Full Bible Timeline

THE TEACHERS' CORE BELIEF #3

“I will not tolerate any theology that sabotages the clear command of Jesus to make disciples of all nations and the Lord’s Prayer that earth would be like heaven.”

My Response

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1. Affirmation

Every believer agrees that the Great Commission is non-negotiable. Making disciples of all nations is the heartbeat of Christ's mission. Likewise, we affirm the beauty and power of the Lord’s Prayer—“Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” These truths unite Christians across all eschatological viewpoints.

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2. Clarification

However, this statement implies that certain end-times views undermine evangelism or diminish the mandate to disciple nations. This is simply not true. No recognized eschatological position—premillennial, postmillennial, amillennial, preterist, historicist—teaches believers to neglect evangelism.

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To imply otherwise creates a false dichotomy and risks misleading students into thinking that those who disagree hold a deficient or unfaithful view of Christian mission.

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3. Correction

History, Scripture, and lived Christian experience reveal that passionate evangelism has flourished under every legitimate eschatological position. The issue is not whether a theology encourages making disciples, but whether it interprets the timing and shape of the kingdom in different ways.

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Premillennialists, far from being passive, have launched:

• missions movements

• evangelistic crusades

• orphanages

• Bible translation societies

• gospel literature and broadcast ministries

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Looking for the blessed hope (Titus 2:13) has historically accelerated, not sabotaged, missionary zeal.

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4. Evidence and Examples

The Apostolic Church

The early Church lived with an expectation of Christ’s imminent return—yet turned the world upside down through evangelism (Acts 17:6). Their eschatology energized discipleship; it did not diminish it.

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The Underground Church

Christians in China, Iran, Afghanistan, and North Korea—many of whom hold futurist or premillennial views—evangelize tirelessly despite persecution. Their eschatology strengthens perseverance; it does not sabotage it.

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The Lord’s Prayer

“Your kingdom come” is a prayer of longing, not presumption. It does not promise that the Church will establish the fullness of heaven on earth apart from Christ’s physical return. Rather, it expresses:

• surrender

• desire for God’s will

• commitment to righteousness

• longing for the coming King

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A premillennialist can fully and joyfully pray this prayer without distortion.

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5. The Interpretive Tension

Your observation is correct: preterism often spiritualizes end-times prophecy while simultaneously insisting that “earth as it is in heaven” must be interpreted literally and fulfilled now.

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We can affirm:

• God’s goodness

• the transformative impact of the gospel

• the Church’s mandate to disciple nations

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—but the full realization of heaven on earth cannot occur apart from the literal reign of Christ. The last 1,900+ years demonstrate that human leadership—even redeemed human leadership—cannot bring the world under perfect submission to God’s will.

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Examples such as Calvin’s Geneva illustrate this well. While Calvin contributed greatly to theology, his attempt to establish a “City of God” on earth resulted in suppression, exile, and executions, demonstrating the dangers of combining:

1. postmillennial/preterist expectations with

2. earthly authority

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When human beings try to achieve by force what only Christ can accomplish at His coming, the result is never heaven on earth.

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6. Application

A sound eschatology supports, rather than undermines, the Great Commission. It acknowledges:

• the Church’s responsibility in this present age

• the Spirit’s empowering

• the transformative power of the gospel

• the certainty of Christ’s future rule

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It does not claim that the Church will, unaided by Christ’s physical return, bring about the fullness of God's kingdom.

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7. Conclusion 

We all share the desire to disciple nations and to see God’s will done on earth. The disagreement lies not in the mission, but in its timing and fulfillment. Premillennialism does not sabotage the Great Commission; it clarifies its urgency. It reminds us that the gospel must be proclaimed to all nations before the King returns to establish His kingdom in its fullness.

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