Ended in 'the last days.' Yet the grace period of 40 years was understood by Paul because prior to the destruction of Jerusalem he wrote that Jesus spoke to that generation in 'these last days.' Then he goes on to say that the old covenant was demolished and that it was 'ready to vanish away' referring to the final destruction of the temple as Jesus prophesied in Matt. 24.
Matthew 24 is not about the end of the world. It's about the end of Jerusalem and the end of the age spoken of in prophecy. If there were still days after that destruction, they were new days, not 'last days.'
We are not still in those last days. If we are, then the prophecies were superfluous and vague and not dealing with a specific time frame. We could still apply them to today. But they were not vague. Daniel's especially dealt with a very specific 490 years which also predicted the destruction of Jerusalem as a consequence of Israel's rejection of Messiah the Prince.
When Jesus answered the apostle's questions, which asked specifically about the end of the age, he answered them and said that ALL of what he had told them would take place before 'this generation' passed. It wasn't a prophecy about the end of the world. It was about him coming on the clouds in judgement against Jerusalem. That's what ended that age, the exact question his disciples asked him.
Contrary to the Preterist fixation with AD70, the grace period never stopped with the coming of Titus. It is still ongoing. It lasts throughout "the last days" period - the day of salvation. It will continue right up until "the last day" when Christ comes. Jesus makes clear (and unambiguously) in Matthew 24:14:
“this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end (or telos) come.”
This couldn’t be clearer! Now is man's only hope of salvation. The whole wider redemptive history of mankind is encompassed between Adam and the second coming of the second Adam. The period that we are currently in today is the day of grace (the day of salvation). Jesus is not coming again as Savior but as Judge. Premils and Preterists do not believe that “the end” refers to the end. The phrase “the end” here refers to the conclusion or the completion.
2 Peter 3:3-13 shows the following happening at “His coming” (
parousia):
1. The heavens shall pass away / perish with a great noise.
2. The elements shall be ‘loosed by being set on fire’,
3. The earth shall be ‘burned up utterly / consumed wholly.
4. The works that are within the earth shall be ‘burned up utterly / consumed wholly.
No one could surely deny the climatic detail that attends the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 3:14-15 then concludes:
“Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation.”
The seeming delay in the destruction of wicked men in our day is similarly presented in 2 Peter 3 as “
the longsuffering of God.” This would suggest that our day is the final day of salvation. Plainly, “the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation.” But what is the reason for the longsuffering of God in our day? It is the exact same as it was in Noah’s day.
Peter succinctly supplies an answer:
“the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation” (2 Peter 3:15). Simply put, His prolonged absence is actually for the purpose of
“salvation.” God’s heart is to save souls. Man has been given 2,000 years to encounter God in a real personal lasting intimate way. This comes through repentance. God’s heart is not to damn men, they damn themselves by their own pride and stubbornness. The apparent delay in Christ’s Coming is actually evidence of His gracious nature and the fact that He wishes to save rather than destroy.
This passage is demonstrating that God blesses his children in this life and in the life to come.
Phillip Mauro puts it well in his book The Hope of Israel:
“Manifestly, if this present day of salvation were to be followed by a day of glory, peace and prosperity for the earth, a day in which the entire Jewish nation and other nations as well, are to be saved, there would be no long suffering and mercy in prolonging the Saviour's absence; but just the reverse. The apostle's reason for the delay is valid only if the return of the Lord is to usher in the day of judgment, and if it coincides with ‘the coming of the day of God’.”
Romans 2:4 agrees:
"despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?"
This proves that "the grace period," that some Preterists limit to 40 years, is extended out in the NT to both Jews and Gentiles alike throughout the duration of the intra-Advent period. Today is the day when sinners are saved. It is a day when righteousness and unrighteousness co-exist. But there is a day when salvation will terminate and perfection will be ushered in. Salvation terminates at the second coming. Christ's return brings the curtain down on the great commission. Once the ark door closes it is too late (Matthew 25:10-13 & Matthew 28:19-20).
The solemn side of the parable about the 10 virgins is the awful plight of the five foolish virgins who had no oil in their lamps. Like the wicked that were left in Noah’s day, the religious will cry when it is too late:
“Lord, Lord, open to us.” The only problem is: it is too late. The solemn cry will come from the Master,
“Verily I say unto you, I know you not” (vv 11-12). This is exactly what Jesus says to the wicked at the final judgment. He isn't saying: 'welcome to a 7 yr trib' or 'welcome to the Premil millennium for another chance'. Sadly, they are damned and doomed for all eternity. That is what happens when Jesus comes: the elect are rescued, those left behind are destroyed.
Scripture makes it abundantly clear that salvation will not always be available. There is a termination point to God’s gracious offer of salvation. That conclusion comes when Jesus comes at the end (or
telos).
