Sunday 7 December 2014

Ages

Regarding a future age of the Holy Spirit:

Paul meant that although our physical bodies have not yet experienced their physical resurrection, we already have the indwelling Spirit as a guarantee - a foretaste - a pledge - that our bodies shall indeed be resurrected when Jesus comes.

He wasn't saying that there was to come a future dispensation (age, as some call it) prior to the second coming when believers will finally be given improved privileges with regards to the Holy Spirit that he also didn't already have.

The feast of tabernacles was the same feast as the feast of Pentecost - and it was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost.

God isn't withholding anything until a later dispensation (or age) prior to the second coming.

That would be another form of dispensationalism. It would also be akin to a reverse-cessationism, which teaches that the early Church was in a different ballgame to us as far as the Holy Spirit goes.

But there's only one ballgame. There's only one Church. No third Testament. All believers from the Day of Pentecost to the Second Coming have the same relationship with the Holy Spirit. The only thing that will change our relationship with the Holy Spirit for the better is the Second Coming.

Growing in spiritual blessing doesn't come by waiting for an Age on earth before the Second Coming when God will decide to bless more. Rather increased blessing comes through appropriating by faith the blessings that were already purchased for us by Christ.

The Apostles said that any blessings which we aren't yet meant to experience in this life (such as the resurrection of our body) are reserved for us in heaven - they didn't say anything about them being reserved for future generations of believers in some future age (dispensation) prior to the Second Coming.

Blessing comes by faith. Faith comes by understanding that Christ fulfilled prophecy.

Speaking of fulfilled prophecy:

Whenever Old Testament Prophets said 'Israel', they always meant physical Israelites - they never meant Gentiles - they didn't even mean Gentiles who would later become born-again believers in Jesus.

Whenever they spoke about the then-future salvation of Gentiles, they still always referred to them as Gentiles, never as Israel, never as Levites, never as Zion.

All of their prophecies about the Temple, Levites, Zion and Israel always had the physical Temple, Levites, Zion and Israel in mind - never the Gentiles who would later become believers in Jesus.

But what they said about the Gentiles also came true.

The Old Testament also predicted that once the Promises concerning Israel would be fulfilled and the Gentiles were also participating in the promised-salvation - the distinction between Jews and Gentiles would thereafter cease, for all spiritual intents and purposes.

And that came true too. But it doesn't mean we can take their prophecies which had physical Israel in mind and instead make them about some other group.

Dispensational Pre-Millennialists are right in saying that spiritualising such promises concerning Israel and making them instead refer to a different group than Israel is to deny the faithfulness of God towards Israel - but they are wrong in thinking the fulfilment of those promises has been postponed until the future.

It was all literally fulfilled, on physical Israel's behalf, just as promised - that's the whole point of the Gospel. The Apostles' doctrine.

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