Anti-preterism:
why did Paul claim his hope was to attain the resurrection of the dead [Phil. 3:11], if the “death” to be overcome was purely a relational issue with God. Had Paul’s relationship with God not been restored? Are we to believe the man who wrote the majority of the N.T. had not been “raised”?
Response:
To reduce the biblical-preterist understanding of Adamic death to “purely a relational issue with God” void of any cosmic-covenantal context or meaning, is a False Witness caricature. 🙂
Another question:
If the resurrection was going to be literal-physical, why did Paul have to explain to his readers that he had not “already attained” to the resurrection of the dead? Why did he have to explain to his readers that he was not already “perfect“? Why did he have to explain to his readers that he did not consider himself to have already “apprehended” (Phil. 3:12-13)? 🙂
Philippians 3 portrays the contrast between the fading body of humiliation (the sinful old covenant life-work-world of God’s people) and the advancing, descending-out-of-heaven
body of Christ’s glory (the redeemed, new covenant life-work-world of God’s people).
The Old covenant =
* Fleshly circumcision (Phil. 3:5)
* The stock of fleshly Israel (Phil. 3:5)
* Human righteousness of the law (Phil. 3:6, 9)
* Minding “earthly things” (Phil. 3:19)
= The earthly, fleshly, and merely human “body” of humiliation (Phil. 3:21)
The New covenant =
* Circumcision made without hands (Phil. 3:3; Col. 2:11)
* Worshiping God in the spirit (Phil. 3:3; Jn. 4:23-24)
* Righteousness “through the faith of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God by faith” (Phil. 3:9)
* “the resurrection of the dead” / perfection (Phil. 3:11)
= The divine body of Christ’s glory, from out of heaven (Phil. 3:20-21)
In AD 70, the Savior descended from out of heaven and subjected the fading old-covenant world (Israel’s humiliating body of Sin and Death) to Himself, and transformed it, through the indwelling Spirit, into the body of His divine righteousness, life, and glory (Phil. 3:21; John
3:16-17; Rom. 8:10-13; 2 Cor. 3:7-18; 2 Cor. 5:1-5).
Dave 🙂
