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Married and ReigningBy Lloyd Dale

There was no reign of Christ before 70 AD so there were no saints reigning with Him before 70

AD either.

Take 2Tim as an example. One preterist wrote, "The apostle Paul made a distinction

between believers "living"and "reigning"in 2nd Timothy 2:11-12, and established theessential difference between being made suitable by grace, being partakers of the

inheritance and of attaining unto "the reward"of the inheritance." His comments are aninaccurate and confusing corruption of the text. In the first place verses 11 & 12 do not standalone nor do they say what he claims above. Contrary to his assertion living andreigning occur together upon the receipt of salvation which is in Jesus Christ within eternal glory.

They are in a context and he has ignored that context as well as the verb tenses of "shall live"and "shall reign" which are future tense not present verbs.

Let's take a look at this passage in context:

Therefore I endure all things for the elects sakes that theymay also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus witheternal glory. It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with Him,we shall also live with Him: If we suffer, we shall also reignwith Him: if we deny Him, He also will deny us: If we believenot, He abides faithful: He cannot deny himself. (2 Timothy2:10-13)

Paul begins by stating that he "endures all things for the elect's sakes that they may also obtain

the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with(in) eternal glory." At the time Paul wrote thosewords the elect did not yet have that salvation. Paul, Peter, and all NT writers agree that in thefirst century before 70 AD this "salvation"was "reserved in heaven...ready to be revealed inthe last hour." (1Peter 1:4-5; 1John 2:18; et al.) Paul, Timothy, Peter, and the others did nothave this salvation prior to 70 AD but it was there great "lively hope" (1Peter 1:3) which kept themmotivated in expectation of that "salvation" which Peter and the others anticipated as their great"incorruptible and undefiled inheritance which could not fade away because Christ couldnot deny Himself." (1Peter 1:4; 2Tim 2:13, et al.)

In that context Paul then wrote, "It is a faithful saying: forifwe (Paul & Timothy)be dead with Himwe shall also live with Him: Ifwe sufferwith Him, we shall also reign with Him..." In context,this verse does not say that Paul and Timothy were reigning with Christ there and then. Just asthey did not yet have the salvation which was reserved in heaven for them, they did not yet have

the reign as it also was part of the inheritance reserved in heaven for them if they did not denyChrist before the Parousia because if they should deny Him He would "deny them" as well andthey would lose the inheritance.

Thus in context, this passage clearly states that they must first suffer, die and be resurrected inorder to obtain the "salvation which was reserved in heaven for them" and begin to reign withChrist (Rev 20:4). Paul, Timothy, Peter, and the other "overcomers" obtained that salvation atthe Parousia (reign) of Christ which began with the resurrection of those that were Christ's (1Cor

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15:23, see also 1Thess 4:16-17) in 70 AD. At the time of the Parousia resurrection (1Cor15:23) those "overcomers" "lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years" (Rev 20:4d)

There was no such thing as a "forty year" pre-Parousia reign of Christ as some erroneouslyteach. Both of the Testaments clearly teach that the "reign of Christ" and the saints with Him is aNew Covenant phenomena, not part of the Mosaic Covenant. The Scriptures clearly teach that

this OC was "decaying and waxing old ready to vanish away" during the transition period of ca.30 to 70 AD. They also teach that Christ would begin to "reign" when that OC had fully passedaway, this occurred in 70 AD. Thus Christ reign with the saints began in 70 AD and continuesfrom that point forward as part of the New Marriage Covenant. As Christ clearly was not reigningduring the transition period (30-70 AD) because the Old Marriage Covenant had not been closed,Paul, Peter and the others were not reigning either.

The Mosaic Marriage Covenant was fully and totally ended with the destruction of the templesystem in 70 AD. When this occurred, the New Marriage Covenant with Christ and Hisresurrected bride became fully functional. The New Covenant was "cut" in the blood of JesusChrist (Lu 22:20; 1Cor 11:25). The Blood of the New Marriage Covenant enabled the Bride to be"gathered" (Acts 15:14ff). However, as flesh and blood could not inherit the kingdom (1Cor15:50), the bride gathered during the transition period (30-70 AD) first had to overcome, die and

experience resurrection in order to be made a pure and spotless virgin (1Tim 6:14; 2Pet 3:14;2Cor 11:2; et al.), thus acceptable to the groom, Jesus Christ who was also pure and spotless(Heb 9:14; 1Pet 1:19; et al.).

It is the union of this pure and spotless groom and this pure and spotless bride in resurrectionmarriage that produces the kingdom that both the Spirit of the groom and the bride invite us into(Rev 22:17). This "marriage" could not possibly take place before the Old Mosaic MarriageCovenant had been fully and completely ended by the death of the "harlot" wife in 70 AD.

According to Paul the transition period of 30-70 AD was the betrothal period (2Cor 11:2) whichwould end with the coming of the Bridegroom (Matt 25:6) to claim His bride when she "had madeherself ready" (Rev 19:7) and had been "adorned as a bride for her husband" (Rev 21:2).

Thus the marriage was consummated by resurrection at the Parousia; this establishedthe kingdom and the beginning of "the thousand year" reign of the saints (bride/wife, Rev 21:9)with Christ, the bridegroom.

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