The Hyper-Preterists are noted for their claim that "death" is not the "separation of body and soul" but something 'spiritual' or 'covenantal.' Unfortunately for them, the apostle Paul refutes their doctrine.
Paul says: "
Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed" (
1 Cor. 15: 51)
. Context reveals that he is talking about the resurrection (rapture) which will occur at the second coming of Christ. Paul already equated "sleep" with physical death in
1 Thess. 4: 13-16. Hence he is saying that "not all will die." The 'not all' applies to those that remain alive unto the coming of the Lord.
Very simply put, this means that those who live to see the second coming will not undergo physical death. This is what the apostles themselves believed, when a rumor spread among them that John wouldn't die! See
John 21: 23. Incidentally, they didn't include themselves among the number, for they thought that Christ's promise was exclusive to John. But Christ never said that John would live to see His return! He only said, "
If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee??"
So, right off the bat, the apostles believed that to tarry until the Lord returned was equivalent to "
not tasting death."
The question is, what is the definition of death??
It doesn't mean spiritual death. The saints were spiritually "quickened" prior to A.D. 70. (
Ephesians 2: 1). Thus spiritual death had already been removed. Their "sealing unto the day of redemption" made it impossible for them ever to fall into spiritual death again. Otherwise the sealing would have been ineffectual. So when Paul said, "We shall not all sleep," he was referring to a death which the saints had not yet experienced.
This is the same death from which Enoch was saved by translation. (
Hebrews 11: 5). Like the saints of the first century & ourselves today, Enoch was already saved from spiritual death through regeneration. Otherwise he couldn't have pleased God! Then, too, he couldn't have been saved from 'covenantal death.' For according to Preterists, that didn't end until A.D. 70! Therefore he was saved from a death distinct from anything 'spiritual' or "covenantal." Must have been the same death Paul spoke of, when he said, "
Behold, we shall not all sleep."
MillennialSaint
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