(Taken from the September 2001 edition)

By Benjamin Davis

I recently received a phone call from a gentleman who wanted to talk about “charismatic preterism.” It’s not every day that these two words are used together in a complimentary way, but this conversation was from someone who was overjoyed to find a church that was able to mix the doctrines of the Holy Spirit and His giftings along with preterism. Since we have been sending out our Hidden Manna magazine, we have had several inquiries from people interested to know how a church could hold to the preterist (past-fulfillment) eschatology and still practice and believe in the gifts of the Spirit. Typically, these two theologies have been like oil and water—they haven’t mixed.

Perhaps a little history will help in this matter. In the early part of the twentieth century, the Holy Spirit began to restore to the church the understanding of who He is and the way He can work supernaturally through His people. This was a much needed reformation, for the church that does not allow the Holy Spirit to move freely and sovereignly in their experience will eventually come to have dead orthodoxy in the way they practice their faith. The people whom the Holy Spirit was reforming at the time came to be known as the Pentecostals. Later in the century, there was the rise of what was called the Charismatic movement. These movements were characterized by people receiving a fuller experience with the Holy Spirit, often accompanied by supernatural happenings such as speaking in tongues, divine healings, words of prophecy, etc. (1 Cor. 12:1-11).

Those who rejected the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements often did so on dispensational grounds. That is, they believed that the gifts of the Holy Spirit passed away in the first century, during that dispensation of time after all the original apostles were gone. Pentecostals and charismatics have battled this dispensational theology, saying that the gifts were not just for an early dispensation in the church, but for us today. However, having their own form of dispensational theology, many of these same Pentecostals and charismatics reject preterism (covenant theology) and the understanding that we are living in the kingdom of God today. They say that the kingdom is for a future dispensation and not now. Their current form of dispensationalism places us in a parenthetical church age that will end when Jesus returns and brings in the kingdom. 

Preterists espouse more of a covenantal view. Rather than seeing the history of God’s people as a series of dispensations, they understand that God’s people have always lived under a series of God-initiated covenants. God made covenants with Adam (Gen. 3:15), Noah (Gen. 9:9-17), Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3, 15:1-21, 17:1-27, 22:16-18), Moses (Ex. 19:5-6, 24:8), David (2 Sam. 7:1-17), and finally Jesus (Matt. 26:28; Heb. 8:6-13, 12:24). The covenant with Jesus is an everlasting covenant (Heb. 13:20). Preterists believe that we now live in the everlasting kingdom of Christ. However, even with a covenant theology, many preterists are rejecting the gifts of the Spirit today on dispensational grounds, saying that the gifts were only for the dispensation of the first century. 

I believe the Lord desires all of His people to come to maturity in their understanding and experience in Christ. However, pride often stands in the way. Jesus had harsh criticism for those who let pride stand in the way of the true knowledge of Christ:

Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered (Luke 11:52). 

The key to true spiritual knowledge is humility and openness before the Lord. Jesus asked the Jews of His day to think outside the box about how they viewed the Messiah. He is still calling His people to think outside the box. 

Pentecostals and charismatics should be the first to open up to covenant eschatology (preterism) and the fact that we are living in the kingdom today. We’ve been empowered by the Holy Spirit to experience His supernatural transformation of people’s lives, cultures, and nations. The gifts of the Spirit (tongues, prophesy, divine healing, etc.) have been given to us for practical victorious living in Christ. 

Preterists need to open up to the Holy Spirit’s supernatural working and His giftings for people today in order to practically live out the kingdom we preach and change our culture. Only by the supernatural direction and experience of God’s Holy Spirit can we fulfill our calling in this “world without end” (Eph 3:21).

The Holy Spirit has been given to us to guide us into all truth (John 16:13). Jesus knew of the problems we would face, so He gave us an eternal answer:

And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever… (John 14:16) 

As we will yield ourselves to the Lord, He will deepen our experience in the Holy Spirit and our understanding of what has been accomplished for us in the coming and return (parousia) of Christ.

Benjamin Davis is an associate pastor of Abundant Life Covenant Church