era” did Paul have in mind here? Knoch assumed (along with “full-fledged” Acts 28 theorists) that this
“era” was the time prior to Paul’s imprisonment in Rome. However, Paul didn’t
say this. And not only did Paul not
say that the “era” in view was the time prior to his Roman imprisonment, but
his wording suggest that this “era” had been previously referred to (“…wherefore, remember that once you, the nations in flesh –
who are termed “Uncircumcision” by those termed “Circumcision,” in flesh, made
by hands – that you were, in that
era, apart from Christ…”). When we look back just a few verses, we
find that Paul did, in fact, refer to a period of time involving those to whom
he wrote that could appropriately be described as an “era” in which they were “apart from Christ, being alienated from the citizenship of
Israel, and guests [or “strangers”] of the promise covenants, having no
expectation, and without God in the world.”
In verses 1-3, Paul spoke of those to whom he wrote
as “once” walking in their “offenses and sins,” and “in
accord with the eon of this world, in accord with the chief of the jurisdiction
of the air, the spirit now operating in the sons of stubbornness…”
During this era they were “doing the will of the flesh
and of the comprehension, and were, in [their] nature, children of indignation.”
Although this particular era had, indeed, ended for those to whom Paul wrote, it
wasn’t Paul’s imprisonment in Rome that ended this era. Rather, this
“era” ended when those to whom Paul wrote first heard the “word of truth, the evangel of [their] salvation”
and, believing Paul’s evangel (and then being “sealed
with the holy spirit of promise”), they were saved (Eph. 2:8-9). It is
not, therefore, the status of the nations before and after his Roman
imprisonment that Paul had in view in Ephesians 2:11-22, but rather their status before and after they heard and believed the
evangel that was heralded among them.
Knoch made a similar mistake concerning Paul’s use
of the word “now” in Ephesians 3:10. In accord with the Acts 28 theory, Knoch
saw the word “now” as implying that it wasn’t until after Paul became a prisoner that God began making known “to
the sovereignties and the authorities among the celestials, through the
ecclesia, the multifarious wisdom of God, in accord with the purpose of the eons,
which He makes in Christ Jesus, our Lord…” It’s certainly
true that, by the word “now,” Paul had in mind a period of time that was
present when he was writing. No one disputes this fact. However, there’s no
good reason to assume that the time period to which Paul was referring began with his imprisonment (and to assume that it did is simply to presuppose
the Acts 28 position).
Paul used the same word
translated “now” in Eph. 2:1, when he wrote of “the
spirit now operating in the sons of
stubbornness…” Do those holding to the Acts 28 position think Paul had
in view the period of time that began with his imprisonment in Rome in this
verse? Of course not; Satan had been operating in the sons of stubbornness long
before Paul’s imprisonment. But apart from a prior commitment to the view that
Paul’s imprisonment in Rome marked a new administration, is it any more
reasonable to believe that the time period that Paul had in view in Eph. 3:10
began with his imprisonment? One could just as well (and with just as much
justification) believe that the period of time Paul had in view began when he
started writing the letter itself – or even when he started writing the word
“now!”
To what, then, then does the
word “now” refer? It should be noted that, in v. 5, Paul contrasted “now” with
“in other generations.” Similarly, in Col. 1:26, Paul wrote of “the secret which has been
concealed from the eons and from the generations, yet now was made manifest to His saints…” In both verses, the contrast in view allows for a significantly broader
period of time than simply that of Paul’s imprisonment at the time he wrote
these letters. Given the contrast made, there is no reason to limit the meaning
of “now” in Eph. 3:10 the time of Paul’s imprisonment only. When reading Eph.
3:10 apart from an Acts 28 dispensational bias, it is much more likely that the
“now” in this verse (as well as the “now” of Eph. 3:5 and Col. 1:26) embraces
the same period of time as that which Paul had in mind when he wrote the
following to the saints in Rome: “Now to Him Who is able to establish you in accord with my
evangel, and the heralding of Christ Jesus in
accord with the revelation of a secret hushed in times eonian, yet manifested
NOW and through prophetic scriptures, according to the injunction of the
eonian God being made known to all nations for faith-obedience…” (Rom.
16:25-26)
In
other words, the “now” of Ephesians 3:10 simply refers to the period of time
that began when Paul’s apostolic ministry to the nations began, and the body of
Christ – the “ecclesia” to which Paul referred in this verse – began to be
formed through the heralding of Paul’s evangel among the nations. Unlike what Peter
declared in Acts 3:21-24 (which concerned “all the things which God speaks through
the mouth of His holy prophets who are from the eon”), the “secret” of
which Paul had in view in these verses had been “hushed in times eonian.” It was not manifested until after Paul had been called by Christ
(Gal. 1:1, 11-16). But what about the “prophetic scriptures” to which Paul
referred in v. 26? Answer: Paul was simply referring to his own inspired writings. It was through Paul’s letters to those
in the body of Christ that the “revelation of the secret” was being “made known
to all nations.”
Although some
do not think of Paul’s letters as being “prophetic scriptures,” we know from 1
Cor. 14:37 that Paul understood that what he wrote was inspired and prophetic
scripture. The fact is that what Paul wrote concerning the body of Christ and
our expectation is just as much prophetic in nature as those scriptures that
pertain to Israel’s expectation (which Paul also prophesied concerning; see,
for example, Romans 9-11). Not only this, but – in light of what Paul wrote
concerning the consummation (when all are reconciled to God and God becomes “All
in all”) – Paul can be said to have “seen” further into the future than any
other inspired writer of scripture. If anything, Paul’s inspired letters
(regardless of when they were written) are not less prophetic than the rest of Scripture, but are more prophetic than the rest of Scripture.[2]
For part two of this study, click here: https://thathappyexpectation.blogspot.com/2019/09/was-pauls-ministry-among-nations-ever_14.html
[1]Similarly, in v. 2 our glorified body is described as “our habitation which is out
of heaven.” As in 1 Cor. 15:47 (where Christ is referred to as “the Lord out
of heaven”), the term translated “out of” in this verse (ek)
denotes the source from which something is made. This same term was used by Paul in 1 Cor. 11:8 (where we read
that “man is not out of woman, but woman out of man”) and 1 Cor.
15:47 (where we read that “the first man was out of the earth, soilish”). In
1 Cor. 11:8, the idea being expressed is that Adam was the source of that which
God used to form Eve (see Gen. 2:21-23), while in 1 Cor. 15:47 the idea being
expressed is that the earth is the source of that which God
used to form Adam (see Gen. 2:7; 3:19). In the same way, the idea being
expressed in 2 Cor. 5:2 is that the heavens will be the source of
our glorified body (and thus of we ourselves, since our body is the quantity of
matter that composes us). It is because the heavens (and not the earth) will be
the source of our immortal, spiritual body that we’ll be suited for eonian life “in the heavens.”
“The
conciliation was not made known through the ancient prophets, but through
prophetic writings, such as this epistle [to the Romans] and 2 Corinthians. It
is of principle importance that we see the point the apostle makes here, for
otherwise we shall not appreciate the unique, distinctive character of the
conciliation, which is first set forth in this epistle. The teaching of the
fifth to the eighth chapters and especially the eleventh chapter is absolutely
unknown in the prophets. In the latter all blessing comes to the nations
through Israel as the channel. This conciliation comes because Israel is thrust
aside. The prophets would lead us to infer that Israel’s apostasy would bar all
possibility of blessing to the nations. The conciliation was a secret they knew
nothing of, for it makes Israel’s defection the ground of world-wide, unbounded
blessing to the nations until Israel is again in God's reckoning.”
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