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What exactly is Fulfilled Eschatology?
Prior to getting into this too far; I’d like to take a few moments and explain what I believe and understand Fufilled Eschatology to be. I speak for or as no one else here but of myself only and therefore, am entitled to my own opinions & beliefs. I absolutely abhor & detest having to begin a message with an apology for my own beliefs but such is necessary in a world where inevitably; someone is going to lambaste and/or chastise me simply because they are able to pull out one word or (perceived) inference that I have said anything they deem not to be truthful. My beliefs are just that, my beliefs and no one can tell me what I do or do not believe in, other than me.
I believe Fulfilled Eschatology to simply state that “all things” written and/or prophesied to be in direct relation to the “End Times” in Scripture, have come. Even in saying this we must have a dogmatic & semantic war over what fulfilled means. In my opinion; and that of most dictionaries in the world; fulfilled means accomplished, satisfied, performed, executed, done and ended. Unfortunately; giving examples here to assist in understanding here would only subject me to more criticisms by those who must have an alternative viewpoint so I needn’t bother.
Fulfilled Eschatology has been invaded; infiltrated, permeated, penetrated, diseased and corrupted as much as any other Hermeneutic of any Religious belief. Alternative thinking has penetrated every aspect of life because we live in an ever-evolving age of “Everything is relative” & “Question everything” It absolutely astounds me that within the heart of Christianity; even those who deny man has “Freewill” these Free-thinkers don’t have one problem interjecting their own ideals into clearly defined Scripture, simply because they do not like what it actually says or states.
Fulfilled Eschatology at its heart was designed to show that our Lord & Savior: The Son of the Living God; also known as Jesus Christ, did fulfill all that was prophesied of Him and spoken by His very own lips: When He said, how He said, where He said and upon whom He said. This being said, all should learn, receive, believe, embrace and walk in the belief of Fulfilled Eschatology.
Here is where the war begins! It’s not enough to know, believe and teach that everything prophesied to happen in regards to the end-times has been done. Now we must get back into the bickering, squabbling, fighting, arguing & debating over just what was said; who it relates to and whether or not it was meant to be understood in the Physical, Spiritual or a combination of the two and all of this is done just so we can be right and feel that special touch of the Holy Spirit guiding us into an absolute truth. It is that “Freewill” that keeps us from coming to a full & complete knowledge of a truth because we simply can not stomach being told; “We’re wrong”.
John 10:12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Matthew 10:16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
Luke 10:3 Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.
Acts 20:29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Christ and the Apostles warned people in the first Century about others’ who would come in among them and spoil both them and what they had heard, received and believed. Ecclesiastes 1:9 “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun” History will forever repeat itself for there is indeed, nothing new. People have been perverting the messages in Scripture since man first took a writing or drawing tool to rock, animal skins, parchments & paper: this now continues on through words spoken, written or read on all various electronic mediums such as E-mail, Instant Messages, Blogs, Forums, Message Boards, Web Pages, Websites, etc...
I am deeply taken aback every time man is surprised by something that appears and/or happens as though it is original and has never occurred. False Doctrine, False Gospel, False Teachers, False Prophets and False Scribes (Those who write) have always existed; exist today in swelling numbers and will forever exist. There is no cure as man would first have to accept and believe that He CAN be wrong. Sure: we can all admit it when we do not feel challenged or even when attempting to teach it to others but it is when our very own core beliefs are challenged by others’ that we must become defensive and refuse to accept that we ourselves may just be wrong on any given point. WE use Scripture as our shield in this fight because after all; “this is Scripture and I know what it says and that’s that because Scripture does not lie”
I believe with all my heart that the Scriptures; in their original state and intent neither lie nor contradict but we are approximately some 1,700 +/- years removed from what is commonly referred to as “The Autographs” The Original Writings. It is believed that these originals were lost and/or destroyed at some point in or about the fourth Century. I can not believe any singular version we have of Scripture today has not been altered, interpreted or otherwise slanted in bias for or against specific beliefs from their original counter-parts. That being said; I do not believe the primacy of the Scriptural messages for Godly living and Salvation have been so corrupted that we would need to disregard them entirely. I have searched both Old & New Testaments and have never found where God said He would preserve His word on paper.
The exponential growth in the deterioration of Fulfilled Eschatology is in all honesty; the fault of some Full Preterist’s themselves just as the progressing destruction of the entire Christian faith is due primarily to Christians themselves. This destruction of Fulfilled Eschatology is not due to faulty or erroneous exegeses by those who believe it but this fault has been created through Proselytizing or Converting those outside of this belief, into this belief, who then come in armed with limited or erroneous information or beliefs. It is inevitable that former Futurist’s will bring some of their previously held beliefs with them. In the Field of Eschatology: when converting from a Futurist to a Fulfilled view, nothing outside of the realm of Eschatology should change in relation to Christ already accomplishing that which was believed to be yet to come.
Many beliefs that have become enveloped in Fulfilled Eschatology are not the result of the teachings of Fulfilled Eschatology but were previously held beliefs by those who were former futurists. Items such as Universalism, Annihilationism and even Cease-ationism are being said by some to be a direct result of the teachings of Fulfilled Eschatology, even among those who claim all Prophecy has been fulfilled. Let’s examine these beliefs and see if they could be tied into biblical teachings.
Universalism: This belief is quite simple to explain. Everyone gets into Heaven, eventually. Here are the 3 most common areas of Scripture I’ve seen used by those promoting Universalism.
1st Corinthians 15:22 “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive”
Colossians 1:20 “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven”
Romans 5:18-19 “Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous”
While I do see eternal life mentioned in all these examples, I see no mention of eternal life in Heaven for all in any of these verses but the one thing that does stand out is the “many shall be made righteous” Why would Universalist’s use a Scripture that shows many; not all, being made righteous? Also; doesn’t Scripture teach eternal condemnation & everlasting fire for the damned? This also requires eternal life, right? I wonder why these people primarily use verses about Adam in contrast to Christ. I also wonder why some of these same people use these verses to prove that Paul was a Universalist? Are they suggesting Paul never spoke of eternal torture, punishment and damnation from the presence of God? Selective belief and acceptance can promote anything. Christianity is far from the only “Religion”? to promote Universalism.
Annihilationism: This is a belief held by some futurist’s and I’d dare say some Full Preterist’s as well now. Plainly put: Annihilationism means those Souls destined for Hell and/or the Lake of Fire do not suffer for eternity but instead receive some level of punishment for the sins caused in the body during life but that are then extinguished or Annihilated. This also is referred to as a part of Conditional Immortality: Good guys live forever but bad guys are simply killed off. One of the earliest known “Church fathers” Justin Martyr: (100-165 AD) at least in one writing, advocated Conditional Immortality which I personally believe it is more of a Feel-Good theology meant to ease one’s mind that believes or feels themselves unworthy of eternity in Heaven.
Sadly; this has been and is being taught in some Christian circles as a comforting message for those who have lost a loved one they fear for as lost forever. Telling a loved one their dearly departed will endure some punishment but will not suffer for eternity is intended to and I can only imagine does bring some sense of relief to those grieving. Scriptures used to promote this belief simply rely on misapplication of words such as destruction and perish. The “Second Death” is also used to define Annihilationism by some. Some within the Church do teach this with varying degrees of who it is that gets Annihilated: All bad people or just the really bad people but I have not seen (doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist) a Christian say this applies to any Christ-confirmed “Christian”, only the damned. Annihilationism does result in Cease-ationism for the Soul Annihilated but the result is not equal to the act that caused it: The action is the reason for the result but again, not the same as the result.
Cease-ationism: While it is difficult to accept, I have seen “Christians” that profess this belief which simply states that we cease to exist upon physical death as the Spirit and/or Soul either disappears or returns back into the Father with no individuality whatsoever. I do not think it to be a far stretch that this belief is also taught by Atheist’s with the exception of the Spirit and/or Soul returning to the Father but simply ceases to exist at all. While I have never seen anyone use Scripture to substantiate this belief, I likewise believe it would be pretty difficult to find any that do although man can twist anything into something else, in relation to Scripture. This belief is also espoused by some “Christians” as a method of consolation for others but doubles as a built-in safety mechanism just in case they themselves are not “really” a “Christian”, according to God. I can only imagine there must be several” Christian” interpretations of just how this progresses; either immediately upon death or upon final judgment: you could either simply vanish or maybe lye down and just go to sleep forever.
With this short exegetical study of these 3 beliefs; we must conclude and compare them to, with or against each other. Are any of these co-existent; meaning they could exist as separate decisions for different people, within the same final judgment of man upon physical death?
A.) Universalism: Reward; (Religious belief) everybody gets in, eventually.
B.) Annihilationism: Punishment, requires an eternal judge (God) (Religious belief) some are Annihilated but do not see eternal punishment.
C.) Cease-ationism: Punishment according to some “Christians”. Universal belief to all Atheists’s as they do not recognize an eternal soul.
Answer A. stands alone as the only one that can not contain either of the other two, in the same space. If everybody gets in, that’s it. No one is annihilated and/or ceases to exist.
Answers B and C can stand simultaneously but do not have to as you can cease to exist without being annihilated. Think of ceasing to exist as dying in your sleep whereas Annihilationism is being murdered, electrocuted, lethal injected or otherwise taken out through some level of violence by the executioner who brings about your cessation.
I have heard people actually trying to advocate different levels of belief on Universalism and even insist that either Annihilationism and/or even Cessationism can co-exist with Universalism and that believers themselves can and do advocate believing in both Universalism and either Annihilationism or even Cessationism at the same time. This is proof positive that some believe everything is relative but even more so evident of someone wanting to have their cake and eat it to. If you eat it, it’s gone!
I have likewise seen self-proclaimed Preterist’s who do believe all Prophecy has been fulfilled (Which makes them Full-Preterist by its original definition anyway) both deny they are Full-Preterist and insist other self-proclaimed Full Preterist’s are in fact still futurist because they disagree over a piece of ideology within their own theology concerning Fulfilled Eschatology: is this not confusion & chaos? The belief that some people can be or are; either annihilated, or simply cease to exist, all while claiming to be a Universalist, is ludicrous & idiotic at best. You simply can not believe all get into Heaven but at the same time; some don’t make it: Nor should you teach others that these combinations can and do exist. Some things are truly representative of “the blind leading the blind” and we know where both of them wind up without a proper guide to “snatch them out of the fire, even hating the garments worn by them” because we’re supposed to be as responsible as humanly possible for our brothers & sisters we believe have strayed away or have been led from the truth.
I am a firm believer in biblical justice being executed properly and thoroughly when we notice these “ravening wolves sparing not the flock” we are given a full gauntlet on what to do when we find ourselves in a certain situation and these methods are designed to keep us as spiritually clean as possible.
Galatians 1:6-9 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
2nd Timothy 4:1-5 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.
Romans 16:17-18 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
God commands us through the Apostle Paul; as Christians, to be the same yesterday, today & tomorrow. “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season” God also commands us through Paul to defend His word when we believe it is being perverted “reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” this is simply so we “do not let our good be evil spoken of” when “the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” we are then exhorted to be aware of and on the lookout for such and when confronted with it “endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry” We are to endure the debate; stand for what is truth and prove ourselves and the Scriptures as truly of God. I am not suggesting that we continue on and into infinitum in these conversations, debates, arguments etc… Once we have clearly stated what we believe to be a correct understanding of either a biblical or non-biblical teaching; if our words are not accepted as truth by these others, walk away knowing you did your best.
When Paul or other writers of Scripture say things such as “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed” or “But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry” or even “mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them” Remember: these things are not designed to black-ball, deny or even ostracize people from the Christian faith nor are they to be used as methods in keeping other Christians from attempting to reach them. These warnings & admonitions are meant for our own welfare and spiritual maturity. Once we have given our own individual best efforts without resorting to un-Christian like behavior, attitude or condemnation of others, walk away before you are tempted to become judgmental and within yourselves, abandon all hope for this individual because as far as you’re concerned: if it were up to you, you’d banish that person to hell in a heartbeat.
2nd Timothy 2:23-26 “But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will”
Titus 3:8-11 “this is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men. But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain. A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject; Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself”
Keeping in the context of this message: The destination of the Soul after physical death: there is no room for a form of Universalism for this belief is all-inclusive: Everyone gets into Heaven, eventually.
I do not believe any of these 3 methods to be biblical as there are numerous verses to deny each one. These verses I speak of do not require interpretation for the explanation is clear even to a babe in Christ. Those who wish to or are trained to see with “different eyes” clearly written scripture in an alternative light; are and have been mislead. I’m not saying they’re wrong or I’m right. I do believe I am right but each can believe as they wish for in the end; I and only I am held accountable for both what I believe and what I teach others.
I do not nor can I banish these brothers & sisters to eternal fire simply because we disagree. I will do as the scriptures say and let them know I disagree with them. This is neither judgment nor condemnation but simple disagreement. I will neither slander their names nor advise others to discount them solely on these reasons. I will not call them names nor ignore or discount them entirely as I believe all believers can learn from each other but I will adhere to the best of my ability in what scriptures clearly lay out for us to do when confronted with those who have alternative views of scripture (according to our own understanding) I will advise them what I believe to be the truth; I will defend what I believe to be true but when & if it becomes argumentative or un-Christian, I will simply remove myself from that conversation, with that person, from that point forward.
We all have something to offer; it need not nor should ever be done in mean-spiritedness. If Christians could learn this one thing; and simply learn & try to apply it and live by it, we would, could and should be a more cohesive unit, able to discuss and even reach the point where we can agree to disagree agreeably. It is my hope that this message; above even the body of context in the main message would be adopted by all Christians claiming the faith of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Full Preterism: Fulfilled or Realized Eschatology has been under attack for a long time by futurist’s who simply deny the “End Times” related to those living in the first Century but has come under attack in recent years by those within the Preterist community because of the Idiotic Theologies they or others have placed on it. I do not believe for one second that this is without design. I likewise do not believe all those who claim belief in Fulfilled Eschatology are actual believers of it. There are wolves in sheep’ clothing whose sole job is to introduce false theologies in an effort to completely discredit a movement or belief before it has a legitimate chance to take hold and destroy or discredit their own. People in the first century were warned about such people and we have these Scriptures to teach us that not only do they exist, but that they always will. Full Preterism like Christ; has been falsely accused and sentenced to death by those who do not care for its message.
Any Quuestion, Comments, Critiques, Concerns, Suggestions?
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