Restoring Unity to Paul’s Epistles: A Refutation of Tom Ballinger’s Defense of the “Acts 28” Theory, Part 5 ("Then Shall Come to Pass the Word"; "Saying None Other Things"; "Shall Never Die"; "At the Last Trump")

“Then shall come to pass the word which is written”

Ballinger: Also, in I Corinthians 15, when writing about the same hope of resurrection (which some call the “rapture”), he says, So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be BROUGHT TO PASS the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O grave, where is thy victory?” (:54-55). If Paul means what he says, and says what he means, the hope of I Corinthians 15 was prophesied in “the Word of the Lord.” Paul is quoting from two different books in “the Word of the Lord,” Hosea 13:14 and Isaiah 25:8, to show the Corinthians their hope.

We’ve shown in part four that, by the phrase “the word of the Lord” in 1 Thess. 4:15, Paul did not have in mind anything found in the Hebrew Scriptures - and this includes Hosea 13:14 and Isaiah 25:8. Nowhere in these verses do we find the information made known by Paul in 1 Thess. 4:15-17. Rather, the information found in these verses had been revealed to Paul by the Lord Jesus Christ at some point during Paul’s apostolic career (prior to the writing of 1 Thessalonians). In light of this, let’s now consider Paul’s words in 1 Cor. 15:54-55: Now, whenever this corruptible should be putting on incorruption and this mortal should be putting on immortality, then shall come to pass the word which is written, Swallowed up was Death by Victory. Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?

Notice the words “whenever” and “then” in v. 54. The word “whenever” has a much wider scope than the word “when.” It means that every time a corruptible, mortal body is changed into an incorruptible, immortal body, the “word that is written” comes to pass (ginomai, to come to be, or to occur). Paul is not talking about the fulfillment of Isaiah 25:8 or Hosea 13:14; he doesn’t even use the word translated “fulfilled” or “filled up” (pleroo) in reference to these verses of Scripture (for some examples where a verse or passage from the Hebrew scriptures is said to have been “fulfilled,” or “filled up,” see Matthew 2:23; 4:12-16; 13:14-15; 27:6-10; Luke 24:44; John 13:18; 17:12; 19:36; Acts 1:16; 3:18; 13:27; James 2:23).

The “word which is written” will “come to pass” any time (“whenever”) a deceased or mortal person (or a group of such persons) is vivified. Thus, when the deceased saints in the body of Christ are roused incorruptible, and the still-living saints are changed into immortal beings (which is the event that Paul has in view in the immediate context) death will, for them, be “swallowed up by victory” and will have lost its “sting.” And when all the deceased saints of Israel are vivified (which will be 75 days after the day of Christ’s return to earth), the “word” that Paul quotes will again “come to pass.” But even then, it cannot be said that this “word” will have been fulfilled, since there will remain a third and final class of human beings who are to be vivified (and for whom death is to be “swallowed up by victory”).

Ballinger: The mystery of I Corinthians 15:51 is not the resurrection, but that there will be some caught up without dying. This is a mystery hidden in the Scriptures, for in :55 Paul quotes Isaiah 25:8 which says, “O Death where is thy sting?” In other words, in the Old Testament Scriptures it was written down that somebody was going to get out of this life without experiencing the sting of death.

The rhetorical question, “Where, O Death, is your sting?” in no way presupposes or implies that anyone would be vivified without dying. These words are just as applicable for all who are to be roused from the state of death and introduced into a vivified, incorruptible state as they are for those members of the body of Christ who will never die. For all who are vivified, it can be said that death has lost its “sting” (i.e., its power to harm/injure), since those who have been vivified can no longer die. The words of 1 Cor. 15:55 (“Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?”) can, therefore, be the triumphant proclamation of everyone over whom death no longer has any power.

“Saying none other things”

Ballinger: This agrees with what Paul said in Acts 26:22 where, when summing up his Acts ministry, said, Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day witnessing both to small and great, saying NONE OTHER THINGS than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come. Paul’s Acts ministry and what he wrote in his Acts epistles can be found in the Old Testament Scriptures, and that includes the hope he wrote about in I Thessalonians 4 and I Corinthians 15.

According to Ballinger and other Acts 28 proponents, Paul never said anything during the entirety of his “Acts ministry” that can’t be found in the Law and the Prophets. That anyone who is actually familiar with the content of Paul’s epistles could take this idea seriously is, to me, astonishing.

Before Paul travelled to Rome as a prisoner, 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). The “prophetic scriptures” through which the secret was “being made known to all nations” are Paul’s own letters. Paul clearly understood what he wrote to be inspired scripture (1 Cor. 14:37; cf. 2 Pet. 3:14-16), and all of his letters can be characterized as “prophetic” - both in the sense of their being part of the “oracles of God” (Rom. 3:2) and in the sense of their containing prophecies concerning future events (events which involve not only the saints in the body of Christ but also the nation of Israel, unbelievers, all mankind and the universe as a whole).

Unlike what Peter declared in Acts 3:21-24 (concerning “all the things which God speaks through the mouth of His holy prophets who are from the eon”), the “secret” that Paul had in view in Romans 16:25-26 had been kept “hushed in times eonian.” It was not manifested until after Paul was called by Christ (Gal 1:1, 11-16). This fact brings us to our second point. All that one needs to do to demonstrate the error of the Acts 28 proponent’s use of Acts 26:22 is to find one thing found in Paul’s “Acts epistles” that wasn’t previously revealed in the Hebrew Scriptures. Here are some examples:

1. Salvation has come to the nations through the “tripping,” “offense” and “casting away” of Israel (Rom. 11:11-15, 19), and this state of affairs is to continue “until the complement of the nations may be entering” (vv. 25-26).

2. All who believe Paul’s evangel - whether “Jew or Greek” - are spiritually baptized into one body (1 Cor. 12:12-13), which is the body of Christ (v. 27), and have become a “new creation” in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17).

3. The last generation of those in the body of Christ will “not be put to repose” (die), but will “put on immortality” at the same time that the deceased saints in the body of Christ will be “roused in incorruption” (1 Cor. 15:50-53).

4. Both categories of saints in the body of Christ will be “snatched away together” by the “Lord himself” to meet Christ in the air (1 Thess. 4:13-18).

5. All who are in the body of Christ will, at this time, become “celestials” and will “wear the image of Christ, the “Celestial One” (1 Cor. 15:47-49).

6. Related to the last point, the realm in which we will enjoy eonian life after we’ve “put on incorruption” is not on the earth but rather “in the heavens” (2 Cor. 5:1), and our “home” is, therefore, where the Lord is, presently (vv. 6-9).

7. After death has been abolished by Christ and every being in the universe has been subjected to him, Christ will be “giving up the kingdom to His God and Father” and “shall be subjected to Him Who subjects all to Him, that God may be All in all” (1 Cor. 15:24-28). Referring to the subjection of all to Christ and to God’s becoming “All in all” is simply another way of conveying the same truth found in Col. 1:20 and elsewhere.

Having noted some truths revealed by Paul (and concerning which “the prophets and Moses” were completely silent), let’s now consider what Paul meant in Acts 26:22. Although Ballinger seems to prefer the King James Version, I consider it a relatively inferior translation on which to build (or with which to support) one’s doctrinal positions. But even the KJV translation of Acts 26:22 does not lend support to Ballinger’s position.

Notice that Ballinger leaves out the very next verse, which specifies what “things” Paul had in view when he declared that he was “saying none other things that those which the prophets and Moses did say should come.” In v. 23 we read: “That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.” More recent translations confirm this understanding of Acts 26:22-23. Consider the following:

New English Translation (NET)

“I have experienced help from God to this day, and so I stand testifying to both small and great, saying nothing except what the prophets and Moses said was going to happen: that the Christ was to suffer and be the first to rise from the dead, to proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

“To this very day, I have obtained help that comes from God, and I stand and testify to both small and great, saying nothing else than what the prophets and Moses said would take place— that the Messiah must suffer, and that as the first to rise from the dead, He would proclaim light to our people and to the Gentiles.”

English Standard Version (ESV)

“To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: ²³ that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

Concordant Literal New Testament (CLNT)

“Happening, then, on assistance from God, until this day I stand attesting both to small and to great, saying nothing outside of what both the prophets and Moses speak of impending occurrences -- if it be the suffering Christ -- if He, the first out of a resurrection of the dead, is about to be announcing light both to the people and to the nations.”

Why would Ballinger quote verse 22 but not verse 23 (especially when, grammatically, v. 23 can’t even be separated from what is said in v. 22)? I strongly suspect that it’s because Ballinger realized that doing so would weaken his position that Paul was referring to everything he had ever said during his apostolic ministry, without any exception or qualification. Since Paul’s words in verse 23 put a significant restriction on the “things” that Paul had in view in verse 22, it would seem that Ballinger felt it necessary to simply omit them altogether. This type of selective “proof-texting” seems to be rather common among proponents of the Acts 28 position, unfortunately.

“He that liveth and believeth in me shall never die”?

Ballinger: When the resurrection of Matthew 24 takes place, believers who are alive will be caught up without dying.

The problem with what Ballinger says above is that, unlike what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4, there is no resurrection referred to by the Lord in Matthew 24. In order to see the coming of Christ referred to in Matthew 24:30-31 as the same event referred to by Paul in 1 Cor. 15:50-54 and 1 Thess. 4:15-17, Ballinger and other Acts 28 proponents have to read into the Lord’s words what isn’t there. They have no choice but to do this, since the words “dead,” “sleeping,” “put to repose,” “roused,” “resurrected,” “rising,” “corruptible” and “put on incorruption” appear nowhere in Matthew 24:30-31 or the surrounding context.

Ballinger goes on to say: This fact is brought out by the Lord in John 11. In John 11, Lazarus, Martha’s brother, died, and she wanted Christ to raise him from the dead. Jesus said to her, “Thy brother shall rise again.” Martha saith unto Him, “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said unto her: “I am the resurrection; and the life: he that believeth in Me; though He were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?” (:23).

When Jesus said, “He that believeth in Me though he were dead, yet shall he live,” He is referring to those who are dead when the resurrection of the last day takes place. When He said “whosoever liveth and believeth in Me,” He is referring to those who are alive when the resurrection of the last day takes place, and He says that they “shall never die.”

As we’ve seen, the “fact” to which Ballinger is referring at the beginning of the above paragraph is no “fact” at all. There is no resurrection referred to in Matthew 24. As far as John 11 goes, nowhere in the Lord’s conversation with Martha does he say that the “dying” believers he has in view in v. 25 will be resurrected when, before or immediately after the event referred to in Matthew 24:30 (when “all the tribes of the land shall see the Son of Mankind coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory”).

Not only this, but there is nothing said by the Lord in this chapter (or elsewhere in the Gospel Accounts) about living saints not “preceding” or “outstripping” saints who are dead, of the dead in Christ “rising first,” or of both living and dead saints being changed, at the same moment, into incorruptible, immortal beings before being snatched away to meet him in the air (1 Thess. 4:15-17; 1 Cor. 15:51-53).

Ballinger: This is what Jesus is referring to in John 11 when He said, “He that liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” That was the only time that Christ mentioned that fact to anyone. Prior to Paul it was the general consensus that, by the time that resurrection took place, all believers would be dead. Yet God opened up the Scriptures to Paul and he was the first man to understand that fact fully and write about it. Nevertheless, it was in the Old Testament Scriptures, even though concealed.

If our Lord actually declared that “He that liveth and believeth in me shall never die,” then he uttered a falsehood, because everyone who was living and believing in him during his earthly ministry is now dead, and countless believers in Christ have died since then. Ballinger should have availed himself of a better, more accurate translation of Scripture while he was writing his article; had he done so, he would’ve discovered that Christ was not saying something so manifestly erroneous and stupid as is found in the KJV translation of John 11:26.

The CLNT corrects the error of the KJV by translating Christ’s words as follows: “And everyone who is living and believing in Me, should by no means be dying for the eon.” To say that those who believe in Christ “should by no means be dying for the eon” is simply another (more emphatic) way of saying that they will have eonian life – something that will be true for a believer regardless of whether they die before the Lord’s return or not.

Part 6: http://thathappyexpectation.blogspot.com/2017/05/restoring-unity-to-pauls-epistles_33.html

Restoring Unity to Paul’s Epistles: A Refutation of Tom Ballinger’s Defense of the “Acts 28” Theory, Part 4 (With the Voice of the Chief Messenger; The "Word of the Lord" in 1 Thess. 4:15)

“With the Voice of the Chief Messenger”

Ballinger: In Matthew 24, when Jesus comes in the clouds He will come with angels. And He shall send forth His angels (:31). In I Thessalonians 4 and I Corinthians 15, when Jesus comes in the clouds He will come with angels. He will descend from heaven with … the voice of the archangel (:16). Michael is the archangel and the prince of Israel (Daniel 12:1-2) and where Michael goes so do his angels. There was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels (Revelation 12:7).  

An “angel” or a “messenger” is one whose role or office involves delivering a message, carrying out a decree or executing the purpose of another, and does not necessarily refer to a particular class or category of celestial beings (see, for example, Matthew 11:10; Luke 7:24; 9:52; Acts 12:15; 2 Cor. 12:7; James 2:25). Significantly, both John the Baptist and Christ are prophetically referred to as “messengers” in Malachi 3:1.

Ballinger assumes that Michael is the “chief messenger” referred to in 1 Thess. 4:16. Is this a valid assumption to make? After all, Michael is referred to as the “chief messenger” in Jude 9, so why shouldn’t he be understood as the same “chief messenger” of 1 Thess. 4:16? I believe there are good reasons to believe that Paul did not have Michael in view here.

Let’s first consider some verses from the book of Daniel that I believe can help shed some light on this subject. In Daniel 10:12-14, we read the following words spoken to Daniel by a celestial messenger (probably Gabriel; see Daniel 8:16; 9:21):

“Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. The chief of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the first chiefs, came to help me, for I was left there with the chief of the kings of Persia, and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to come.”

And in verses 20-21, we read:

“Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? But now I will return to fight against the chief of the kingdom of Persia; and when I go out, behold, the chief of Greece will come. But I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth: there is none who contends by my side against these except Michael, your chief.”

Finally, in Daniel 12:1 we read: “In that era Michael shall stand up, the great chief who is standing over the sons of your people. Then an era of distress will come to pass, such as has not occurred since there was a nation on the earth, until that era.”

What we discover from the above verses is that there are several “chiefs” among the celestial messengers. Some are on the side of God and the saints, and others are antagonistic toward God and the saints (with the latter “chiefs” seemingly opposing the former whenever they can). Among these “chiefs” is Michael, who is referred to as “your [Daniel’s] chief” and as “the great chief who is standing over the sons of your [Daniel’s] people.” Among the celestial messengers, then, Michael is to be understood as the chief messenger of Israel (just as there is a chief messenger of Persia, a chief messenger of Greece, etc.).

Thus, Michael’s dispute with the Adversary over the “body of Moses” (Jude 9) makes perfect sense when we realize that Michael is the chief messenger of Israel. But do we have any good reason to believe that Michael is the chief messenger in view in 1 Thessalonians 4:16? No. In fact, I think there are good reasons to believe that, rather than having Michael in view, Paul understood Christ himself to be the “chief messenger” whose voice (and, I believe, trumpeting) will be heard during the event described in 1 Thess. 4:15-17.

We know that Paul did not have Daniel’s people, Israel, in view when he prophesied concerning the “dead in Christ rising first” and the snatching away of the living and the (formerly) dead in Christ to meet the Lord in the air. The saints whom Paul had in view as being snatched away to meet Christ in the air are those who, at that time, constituted the “body of Christ” (1 Cor. 6:15-19; 10:16-17; 12:12-27; Rom. 12:4-5). This distinct category of saints simply cannot be identified with, or understood as equivalent to, either national Israel or the chosen remnant among Daniel’s people.

During the “Acts period,” the body of Christ existed alongside both national Israel and the chosen Jewish remnant, and, even during this time, consisted primarily of uncircumcised, non-proselytized gentiles. The majority of the members of the body of Christ never were Israelites/Jews, and the minority of those who were (like Paul and Barnabas) understood themselves to have been called through a different evangel to a different expectation that was distinct from Israel’s, and as having joined a body of believers that consisted primarily of gentiles (and which, consequently, could never have been identified with Israel). 

This was the case even within the Thessalonian ecclesia to whom Paul wrote, as is implied by 1 Thess. 1:9 and 4:3-5. What Paul wrote in these verses only makes sense when the recipients of this letter are understood as having consisted primarily of gentiles who were formerly involved in idol-worship and other activities that the “nations also who are not acquainted with God” were involved in at the time.

In the article “What Is Your Hope?” Ballinger attempts to defend his view that the Thessalonian believers (and, by implication, the body of Christ as a whole at that time) shared Israel’s eonian, earth-based expectation with the following assertion: “But the believers of Thessalonica were followers of the churches of God which are in Judaea (I Thessalonians 2:14).” Aside from the fact that the word mimetes in this verse would be better translated “imitators” rather than “followers” (as it is in the CLNT), Ballinger completely ignores the context in which Paul wrote this. Had Ballinger quoted the rest of the verse, the reader would’ve known exactly in what way the Thessalonian saints had become “imitators of the ecclesias of God which are in Judea.”

According to Paul, the saints to whom he wrote had “suffered the same, even you by your own fellowtribesmen, according as they also by the Jews…” In other words, the Thessalonian believers had endured persecution from their own “fellowtribesmen” (or “countrymen”) just as the ecclesias in Judea had from the Jews. It is in this way that they had become “imitators” of them. This is perfectly consistent with the view that Paul had in view two different categories of saints with two distinct expectations. Moreover, the fact that Paul contrasted the “Jews” (as a people group) with the “fellowtribesmen” of the persecuted believers in Thessalonica further confirms the fact that the saints to whom Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians (or at least the majority of the saints within this ecclesia) weren’t Jewish, but rather gentile.

 Since Paul - in contrast with Peter or James – wasn’t addressing a group of believers consisting primarily of those among the twelve tribes of Israel (or even gentile proselytes to Israel) in his first letter to the Thessalonians, it follows that the “chief messenger” of this particular body of saints couldn’t have been Michael (who, again, is the chief messenger of Daniel’s people, Israel).

There is further evidence that the “chief messenger” referred to by Paul is someone other than Michael. In contrast with Christ’s words in Matthew 24:30-31 and John’s prophecy in Revelation 19:11-14 (for example), Paul doesn’t say anything in 1 Thess. 4:15-17 about Christ coming with any (let alone all) of the “holy messengers.” Rather, we read of “the Lord Himself descending from heaven.” And immediately after this, we read that Christ will be descending “with a shout of command.” In other words, Christ’s voice will be heard as he’s descending (as a “shout of command”). 

Thus, when Paul goes on to add “with the voice of the Chief Messenger,” he can be understood as referring back to (and expanding upon) what he’d just said concerning the “shout of command.” This means that the “Chief Messenger” whom Paul had in view is none other than the Lord himself. Like the nation of Israel, the body of Christ (which is a multinational/multiethnic body of people) has its own “chief messenger.” But our Chief Messenger isn’t Michael; our Chief Messenger is Christ himself, the Head of “the ecclesia which is his body.”

It is the voice of Christ alone that will be heard as a “shout of command” as Christ descends from heaven to the atmospheric region where the meeting in the air will take place. However, in contrast with what we read in John 5:25-29 (cf. John 11:43), it is not the voice of Christ that directly results in the resurrection referred to by Paul in 1 Thess. 4:15-17. Rather, it is the sounding of a trumpet, as revealed by Paul in 1 Cor. 15:51-52: “Lo! a secret to you am I telling! We all, indeed, shall not be put to repose, yet we all shall be changed, in an instant, in the twinkle of an eye, at the last trump. For He will be trumpeting, and the dead will be roused incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”

Notice that it is both those saints who will still be alive and those who will be dead who will be “changed.” For those still alive, the “change” will involve “putting on immortality,” and for those who are dead it will involve being “roused incorruptible.” Thus, we see from verse 52 that both the change of the living and of the dead is connected with the sounding of the trumpet, for both are said to occur “at the last trump,” when “he will be trumpeting.” This is contrary to what Ballinger states at one point, when commenting on Paul’s words in 1 Thess. 4:16 (according to Ballinger, “the shout is for the dead; the trumpet for those alive”). In any event, the fact that the sounding of this trumpet will result in people being vivified is highly significant, for this can be understood as revealing the identity of the one who will be trumpeting.

The “Word of the Lord” in 1 Thessalonians 4:15

Ballinger: “When writing about the resurrection…in I Thessalonians 4 Paul said, This we say unto you, by the Word of the Lord…(:15). Paul was quoting and using the Word of the Lord to show them their hope. The hope found in I Thessalonians 4 with its trumpet, angels, shout and voices was written down in “the Word of the Lord.””

Let’s first take a look at what Paul actually wrote in 1 Thess. 4:15-17, and then we’ll examine Ballinger’s assertion that in v. 15 Paul was referring to something “written down in ‘the Word of the Lord.’” Here’s 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17:

“For this we are saying to you by the word of the Lord, that we, the living, who are surviving to the presence of the Lord, should by no means outstrip those who are put to repose, for 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, and the dead in Christ shall be rising first. Thereupon we, the living who are surviving, shall at the same time be snatched away together with them in clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. And thus shall we always be together with the Lord.”

That which Paul referred to as being “by the word of the Lord” is the information found in the above three verses (beginning with “…that we, the living, who are surviving to the presence of the Lord, should by no means outstrip those who are put to repose...”). Now let’s consider the following three options for what, exactly, Paul had in mind when he referred to “the word of the Lord”:

(1) Paul was referring to something written in the Hebrew Scriptures (i.e., Genesis through Malachi).

(2) Paul was referring to something that Christ is recorded as saying in the Greek Scriptures (e.g., Matthew, Mark, Luke and John).

(3) Paul was referring to something that Christ told him directly (i.e., at some point subsequent to his initial encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus).

We can rule out option one, since there’s no place in the Hebrew Scriptures in which the information found in 1 Thess. 4:15-17 was previously revealed (Ballinger surely would’ve referenced this verse or passage in defense of his position had such a verse or passage existed). But what about the second option? It can be dismissed for the same reason as the first. There is absolutely nothing said by Christ in the four Gospel Accounts that contains the specific information that Paul made known to the Thessalonians in the above three verses (if there was, why didn’t Ballinger provide his readers with a chapter and verse?).

The closest possible thing to what Paul wrote that can be found in any of the Gospel Accounts is in Matthew 24:30-31 (which is part of Christ’s “Olivet Discourse”). However, the differences between these verses and 1 Thess. 4:15-17 should be evident from even a superficial reading, and cannot simply be ignored or dismissed just because one’s doctrinal theory (Acts 28 or otherwise) demands that the same event be in view in both passages. The information revealed in each passage is in no way the same, and Paul is clearly not quoting the words of Christ in Matthew 24:30-31 (or elsewhere).

Notice that the very first thing that Paul wrote as being “by the word of the Lord” - and arguably the main truth that Paul was intending to convey to the Thessalonians in this passage, in order to console them (v. 18) - is something that is completely absent from what Christ declared to his disciples. Not only this, but nothing is said by Christ about anyone’s being resurrected or meeting him in the air at this time (either before, when or immediately after “all the tribes of the land” see “the Son of Mankind coming on the clouds of heaven with power and much glory”). The reader is encouraged to read part one of my study on the snatching away for why the “assembling” of Christ’s “chosen” from “the four winds” involves living, faithful Israelites from all over the world being brought to the land of Israel (via angelic agency), where Christ will be at this time, and has nothing to do with anyone’s being resurrected or snatched away to meet Christ in the air.

Here’s Ballinger again: “Paul was quoting and using the Word of the Lord to show them their hope. The hope found in I Thessalonians 4 with its trumpet, angels, shout and voices was written down in “the Word of the Lord.””

Based solely on what Ballinger says above, one would think that the only thing Paul was wanting to make known to the Thessalonians in 1 Thess. 4:13-18 was that their hope involved a future event in which there will be “[a] trumpet, angels, [a] shout and voices” (Gee, thanks for the informative and comforting words, Paul)! But of course, Paul was making known to them something much more specific and informative than that.

As we’ve seen, the very first piece of information Paul makes known to the Thessalonians as being “by the word of the Lord” is that “we, the living, who are surviving to the presence of the Lord, should by no means outstrip those who are put to repose…” Paul isn’t merely talking about some vague future event that will involve (in some vague, unspecified way) a “trumpet, angels, shout and voices.” No; he’s providing us with specific chronological information - information that is revealed nowhere else in Scripture.

Where, outside of this passage, are we told that, “Thereupon we, the living who are surviving, shall at the same time be snatched away together with them in clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. And thus shall we always be together with the Lord”? Nowhere. We can therefore conclude with certainty that option (3) is correct. When Paul wrote “by the word of the Lord,” he was, without question, referring to something that the Lord (Christ Jesus) told him directly, at some point subsequent to his initial encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus[1] (notice also that, after Paul referred to the “word of the Lord” in v. 15, he referred to Christ Jesus as “the Lord” four more times in this same passage).

It should also be noted that Ballinger doesn’t even get the details that he does mention correct. Paul makes no mention of “angels” (plural) or “voices” (plural) in 1 Thess. 4:15-17; rather, Paul refers to “the voice of the Chief Messenger” (which is the voice of our Lord himself as he descends from heaven to the earth’s atmosphere just prior to the snatching away of the body of Christ). Why did Ballinger put these words in the plural instead of being faithful to what Paul actually wrote? Was this, perhaps, an attempt by Ballinger to link Paul’s words in this passage to what is said by Christ in Matthew 24:31 and by John in Revelation 8-11 (where we do read of “angels” in the plural and “voices” in the plural)? As we’ll see a little later, this seems likely.

Part 5: http://thathappyexpectation.blogspot.com/2017/05/restoring-unity-to-pauls-epistles_30.html

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[1] The word translated “word” here (logos) denotes “the complete expression of a thought, not a grammatical but a logical word, referring to a whole account” (Knoch). See, for example, John 4:39, where we read of “the word of the woman” who testified concerning Christ (see also v. 41, where we read that “many more believe because of [Christ’s] word”). 

Restoring Unity to Paul’s Epistles: A Refutation of Tom Ballinger’s Defense of the “Acts 28” Theory, Part 3 (Manifested Together with Him in Glory; The Advent of Christ)

“Manifested Together with Him in Glory”

At the beginning of his article, “What Is Your Hope?” Ballinger asks his readers the following rhetorical questions: 

“Is your hope to welcome Christ’s return as king at the Mount of Olives upon the earth (Zechariah 14:4-5)? Or, is your hope the meeting with Christ in the air (I Thessalonians 4:17)? Or, is your hope the manifestation with Christ in glory (i.e., in the heavenly places far above all heavens; Colossians 3:3-4)?”

The last two questions begin with the contrast-marking word “or.” Of these two questions, I submit that only the first question is valid. We should differentiate between the meeting in the air referred to in 1 Thess. 4:17 and the return of Christ to the Mount of Olives that is prophesied in Zech. 14:4-5. So Ballinger and I are in agreement on this point! However, Ballinger’s next “or” question invalidly presupposes that the meeting in the air described in 1 Thess. 4:16-17 should be differentiated from the event referred to in Colossians 3:4. As we’ll see, Ballinger is presenting his readers with a false dilemma here, based entirely on his own erroneous Acts 28 presuppositions.

In Col. 3:4 we read, “Whenever Christ, our Life, should be manifested, then you also shall be manifested together with Him in glory.” Like every Acts 28 proponent I’ve ever read, Ballinger believes that Col. 3:4 refers to an event that will occur in the place where Christ is, currently. But is that what Paul wrote? Did Paul say in Col. 3:4 that Christ is going to be manifested “in the heavenly places far above all heavens” (as Ballinger puts in parenthesis)? Did Paul write that Christ is going to be manifested while he is in heaven, seated at the right hand of God? No. The idea that the manifestation of Christ referred to in this verse will be occurring “in the heavenly places far above all heavens” must be read into what Paul wrote in this verse. Just like the imagined “setting aside of Israel” that Acts 28 proponents claim took place in Acts 28:28, Ballinger is simply projecting his own dispensational theory on to what the text actually says.

But what about Paul’s exhorting his readers to be “seeking that which is above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God” (v. 1)? Paul was simply exhorting the saints to keep their focus on where Christ is, presently, because that’s where our future home is (as can be inferred from 2 Cor. 5:1-8). This exhortation in no way means or implies that the manifestation of Christ to which Paul referred in v. 4 is to occur while Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.

In Paul’s letter to the Philippians (one of Paul’s “prison epistles”), we read the following concerning the expectation of those in the body of Christ: ”For our realm is inherent in the heavens, out of which we are awaiting a Saviour also, the Lord, Jesus Christ, Who will transfigure the body of our humiliation, to conform it to the body of His glory, in accord with the operation which enables Him even to subject all to Himself” (Phil. 3:20-21). Notice the word “awaiting.” The Greek word Paul used was apekdechomai (“FROM-OUT-RECEIVE”), and it means “to wait for” or even “to wait for eagerly.” When it is a person for whom one is waiting (rather than an event), the word implies that the awaited person is not going to be remaining in the location where they are while others are waiting for/expecting them. It implies, in other words, a change in location of the one for whom others are waiting that brings the two parties closer together. The same word is found in Hebrews 9:28, where we read, “…thus Christ also, being offered once for the bearing of the sins of many, will be seen a second time, by those awaiting (apekdechomai) Him…” Here, the word “awaiting” clearly involves certain people expecting Christ to change from one location (where he is unseen) to another (where he will be seen).

I submit that the same “change in location” is implied in Phil. 3:20 as well; Christ is presently in heaven, in which our “realm is inherent.” But by saying that we’re “awaiting” him, Paul implied that we’re expecting Christ to one day descend from heaven and meet us somewhere. And this “somewhere” is the location that I believe Paul had in mind when, in Col. 3:4, he referred to Christ’s being “manifested” (and to us being “manifested together with him in glory”). But where will this be?

Having nowhere else from which to derive this information in Paul’s “prison epistles,” the Acts 28 proponent must either be agnostic or make the (unjustified) assumption that the manifestation of Christ occurs in heaven, in the presence of God. However, apart from any Acts 28 presuppositions, we’re free to view Paul’s thirteen letters to the saints in the body of Christ as a single, harmonious unit. And when we do this, I think it can be easily ascertained where the manifestation of Col. 3:4 will take place. In 1 Thess. 4:16-17 we read, “...for 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, and the dead in Christ shall be rising first. Thereupon we, the living who are surviving, shall at the same time be snatched away together with them in clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.” 

In these verses Paul is describing an event in which Christ will be appearing somewhere in the atmosphere above the earth. And it is while Christ is present in this atmospheric location that the snatching away and meeting in the air will occur. In 2 Thess. 2:1 Paul referred to this event as “the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling to him” (cf. 2 Cor. 4:14). But will Christ be appearing in glory when this event takes place? Of course he will. And will those snatched away to meet him in the air be manifested together with him in glory at this time? Yes, without a doubt (concerning the glory of our future vivified state, see 1 Cor. 15:43, 49 and Rom. 8:18, 30.

Thus, based entirely on what Paul wrote in his “pre-prison epistles,” we can conclude the following: There is a future event coming in which (1) Christ is going to descend from heaven to an atmospheric location somewhere above the earth, (2) Christ will be manifested in glory in this atmospheric location, and (3) the saints who constitute his body (and who will have been vivified and glorified) will meet him/be assembled to him in this atmospheric location, and will thus be manifested together with him in glory at this time.  

Thus, we find that the details included in Col. 3:4 can be reasonably inferred from 1 Thess. 4:16-17. Although Paul doesn't include the same details in Col. 3:4 as are found in 1 Thess. 4:16-17 (why would we expect him to?), what he does say in Col. 3:4 is perfectly consistent with what is said in 1 Thess. 4:16-17. In other words, what Paul wrote in Colossians 3:4 and what he wrote in 1 Thess. 4:16-17 can, without any difficulty, be harmonized and understood as a reference to the same event. There is, consequently, no good reason to understand Col. 3:4 as referring to an event that is distinct from the event described in 1 Thess. 4:16-17. The event that Paul had in view in Col. 3:4 (when Christ is manifested and we are manifested together with him in glory) is, quite simply, the meeting in the air.[1]

The “Appearing” or Advent of Christ

Ballinger: As a matter of fact, the word “coming” referring to the Second Coming of Christ does not appear one time in the 7 Prison Epistles of Paul, whereas, it appears 10 times in the 6 Acts Epistles of Paul. Also, the word “appearing” referring to Christ’s Appearing to the ecclesias is not mentioned once in the Acts Epistles, but is mentioned 6 times in the Prison Epistles.

The Greek word to which Ballinger is referring by his use of the word “appearing” is epiphaneia (“ON-APPEARANCE”). Among all of the proposed definitions of the word that I’ve read, the most common element involves an appearance, or manifestation, of some sort.[2] Thayer’s Lexicon notes that epiphaneia was “often used by the Greeks of a glorious manifestation of the gods, and especially of their advent to help.” In the CLNT Keyword Concordance we read that ephiphaneia is “said to be a special term in classical Greek for the appearance of the gods.” Vine’s Expository Dictionary notes that the word literally means "a shining forth," and “was used of the ‘appearance’ of a god to men, and of an enemy to an army in the field, etc.” (http://studybible.info/vines/Appear,%20Appearing).

Concerning the meaning of the word epiphaneia, John Walvoord notes that “the addition of the preposition [i.e., epi, or “on”] gives it an intensive meaning.” He goes on to say that the word epiphaneia “has a long and interesting usage both within and outside the Scriptures. In a noun form, it was assumed by the Seleucidae in claiming to be an incarnation of Zeus or Apollo. Unlike the concept of revelation as contained in ἀποκάλυψις [“unveiling”], it has a positive and active sense of manifestation rather than the thought of merely taking away the veil. Its true idea is found in Acts 27:20, where it is used of stars appearing after being hid for days by the storm.”[3]

Among the letters that Ballinger considers Paul’s “Prison Epistles,” the noun epiphaneia is found exclusively in Paul’s letters to Timothy and Titus (which are commonly referred to as Paul’s “Pastoral Epistles”). Interestingly, Paul used this word only one other time in any other letter, and that’s in his second letter to the believers in Thessalonica. In 2 Thess. 2:7-9, we read:

“For the secret of lawlessness is already operating. Only when the present detainer may be coming to be out of the midst, then will be unveiled the lawless one (whom the Lord Jesus will despatch with the spirit of His mouth and will discard by the advent [epiphaneia] of His presence [parousia]), whose presence is in accord with the operation of Satan, with all power and signs and false miracles…”

As Ballinger would undoubtedly agree, the event that Paul had in view here is Christ’s return to earth at the end of the eon (i.e., what Ballinger would call Christ’s “Second Coming”). That Paul would use the word epiphaneia in reference to both Christ’s return to earth and to the event involving those in the body of Christ coming to be in Christ’s presence further confirms the fact established previously: the same Greek word could be used by the authors of Scripture in different contexts to refer to two different future events involving Christ. Thus, the mere fact that the words apokalupsis, erchomai and parousia are used in reference to Christ’s return to earth at the end of the eon doesn’t mean they couldn’t also be used in reference to an earlier future event involving the saints in the body of Christ. Even Ballinger would have to concede that the event which he sees as our present hope will involve the saints in the body of Christ coming to be in the presence of Christ (which is precisely what the Greek word “parousia” means).

But what about Ballinger’s comment that “the word ‘appearing’ referring to Christ’s Appearing to the ecclesias is not mentioned once in the Acts Epistles, but is mentioned 6 times in the Prison Epistles”? Does this fact support the Acts 28 theory? No. As stated earlier, among the letters that Ballinger considers Paul’s “Prison Epistles,” the word translated “appearing” or “advent” (epiphaneia) is found exclusively in Paul’s “Pastoral Epistles” (1&2 Timothy and Titus). For those familiar with the debate concerning Pauline authorship/authenticity of these letters (which has been questioned or denied by more liberal Bible scholars since the 19^th century), this fact should raise a red flag. One of the main reasons given by those who doubt or reject Paul’s authorship of these letters is their variation of vocabulary and style (one-third of the words found in these three letters are not used in Paul’s other letters). However, those who affirm Paul’s authorship of these letters (as I do) have responded to this argument by noting that the differences in style and vocabulary can be attributed to several factors.

For example, vocabulary and style is dependent on the occasion, and as a creative writer with a large vocabulary, Paul was free to use whatever style and vocabulary he saw as most appropriate for the occasion. Paul’s use of epiphaneia rather than some other word to refer to the event he had in mind (such as apokalupsis, erchomai, parousia or phaneroo) can easily be explained as just another difference of style and vocabulary that distinguishes his Pastoral Epistles from the rest of his letters (including the rest of his “Prison Epistles”). Others have argued that the style and vocabulary that characterizes and distinguishes these letters can simply be attributed to the scribe that Paul used to write them (which some believe was Luke; see 2 Tim. 4:11). This, too, could explain why the word epiphaneia is so common in Paul’s Pastoral Epistles but appearing only once in the rest of his letters.

Another consideration which may be understood as supporting either one of these explanations (which, it should be noted, are not mutually exclusive) is the fact that the use of the word ephiphaneia in Paul’s Pastoral Epistles is not necessarily limited to a future event involving Christ and the saints in the body of Christ. In 2 Timothy 1:9-11 we read that God “…saves us and calls us with a holy calling, not in accord with our acts, but in accord with His own purpose and the grace which is given to us in Christ Jesus before times eonian, yet now is being manifested through the advent [epiphaneia] of our Saviour, Christ Jesus, Who, indeed, abolishes death, yet illuminates life and incorruption through the evangel of which I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher of the nations.”

In v. 10, Paul seems to have been referring to an “advent” of Christ that occurred at some point in the past. Notice how we’re told that it is “through” this advent that God’s “own purpose and the grace which is given to us in Christ Jesus before times eonian” is “now” being manifested. If God’s own purpose and the grace given us in Christ Jesus was being manifested in Paul’s day, then the advent had to have taken place before Paul wrote. Most commentators seem to regard this “advent” of Christ as referring to Christ’s “incarnation,” or to his coming into the world in a general sense. However, another view (which I see as more likely) is that the “advent” Paul had in mind was Christ’s appearing to him on the road to Damascus (which is also when Paul was “appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher of the nations,” v. 11). In any case, if this advent of Christ is indeed something that took place in the past (as the words, “yet now is being manifested” suggest), then we find in Paul’s letters a single word (epiphaneia) being used in reference to three different times and events that each involve Christ.

Moreover, Ballinger and other Acts 28 proponents shouldn’t have any problem with the word “advent” being used in reference to the event referred to in 1 Thess. 4:16-17, since, as noted earlier, the same word was used by Paul in 2 Thess. 2:7-9 in reference to Christ’s return to earth (”the advent of His presence”). And, of course, Acts 28 proponents believe (mistakenly) that Paul was referring to the same future event in 1 Thess. 4:16-17 as he was in 2 Thess. 2:7-9. So Ballinger and other Acts 28 proponents can’t say that the word “advent” can’t be applied to the event described in 1 Thess. 4:16-17 without being inconsistent. The simple fact is that any glorious appearance/manifestation of Christ to any person or group of persons can be appropriately referred to as Christ’s “advent,” irrespective of when it takes place, or whether the appearance involves saints who are on the earth at the time of his return or saints who have been caught up to meet him in the air several years before this time.

Ballinger: If the Coming of Christ is our hope today, why doesn’t Paul mention it at least once in his post-Acts epistles? If the hope of the Acts believers was the Appearing of Christ, why doesn’t he mention it once in the Acts epistles?

Ballinger’s rhetorical questions are a poor substitute for scriptural argumentation and logic. One could “prove” any number of things according to the sort of reasoning used by Ballinger and other Acts 28 proponents. Consider, for example, the following “proof” that Paul’s Pastoral Epistles (i.e., 1&2 Timothy and Titus) were written during a different administration than Colossians: “If the expectation described in Colossians 3:4 was the same expectation referred to in Paul’s ‘Pastoral Epistles’ (1&2 Timothy and Titus), then why didn’t Paul use the word ‘manifestation’ (phaneroo) at least once in these other letters? And why didn’t Paul use the word ‘advent’ (epiphaneia) at least once in Colossians, Ephesians or Philippians? Given these striking differences in vocabulary, one must conclude that Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians belong to a different administration than Paul’s Pastoral Epistles, and that two different expectations are in view!”

Of course, this “argument” is fallacious. The fact of the matter is that Paul was free to use (and in fact did use) different words to refer to the same future event involving Christ and those in the body of Christ (and in some cases, Paul even used the same word in different contexts to refer to two different events). Ballinger’s assumption – i.e., that Paul would’ve used the words apokalupsis, erchomai or parousia in his Pastoral Letters if he’d had in mind the same future event involving Christ as that referred to in (for example) 1 Cor. 1:7, 1 Cor. 11:26 or 1 Thessalonians 4:15 - has no scriptural justification whatsoever, and seems to be driven entirely by Ballinger’s own Acts 28 presuppositions.

Ballinger: ”There is a world of difference between Christ’s Appearing and His Coming; and if our hope is His Appearing, we ought to know what those differences are.”

We’ve already seen how the same word translated “appearing” or “advent” (epiphaneia) was used by Paul in reference to Christ’s return to earth at least once (possibly twice, if we include 2 Timothy 4:1)[4], so Ballinger’s claim that there is “a world of difference between Christ’s Appearing and His Coming” is simply false. Neither epiphaneia nor any other word we’ve considered in this section (i.e., apokalupsis, erchomai, parousia and phaneroo) refer, in and of themselves, exclusively to any one event or time involving Christ. The words are completely neutral in this regard, and were used by the authors of scripture in reference to multiple events and circumstances.

Although it may be said that there is “a world of difference” between a future event involving Christ and the saints in the body of Christ and a future event involving Christ and Israel/the nations at the end of the eon, there’s not a “world of difference” between the terms used by Paul and other authors of Scripture to refer to these two events. The authors of Scripture (including Paul) were free to use the same word in different places to refer to different events, or to use different words in different places to refer to the same event. It is the task of the student of scripture to carefully consider the immediate and broader context in which the words are used in order to determine what, exactly, the inspired author had in mind (or didn’t have in mind).

Part 4: http://thathappyexpectation.blogspot.com/2017/05/restoring-unity-to-pauls-epistles_38.html

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[1] The fact that Paul specifies “the air” as being where our meeting with the Lord will be taking place after we’re snatched away from the earth is highly suggestive when we consider the fact that Paul referred to Satan as “the chief of the jurisdiction of the air” (Eph. 2:2). Did Paul perhaps view this great event involving the body of Christ as marking the beginning of a regime change?

[2] A minority view among scholars is that epiphaneia does not inherently and necessarily refer to, or involve, an appearance or manifestation; rather, the word is thought to have originally signified a “favorable intervention of the gods” for the benefit of their worshippers (such as the granting of a military victory). However, this view seems unlikely to me given (1) the meaning of the root word from which epiphaneia is derived (phanes) - which, according to Thayer, means “to bring forth into the light, cause to shine, to show” – and (2) the meaning of the verb form of epiphaneia (i.e., epiphaino, which means “to shine forth” or “become visible”).

Both the noun epiphaneia and the verb epiphaino literally suggest that something is being made clearly visible. The fact that the word was used by some writers in antiquity to refer to a “favorable intervention of the gods” that didn’t involve an actual appearance or manifestation of the gods does not mean the word didn’t originally refer to this. It’s conceivable that, in these cases, the word was simply being used figuratively by the author, to give emphasis to an event that was understood at that time to have been the result of divine intervention (even though there was no actual appearance or manifestation of the “gods” who were believed to have been involved in the event).

[3] https://bible.org/seriespage/4-new-testament-words-lord-s-coming

[4] It’s possible that 2 Timothy 4:1 is another example of epiphaneia being used in reference to Christ’s return to earth at the end of the eon. There, Paul wrote to Timothy: “I am conjuring you in the sight of God and Christ Jesus, Who is about to be judging the living and the dead, in accord with His advent and His kingdom.” The larger context in which Paul “conjured” Timothy clearly involves a coming era of apostasy, in which people will not tolerate sound teaching (v. 3) and will have a form of devoutness while denying its power (cf. 3:5). It also involves Timothy’s heralding the word and doing the work of an evangelist (4:2, 5). Paul’s thoughts were, at this point in his letter, focused on the state of affairs that would characterize humanity in the “last days,” leading all the way to the advent of Christ at the end of the eon. As in 2 Thess. 1:6-10 and 2:6-12, the event that Paul had in view in 2 Tim. 4:1 is not, I don’t think, something that distinctly concerns the saints in the body of Christ.

Given the context, it’s my understanding that, in 4:1, Paul had in mind Christ’s return to earth, when he will deal decisively with those who, at the time of this advent (and perhaps as a consequence of the apostasy Paul had in mind), will not be “acquainted with God” and will not be “obeying the evangel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 1:7-9). Paul is, in other words, talking about the judgment by Christ of those who will be on the earth when he returns at the end of the eon, to set up his kingdom on the earth.

This understanding of the “advent” that Paul had in view here is further confirmed by the words “about to be judging the living and the dead.” Peter used similar wording in Acts 10:42 and 1 Pet. 4:5, and in neither of these verses does the “judging” involve those in the body of Christ. Given the similar wording in these verses and in 2 Tim 4:1, I think it’s reasonable to conclude that they all have the same event(s) and time period in view.

Another fact to consider is that, in Rev. 11:18, we find a similar reference to the dead being judged – and (in harmony with my interpretation of 2 Tim. 4:1), the judgment in view is clearly one that is connected with events surrounding Christ’s return to earth at the end of the eon (after the sounding of the 7th trumpet). So there was clearly a strong connection in the minds of the apostles between Christ’s judgment of the living at the end of this eon, and the judgment of the dead. So assuming Paul had in view Christ’s “second coming” in 1 Tim. 4:1, it would be natural for him to refer to Christ’s judgment of not only the living but also the dead, even though the judgment of both categories of people will be separated by a period of time. The future judgment of the living and of the dead is part of a single future “era,” and can thus be naturally grouped together when the advent of Christ at the end of the eon is in view.

It is in view of Christ’s return to execute judgment that Timothy needed to be doing the things Paul referred to (i.e., heralding the word, expose, rebuke, entreat, do the work of an evangelist, etc.). By faithfully discharging his service, Timothy would, perhaps, be instrumental in bringing individuals to a knowledge of the truth and thereby sparing them from the judgment that is to come upon this world during the time preceding and following Christ’s return to earth.