Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | Acts 2:17 'AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,' God says, 'THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS; |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Acts 2:17 'AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,' says God, 'THAT I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT UPON ALL MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE [divinely prompted] VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM [divinely prompted] DREAMS; |
Subject: Church Age? |
Bible Note: JVH0212, Thank you for joining this discussion and I'm sure you know I will request the reference for the sake of any misunderstanding of either what scripture is being used and how it is being interpreted. Your statement about restricting the church as to being only from Pentecost (Acts 2) until the Rapture involves several troubling areas. First of all, there is an assumption that you are referring to the dispensational doctrine of the rapture. If this is so, then the church does not exist afterward (to dispensationalists). This is assuming that dispensational theology is absolutely correct on this doctrine and has no possibility of being in error. The (dispensational) millennium will not have any saints in it or at least none that can be called the body of Christ. If not, then where does the New Testament treat these Christians as being different (and how) than any other Christian of any time period? In fact, dispensationalism wants to create a multiplicity of divisions of those who are saved. It first wants to divide Old Covenant Saints from New Covenant Saints, then it divides pre-rapture Saints from tribulation Saints, then divides millenial Saints from all other Saints and without a single shred of scriptural evidence to justify doing so. This would also exclude Abraham, the father of faith of all those found in Christ (who are also known as "the body of Christ"). How would one exclude him from being in the body of Christ but at the same time include him to be in Christ? Are we not all in the body of Christ because we are all in Christ? Can any of us be in Christ and not be in the "body of Christ" which is His church? Also, nowhere in the second chapter of the Acts does Luke make any explicit or implicit statements that would lead us to a logical conclusion that only those saved at this period of time comprise the church (body) of Christ. There are no corresponding verses anywhere in the New Testament that would support such a view. I look forward to hearing you answer. Sam Hughey |