PMW 2025-024 by Dr. Ardel B. Caneday (from All Things Christian blogsite)

Gentry note: Below is an insightful article that comports with the evangelical and Reformed understanding of the Already/Not Yet principle of biblical interpretation. An excellent read! For 28 years Dr. Caneday served as Professor of New Testament & Greek at the University of Northwestern-St. Paul. He recently retired from full-time teaching and now serves as an adjunct professor at UNW.

Dr. Caneday’s article:

In December 2021, I published four articles responding to Harrison Perkins’s criticism of my chapter, “Covenantal Life with God from Eden to Holy City” in Progressive Covenantalism: Charting a Course between Dispensational and Covenantal Theologies. R. Scott Clark published the article on The Heidelblog. There, Perkins blatantly claimed, “In the end, Caneday does promote a salvation by works.” So outrageous was his accusation that I patiently responded with four articles demonstrating that his assessment and accusation were wrong and thus slanderous. Those accusations by Perkins, Clark, and others derive from their common failure to account for the New Testament’s presentation of the salvation of the Last Day brought forward in the person of Christ Jesus, consequently the already but not-yet character of salvation, including justification and forgiveness of sins, featured in this article.

Despite being available for more than four years, neither Perkins nor Clark have ever acknowledged their error of judgment nor repented of their published defamation. Though I did not write my recently published article at Christ Over All to counter Perkins’s false accusation published by Clark, it nonetheless does just that. Thus, though I rarely repost articles I have published elsewhere on this blog, I repost this article as a capstone to the earlier four-part series to expose the slanderous accusation written by Harrison Perkins and published on The Heidelblog.

All month, Christ Over All has focused on the question, “Whatever Happened to the Doctrine of Sin?”. Crucial as this is, it would be pointless and cruel if we did not address God’s glorious remedy for sin with its universal and individual consequences. Today, we redirect our focus to God’s merciful and gracious provision of his Son, to whom he imputed his wrath and punishment as our substitute, that he might acquit us sinners and remit our crimes against him. The Bible’s terms for these conjoined acts are “justification” and “forgiveness of sins,” featured in this article. The good news announces God’s Last Day verdict for everyone who believes in his Son—justified and sins forgiven.

He Shall Have Dominion
(paperback by Kenneth Gentry)

A classic, thorough explanation and defense of postmillennialism (600+ pages). Complete with several chapters answering specific objections.

See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com

God Promised the Savior at the Beginning in Eden

In the Garden, God announced in advance his verdict of the Last Day on humans concerning sin: condemned to eternal death (Gen. 2:15–17). Thus, when the Serpent induced Adam (through Eve) to disobey God by eating fruit from the forbidden tree, sin’s indictment condemned the man and woman, with their progeny, to the punishment of death. Since then, every human born by the union of earthly parents has been subjected to the Creator’s same condemning verdict for sin, punishable by death in both the temporal and the eternal dimensions. Likewise, the Creator subjected the entire creation to futility in the hope of one day being liberated from its slavery to corruption—when God would redeem the bodies of his children by raising them from the dust (Gen. 3:19; Rom. 8:20–23). Thus, from the beginning, God revealed by way of prophetic prefiguring the ensuing cosmic war between the “Serpent’s seed” and the “woman’s seed,” the Coming One conceived not by the union of earthly parents but born of a woman nonetheless, who would crush the Serpent’s head—but not without the Serpent striking a wound to the Coming One’s heel (Gen. 3:15).[1]

Only the Coming One, born of a woman but uncreated, could remediate mankind’s and creation’s common plights—corruption and death. He entered his creation from heaven as the Second Man, the Last Adam, “a life-giving spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45–49). As the head of a new humanity, he would sweep forward into time the judgment of the Last Day by his obedience unto death, even death on a cross (Rom. 5:19; Phil. 2:8). Thus, the visitation of God’s Last-Day-wrath upon Christ in his death on the cross effected both (1) that “we shall be saved” from the coming “wrath of God” (Rom. 5:9) and (2) the dawn of the New Creation “by which the world has been crucified” to Christ’s people and they “to the world” (Gal. 6:14–15). Likewise, he brought forward the resurrection of the Last Day into the midst of history when he arose from the dead, which was his “justification” before God (1 Tim. 3:16; Rom. 1:4), thus grounding our justification (Rom. 4:25). Because Christ lives, we who are in him shall be saved by his resurrection life (Rom. 5:10). Hence, he makes all his progeny righteous (Rom. 5:19), fulfilling the prophet Isaiah (53:11) by creating a people born not from flesh and blood but from the Spirit (John 1:12–13).

As It Is Written: The Genesis Account Literal or Literary?
Book by Ken Gentry

Presents the exegetical evidence for Six-day Creation and against the Framework Hypothesis. Strong presentation and rebuttal to the Framework Hypothesis, while demonstrating and defending the Six-day Creation interpretation.

See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com

Jesus Brought Forward the Last Day Judgment and Resurrection

The vast glory of God’s gift of salvation in Christ obligates Christians to ponder the multifaceted imageries Scripture uses to portray its grace and beauty. God’s Word reveals salvation, eternal life, adoption, justification, sanctification, reconciliation, redemption, regeneration, remission of sins, resurrection, and other imageries as isolated doctrines or primarily past referring.[2]

All biblical imageries of salvation in Christ Jesus entail two phases or aspects: what Scripture presents as already occurring but not yet exhausted as God’s triumphant salvation entering the present age ahead of the Last Day with the advent of his Son. Jesus vividly dramatizes the presence of the Last-Day-resurrection at Lazarus’s tomb. He enhances and develops Martha’s correct belief in “the resurrection on the Last Day” by announcing, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:24–26). Jesus’s raising Lazarus from death’s grip signified that he brought forward into the present time “the powers of the coming age” (Heb. 6:5). This prefigured his resurrection. Likewise, Jesus preached that the not-yet resurrection of the Last Day already begins in this present age through the proclamation of the gospel: “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live” (John 5:25). The Son’s rising from the dead was the dawn of the last days.

In the same way, Scripture portrays salvation as already ours in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:5, 8; Titus 3:5), but we have not yet received it exhaustively (Rom. 8:24; 13:11). Thus, Jesus instructs us that everyone who comes to faith in him to receive salvation must persevere to the end to be saved (Matt. 10:22). Hence, the frequent biblical imagery of the athlete sprinting forward from faith’s starting blocks endeavoring to lay hold of the prize who is Christ Jesus, to be found in him, to attain unto the resurrection from the dead (Phil. 3:8–11). As we ponder these imageries of God’s salvation in Christ Jesus, we need to believe and speak even-handedly, avoiding errors by exaggerating either the already or the not yet aspect to the suppression or exclusion of the other.[3] Among Christians, the error regularly occurs, overstating the already to the neglect of the not yet, portraying salvation as already possessed exhaustively. Hence, most Christians think of salvation as exclusively taking place in the past, testifying, “I am saved,” or asking, “Are you saved?”

Likewise, caution is necessary because of another mistake. Scripture does not present any of its multiple imageries of salvation in Christ Jesus as standalone doctrines to be detached from the many other portrayals. The Bible presents the revelation of God’s salvation through multiple variegated imageries, each like a single facet of a finely cut multifaceted diamond, together reflecting the glorious light shining forth from our Savior, Jesus Christ. No solitary imagery adequately displays the richness or fullness of Christ as our redeemer. Hence, when pondering Scripture’s theology, inevitably, we discern theological categories and thus do some level of systematic theology. For this reason, Christian theology is the activity of every believer, not just pastors, teachers, and academic theologians. Yet, we must never separate the many distinguishable imageries as isolated doctrines. For example, we must distinguish two imageries from the legal realm—justification and forgiveness of sins—but not isolate them. To emphasize this point, the remainder of this article will show how the Apostle Paul’s teaching obligates us to hold these two together.

GOODBIRTH AND THE TWO AGES
I am currently researching a technical study on the concept of the Two Ages in Scripture. This study is not only important for understanding the proper biblical concept of the structure of redemptive history. But it is also absolutely essential for fully grasping the significance of the Disciples’ questions in Matthew 24:3, which spark the Olivet Discourse. This book will be the forerunner to a fuller commentary on the Olivet Discourse in Matthew’s comprehensive presentation. This issue must be dealt with before one can seriously delve into the Discourse itself.

If you would like to support me in my research, I invite you to consider giving a tax-deductible contribution to my research and writing ministry: GoodBirth Ministries. Your help is much appreciated! https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=4XXFLGKEQU48C&ssrt=1740411591428

Two Correlated Imageries—Forgiveness & Justification

Paul contends that Jesus has already brought resurrection and divine judgment forward from the Last Day because God has already poured out his wrath on his Son on the cross. The Righteous One from heaven bore God’s wrath in the place of unrighteous people (Rom. 3:21–31). With his first advent, God’s Son brought forward two correlated acts of God—resurrection and judgment—that belong to the Last Day, which consummates the present age and ushers in the coming age. The gospel orients everyone to Christ’s cross as the public display of God’s wrathful judgment against sin, for Christ, who knew no sin yet was made sin for us, being condemned as our substitute (Rom. 3:21–31; 1 Cor. 1:18; 2 Cor. 5:21). Likewise, the gospel orients us to Christ’s resurrection as God’s vindication of his Son; Christ, the Righteous One, was acquitted by being raised from the dead for our acquittal (Rom. 1:4; 4:25; 1 Tim. 3:16). These two acts stand together as the advance visitation of God’s Last Day courtroom. All those in Christ Jesus are assured that Christ’s acquittal will be ours on that day. Thus, Paul preaches already “everyone who believes is justified” (Acts 13:39).

The Truth about Salvation By Ken Gentry

A study guide for personal or small group Bible study. Deals with the Christian doctrine of salvation from a Reformed theological perspective. It opens with a study of God as loving Creator, the shows how the first man fell into sin. Shows God’s righteousness requires that sin be dealt with. Presents Jesus as both God and man so that he can be man’s Savior. Includes review questions and questions for further study.Twelve chapters are ideal for one quarter of Sunday School.

See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com

Thus, with the advent of God’s Son (cf. John 3:16–21), the gospel already announces God’s Last Day verdict ahead of time: (1) “guilty and condemned” to all who disbelieve; (2) “sins forgiven and justified” to all who believe. Paul presents the forgiveness of sins and justification as correlated because to be justified is to have one’s sins forgiven, as Paul indicates concerning Abraham and David (Gen. 15:6; Ps. 32:1–2; Rom. 4:3–8). Accordingly, “sins forgiven” means “no condemnation” (Rom. 8:1). When Paul states, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” he uses a figure of speech called litotes which uses a negated understatement to express an emphatic affirmative.[4] Rom. 5:16, 18 supports this; the opposite of condemnation is justification. Thus, Christ Jesus does not simply expunge our criminal record against our Creator, wiping out the past charges against us and giving us a fresh start. The litotes mean, “Everyone in Christ Jesus is most assuredly justified already”—that is, we’ve been declared righteous on account of Christ’s resurrection (Rom. 4:25).

It is crucial to recognize that when the gospel announces the forgiveness of our sins and our acquittal (justification) to all who believe in Jesus Christ, the proper reference point is the Last Day, the Day of Judgment, and not the moment we first believe the gospel message. . . .

Gentry Note:
To finish reading the whole article, click on this link:

The Gospel Announces God’s Last Day Verdict for All Who Believe in Jesus Christ: Justified and Sins Forgiven