Already But Not Yet

Without doubt Paul and his disciples were faced with a perplexing quandary. He believed passionately that they were living in the last days of human history. The great transformation heralded by the death and resurrection of Christ was about to occur. Yet the relentless passage of time indicated that the expected moment had not yet come and the promised end of their suffering followed by their eternal glorification had not arrived.

More – or perhaps worse – for Paul and his followers the end time (eskaton) had already begun, but its conclusion had not yet arrived. They were living in two worlds. As Tabor puts it: Paul’s gospel said that the chosen ones were already in the kingdom of God, by being in Christ even while waiting for its arrival…. Since (God’s) reign was a heavenly one, the kingdom of God had already arrived and would shortly be manifested to the surprise of the whole world. (Paul and Jesus: How the Apostle Transformed Christianity. Simon & Schuster, 2012)

This meant that while they were even now living in God’s realm, they would continue to suffer as Christ himself had suffered until “Christ had put all things under his control.” The final result would be Christ’s heavenly exaltation when “every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” (Philippians 2:10-11)

In the interim until that joyous day arrives, Christians would face opposition and persecution. So “the challenge, and the insurmountable problem, was to work out the conflict between the intersection of the old world and the new in the present.” (Tabor, 160) This called for a totally different behaviour than that of the general populace among whom they lived.

The early 20^th century theologian Albert Schweitzer said what they and we are living an “interim ethic.” He meant that Christian ethical behaviour makes sense only if God does bring about justice in the real world. The social justice movement espoused by many of the mainline churches in the 20^th century hoped and worked for this ethic to be applied by all humanity. So did many secular and political institutions.

Paul’s daring exclamation in Galatians 3:27-28 would have made news in any society, not least in the Graeco-Roman society of his time. It set a standard that many countries still struggle to achieve today. Most fail, including our own.

Paul himself neither fully achieved the new standard in his correspondence nor in his own behaviour. He used the Hebrew scriptures to justify some interpersonal activities we regard as unacceptable today: an inferior place for women in the church and society, and the abomination of human slavery.

On the other hand, Paul believed that “the present form of this world is passing away.” (1 Cor. 7:29-31) He was not challenging the present systems such as slavery because he earnestly expected Christ’s return to bring all such evil relationships to an end.

What Paul advocated has raised numerous objections from different sectors of the Christian community as well as societies still coping with their ancient cultural heritage. Evangelism among some cultures has been very difficult if not legally banned by political authorities.