Front Range Bible Institute

Current Events and God’s Plan for Israel

tim — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 01:21:00 +0000

Church history shows that throughout the first three centuries of Christianity, the universal church was overwhelmingly Premillennial in its eschatology. The general idea of Premillennialism consists in the belief that the kingdom of God which was promised in the Old Testament will come to this earth with the second coming of Jesus Christ. His return is before the Millennium; hence, a “Premillennial” viewpoint.

The Old and New Testaments promise a restoration to the universe, a restoration that includes the fulfilling of every promise God made to the nation of Israel. This doctrine includes some of the following ideas:

The nation Israel will ultimately be restored to its land and enjoy a permanent restoration.
The nations which are seeking Israel’s destruction will make a climactic attempt to destroy Israel in the eschatological, seven-year period of conflict known as the Tribulation Period.
Those nations which are seeking Israel’s destruction will experience an overwhelming destruction through the intervening grace of God at the return of Jesus Christ.
Those who have come to faith in Jesus Christ and survived the seven-year tribulation period enter into God’s Kingdom on this present earth.
This present earth will undergo a radical cleansing and transformation that allows humanity to live in a virtually perfect world, albeit one that still has mortal and sinful people.
God will bring a resurrection to every departed saint, and these resurrected saints will dwell in this kingdom along with those who have entered into the kingdom in mortal bodies.
Satan and his demons will be bound during this 1,000 year period.
The Millennial Kingdom will be populated by God’s saints in an earth without the kinds of woe and conflict that characterize our present age.
A final recreation at the end of the Millennium will introduce a New Heavens and a New Earth in which every saint lives in the presence of God in a glorified, resurrected state, forever and ever.

Over several hundred years, various influences began causing a shift from this apostolic viewpoint into various kinds of non-premillennial viewpoints. The non-premillennial viewpoints have varied over the ages and would include ideas like Amillennialism. This idea holds that the church is actually in the Millennium presently. It is a spiritual kingdom which is sometimes defined as (1) Christ ruling in the hearts of men or (2) Christ ruling from heaven. Most Amillennialists believe that the second coming of Christ at some point in the future will also bring in a New Heavens and a New Earth. The Postmillennial position teaches that Christ will return after the church has succeeded in establishing the kingdom for 1,000 years. This position has a very optimistic perspective about the ability of the church to bring about God’s rule in the present age. The wars and horrors of the 20th century caused this viewpoint to fall into great disfavor, although there are some who still espouse it today. Along with Amillennialism and Postmillennialism, Preterism is another doctrine that did not characterize apostolic Christianity. Preterism holds that the second coming of Jesus Christ took place in the first century when Roman armies crushed Israel in the Jewish wars of A. D. 66-70.

Amillennialism, Postmillennialism, and Preterism face many challenges in seeking to be credible. The most natural understanding of biblical prophecy leads to a Premillennial interpretation. Many who hold to Premillennialism also hold to a Pretribulation rapture for the church, although there are some who hold to a Midttribulation or Postribulation rapture. The following study in eschatology is based on a Premillennial, Pretribulation position. May it be a blessing as you seek to know the Lord and His purposes for mankind.

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Serving Christ and His Church,
Tim Dane

Divine Revelation and the Close of the Prophetic Age

tim — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:48:59 +0000

Since the end of the apostolic age (ca. A.D. 100) and throughout church history, orthodox Christianity has strongly affirmed the sufficiency of the biblical canon. Early testimony shows that there was a growing recognition in the church for a circulating NT canon. Some of the early evidence that shows a recognition for this inspired canon comes from sources like as the following: (1) Clement of Rome (A.D. 95), (2) Irenaeus (185), (3) the so-called Muratorian Fragment (ca. 185), (4) Hippolytus (170-235), (5) Tertullian (ca. 200), (6) Clement of Alexandria (d. 215), (7) Origen (d. 254), (8) Eusebius (260-340), (9) the Synod of Laodecia (363), (10) The Festal Letter of Athanasius (367), (11) The Council of Hippo (393), (12) the Synod of Carthage (397) and (13) the Council of Carthage (419).

There is considerable evidence from both a biblical and historical perspective that with the end of the apostolic age God brought about an end to the NT revelatory gifts that brought the church the NT. Along with this He also brought about an end of the special miraculous gifts that were given to attest these prophetic messengers and the fresh NT revelation they were bringing to the church (a gift that enabled those apostles and prophets to heal at will). Christians who hold to this view are called “Cessationists.” They believe that God is continuing to give a number of different gifts to the body of Christ, but they also believe that these particular gifts have ceased.

The following paper deals with the topic of cessationism and analyzes the doctrine from three levels: (1) exegetical, (2) theological, and (3) historical. May this paper help you understand why historic, orthodox Christianity has been justified in holding to a closed biblical canon and why the church has a complete sufficiency in the completed prophetic revelation of the Old and New Testaments.

Serving Christ and His Church,
Tim

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The Lord’s Prayer in a Historical Context

tim — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 20:34:54 +0000

One of the most beloved portions of the New Testament is the Lord’s Prayer. From the earliest days of the church, this portion of Scripture has been highly cherished by the body of Christ. Throughout the Dark Ages—and even up to the present day—it is clear that the Lord’s Prayer has taken on a kind of idol status within Roman Catholicism. This certainly is not what Jesus intended when He said, ‘When you pray, pray in this manner.’

The church has also made other kinds of errors in the way it has handled the Lord’s Prayer. Some of these failures are due to hermeneutical errors that people commit when they interpret the Lord’s Prayer from their own cultural perspective, and not from the cultural perspective of a first-century Jew. The result is that people sometimes read their own theological thinking into the prayer (and commit eisogesis in the process) rather than interpreting the prayer in its own nature, first-century, historical context (exegesis).

One particular error has been to take the words ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ and to interpret this as though Jesus’ words about the kingdom were meant to refer to a kingdom within the hearts of God’s people in the church age. The fact of the matter is that this would have been a totally foreign idea in that historical context. Jesus was speaking about the promised messianic kingdom, the kingdom that was repeatedly predicted and foretold in the prophets of the Old Testament.

Another error in interpretation comes by not letting the context shape interpretation. For example, when Jesus said, ‘Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil,’ the question arises, ‘Just what did Jesus mean by these expressions?’ Careful attention to the flow of the entire prayer (Matt. 6:9-15) gives a strong indication of what Jesus intended. The dominant idea in the last portion of the Lord’s Prayer deals with bitterness and the need to have a forgiving spirit. This should come as no surprise, for we all know what a problem this is for sinners.

This paper on the Lord’s Prayer will deal with these kinds of exegetical issues. May the Lord bless you as you seek Him in this study.

Tim Dane

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greg — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 22:41:19 +0000

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