Questions and Answers

A reader who wishes to remain anonymous responded to my recent blog post, Parousia Now. Carl—my fictitious name for the reader—said: The Messiah is not on earth yet. When he is here there will be no evil. Evil is rampant now. I don’t see how you can say we are…

This post continues our answer to a reader’s objection to our Miraculous Gifts post. There we dealt with 1 Cor 13:8–10 and said “that which is perfect” (1 Cor 13:10) refers to the messianic age.  If our identification of the “perfect” is correct, Paul was showing the Corinthians when God…

A gracious reader has raised questions about our Miraculous Gifts post. These queries arise from our view of “that which is perfect” in 1 Cor 13:10–12. There, Paul says: When that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a…

A “perfect” condition requires “perfect” people, a “perfect” relationship to God, and “perfect” knowledge. Paul envisioned all these for the saints: But when that which is perfect (Gk. teleios) has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a…

Metaphors matter. The Scriptures use them to give a full-orbed description of the “last days” of the Mosaic age (e.g., Heb 1:2; Gen 49:1). God gave Israel a “new birth” through Christ’s resurrection (1 Pet 1:3; Eph 2:6). Christ then began to reign in his kingdom after Israel’s “regeneration” (Matt…

  A valued reader disagrees with our interpretation of “that which is perfect” in 1 Cor 13:10. In our post The Miraculous Gifts we said the “perfect” stands for the messianic age in which we now live. Our reader says “this ‘perfection,’ teleios, to which Paul refers, is the eternal…

A brother has asked for our view of Col 3:4. Paul told the Colossians, “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” This brother wants to know how this statement affects our interpretation of 1 John 3:2 (here). He makes several…

Job’s hope is secure in inmillennialism. He said, “I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth” (Job 19:25, NKJV). Our prophetic model says Job’s redeemer—Jesus Christ—stood on the earth in the “last days” (Heb 1:2) of the Mosaic age. Job also said, “And…

Last week’s post (here) contained several questions a reader asked about inmillennialism. After reading them, another brother expressed his approval. He said, “he addresses a concern in his questions that I share deeply.” This post contains my answers to these important questions. The reader arranged his questions into four groups.…

Inmillennialism requires us to view many Scriptures in a new way. It challenges some of our underlying assumptions. For example, few people think of the “last days” as the final period of the Mosaic age. Inmillennialism says we must adopt the perspective of the biblical writers to understand their meaning.…