The Heart Of Paul’s Theology: Paul And His TheologyExemplo

 Already – Not Yet: Romans 6:3-4

It has become common to describe Paul’s view of eschatology as “already and not yet,” because Paul believed that some aspects of the end times or last days had already become reality in Christ, while other aspects had not yet been realized. Let’s unpack what this description means.

On the one hand, according to Paul, the age to come is already here in a number of different ways. We will mention three ways this theme appears in Paul’s writings. In the first place, Paul taught that the final stage of the kingdom of God began when Jesus ascended to his heavenly throne. For example, Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:20-21 that when the Father raised Christ from the dead, he: 

… seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come (Ephesians 1:20-21).

Although at the present time Christ’s reign is realized primarily in the heavenly realms rather than on earth, it is still true that Christ already reigns above all rule and authority. In this sense, the reign of God in the age to come is a present reality.

A second aspect of the age to come which is already present with us is the foretaste of our eternal inheritance in the Holy Spirit. Paul taught that when Christ ascended to his throne on high, he poured out the Holy Spirit on the church as a foretaste of the full inheritance we will receive when Christ returns. In Romans 8:23 Paul explained this by saying that believers are those “who have the firstfruits of the Spirit.” “Firstfruits” is a translation of the Greek word aparche which is itself a translation of an Old Testament term designating the first portion of a harvest. The firstfruits indicated that a greater harvest was coming in the future. So, for Paul, the gift of the Holy Spirit in every believer’s life is a foretaste of the great blessings of the age to come.

In a similar way, according to Ephesians 1:14, the Holy Spirit himself is: 

… a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession (Ephesians 1:14).

The Greek term translated “deposit” is arrabon. This terminology points to the Holy Spirit as God’s down payment or deposit to us, guaranteeing that we will receive much more from God in the future. Once again, the Holy Spirit is a blessing of the age to come which God has already given to us. 

Finally, Paul also pointed to the fact that Christ had inaugurated the new creation associated with the age to come. Because of what Christ has done, believers now enjoy, in part, the re-creation of the world. In the Old Testament God had promised his people that in the last days he would completely re-create the world, making it as perfect as it was before man’s sin in the Garden of Eden. Consider how the Lord described the coming age to Isaiah in Isaiah 65:17: 

Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth (Isaiah 65:17). 

In Paul’s mind the fact that Christ was already saving people proved that the re-creation of the world had begun. 2 Corinthians 5:17 expresses this idea well: 

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Even though Paul taught that many aspects of the age to come had already been inaugurated when Christ first came, Paul also believed that the blessings of the last days had not yet come in their fullness. So, he looked forward to Christ’s return as the time when Christ would fulfill the final judgments and blessings.