Hyper-Preterism Rejects The Cross

All Christians know and love that precious truth that Jesus Christ gave His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10: 45). But in recent years, heretical sects have arisen to challenge the very meaning of our Lord's atonement. I speak primarily of the heresy of Hyper-Preterism, which rejects the cross, essentially denying Christ's vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice.

Hyper-Preterists, in claiming that death is spiritual/covenantal, cannot answer why Jesus Christ died physically on the cross for our sins. They forget that the Lord paid exactly what was required to ransom us from the power of death. Yet, if death is "covenantal," then Jesus did more that was necessary. Therefore, the shedding of His blood was superfluous. This is the very worst kind of blasphemy.

Remember that Christ is the Second Adam. He underwent the same death that passed upon all men through Adam's transgression. If this death is covenantal, then why didn't Jesus undergo covenantal death? For that would have been sufficient. But no. He underwent physical death, bearing our sins in His own body on the tree (1 Peter 2: 24).

It is His blood which cleanses us from sin. For the life is in the blood (Lev. 17: 11). Because Jesus Christ was without sin, He was approved as that perfect Lamb of God, who came to take away the sins of the world. His blood is efficacious in sanctifying us completely. Yet what value does His blood have if death is "covenantal"? Absolutely none at all.

Again, the wages of sin is death (Romans 6: 23); and Jesus Christ paid the wages on Calvary. This identifies "death" as the separation of body and soul. Christ obtained the keys of death and hell (Rev. 1: 18) by enduring the cross and descending into Hades.

Jesus Christ still has the keys. He already used them to release a multitude of captives from Hades (Eph. 5: 8), and to raise the dead from their graves. When many bodies of the saints arose and appeared unto many (Matt. 27: 52-53), their resurrection was an open manifestation of Christ's victory & power over death.

Paul writes, "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Cor. 15: 21-22). Death is temporary punishment brought upon mankind, & its abolition will result in the general resurrection of all men. In this age, temporal death follows temporal life. But in the age to come, life and death are eternal. At that point, it is too late to "repent unto life," for the condition of all men shall be fixed and immutable. If your spiritual condition is changeable, then you are not in the age to come.

Hyper-Preterist definitions of death are heretical in the extreme. In fact, all who preach and teach contrary to the Biblical doctrine of the resurrection are wolves in sheep's clothing. This applies to all "Leeist" conservatives who straddle the fence between Preterism and Futurism, claiming that resurrection occurs upon death. No. The resurrection will abolish death.

Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, and a disciple of John the Apostle, wrote: "For whosoever does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, is antichrist; and whosoever does not confess the testimony of the cross, is of the devil; and whosoever perverts the oracles of the Lord to his own lusts, and says that there is neither a resurrection nor a judgment, he is the first born of Satan" (Philippians, viii).

In his Pentecostal sermon, Peter, speaking of the risen Christ, said: "Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that He should be holden of it" (Acts 2: 24). Death had no claims on Christ, because He was without sin. Therefore, He underwent death entirely for us, that we might be released from the power and penalty of sin.

Christ was "delivered for our offenses, and raised again for our justification" (Romans 4: 25). His resurrection from the grave declared Him to be the Son of God (Romans 1: 4). After His ascension, He sent the Holy Ghost upon His church, to engraft us into His risen life. The Holy Spirit quickens our souls which were dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. 2: 1). The Spirit will also "quicken our mortal bodies" in the day of resurrection (Romans 8: 11). Do you believe any of this?

It is very easy to make a mental assent to theoretical propositions, and confuse this for the faith which perfects our salvation. But true faith understands the Cross, and the power of the resurrection. It believes that Christ did exactly what was necessary for our atonement. Don't lie to yourself and say that the Cross was a mere ornament and decoration. If you do so, you will only dig a pit deeper for your condemnation.

We are the true apostolic church given to know the Scriptures. We are the true ministers of the New Covenant who preach the pure Gospel of Christ's salvation. Whether you accept a system invented in 1971 or in 2006, you will utterly lose if you attempt to take arms against Christ's elect. Lay down your weapons and submit yourself to Jesus Christ today. Take His yoke upon yourself, and you will find rest for your souls (Matt. 11: 29).