The teachings of
the Apostles concerning the last judgment and the general resurrection are
consistent with those of Jesus and the Prophets. According to the Gospels and
the epistles, the Second Coming of Christ is accompanied by the rapture, the
simultaneous resurrection of the just and the unjust, and the final judgment of
both the righteous and the wicked. Furthermore, the Second Coming is not
preceded by a secret, preliminary coming of Christ in the clouds for His
saints. As discussed in preceding blog posts, the Second Coming, or the Parousia of Christ, is one single,
visible, and glorious event.
In our previous
study of 2 Thessalonians 1:4-10, we understood that at the Lord’s Apokalupsis, which is also known as the Parousia, all the dead will be
resurrected and the persecutors of the Church will be judged. The elect will be
glorified and will spend eternity with the Lord, while the wicked dead will be
consigned to hell. This is when the angelic legions will remove the tares from
among the wheat, and deliver the reprobates to eternal perdition (Matt.
13:36-43).
William Grier writes concerning 2 Thessalonians 1:4-10:
“We may notice that when the Saviour comes
for the deliverance of His troubled saints, He comes ‘in flaming fire’ – no
secret rapture here! But it is even more important still to notice how the
reward of the righteous and the punishment of the wicked are interwoven with
each other as to time, and made to follow, both of them, immediately on
the coming of the Lord. Surely this passage should make perfectly clear that
there is no secret rapture to be followed at an interval of seven years by an
open revelation of the Lord and His glory to the world. Surely it is perfectly
clear also that since the coming of the Lord brings upon the wicked ‘eternal
destruction away from the face of the Lord,’ there are no wicked who will
survive His coming to be ruled over in a millennium to follow. But there must
be wicked people surviving, according to the premillennial scheme. And even at
the very close of the millennial reign there are wicked in number as the sand
of the sea (Rev. 20:8), according to the pre-millennial scheme of
interpretation.”[1]
Romans 2:5-8
“But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself
wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient
continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal
life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey
unrighteousness, indignation and wrath (Rom. 2:5-8).”
The final judgment
of both the just and the unjust is likewise taught in Romans 2:5-8. This
general judgment will take place on the same
day, and is not separated by one thousand years. “The day of wrath and
revelation of the righteous judgment of God (Rom. Rom. Rom.
2:7),” while the reprobates will face the “wrath (Rom.
Robert Mounce
comments,
“This wrath will be brought against them on the day when God’s
righteous judgment will be revealed. The wrath of God spoken of in [Romans] 1:18
is being revealed in the present time. In [Romans] 2:5 it is eschatological. It
belongs to the end time when God will reward righteousness and punish
wickedness.”[2]
There should be no
doubt as to what “the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of
God (Rom.
William Shedd
concurs with Moo that, “This day is the great day of final judgment.”[4]
This is the day when all man will be resurrected and judged, “they that have
done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto
the resurrection of damnation (John 5:29).”
1 Thessalonians
5:1-10
Paul consistently
taught in his epistles that the Second Coming of Christ, the simultaneous
resurrection of the just and the unjust, and the final judgment will all occur
on the same day: the Day of the Lord. We discussed in chapter six that “that
day should [not] overtake [believers] as a thief (1 Thess. 5:4).”[5]
Although the Day
of the Lord will come like “a thief in the night (1 Thess. 5:2)” upon
unbelievers, “Paul did not apply the implication of the thief analogy to
believers. They were, in fact, specifically excluded. The Lord’s coming will
not be as a thief in the night for members of the church (v. 4). Believers
expect it, though they do not know when the day will arrive.”[6]
The Parousia of Christ will arrive suddenly.
In that day, both believers and unbelievers will have to face God’s judgment.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:1-10, “Paul associates the second coming with the
resurrection and the ensuing glory of the saints and the sudden
destruction of the wicked. Without the shadow of a doubt, that day has
its reference to both parties:—believers are to look for it (1 Th. 5:4-10), for
then they shall obtain salvation in all its fullness (vs. 9), then
they shall ‘live together with him’ (vs. 10); while that same day will
bring the false security of unbelievers to an end in their ‘sudden
destruction.’”[7]
It should be
obvious to readers that Paul did not have in mind the secret removal of
Christians seven years prior to the Second Coming of Christ. Paul, in fact,
exhorted believers to “watch and be sober (1 Thess. 5:6).” He said, “But ye,
brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of
the night, nor of darkness. (1 Thess. 5:4-5).” The Day of the Lord should not
overtake Christians unexpectedly. In other words, believers are to expect the
Day of the Lord and the final judgment; they are to watch for the signs of the
times.
Simon Kistemaker
comments,
“Jesus says that the believer must watch the signs of the times. Some
of these signs are the proclamation of the gospel to all nations (Matt. 24:14),
the appearance of false Christs and false prophets (Mark 13:22), a period of
increased lawlessness (II Thess. 2:7), and the coming of the Antichrist (1 John
2:18). By observing the signs, believers are strengthened in their faith that
God is at work in directing world history to the glorious day of Christ’s
return.”[8]
Contrary to Bible
Presbyterian belief, saints are not raptured away secretly in the
pretribulation rapture. Furthermore, if all the wicked are suddenly destroyed (cf.
1 Thess. 5:3) at the Parousia, and if
all the saints are given glorified bodies, no humans will be left on Earth to
reproduce and to populate the planet during the one thousand years reign of
Christ. Glorified saints do not give birth, and they definitely do not require
the services of obstetricians.
Nevertheless,
Walvoord writes, “As children are born in the Millennium and grow up, many of
them may not trust in Christ. Those who rebel against Him will be punished
(Zech. 14:16-19), and some will be put to death. And unbelievers living at the
end of the Millennium who rebel with Satan against Christ will be judged by Him
(Rev. 20:1-9).”[9] His
views are echoed by Bible Presbyterian scholars in Far Eastern Bible College.[10]
If, according to
Paul, the entire wicked population is to be annihilated, while all the saints
are to be glorified at Christ’s Parousia,
how do we explain the dispensational phenomenon of mortals being born during
the earthly millennium? Moreover, Dispensationalists and Bible Presbyterians
believe that the millennial birthrate is high enough to produce generations of
wicked pagans to rebel against Christ and the saints, who are allegedly encamped
at Jerusalem
1 Corinthians
15
Unequivocally, the Apostle Paul taught that the Parousia of Christ and the resurrection of the saints will occur
immediately before the final state. At the resurrection of believers, the final
enemy – death – will be destroyed forever. There shall no longer be death after
the glorification of the saints. The Second Coming of Christ will usher in the
consummation of this age.
Paul wrote:
“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and
become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death,
by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die,
even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order:
Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. Then cometh
the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father;
when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must
reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that
shall be destroyed is death (1 Cor. 15:20-26).”
As “the firstborn from the dead (Col. 1:18),” Christ is the first fruit
of the resurrection of life (1 Cor. 15:23). Christ’s resurrection will ensure
the full harvest in due time; this will be the resurrection of all the saints.
But this passage cannot be made to support the notion that a sequence of
resurrections, or even a series
of seven resurrections according to Walvoord, will take place in the future.
Paul in 1
Corinthians 15:23-24 described two categories: Jesus Christ and the saints. The
order of resurrection in keeping with Paul’s teaching is, firstly, the
resurrection of our Lord Jesus, and secondly, the resurrection of all the
saints at His Second Coming. The general resurrection is immediately followed
by the final state, “Then cometh the end (1 Cor. 15:24).” Corroborating
this passage with 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, we learn that during His Parousia, the dead in Christ shall
resurrect first, followed by the saints who are alive at His Coming. “For the
Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them
in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the
Lord (1 Thess. 4:16-17).”
Consistent with the eschatology laid out in his epistles to the
Thessalonians, Paul, in the succeeding context, revealed to the Corinthians a
mystery,
“Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and
blood cannot inherit the kingdom
of God
Due to the fact that “corruption” cannot inherit the incorruptible
Kingdom to come, the bodies of the saints will be transformed into
incorruptible bodies at Christ’s Second Coming. “So when this corruptible shall
have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality (1 Cor.
15:54),” Death shall be defeated forever.
Commenting on 1 Corinthians 15:54-55, Simon Kistemaker writes,
“Looking back at Jesus’ triumph over death and forward to the
resurrection of all believers, Paul bursts out in jubilation. He understands
the demise of life’s mortal enemy: death. Even though death continues to wield
power as Christ’s last enemy (v. 26), Paul knows that God will destroy it.
Death’s days are numbered.”[11]
Indeed, at the Parousia of
Christ, with the resurrection of the saints “at the last trump” (1 Cor. 15:52),
Death shall be annihilated. This doctrine of Paul apparently opposes the
Premillennialist’s teaching that there will be death in the millennium. How can
there be death after the permanent
defeat of Death at Christ’s Second Coming?
Premillennialists believe that Christ will come before the millennium to set up the Davidic Kingdom
“There are two kinds of saints entering the millennium. The saints with
the glorified body where they can never sin again or die will be the first
group. The second group of saints would include the 144,000 Israelites
mentioned in Revelation 7 together with other Gentiles and the Danites. The
second group include (sic) those who
have come through the Great Tribulation with their mortal bodies. The sinful
nature would still reside in their mortal body. They will still be able to
procreate and have children. They would live long years like the time before
the Great Flood of Noah’s time. There
will still be death.”[12]
Evidently, Dr Quek’s doctrine of the millennium cannot be
differentiated from that of Dispensationalist professor, Dr John Walvoord.
Walvoord taught:
“The subjects of the kingdom will include (a) all those who have been
resurrected, that is, all the righteous (Old Testament saints, church-age
saints, and martyred Tribulation saints), and (b) those who have survived the
Tribulation, whether Jews (believing Israelites restored to their land) or
Gentiles, still in their natural bodies. Presumably those in their natural
bodies will bear children; then they will die after their normal course of life
is complete. There will be sin, though it will be sharply curtailed by the
righteous rule of Christ (Isa. 65:20). . . . The Scriptures are silent as to
the ultimate destiny of believers in the Millennium who will die, but
undoubtedly they will be resurrected at some time, perhaps at the end of the
Millennium. The Bible is also silent on what will happen to the saved who will
still be in their natural bodies at the end of the millennial kingdom.
Apparently these, too, will be given resurrected bodies.”[13]
Despite the apparent
contradiction with Paul’s teaching of a final victory over Death at the Parousia, some Premillennialists insist
that 1 Corinthians 15:23-24 supports premillennialism. Reverend Charles Seet, a
dispensational premillennialist and a Bible Presbyterian minister, comments on
1 Corinthians 15:23-24 in his defense of premillennialism:
“Although there is no mention of a thousand
years in these verses, there is clear evidence of a long time-gap between Christ’s second coming and the end of the
world. . . . The first resurrection was that of Christ, and that took place
nearly 2000 years ago. The second one will occur at the Second Coming of Christ
- this is when those that are His will be resurrected from their graves. The
third one will occur at the end, when death itself will finally be defeated,
resulting in all the rest of the dead being resurrected. But when will that
take place? Now look at verse 24 and you will see that the verse begins with
the word “Then.” Now this word “then” does not mean “at the time of Christ’s
coming,” but “after that.” It actually has the same meaning as the word
“afterward” used earlier on in the verse, and we have already seen that that
word could mean a time span of 2000 years! Since there are clearly two time
intervals in this verse, the second one, which is between Christ’s coming and
the end must then refer to the millennium by comparing this scripture with
Revelation 20.”[14]
Is it true that there is an indeterminable time gap between verses 23
and 24 of 1 Corinthians 15, and that “there are clearly two time intervals” in
this passage? Kistemaker explains that in 1 Corinthians 15:24, “the first clause of the Greek text lacks a
verb; one must be supplied to complete the thought. This supplied verb can be
either “comes” or “will come.” The end will occur after the resurrection of the
people whom Christ redeemed.”[15]
This is why the Authorized Version translates this verse as, “Then cometh
the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father;
when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.” Kistemaker
proceeds to elucidate that the alleged time gap between verses 23 and 24 of 1
Corinthians 15 is unjustified:
“With the word then Paul
introduces not the resurrection of a third group but simply the end. In other
words, this adverb does not necessarily suggest an interlude between the
resurrection of the believers and the end of time. Because of its brevity, the
clause then comes the end does not
appear to support the teaching of an intermediate kingdom before the consummation
of the age. Rather, it signifies that “after all this has happened, will the
end or the consummation of Christ’s Messianic work come.” The words the end suggest not only “last in
sequence” but also the conclusion of Christ’s redemptive work for his people.”[16]
In his commentary on First Corinthians, New Testament Scholar Gordon
Fee agrees with Kistemaker:
“Although the third item is prefaced with another “then,” it is
unlikely that Paul intends by this yet another event in the sequence begun by Christ’s resurrection. The “order”
of resurrections is only two: Christ the firstfruits; the full harvest of those
who are his at his Parousia. Paul shows no interest here in anything beyond
these. The “then” in this third instance is sequential to be sure, but in a
more logical sense, meaning that following the resurrection of believers at the
Parousia the final two “events” transpire. With the resurrection of the dead,
the end, or goal, has been reached.”[17]
To place an
indeterminable time gap between verses 23 and 24 is eisegesis, whereby the exegete fallaciously forces his
eschatological schema to fit into the passage of Scripture.[18]
It is clear that Paul has only two categories in mind: the Lord Jesus, and
those that are His. In this passage, Paul lays out the sequence of
resurrection. At the consummation of this age, when Christ returns to glorify
His saints, He will usher in the New Heavens and the New Earth. Nowhere does
Paul mentions a third category – the millennial saints.
If a time gap
exists, and if Paul has in mind an earthly Davidic Kingdom
Gordon Fee writes,
“It is pure presumption to read into this text a third resurrection. So
also is the concern to find here an intermediate stage between the resurrection
of “those who are Christ’s” and the final handing over of the kingdom to God
the Father. Paul may have believed in such, but it lies quite outside his
present concern. The point is that he neither explicitly nor allusively speaks
of such, which he was fully capable of doing, had it been of any interest to
him. What he says is, “then the end.” Without a verb this can only mean that
following the resurrection of believers is the end, which then is described in
its two parts.”[19]
Charles Seet rightly says that “the way to test any doctrine is to
compare it with other verses of Scripture.”[20]
According to him, “there are actually other significant verses that support the
literal interpretation of Revelation 20. One important verse is 1 Corinthians 15:23-24.”[21]
However, it seems
that Seet failed to even consider the immediate context of the passage,
especially 1 Corinthians 15:50-55. Paul, in this passage, emphasizes that the
end result of the Parousia and the
resurrection is the abolition of Death itself. “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 (1 Cor. 15:54).” The defeat of death is an everlasting victory. The
notion of having death in the millennium contravenes Paul’s proposition of a
permanent victory over Death.
Commenting on 1
Corinthians 15:54, Gordon Fee writes,
“With the rhetorically powerful full repetition of the two clauses from
v. 53, Paul advances the argument by indicating the net results of the
Parousia-resurrection-transformation process - the abolition of death itself.
In vv. 23-28 he had argued that resurrection is a divine necessity, inaugurated
through the resurrection of Christ, as God’s way of destroying the last enemy,
death. Now he returns to that theme, not so much in terms of its necessity as
in exultation and triumph. “Take that, death,” he exults, “for when mortality
is clothed with immortality, you have lost both your victory and your sting.”
No more can death tyrannize, because it has been “swallowed up” by
resurrection. . . . At the resurrection-transformation God will abolish death
forever, just as he promised in the words of the prophet.”[22]
By comparing 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 50-55 with 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17,
it is incontrovertible that Paul is elucidating that the defeat of Death occurs
immediately after the resurrection of
the saints. If only Reverend Seet had compared 1 Corinthians 15:23-24 “with other verses of
Scripture,” he would have concluded that the final state will commence
simultaneously with the Parousia of
Christ. “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be
no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more
pain: for the former things are passed away (Rev. 21:4).”
2 Peter 3:3-12
“Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers,
walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming?
for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from
the beginning of the creation. . . . But the heavens and the earth, which are
now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of
judgment and perdition of ungodly men. . . . But the day of the Lord will
come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a
great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and
the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that
all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to
be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto
the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be
dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat (2 Pet. 3:3-4, 7,
10-12)?”
In this passage,
the Apostle Peter is teaching about the Parousia
of Christ using the Old Testament concept of the Day of the Lord. His
eschatological model is perceptibly identical to that of Paul’s. The Day of the
Lord is an expression which is found throughout the prophetic literature of the
Old Testament. In order for us to understand the Day of the Lord, we have to
peruse the two age eschatological framework presented in the New Testament.
Jewish apocalyptic
writings as well as canonical Scripture see time in terms of two ages or aeons:
this present aeon, and the aeon to come.[23]
The “present age” is the present course of history before the return of Christ,
which is temporal and passing away. The “age to come,” in contrast, is an age
of eternal life and immortality.[24]
The Jewish expectation of the “age to come,” which is the age of peace and
righteousness under the rule of the Son of David, becomes a present reality
with the First Advent of Christ.
Hoekema explains
that according to the New Testament, the “age to come” is already present in
the midst of us. The New Testament believer therefore lives in “this age” and
in the “age to come,” all at the same time. Hoekema writes:
“In his Pauline Eschatology,
published in 1930, [Geerhardus] Vos further developed these insights [that the
“age to come” is anticipated in the present], particularly as they reflected
the teachings of the Apostle Paul. For the Old Testament writers, he states,
the distinction between “this age” and the “age to come” was thought of simply
in terms of chronological succession. But when the Messiah whose coming these
Old Testament writers had predicted actually arrived on the scene, the
eschatological process had in principle already begun, and therefore the simple
scheme of chronological succession between this age or world and the age or
world to come was no longer adequate. The Messianic appearance now began to
unfold itself into two successive epochs; “the age to come was perceived to
bear in its womb another age to come.’”[25]
Ellis further
elaborates that the two age model of the New Testament is distinct from that of
Judaism, in that the “age to come” has been ushered into the “present age” with
the First Advent of Christ. Existentially, the believer is living both in the
present, as well as in the eternity future. “The New Testament’s modification
of Jewish apocalyptic rests upon the perception that in the mission, death and
resurrection of Jesus the Messiah the age to come, the kingdom of God, had
become present in hidden form in the midst of the present evil age, although
its public manifestation awaits the parousia . . . of Jesus.”[26]
Thus, the Kingdom of God
“The two-fold consummation of
judgment and deliverance that characterized the teaching of apocalyptic Judaism
becomes, in the teaching of Jesus and his disciples, a two-stage consummation. As ‘deliverance’ the kingdom of God
With regard to the
two age eschatological framework, this present age is evil and beyond
salvageability. The coming aeon is the golden age of the Messiah. However, the
transition from one age to another requires divine intervention; human
endeavors cannot redeem this planet. According to Jesus and the apostles, this
time of intervention is called the Day of the Lord, the Day of Christ, the last day, or that day. This day will come without warning, like a thief in the
night (1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Peter 3:10). It is a time of judgment and terror for
unbelievers, and includes a universal conflagration which will destroy the
present creation. At this last day,
the planet earth will be destroyed by fire. This is followed by the ushering in
of the New Heavens and the New Earth.
In the Old
Testament, the Day of the Lord is a
term reiterated by the prophets to refer to impending judgment on gentile
nations and Israel
“In Old Testament times the day of the Lord was the time in which God,
in a marvelously glorious way, would come to his people as king to redeem it
from all its enemies and to settle it with him in Jerusalem
According to the
New Testament, the last portion of the present age commenced with the First Advent
of Christ. This last segment of the present aeon is also known as the last days
or the last hour (1 Cor. 10:11; Heb. 1:2, 9:26; 1 John 2:18). The Parousia or the Second Advent of Christ
will usher in the age to come (Matt. 19:28; Mark 10:30; Luke 18:30, 20:35; 1
Cor. 15:23; Heb. 2:5). On the Day of the Lord, the age to come begins; the Parousia, the general resurrection of
the just and the unjust, and the final judgment of both the saints and the
reprobates occur contemporaneously. This is accompanied by the creation of the
New Heavens and the New Earth.
In 2 Peter 3:3-12,
the apostle describes the Second Coming of Christ in terms of the Old Testament
picture of the Day of the Lord. Peter begins by elucidating that in the last
days (verses 3-4), there shall be scoffers “walking after their own lusts.”
These mockers will deny the Second Coming of Christ and His final judgment so
as to support their libertinism. They are false teachers, “the servants of
corruption” who “allure through the lusts of the flesh (2 Pet. 2:18-20).”
Lenski wrote,
“Who could let himself go into immoral excess if he believed that the
Lord is ready to return to judgment at any time? The climax of the “heresies”
mentioned in 2:1 is the denial of Christ’s Parousia. Peter crushes this denial
and thereby destroys all the other lesser heresies that cluster around this
main one.”[30]
Apparently, the
scoffers know the teachings of Scripture, but they will not accept its
authority. They will deliberately trample the truth of God’s Word under their
feet (Matt. 7:6). In modern times, these scoffers can come in the guise of
scholars, philosophers, scientists, or even false teachers in various churches.
However, the multifarious forms adopted by such scoffers should not detract
from the fact that they are essentially licentious lovers of self (2 Pet. 3:3).
Simon Kistemaker
explains further:
“Scoffers will come, scoffing.” These people know God’s revelation and
his impending judgment. Because they are familiar with the Scriptures, they
have become habitual mockers of God and his Word. Scoffing should not be
confused with jesting. Jesting depicts frivolity, but scoffing is a sin that is
deliberate. Scoffing occurs when men show willful contempt for God and his Son.
. . . Arrogantly they deny that the judgment day will come. They repudiate the
message that they must give an account of their words and deeds. They scoff at
Jesus’ promise that he will return on the last day and contemptuously they ask,
“Where is this ‘coming’ he promised?”[31]
Philosopher
Bertrand Russell, a vocal critic of Christianity, is an exemplar of such “last
days” scoffers. In Why I Am Not a
Christian, he mocked the doctrine of eternal punishment, and attacked the
character of Christ:
“There is one very serious defect to my mind in Christ’s moral
character, and that is that He believed in Hell. I do not myself feel that any
person who is really profoundly humane can believe in everlasting punishment.
Christ certainly as depicted in the Gospels did believe in everlasting
Punishment, and one does find repeatedly a vindictive fury against those people
who would not listen to His preaching – an attitude which is not uncommon with
preachers.”[32]
Mockers of
Christianity are not uncommon in the last days. Believers should be wary of the
philosophy of men (Col. 2:8), especially hypotheses that masquerade as
empirical science (1 Tim. 6:20). These theories may appear reasonable, but
ultimately, they will lead believers to deny the very Lord who redeemed them.
In his exegesis of Second Peter, Kenneth Wuest reveals that certain
rationalistic theories and philosophies not only question the veracity of
Scripture, but also the very Person of Christ:
“The end-time mockers will mock at the promise of our Lord’s second Advent.
The basis of their rejection of the second Advent according to John in his
second letter (v. 7) is that they deny that Jesus Christ comes in flesh. That
is, they deny that the Jehoshua of the Old Testament (Jehovah who saves) who is
designated as the Anointed One (Christ) in the New Testament, ever would become
incarnate, assume a human body and put Himself under human limitations without
its sin. The denial of an incarnation today is given a rationalistic basis in
the theory of evolution which teaches that the universe and man are such today
by reason of the operation of a resident force in matter and man that is
developing both from a crude beginning toward a perfect conclusion without the
aid of any outside force. In short, the theory will not permit the introduction
of anything or anyone from the outside into the unbroken continuity of
existence, hence, no incarnation.”[33]
The Christian is,
therefore, reminded that certain philosophical worldviews are not compatible
with historic Christianity and the Reformed faith. The theory of evolution, for
example, cannot be incorporated into the text of Scripture, and the believer
will do well to avoid such exegetical gymnastics.
In reply to the
scoffers, Peter explains that “the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as
some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any
should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9).” Although
scoffers may scoff for a time, the apostle Peter declares unambiguously that
God will judge the reprobates on the Day of the Lord. “But the heavens and the
earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire
against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. (2 Pet. 3:7).” The Parousia and the final judgment of the
wicked is essentially a theodicy. Peter explains that this present age will
terminate with the day of judgment (2 Pet. 2:9) or the Day of the Lord (2 Pet.
3:10). At the last day, the present creation will be destroyed by fire (2 Pet.
3:12). The mockers will be judged for their sins, and there shall be no escape
from the wrath of the thrice-holy God. Christians will finally be able to spend
eternity with Christ in the New Heavens and the New Earth (2 Pet. 3:13, Rev.
21:1-4).
Anthony Hoekema elaborates,
“When will the final judgment take place? Though we cannot place it
with precision on a kind of eschatological timetable, we can say that judgment
will occur at the end of the present age. Peter tells us that the heavens and
earth which now exist are being kept until the Day of Judgment (II Pet. 3:7),
implying that the new heavens and the new earth will come into existence after
the judgment (v. 13).”[34]
In 2 Peter
3:10-13, the apostle Peter teaches unmistakably that the Parousia of Christ is accompanied immediately by the dissolution of
the old earth and the creation of the New Earth.
“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the
which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall
melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be
burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of
persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and
hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire
shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless
we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein
dwelleth righteousness (2 Pet. 3:10-13).”
The Parousia will come like a thief in the
night (2 Pet. 3:10; cf. 1 Thess. 5:2), and the wicked will be taken by
surprise. There will be no warning for the mockers. In conjunction with
Isaiah’s prophecy (Isa. 34:4), Peter predicts that the heavens will vanish at
Christ’s Second Coming, and the celestial bodies “shall melt with fervent heat.”
All the works of man will be judged before the Judgment Seat of Christ.
Since everything will
be destroyed, Peter exhorts Christians to live holy and godly lives. “Peter’s
point is that, though the present earth will be “burned up,” God will give us
new heavens and a new earth which will never be destroyed but will last
forever. From this new earth all that is sinful and imperfect will have been
removed, for it will be an earth in which righteousness dwells. The proper
attitude toward these coming events, therefore, is not to scoff at their delay
but to be eagerly waiting for Christ’s return and the new earth which will come
into existence after that return. Such waiting should transform the quality of
our living here and now.”[35]
Verse 12b repeats
the wording of verse 10, “the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the
elements shall melt with fervent heat.” Here, the apostle reiterates that
during the Parousia of Christ, the
New Heavens and the New Earth will be ushered in, and the present creation will
be completely obliterated. Peter’s eschatological complex is plain: the Second
Coming of Christ, the final judgment, and the final state occur
contemporaneously. There is no mention of an intermediate reign of Christ on
the old earth for a millennium. This present age will pass away, and the new
age will begin immediately upon Christ’s return.
“The millennium of
the premillennialists, therefore, is something of a theological anomaly. It is
neither completely like the present age, nor is it completely like the age to
come. It is, to be sure, better than the present age, but it falls far short of
being the final state of perfection. For the resurrected and glorified saints,
the millennium is an agonizing postponement of the final state of glory to
which they look forward so eagerly. For the rebellious nations, the millennium
is a continuation of the ambiguity of the present age, in which God allows evil
to exist while postponing his final judgment upon it.”[36]
The apostles Paul
and Peter teach that Christ will return and judge the wicked on the Day of the
Lord. But according to the premillennialist, Christ does not come from heaven
to judge the wicked at the Great White Throne Judgment; He is already on earth and reigning from Jerusalem
References
Concerning abbreviated references: Please refer to previous posts for more details of repeated references
[1] William J. Grier, The Momentous Event: A Discussion of Scripture Teaching on the Second
Advent (Belfast: Evangelical Bookshop, 1945; reprint, Edinburgh: The Banner
of Truth Trust, 1970), 71-72.
[2] Robert H. Mounce, Romans: The New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman &
Holman Publishers, 1995), 90.
[3] Douglas Moo, The Epistle to the Romans: New International Commentary on the New
Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co, 1996), 134-135.
[4] William G. T. Shedd, A Critical and Doctrinal Commentary on the Epistle of St. Paul to the
Romans (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1879; reprint, Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock
Publishers, 2001), 38.
[5] For a discussion of the Day of the Lord in
the Old Testament, see H. H. Rowley, The
Faith of Israel (London: SCM, 1956), 177–201; B. K. Smith, “Obadiah,” in Amos, Obadiah, Jonah: New American
Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1995), 195–201.
[6] Martin, 1, 2 Thessalonians, 159.
[7] Grier, The
Momentous Event, 54.
[8] Simon J. Kistemaker, Exposition of the Epistles of Peter and of the Epistle of Jude: New
Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books House Co, 1993), 327.
[9] Walvoord, End Times: Understanding Today’s World Events in Biblical Prophecy,
199-200.
[10] For example, see Quek, DAY FIVE: Revelation
19-22, 149; Khoo, Fundamentals of the
Christian Faith, 136.
[11] Simon Kistemaker, Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians: New Testament
Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books House Co, 1993), 585.
[12] Quek, DAY FIVE: Revelation 19-22, 149,
emphasis added.
[13] Walvoord, End Times: Understanding Today’s World Events in Biblical Prophecy,
199.
[14] Charles Seet, “Premillennialism,” The Burning Bush 3, no. 2 (1997):
102-103.
[15] Kistemaker, Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, 551.
[16] Ibid., 552, quoting Hoekema, The Bible
and the Future, 184.
[17] Gordon Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians: The New International Commentary
on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co,
1987), 753-754.
[18] For further information, see Wilber B.
Wallis, “The Problem of an Intermediate Kingdom in 1 Corinthians 15:20-28,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological
Society 18 (1975): 229-42; C. E. Hill, “Paul’s Understanding of Christ’s
Kingdom in 1 Corinthians 15:20-28,” Novum
Testamentum 30 (1988): 297-320; Anthony C. Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians: The New International Greek Testament
Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co,
2000),1230-1231.
[19] Fee, The
First Epistle to the Corinthians, 753 n. 38.
[20] Seet, “Premillennialism,” 102.
[21] Ibid.
[22] Fee, The
First Epistle to the Corinthians, 803-804.
[23] The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha such as
the Sibylline Oracles, the Apocalypse of Ezra, the Apocryphon of Ezekiel, and the Apocalypse of Daniel, often view cosmic
eschatology as two aeons. The present aeon is ending, and the coming aeon is to
be ushered in via the divine intervention of the Messiah. For example, “in the
second half of the Apocalypse [of Daniel] (chaps. 8-14) Daniel describes the
end of the age, the Antichrist, the day of judgment, and the appearance of
Christ.” Craig A. Evans, Noncanonical
Writings and New Testament Interpretation (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1992),
28. Also, “Sib. Or. 4 gives an
eschatology that includes an ekpyrosis or universal conflagration because of
wickedness (4:159-61, 171-78), followed by a resurrection and judgment of all,
with the wicked assigned to Tartarus and Gehenna but the righteous living again
on earth (4:179-92). Sib. Or. 5 also
includes destruction by fire (5:155-61,527-31).” Lester L. Grabbe, Judaic Religion in the Second Temple Period :
Belief and Practice from the Exile to Yavneh (London Temple Period
[24] Earle Ellis elaborates, “Jesus and the New
Testament apostles and prophets are at one with apocalyptic Judaism in several
respects. 1. They conceive of history within the framework of two ages, this world or age and the age to come, and
they identify the kingdom
of God
[25] Hoekema, The Bible and the Future, 298, quoting Geerhardus Vos, The Pauline Eschatology (Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1930), 36. This two age eschatological model of the
New Testament is developed by various New Testament scholars, particularly
Geerhardus Vos. For a detailed discussion on the structure of Pauline
eschatology, see Geerhardus Vos, The
Pauline Eschatology (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1930; reprint,
Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1994), 1-41. For the recent
trends in eschatology, see Hoekema, The
Bible and the Future, 288-316.
[26] Ellis, Prophecy
and Hermeneutic in Early Christianity, 165.
[27] Ibid., 164. The “already-not yet” concept
of the Kingdom of
God
[28] For example, in Isaiah chapter 13, the
prophet Isaiah issued a warning of judgment upon Babylon Zion and in Jerusalem
[29] Bavinck, The Last Things, 131-132.
[30] R. C. H. Lenski, Commentary on the New Testament: The Interpretation of the Epistles of
St. Peter, St. John
[31] Kistemaker, Exposition of the Epistles of Peter and of the Epistle of Jude,
325.
[32] Bertrand Russell, Bertrand Russell’s Best, ed. Robert E. Egner (London:Routledge,
1958), 53-54.
[33] Kenneth S. Wuest, “In These Last Days,” Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New
Testament, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co, 1954),
65.
[34] Hoekema, The Bible and the Future, 255.
[35] Ibid., 284.
[36] Ibid., 186.
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