Paul's Teachings on Christ's Second Coming

Paul’s teachings on preparing for the Second Coming were prevalent both in the lives of the saints to whom he wrote his epistles, as well as in our own lives today. Especially in his epistle to the saints in Thessalonica, Paul addresses his concern with their beliefs of the Second Coming. He also especially addresses how such beliefs were impacting the way the members were living.

Because of differences in the concept of time for God and man, many of the early Christians were of the opinion that Christ would be returning within their life time. Some even believed it was a requirement that they be alive to witness his return to the earth. They were of the opinion that they would be saved soon, giving them completely the wrong attitude about the manner in which they should live their lives. For example, some of the people thought they could sin or live recklessly. They thought it didn’t matter since Christ was on his way and would save them.

Paul taught the importance of looking to the Second Coming with faith and hope, while also preparing for the long haul. He specifically prophesied that the “falling away” of this generation was the apostasy or destruction of Christ’s first church on the earth that would soon come. He taught that we should always live our lives as if Christ is coming tomorrow, while also living as though he won’t be coming for a long time.

This is a significant balance that members seem to always struggle to understand, both in the times of the early church, and now. Even today there are people who are so confident in their interpretation of what it means that the Savior will return “soon” to the earth. They look to the apocalyptic day with much more earnest than doing the day to day work to live righteously and prepare themselves. Because we don’t know precisely when the Savior will return, we can’t simply put our lives on hold. As Paul taught we must exercise faith and hope in his coming, yet prepare ourselves.

It shouldn’t matter when Christ comes. We should always be striving to align our lives with the teachings of the scriptures and modern day prophet and apostles. We must follow Christ’s example in reaching out to others and make service a routine part of our interactions with all those we meet. If we are always striving to improve ourselves and live worthily, it won’t matter when death or Christ come.

I am sure it must have been difficult for Paul to know that these saints whom he loved and worked so hard to bring to the gospel of Christ would witness the Great Apostasy. His enduring struggle and perseverance despite this frustration are a manifestation of his incredible faith and testimony. He truly knew his Savior, Jesus Christ, and of his purpose here on this earth. I am so grateful for his example, as well as for his teachings that are just as prevalent today as they were for the first century church members.