Faith Class: The Already and Not Yet

Revelation 20:6

"Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years."

Romans 1:16-32 can be confusing. It may seem unlikely that one can clear it up by appealing to the book of Revelation. However, there is an apostolic theme that runs through the New Testament that is called "The Already and Not Yet" by scholars. There is an eschatological (the end) reality that is coming, but there are many things that are described in the present tense and are just as real now. If we attribute these spiritual realities only to the end times then we have made an error because the apostles did not always do that. They saw many of these things as just as real today as at the end. For example (pay strict attention to the past tense which is meant to implicate the present):

Colossians 3:1-4

"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."

Christ is already our life in one sense and not yet in another. So there is a contemporary reality that has yet to come to fruition but never the less is true and real right now. So real, it is worthy of setting our current thoughts on, over and above the things of this world. It is already and not yet.

So the Revelation passage is about those who are raised with Christ now, resurrected now. They have believed on the person of Christ to have accomplished the payment of their sin on the cross. They are resurrected now. Why? Because the second death, which is a spiritual reality that is yet to come has no power over those who's sin has been paid for by the sacrificial lamb. In fact, he was the only lamb that actually ever paid for sin, Hebrews tells us that the blood of no animal ever actually paid for sin. So why the animal sacrifices? In their time they were the sign of a reality yet to come by way of the cross. If they believed that God was going to pay for their sins then God did, but he did it on the cross. But they believed his promise and demonstrated it in the sacrificial system. So the Old Testament has a sense in which the already and not yet may apply. It may seem that I have chased a rabbit here, but I have not, the lamb is how John refers to Jesus in Revelation much of the time. What is interesting, and instructive about this particular Revelation passage is how the 1st resurrection implies the 2nd and 2nd death implies the first. The spiritual and physical are being clearly itemized. The short of it is: 1st resurrection=salvation (already), 2nd resurrection=physical (not yet), 1st death=physical (already), 2nd death=spiritual (not yet). One could make an argument for spiritual death being already, but I would say that given the eschatological impetus of the Lake of Fire we are better off, hermeneutically, to categorize it as not yet within this context, but certainly it is a reality now for those who will not believe, but that would be chasing a huge rabbit way outside of the purpose of this post. So Revelation teases out this principle pretty well and I think we should have it in mind as we look at the Romans passage.

Okay, so what in the Lake of Fire does this have to do with Romans 1:16-32?

Romans 1:16-17

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."

So God reveals his righteousness in the salvation of his people today. Salvation is a spiritual reality that demonstrates a moral attribute of God (his righteousness) that can be perceived in the physical world, presumably by unbelievers.

Psalm 98:2

"The LORD has made known his salvation;
he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations."

Concomitant to Paul's thought are the following versus, 18-23:

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things."

You want to know another reason I can't stand faith healers? Because they do not understand that the natural punishment that accompanies sin reveals something about God. It reveals his wrath against sin. It reveals it already and not yet. The punishment that is with sin also reveals that there is still wrath yet to come, a second death. So the church is to show the righteousness of God in the salvation he offers for we are no better than those who do not believe, yet we are confident in the mercy offered at the cross. The righteousness revealed "already" is effective for what is required "not yet." The world shows its own unrighteousness because of their suppression of what is made so manifestly clear. If one rejects what is clear then one must side with what is foolish. So as they continue this reorganizing of God's revelation, sin will continue to reveal what is to come and so will the church.

Here we enter a commonly misunderstood section of Paul's writing. He is accused of "gay bashing." Writing this section off as gay bashing demonstrates an ignorance to Paul's point. It would be better to understand Paul then critique him rather than dismissing him 1st and then misunderstanding him or dismissing him due to misunderstanding.

vs. 26-27

"For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty." The parallels between this and Sodom and Gomorrah are striking. Note that he makes mention of the penalty that is a result of error against the natural order. What should have been obvious (compatibility of opposite reproductive organs) was ignored and was allowed by God to continue in earnest and , like all sin, one should expect a penalty. So, homosexual activity is an example of a mind that does not recognize what is obviously contrary to the natural order. The natural order should have led to thankfulness and worship, but it did not.

Those opposed to the message of scripture misunderstand and wrongly criticize Paul rather than wrestling intellectually with the text. On the other side, many who claim to love the text misunderstand and think of themselves as better (contrary to what scripture explicitly commands) than those described here, this is also to their shame, for they are no better than the homosexual activity described, for all sin is going against the natural order, we have all made this mistake in some sense. Homosexual activity is an EXAMPLE of God's revelation of wrath and an autocratic anthropological revelation tainted by sin. Otherwise we have to take th list at the end of this section and say it applies to all homosexuals and that is simply not true, that list encompasses everyone. Additionally, in verse 18, he says ALL UNGODLINESS. Paul is far from "gay bashing." I suspect that those who say this are engaging in ad hominem.

These passages should not lead to hatred for homosexuals. There is no place in Christianity for signs that read "God hates fags" or other forms of vulgar intolerance. If we believe what Paul is saying then this should lead to outreach and compassion (despite the fact that this may not be well received). A complaint about Muslims is not being more aggressive in condemning terrorism done in the name of god, maybe we should be more vocal about the hatred and the attempt to terrorize homosexuals by those who claim to follow the teachings of Christ. There is a judgment going on here that Jesus clearly condemned. Paul was not judging, he was discerning (which is a healthy form of judgment as opposed to the judgment which condemns in which we are commanded to avoid) and his point was that God reveals his righteousness in his salvation and in his wrath. What else do these people think is being accomplished by holding these signs? God's wrath against evil is already being displayed. Perhaps we are allowing politics to take a more prominent stage in our thinking and are applying our political objections of the corporate homosexual movement to the individual instead. This is wrong, we should have compassion for the individual (even if our compassion would be considered an offense) despite our political opinions. Yes it is true that those who hold these signs are so far removed from the Christian message that they cannot even be considered fringe, one could then say we are being corporately as well. My response to this is to love your enemies, we should not respond in kind.

So what is Paul's point here? It's interesting, Paul is linking incorrect worship with homosexual activity because, like the obvious compatibility between the reproductive organs, God is obviously supposed to be worshiped rather than what he has created, worshiping the creature is functionally incorrect because the creature is naturaly supposed to lead one to the creator. But he gave them over to a debased mind (not just homosexuals, they are merely an example of ignoring what is supposed to be, all who suppress the truth are ignoring what is clear) so they do not do what is obvious, similar to the obvious compatibility between male and female as revealed in nature, "the dishonoring of their bodies." vs.24. Paul, then, offers a list of further examples of what ought not to be and it is doubtless that any of us can escape being included. If you doubt this, the one that says "disobedient to parents" should cover all of us. So, wrath revealed from heaven against sin, righteousness revealed in the power of his salvation for those who faithfully believe. Paul adds later, also, that God does not condemn "not yet" (for the time being), but rather "already" because that reveals his patience, which also is meant to lead one to belief; this is exemplified well in the story of the Prodigal Son where there is only one clear place to go and one clear person to be made right with. When one gets to this point they have a loving Father eager to be reconciled, so eager is he that he gave his only son. You think this attitude is well attested to by signs that say "God hates fags?" Sounds closer to the lesser known brother of the Prodigal son who could not help but disdain others and condemn.

So none of us can say we are doing things right, but the mercy of God's goodness is demonstrated clearly at the cross, and his righteousness in his people: a large group of Prodigal sons (and daughters).

As a side note, notice the difference from the dogmatic theonomy and divine command theory of Islam.

Let us remember Paul's main point. There is an already and not yet present in the church in regard to God's righteousness, and in contrast to this an already and not yet present in the unbelieving world in regard to God's punishment of sin; "Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them," all are unable to tell God that they were given the short end of the stick and would have done better if they knew better. No one can do better and we know it, the hope that God offers is in his Son and in him alone.