(All emphasis is mine)
There is a difference between the "day of the Lord" and the "day of Christ".
In the Old Testament, the day of the Lord is God's wrath poured out on Israel. The NT expands it to the whole Earth.
In the New Testament, and specifically only Paul, reveals the phrase the "day of Christ". It is marked with a rejoicing for the saints. Wrath is not appointed.
Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
Jesus delivered us from the wrath to come.
I Thes. 1:10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
We are present with Jesus Christ at His coming.
I Thes. 2:19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?
Jesus Christ comes with all of His saints.
I Thes. 3:13 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
Jude makes a similar pronouncement:
Jude 1:14
And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
We are alive in His coming. If we are alive at His coming, and we are with Him at His coming, then we are raptured before He comes. The sense here is that we are coming with Him, not to Him. He gathers before He comes. We who are alive are not preventing those who are asleep from coming with Him, but they rise first.
I Thes. 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 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:
Cross reference Corinthians for the Rapture:
I Cor. 15: 51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
We are going to meet Christ in the air and the clouds, not on Earth.
17 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.
Paul does not use the day of Christ here, he uses the day of the Lord, along with wrath.
I Thes. 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
Paul makes it clear we are exempt from the wrath.
I Thes. 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
Paul then hopes our triune humanity is preserved until the coming.
I Thes.5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Onto the next book! The day here in verse 10 is the day of the Lord, not the day of Christ.
II Thes. 1:10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
Look at the verses beforehand. Remember, the Lord comes with all of His saints.
I Thes. 1:6 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;
7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
This is where it gets tricky.
Paul makes a distinction between His coming and His gathering of the saints. They are not the same thing.
II Thes. 2:2 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
Paul says the day of Christ will come before the day of the Lord. Or else how can we comfort each other? In other words, he's telling Christians not to worry about the day of the Lord, as the day of Christ is coming before the day of the Lord.
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
The day here in verse 3 is the day of the Lord, not the day of Christ, because the antecedent is not the verse beforehand, it is in the chapter before it. "As that" means "because".
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
The KJV is correct in saying the "day of Christ" rather than "day of the Lord". This is how the verse means in the KJV:
Do not be troubled by the day of the Lord (1:7-10), because ("as that") the day of Christ is coming.
Modern translations that change the day of Christ to day of the Lord because of their ignorance in grammar make the following translation mean:
Do not be troubled by the day of the Lord (1:7-10), because ("as that") the day of Lord is coming.
Sunday, December 21, 2014
Thursday, December 4, 2014
Thoughts on Bible Dispensations
The following is not structured well, I will fix that in a future post:
Salvation
1. Old Testament Salvation: Faith in what God said as shown by and resulting in works (Noah to John the Baptist, as shown by James, Hebrews Hall of Faith resulting in works. It's not faith automatically in the coming Son of God, but what specifically God said to that specific person, which included statements of the coming Son of God. For example, Noah was saved not because he believed specifically on Jesus the Messiah, but he believed God's pronouncement of the Flood, faith, and built an ark, works resulting in faith.)
2. Before Jesus was on Earth: Faith shown by water baptism of repentance by John the Baptist
3. When Jesus was on Earth: Faith in His physical Person, and water baptism (his disciples baptized)
---
The believing dead on times before this went to Paradise, Abraham's bosom under the Earth (Lazarus and rich man)
~~~ Jesus' Crucifixion ~~~
The believing dead on times after this went to the Third Heaven, above the Earth
---
4. When Jesus resurrected but before the Pauline letters were written: Faith as shown by water baptism of repentance (Acts)
5. TODAY: Pauline letters written until the Rapture: Grace through faith, works need not to be shown, no water baptism needed (Romans and rest of Paul's letters)
6. In the Tribulation: Faith as shown through keeping the commandments and refusing the mark of the Beast (most like the ten commandments,
Revelation 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.)
7. During and after the Millennium: Allegiance to the physical Son of God that can be seen. There is no faith in the Millennium or afterwards, as "faith is the substance of things not seen". This only applies to the Gentile nations who are left after the Tribulation. (refer to Old Testament prophecies of the Kingdom and the judgment of Sheep and Goats, a judgment of nations, not the Church)
Signs and Miracles and the Word (Wisdom)
1. Old Testament before the Law: God appeared Himself, with all the trappings of miracles (Creation, Flood, plagues, pillar of fire and cloud)
2. Old Testament Israel: God appeared to the High Priest in the temple and prophets did miracles
3. Intermission, Silent Years (Malachi-Matthew): No Biblical records of signs or miracles
4.. Gospels: Jesus showed miracles to Israel, and made exceptions to only two Gentiles (the woman and the centurion)
5.Pentecost: Tongues and other miracles primarily a witness to the Jews
6. Pauline Letters: Tongues and other miracles started to cease, being replaced by the witness of charity/love (I Cor. 13)
7. Once Revelation was written, and the canon set: Wisdom was fully written down
8. TODAY: The entire Bible spreading this current Church age: God's primary mode of showing Himself is through the Word of wisdom. Where the Bible is, it takes precedence over miracles. Once a society is saturated with the Word of God, miracles completely cease. That's one reason why formely "Christian" nations today turn atheistic and secular, once the Bible is plentiful, overt spiritual activity that can be seen ceases, and secularism is a threat. (2 Pet. 1:19) False science tries to replace godly wisdom (1 Tim 6:20)
9. The Rapture, Tribulation, Millennium: Signs and wonders, both holy and devilish, come back in full force primarily for the salvation of Israel, and to turn the Gentile nations into aiding Israel.
Salvation
1. Old Testament Salvation: Faith in what God said as shown by and resulting in works (Noah to John the Baptist, as shown by James, Hebrews Hall of Faith resulting in works. It's not faith automatically in the coming Son of God, but what specifically God said to that specific person, which included statements of the coming Son of God. For example, Noah was saved not because he believed specifically on Jesus the Messiah, but he believed God's pronouncement of the Flood, faith, and built an ark, works resulting in faith.)
2. Before Jesus was on Earth: Faith shown by water baptism of repentance by John the Baptist
3. When Jesus was on Earth: Faith in His physical Person, and water baptism (his disciples baptized)
---
The believing dead on times before this went to Paradise, Abraham's bosom under the Earth (Lazarus and rich man)
~~~ Jesus' Crucifixion ~~~
The believing dead on times after this went to the Third Heaven, above the Earth
---
4. When Jesus resurrected but before the Pauline letters were written: Faith as shown by water baptism of repentance (Acts)
5. TODAY: Pauline letters written until the Rapture: Grace through faith, works need not to be shown, no water baptism needed (Romans and rest of Paul's letters)
6. In the Tribulation: Faith as shown through keeping the commandments and refusing the mark of the Beast (most like the ten commandments,
Revelation 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.)
7. During and after the Millennium: Allegiance to the physical Son of God that can be seen. There is no faith in the Millennium or afterwards, as "faith is the substance of things not seen". This only applies to the Gentile nations who are left after the Tribulation. (refer to Old Testament prophecies of the Kingdom and the judgment of Sheep and Goats, a judgment of nations, not the Church)
Signs and Miracles and the Word (Wisdom)
1. Old Testament before the Law: God appeared Himself, with all the trappings of miracles (Creation, Flood, plagues, pillar of fire and cloud)
2. Old Testament Israel: God appeared to the High Priest in the temple and prophets did miracles
3. Intermission, Silent Years (Malachi-Matthew): No Biblical records of signs or miracles
4.. Gospels: Jesus showed miracles to Israel, and made exceptions to only two Gentiles (the woman and the centurion)
5.Pentecost: Tongues and other miracles primarily a witness to the Jews
6. Pauline Letters: Tongues and other miracles started to cease, being replaced by the witness of charity/love (I Cor. 13)
7. Once Revelation was written, and the canon set: Wisdom was fully written down
8. TODAY: The entire Bible spreading this current Church age: God's primary mode of showing Himself is through the Word of wisdom. Where the Bible is, it takes precedence over miracles. Once a society is saturated with the Word of God, miracles completely cease. That's one reason why formely "Christian" nations today turn atheistic and secular, once the Bible is plentiful, overt spiritual activity that can be seen ceases, and secularism is a threat. (2 Pet. 1:19) False science tries to replace godly wisdom (1 Tim 6:20)
9. The Rapture, Tribulation, Millennium: Signs and wonders, both holy and devilish, come back in full force primarily for the salvation of Israel, and to turn the Gentile nations into aiding Israel.
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