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Covenant Eschatology - Spirit of the Word - Introductory Note - New Stuff
A Study of the Resurrection
Part 11
by Don K. PrestonPROBLEMS WITH TRADITION
While it is widely maintained that in John 5:24-29 there are two resurrections, one present and one future, one spiritual, one physical, a closer look reveals that this belief is actually denied at the very time it is maintained!
In a study with two elders from the churches of Christ in my area,
John 5 became the focus of our discussion. I asked one of the elders if John 5:24-25 is a present reality: he said "Yes." I then asked if this meant we today possess everlasting life as promised in the text; he replied emphatically that we do not! This is representative of the amillennial view. What does this mean? It means there is no spiritual resurrection today at all; the promise of John 5:24-25 is not valid!The amillennial view, once held by the current writer, actually makes Jesus a giver of false promises. It says even though Jesus said "the hour is coming and now is" for the believer to receive everlasting life, that the reception of that life must wait until the arrival of the other hour, the one Jesus said had not yet arrived!
Remember, the amillennial view positively does not believe that Jesus' "now is" hour and the "the hour is coming" hour are the same. They are separated, by two thousand years so far, and involve two different kinds of resurrections; two kinds of life. Nonetheless, when amillennialism says the life of verse 24-25 is in truth the life that is received at the time of the hour of verse 28-29 it logically demands that verse 24-25 was not then present and that the life in 24-25 is the same as the life in 28- 29! Thus, per this view, the hour that "now is" and the "coming hour" are combined and equate to the end of time! Jesus did not actually mean the hour of salvation was present--He just said so! Should we not be cautious to accept a position that so radically rejects Jesus' words?
If a person does not today receive everlasting life as a result of faith in Christ, what do they receive? Jesus said they are passed from death to life; but the amillennial view says that is not true because this would imply the impossibility of apostasy. [This is a false assumption without merit but lies outside the point of our discussion here.] According to the amillennial view a person is in spiritual death outside of Christ. But even though they receive Christ in faith they do not receive eternal life in this sphere. This logically demands that there is no such thing as spiritual life for the believer today since they do not truly "pass from death to life" as Jesus promised! Just what kind of life does the believer actually receive in Christ anyway? Temporal life? "Almost eternal" life? Half eternal, half temporal?
Jesus said the believer receives everlasting life; the amillennial view says "No, the believer receives the promise of everlasting life." In effect, this says the believer is not raised from spiritual death because that would mean he has life; and he can only have the promise of everlasting life. Are we to understand that Jesus was giving a promise of being raised to a promise? But if the believer does not today receive the passage "from death to life" then Jesus was clearly wrong when he said "the hour is coming and now is." It is one of the embarrassing self-contradictions of the amillennial view that they attempt to say John 5:24-25 is a present day reality for believers and then immediately assert that the believer does not possess what John 5:24-25 promises!
Contents - Part 12 - Don Preston's site - Covenant Eschatology
Spirit of the Word - Introductory Note - New Stuff
Undivided Version
Part 1 - Resurrection From What Death?
Part 2 - Two Resurrections?
Part 3 - It Is the Last Hour
Part 4 - The Hour of His Judgment Is Come
Part 5 - The Hope of Israel
Part 6 - The Kingdom Does Not Come With Observation
Part 7 - Resurrection and the Law
Part 8 - The Prophetic Background of John 5
Part 9 - What Is Resurrection?
Part 10 - Resurrection When?
Part 11 - Problems With Tradition
Part 12 - Objections Considered
Part 13 - Summary and Conclusion