I believe that in his Olivet Discourse Jesus tried to focus his disciples away from the eschatological Coming as something to practically prepare for and instead focus on current issues that make one prepared for the Kingdom by moral means. In other words, Jesus made current issues the decisive matter that determine our preparation for the coming Kingdom, and not a matter of predicting when certain events would take place, and trying to second-guess when they would happen.
Jesus said that in his own generation his disciples should be prepared to deal with the ungodliness of the vast number of Jews, who were about to come under judgment in 70 AD. This means Christians were to avoid the sins of the Jews, and instead not partake with them in the sins that Jesus described.
When asked about his Coming, Jesus made it clear that it would be in his generation a non-eschatological coming in judgment, using the Romans to destroy the temple in Jerusalem. Instead of looking far off in the future to an indefinite event, they should be managing their lives now in a spiritual way, ensuring that they ready themselves morally. The sins of the Jews were to be understood as so serious that it would bring down both the temple and Jerusalem. And so, it was important for Christians to separate themselves from whatever these sins were.
When Jesus said his Coming would be like the Days of Noah, when people engaged in regular social activities, like marrying and eating, he was describing the NT age in general. Throughout the course of the Christian era, Christian peoples have gradually married back into paganism, and have become unaware of the loss of their of moral stature. Becoming attached to the sins of the world, these fallen Christians have become blind to the soon-coming judgment upon the whole world!
Many Christians turn Christianity into a cheap 1,2,3 formula for becoming a Christian, go to church, and then live out their lives with little change with respect to the paganism around them. Gradually, they become so compromised that their Christianity is little more than a platitude, or a one-line confession that "I believe that Christ is my justification." And so, they think their own righteousness is utterly unnecessary, or far less necessary than believing in Christ for their acceptance before God.
In reality, we do need to recognize what is just and what is unjust around us, and keep ourselves unspoiled from the paganism around us. If we can't see the difference, for what have we been saved? If we cannot recognize the satanic oppression around us, what do we hope to be saved from?
Can we really believe that Salvation has nothing to do with personal holiness? Or do we think that holiness is purely a form of legalism, without spiritual content? We should live by faith, and thus allow the righteousness of Christ to indwell us always so that we are reassured that we have escaped the judgment of God coming upon the world. We should be concerned about God's judgment today, because how we are judged today is how we will be judged at the end of the world!
Jesus said that in his own generation his disciples should be prepared to deal with the ungodliness of the vast number of Jews, who were about to come under judgment in 70 AD. This means Christians were to avoid the sins of the Jews, and instead not partake with them in the sins that Jesus described.
When asked about his Coming, Jesus made it clear that it would be in his generation a non-eschatological coming in judgment, using the Romans to destroy the temple in Jerusalem. Instead of looking far off in the future to an indefinite event, they should be managing their lives now in a spiritual way, ensuring that they ready themselves morally. The sins of the Jews were to be understood as so serious that it would bring down both the temple and Jerusalem. And so, it was important for Christians to separate themselves from whatever these sins were.
When Jesus said his Coming would be like the Days of Noah, when people engaged in regular social activities, like marrying and eating, he was describing the NT age in general. Throughout the course of the Christian era, Christian peoples have gradually married back into paganism, and have become unaware of the loss of their of moral stature. Becoming attached to the sins of the world, these fallen Christians have become blind to the soon-coming judgment upon the whole world!
Many Christians turn Christianity into a cheap 1,2,3 formula for becoming a Christian, go to church, and then live out their lives with little change with respect to the paganism around them. Gradually, they become so compromised that their Christianity is little more than a platitude, or a one-line confession that "I believe that Christ is my justification." And so, they think their own righteousness is utterly unnecessary, or far less necessary than believing in Christ for their acceptance before God.
In reality, we do need to recognize what is just and what is unjust around us, and keep ourselves unspoiled from the paganism around us. If we can't see the difference, for what have we been saved? If we cannot recognize the satanic oppression around us, what do we hope to be saved from?
Can we really believe that Salvation has nothing to do with personal holiness? Or do we think that holiness is purely a form of legalism, without spiritual content? We should live by faith, and thus allow the righteousness of Christ to indwell us always so that we are reassured that we have escaped the judgment of God coming upon the world. We should be concerned about God's judgment today, because how we are judged today is how we will be judged at the end of the world!
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